Texas Monthly articles from August 2005

Texas Monthly archives from August 2005

Adios, mofos: in a month's time, Rick Perry has held off his most serious primary challenge and forced the Legislature's hand on taxes and school finance. Hey, he might be a leader after all.(Behind the LINES)
August 1, 2005... Rick Perry bade his now-famous farewell to a TV reporter, but the governor might as well have said it to all of his critics--Kay Bailey Hutchison, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Kinky Friedman, Tom Craddick, David Dewhurst, the media, the Democrats,...

Devils advocate.(Roar of the CROWD)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... As a landowner of Devils River property for 75 years, I can assure you, Mr. Gwynne, that the only reason the Devils River is the pure and pristine river it is today is because of those ornery landowners, who were, and still are, trying their...

Firing squad.(Roar of the CROWD)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... As I was reading "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" [June 2005], I had these pleasant visions of Ted Nugent and Tom DeLay going hunting and mistaking each other for a charging Cape buffalo or hippo. Erwin Franke PAHRUMP, NEVADA You are...

Cost of living.(Roar of the CROWD)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Boone Piekens does want to sell water [TEXAS MONTHLY Talks, June 2005]. What you need to ask is, How much? How fast? When and if Mr. Pickens does start pumping out those water wells with a big-business attitude, the water table will fall faster...

Muy bien.(Roar of the CROWD)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Thank you, Oscar Casarcs, for putting a humorous spin on your experiences growing up in a bilingual world ["Se Habla Espanol," June 2005]. My parents' decision to speak only English in our household was based on the fact that there were...

DeLay tactics.(Roar of the CROWD)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... Your cleverly titled hatred of Tom Delay on the cover ["Sleazy Does It! Take the Tom Delay Ethics Test," June 2005] has only fueled my forgiveness of his many shortcomings. Ron Moran HOUSTON Tom DeLay is no saint--he's just a...

08.08.05.(August: PEOPLE, PLACES, EVENTS, ATTRACTIONS)(John Irving works)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Inprint Brown Reading Series has invited a writer whose penchant for eccentricity, outspokenness, and outlandishness (in print at least) equals that of his host city. JOHN IRVING, that master of...

Around the state.(texas travel guide)
August 1, 2005... WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY KEY (W) The place is accessible to wheelchairs: The main entrance is at least 32 inches wide and there are no steps; restrooms, however, are not accessible. (W+) The place and its restrooms are accessible. ...

Always on my mind.(COMING ATTRACTIONS: The month in Elvis)(Elvis Presley impersonators show)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Every Elvis fan has his or her reasons for being so, well, enthusiastic. Why does Los Fresnos resident Simon Vega hold two Elvis memorial festivals--in January to mark the King's birth and this month to mark his August 16, 1977, demise? First,...

It's good to be the king.(COMING ATTRACTIONS: The month in Elvis)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Identity theft may be a criminal offense, but for Elvis Presley tribute artist Donnie Roberts, it's a way of life. On August 8 the Austinite will head to Las Vegas and vie for a spot in a worldwide reality-TV contest for the best Elvis...

He's left the building: where else to commemorate that other day the music died.(COMING ATTRACTIONS: The month in Elvis)
August 1, 2005... Dallas: Don your best sequined bell-bottoms and warm up for the 5K Elvis Run on August 13 with a few pelvis thrusts and air guitar riffs. No blue-suede running shoes? Check out the area's best impersonators and a classic-car show of sweet...

Midland.(ON THE ROAD: Three reasons to get in your car and go)(Big Sky drive in theater outing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Remember that first kiss on the bench seat of your sweetheart's car as the tide swelled over Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity? Or kicking back in the family station wagon with a blanket and a bucket of popcorn? Yes, the...

Baby, you can drive my car.(ON THE ROAD: Three reasons to get in your car and go)(Stars and Stripes drive in theatres outing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... Want more Chihuahua? The Stars and Stripes, in Lubbock (above), also serves the sandwich, thanks to drive-in family connections: Owner Ryan Smith is Skeet Noret's grandson. For historic ambience, settle in before sunset at San Antonio's...

