Texas Monthly articles from November 2008

Texas Monthly archives from November 2008

A true crime.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Video interviews with wrongfully imprisoned men who have been exonerated through DNA testing. Where do they go from here?

Speed round.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Watch our daily video analysis of the final weeks of Election 2008.

Blog on.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... TEXAS MONTHLY editors strip the election bare on the irreverent Poll Dancing blog. Paul Burka talks Texas politics, and Evan Smith speaks his mind. Plus: Find out what our readers are saying on Chatterbox.

Social hour.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Follow TEXAS MONTHLY updates on Facebook and Twitter.

Podcasts.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Kinky Friedman reads his latest column, Mimi Swartz reads Behind the Lines, and Stephen Graham Jones reads Chapter Eleven of Twin Wells."

Flashback.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Topical stories from our archives: Brian D. Sweany on UT and winning a national championship in "Horns Aplenty" (August 2002) and Michael Hall on alleged murderer Ernest Willis in "Death Isn't Fair" (December 2002).

Texas Monthly talks.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Full episodes from the seventh season online. Evan Smith interviews newsmakers and celebrities, including Matthew McConaughey, Lily Tomlin, and Colin Powell.

Wining and dining.(Storm Warning: A narrated slide show chronicling the devastation of Hurricane Ike.)
November 1, 2008... Check out our new online dining guide.

I don't like Ike: for Houstonians, the hurricane was not a disaster, just an enormous inconvenience. That didn't keep us from griping about it for three weeks.(Behind the Lines)
November 1, 2008... "Houston looks... wounded," my husband, John, said, choosing the word with care. I couldn't disagree: More than three weeks after Hurricane Ike blew through town, the streets are still piled high with debris, and Houston's beloved...

Boone or bust?(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2008... I'm a fifth-generation Texan and mad as hell at T. Boone Pickens for his rape of our beautiful land ["There Will Be Boone," September 2008]. And for what? To line his pockets even more? Apparently, a billion dollars isn't enough. A year...

Hoodwinked.(Roar of the Crowd)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] So Charles Dean Hood boo-hoos that he's fed greasy food every day and his cell is shook down just to "mess" with him ["Death Letters," September 2008]. He complains it's noisy and his cell is small. Pretty good...

Winds of Change.(Roar of the Crowd)
November 1, 2008... "Katrina, Texas" is great [September 2008]! It's so important to tell these positive Katrina stories, since there have been so many negative ones told. Dorothy Watson HOUSTON

Pleasure principles.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2008... Ms. Nelson asks, "What makes us think our kids are going to be any better at reining themselves in than we, their elders, are?" Obviously nothing, if we teach them, as she apparently has, that it's okay to just indulge yourself because......

A few good polluters.(Roar of the Crowd)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... I have lived in Houston all my life. Our environment certainly needs work to bring it up to an acceptable standard [Behind the Lines, September 2008]. However, many of the outspoken critics live in cities without heavy industry and can't handle...

The good seed.(Editor's Letter)
November 1, 2008... To those who insist all journalists are pinot-swilling, Bibb-lettuce-nibbling, four-hundred-thread-count-Egyptian-cotton-pillowcase-coveting elitists, I say: Meet Michael Hail. It's not just that the soul-patched, ratty-flannel-shirt-wearing...

In the Chute by Jordan Breal: 11/1 Texas Book Festival 11/13 Latin Grammy Awards 11/25 San Antonio Opera.(Reporter)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Suggested Reading THE OFFICIAL PREMISE of the Texas Book Festival is to "promote the joys of reading," which neatly glosses over the feelings of inadequacy it also dredges up. So many books! So little time not...

Doing political impressions.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)(Jim Morris)(Interview)
November 1, 2008... NAME: Jim Morris AGE: 51 HOME: Flower Mound QUALIFICATIONS: Masterfully mimics the past seven presidents, from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush, as well as a range of presidential candidates, from John Edwards to Al Sharpton / Has provided...

False start: what do you think of Vince Young now?(The Cheap Seats: BRYAN CURTIS POPS OFF ABOUT SPORTS)(Viewpoint essay)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When it comes to Vince Young, I can't promise impartiality. Beginning with his days at James Madison High School, in Houston, and continuing in a broken-field run through his years at the University of Texas, Young...

