Texas Monthly articles from February 2008

Texas Monthly archives from February 2008

Tomorrow never dies: what we can learn from the long, dubious history of predicting the future. (Hint: Don't pull a Kaempffert.).(Behind the Lines)
February 1, 2008... To mark TEXAS MONTHLY'S thirty-fifth anniversary, we turn to the future. On nearly every page in this issue you will find an attempt to fathom what life here will be like in five, ten, twenty, even forty years--what music we'll listen to, where...

Steak your claim.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... I enjoyed your story on the 38 best steakhouses in Texas ["Meat Your Maker," December 2007]. However, I was disappointed that Western Sky Steakhouse, in San Angelo, was not mentioned. I live in Kerrville, and for nearly thirty years I have been...

Drain man.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Nate Blakeslee's story "Everyone's Poop" was fascinating [December 2007]! Our nation's clean-water infrastructure has been the Rodney Dangerfield of civilized society for far too long. The U.S. is currently investing more on protecting and...

Objection!(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... Thank you for your story about Judge Sharon Keller [Reporter, Topic A, December 2007]. I have an innocent brother on death row who's been there for ten years because his case has not been fully investigated. It seems like the system...

No comprende.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... In Paul Burka's Behind the Lines ["No Nino Left Behind," December 2007], this statement was made: "Everyone in Texas understands that educating the emerging Hispanic majority is the most important challenge we face--everyone, that is, except...

Good sports.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2008... It's fashionable to be critical of academics in major college sports. It's also trendy to stereotype student-athletes. But the University of Texas addresses student-athletes as individuals, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who...

Ha-ha! We're 35!(Editor's Letter)(Texas Monthly)
February 1, 2008... Somewhere out there is a sourpuss (there's always one) who'll ask, after picking up this special issue, what the fuss is all about. And he'll have a point, sort of. Thirty-five years? Lots of publications have been around that long or longer....

Keep art here.(In the Chute)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TO SEE WHAT THE Texas art scene of tomorrow looks like, head to Inman Gallery, in Houston. Find your way to the north gallery. Look for bulbous, yellow papier-mache sculptures dangling from the ceiling. The three...

Intelligent design.(In the Chute)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE FUTURE IS happening now. Or, rather, it's being designed now, by creative upstarts and tech geeks eager to alter the way we experience the world. Bold? To say the least. Successful? Judge for yourself. The works...

Si se puede.(In the Chute)(Teatro Dallas, International Theater Festival)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TEATRO DALLAS, one of the state's most sophisticated independent theater companies, has been churning out provocative plays since 1985. And on a shoestring budget, no less, which has been a source of drama in itself:...

MystiQal Mardi Gras Parade.(Reporter)
February 1, 2008... Dallas's Victory Park morphs into a French Quarter-style street festival, with a night parade, live music, and plenty of beads. 2/2 quickdf.com/mystiqal

Texas vs. the nation.(Reporter)
February 1, 2008... Collegiate football all-stars with Texas ties square off against other top seniors from around the country in El Paso. 2/2 texasvsthenation.com

"Martin Puryear".(Reporter)
February 1, 2008... The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has assembled approximately 45 of the Minimalist master's sculptures for this retrospective. 2/24-5/18, themodern.org

Leap year festival.(Reporter)
February 1, 2008... Eat a slice of birthday cake in Anthony, the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World, even if you weren't born on February 29. 2/28-3/2 leapyearcapital.com

Robots.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD TELL YOU ABOUT ...)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NAME: David Hanson AGE: 38 HOMETOWN: Dallas QUALIFICATIONS: Founder and chief scientist of Hanson Robotics, in Richardson, which designs human-looking robots / Inventor of Frubber, a lifelike robotic skin / Will...

Nan Hall Linke, 64 astrologer.(The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 TO 5)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The future represents the unknown, and the unknown is frightening to a lot of people. They want a little bit of predictability in their lives. That's why people come to see me. They want to know what's going to...

Lakewood Church, Servicio en Espanol.(Faith Bases)
February 1, 2008... Houston | December 9, 2007 By now, most people who pay attention to such things know that Houston's Lakewood Church, led by Joel Osteen, draws more than 42,000 souls to four worship services every weekend at the former Compaq Center. But...

The new conservative: my greening begins.(Green Guinea Pig)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To be perfectly honest, I've never been much more than an armchair environmentalist. Sure, I had some tree-hugging inclinations in college, when I participated in a protest to block the removal of some oaks on the...

All your movie are belong to us: when fanboys take over film culture.(Hollywood, TX)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The year is 2028. The setting is any multiplex in Texas. You've come with your family to check out Hollywood's latest offerings, and you're considering the choices. On one screen is Robert Rodriguez and Frank...

Who's next: a new Selena? Another Willie?(Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Willie Nelson)(Discussion)
February 1, 2008... PANELISTS: CHARLES ATTAL, 40 Concert promoter, festival booker, and talent buyer with C3 Presents, the Austin company behind the Austin City Limits Music Festival, Chicago's Lollapalooza, and shows at venues such as the House of Blues...

Bruce Sterling.(Interview)
February 1, 2008... The Brownsville native and longtime Austinite has spent most of his adult life contemplating the future: A progenitor of the scruffy cyberpunk fiction movement (he edited the short-story anthology Mirror shades and co-authored The Difference...