Port Isabel.(ON THE ROAD: Three reasons to get in your car and go)(Lighthouse new vision)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... A century after its last use as a navigational beacon, the Port Isabel Lighthouse has been reenvisioned as an outdoor cinema. So find yourself some summer loving on August 12, when the 72-foot tower's stark white facade will serve as the...

Archer City.(ON THE ROAD: Three reasons to get in your car and go)(automobile travel )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... You'll want a reliable vehicle and maybe a brake check for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema's latest movie-watching venture: the 2005 Rolling Roadshow Tour. The Austin-based company, known for the wacky stunts it pulls on its customers (inner-tube...

"Friedman's just another word for nothing left to lose": on the gubernatorial campaign trail with Kinky.(Reporter: LETTER FROM GALVESTON)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... The business card of the only announced independent candidate for governor reads "Kinky Friedman is allowed to walk on the grounds unattended. If found elsewhere, contact:" and then gives his home address and phone number in Medina. Fittingly...

Encyclopedia Texanica: Anne Dingus solves the state's greatest mysteries.(Reporter)
August 1, 2005... Q: I say Mickey Mantle was born in Commerce, which is why he was once dubbed the Commerce Comet. But friends claim he isn't even a native Texan. A: Nice of you to go to bat for Mantle, but it's a swing and a miss. The switch-hitter and...

The Outsider.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... RODNEY CROWELL, the talented Houston-born songwriter who began recording in the late seventies, has followed an uneven road to success. At times he's sounded adrift or bored, trapped by the "progressive country" parameters he imposed on...

Body Scissors.(novel by Michael Simon)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... The year is 1991, the city is Austin, and a youngblack girl is killed by a stray bullet meant for her political activist mother, Virginia Key. So opens BODY SCISSORS (Viking), the notable second thriller from MICHAEL SIMON featuring the Capital...

Cost of Living.(Delbert Mcclinton music albums)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... "Dependable" is a goodword for DELBERT MCCLINTON's music. After thirty years and eighteen albums, there aren't a whole lot of surprises; few artists have stuck so tenaciously to their guns. Here's why: McClinton's seamless splicing of blues,...

The Rogues' Game.(book by Milton T. Burton)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... Aspiring writers embarking on their first caper novel will find much to emulate in THE ROGUES' GAME (St. Martin's), a rollicking debut by Tyler's MILTON T. BURTON. It features all the excitement that a 1947 West Texas oil town can muster: a...

Funky Funky Houston.(band music)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2005... If you were of the first to latch on to Archie Bell and the Drells' "Tighten Up" back in 1968, you probably bought the 45 on the tiny Ovide label. When the single took off, Atlantic Records stepped in, and thanks in no small part to the sale of...

In Perfect Light.(novel by Benjamin A. Saenz)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... El Paso's BENJAMIN ALIRE SAENZ doesn't do easy. Death, racism, child molestation, and U.S.-Mexico border issues are just a few of the topics he grazes in his dignified but heart-wrenching novel IN PERFECT LIGHT. Meet Andres Segovia and Grace...

Curt Schilling is a nerd: and I should know. I play an online computer game with the Red Sox pitcher every night.(AS TOLD TO: Stories from Texans in their own words.)
August 1, 2005... I'm a senior at the University of Texas, studying to become a high school math teacher. But when my work is done, usually late at night, I play a computer game called EverQuest II. It's called a massively multiplayer online game; the point is...

Home buyer beware: how a new state agency of the builders, by the builders, and for the builders makes it harder for you to sue, yes, your builder.
August 1, 2005... In the good old days, if you scrimped and saved and bought your dream home in Texas, you could sleep easy at night knowing that the roof over your head was protected by a common-sense legal doctrine. Known as an implied warranty of...

Let me call you sweet-tart: if you're lucky, you'll find an old-fashioned soda fountain that will make you a cherry lime. It will make your summer day.
August 1, 2005... It was a typical Texas summer morning--sun shining, birds singing, people melting--when I ran into a young friend at the farmers' market. She was clutching that essential seasonal accessory, a cold canned drink, which happened to be one of the...

