Texas Monthly articles from February 2007

Texas Monthly archives from February 2007

Animal house: now that Tom Craddick has beaten back a wild and woolly challenge to his leadership, it's time for him to be a good Speaker.(Behind the Lines)
February 1, 2007... Before I pick over the details of the race for Speaker, let me remind you of a column I wrote four years ago about the guy who had just won the job, Tom Craddick. I had gotten to know Craddick pretty well over the years, had even gone out to...

Shell shock.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... I would like to thank you for an article that has mapped out my 2007 New Year's resolution: to try as many tacos as possible on your "The Greatest Tacos Ever Sold" list [December 2006]. Heather Segrest AUSTIN My submission for the...

Meat, in the middle.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... Thank you for your recent article on the slaughter of American horses for consumption by the French and other foreign markets ["Eating a Dead Horse," December 2006]. As mayor of Kaufman, where one of the three foreign-owned plants in the U.S....

Passion for the Christ.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... Christopher Kelly scoffs at The Nativity Story for being deliberately inoffensive and for not challenging our "preconceived notions" of "antiquated biblical stories" [Reporter, Hollywood, TX, "Immaculate Misconception," December 2006]. Don't...

Road warrior.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... The simple, logical, devastating information of "His Way or the Highway," by Paul Burka, needs to be read and reread by every Texan [Behind the Lines, December 2006]. Texas is headed for a transportation disaster via the alluring but seriously...

Two schools left behind.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2007... Your article "The Best Public Schools" made no mention of Tornillo Elementary School [December 2006]. This campus is the only two-time exemplary-rated campus in Region 19. Every campus your article did list from this region was rated...

Nobody but Craddick.(Brian McCall, Tom Craddick)
February 1, 2007... "If you're going to shoot the king, you'd better kill the king." That's what famous blogger and occasional journalist Paul Burka, our senior executive editor, told me on the phone the morning of Saturday, December 23, as I was huffing and...

Topic A: library science: some pointers for George W. on how to display his legacy.(Reporter 02.07)
February 1, 2007... Dear Mr. President: After months of speculation, I see that you have practically settled on Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, as the site for your presidential library and museum. You can't help what people will say about your...

Throwing a party.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)(Jackson Hicks )
February 1, 2007... NAME: Jackson Hicks AGE:60 HOMETOWN: Houston QUALIFICATIONS: Society event planner and caterer for :26 years/Has staged galas, balls, and dinners for hosts like Ann Richards, Nellie Connally, Dominique de Menil, Lynn Wyatt, and George and...

We beg his pardon: how the president forgives us our trespasses.(FAQ: BRIAN D. SWEANY ON THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY)
February 1, 2007... President Bush recently granted a new batch of pardons. Were any Texans on the list? On December 21 the president pardoned sixteen people for crimes ranging from bootlegging to conspiracy to defraud the United States. Only one person was from...

It's showtime!(Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: Part VII: STORIES FROM SOUTH BY TONNYRE THOMAS JOE)
February 1, 2007... And in Texas, quite literally: Not only is the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo already in progress, but the San Antonio show will also take place starting February 1. Then you have the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the largest livestock...

Mission San Jose: San Antonio / November 19, 2006.(Faith Bases: WILLIAM MARTIN REVIEWS OUR PLACES OF WORSHIP)
February 1, 2007... For some, the strength of liturgical worship is its dependable sameness. For others, the weakness of liturgical worship is its dependable sameness. As a member of the latter category, I was pleased to learn that the noon service at San...

Eating myself alive.(Minister of Health: JIM ATKINSON CURES WHAT AILS US)
February 1, 2007... I'm a big believer in New Year's resolutions. Nine years ago I decided to quit smoking, and while it took me a few months, in March of 1998 I stamped out my last butt. At the same time, I resolved not to gain any weight after giving up...

Failed coup: Dan Rather Reports does little to revolutionize television news.(Hollywood, TX: CHRISTOPHER KELLY ON OUR STATE OF ENTERTAINMENT)
February 1, 2007... Talk about strange bedfellows: On the one side there was Dan Rather, the septuagenarian newsman whose 44-year career at CBS ended in ignominy after the airing of an improperly vetted 60 Minutes report about President George W. Bush's military...

Lucinda Williams.(West)(Sound recording review)
February 1, 2007... LUCINDA WILLIAMS'S music is evocative in a way others can't touch. It's not only the fragility and ache in her voice but also her economy of language, with its declarative simplicity that cuts to the heart. A perfect album is a rarity, yet...

Ruthie Foster.(Sound recording review)
February 1, 2007... Those lucky enough to have caught RUTHIE FOSTER live, particularly years back when she sat in with the Austin gospel act the Imperial Golden Crown Harmonizers, know something her albums have never fully betrayed: She's a stone soul singer who's...

