Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 46, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 23, 2003 Page: 4 of 14
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Seminole Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Gaines County Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
-:wrv#
SjM
U’%V It’
is • • •••,
mp
mwM
•5?l^
■| - • I W (j f |'
lumns & 1
Seminole Sentinel On
1200 *406
Qi*.-7t,ti-366j
TCXUS Tales... Every one has a story
K
John Henry Fitzhugh suffered
from asthma. Thinking a drier
climate would make it easier to
breath, he ana his wife left Kentucky
for Texas. Alone the way, the family
story goes, they met up with
someone else headed to lekas-Sam
Houston.
Fitzhugh and Houston became
lifelong friends. In 1861, Fitzhugh’s
oldest son was bom in Houston's
house at Huntsville, v--------
The Fitzhugh family later
moved to Austin, where he ran a
hardware store.
The couple's youngest son,
JohaGlasscpck Fitzhugh, was born
in the Capital City during
Reconstruction. How he came to
have his middle name was part of
his particular story.
Glasscock was not his mother’s
maiden name. Not did it honor any
illustrious forebear. John's middle
name was a bank note of sorts.
Texas* economy was in a wreck
after the Civil War and the Fitzhugh
family was struggling to get by.
When Mrs. Fitzhugh began
preparing for the birth of another
child, the family could not afford to
buy a bolt of cloth for baby clothes.
But a neighboring family, the
Glasscocks, were willing to trade the
cloth for a silver water pitcher. The
agreement was that when business
picked up, the Fitzhughs would pay
cash for the cloth and get their silver
back. Just so ^Veryone could
remember the circumstances of the
deal, the Fitzhughs said they would
name their baby Glasscock.
Despite that, the families
somehow lost touch with each other
and the pitcher was never redeemed.
But John Glasscock Fitzhugh had
the middle name that would go on
‘ Is tombstone.
businessman, but as a Fitfcbugh
family history later put it, Man
unfortunate family quarrel in later
years alienated the family, and
contact waS;fost'.”
A good story also circles around
to meet its beginning, which this one
does.
The Texas Fitzhughs were
descended from William Fitzhugh,
who left England in 1670 for
Virginia. Fitzhughs propagated for
the next 250-plus years. But by the
I early 1940s, the family was
! beginning to worry. They had no
male Fitzhughs to carry on the
family name.
In 1944, however, one Henry
Fitzhugh was bom in San Antonio.
As a young man in the 1960s,.he
moved to England, followed a few
years later by his mother. The
Fitzhugh line was back where it
started. Who knows where that
silver pitcher is?
Sentinel Letters
Prior to the World Trade Center
tragedy 18 months ago, I did not
pray daily for our military force. I
knew some members-of our
community had children or relatives
in military service. Two young men
who had graduated with my
daughter, Casey Hall and Jesse
Winters, were stationed overseas,
but I seldom thought of their duties
in protecting our freedom and
myself.
That has changed for many
others and me. Now, when I salute
the flag at a ballgame, or repeat the
Pledge of Allegiance at Rotary Club,
I am consciously praying for the
safety of service personnel and 1 can
easily see faces in my mind of the
ones I know in uniform. I have
photographs of most of the men and
women who are protecting us and
allowing all who reside in the United
States the right to freedom those
others wish to take from us.
I have a list of all military
personnel that I am aware of who
are currently serving in active duty.
If you know of others, please give
me a call and their names and
relatives will be added. This is a
community effort and I am hoping
to receive names of persons from
Seagraves, Loop, Denver City, and
surrounding areas.
I would like to encourage all
who wish to show support of these
fine men and women in uniform to
meet with myself and relative! of
» military on Thursday,
March zv at 6:30 p.m. to organizife a
support group for our military
families. The first meeting will be
held in the Fellowship Hall of First
United Methodist Church. My hope
is that we can begin as a small group
to collect goodies and cards for all
the military persons with a mailing
of at least once a month, so the
people serving will receive packages
and letters from home showing our
appreciation.
If you cannot attend the
meeting,, please give me a call with
ideas.
Thank you and God Bless
America and all those protecting her.
Sincerely,
Loudean Carlisle
(915) 758-5647 or (915) 758-3634
PlST. by PUR MEPtA
fobSw I'Hijttco'wx
STATE CAPITAL
State Government Continues
AUSTIN - With bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers circling the
building and metal detectors inside the main entrances, the business of
state government continues inside the Capitol as the 78th Legislature deals
with issues of money and law.
To cope with the ongoing budget issue, lawmakers are continuing to
lookat strategies to reshape theetate bureaucracy.
Rep. David Swinfoid, R-DiImI, has said that every state agenewneeds
to be looked at by the Legislative So that members can find and remove
overlapping efforts. Several agencies currently expending tax dollars may
find themselves eliminated or folded into other agencies by the end of the
session on June 2.
