Texas Monthly articles from July 2007

Texas Monthly archives from July 2007

Everything is illuminated: ever wonder how and why we choose our best and worst legislators? (And why it always smells like someone's cooking sausage?).(Behind the Lines)
July 1, 2007... The impulse to make best and worst lists is sown in the nature of man. By the time my firstborn had reached the age of three, she had established her own pecking order for McDonald's, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. If you walk into any high...

Failure to launch.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... Your May story on Lisa Nowak and NASA was disappointing to say the least, not only because you linked her lurid story to an otherwise august organization but mostly because of the assumptive errors made by S.C. Gwynne ["Lust in Space"]. Here...

War stories.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... On behalf of naval officers everywhere, thanks for following the odious story of Captain Nowak with the heroic stories of Commanders Carlos Brown, Christian Clark, and David Junker ["Carlos Brown Is a Hero (No Matter What He Says)," May 2007]....

Bad medicine.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... Abraham Verghese's flack ["None-A-Day," May 2007] comes straight from the mouth of Big Pharma, which has launched a massive disinformation campaign against alternative medicine in general and medicinal supplements in particular. Big Pharma's...

The born identity.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2007... In your interview with Governor Rick Perry, you state that he was born in 1980 [Texas Monthly Talks, May 2007]. You also state that he "retired" from the Air Force after serving only five years. Neither is remotely possible. Tony R. Bell...

Editors' note.(Roar of the Crowd)(Correction notice)
July 1, 2007... You are correct, on both counts. Perry was in fact born in1950, and in1977he was honorably discharged from the Air Force, after five years of service. We regret the errors.

I'm with the brand.(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)
July 1, 2007... I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but the worm finally turned sometime in the past year or two on the question of whether a magazine can survive without a Web site. For awhile, I suppose, you didn't necessarily need one, though we've been...

Topic A: it ain't no picnic: Willie Nelson takes his fourth of July party elsewhere.(Reporter 07.07)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Just as in spring the thoughts of young men turn to baseball, in the summer--specifically with the approach of Independence Day--the thoughts of good Texans turn to Willie Nelson and his Fourth of July Picnic. But this year Abbott's favorite...

Making ice cream.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)(Interview)
July 1, 2007... NAME: Paul W. Kruse AGE: 52 HOMETOWN: Brenham QUALIFICATIONS: CEO and president of Blue Bell Creameries, which celebrates its one-hundredth anniversary this year/Grandson of former company manager E. F. Kruse * We eat ice cream every day...

Bronx cheer: why you hate Roger Clemens.(The Cheap Seats: BRYAN CURTIS POPS OFF ABOUT SPORTS)
July 1, 2007... By now, Houston Astros fans have become well versed in the art of self-pity, and when a great ballplayer leaves town--Randy Johnson, Carlos Beltran--the collective ughhhh unleashed on sports radio and the Internet is something majestic to...

Blast that rocket: is there hope for the Stros?(The Cheap Seats: BRYAN CURTIS POPS OFF ABOUT SPORTS)(Houston Astros)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Some happy news for Houston: The National League's Central Division is so motley that the beleaguered Actors blend right in. A little mid-season nudge and who knows--maybe even a Rocket-less club can contend. The pitching staff has been solid,...

"Somebody and Sons.".(Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: Part XII: STORIES FROM SOUTH TEXAS)
July 1, 2007... That's the blueprint name you see for a whole slew of businesses--the implication being, of course, that it falls to the men to ensure survival of a family's trade. But, as you well know, that's hardly been the case at the Thomas Ranch. Given...

First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth: April 29, 2007.(Faith Bases)
July 1, 2007... Where have all the young folks gone? And if they haven't left, how can the churches hold on to them? The best solution seems to be to incorporate them into the life and teachings of the church--or synagogue, mosque, or temple--as early as...

The Texanist: offering fine advice since 2007.(Interview)
July 1, 2007... Q: I was born and raised in Texas until age eight and then moved to Pittsburgh, after which I went to college in Arizona. Now living and working in New York City, I am confused as to the proper answer when asked, "Where are you from?" Kate...

This just in: Making News: Texas Style is one of our best reality shows yet.(Hollywood, TX)
July 1, 2007... Imagine a new mockumentary in the tradition of Waiting for Guffman, a behind-the-scenes peek at a CBS affiliate in the 159th-largest media market in the country. The station's studio is located inside a shopping mall in Odessa, right next to a...

We interrupt this rerurn: catch up on the real Texas this summer.(Hollywood, TX)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Any crash course on our state's reality TV programming should begin with Cheaters: Sure, it's tawdry and obnoxious, but where else can you witness screaming matches and hair-pulling catfights set against the backdrop of the Dallas Fort Worth...

