Texas Monthly articles from September 2008

Texas Monthly archives from September 2008

TexasMonthly.com.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This month's code to access stories online: HILL COUNTRY The Last Pickens Show A narrated slide show of the making of this month's cover. Gone With The Wind A video of photographer Randal Ford behind the...

How green is my bayou? Houston, the energy capital of the world, wants to be the environmental capital as well. Good luck!(Behind the Lines)
September 1, 2008... Perhaps it is not so surprising that the turning point in Houstons uneasy, often contemptuous relationship with its less-than pristine environment came in the form of a political ad for Al Gore. The moment occurred during the 2000 presidential...

The cowboy way.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Thanks to Elmer Kelton for the story on cowboys ["True Grit," July 2008]. It is sad that some pundits have used an honorable name and profession to mislabel some of our political leaders. I consider it sadder that some of our political leaders...

Man of war.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Matt Cook's account of Iraq and himself reads of absolute truth, with a style as wonderfully lean and affecting as any reporting I have read ["Soldier," July 2008]. John Ledbetter IRVING Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove should be...

Graham slam.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... For a person who wants to know so little about Cormac McCarthy, Don Graham has put a tremendous amount of effort into finding everything he can on the author ["Please Go Away," July 2008]. He doesn't mind watching a five-hour Oscar telecast if...

Battle fatigue.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I was thinking earlier that what this war needs is a Hunter S. Thompson to kick us all in the ass. After reading "Mission Impossible" [Behind the Lines, July 2008], I changed my mind. Your piece is head and shoulders above anything he could...

Money talks.(Roar of the Crowd)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I have nothing against Kinky Friedman. I even drove across Houston to sign a petition to get his name on the ballot for governor. I am, however, beginning to think he will do anything to make a buck ["The Cable Guy," July 2008]. I mean, really,...

The last tycoon.(Editor's Letter)(Boone Pickens)
September 1, 2008... If you had asked me a year ago--if you had asked me three months ago--I would have bet my house that Boone Pickens would not be on this month's cover. Not that his previous time as our cover subject wasn't memorable: Joe Nocera, then a TEXAS...

In the Chute: 9/9 The Color Purple 9/10 Dallas Symphony Orchestra 9/20 Nasher Sculpture Center.(Reporter)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Music, Maestro LAST YEAR, when it was announced that Jaap van Zweden would be the next music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, a Dallas Morning News editorial proclaimed that "the orchestra's own Tony...

Breaking into showbiz.(The Horse's Mouth: EVERYTHING I COULD EVER TELL YOU ABOUT ...)
September 1, 2008... NAME: Angela Kinsey AGE: 37 HOMETOWN: Archer City QUALIFICATIONS: Plays uptight accountant Angela Martin on The Office/Won a Daytime Emmy for The Office: Accountants webisodes * Be prepared to be very patient. When I got to L.A., I was...

Blazing saddles: why this is the year for the Texas Tech Red Raiders (all kidding aside).(The Cheap Seats)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Texas Tech? Really? I thought only Oklahoma and Texas were allowed to take home the Big 12 title. There was an ugly rumor last season about a couple of teams from Kansas and Missouri. And even old A&M might be due...

Ben Edwards, 33: small-town family doctor.(The Working Life: STORIES FROM THE 9 TO 5)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I decided to be a doctor, I knew I wanted to do small-town medicine. During my residency, my wife and I traveled to probably thirty different small towns in Texas, and every town we looked at had at least one...

Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship: Dallas: May 18, 2008.(Faith Bases)(Project Turn Around)
September 1, 2008... Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship has a homey sound to it, which is fitting for a church that began in 1976 with ten people meeting for Bible study in the home of Tony and Lois Evans. Today, after three decades of nonstop growth, it is one of Dallas's...

Rattlesnake wrangling: how to snare a serpent.(The Manual: WHAT EVERY TEXAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ...)
September 1, 2008... THE RATIONALE With eleven species of rattlesnakes calling our state home, chances are you'll find yourself face-to-fang sooner or later. Most common to West Texas, rattlers like to den up in dry, rocky crevices, but you'll also find them...

I wish I knew how to depict you: yes, Hollywood, there are gay Texans.(Hollywood, TX)
September 1, 2008... In the premiere episode of Sordid Lives, a new comedy series created by Winters native Del Shores and currently airing on MTV's queer-themed Logo network, we meet an institutionalized, chain-smoking drag queen named Earl "Brother Boy" Ingram...

Sex & Gasoline.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Few would dispute that after a long career of starts and stops, RODNEY CROWELL is again firing on all cylinders. After early success with a string of remarkable hits, the Houston songwriter settled in for a champion...

You Are All My People.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After two decades as a fan of the Silos, acclaimed author Jonathan Lethem finally approached the group's front man, Walter Salas-Humara, at a show. They made small talk about co-writing, but it was only after...

Fortunately.(Brothers and Sisters)(Sound recording review)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the last things you might expect to burst the cynical bubble of indie rock would be Austin's BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Yet this hippieish seven-piece, led by siblings Lily and Will Courtney, has found itself...

Roky Erickson.(Previews+Reviews: Music)(Interview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... His 13th Floor Elevators spearheaded the sixties psychedelic rock movement, but drugs and mental illness would later keep him out of the limelight. An appearance at the 2005 Austin City Limits Music Festival marked his first full-length concert...