Swinford’s House Bill 2, drafted vaguely so that committee action can
sort out a plan, is expected to eventually enable many of the suggestions
for improved state government efficiency discussed earlier in the session.
Among those are merging the Texas Railroad Commission into the
Public Utility Commission and eliminating the Texas Department of Eco-
nomic Development. The state’s Aircraft Pooling Board also may find it-
self in a nosedive from which it does not recover.
One of the better quotes from last week came from Swinford: “If you
look at all the bills filed every session, you’ll find half of them are assign-
ing some little goofy deal for some state agency to carry out. By doing that,
these agencies keep picking up duties that have nothing whatsoever to do
with their core functions.”
One Texas brag we’d never want...
Every Texan knows Texas is a big state, but the non-profit organiza-
tion Population Research Institute has concluded that the entire world popu-
lation could be accommodated inside Texas -with plenty of elbow room for
everyone.
Texas has about 262,000 square miles, and with the world’s popula-
tion at more than 6 billion people, the institute calculated that each resi-
dent of the world could still have 1,217 square feet in Texas. A family of
five would get 6,085 square feet.
With demographers estimating that Texas will have nearly 34 million
residents (we have Ai-million today) by«2030rlhe institute’s figures ddh’t
make tMt'^jectidh seeitfqiifte a&fdwded.^ 7
TAKS test scores are in...
. Whoever reached the conclusion that all the world’s population could
be squeezed into the Lone Star State had to use math to get there. Making
that sort of calculation may not be much beyond the abilities of the average
third grader.
The Texas Education Agency has announced preliminary results show-
ing that 89 percent of the third-graders who took their first required knowl-
edge assessment tests earlier this month passed. Called the Texas Assess-
ment of Knowledge and Skills, the test has to be passed before a child can
move on to fourth grade.
TEA had predicted that 85 percent of the children would pass the
English version of the test and that 73 percent would ace the Spanish
version. As it was, 82 percent of the children passed the test in Spanish.
One percentage that doesn't seem quite as impressive: To pass the
test, students must get 56 percent of the answers right. (Back when dino-
saurs roamed the earth and most school administrators were taking tests, a
56 oh a test translated into a big, fat, red F.)
An effort was made last year to set the passing level at 67 percent, but
it didn’t get anywhere. The bar is expected to be raised for future tests.
Movie Man Says House Full of Laughs
Situations contrived, but this—Young Franlr*>nxt*ln [hr>m many Latifah breaks out of the
House has It goin’ on
There are plenty of people not
very happy with the stereotypes in
Bringing Down the House.
Some critics have railed against
it for that reason while others - those
of us with a sense of humor - en-
joyed the funny, if familiar, situa-
tions.
The Movie Man laughed often
and - amazing! - Movie Wife
laughed so hard at one sequence
that she actually cried. No higher
endorsement could be given for a
comedy.
About the film
After the backlash heaped upon
Cedric the Entertainer following his
character’s (very funny) comments
in Barbershop, touchy folks are on
edge when it comes to politically
(InTcorrectness.
Now House, produced by
Queen Latifah, a rappcr/actor, Is
undergoing a similar fats. ,7 • • 7 ;■
Can you imagine If the thln-
1m
reviewers will tell you their favorite
movie - not many]) jarred even the
open, post-60's liberals of the day.
It’s side-splittingly funny in ev-
ery unsavory, unsettling, un-PC
way you can imagine.
Like Monty Python and the Holy
Grail, all you have to do is men-
tion the beginning of a line from
Blazing Saddles and thousands of
Americans can finish it for you.
It's the words of Blazing Saddles
that startle. (The “shocking” camp-
fire scene, post-beans - with Movie
Man hero Slim Pickens - is just a
Disney staple these days.)
No ethnic group was spared
from skewering, including the us-
age of crude slang for every race,
color and creed.
Richard Pryor, hitting his stride
and soon to explode across
America in exceptionally un-PC
ways, helped write Blazing Saddles.
He understood using humor as a
weapon to spotlight ignorance. Lots
of us got it back thin; many
wouldn t today. •
House is as vanilla as a black/
white movie could be, especially
compared to Biasing Saddles. And
While It’s hinny, just Imagine how
great House could’ve bam.
The plot
Biter (Steve Martin) is separated
Kate (Jean Smart). A
n« 8MN9 companion-
an Internet chat room
he meets "Lawyer Girl.''
J she s the skinny white girl
in a photo, she’s actually Charlene
slammer and finds Martin in his lily-
white neighborhood. They eventu-
ally strike a deal where he will prove
her innocence if she will help him
and pal Howie (the great Eugene
Levy), seriously smitten with
Latifah, land a big account with
Mrs. Amess (Joan Plowright).
Latifah helps Martin’s kids with
their woes - the boy can’t read and
the teenage girl gets into trouble
after sneaking out - while trying to
hip Martin up.
