Texas Monthly articles from October 2008

Texas Monthly archives from October 2008

Inflexible fliers: both parties have wrapped themselves in the mantle of change this year. Only one appears capable of making it happen.(Behind the Lines)
October 1, 2008... As I write these words, it is the first day of the Republican National Convention. The Texas delegates are easy to spot on the floor of the Xcel Energy Center, La St. Paul. They are decked out in blue work shirts that say "Governor Perry" above...

In the headlights.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... "The Killing Field" is the most sickening, repulsive story have heard in a longtime [August 2008]. These young men are "good kids"? I do not think so. I promise you, we will hear of these boys again, and it will not be about their good works....

Eyes wide open.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... Pamela Colloff's inspirational article "Out of Sight" [August 2008] brought tears to my jaded, disillusioned, oft- disgruntled teacher's eyes. After slogging through the public schools as an English teacher for nearly fifteen years, it is often...

State of confusion.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... I just wanted to set the record straight about "State of Play" [August 2008]. Justice Dale Wainwright's opponent in the general election is Sam Houston. Sherri Rains Whitus Campaign manager, Justice Dale Wainwright AUSTIN ...

Risque business.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... The review of Towelhead belongs in Hustler, not a reputable magazine like yours [Reporter; Hollywood, TX; August 2008]. Additionally, Christopher Kelly needs a therapist if he truly believes that this sleaze reflects any city in Texas. ...

Best of the breast.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2008... Sarah Bird's piece on breast-feeding, "Lactation Nation," has me shaking my head [August 2008]. Kristine Kovach sounds like a wonderful lactation consultant" But why does Bird have to slam La Leche League? La Leche League taught me how to be a...

Onward.(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)
October 1, 2008... I can't say I wasn't warned. In November 1991, not long after I'd announced to my bosses at a big magazine company in New York that I would soon be quitting to take a job with TEXAS MONTHLY, one of the company's officers, a hulking man with a...

Return of the King.(In the chute)(Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART has landed one of the most controversial exhibits of the decade, and the city couldn't be happier. "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," a lavish showcase of 130-plus antiquities,...

Marfa unplugged.(In the chute)(The Marfa Sessions)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EVER SINCE Donald Judd erected his one hundred aluminum boxes in Marfa, artists of varying ilk have come to install their own works in this remote West Texas outpost, its wide-open spaces thought to be as...

Free speech.(In the chute)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN 1981 performance artist and Illinois native Laurie Anderson had an accidental brush with mainstream fame when her song "O Superman"--a quirky, heavily synthesized, half-spoken rumination on technology-aided...

Being Mayor.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT...)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... NAME: Hilmar G. Moore AGE: 88 HOME: Richmond QUALIFICATIONS: Sworn in on September 22, 1949/Longest-serving mayor in U.S. history, with 59 consecutive years of service / Will have a statue dedicated in his honor on October 3 * My...

Bully for you: in praise of the overdog.(The Cheap Seats)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This month, in the wake of Leatherheads, The Love Guru, and The Longshots, I've decided to leave behind the Cheap Seats for sports-movie screenplay glory. For those agents and directors who happen to be reading,...

Andy Mullins, 46 midway barker. (The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 to 5.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I grew up going to the state fair, but I'd never seen the midway barker before. They only started the character nine or ten years ago. The midway is right in the middle of the fair, where the Cotton Bowl is, and as a...

Socket to me / turn my attention to my domestic appliances.(Green Guinea Pig)
October 1, 2008... (1) Replacing my fridge can halve its impact on my utility bill, (2) Reducing my oven usage saves up to 50 percent of its energy output. (3) Installing 26-watt CFLs cuts my energy use by up to 75 percent. (4) Opting for a "quick...

The Texanist: offering fine advice since 2007.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: My daughter, Kelsey, is a senior in high school this year, and she has never had a boyfriend. When I was in school, I was voted homecoming queen my senior year and received a triple mum. Kelsey has gone mumless to...

Minor movie star: as an actress, Jessica Simpson is a joke in search of a punch line.(Hollywood, TX)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The artistry! The emotional range! The sheer diversity of human experience captured on celluloid! Consider these highlights from the cinematic oeuvre of Jessica Simpson: In The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), playing the...

Oh Skies of Grey.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DANA FALCONBERRY came to Austin from Michigan by way of Hendrix College, in Conway, Arkansas, but you'd be hard-pressed to detect any geographic traces in her music. Like other new singers with an old-world charm...

Earfood.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Waco-born trumpeter ROY HARGROVE began recording as a bandleader back in 1990, though as a sideman his forceful yet crystalline tones had caught jazz fans' ears even earlier. When he signed with Verve Records, in...

Stand Ins.(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cut Will Sheff and he bleeds words: big, lofty, expository words--and more than enough of them in the case of the 2007 recording sessions with his Austin band OKKERVIL RIVER, which resulted in an extra album of...

Hayes Carll.(interview)(Interview)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... The 32-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in the Woodlands. His third album, Trouble in Mind (Lost Highway), was released to rave reviews in April, and he has been working non-stop ever since. He just filmed a video of his hit "She Left Me for...

The Whisky Rebels.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] San Antonio resident DAVID LISS dives headlong into the capital of post-Revolutionary America--Philadelphia circa 1792--and emerges with a pearl of a thriller in THE WHISKEY REBELS. It's a two-headed narrative told...

