January 2005

Table of Contents

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Features

The 2005 Bum Steer Awards

It was a year of: Alamo amour, bollixed Bush, cheeseburger chagrin, dissed Davy, egregious ethics, film flops, guileful gynecologists, hibiscus hullabaloo, in-flight idiocy, jiggling Janet, konservative kross-dressers, laughable liposuction, microphone mishaps, numskull name-nabbing, opinionated obits, pot parfaits, Qaeda qualms, reckless Rather, streaking solons, tasteless Tecate, UT users, vulgar veeps, Wicca watchdogs, X-pensive X-crement, yoga yoke, and—zounds!—zero tolerance.

Sunk

How the Texans who organized the Swift Boat Vets capsized John Kerry’s presidential campaign.

L. on Wheels

Eight days in a rental car with Larry L. King, the crotchety West Texan who has written some of the greatest magazine stories of all time, would be enough to drive anyone crazy. Except his biggest fan.

“She Had Brains, a Body, and the Ability To Make Men Love Her”

Meet the 22-year-old hooker who, with her fellow “massage therapists,” scandalized Odessa

Columns

Gary Cartwright

And Still Champion

The first black man to hold boxing’s heavyweight title is finally getting the respect he deserves. Now all he’s owed is a presidential pardon.

Behind the Lines

The Games Begin

What 2005 has to do with 2006.

Michael Ennis

No Hat, No Cattle

We Texans have long considered ourselves, in mythical terms, old cowhands. But we’re waking up to discover that weĠre really city slickers.

Kinky Friedman

Dome Improvement

How I’ll change life at the Capitol as governor. (Hint: Spaying is involved.)

Karen Olsson

The Gay Non-Issue

The election of a lesbian sheriff in Dallas County is a reminder of how far we’ve come, in a very short period, on the question of sexual orientation.

Reporter

FAQ

Write Wing

A read on textbooks.

Reporter

The Dallas Morning Blues

Why isn’t this man smiling? If you were the chairman of Belo, the suddenly stumbling media conglomerate, you wouldn’t be smiling either. Then again, Robert Decherd is sure there’s only good news ahead.

Reporter

Funny, You Don’t Look Fluish

Minister of Health Jim Atkinson cures what ails us.

Previews+Reviews

Books

The best new books from Texas.

Previews+Reviews

Music

The best new music from Texas.

The Filter

Pat's Pick

Noé

Pat's Pick

Photo Op

Miscellaneous

Texas Monthly Talks

Ben Barnes

“There’s not anything that’s happened since Election Day that proves to me that Bush is going to be moderate at all.”

Books That Cook

Celebrate San Antonio

Celebrate San Antonio (Favorite Recipes Press 1986, first printing).

Web Extra

The Funnies

Illustrator Tim Bower, who worked on this month’s cover story, talks about drawing, humor, and his favorite Bum Steer.

Web Extra

Rounding Up the Steers

Senior editor Anne Dingus on the Bum Steers traditions and mocking those other Simpsons.

Web Extra

Working Girls

Associate editor Katy Vine on prostitution in Odessa and writing about sex.

Web Extra

Two for the Road

Associate editor John Spong on spending eight days listening to author Larry L. King’s outlandish stories—and on writing about his hero.

Texas Tidbits

Texans have the best hand when it comes to Texas Hold ’Em.

Happy Trails

After a quick trip to Houston for a football game—and a visit to the Johnson Space Center—I’ve come up with a new mission.

Texas History 101

Dallas-based Belo, now a national media powerhouse, started as a small paper in Galveston.

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