Texas Monthly articles from June 2006

Texas Monthly archives from June 2006

Blown away: remember Hurricane Rita? If only the federal government did.(Behind the Lines)
June 1, 2006... The story should be familiar by now. A major hurricane strikes the Gulf Coast. The president pledges aid. Web sites announce how victims can get relief. But the aid doesn't materialize. The White House is indifferent. FEMA, the much-maligned...

Seventy-five and counting.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... I enjoyed every word of "75 Things We Love About Texas" [April 2006]. There are so many you could not include because of a lack of room. A few that occurred to me: the very shape of Texas, the ceaseless arguments over how to make real Texas...

Out on a limb.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... S. C. Gwynne states in "Tree Ring Circus" [April 2006] that I "assured them [the FDIC] that even though they did not feel they had a plausible case, they could win simply by scaring Hurwitz." This is totally false. I never assured the FDIC of...

Gown and out.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... As a recovering have-not from Laredo, I was greatly surprised that your article on the beldades dared to delve into the reality of the Washington festivities ["Beldades of the Ball," April 2006]. I always found it laughable that having an...

Homeland security.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Like a great number of Texans, I was born in the United States but grew up in Mexico. Even though I have lived in the El Paso-Juarez area all my life, I have traveled extensively and felt the pulse of other parts of North America. Michael...

Bush whacked.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... The article by Paul Burka appearing in your April issue is as namby-pamby as you can get [Behind the Lines, "Maybe Not"]. If he is doubtful as to the faults of President Bush, what in the world would it take to persuade him to join the 65...

List less in La Grange.(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2006... Its easy for you to say that we can get information about where to go and what to see without Around the State [Editor's Letter, "Design of the Times" April 2006]. The Fayette County Record does not cover these things. What am I supposed to do?...

Lights out?(Chris Bell's election campaign )
June 1, 2006... I'm going to go out on a limb here--but not too far--and predict that supporters of Chris Bell's campaign for governor will be angry when they read "He's Sisyphus, and He Approves This Message" (page 128), by executive editor S.C. Gwynne. But...

Topic A: The Enron show: how Houston really feels about the trial's finale.(Reporter)
June 1, 2006... The final episode of Houston's most gripping reality series has arrived at last. Ever since Enron's spectacular collapse in December 2001--nearly five years ago, but who's counting?--locals have waited for the official verdict on ex-CEOs Jeff...

Going to the World Cup.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)(Interview)
June 1, 2006... NAME: Clint Dempsey AGE: 23 HOMETOWN: Nacogdoches QUALIFICATIONS: Midfielder for the New England Revolution/Named Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year in 2004 and to the Best XI in 2005/Will play on the U.S. team this month in the 2006 FIFA...

Crude awakening: forget what you've heard about Exxon Mobil. The profits may be obscene, but that doesn't mean you're being cheated at the pump.(FAQ: ON THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY)(Interview)
June 1, 2006... Soaring gasoline prices. Unprecedented corporate profits. Is it okay to hate Exxon Mobil? If you do, you'll have plenty of company, In a recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll that asked Americans what worries them most, 45 percent said...

"Sir, he wasn't really lying.".(A Soldier's Story: Part VIII)
June 1, 2006... The interpreter looked at me with a straight face. "The contractor was just telling you what he thought you wanted to hear." My friend Major Greg Scott and I were talking with some of our Iraqi interpreters, lamenting to them our difficulties...

Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.
June 1, 2006... Stafford | February 26, 2006 Some immigrants take jobs most Americans don't want; others take jobs most Americans can't do. Few groups in this second category have been more successful than immigrants from India and their descendants,...

Welcome to the [O.sub.3].(Minister of Health: CURES WHAT AILS US)
June 1, 2006... Everyone's bitching about the price of gas these days, but $3 a gallon regular is probably the best thing that's ever happened to us--or to our collective health, anyway. Look at it this way: We'll all drive less, automakers will be forced to...