All the pretty corpses: Cormac McCarthy's latest--part blood-drenched crime spree, part dark meditation on the state of the world--grabs hold of you and won't let go.(No Country for Old Men novel by Cormac McCarthy)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... I'll never forget the moment I received my advance review copy of Cormac McCarthy's long-awaited novel No Country for Old Men (Knopf). It was all shiny and new, and the countdown clock on cormacmccarthy.com showed 109 days, 15 hours, 17...

Edward E. Whitacre Jr.: the 63-year-old chairman and CEO of SBC Communications on merging with AT&T, landlines versus cell phones, and the evils of regulation (imagine that).(Texas Monthly Talks)(Interview)
August 1, 2005... How do you feel coming out of a legislative session in which SBC sought so much and got so little? It's a huge disappointment. Our industry has changed. Technology has changed. We have so many more competitors--cable companies are providing...

Prime Minister.(Joel Osteen works on Christianity)(Cover Story)
August 1, 2005... JOEL OSTEEN'S Houston gigachurch has a congregation of more than 30,000. His television show is the highest-rated religious broadcast in the country. His first book has already sold nearly three million copies. How did the former TV producer...

Grease: most of us were practically weaned on chicken-fried steak, but why limit yourself to a tough cut of meat when there's a brave new world of cowboy cooking out there? Please pass the chicken-fried bacon. And lobster. And foie gras. And ...
August 1, 2005... IT IS SAID THAT YOU CAN MAKE anything taste good if you batter and fry it. I cannot confirm this for sure, because there are still some foods prepared this way that I have not sampled--but not many. I've been eating my way around the state to...

Borderline insanity: in what is shaping up to be the deadliest year in Nuevo Laredo's history, 77 people have died in Mexico's drug cartel turf war. Now the violence is seeping into Texas.
August 1, 2005... IT WAS DUSK ONE EVENING IN FEBRUARY when Alejandro Dominguez Coello lit a series of cigarettes and philosophized about Nuevo Laredo's crime problems in his raspy smoker's voice. Except for a phone book, a coffee mug, a bottle of Tylenol, a...

Ten ways to fix Texas.(school property taxation policies)
August 1, 2005... BY NOW THERE CAN'T BE MANY SOULS IN TEXAS WHO REMAIN unaware of the Legislature's long record of failing to lower school property taxes. At least with lawmakers back at the Capitol to address the problem, there is cause for optimism. Elsewhere...

My name is Jonathan Moss.(A Soldier's STORY PART I)
August 1, 2005... By the time you read this, I'll have only a couple months before i leave for Iraq. On May 26 I was called back to active duty after a year in the Reserves. This will be my second trip in this war; my first was with the Fourth Infantry Division...

Pat's pick: Nobu.(August: RESTAURANTS, CAFES, BISTROS, JOINTS)(restaurant review)(Brief Article)(Restaurant Review)
August 1, 2005... Dine at the right time, get the right server, and order the right things, and you can have a dazzling meal at Dallas's very own Nobu, an outpost of renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa's eponymous restaurant empire. I, for one, liked my seared toro...

The dining guide.(restaurant review)(Restaurant Review)
August 1, 2005... POLICIES AND DEFINITIONS The Dining Guide 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 we list. The reviewers'...

Persimmon flan.(OFF THE MENU: How to make the perfect ...)(Recipes and menus)
August 1, 2005... Few things in the plant world are more mouth-puckeringly bitter than an unripe persimmon--and few things are more gloriously flavorful than a ripe one, which all but melts to a mellow custard inside its glossy orange skin. The season for...

Permission: impossible: after handing out slips in the attendance office of a giant public high school, I just might need an unexcused absence myself.
August 1, 2005... Blacksmithing? Are our children studying blacksmithing? Are they lugging around their own personal anvils in those spine-crippling backpacks? Who knows? Do any of us really know what goes on during those seven, eight, nine hours a day when we...