Bill Applegate, 48: trapper.(The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 TO 5)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I was eight years old, I was in my grandpa's barn, and I found this thing. And I said, "Grandpa, what's this?" And he says, "That's a trap. Don't mess with it." And ever since then I've never put them down. I...

Covenant Church: Houston June 15, 2008.(Faith Bases: WILLIAM MARTIN REVIEWS OUR PLACES OF WORSHIP)
November 1, 2008... Covenant Church Houston 1 June 15. 2008 Denomination BAPTIST (SORT OF) Minister JEREMY RUTLEDGE Address 4949 CAROLINE Phone 713-668-8830 On the Internet COVENANT HOUSTON.ORG Services SUNDAYS AT 9:00 A.M. AND 11:30 A.M. After two...

Tamales: how to throw a tamalada.(The Manual: WHAT EVERY TEXAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ...)
November 1, 2008... THE PARTY As at most holiday functions, there's no escaping your kin at a tamalada, or tamale-making party. For generations, katinos have gathered at Christmastime to cook, assemble, and eat the age-old dish (tamales date back to...

Gossip boys: plano exes Chace Crawford and Hunter Parrish are the talk of the small screen.(Hollywood, TX: CHRISTOPHER KELLY ON OUR STATE OF ENTERTAINMENT)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It took approximately eight minutes for Lubbock native and Plano ex Chace Crawford to lose his shirt in the season-two premiere of Gossip Girl, the CW drama on which he plays a seductive student at an elite New York...

Little honey.(Previews+Reviews: Music)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LUCINDA WILLIAMS'S West, in 2007, was a stunning effort, her strongest in nearly a decade. Yet it was an emotional downslide, and its cathartic declarations of unrequited love no doubt took their toll in the ensuing...

Exposion.(Previews+Reviews: Music)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lots of indie-rock bands wear their influences on their sleeve. Austin's WHITE DENIM betrays elements of the visceral rock of the Stooges, the minimalism of the Velvet Underground, and even the weird fusion of groups...

Peoria.(Previews+Reviews: Music)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Austin's Cotton Mather ended its nine-year run in 2003. The group's Beatles-esque power pop had garnered praise from NME and bands like Oasis in the UK and inspired a following in Asia, but in this country, not so...

Warren Hood.(Previews+Reviews: Music)
November 1, 2008... With a natural, beguiling style, the 25-year-old songwriter and violinist has been a fixture on the Austin roots scene for nearly a decade, carrying on the legacy of his late father, Champ, of Uncle Walt's Band. He has just released his...

The Theory of Light and Matter.(Previews+Reviews: Books)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The stereotypical image of America's middle class--successful adults shepherding worthy children toward better lives--is turned on its head in ANDREW PORTER'S beautifully executed short story collection THE THEORY OF...

Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound.(Previews+Reviews: Books)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] First the bad news: ALAN GOVENAR'S TEXAS BLUES: THE RISE OF A CONTEMPORARY SOUND is maddening, a six-hundred-page patchwork of illustrations, interviews, and essays adapted and expanded from his previous works....

The Glen Rock Book of the Dead.(Previews+Reviews: Books)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE GLEN ROCK BOOK OF THE DEAD is a quiet tour de force from former Austinite MARION WINIK, who ruminates on the meaning and messages to be culled from the deaths (and lives) of fifty-plus individuals who have...

H.W. Brands.(Previews+Reviews: Books)
November 1, 2008... With his twenty-second book, Traitor to His Class, the acclaimed historian and University of Texas at Austin professor brings yet another political giant into focus: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Do you explode any myths in Traitor to His...

Frontier chic: holding down the fort in San Angelo.(Go: SUZY BANKS HITS THE ROADS LESS TRAVELED)
November 1, 2008... Name a college town with lots of public art, scenic riverside trails that run for miles, a thriving live-music scene, and bats roosting under a bridge. No, not Austin. Try San Angelo, a town I've dismissed all these years as a place to loop...