Norah Jones.(Sound recording review)
February 1, 2007... Sell 20 million of your debut album and you suddenly bring a little clout to the table. No one has wielded hers more curiously than NORAH JONES, who followed her elegant Arif Mardin-produced 2002 triumph with a reluctant shrug: a...

Patty Griffin.(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... Austin chanteuse Patty Griffin is known for her deeply introspective music, yet her new album, Children Running Through (ATO), is joyous and fun. You seem to change moods from album to album. Are you easily bored? Yeah, I can't stand...

Rollergirl: Totally True Tales from the Track.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2007... ROLLERGIRL: TOTALLY TRUE TALES FROM THE TRACK, the memoir from Austin roller derby star MELISSA "MELICIOUS" JOULWAN, proves the cliche: You really can't judge a book by its cover. In this case, a photo of two leggy skaters in the miniest of...

Lost Echoes.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2007... In his newest genre-bending thriller, LOST ECHOES, six-time Brain Stoker Award winner JOE R. LANSDALE writes, as always, with the ease of a man born to the task. Meet young Harry Wilkes, of Mud Creek, who hears "dark sounds" from violent events...

Chasing Justice.(Brief article)(Book review)
February 1, 2007... As a Texas death row inmate trying to prove himself innocent of a rape and murder in Tyler, KERRY MAX COOK was reminded of his fate every time another con made the death walk. CHASING JUSTICE is a hellish tour of a criminal justice system whose...

Ravi Batra.
February 1, 2007... In The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution Against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos, the best-selling author and Southern Methodist University professor of economics expounds on corruption and the keys to global prosperity. Can...

Bedtime story.(Buy This Now: AMY PRINCE ON THE THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT)
February 1, 2007... There are two main schools of thought when it comes to after-hours dressing (especially on the evening of February 14): archetypal tart or minimalist androgyne. Corsetry houses such as Victoria's Secret, Frederick's of Hollywood, and Agent...

Central Waco: a secret haven of high fashion, fine dining, and White House VIPs.(Street Smarts: A QUICKIE GUIDE TO ...)
February 1, 2007... [1] Think you can't find high fashion in Waco? BELLA A., a funky boutique outside downtown, is packed with Louise Hedley, Betsey Johnson, and other hip labels popular among the Us Weekly celebutantes. (The welcome mat is out, says owner Alison...

Joe Ely.(Texas Monthly Talks: EVAN SMITH SITS DOWN WITH ...)(Interview)
February 1, 2007... February is a big month for you. You turn sixty. You have a book out and a record about to come out, and it's exactly thirty years since your first record was released. How's all that sitting with you? Well, you know, it's been a busy...

Bedside manners: I was taught to tap and thump my patients and listen for the sounds of sickness and health. But this is fast becoming a lost art, and that's bad for everyone.
February 1, 2007... When it was time to hang pictures in our new house in San Antonio, my wife asked me to buy a stud finder. As a husband I demurred; as an internist I flat-out refused. We internists make it our business to divine the stutters and stumbles of...

Tex-Mex and the city: the knock-down, drag-out battle to save Las Manitas has really been a battle to save Austin's soul--assuming, of course, a city's soul can be saved.
February 1, 2007... It reached full-bore Austin angst in one blinding flash. The date was July 19, 2006, and Richard Suttle Jr., a lawyer who represents some of the city's most powerful developers, had slipped in among the luncheon crowd at Las Manitas, Austin's...

Eeeeeeaaaaoooowww!!! Twelve hours, 500 miles, 2,000 tires, 7,000 gallons of gas, 20,000 Dale Earnhardt Jr. shirts, 16,000 hot dogs, and an inland sea of light beer: my fearless voyage into the 34,000-horsepower heart of NASCAR, Texas.(Cover story)
February 1, 2007... 7:15 AM I'M SITTING AT AN INTERSECTION IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST parking lots, watching an impatient crossing guard cope with the early stages of one of the world's largest traffic jams, which is forming in front of the Texas Motor...

Check mates: following in the footsteps of sports' greatest rivals, two world-class chess players from Brownville have been battling each other since kindergarten. They've both won state and national championships. They're both ranked in the top five in the country. And they're both in the fourth grade.
February 1, 2007... One of the most remarkable chess players in Texas is a fourth-grader from Brownsville named Fernando. He was the 2006 national and state co-champion. He was one of only two dozen children under the age of ten in the United States to be invited...

Where to eat now 2007: the best new restaurants of the year are whipping up everything from beef short ribs and pork tenderloin to sea bass and roasted duck. And the snails are going fast.(Restaurant review)
February 1, 2007... People are forever cornering me at parties and asking, "What's your favorite new restaurant?" That question is on my mind especially at this time of year, when we publish our annual roundup of the top new places to dine. Sometimes when asked I...

