Texas Monthly articles from March 2009

Texas Monthly archives from March 2009

Big night out.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LeAnn Mueller narrates a slide show of images of revelers out and about on a Saturday night.

Blog on.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Follow the Texas Legislature on Burkablog or, for a (very) different view on politics, cocktails, and everything in between, get In the Pink, now on TEXASMONTHLY.COM,

Good eats.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Check out our new food section. It's got easy-to-fix recipes, a database of restaurant reviews and maps, and the restaurant du jour.

Social hour.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Subscribe to TEXAS MONTHLY updates on Facebook, follow food and politics on Twitter, and watch the Texanist and Texas Monthly Talks videos on YouTube.

Hearing aids.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Podcasts of Kinky Friedman reading his latest column and Mimi Swartz reading this month's Behind the Lines.

Crime scene.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Read classic Skip Hollandsworth on serial killers, bank robbers, drug dealers, gangs, and more.

Flashback.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Topical stories from past issues: Anne Dingus on the history of Texas fashion in "The Way We Wore" (June 1997), Mimi Swartz on Lynn Wyatt in "Where I'm From: Lynn Wyatt" (December 2005), Skip Hollandsworth on Saks Fifth Avenue in "Store Wars"...

Heads talking.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Full episodes from the seventh season of Texas Monthly Talks are now available online. Evan Smith interviews newsmakers and celebrities, including Joe Biden, Boone Pickens, and Tom Kite.

The Texanist unleashed.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... What's the best way to break in a pair of boots? Watch as our brilliant advice columnist takes this and other questions to the streets.

Mix it up.(TexasMonthly.com)
March 1, 2009... Check out our iTunes store and browse staff picks, iMixes, and the 100 best Texas songs.

The grand gesture: Texans with true style have an unerring authenticity in the way they carry and adorn themselves, and they tend to believe that it's very important that others take notice. A lot of notice.(BEHIND THE LINES)
March 1, 2009... A few mouths ago I went to the funeral of my old friend and former employer Tom Alexander. I had worked as a paralegal for Tom when I first moved to Houston. I was in my twenties, and he was an infamous trial lawyer, handling, among other...

Southern discomfort.(ROAR OF THE CROWD)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... Ignored by you for years, the Southern Legal Resource Center has finally arrived ["The 2009 Bum Steer Awards," January 2009]! But, hey, where have y'all been? We filed the student free speech federal lawsuit against Burleson ISD back in 2007....

A world away.(ROAR OF THE CROWD)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... As one of the few people to have spent time in both Juarez, Mexico, and Baghdad, Iraq, trying to understand the killing, I have to disagree sharply with Sito Negron's comparison of drug violence in one city with insurgent violence in the other...

Deal or no deal.(ROAR OF THE CROWD)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... I have yet to read Professor H.W. Brands's history on FDR, but if it reflects the so called "review" by Michael Ennis, I doubt it's worth the time ["The New New Deal," January 2009]. Objectivity certainly wasn't achieved in this churlish...

Intensive caring.(ROAR OF THE CROWD)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2009... I was dismayed and surprised to read Mimi Swartz's piece about the impact of Hurricane Ike on the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston [Behind the Lines, "Emergency!" January 2009]. It incorrectly conveys the notion that the UT...

Hat trick.(EDITOR'S LETTER)
March 1, 2009... When the idea of putting together a special TEXAS MONTHLY style issue was first laid on the table, it was greeted with consternation. Did we intend to dispatch Paul Burkato the fashion shows to analyze the spring lines or Skip Hollandsworth to...

Styles and styles of Texas: from Davy Crockett to Sasha Fierce, thirty people who changed the look of our state--and the world.(THE LIST: The 30 most stylish Texans of all time)
March 1, 2009... ARRANGED IN ORDER OF BIRTH 1 Davy Crockett (AUGUST 17, 1786-MARCH 6, 1836) He preferred to go by David, but he also understood the significance of image. After losing a bid for a third congressional term, in 1831, he took note of a...

Golden oldies.(In the Chute)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's hard to picture Afghanistan, one of the poorest and most anarchic countries in the world, as a vibrant stop on the ancient Silk Road. Three thousand years ago, royal emissaries, merchants, cartographers, and...

Broad strokes.(In the Chute)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Accused of curatorial myopia one too many times, the Austin-based Texas Biennial is broadening its scope and shakingup its format. Opening at six galleries this month, the third biennial will showcase 73 contemporary...

Moving pictures.(In the Chute)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The organizers of the AFI Dallas International Film Festival might have been forgiven if their first outing, in 2007, had fallen short of its boldly ambitious goals. Attracting ten thousand filmgoers and filling an...

