Texas Monthly articles from April 2008

Texas Monthly archives from April 2008

Fed up: the FBI's investigation of corruption in El Paso isn't just another crime story. It's the latest chapter in the frustrating saga of a city cheated of its destiny.(Behind the Lines)
April 1, 2008... El Paso is a city that believes in its soul that it has been cheated of its destiny. You can't talk to political or community leaders for very long without hearing that in 1950 El Paso had a larger population than Phoenix (130,485 to 106,818)....

Tap dance.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I have been in the water business for more than 28 years. "The Last Drop" is the best article I have ever read about the state of water supplies, planning, and history of supply development in Texas [February 2008]. This article should be...

Well wisher.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Banker Matthew Simmons's "gospel" is anti-Texas and dead wrong ["The Gospel According to Matthew," February 2008]. In order to have proven oil reserves, a well must be drilled. It is that simple. In 1956 M. King Hubbert guessed that the...

Kicking the bucket.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... "El Gobernador" contained a quickie review of political history, particularly about Chicanos [February 2008]. So fast was the pace that Paul Burka avoided substantive analysis by repeating an old racist joke about Mexican crabs to explain my...

Unlisted numbers.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... I am an African American from Tyler. I was well educated in the honors program at Baylor University and will attend graduate school at Princeton after I return from a one-year mission in South Africa working with HIV/ AIDS patients. I am only...

AARPeeved.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2008... Sarah Bird's "Geezer Nation" is one of the most vile and sleazy articles I have seen in a long time [February 2008]. To write such a disgusting piece of trash about a generation of Americans who have contributed and paid their way to make this...

The audacity of hope.(Editor's Letter)(Jan Reid was shot in Mexico)(Editorial)
April 1, 2008... I have a very clear memory of returning from a birthday trip with my wife to Paris, where we were blissfully unaware of the awful happenings back home. This was in late April 1998, when cell phones weren't ubiquitous and BlackBerrys didn't...

Let there be light.(In the Chute)(J.M.W. Turner's works at the Dallas Museum of Art)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT'S A SUNDAY afternoon, and visitors to the Dallas Museum of Art are jockeying politely for position like golf spectators around the eighteenth hole. They've come to see the blockbuster "J.M.W. Turner," a...

An urban oasis.(In the Chute)(Discovery Green park)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IF THERE WAS ever a city in need of an eco-intervention, it's Houston. Buffalo Bayou aside, the concrete morass of downtown--with its vitamin D-starved office drones and Tunnel travelers--has long spoken for itself....

Floral history.(In the Chute)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WHEN ROSE GARCIA watches the floats go by at the Battle of Flowers parade--the founding event of Fiesta, San Antonio's 117-year-old homage to the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto--she sees the breathtaking number...

Calling a baseball game.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... NAME: Milo Hamilton AGE: 80 HOME TOWN: Houston QUALIFICATIONS: Has called more than nine thousand professional ball games over the course of his 58-year career / Has been the voice of the Houston Astros since 1985 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Ticket to ride: scalpers of the world, unite!(The Cheap Seats: JASON COHEN POPS OFF ABOUT SPORTS)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I scalped my first ticket in 1985. It was the summer before my freshman year in college, Springsteen was on the last leg of his Born in the U.S.A. tour, and my best friend was interning at a financial services...

Joe Wayland, 39 oil field worker.(The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 TO 5)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I was growing up in Midland, I didn't want anything to do with the oil field. In junior high, you learn what your friends' parents do. It was interesting to hear them talk about the off field, but it didn't...

This old house: my first green change hits close to home.(Green Guinea Pig: CAN JIM ATKINSON MAKE A DIFFERENCE)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The following is an attempt to make insulation sexy. A fool's errand, I know, but hear me out, because I've actually discovered that R-values can make your heart flutter. I became well acquainted with R-values--a...

The Texanist: offering fine advice since 2007.
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: A few summers ago I went camping with some girlfriends at Guadalupe River State Park. Imagine our surprise when we were startled one evening by a loudly amorous couple in a neighboring tent. The passionate din...

Bombing Iraq: why can't Hollywood get this war right?(Hollywood, TX: CHRISTOPHER KELLY ON OUR STATE OF ENTERTAINMENT)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The good news first: Stop-Loss, co-written and directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), is the first of the current spate of war dramas that doesn't make you want to flee the theater. Set in the fictional...

