Texas Monthly articles from November 2007

Texas Monthly archives from November 2007

43 skiddoo: a year before we elect George W. Bush's successor, the only thing we know for sure is that the country wants change.(Behind the Lines)
November 1, 2007... One year from now, America will elect its next president, and its current one will leave behind an uncertain nation in uncertain times. The race to succeed George W. Bush started nearly a year ago, much earlier than the norm, as if the leading...

Portrait of a Lady.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... Texas lost one of its true legends with the passing of Lady Bird Johnson ["A Lady First," September 2007]. It is all the more disappointing when you look around at today's landscape and find it lacking in those larger-than-life personalities...

Law and ordnance.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... I didn't realize that you are a bunch of bleeding-heart liberals. Please tell Pamela Colloff that her slant and attitude on this important border issue are as much apart of the terrorist activity in the United States as Al Qaeda's ["Badges of...

Here's the beef.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... Gary Cartwright's column on Jeanne Daniels is petty and mean-spirited ["The Terror of Tarrytown," September 2007]. Let me see if I have this right. Cartwright is angry because he can no longer walk across the street to Daniels' shopping center...

Give us an oops!(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2007... I almost agree with your list of the top twenty high school football teams, except for one missing school that should have ranked somewhere in the middle: Breckenridge ["Go! Fight! Win!" September 2007]. The Buckaroos are five-time state...

The center holds.(Editor's Letter)
November 1, 2007... Several of this month's letters to the editor (see page 28), responding to our September issue, fall into two categories: those from angry liberals and those from angry conservatives. The libs rabidly attack Gary Cartwright for refusing to...

Topic A: fed up: Dallas braces for a scandal involving money, power, and race.(Reporter 11.07)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are no winners in Dallas now that sixteen indictments have been handed down in a massive public-corruption case. Not the city council, though none of its current members were involved. Not African Americans,...

Producing a TV talk show.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)
November 1, 2007... NAME: Bill Geddie AGE: 52 HOMETOWN: San Antonio QUALIFICATIONS: Co-executive producer of The View, on ABC/ Executive producer of The Barbara Waiters Special and the 10 Most Fascinating People annual special * My first job out of film...

Above the norm: intellectually stimulating sports radio? Really?(The Cheap Seats: BRYAN CURTIS POPS OFF ABOUT SPORTS)(Norm Hitzges)
November 1, 2007... Hello, Norm? Am I on? I gotta get something off my chest. You're Norm Hitzges, the Dallas-based maestro of the art form we know as sports talk radio. I--like a fair number of people reading this column--have spent the better part of my adult...

Rodney Schott, 36: taxidermist.(The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 TO 5)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Taxidermy is kinda like baseball. Some kids, no matter how much they practice, are never gonna be worth a damn. Other kids pick it up pretty quick, and they're just gonna be good at it. I had my first deer mounted...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Silverlake Ward, Pearland: August 12, 2007.(Faith Bases: WILLIAM MARTIN REVIEWS OUR PLACES OF WORSHIP)
November 1, 2007... So, if 2008 hopeful Mitt Romney becomes president, will young men be expected to ride bicycles and wear white shirts while doing two years of rigidly celibate national service? Will Shiner Bock and Starbucks be banned? Or will we simply stay...

The Texanist: offering fine advice since 2007.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: Growing up in Rockwall, I encountered this problem several times: If, when you visit a friend's house, he has parked on his front yard, may you park there too? Emily McClosky AUSTIN A: The last time...

Blood brothers: the Coens deliver a brutal--and brilliant--portrait of Texas.(Hollywood, TX: CHRISTOPHER KELLY ON OUR STATE OF ENTERTAINMENT)(No Country for Old Men; Blood Simple)(Movie review)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The dog will haunt your nightmares, like no movie monster you've seen before. He doesn't actually appear in Cormac McCarthy's 2005 bestseller, No Country for Old Men. But here he comes, barreling across the West...

Home.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 1997 newspaper reporter MIKE ROSENTHAL left rural Maine for Austin carrying dreams of rock and roll stardom. Despite two albums, and some notoriety for his running skills (he has regularly placed high in the...

In the City of Lost Things.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even by the most conservative estimates, there are thousands of piano trio CDs in release. And while each tries to distinguish itself, many fail to do so. Play it quiet, and you might stray into New Age or smooth...

Mescalito.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Few have heard of, much less heard, Wishbone Saloon, the 2003 debut from West Texan RYAN BINGHAM, But those who have, including Terry Allen and Joe Ely, have fostered enough praise to help land Bingham on a major...

Carrie Rodriguez.(Interview)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... In 2005, after three studio albums with songwriting legend Chip Taylor, the Austin-born singer and fiddler wowed audiences with him for two nights in Germany. Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez Live From the Ruhr Triennale (Train Wreck) captures...

Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, the Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At the three-quarter mark of PAUL DRUMMOND'S exhaustive (and exhaustingly detailed) band bio, EYE MIND: THE SAGA OF ROKY ERICKSON AND THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS, THE PIONEERS OF PSYCHEDELIC SOUND, the avatars of acid...

Custer's Brother's Horse.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EDWIN "BUD" SHRAKE'S picaresque CUSTER'S BROTHER'S HORSE makes fine fodder of the bad blood in Texas following the Civil War, circa 1865. Federal troops visit indignities on the defeated communities they occupy;...

Bill Cunningham.(Interview)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Inspired by the popularity of a panel on Texas crime literature hosted by the Southwestern Writers Collection in 2004, editors Bill Cunningham, Steven L. Davis, and Rollo K. Newsom have compiled Lone Star Sleuths: An...