Martin eventually must go to
extreme lengths to show Latifah’s
not guilty - he heads downtown to
an all-black club where, dressed ri-
diculously, he confronts the person
who framed Latifah.
Plowright, however. A prim and
proper Brit, she eventually ends up
in a black club, sandwiched be-
tween two brothers who end up
loosening up the snotty socialite.
Beet scene
Martin has been out on the town
with Latifah and is drunk. She's
determined to help him reunite with
his wife, Smart
At a dub, Latifah's already been
trying to teach him to dance •
which, if you know how that’s done
today, involves a substantial
amount of grinding (viewed by an
astounded Smart) - and now
they're back at Martin’s house.
Latifah says he needs to be more
aggressive physically to fire up his
woman. He tries, all herky-jerky,
recalling his physical comedy from
his Saturday Night LlvelPennles
from Heaven days.
Eventually they get entangeled
on the couch - right when they get
walked In on. (No surprise.)
But it’l
It’s Martin's and Latlfah’s
wrestling about that set off the
Movie Wife. She laughed and
What works
There’s some chemistry be-
tween Martin and Latifah. Both
have comedic backgrounds.
(Latifah was on TV’s Living Single
and had a part in the unintention-
ally funny Sphere [one of the worst
movies of all time.))
They combine for one excep-
tionally funny sequence (see “Best laughed,
scene ) but also have a nice rap-
port throughout What doesn’t work
Levy, as usual, steals the scenes These hasn’t been a more dl-
he 's in. His stock roee thanks to the ched movie made in many years.
American Pie pictures. Here, he’s House Is most often a typical
a whiter-than-whMe, middle-aged situation comedy, filled with
man who Is completely enamored Friend+fk* awkward confronta-
with LatlfatfHfc *yo
straight trippin’, boo” line to Director Adam Shankman never
despite being shown re- finds new ground for these mun-
r on previews, sflO gets a big dane situations • racist neighbor,
In theaters square fan becoming hip, lewd
today's lingo, up-and-coming yet
smarmy young lawyer, trampy sis-
ter-in-law • but he’s bailed out by
the actors.
The first part of the movie is very
slow; it takes about 10 minutes for
things to get going - Latifah’s ap-
pearance, actually.
Strangest of all is the sudden vio-
lence in the movie. It’s played for
laughs - at least until the end - but
the brutal (and lengthy) fist/Tae-bo
fight between Latifah and in-law
Ashley (Missi Pyle, maybe best
known for her snooty role in Josie
and the Pussycats) is over the top.
It’s one thing to be slap-sticky;
it’s another to stage such a lenghty
scene just to rag on Tae-bo. It’s too
much and doesn’t fit
The rating
The Movie Man caught one
snippet of that word in House - on
a soundtrack song.
Otherwise, there’s still some
scattered cussing. And there’s all
that violence with gunplay eventu-
ally showing up. The Movie-Wifs-
loved-it scene is also crude and
physical.
House is a PG-13. It’s not nearly
as raunchy as Nutty Professor u,
but it's too much for a simple PG.
The Movie Man has no qualms
okaying House for mature younger
fllmgoers. “
Sometimes a movie comes
along that IS saved by the acting.
House is one of those movies.
The fiim'ssttuations could not be
more do*»to-death. But Martin,
Latifah, Levy, Plowright and Smart
juice this picture. ~-
Word to your mother, Movie
Man peeps: House is funny brothas
and sistas. Go and have some good
laughs and don’t worry about what
some ultra-serious weiner is going
to think.
Trailers
A new preview for Bruce Al-
mighty was really funny, an 8.
God (Morgan Freeman) gives
Bruce (Jim Carrey) His powers for
one week. The preview was filled
with some quality sight gags, many
more than were shown in the origi-
nal trailer.
This looks like silly, funny Carrey
(Liar; Liar), not “actor” Carrey (The
Majestic). The Movie Man will defi-
nitely catch this one.
Next up
The Hunted is the high profile
release of the week. The Tommy
Lee Jones/Benicio Del Toro picture
has been heavily promoted. ';
But the Movie Man has a han-
kering for Wllldrd, a remake of a
1971 movie most noted for it’s
1 soundtrack
noet noted for it’s No
single, “Ben" by pfe-
Michael Jackson. Anything
Glover Is going to be
surgery Mien
with Crispin Glover is going to
weird; maybe it’s a good week to
veer away. j * ♦ ‘J
On the horizon: Dreamcatcher
(a Stephen King story that has
some promise, with Freeman
current hottte (according
Daughters! Colin FarreiO.
to Movie
mi i
P
4
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Fisher, David. Seminole Sentinel (Seminole, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 46, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 23, 2003, newspaper, March 23, 2003; Seminole, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth804408/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gaines County Library.