Live Cactus!(Joe Ely's album)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There's a short roster of rock and roll performers (Jagger, Springsteen) who can rivet your attention every time they step onstage. If you grew up in Texas, here's a name on that list: JOE ELY. Those who have seen...

Dog of Love.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Like Joe Ely, Jo CAROL. PIERCE grew up in the dusty vacuum of Lubbock, and though she was part of the town's famed clique of talent, only in her late forties did she begin to take her writing seriously. She penned...

Just Us Kids.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The title track may lament the fact that even arrested adolescents grow old, but, if anything, JAMES MCMURTRY sounds more energized than ever. On JUST US KIDS Lightning Rod), he and his longtime rhythm section--Daren...

Gavin Tabone.(Previews+Reviews: Music: JEFF MCCORD ON THE MONTH'S NEW RELEASES)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... He writes their songs, records their music, and gets the fifty-plus kids from Austin's Palm School Choir onto high-profile stages such as NBC's Today show and the South by Southwest music festival. Needless to say, this is not your typical...

The Story of Forgetting.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] STEFAN MERRILL BLOCK is a talent. Though his debut novel, THE STORY OF FORGETTING, sings a bit from the Jonathan Safran Foer hymnal (a precocious teen trying to unravel his family's tragic history), the Piano native...

Willie Nelson: An Epic Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The first time nine-year-old Booger Red got drunk on beer, he decided, "I had already fucked up more ways than God was going to put up with... so I had in mind, the sky's the limit from here on, I mean I can't go to...

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.(Previews+Reviews: Books: MIKE SHEA ON THE MONTH'S NEW RELEASES)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The best-selling Houston-based writer sets her new novel, The Palace of Illusions, in the fifth millennium BCE. Based on India's epic Mahabharat poem, it examines love and war from the perspective of Princess Panchaali. What concerns did...

Downtown Brenham: the cradle of Blue Bell and bluebonnets.(Street Smarts: A QUICKIE GUIDE TO ...)(Directory)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [1] April in Texas means roadsides and pastures gloriously a wash in bluebonnets--and no more so than in and around Brenham. Tool around for that perfect photo op, then pick up a few Lupinus texensis trinkets at the...

Twin Wells: Chapter Four: Katherine's neck.(Texquisite Corpse: A STORY IN TWELVE PARTS AND TWELVE VOICES)(Excerpt)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Baldwin opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar living room. A giant television, a glass case filled with cat figurines. A large painting of a woman wearing a beatific smile and a floppy hat. The boy, Newby's boy,...

Avery Johnson.(Texas Monthly Talks: EVAN SMITH SITS DOWN WITH ...)(Interview)
April 1, 2008... Let's talk about your new book, Aspire Higher. I guess it can be described as a self-help book. I wanted to help people who are in-between. We are all in-between. We are in-between as fathers. We are in-between as husbands. A kid in...

Truth and consequences: yes, Roger Clemens is a jerk. But Congress shouldn't make a federal case over whether he lied about using steroids.
April 1, 2008... The holy warriors of the anti-doping crusade have achieved the near-impossible: They have made me feel sorry for Roger Clemens. When George Mitchell's report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, requested by commissioner Bud...

The searcher: are UFOs invading Texas? Ken Cherry's looking into it.(Letter From Stephenville)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the afternoon of January 9, Ken Cherry, the 61-year-old owner of a prosperous Tarrant County securities firm, was sitting in his home office, studying various stock market reports flitting across his computer...

Child's play: 68 awesome things to do with your kids by the writers and editors of Texas Monthly.(Directory)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] URBAN ADVENTURES * Tower of the Americas San Antonio 600 Hemisfair Plaza Way, 210-207-8615 or toweroftheamericas.com * Cowtown Cattlepen Maze Fort Worth 145 E. Exchange Ave., 817-624-5666...

The night in question: who killed Border Patrol agent Jose Gamez Jr. and dumped his body in an irrigation canal thirty years ago? His partner would still like to know. And so would the people who think his partner could have been involved.(Letter From Eagle Pass)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] On April 21, 1978, Border Patrol agents Frank Lugo and Jose Gamez Jr. drove their truck down a ranch road outside Eagle Pass and settled into their evening shift along the Rio Grande. They planned to lie in wait for...