The beating of Billy Ray Johnson: on a Saturday night three years ago, a mentally disabled black man from Linden was taken to a party filled with white kids half his age. A few hours later, he was dumped by the side of the road, bleeding and unconscious. But of all the crimes that were committed, none was worse than how the small East Texas town responded--and who were considered the victims.
February 1, 2007... DAYBREAK WAS STILL MORE THAN AN HOUR away on the morning of September 28, 2003, when Cass County sheriff's deputy John Elder turned down Old Dump Road. Above the tree line, the sky was moonless and dark. Cass County is pressed deep into the...

North toward dome: from the deep recesses of the basement to the fourth floor and beyond (off-limits to the likes of me and you), there are lots of cool things to see at the Capitol that the uniformed guides won't show you. My highly subjective tour of the state's grandest building starts ... now.
February 1, 2007... Back in the fifties, when Texas was still a Democratic state and the party's conservative and liberal wings fought bitter battles over issues like segregation and labor unions, it was often said that the Capitol, with its high ceilings and tall...

Grill at Leon Springs: San Antonio.(PAT'S PICK)
February 1, 2007... IT'S A LITTLE EMBARRASSING TO admit this, but I'm a sucker for off-the-wall restaurants. Just say "Tasmanian-Eskimo-Zulu vegan fusion" within earshot of me and I'll be making reservations in a flash. This strange condition is something that...

New + noteworthy: lump crab in Blanco and Houston; crab dip in El Paso.(The Filter: Dining: OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANTS, BISTROS, CAFES, AND JOINTS)(Restaurant review)
February 1, 2007... Blanco UPTOWN BLANCO ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT RESTAURANT Just when we were mourning the closure of Blanco's Hardscrabble Cafe, along comes this welcome replacement. Replete with a pressed-tin ceiling and hardwood floors, it occupies one...

Museum of fine arts: Houston.(JORDAN'S PICK)(Concert review)
February 1, 2007... Houston IMAGINE THAT SOCIALITE Anne Bass is remodeling her closet, and instead of putting her couture dresses in storage, she's sending them to you for safekeeping. If that seems far-fetched, consider a comparably extravagant loan...

Party on.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... GALVESTON In 1985 millionaire and native son George P. Mitchell resurrected for good the city's historic on-again, off-again love affair with the pre-Lenten bacchanalia now known in these parts as Mardi Gras! Galveston. Long considered one of...

Leading man.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Sidney Poitier)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... HOUSTON As an actor and a director, Sidney Poitier has certainly been memorable, but he's perhaps most impressive in person. The leading man comes to Texas this month as the second speaker of the Brilliant Lecture Series (Queen Noor of Jordan...

He's got the blues.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... DALLAS In more than sixty songs, the musical "Blind Lemon Blues" examines the life of twenties blues-man Blind Lemon Jefferson, who played on the street corners of Dallas's Deep Ellum before being discovered by a Paramount Records scout, making...

Don't mess with Texas.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... EL PASO If there's anything that Texans like more than their beloved football, it's a good rivalry. This month kicks off the brand-new Texas vs. the Nation collegiate all-star game, which satisfies both obsessions. The premise for this...

Sounds of music.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
February 1, 2007... FORTH WORTH The craze for all things organic leaps from the grocery store to the concert hall this month with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's performance of composer Tan Dun's Paper Concerto. This four-part opus is au naturel, with the...

House of style.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Texas Fashion Collection)(Cristobal Balenciaga)
February 1, 2007... DALLAS If you think The Devil Wears Prada is a horror flick, you're probably equally unfamiliar with the name Cristobal Balenciaga. A grand master of haute couture, the Spanish designer was known in his heyday (the very stylish fifties and...

Run for your life.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
February 1, 2007... AUSTIN, FORT WORTH The marathon is named for Pheidippides, a Greek soldier who ran roughly 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce his countrymen's defeat of the Persians. Today, throngs of runners gather at races across the globe to run...

Glass menagerie.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
February 1, 2007... HOUSTON Influential does not mean universally beloved. Consider Philip Glass, the prolific composer of operas, symphonies, string quartets, film scores, concertos, requiems, and... you get the picture. He's been called a minimalist (which he...

Saddle up.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo )(Brief article)
February 1, 2007... HOUSTON Any event that's as distinguished and as popular as the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo doesn't need much of an introduction. With upward of 1.6 million folks clogging Loop 610 every year to get to the auctions, the midway diversions,...

Tour De Farce: don't bring your kid! And other things parents should know when It's time to visit college campuses.
February 1, 2007... As a Texas morn, I always assumed that college would be ano-brainer. If you wanted your child to get a world-class education, you sent him to the University of Texas. If you wanted him to have unnatural congress with barnyard animals, it was...