TexasMonthly.com.(In the Chute)(Calendar)
March 1, 2009... Go to TEXASMONTHLY.COM for more than 170 other March events, including... Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Millions clog Loop 610 to get to the auctions and fried-food stands. 3/3-3/22, hlsr.com Argyle Bluegrass Jam Camp and...

Updating your closet.(THE HORSE'S MOUTH: Everything I could ever tell you about ...)
March 1, 2009... NAME: Ken Downing AGE: 46 HOME: DALLAS QUALIFICATIONS: SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND FASHION DIRECTOR OF NEIMAN MARCUS SINCE 2006 / ATTENDS SIX HUNDRED RUNWAY SHOWS A YEAR, IN NEW YORK, PARIS, LONDON, AND MILAN * Whether you're a fashion...

Neal Shudde 54, hatter.(THE WORKING LIFE: Stories from the 9 to 5.)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To be a good hatter, you have to listen to the customer. Be patient and let him or her tell you what they need to tell you. Sometimes they'll give you a lot of information that's irrelevant, like, "I was in my house...

The Texanist: offering fine advice since 2007.
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: I BOUGHT A FANCY PAIR OF BRAND-NEW LUCCHESE OILED-CALFSKIN BOOTS A WHITE BACK AND HAVE NOT WORN THEM OUT ON THE TOWN BUT ONE TIME. THEY CAUGHT PEOPLE'S EYES, BUT IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE OF THEIR...

Planting a Southern Magnolia.(THE MANUAL: What every Texan should know about ...)
March 1, 2009... The pecan may be our state tree, but the Magnolia grandiflora, or Southern magnolia, has long been the belle of our arboreal ball. With its dramatic canopy, glossy leaves, and creamy blooms, this elegant evergreen is the centerpiece of many...

Angelbert Metoyer's_desk.(OBJECT LESSON: What you'll find on ...)
March 1, 2009... Whether he's painting, writing, or making music, 31-year-old artist Angelbert Metoyer finds much of his inspiration in the array of canvases and stacked papers at his Houston home office. His art, a combination of figurative drawings and...

Alamo Heights, San Antonio: hip haunts, fine art, and old-school charm in the city's famously well-heeled enclave.(STREET SMARTS: A quickie guide to ...)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1. THE WITTE MUSEUM Hardly your typical stodgy cultural establishment, the...

The latest installment in Willie Nelson's once-a-month release schedule finds him fronting Ray Benson's band, Asleep at the Wheel.
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The latest installment in WILLIE NELSON'S once-a-month release schedule finds him fronting Ray Benson's band, ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. The genesis of WILLIE AND THE WHEEL (Bismeaux) dates back 36 years, when famed...

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears' Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Put on "Gunpowder," the lead track from BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS' TELL 'EM WHAT YOUR NAME IS! (Lost Highway), and the easy, horn-driven groove of the seventies classic "Soul Finger" instantly comes to mind....

In memoriam: David "Fathead" Newman.(PREVIEWS + REVIEWS: MUSIC: Jeff McCord on the month's new releases)(Obituary)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With his free-flowing, honeyed sound, David "Fathead" Newman would doubtless have enjoyed a fine career even without the chance encounter that transformed his life. The Corsicana saxophonist split college to play...

Doyle Bramhall II and Charlie Sexton.(PREVIEWS + REVIEWS: MUSIC: Jeff McCord on the month's new releases)(Interview)
March 1, 2009... In 1990 Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton proposed a casual session with Sexton, Bramhall, and Double Trouble's other half, bassist Tommy Shannon. The venue was the Austin Rehearsal Complex, and the collaboration produced instant results:...

The future has seldom been a copacetic place in sci-fi swami Bruce Sterling's works of fiction.
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The future has seldom been a copacetic place in sci-fi swami BRUCE STERLING'S works of fiction. His eleventh novel, THE CARYATIDS, is set in the bleak year 2065. A global nuclear and climatological disaster has...

We probably didn't need another comic novel about life at an absurdly bureaucratic and insular American university, but Houston memoirist Emily Fox Gordon gets a pass for her well-honed and earthy satire It Will Come to Me.
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We probably didn't need another comic novel about life at an absurdly bureaucratic and insular American university, but Houston memoirist EMILY FOX GORDON gets a pass for her well-honed and earthy satire IT WILL COME...