Royal flush: dark, shocking, and reviled by critics, The King is the most provocative Texas movie in years.(Movie review)
June 1, 2006... It was an indie dream in the making: A promising director named James Marsh, known mostly for the obscure quasi-documentary Wisconsin Death Trip (1999), cobbled together financing for a thriller called The King, about a drifter who terrorizes a...

It's years back, in a rowdy Jersey roadhouse, where a lanky performer peeks over his shades to see if anyone is listening.(T. Bone Burnett )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... It's years back, in a rowdy Jersey roadhouse, where a lanky performer peeks over his shades to see if anyone is listening. Most aren't. Abruptly, he strides out the door. The curious follow him to the parking lot, where, perched on a station...

Passover.(Sound recording review)
June 1, 2006... The best rock and roll stirs up a maelstrom, a surging wall of sound you can almost reach out and touch. It's not about craft, chords, equipment, or even how many tickets or albums you sell. It's underlying motion, propulsion; it's finding the...

Ian McLagan.(Previews + reviews: Music: ON THE MONTH'S NEW RELEASES)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Ian McLagan and Ronnie Lane, the keyboardist and the bassist of the famed UK groups the Small Faces and the Faces, eventually made Austin their home--Lane in the mid-eighties, McLagan about a decade later. Lane passed away in 1997, and McLagan...

The Flamenco Academy.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... As a novelist, SARAH BIRD is not exactly prolific--it's been five years since the TEXAS MONTHLY walter-at-large gave us the fine The Yokota Officers Club--but at long last she has delivered the stunning and ambitious THE FLAMENCO ACADEMY, a...

The Vinegaroon Murders.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Quirky doesn't even begin to describe THE VINEGAROON MURDERS, the dust-blown supernatural murder mystery that makes up volume tWO of JAMES A. MANGUM'S Dos Cruces trilogy. For starters, the narrator is an angel, though decidedly not the stuff of...

Telegraph Days.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2006... Meet Nellie Courtright, the resourceful, charming, and enthusiastically copulating protagonist of LARRY MCMURTRY'S Wild West saga TELEGRAPH DAYS. Her father has just "suicided himself," leaving the 22-year-old and her teenage brother, Jackson,...

Ron White.(Previews + Reviews: Books: ON THE MONTH'S NEW RELEASES)(Interview)
June 1, 2006... The notoriously boisterous--and blue--comic has come a long way, from his oil patch birthplace of Fritch to sold-out standup tours and multimillion-unit DVD sales. His new book, I Had the Right to Remain Silent... But I Didn't Have the...

Cinch it.(Father's Day)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... Come the third Sunday in June, fathers from Texarkana to El Paso will be unwrapping assorted socks, CDs, and bottles of Old Spice. We've got a better idea, a gift that's unexpected but still in the comfort zone: a belt from one of Texas's best...

Southtown, San Antonio: the artsy alternative to the Alamo.
June 1, 2006... 1 Fortify yourself at EL MIRADOR with arguably the best huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, and breakfast tacos in town. Though hardly a well-kept secret, this is still a locals' place, and the people-watching is almost as terrific as the food. The...

Betty Flores.(Mayor of Laredo)(Interview)(Biography)
June 1, 2006... Does the prospect of no longer being mayor of Laredo make you happy or unhappy? Neither one. I knew there was a beginning and an end. I worked as fast as I could, as hard as I could, and now I move on. I was a Laredoan when I started, and...

Shoot the messenger: so what if I'm a respected professor and an award-winning author (not to mention a grown-up)? When I talk about Texas history with seventh graders, I often feel as if I'm under siege at the Alamo. And they show me no mercy.
June 1, 2006... I knew I was in trouble when the seventh graders started making me nervous. They shouldn't have: they were, after all, only mid-file school kids forced to take a year of Texas history. A handful in the back played it cool, conspicuously...