GA GA GA GA GA.
July 1, 2007... If you're one of the suits in the music biz, you're telling the members of Austin's SPOON, reigning kings of the indie rock world, that it's time to reach for the fabled brass ring of pop stardom. You know, the big radio hit. Crossover....

There's No Home.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Warming up to the new breed of "freak folk" takes practice. Spearheaded by the likes of Will Oldham and Houston-born Devendra Banhart, the movement--made up of young acoustic artists--is inward-focused, solipsistic, and unabashedly psychedelic;...

Translated From Love.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... For Austin chanteuse KELLY WILLIS, it's been five years and three children since she last released a solo album. Trading Dobros for diapers didn't dull her instincts; Willis' sumptuous voice retains a hunger that elevates even the most...

Ramesh Srivastava.(Voxtrot)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... From the moment Voxtrot first put its driving Europop on the Internet, the Austin band--and its frontman--became a sensation. After a series of EPs, the group has finally, five years after forming, released its first full-length album, Voxtrot...

Heartbreak Town.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... MARSHA MOYER'S whip-smart storytelling elevates the amiable chick lit of her third Lucy Hatch book, HEARTBREAK TOWN, well above the genre. When we last saw Lucy, she and singer-songwriter husband Ash had moved to Nashville to work his label...

Evacuation Plan: A Novel from the Hospice.
July 1, 2007... Belying its subtitle, JOE M. O'CONNELL's fiction debut, EVACUATION PLAN: A NOVEL FROM THE HOSPICE, has surprisingly little to say about death. Not that anyone at this unnamed Austin hospice cheats the grim reaper. But these dozen stories and...

Pepperfish Keys.(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... In PEPPERFISH KEYS, the fourth in Austinite DARRYL WIMBERLEY'S mystery series, Detective Barrett "Bear" Raines--a black cop on Florida's racially charged Redneck Riviera--struggles to tell the good guys from the bad. Is Senator Baxter Stanton...

Tom Wright.(Interview)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... In the sixties, at London's Ealing Art College, a student named Pete Townshend was introduced by his Alabama-born classmate, Tom Wright, to both mind-altering substances and American rhythm and blues. Townshend went on to lead the Who, while...

Kenney Rocks: weekly jam sessions keep my dying hometown very much alive.(Go)
July 1, 2007... In the mid-seventies, while teenagers an hour and a half away in Houston frolicked at Astro World or did the hustle beneath twirling mirror bails, I rode my horse three miles into my hometown of Kenney to buy a huge Tootsie Roll for a nickel...

Custom boots: how to design that perfect pair.(The Manual: WHAT EVERY TEXAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ...)
July 1, 2007... (1) Your quest for inimitable footwear begins with the LEATHER, so first give thought to your stomping grounds (cattle pen or cubicle?) and your image (rhinestone cowboy?). Your basic, most traditional option is calfskin. Need extra-tough work...

Lawrence Wright.(Texas Monthly Talks: EVAN SMITH SITS DOWN WITH ...)(Interview)
July 1, 2007... What material effect has winning the Pulitzer Prize already had on your life, and what effect do you expect it will have? A number of people, even my sister, have said that I can die now, though I don't think that's required by the rules of...

Land that I love: it took long enough, but the boundaries of the spectacular--and spectacularly small--Palo Duro Canyon State Park have finally been expanded. More, please.(Letter From the High Plains)
July 1, 2007... The last time I was in this part of Palo Duro Canyon, the authorities were after me, for all I knew with dogs and helicopters. That maybe overstating the case, but there were helicopters overhead, and my backpacking companion and I were...

Dunces of confederacy: what should the University of Texas at Austin do with its statues celebrating the "heroes" of the Old South? Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
July 1, 2007... From the window of my office at the University of Texas at Austin, I can see the statue of Albert Sidney Johnston, a professional soldier who served in three armies: the Republic of Texas, the U.S., and the Confederate. Johnston's is one of...

Angel of death: ever since she was a little girl, Vickie Dawn Jackson wanted to be Florence Nightingale. As a nurse at her tiny hometown hospital in Nocona, she cared for her patients and won praise from her supervisors--until the day she snapped and started killing her friends and neighbors.
July 1, 2007... JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY in the two-stoplight town of Nocona knew Vickie Dawn Jackson, the sweet, soft-spoken nurse who worked nights at Nocona General Hospital. Vickie had been a nurse or a nurse's aide since she was a junior in high school. Over...

The best worst legislators 2007.
July 1, 2007... > Wednesday, May 16, 2:33 p.m. PATTI, This is our seventh time to work together on the Best and Worst Legislators story, and I don't think we've ever had more material. I've never had to get up in the morning and think, "Am I going to...

