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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Man with Yawn
Fort Worth is short on public art, and almost any artistic addition is welcome. Of course, Static reserves the right to un-sheathe its poison pen when artwork doesn’t pass muster. So here’s the verdict on the new statue in downtown’s Burk Burnett Park, Man With Briefcase: It beats a sharp stick in the eye. Some ringing endorsement, huh? The artwork is a striking 50 feet tall, and it’s not bad. But it’s hard to get excited about a silhouette of a white-collar working stiff wearing a Tom Landry-style fedora and standing with a briefcase. The piece resembles a five-story piece of clip art. “It’s kinda cool, I guess,” said a downtown pedestrian, a friendly woman in her 30s who mirrored Static’s thoughts but used fewer words, didn’t spit as much when she talked, and is probably less inclined to sit in her backyard and drink an 18-pack in one sitting, but Static digresses... .
The cutout concept — “negative space” as the arteests say — is a great idea, especially for something this large. But a schmuck carrying a briefcase says little about Fort Worth. Perhaps the statue would be more relevant if renamed RadioShack Executive Heading for His Office Suite Where Poor People Used to Live.
Body Armor, Anyone?
Big news this week from the Department of Public Safety: Texans with concealed-carry permits can now tote holstered guns legally in eight other states, and vice versa. The well-armed — and surely well behaved and mentally stable —citizens of Wyoming, Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Kentucky can pack their hoglegs and handcannons when crossing the state line into Texas. Crikey, residents in those states are as crazy as we are. Couldn’t we have interchanged with Rhode Island, Connecticut, and harmless places such as that?
Writing for Peace
Non-gun-toting journalist and Fort Worth Weekly freelancer Kevin J. Shay won kudos (and, more importantly, cash) from the 4th Annual International PeaceWriting Awards contest. Shay received one of three $500 prizes for a memoir, Walking through the Wall, detailing his treks to raise awareness of nuclear threats — more than 5,000 miles from Dallas to Moscow (yep, the one in Russia) in 1984-85, and another marathon of about 600 miles in India in 1987-88. Good thing Shay is so peaceful — $500 could buy a .38 special, a box of shells, a gallon of whiskey, and a road trip to Wyoming.
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