Here's looking at you, kidney: how and why I became an organ donor--and how I kept people from talking me out of it.
June 1, 2006... Until last November, I'd never thought about being a kidney donor. I hadn't known anyone with kidney disease, and like most people, I hadn't filled out an organ donation form when I'd gotten my driver's license. I'd never even donated blood....

Shabby chic: how can Wal-Mart attract shoppers from one of the state's wealthiest suburbs? With sushi bars, high-end electronics, and the illusion of elegance.(Letter From Plano)
June 1, 2006... Erase any doubt that you are being followed. Walk through the new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Plano, and eager, clean-cut men stare at you as if you were exotic prey. Will you inquire about the $2,984 one-carat diamond ring in the jewelry...

Water, water everywhere.(lakes in Texas)
June 1, 2006... In the old days, Texans fell into two categories: lake people and folks who wouldn't be caught dead within a hundred yards of the shore. But times have changed--lakes are more accessible, facilities are more family friendly, and activities...

The truth is out there: forget what the believers and the skeptics say. Forget what you've seen, or think you've seen, with your own eyes. There's no way to know if the Marfa lights are real--and that's what's so great about them.
June 1, 2006... "Yeah," I've always told anyone who asked me about the Marfa lights, "I've seen them." Not just once, either. I've been to far West Texas a dozen times over the past decade, so of course I've seen the lights, as people have for more than a...

He's sisyphus, and he approves this message: does Chris bell have a chance in hell to be governor?
June 1, 2006... MIDLAND IS REPUBLICAN COUNTRY, the rightmost wing of right-leaning Texas, a place where John Kerry mustered less than 18 percent of the vote in 2004 and where Democrats are viewed the way West Texas farmers once viewed prairie dogs: as...

The gangstas of Godwin Park: they were rich, white, and barely old enough to be in high school. They lived in the online world, strutting their toughness and their fascination with violence on their myspace pages. And then one night, the line separating the virtual from the real vanished, and a sixteen-year-old boy from one of Houston's nicest neighborhoods lay dead.
June 1, 2006... FOR THE LONGEST TIME, PEOPLE believed that Godwin Park was one of the safest places in Houston. It nestles quietly in Meyerland, the heart of the city's Jewish community, a neat square that is, in total, about the size of a city block. A cheery...

It's hard out here for a pipkin.(Cartoon)
June 1, 2006... I'M TURK PIPKIN YOU MIGHT KNOW ME AS A CONTRIBUTING EDITOR OF TEXAS MONTHLY OR FROM THE TEN ONE HUNDRED HOURS OF TELEVISION AND GAZILLION MAGAZINE ARTICLES I'VE WRITTEN. BUT IF YOU'RE LIKE MOST PEOPLE THESE DAYS, YOU'LL RECOGNIZE ME AS THAT...

Money talk$: in an exlusive interview, press-shy Republican power broker James Leininger explains his support for school choice and defends his big-bucks intervention in the 2006 primaries.(Interview)
June 1, 2006... It's rare for you to talk to the press, yet your office approached TEXAS MONTHLY about doing this interview. Why now? The issue at hand, which is school choice for poor children in the inner cities in Texas, is much more important than my...

Tryst: Dallas.(Restaurant review)
June 1, 2006... YOU GOTTA GIVE THE POSSE behind Dallas restaurant Tryst credit for one thing: They're not afraid to go out on a limb (just pray they're not blithely sawing it off at the same time). Owner Brittney O'Daniel's first big risk is taking a chance in...

New + noteworthy: cod fritters in Corpus Christi; surf-and-turf in San Antonio.(The Filter: Dining: OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANTS, BISTROS, CAFES, AND JOINTS)(Restaurant review)
June 1, 2006... Austin CANTINA LAREDO This outpost of the Dallas-based chain fits its location in the trendy Second Street district (chic shops, lofts, clubs, restaurants). We liked the nueva-hacienda interior, but couldn't resist a sidewalk table....