Austin powers: images of influence and intrigue at the wild and wooly eightieth legislative session.(City overview)
July 1, 2007... Austin has been said to have the most beautiful of state capitols. On a recent visit I could see why. True beanie is in an elegant design that makes a tool useful for real people. Like a watch or an iPod, the Texas state-house can be figured...

Eva vs Goliath: Eva Rowe was a wild child from a mobile home in the Louisiana woods until March 23, 2005, when her parents were killed in a refinery explosion in Texas City. Then she became a wild child with a fancy house in Beaumont and a dogged crusader who forced BP to own up to the truth about what happened that day.
July 1, 2007... LORD JOHN BROWNE OF MADINGLEY, the hailed semi-disgraced former chief of BP, could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had bothered to educate himself in the folkways of southeast Texas and neighboring Louisiana before purchasing the...

The art of the meal: after a hard morning of relishing Rothkos and viewing Van Goghs, take time out to appreciate a culinary masterpiece or two. Five of the state's best museums have cafes worthy of their collections, with menus ranging from the classic to the postmodern.
July 1, 2007... BACK IN THE OLDEN DAYS, ART MUSEUMS did not have restaurants. Why would anyone eat at a museum? That made about as much sense as taking a picture with a telephone. But modern life is all about changing paradigms, and museums now give as much...

Vin.(PAT'S PICK)
July 1, 2007... Houston HAS IT COME TO THIS? IS it no longer enough for a restaurant to have a talented chef, an enticing menu, and a mod space in the theater district? Must there also be some gimmick with the name? Please, no. Surely the in crowd hasn't...

Trader Vic's.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Dallas Imagine King Tut's tomb, but with tikis. After nearly twenty years in mothballs, the Dallas edition of the glamour bar of the Rat Packera--Trader Vic's--has been brought back to life. Miracle of miracles, the South Seas...

Olenjack's Grille.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
July 1, 2007... Arlington You know how some menus sound good enough to eat? No, seriously, some are more enticing than others, and the one at chef-owner Brian Olenjack's new place is hall-of-fame-worthy. Want examples? How about flash-fried antelope ribs?...

The filter: dining: policies and definitions.
July 1, 2007... 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...

Rolling Roadshow Tour: San Elizario.(JORDAN'S PICK)
July 1, 2007... TELL THE BOSS YOU'RE not feeling so well. The state's most famous indie movie theater, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, is kicking off its third national Rolling Roadshow Tour--a series of gratis 35mm screenings of famous movies in the locations...

East meets west.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
July 1, 2007... HOUSTON As the market for contemporary Asian art enjoys an unprecedented boom--$190 million worth was auctioned off at Sotheby's and Christie's in 2006, compared with $22 million in 2004--museums around the country are devoting more gallery...

Bright lights, big lake.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... GRAHAM Fourth of July get-togethers run the gamut from intimate family barbecues to citywide celebrations. Somewhere in the middle is the Night of Music and Fire, a medium-sized shindig on scenic Possum Kingdom Lake that is as refreshingly...

Fly the friendly skies.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... COLORADO CITY The Texas Fly-In Breakfast takes place on the Fourth of July, but that has less to do with patriotism than it does with the elements. In 1962 a volunteer group started the event as a way to promote the town's new landing strip; to...

Novel ideas.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO, GRAPEVINE If you've seen all the mindless blockbusters at the local multiplex and all your vapid beach reads are dog-eared, consider attending one of this month's literary events to bolster your cultural repertoire. The Gemini Ink...

Modern makeover.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
July 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO In May 2006 the San Antonio Museum of Art hired David S. Rubin as its contemporary art curator (filling the position, which had been vacant for eight years, was made possible by a $2 million gift from the Houston-based Brown...

Nether worlds.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... BURNET Now, here's a revolutionary idea: Skip the beach (or the river or the lake) this month and go spelunking instead. Texas's many bodies of water may be this magazine's favorite summer cover subject, but exploring the state's seven show...

Stomp the yard.(The Filter: Event: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... SAN ANTONIO If you wish football games were just one long halftime show--that is, less tackles, more tuba--then listen up: Twenty-two drum and bugle corps from around the country will take the field at the Alamodome this month to compete in the...

Hog wild: on my first-ever "hunt," I had nothing to fear but feral itself.
July 1, 2007... I'd been to a University of Texas football game ("Horn 'Em, Hookers!" January 2007). I'd learned how to play Hold 'Em ("Goodbye, Mrs. Chips," March 2007). What other seminal Texas experience was left? I was wondering if a can of Skoal might be...