The Heretic's Daughter.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In 2692 Martha Carrier was arrested, tried, and hanged in Salem, Massachusetts, for having committed "sundry acts of witchcraft." Ten generations on, her Dallas-based descendant KATHLEEN KENT has produced THE...

Bob Schieffer's America.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Longtime followers of BOB SCHIEFFER, the chief Washington correspondent for CBS, will hear his silky rasp echo in their heads as they thumb through BOB SCHIEFFER'S AMERICA, a compilation of 171 commentaries from his...

Curtis Sittenfeld.(Previews+Reviews: Books)(Interview)
September 1, 2008... The New York Times named the author's first novel, Prep, one of 2005's ten best books; its successor, The Man of My Dreams, was a national best-seller. Her newest, American Wife, draws inspiration from the life of Laura Bush, though the author...

Epic Western: with its frontier history and pampered getaways, Graham is riding high.(Graham, Texas)(City overview)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tell people you're going to Graham and most ask, "Where?" Those who know that the town is 88 miles northwest of Fort Worth ask, "Why?" The answer, more epic than you might imagine, begins pleasantly enough with...

Twin wells: chapter nine: the last picture show.(Texquisite Corpse: A STORY IN TWELVE PARTS AND TWELVE VOICES)(Excerpt)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Baldwin leaned against the counter, thumbing through the photos of Sally Johnson. He kept returning to the shot of her in Newby's bedroom, naked, posing coyly in a quarter turn from the lens. She was a young forty:...

Hakeem Olajuwon.(Texas Monthly Talks)(Interview)
September 1, 2008... "When I was playing in college and the pros, most of the articles called me a 'future Hall of Famer.' So you get that idea in your head. You feel secure and confident that you'll be elected to the Hall of Fame, but it's different when it...

Let's talk about sex: I swore that when it came time, I would level with my kids about the birds and the bees. Easier said than done.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Once upon a time my family was traveling home from our summer camping escapades when my little sister, age four, pointed at a farmer's field, chirping merrily from the way back of the station wagon: "Why are those...

Leave it to weaver: what John McCain's former chief strategist thinks of his campaign.(Letter From Washington, D.C.)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The place where I was meeting John Weaver was all wrong--a nondescript office building on F Street in downtown Washington, near Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was shot. He should have been miles away, across the...

There will be boone.
September 1, 2008... THE MOST FAMOUS WILDCATTER IN TEXAS HISTORY IS SPENDING $58 MILLION OF HIS OWN MONEY TO PROMOTE THE PICKENS PLAN, WHICH PROPOSES MASSIVE WIND FARMS (WHICH HE'S ALREADY BUILDING), MORE RELIANCE ON NATURAL GAS (WHICH HE HAS A HUGE STAKE IN), &...

Tony Romo is the greatest cowboys quarterback since ... How you answer that question shows how you feel about the undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois University who is now the undisputed star of America's Team--and whether you're willing to put up with the tabloid headlines that follow him everywhere.
September 1, 2008... a) TROY AIKMAN b) ROGER STAUBACH c) DON MEREDITH d) THE DAWN OF MANKIND WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT TONY ROMO? HE'S THE MOST EXCITING DALLAS COWBOYS QUARTERBACK SINCE TROY AIKMAN IN HIS PRIME. HE HAS DON MEREDITH'S DEVILMAY-CARE...

Katrina Texas.(Hurricane Katrina)
September 1, 2008... I'm Mrs. Eartherine Odem. My husband Ferdinand, and I are from New Orleans, but on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed our city, forcing us to leave everything behind for a new life in Texas. This is our story. [ILLUSTRATION...

Death letters.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN 1990 CHARLES DEAN HOOD WAS CONVICTED OF MURDER AND SENTENCED TO DIE. TWELVE YEARS LATER HE BEGAN WRITING TO SENIOR EDITOR MICHAEL HALL. HERE, IN THREE OF HIS LETTERS, HE DESCRIBES IN EXTRAORDINARY DETAIL HIS TWO...

The illusionist: he's famous worldwide for finding mystery in the ordinary and magic in the mundane. But it was in East Texas that self-taught photographer Keith Carter first developed his dreamlike, haunting style. In his tenth book, A Certain Alchemy, his work is as spellbinding as ever.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Among his earliest memories is waking in the middle of the night from a pallet on the floor to see a small orange safelight above the kitchen sink, where his mother stands. He steps over beside her, then raises...

Coco Chocolate Lounge & Bistro: San Antonio.(PAT'S PICK)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE NERVE. ANOTHER reviewer grabbed the Sex and the City image I had intended to use in writing about Coco, the tall, dark, and sensuous bistro that recently opened on San Antonio's far north side. Now I have to trot...

Dali Wine Bar & Restaurant: Dallas.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)
September 1, 2008... Given the restaurant's moniker, you might expect some surreal artwork--melted pocket watches or the world cracking open like an egg. But this intimate bistro at One Arts Plaza is Daliesque in name only. Chef Joel Harloff, formerly of the...

Kenzo Sushi Bistro: Katy.(NEW + NOTEWORTHY)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Katyites seem to love this pretty spot with slate -backed water walls, soft lighting, and bamboo accents. The usual sushi options are all fresh and delish, and happily for those who like a little heat applied to...

The filter: dining.(Directory)
September 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...

What are the odds? My name is Mr. Keenky, and I'm a gambling addict.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Flamingo, one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas, was founded by Bugsy Siegel in 1946 and was a favorite haunt of the Rat Pack in the fifties and sixties. As with everything else in the world the situation has...