My 25 things (or, if you prefer, thangs)
My 25 Things
1. I grew up six miles south of Kingsville, Texas. The Missouri-Pacific tracks ran past our house.
2. One of my earliest memories is of my father feeding cattle.
3. When I was 4 or 5 a rattlesnake crawled into the yard while my brother and sister and I were playing. My sister grabbed me and we all ran into the house and stood behind our mother as she emptied a handgun in the direction of the snake. She missed every time.
4. My father was a sports writer and entertainment columnist for the Kingsville Record. I got to hang out in the newspaper office and was amazed when I got to go back and watch the Linotype machines in action.
5. My father took us on vacation to Los Angeles when I was 8 or 9. He had arranged for private tours of some of the studios. We ate lunch at the Universal commissary surrounded by actors costumed as cowboys, soldiers and ancient Romans. Lee Marvin sat at the next table. We visited the back lot set of "Spartacus" and saw the straw-filled "gladiators" crucified on either side of the Appian Way. A freeway ran behind the Gates of Rome.
6. I was inspired to be a cartoonist by reading Pogo and Mad and admiring album covers illustrated by Jack Davis.
7. While still in elementary school I would memorize comedy routines from albums by Jonathan Winters and perform them for my school mates.
8. The first Cinerama movie I saw was How the West Was Won on giant curved screen in Corpus Christi. I was amazed by the illusion of depth. Watching the action sequences on YouTube just isn't the same.
9. My brother-in-law was in the Army and stationed in Germany and my mother took my brother & me there for a summer vacation. We went on a two-week camping trip in Bavaria, Switzerland and Italy, packed into a Mustang with my sister at the wheel talking and waving her hands while she negotiated hairpin turns in the mountains. We all lived to tell about it. At the Coliseum I broke away from the tour and went exploring on my own and almost missed the tour bus.
10. I played six-man football in elementary school. The football field was mainly dirt and grass burrs. We only had one opponent -- the King Ranch team, filled with big hulking guys who had flunked 2 or 3 grades. It was like a ritualistic massacre.
11. I was a drama major at the University of Texas but dropped out after two years. That marked the beginning of my Wilderness Years.
12. I played basketball in high school but was forced to quit when I had ankle surgery. I began teaching myself to play the guitar when I had my leg in a cast on a cheap guitar my brother bought for $8 in a border town. I've played the same Martin D28 since 1971.
13. I played keyboards in a high school rock band called Joe Egg. We had one public performance before disbanding.
14. I worked in liquor stores in Austin; Pasadena, Calif. and Dallas. Austin was the grittiest. Pasadena was the most fun. Dallas was just soulless.
15. While staggering home in an inebriated state, I was arrested for public intoxication and spent a night in the Austin city jail. A cherished memory.
16. While living in Dallas, I got drunk with my brother-in-law and we decided to go to a church Christmas caroling party in search of cynical amusement. That's where I met my wife.
17. I quit drinking in 1989. With all due respect to Ray Milland, "The Lost Weekend" is a terrible movie.
18. Although set in the Panhandle, as opposed to South Texas, "The Last Picture Show" is a great, utterly realistic film about small-town life in Texas in the '50s.
19. Once I saw Brother Dave Gardner, a southern comedian, perform in Corpus Christi. My parents took me out to get a bite with Brother Dave after the show. He wanted to know everyone's birthday so he could place them in the correct astrological category. His wife fed him pills of one sort or another at carefully timed intervals. "You know Sagitarians got dynamite in their ass," he told my mother.
20. When I was still a little kid, my maternal grandfather stayed with us a few weeks. He and I went for long walks down the back road. I didn't know at the time that he was an alcoholic and was recovering from a "breakdown." I just thought Dadaw had come for a visit.
21. My paternal grandmother was a biblical literalist who thought the world was 6,000 years old, rejected the authenticity of dinosaur bones and would not allow playing cards in the house. I often stayed with her on weekends. She could play Bringing in the Sheaves and the Little Brown Church on the piano and tell stories about the Indians in east Texas. We listened to the Grand Old Opry on her radio.
22. Buffalo Bob, who hosted a children's TV show in Corpus Christi, sometimes stopped by the house on his way home in his costume -- cowboy boots and fringed western shirt. One time he entertained me by showing off his marksmanship with a toy air gun that shot little cork projectiles.
23. My father once carried on a correspondence with Olivia de Havilland. Her letters survive. He apparently sent her poetry and invited her to such things as a meeting of the South Texas Jazz Society. She would always graciously decline. One of her letters contained only one sentence: JAKE TAKES THE CAKE!
24. I once had a shouting match in the newsroom of the Kansas City Star with an editor named David Zeeck, who was one of my mentors. It concluded with Zeeck saying rather emphatically: "Trussell, take a hike!" The rest of the staff was entertained.
25. My favorite movie about reporters is All the President's Men. It' a great film but it breaks my heart to watch it. Newspapers aren't like that anymore. They never will be again.
