May 2006 Cover

ON THE COVER: Photograph by Bryant Humphreys.

May 2006

Table of Contents

Features

He blames the Democrats, the press, Ronnie Earle, the bloggers—the list goes on. But in the end, what did in the most powerful Texan in Washington was his own excess.

Having suffered through the ineptitudes of the Texas Rangers for nearly three and a half decades, having sat as solemn witness to their stumbling pretenses to be major league material, I assume that the hiring of a 28-year-old to run the team is yet another mistake. Jon Daniels, prove me wrong.

At the Houston Museum of Natural Science, butterflies are free (sort of).

If he was asked what he did for a living, Roddy Dean Pippin would smile and say something about the cattle business. But he didn’t exactly buy and sell cows. He stole them. And right up until he was caught, he was as good as any such thief had ever been.

How to make black bean soup, cactus cornbread, and other mouthwatering dishes from Melissa Guerra’s South Texas kitchen.

Columns

Behind the Lines

Can John Sharp save the Republicans?

Patricia Kilday Hart

A pernicious staph infection is targeting athletes young and old—and igniting a debate over the hazards of artificial turf.

Oscar Casares

My dog, Flaco, sleeps on a bed from Pottery Barn, gets three walks a day, and very nearly had his teeth cleaned for the princely sum of $208. What would my father say?

Letter From Eagle Pass

As a record number of demonstrators hit the streets this spring, one Texas border town was rolling the dice on a draconian method of dealing with illegal immigrants. And it’s working.

Sarah Bird

There is a world where the kings of small African countries send cases of Dom Pérignon as hostess gifts, where you get to choose between the white-striped chinchilla and the violet beaver shearling poncho. Who let me in?

Reporter

Topic A

The candidate cattle call begins.

The Horse’s Mouth

As Helen Wagner’s world turns.

The Sports Authorities

The Spurs versus the Mavs.

A Soldier’s Story

The bombing of a mosque.

Faith Bases

William Martin reviews our places of worship.

Encyclopedia Texanica

Do horny toads really squirt blood?

Hollywood, TX

Terrence Malick’s self-defeating art.

Buy This Now

That’s the way the coffee table bounces.

Go

Suzy Banks goes out for a beer.

Texas Monthly Talks

Lyle Lovett on acting, singing, and Calvin Klein.

Book Review

Book Review

Book Review

Music Review

Music Review

Music Review

The Filter

Pat’s Pick

Miscellany

Editor’s Letter

Roar of the Crowd

Web Exclusives

Senior executive editor Paul Burka on reporting one of the country’s biggest political stories: the self-destruction of Tom DeLay.

Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on going to Eagle Pass and writing about illegal immigration.

Executive editor Skip Hollandsworth talks about investigator Scott Williamson, the man who caught cattle rustler Roddy Dean Pippin.

Creative director Scott Dadich talks about contributing photographer Dan Winters’s photo essay on lepidopterans.

Big John Youk, a 27-year veteran of the NASCAR pits and the author of Big John’s Speedway Grill, talks about cooking, cars, and ’cue.

Tex-Mex is a true American regional cuisine.

Almost every Wednesday evening, the Austin Aquabats wear helmets and padded life jackets, paddle furiously, and call their own fouls during each twenty-minute game of canoe polo.

After spending a day exploring Boerne, just outside San Antonio, I realized there is a lot to do in this not-so-sleepy town.

As governor, Miriam “Ma” Ferguson pardoned as many as one hundred people a month, but what’s really interesting is how she got to be the first female elected to that office.

More than 670,000 people call Austin home. But that’s not including the ghosts.

A review of Big John’s Speedway Grill.

Recipes

This recipe is featured in “A Desert Feast”

This recipe is featured in “A Desert Feast”

This recipe is featured in “A Desert Feast”

This recipe is featured in “A Desert Feast”

A recipe from Amuse, Dallas.

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