Child's play.
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * School isn't even over yet, but--we'll stick our necks out here--your kids are already acting like animals! Never fear. There's more to do than the same old trip to Six Flags or SeaWorld. Get a leg up on your...

Tower of the Americas.(WILDLIFE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... San Antonio THE FIRST TRICK IS TO PERSUADE YOUR CHILDREN TO STOP running around the landscaped areas at the base of the 750-foot tower. Nothing encourages flat-out sprints like steps, streams, and bridges. But after you round them up, head...

Babe's Chicken Dinner House, Roanoke.(DINING)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Paul and Mary Beth Vinyard cook some of the best comfort food in the state. You pick the meat--either fried chicken or chicken-fried steak--and the sides, including salad, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, and creamed corn, arrive family...

Ez's Brick Oven Grille, San Antonio.(DINING)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... The first EZ's opened in San Antonio in 1989, and with its harlequin-tiled floors, red vinyl banquettes, and ample neon lighting, it has been a family hit ever since. Mom and Dad can order homemade tortilla soup and choose from basil chicken...

Fort Worth Zoo: Fort Worth.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE OLDEST ZOO IN TEXAS is often considered the best. But it's the modern touches that have made this a prime family destination. The paths that wind through the grounds take children from the Australian Outback to...

San Antonio Missions: San Antonio.(San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, Texas)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... RULE NUMBER ONE: As a Texas parent you are required to take your family to the Alamo. But a lesser-known subsection of that rule is that your kids should also see the four other missions in San Antonio, particularly Mission San Jose, which was...

Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu temple: Stafford.
April 1, 2008... WHEN HOUSTON CALLS ITSELF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY, few really understand the depth of its bench. To wit: Drive out the Southwest Freeway (U.S. 59), exit at Kirkwood, and go south, past all the exurban detritus, until you see it on the horizon, a...

Wild About Harry's, Dallas.(DINING)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Don't expect a lot when you go to Wild About Harry's. You can buy a hot dog, a milk shake, a sundae, and some old-fashioned custard. So why, when you're in Dallas, should you and the family make this crowded little joint a can't-miss...

Phil's Icehouse, Austin.(DINING)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... As parents, no matter what we actually say regarding a particular night's menu, it is often heard as "Tonight we are having steamed green stuff, sauteed yucky mush, and a weird brown thing that is neither chicken nor tender." But the mention of...

Donkey Basketball: Throckmorton.(Police Activities League)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... SUSIE LEAL WAS SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT DONKEY BASKETBALL used to be a sort of tradition in her town of Throckmorton, so when she helped organize a fundraiser last November for the town's Police Activities League, she knew what to do. Reserve...

The Breakfast Klub, Houston.(DINING)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... This is the best Houston has to offer, not only in terms of Southern breakfasts but also in terms of the easy diversity the city prides itself on. Located just south of downtown in the burgeoning neighborhood known as Midtown, the Breakfast...

Tubing down the Frio.
April 1, 2008... THE FRIO RIVER IS APPROXIMATELY two hundred miles long, but tubers concentrate on the stretch from Leakey to Concan, a seventeen-mile-long ribbon of limestone canyons, looming cypress trees, and spring-fed waters cold enough to numb a tush in...

Great Wolf Lodge, Grapevine.(HOTELS AND RESORTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Prepare to succumb to all things "kid" when you pass through the doors of this massive resort. There's a lively animatronic display in the lobby with singing animals. There's an interactive video game called MagiQuest, which sends children all...

Elkins Ranoh: Palo Duro Canyon.(Elkins Ranch)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... IT'S A SHAME THAT MORE PEOPLE haven't made their way to Palo Duro Canyon, one of the prettiest places in the entire state. But the Elkins Ranch gives you one less excuse to miss out on the fun. You can get in touch with your inner cowboy on...

Willow Point Resort, Buchanan Dam.(HOTELS AND RESORTS)
April 1, 2008... Maybe your idea of a family getaway involves actually getting away. So if you want to ditch all those high-tech entertainments that rule your offspring's daily lives, this lakeside retreat, with eleven spick-and-span log cabins fanned along the...