Holy Rogger: Growing Up in the Church of Knock Down, Drag Out; or, How I Quit Loving a Blue-Eyed Jesus.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Life has taken some interesting turns for DIANE WILSON, whose metamorphosis from shrimp boat captain to environmental activist was documented in Texas Gold, a multiple-award-winning documentary based on An...

Nine Kinds of Naked.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One can almost smell the patchouli wafting off the pages of NINE KINDS OF NAKED, a neopsychedelic satire from recently transplanted Austinite TONY VIGORITO. Channeling the spirited humor of Douglas Adams's The...

Darlene Harbour Unrue.
October 1, 2008... The professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has written and edited several books about the work and life of Texas literary talent Katherine Anne Porter, who died in 1980. Unrue just edited Porter: Collected Stories and...

Downtown piano: a not-so-sleepy suburban haven.(Street Smarts: A QUICKIE GUIDE TO ...)(Directory)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1 KELLY'S EASTSIDE isn't just a great spot to watch the game or listen to live music on the patio--it's also family-friendly. Owners Tim and Carin Kelly (he's a loyal Aggie) have one of the nicest staffs in town, and...

TwinWells: chapter ten: field of light.(Texquisite Corpse: A STORY IN TWELVE PARTS AND TWELVE VOICES)(Excerpt)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Baldwin hated guys who swung around phallic symbols to feel manly. At least he'd be at the police station soon. He felt safer there, knowing that someone behind the mirrored window listened and watched. It was better...

Bob Schieffer.(Texas Monthly Talks)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I still think there's a place for the evening news. When you look at the combined audience of the three [network newscasts], they don't have nearly the audience that they did when there were only three or four...

Access denied: demolishing the footbridge that connected Candelaria to the Mexican town of San Antonio del Bravo was supposed to put a dent in drug traffic and illegal immigration. Instead it's made life even tougher for citizens of this desolate corner of Big Bend.(Letter From West Texas)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Driving 25 miles an hour down the main paved road of Candelaria you can enter and exit the town in 67 seconds, chased most of the way by two barking dogs. There is no square in this border village, no mayor, no park,...

The drill team: Washington politicians say that tapping into sources of oil that were once off-limits is good for America. Is it also good for Texas?
October 1, 2008... Despite two presidential candidates who claim to exude bipartisan appeal, our nation has come to the eve of another election as bitterly divided as ever. The real surprise, however, is that we're no longer nursing grudge's over old favorites...

Dude! With an $8 million-per-film payday, a smoking Brazilian girlfriend, a baby boy named Levi, and throngs of adoring fans, Matthew McConaughey is ready to take on his biggest challenge yet: how to build a better flip-flop.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Matthew McConaughey was bouncing on his toes, waving one hand above his head, and laughing with great zeal and abandon. Shocking, I know. Five feet away stood two comely young women, utterly charmed and giggling...

Everybody must get stoned: a Texas monthly round.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ON OCTOBER 17--THREE WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION DAY-OLIVER STONE'S MUCH-ANTICIPATED FILM ABOUT THE LIFE AND PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W. BUSH ARRIVES IN THEATERS. WILL W. CLUMSILY STOKE THE PARTISAN FLAMES, WITH BUSH HATERS...

The reluctant prosecutor: is Randy Reynolds the worst district attorney in Texas? Or is he just giving the people of reeves, ward, and loving counties the kind of justice they want?(Biography)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "There are some men in this world," Harper Lee wrote in To Kill a Mockingbird, "who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us." And there are some who were not. Among this latter group is Randy Reynolds, who for the...

Flying away: I've loved honeybees since I was nine, when I bought my very first hive. Little did I know that one day I'd witness the sudden and catastrophic disappearance of these treasured insects.
October 1, 2008... TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN WINTERS Honeybees are one of the most important pollinators on the planet. Their labor singularly accounts for up to one third of our nation's annual food supply, contributing about $15 billion in added value to...

How well do you know your state board of education? A quiz.
October 1, 2008... EVER WONDER WHO DECIDES WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL? It's not their principals and teachers. Nor is it their School's superintendent--The Legislature, maybe? Not quite; the Legislature's responsibility is to write the education code,...

Olivia.(PAT'S PICK)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Austin THE MINUTE I SAW OLIVIA-with its sleek stone, glass, and wood digs-I immediately thought, "Wow, they sure planned that before the recession," The very idea of getting big-name Austin architectural...

Tre Trattoria.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... San Antonio This location has seen many a restaurant, but not since Arthur's has there been one so captivating. Italian ideas predominate, but Tre, the brainchild of Jason Dady, chef-owner of the Lodge and Bin 555, goes its own way in many...

Americas.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(The Woodlands)(Restaurant review)(Brief article)
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Woodlands "Over the top" is no overstatement for the latest incarnation of this celebrated restaurant from Michael Cordua, the chef and entrepreneur who started the pan-Latin culinary revolution in Houston...

The filter: dining.(Directory)
October 1, 2008... 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...

Hare! Knocks: in our house, "door" is a four-letter word.
October 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Doors are a marvelous invention that one doesn't fully appreciate until they are removed from one's home for several months. And held hostage. By Dog the Bounty Hunter. At least our door man looked like Dog:...