1. I grew up six miles south of Kingsville, Texas. The Missouri-Pacific tracks ran past our house.
2. One of my earliest memories is of my father feeding cattle.
3. When I was 4 or 5 a rattlesnake crawled into the yard while my brother and sister and I were playing. My sister grabbed me and we all ran into the house and stood behind our mother as she emptied a handgun in the direction of the snake. She missed every time.
4. My father was a sports writer and entertainment columnist for the Kingsville Record. I got to hang out in the newspaper office and was amazed when I got to go back and watch the Linotype machines in action.
5. My father took us on vacation to Los Angeles when I was 8 or 9. He had arranged for private tours of some of the studios. We ate lunch at the Universal commissary surrounded by actors costumed as cowboys, soldiers and ancient Romans. Lee Marvin sat at the next table. We visited the back lot set of "Spartacus" and saw the straw-filled "gladiators" crucified on either side of the Appian Way. A freeway ran behind the Gates of Rome.
6. I was inspired to be a cartoonist by reading Pogo and Mad and admiring album covers illustrated by Jack Davis.
7. While still in elementary school I would memorize comedy routines from albums by Jonathan Winters and perform them for my school mates.
8. The first Cinerama movie I saw was How the West Was Won on giant curved screen in Corpus Christi. I was amazed by the illusion of depth. Watching the action sequences on YouTube just isn't the same.
9. My brother-in-law was in the Army and stationed in Germany and my mother took my brother & me there for a summer vacation. We went on a two-week camping trip in Bavaria, Switzerland and Italy, packed into a Mustang with my sister at the wheel talking and waving her hands while she negotiated hairpin turns in the mountains. We all lived to tell about it. At the Coliseum I broke away from the tour and went exploring on my own and almost missed the tour bus.
10. I played six-man football in elementary school. The football field was mainly dirt and grass burrs. We only had one opponent -- the King Ranch team, filled with big hulking guys who had flunked 2 or 3 grades. It was like a ritualistic massacre.
11. I was a drama major at the University of Texas but dropped out after two years. That marked the beginning of my Wilderness Years.
12. I played basketball in high school but was forced to quit when I had ankle surgery. I began teaching myself to play the guitar when I had my leg in a cast on a cheap guitar my brother bought for $8 in a border town. I've played the same Martin D28 since 1971.
13. I played keyboards in a high school rock band called Joe Egg. We had one public performance before disbanding.
14. I worked in liquor stores in Austin; Pasadena, Calif. and Dallas. Austin was the grittiest. Pasadena was the most fun. Dallas was just soulless.
15. While staggering home in an inebriated state, I was arrested for public intoxication and spent a night in the Austin city jail. A cherished memory.
16. While living in Dallas, I got drunk with my brother-in-law and we decided to go to a church Christmas caroling party in search of cynical amusement. That's where I met my wife.
17. I quit drinking in 1989. With all due respect to Ray Milland, "The Lost Weekend" is a terrible movie.
18. Although set in the Panhandle, as opposed to South Texas, "The Last Picture Show" is a great, utterly realistic film about small-town life in Texas in the '50s.
19. Once I saw Brother Dave Gardner, a southern comedian, perform in Corpus Christi. My parents took me out to get a bite with Brother Dave after the show. He wanted to know everyone's birthday so he could place them in the correct astrological category. His wife fed him pills of one sort or another at carefully timed intervals. "You know Sagitarians got dynamite in their ass," he told my mother.
20. When I was still a little kid, my maternal grandfather stayed with us a few weeks. He and I went for long walks down the back road. I didn't know at the time that he was an alcoholic and was recovering from a "breakdown." I just thought Dadaw had come for a visit.
21. My paternal grandmother was a biblical literalist who thought the world was 6,000 years old, rejected the authenticity of dinosaur bones and would not allow playing cards in the house. I often stayed with her on weekends. She could play Bringing in the Sheaves and the Little Brown Church on the piano and tell stories about the Indians in east Texas. We listened to the Grand Old Opry on her radio.
22. Buffalo Bob, who hosted a children's TV show in Corpus Christi, sometimes stopped by the house on his way home in his costume -- cowboy boots and fringed western shirt. One time he entertained me by showing off his marksmanship with a toy air gun that shot little cork projectiles.
23. My father once carried on a correspondence with Olivia de Havilland. Her letters survive. He apparently sent her poetry and invited her to such things as a meeting of the South Texas Jazz Society. She would always graciously decline. One of her letters contained only one sentence: JAKE TAKES THE CAKE!
24. I once had a shouting match in the newsroom of the Kansas City Star with an editor named David Zeeck, who was one of my mentors. It concluded with Zeeck saying rather emphatically: "Trussell, take a hike!" The rest of the staff was entertained.
25. My favorite movie about reporters is All the President's Men. It' a great film but it breaks my heart to watch it. Newspapers aren't like that anymore. They never will be again.
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