Rough Creek Lodge, Glen Rose.(HOTELS AND RESORTS)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... Who says a short attention span is a bad thing? How else can a youngster make a dent in the activities offered at this 11,000-acre resort? There's fossil hunting, fly-fishing, s'mores by the campfire, horseback riding, shooting lessons, paddle...

Blue Bell Creamery: Brenham.
April 1, 2008... FORTUNATELY, THEY MAKE all they can and you eat the rest. When you tour the Blue Bell Creamery, which opened in 1907, you can't wait for the highlight that comes at the end, a complimentary scoop of the famous merchandise. But the factory tour...

The Woodlands Resort, The Woodlands.(HOTELS AND RESORTS)
April 1, 2008... With five pools, two double-helix waterslides, underwater music, scavenger hunts, a pop fountain (think random geysers), and aquatic entertainment in the summer--from balloon-twisting clowns to dive-in movies--you're going to need to check your...

Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Lost Pines.(HOTELS AND RESORTS)
April 1, 2008... Ah, Lost Pines, the place where both parents and kids can have it all: pony rides, massages, day camps, fire-lit bars, nature hikes, lazy rivers, horseshoes, and championship golf. Everything spells "getaway," even if the resort is conveniently...

Nasher Sculpture Center: Dallas.(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... AT FIRST BLUSH, A SCULPTURE CENTER seems like a terrible place for kids. They can't touch anything, they have to be quiet, and they can't touch anything. But the Nasher makes it easy: On the first Saturday of each month, it hosts a free family...

The fire that time.
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Fifteen years ago this month, the eyes of the world were focused on Mount Carmel, a tiny community outside Waco, where FBI, ATF, and local law enforcement found themselves in a headline-making standoff with the...

The final frontier: to solve the mystery of dark energy--a phenomenon that could reveal the origins of the universe--Texas astronomers need a $34 million telescope and a little bit of luck. There are only two problems: it may not be dark and it may not be energy. In fact, it may not at all.
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ONE EVENING LAST OCTOBER, A UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ASTRONOMER NAMED GARY HILL STOOD BEHIND A LECTERN AT MISS HATTIE'S CAFE AND SALOON, WHICH OCCUPIES A RESTORED NINETEENTH-CENTURY BANK BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN SAN...

Citizen cane: it happens all the time: it's been ten years since I was shot and left for dead on a trip to Mexico City. Since that fateful night, my life has not been easy. But try telling me it hasn't been blessed.(Personal account)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU'RE DRIVING ALONG, MIND ON THE POLITICAL YAMMER OF THE DAY OR WHAT YOU FORGOT TO GET AT THE GROCERY STORE, WHEN SOMEONE MAKES A MISTAKE AND EIGHT THOUSAND POUNDS OF HURTLING METAL CRASH AND COME AT LAST TO A...

Soma: Houston.(PAT'S PICK)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I THINK I JUST GOT HIT BY AN umami bomb. And I liked it. A lot. [paragraph] The place was Soma, the buzzing new Franco-Japanese restaurant on Houston's Washington Avenue. The occasion was a multicourse tasting menu...

Cafe Pita: Houston.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
April 1, 2008... It's probably safe to say that 99 out of 100 Texans--make that 999 out of 1,000--have no earthly idea what Bosnian food is like. Now they can head far, far west on Westheimer and find out. Offbeat and economical, Cafe Pita has captivated almost...

Rise no 1: Dallas.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Wow," said our male friend, pausing at the door of this comfy-cozy new place to survey the almost-all-female clientele. Luckily, said friend enjoys women's company and tearoom food, so he was happy to brave the...

The filter: dining: our favorite restaurants, bistros, cafes, and joints.(Directory)
April 1, 2008... The Filter: Dining POLICIES AND DEFINITIONS The Filter: Dining is a service to our readers. The magazine accepts no advertising or other consideration in exchange for a listing Reviews are written by resident critics in the cities that...

In a lather: I was hunting for a bargain. Instead, I found a shampoo magnate with animal magnetism.
April 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] My relentless search for The Bargain has led me to some interesting places: Black Market Alley, in Naha, Okinawa; a $99 seat on a flight from Los Angeles to Reykjavik; a shop in Singapore that made paper BMWs and...