Twin wells: Chapter Eleven: The next big lie.(Texquisite Corpse: A STORY IN TWELVE PARTS AND TWELVE VOICES)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Baldwin wished he could have mustered a bit more surprise when the dead man rose from the road in the sheriff's headlights. The sheriff shook his head in disgust, stood on the brakes. His bumper stopped a good...

Rick Riordan:.(Texas Monthly Talks: EVAN SMITH SITS DOWN WITH...)(Interview)
November 1, 2008... Everyone is comparing your new book, The Maze of Bones, to the first book in the Harry Potter series. No pressure, huh? I wish people would stop doing that, because it's apples and oranges. I don't see any comparison to Harry Potter at all....

You aren't here: a lack of reverence for the Alamo's sacred battleground has turned much of the iconic site into a place no one remembers.
November 1, 2008... Across the street from the Alamo, on the very spot where Lieutenant Colonel William Barret Travis established his headquarters and wrote his famous letter pledging to fight until "victory or death," the scratchy voice of an actor in a top hat,...

Don't forget Jenny: what happens when a lonely elephant, unsuspecting city officials, and a group of vocal activists collide? My hometown turns into a zoo.(Letter From Dallas)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] If there's one thing I've learned living in Dallas for the past thirty years, it's that we're a very businesslike city. We're not big on civic unrest. Whenever something happens that you might think will get our...

Come early. Be loud. Cash in: in the arms race to build the fanciest stadiums, hire the best coaches, and attract the top athletes, the University of Texas is unrivaled: Its athletics program is the most profitable--and most successful--of any school in history. How did the Horns climb to the top? By inventing the rules that everyone else now plays by.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] "MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, IAM AT A POINT IN MY LIFE WHEN I WANT THIS PLACE PACKED," SAID UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOOTBALL COACH MACK BROWN ONE DAY THIS SPRING, GAZING OUT THE WINDOW of his office behind the hulking...

The exonerated: the 37 men in these pages spent 525 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit. then came the hard part: freedom.
November 1, 2008... THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IS the eyes--they all have the same look in them, the look of men accustomed to waking up every morning in a prison cell. These 37 men spent years, and in some cases decades, staring through bars at a world that...

Your bird here: throw out the turkey! This year, turn to a native fowl-dove, duck, or quail--for your holiday dinner centerpiece. With these inventive recipes from three of our favorite chefs, you'll be starting a new (and juicier) tradition.(Recipe)
November 1, 2008... Sure, you could have turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. There's nothing wrong with serving up a gargantuan, dried-out, unwieldy, predictable hunka protein that nobody with a single functioning taste bud re ally likes very much. It's a proud...

My frail island: looking for lessons in the wreckage of Galveston.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To grow up in Galveston is to carry inside of you the realization that everything familiar, the sum of your memories and experiences, could be wiped away in a few furious hours. Most of the time, this sense of dread...

Tei-An.(PAT'S PICK)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dallas JUST BECAUSE YOU'VE slurped up a zillion bowls of soba at your neighborhood noodle bar, dear reader, do not assume that you know everything there is to know about these nubby brown buckwheat ribbons. Like...

Mulberry.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Restaurant review)
November 1, 2008... Austin Seems as if everyone is checking out this little--and we do mean little-wine bar and restaurant at the base of a downtown condo. Plan your visit to avoid busy times or you might end up cooling your heels. The look is sleek and...

LakeHouse.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Restaurant review)
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Houston The menu for this casual indoor-outdoor spot overlooking downtown's Discovery Green park comes courtesy of Robert Del Grande (of Cafe Annie). Consider it an uptown take on downscale fare, like a Kobe...

The filter: dining: our favorite restaurants, bistros, cafes, and joints.(Restaurant review)
November 1, 2008... Amarillo CATTLE EXCHANGE (New) Located in the historic Moody Building in Canadian, the Cattle Exchange is just as popular as it was in 1910, when cattle buyers and weary travelers would stop in for a good meal. And if you go on a...

Only the lonely: I long ago concluded that the hermit of Echo Hill did not exist. I was wrong.
November 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "He lives alone in a little cabin somewhere on the back side of Echo Hill," said Vern Rathcamp, our counselor. "He is a hermit." "What's a hermit?" asked one of the kids. "It's a man with no testicles," said...