One-track mind: Houston's light-rail is fast. And friendly. And free from gridlock. And ...(Go: SUZY BANKS HITS THE ROADS LESS TRAVELED)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's a steamy Friday afternoon, and I'm fighting for my life on Interstate 10 heading into Houston, battling never-ending construction and kamikaze drivers. Why? Because of jealousy: Houston, which I relentlessly...

Field dressing: how to tend to the deerly departed.(The Manual: WHAT EVERY TEXAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ...)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] So you've downed your first twelve-point buck of the season. But don't breakout the brew skis just yet: You've got some dirty work to do. "The minute the animal dies, it's starting to decay," says James C. Kroll,...

Joel Osteen.(Texas Monthly Talks: EVAN SMITH SITS DOWN WITH ...)(televangelist)(Interview)
November 1, 2007... The last time we saw each other, in early 2005, it was before your first book, Your Best Life Now, had sold four million copies and before you had moved your congregation, Lakewood Church, from its spot north of 610 into the Compaq Center,...

Modern problems: why Dallas is embracing an old architectural vision of what the world could be.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "It's like the Vatican," remarked my well-traveled teenage daughter as we eyed the line stretching down West Fifty-third Street from New York's Museum of Modern Art, an onslaught of sweaty pilgrims undeterred by the...

Reform follows function: how to fix the political system in Texas in eight easy steps.(Reprint)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's hard to believe that a year has come and gone since I lost the race for governor to a man in a $5,000 suit That's almost as bad as losing to the guy you'd rather go to a barbecue with and then discovering he...

Keep out! Could it be that the biggest problem along the U.S.-Mexico border isn't undocumented immigrants but Washington politicians who want to build a fence?
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I'll CONFESS THAT I TOSSED THE PLAN ALMOST immediately. I'd intended simply to drive from Laredo to Brownsville, the stretch of border where most of Texas' share of the proposed security fence is supposed to be...

The day Oscar Wyatt caved.(Oscar S. Wyatt Jr.)
November 1, 2007... See! Houston's most litigious, feared, hated, and beloved rogue run from a fight! See! His fashionista wife dress down for his day in court! See! "Texas oilman" turned into two dirty words! See! Saddam play favorites! See!...

The old man and the river: fifty years ago a struggling writer named John Graves set off on a three-week-long canoe trip down the Brazos. He wrote about his experience in a book that has become a Texas classic--and one of my personal favorites. So what could I do to mark the anniversary? Try to follow in his wake.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] In 1957, THAT YEAR OF BOOMING, METAMORPHIC postwar American civilization, a writer from Massachusetts named Jack Kerouac published a smash best-seller called On the Road. Its startling premise was that the soul of...

The glorie of defeet: how losing the national spelling bee five years in a row made Samir Patel a man.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JUST MINUTES INTO THE LIVE coverage of the Scripps National Spelling Bee semifinals on Thursday, May 31, 2007, ESPN's Stuart Scott sets up for a shot near an entrance to the Independence Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt...

"This isn't hell, you bloody yobs. This is only Texas." In this exclusive excerpt from Custer's Brother's Horse, the new novel by Edwin "Bud" Shrake, honest men are marched to the gallows by red-throated unionists hungry for revenge.(Excerpt)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CHAPTER ONE The fog coming off Shoal Creek was pouring through the prison yard in pearl-colored puffs that made him think of cannon smoke. Captain Jerod Robin lay on his back in the caliche mud with his head...

Trio: Austin.(PAT'S PICK)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IT WAS THE LONG-AGO WINTER when my family's two superannuated eats expired right before the holidays that Mother issued a surprising edict: "We're having Christmas dinner at the Four Seasons this year." It took three...

Casa Colombia: Austin.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Texas)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... Mi Colombia has changed its name to Casa Colombia, but the homey appeal that has made people fond of the little South American eatery remains intact. Interestingly, the restaurant's signature dish--ropavieja--is identified with Cuba, although...

Grooves restaurant and lounge: Houston.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What do you get when three NBA stars come together to open a restaurant? Size, for one thing: Grooves is ginormous. Glamour, for another. The place has a sleek dining area and lounge, as well as venues for live...

The filter: dining: our favorite restaurants, bistros, cafes, and joints.
November 1, 2007... Amarillo STOCKYARD CAFE Hidden away in the historic Amarillo Livestock Auction Building lies a West Texas institution. Our favorite lunch items are the Jimmy Bacon Burger and the juicy sirloin, both served with crisp fries. The extra...

Fashion at the park: Dallas.(JORDAN'S PICK)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YOU'RE NEVER GOING to believe this. Mere weeks ago, Giorgio Armani made the declaration every chic native has longed to hear: "Fashion has arrived in Dallas." Come again? The city maybe the state's most stylish (two...

Hallowed ground.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Dia de los Muertos Festival)(Brief article)
November 1, 2007... EL PASO The organizers of the Dia de los Muertos Festival would like to clarify a few points. For starters, the holiday, which has Aztec roots, is not a morbid or sad occasion. Nor is it the Mexican version of Halloween; you won't find any...

Book smarts.(The Filter: Events: WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO, WHO TO SEE)(Texas Book Festival)(Brief article)(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... AUSTIN It may not be as hyped as some of the Capital City's other annual gatherings (South by Southwest, the Austin City Limits Music Festival), but the Texas Book Festival might be the most consistently impressive. As you skim through the long...

A dog's life: my "most handsome son" has four legs, any number of names, and a special place in my heart.
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Mr. Brown and I have been together for six years. My husband, John, knows about him, just as I know about Ruthie, the green-eyed feline female who snuggles on his chest each night and shoots me a sultry,...