Alamollywood Part I: Are the Daughters Extremely Savvy or Starstruck?

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Didn’t really want to start the year off with another post about the Alamo, but several emails I received in the past 24 hours and Jan Jarboe Russell’s column on the future of the shrine of Texas liberty in today’s San Antonio Express-News compelled me to head down this blog’s wellworn path to the door of the Alamo.

This morning’s email had brought me a summary from wordpress.com listing the top five posts on my blog during 2010.  Three of the five are Alamobsessive:

In the Express, Russell shares concerns expressed by state Senator Leticia van de Putte about the contract the Daughters of the Republic of Texas have entered into with WME Entertainment:

Meanwhile, Van de Putte and others are uncomfortable with the governing board’s recent decision to hire William Morris Endeavor Entertainment at $75,000 a month for a year to promote the Alamo.   The Daughters’ own efforts to raise significant money for an endowment have failed.

“This is an agency that represents movies stars like Madonna and promotes celebrity brands like Tommy Hilfiger,” Van de Putte said.  “This would be the first time the agency promoted a historic landmark.  I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

WME Entertainment was formed by a 2009 merger that shook up Hollywood.  According to answers.com:

What do you call an aging Hollywood star trying to regain youth and vigor by marrying a much younger starlet?  Try William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME Entertainment), the new talent agency formed by the 2009 merger of 100-year-old William Morris Agency and Endeavor, born in 1995.  The new super-agency ranks in size (boasting more than 300 agents) and scope with the Creative Artists Agency, a leader in the talent representation industry.  WME Entertainment’s roster of stars includes Adam Sandler, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, and Russell Crowe, among other A-list names.  William Morris brought its primacy in books, music, and TV to the marriage, while upstart Endeavor adds young stars and momentum.

Now add the ancient Alamo to that roster. 

Generally, the best way to quell a story and end rumors is to lay out the facts in a straightforward fashion.  But it seems the contract the Daughters signed includes a major confidentiality clause that damages their credibility in dealing with the public.  To someone unfamiliar with the high-dollar entertainment industry (as in me), the figure seems steep:

In consideration of the marketing services to be rendered by WME as set forth herein, WME shall be outlined to receive a guaranteed total of Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars ($900,000) for the term payable in equal monthly installments of Seventy Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000) for the months from November 1, 2010 until October 31, 2011.

Photo from Mail Online

Lips remain zipped over who is footing the bill to support this contract, but bets are on Phil Collins.  According to Mail Online:

He recently secretly bought a shop next to the Alamo mission ­simply so that he could dig under it in search of artifacts.  He’s also spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on memorabilia…. Collins spends weeks at a time in Texas, and his friends believe that he is preparing to buy a home there….  He’s addressed a local historical society, is thinking of writing a book, and is coming out of semi-retirement next spring in order to do a benefit gig for a restoration fund in San Antonio.

Not only does he collect everything Alamo, Collins apparently believes he was at the Alamo in 1836.  Again, according to Mail Online:

Gary Foreman, a fellow Alamo enthusiast, recalled the moment that his wife Carolyn “revealed” Phil’s former life as Texan courier John W Smith, a man who was known as El Colorado — the redhead — because of his hair.  Foreman said his wife called Collins over and shared her conviction with him.  “When she made the revelation to Phil, his face lit up. His reaction was he felt very much at home at the Alamo and now it made sense.”

If Phil Collins is the mystery philanthropist, it is great to have someone outside of San Antonio take intense interest in and demonstrate a willingness to invest in such an important landmark.  But, whoever the funder is, it takes a leap of faith to believe Hollywood marketing expertise will treat the history part of the story of the Alamo with the respect it merits.

Russell writes:

What the Alamo needs isn’t a promoter, but steady, reliable management and a staff of historians and professionals with a solid understanding of quality museum practices.

Hopefully, the Daughters will emerge from this with a new image as incredibly savvy businesswomen who have found a brilliant fundraising strategy to keep the Alamo in repair for years to come.  Or….

Update on January 5, 2011: 

In 2010, the byline of one Scott Huddleston, a longtime Express-News reporter, was most associated with the Alamo. And what a roller coast ride it was.

Ben Olivo briefly summarizes the year’s stories about the Alamo that dominated coverage of downtown San Antonio.

January 6 Update:  Phil Collins’ and Ricky Skaggs’ fans shouldn’t book their plane tickets to San Antonio yet.  While the DRT website still has March 5th posted as the date for the free concert on the plaza, the Convention and Visitors Bureau now lists it as happening on the Fourth of July….

And Scott Huddleston of the Express-News posted the news this evening that “Alamo concert now on hold.”

Update on January 24: One website suggests tongue-in-cheek that the Daughters pretty much just go all the way Alamollywood and chuck the real Alamo for the “reel” Alamo.

Looking for a feel-good holiday story? Don’t click here.

postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Hola my Teresa, I’m thinkin’ of you now in San Antonio.
I have 27 dollars, and the good luck of your picture framed in gold.
Tonight I’ll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo del Cielo,
Then I’ll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Gallo del Cielo by Tom Russell
 
Men lay down their bets on their roosters on this plate produced in San Antonio by San Jose Pottery.

I’ve listened to Joe Ely weaving the sad tale toward the inevitable death of El Gallo countless times.  It’s tragic, but I dismiss it as more of a folk tale than a current event. 