Texas: Canyon.
June 1, 2006... IN JULY 1966 a cultural icon was born--in Canyon, of all places. A few years earlier, some Amarilloans looking to boost interest in their corner of the state got in touch with the Pulitzer Prize--winning playwright Paul Green. Would he please...

If you build it, they will come.(competition in Galveston)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... GALVESTON Every summer top Houston-area architects, engineers, and contractors gather for an intense design competition. In a more five hours' time, teams must erect a structure in a plot about the size of a two-car garage. To win requires...

A perfect marriage.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
June 1, 2006... MARFA "The Art and Architecture of Anstis and Victor Lundy" is an exquisite his-and-hers exhibit currently up at Ballroom Marfa, that hip gallery with dance-hall roots on the town's main drag. He is a renowned architect best known for his...

A leather-bound favorite.(Amy Tans's 'Saving Fish From Drowning' in Dallas Public Library )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... DALLAS Although best-selling novelist Amy Tans latest offering, Saving Fish From Drowning, has been on bookshelves since last fall, it seems all anyone wants to talk about is the band she's in. Maybe it's because the pseudogroup, the Rock...

Don the Billabong.(South Texas Music Walk of Fame)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... CORPUS CHRISTI With all its offerings, the WaterStreet Market Music and Art Fest will require the endurance of a surfer. The weekend officially begins with the unveiling of six new stars on the South Texas Music Walk of Fame, just blocks from...

Sew beautiful.(museum of fine arts )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The success of an art exhibit is often predetermined by a famous name or an association with a notable movement. But sometimes, a collection surfaces that takes everybody by surprise, as did a showcase of colorful quilts that premiered at the...

Gone to Wobegon.(Robert Altman's 'A Prairie Home Companion')(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... AUSTIN It's not often that a cult radio show generates buzz at film festivals around the country. But Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion--broadcast from St Paul, Minnesota, every Saturday-is enjoying a turn in the pop culture spotlight...

Bright lights, big Bayou.(park in opening)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The Sabine-to-Baghy Promenade, a 23-acre park opening along the banks of Buffalo Bayou this month, brings a welcome extra mile of hike-and-bike trails to the traffic-ridden city. But true appreciation of the green space won't come till...

Purple people pleasers.(Blanco Lavender Festival)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... BLANCO No matter the excuse--smelly sock drawers, a gloomy nose, doctor's orders for relaxation--the Blanco Lavender Festival is the panacea of choice this time of year, with the Hill Country awash in flagrant blooms. Nine of the sweetscented...

Mass appeal.(Victoria Bach Festival )(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... VICTORIA, AUSTIN As the highbrow event of the month, the annual Victoria Bach Festival brings the music of Haydn, Ravel, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, and yes, Back to the masses with a week's worth of choral, orchestral, and chamber concerts. But...

Freedom flicks.(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... DALLAS Juneteenth celebrations abound, but it's one in particular that draws movie-making hopefuls: the Juneteenth Film Festival. Its third showing picks up where last year's success left off, with screenings of independent and student shorts...

A change has done her good.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)
June 1, 2006... GRAND PRAIRIE, CORPUS CHRISTI, AUSTIN Sheryl Crow is a seeming oxymoron: a mellow rock star. She may have always embraced her softer side, but of late, Crow is much more in-your-face with her simmering introspection. It's string ensembles, not...

Home run hotties.(celebrity management)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... FRISCO The wise Yogi Berra once said that baseball is 90 percent mental, and the other half is physical But the reverse--meaning 90 percent good looks--might be the real draw when two celeb-filled teams take the field for the fifth annual...

Step lively: Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be nondancers.
June 1, 2006... It's long past time that I thank Texas--that I thank all the Czechs and Germans and Mexicans and cowboys, both real and urban, who made this the dancingest state in the union. With out them I might never have gotten married. While I'm at it, I...