Tracy Daugherty.(PREVIEWS + REVIEWS: BOOKS: Mike Shea on the month's new releases)(Interview)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the sixties and seventies, transplanted Houstonian Donald Barthelme made a splash in the New York literary world with short stories and novels like Snow White and The Dead Father. With Hiding Man, one of his...

No bull: Texas has never looked on-screen the way it did in urban cowboy.(HOLLYWOOD, TX: Christopher Kelly on our state of entertainment)
March 1, 2009... The camera fades in on a pair of brown leather cowboy boots crossed at the ankle. It steadily pans up, taking stock of the painted-on blue jeans, the burnished belt buckle emblazoned with a bull and rider, the crisply ironed Western-style...

Rockport calendar of events.(Calendar)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oysterfest March 5-8 Fulton Harbor Festival Grounds Arts and crafts booths, live music, food vendors, carnival rides, contests 14th Annual Coastal Classic Auto Show March 28, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. ...

Todd Oldham.(TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS: Evan Smith sits down with ...)(Interview)
March 1, 2009... This is an issue all about style, which is not just fashion or just design--it's those things and more. When you think about style definitionally, what do you put in that bucket? I tend to look at things as an anthropologist--I feel more of...

Going out in style: at Houston's most elegant funeral home, death is just an excuse for the last, best party you'll ever attend.(Letter From Houston)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Before I could even knock, the front door of Bradshaw-Carter Memorial & Funeral Services, on the edge of Houston's posh River Oaks neighborhood, opened without a whisper, and there stood the proprietor: a trim,...

Hostile makeover: could the beauty technicians of Dallas improve on decades of careful neglect?
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The before and after photos were my idea. I insisted, in fact. They were to be my evidence in case this experiment went terribly awry. Generally I mistrust the concept of makeovers, subscribing to the firm belief...

My life: growing up in a clothing store, marrying an oil tycoon, palling around with Andy Warhol and Sir Elton John, hosting the grandest parties, wearing the chicest gowns, dining with princes and presidents, and other choice chapters from the fabulous adventures of Lynn Wyatt.(Interview)
March 1, 2009... If there is one person who embodies Texas style, it is Lynn Wyatt. Tall and forever blond, glamorous without being pretentious, simultaneously sweet and shrewd, with arguably the most famous whiskey laugh in the world, she rose from a...

The 10 best buildings in Texas: an architectural tour.(Company overview)
March 1, 2009... IN THE LONG WAR TO CONVINCE THE REST OF the world that our taste rises above the level of provincial, we Texans have achieved one notable victory: Even our most grudging critics now concede that we have somehow acquired remarkably...

Sweet 15: the rise of the all-out, over-the-top, super-spectacular, bank-breaking quinceanera.
March 1, 2009... The theme is going to be pink diamonds," Elizabeth Miranda was telling me, trying to make herself heard over the mariachis who were serenading a nearby table. We were sitting in the corner of a mostly empty Mexican restaurant in McAllen, and...

Saturday night: from a honky-tonk in Odessa to a Tejano Bar in San Antonio to a Catholic church--yes, a church--in Houston, there's one night of the week that brings out the shiniest buckles, the shortest dresses, the smartest hats, the tightest jeans, the starchiest shirts, and the flashiest bling.(Interview)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RANSOM RHODES (CENTER), 25, GHOSTBAR, DALLAS, DECEMBER 27, 2008 I change up what I wear every day. Ghostbar doesn't like sneakers, but I'm definitely rocking some black Nikes with my pinstripes and my checkered...

Brasserie Pavil: San Antonio.(PAT'S PICK)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU COULD HAVE KNOCKED me over with a pomme frite: A museum-quality replica of a French brasserie has sprung up on a posh corner of San Antonio's Loop 1604. All the proper visuals are in place: a soaring space, dark...

Grady's: Fort Worth.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
March 1, 2009... In mid-January charismatic Fort Worth chef Grady Spears (formerly of the Chisholm Club and Lambert's) hungout his shingle, offering equal parts steakhouse fare, Mexican food, and home cooking. As someone remarked, "Grady doesn't do...

Rocc: Dallas.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
March 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Every dish at this new Asian fusion spot in North Dallas can be tailored to your specified heat level, and after sampling some "mild" dishes, it was evident that the "spicy" ones could be used as a method of cruel...

The filter: dining.
March 1, 2009... POLICIES AND DEFINITIONS 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...

Rhinestone cowboy: clothes make the man, they say, and in my case this may be especially true.
March 1, 2009... it's not my style to write about style. If you've got to ask what style is, you probably ain't got any. But it's still possible that some may rub off on you, so here goes. There are two kinds of style. There is strictly sartorial style,...