WBM III Posing With Decaying Goat Head

The face William Bryan Massey III (click his name to see a video of him reading his poem "Buttwiper"), head cook at Fred's Texas Cafe, made in this photograph was caused by the incredible stink emanating from the still freshly decaying goat head he held up in his right hand.

"I had to shake all of the maggots out of the skull before gettin' ahold of it, " WBM III told me.

Yew wee!

The goat was drained of it's blood, after its throat was slit open, and the skin ripped off at the Hardcore Texas ranch house a week earlier by Fred's Texas Cafe's self-proclaimed "Outlaw Chef", Terry Chandler, for a special dish he had planned at his white trash eatery in Fort Worth. He used the goats innards for the feast.

So Bryan placed the goat head on a fence post and let the maggots and other bugs do their bidding in eating away its guts and skin. He said, as I was visiting the Hardcore Texas ranch house he shares with Hippy Steve in Aledo, "C'mon, let's get a pic of me with that goat head for a book cover I'm doing." Bryan self-publishes his own poetry books. They're wonderfully constructed and are one of a kind jewels, especially the words in them written by Bryan.

So we went out back and I took quite a few pics of him holding it before getting this winning shot.

He kept saying, as I took shot after shot, "God damn, this motherfucker STINKS to high heaven!"

Of course, this had me laughing my ass off and, fortunately for Bryan, I can take pics fast. I don't do fancy posing or lighting when I take pics of people because I do it the best way possible, all natural with no gimmicks, and so Bryan didn't have to suffer too long with that goat head next to his nose.

Hell, yeah, Texas style all the way, man.

J & J's Hideaway

I was enjoying a relaxing time at this one-of-a-kind bar, which has since moved due to Fort Worth's race to become Dallas West along the West 7th Street corridor, when I captured my buddy, William Bryan Massey III, head of kitchen operations at Fred's Texas Cafe, in this classic barfly repose.

It's a great tragedy that J&J's Hideaway will be lost at its current location. It will relocate to University Drive near where the Italian restaurant Sardine's is.

But J&J's Hideaway will never be the same as it was, tucked away under tall trees and a safe distance from the rustle and bustle of the near West Side.

It's classic '70s decor had me tell Bryan that "this is a bar straight out of that old '70s t.v. show THE ROCKFORD FILES."

He answered, "God damn, you're right."

FRED BURGER WITH CHEESE #1

William Bryan Massey III, head cook at Fred's Texas Cafe and poet/writer who self-publishes his own hand-made books, is, according to the FW WEEKLY's food critic, Chow, Baby, the best hamburger cook in the country.

During her visit to check out WBM III's skill on the grill Bryan told me she looked like she enjoyed his white trash cookin'.

"She (the critic) wanted another one of my Fred Burgers for dessert," he said. "And she ate it at her table."