After all, one of my favorite possessions is a cockfighting plate produced in San Antonio by Ethel Harris’ San Jose Pottery. 

And I find it amusing to reflect on San Antonio’s rough and tumble past as evidenced in the pages of the 1911-1912 edition of The Blue Book, a visitors’ guide to the city’s red light district.  In addition to a multitude of brothels just south and west of City Hall, there were at least two cock pits – Ogden’s and Monterrey – located on South Santa Rosa.  I even incorporated their ads in one of my Blue Book series of prints:

The Blue Book No. 2. The Blue Book's listings for cock pits on South Santa Rosa Avenue in downtown San Antonio is combined with images of roosters and a period map of the area. Edition of 25. 10 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches.

 

“Mayor Callaghan crowed at City Hall during the week, but spirited fights could be found just two blocks to the west on weekends.”

The palenque, or cock pit, in Real de Catorce

The palenque, or cock pit, in the former ghost town of Real de Catorce remains one of my favorite landmarks to explore.  But that is made easier because I was not with my husband and his younger brother when they stumbled upon men placing their bets on an actual cockfight there. 

During one of our jaunts to Mexico, I tried to convince my husband we should buy the ruins of the palenque in Mineral de Pozos, a former ghost town near San Miguel de Allende, to incorporate in a retirement home for us (one of many ill-conceived notions expressed during more than three decades of marriage from which he wisely has managed to divert my attention until common sense returned, albeit always on a fleeting basis). 

"A Competitor and His Cock," Haiti, June 2010, photograph by Vic Hinterlang

Our friend Vic pulled out his camera in Haiti this past June to document a cockfight at Delmas 31.  When he lagged on posting a follow-up, I feared he was hooked and was out training a cock of his own.  But my fears were groundless; he simply was flying back to Austin.

Cockfighting is something I prefer to pretend only occurs in the past tense, or, at least, takes place in some other country.  The world is becoming a kinder, more gentle place (dream on, Gayle).  But, in support of this argument, Spanish Catalonians recently enacted legislation drawing an end to their deeply entrenched tradition of bullfighting. 

Periodically, media intefere with my naive theories.  The other day, I made the mistake of reading Brandi Grissom’s coverage of cockfights, and their aftermath, outside of Dallas for Texas Tribune. 

One by one, Domanick Muñoz pulled bloody and battered bodies out of a pile of feathers, claws and beaks. Roosters that were still gasping for life….

The posted videos are not for the faint of heart.  Grissom makes it impossible to continue in a state of denial.  Cockfighting is not something that should be included in “It’s a Texas thing.”

Update Posted on February 8: Had to add this cautionary tale – “Man Killed by His Own Cock” (my headline)

Update Posted on March 17: Oscar Barajas, who recently wrote a post about his father’s disappointing cock, forwarded this link to “La Muerte de un Gallero.”

Update on May 22, 2011: Bobby Jones calm defense in Texas Monthly of his livelihood, breeding game birds, seems blood-chilling to me. “Harvesting” is the professionals’ word for cockfighting:

…what goes on at harvesting facilities is no different from what you see at a golf course, the rodeo circuit, or a bass tournament. It’s a gentleman’s wager, like betting on a football game.

As part of his explanation of legitimacy, he claims that gaffs for cockfighting were brought over on the Mayflower. But, his best point is:

No, what I’d like to see is a law that gives rural counties the power to decide what they want, instead of being told what to do by people in cities. Why are people in areas like Houston and Dallas, where there’s practically no morality, able to dictate what we do in rural areas, when they know nothing about it?

Poor guy:

Politics often gets in the way of my livelihood.

Can’t wait to walk that walk…

postcardsfromsanantonio2 Comments

For years I have heard about the plunge pool wall and the walkway funded by an ancient bond issue that one day would provide a river-level linkage between the San Antonio River Authority on Guenther and Blue Star.  This a key component tying the downtown River Walk to Eagleland and the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River Improvements Project.

For months upon months of morning walks I watched as water was diverted and tall new walls went in, hopefully keeping the towering cypresses on the upper banks from tumbling into the river.  This was a much more complicated project than it sounded when we were in meetings saying “just do it.”

Then they started on the linkage, which again, is much more complicated and sophisticated in design than it sounded.  In the process, the river keeps on getting diverted, divided, filled in… repeat. 

The water birds’ favorite part of the construction has ended.  For a while, a bypass sent river water shooting through an enormous pipe.  The fish and crawfish that went on this theme-park-type ride for free, albeit without advance consent, were spat out on the other side – temporarily stunned.  This easy fishing spot was the most coveted on the river, evoking numerous turf wars amongst the long-legged birds, now forced back into working for their next meals.

But now, sensuous curved concrete supports are snaking their way through the heart of the river channel, not awkwardly clinging to the walls as I had envisioned.  As I monitor the construction, I find myself clueless as to how it will look. 

I have received a few hints.  Larry Clark of Bender Wells Clark Design explained there will be a cascading water feature skirting one side of the new elevated mid-channel pathways.  One of the supervisors from Zachary Construction pointed out how it will tie back into the pathways by Blue Star.  Mike Addkison of the San Antonio River Foundation managed to get the above schematic for me, but that still does little to help me. 

Seems I just have to be patient and watch it grow and emerge from the river bed. 

But can’t wait to walk that walk!