New Chinatown, Houston: our state's Asian population is the second-fastest growing in the country. This is ground zero.(Street Smart: A QUICKIE GUIDE TO ...)(Directory)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1 Yes, LEE'S SANDWICHES hails from California, but that just means it's a spot where you can experience Melting Pot America in its myriad glory. Your order is called in Vietnamese and English; it's a little like...

Twin wells: chapter two: the mustang room.(Tequisite Corpse: A STORY IN TWELVE PARTS AND TWELVE VOICES)(Short story)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Clay Baldwin spent the better part of an hour in the bank, watching the bureaucratic fidget wheels slowly turn. It was like Twin Wells had never seen a traveler's check before. Now that the commotion with Joe Newby...

Diana Natalicio.(Texas Monthly Talks)(Interview)
February 1, 2008... "If we can't compete for top-notch faculty who are going to do research, who are going to have doctoral students, who are active professionally, our undergraduate students will get an education, but it won't be the kind that will enable them to...

35 People who will shape our future.(The List)(Cover story)(Company overview)
February 1, 2008... Albert Einstein once told an interviewer, "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough." None of the individuals on the following pages would likely disagree. They're all hard at work in the present, producing films and music festivals,...

Will to power: how is a ponytailed former aclu executive reforming the troubled Texas youth commission? By helping one inmate at a time.(Nate Blakeslee)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Will Harrell entered the grounds of the Giddings State School, a high-security youth lockup in Central Texas, and immediately drove off-road, steering his shiny black Jeep along the facility's fenced perimeter. When...

Army of one: with an unpopular war overseas and an embarrassing scandal at home, the military turned to an outsider to shape its future. For Pete Geren, it's the mission of a lifetime.
February 1, 2008... On a bleak December morning nearly thirty years ago, shortly before my bridal procession at Houston's Holy Ghost Catholic Church, I had murder, not matrimony, on my mind. Specifically, that of my betrothed. As friends and family had begun...

El Gobernador: the question isn't whether we'll elect a Hispanic to lead Texas. It's whom, and from which party, and how quickly Jai Alai's loss will be our gain.
February 1, 2008... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TODAY, RAFAEL ANCHIA--THE SUBJECT OF THIS HYPOTHETICAL STORY FROM THE December 2018 issue of TEXAS MONTHLY--is a state legislator from Dallas. One term on the Dallas school board and two in the...

The gospel according to Matthew.(Matthew R. Simmons)(Interview)
February 1, 2008... For than twenty years, an extremely successful Houston investment banker has been trying to convince the world that end (of oil) is night. Now that people are finally starting to listen, is it too late [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

The last drop.(Company overview)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The good news is that Texas has an incredibly detailed plan for how to deal with the looming shortfalls in every one of its major urban areas. The bad news is that you can't drink a plan. 09.15.2035...

Eat their words: we wanted to know Texas dining would look like in the few years, so we asked the biggest names in food--the state's leading chefs, restaurateurs, cookbook authors, and then like--to tell us what we'll be having for dinner.
February 1, 2008... IN A HIGHLY UNSCIENTIFIC SURVEY, WE SENT A TWENTY-ITEM QUESTIONNAIRE to some 75 chefs and other movers and shakers in the Texas food world to ask what dining will be like as the twenty-first century unfolds. More than 50 responded, and here's a...

The class of 2017.
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We wanted to know what Texas will be like in the future, so we asked the next generation of doctors, schoolteachers, superstar athletes, construction workers, and stay-at-home morns. We crisscrossed the state...

The Skinny on obesity.(Comic)(Cartoon)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I'M COMPTROLLER SUSAN COMBS. WHEN THEY SAY EVERYTHING'S BIGGER IN TEXAS, THEY'RE NOT KIDDING. WE HAVE FOUR OF THE TEN MOST OBESE CITIES IN THE COUNTRY, AND NEARLY TWO THIRDS OF OUR ADULT POPULATION 15 OVERWEIGHT OR...

Au Petit Paris.(PAT'S PICK)(Restaurant review)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Houston IF I CLOSE MY EYES TIGHT, I can still taste the cloudlike custard filling of Au Petit Paris's tartelette de tomates confit, with its milky hint of mozzarella and sweet, delicate bits of tomato; the warm,...

Cafe Central.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
February 1, 2008... El Paso What's new at venerable Cafe Central? The decor, for one thing. The border stalwart has shed its animal-print upholstery and New York-bistro lookin favor of a classic redo, with sleek chocolate-brown chairs, chrome sculptures,...

Sagra.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Austin Not exactly a shoestring operation but hardly a big-bucks venture either, Sagra has opened in the cozy little central Austin house where Mars once held sway. The theme is Italian--the word sagra means...

The filter: dining.(Directory)
February 1, 2008... 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 we list and are updated every three months. The...

Geezer nation: give me your old, your arthritic, your wrinkled masses yearning to be in bed by eight.
February 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Texas attracted 6.8 percent of America's migrant retirees in the 2005 data, up from 4.8 percent in 2000. Florida's share is much higher but shrinking. It drew 16.6 percent of retirees in 2005, down from 19.1 percent...