Feasting on the Oil Glut

So you think that OPEC controls the price oil and that the glut is hurting everybody in the oil business? Wrong. Traders on the international spot market are pulling the strings and getting rich in the process.

by Harry Hurt III

Draw the Cowboy

Twenty top artists test their talent.

by Fred Woodward

Coppini the Great

Pompeo Coppini’s heroic sculptures and European air were just what Texas’ fledgling gentry was hungry for in 1901. Since then his name has faded from memory, but his works endure.

by Stephen Harrigan

Hey, This Stuff Ain’t Half Bad

Just the thing to go with barbecue or chicken-fried steak—a good bottle of Texas red. Wine, that is.

Dust to Dust

The cattle are dying, the grass is gone, the ranchers are selling their land. The center of Texas is in a drought that may be the worst in a hundred years.

by Suzanne Winckler

The Politics of Armageddon

W.A. Criswell has spent forty years convincing his huge flock at Dallas’ First Baptist Church that the end of the world is near. He hopes you’ll believe it too.

by Dick J. Reavis

Western Art: Riding the Range

An interpretation of a classic genre.

by Geof Kern

Texas Primer: The Rich Girl

From lacquered debutante to fossilized ol’ gal, her greatest virtue is endurance.

by Michael Ennis

Behind the Lines

Houston catches up with itself.

by Gregory Curtis

Media

Is All This News Fit to Print?

Inspired by last summer’s media mania in Dallas, our expert offers a few suggestions for spicing up future nonevents.

Peter Applebome

Environment

Dead Oaks

Texas’ beloved live oaks are falling victim to a creeping fungus, and no one knows how to stop it.

by John Graves

Classical Music

Brahms the Bountiful

A flood of new Brahms recordings that honor the composer’s 150th birthday reveals an oeuvre of surprising richness.

by W. L. Taitte

Movies

Half of Me

Steve Martin’s new comedy All of Me is half-baked; The Gods Must Be Crazy is an amiable tall tale with giraffes; Tanya Roberts is sexy-heroic as Sheena, queen of the pulp jungle drama; Last Night at the Alamo is a rowdy last stand.

by James Wolcott

Fatherhood

Fathers and Other Strangers

Every son sees his father as his greatest competitor—until the day he becomes a father himself.

by Lawrence Wright

Software

Terminal Education

Most educational software relies on the same old rote drills and other negative techniques—only now kids get nuked for missing a math problem.

by Scott Lubeck

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Winners and losers from the Republican convention; a crash course for butlers; biting the bullet in Orange County; the peculiar appeal of the Texas State Guard; a bookie tells his trade secrets.

by Jim Atkinson

Roar of the Crowd

State Secrets

Bullock brings a touch of Las Vegas to Texas; two Texas congressmen covet the same plum; an oil company sends a signal to Wall Street; a court fight could cost UT and A&M $20 million; a big man belongs in Houston.

Edited by Paul Burka

Touts

Hunting gear that even Natty Bumppo would approve of.

Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle