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2007 – Page 2 of 20

Web Exclusive|
December 1, 2007

Barry Walker

The curator of The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston discusses the museum’s recent acquisitions, from Jasper Johns to Philip Guston.

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Author Interview|
December 1, 2007

Aaron Allston

The Round Rock author and former video game designer has just penned his ninth Star Wars serialization, Legacy of the Force: Fury.What cachet does your role in the Star Wars franchise afford you in the realm of SF fandom?Reader reactions fall into three categories: eyebrows go up, eyebrows go

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Editor's Letter|
December 1, 2007

Meat the Press

I’m not cowed by the idea of admitting to things that put me on the banks of the mainstream in Texas—rooting for the New York Yankees (give me an alternative!), thinking Cormac McCarthy’s books are boring (get a rope!)—so I may as well also cop to the following: The cover

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Music|
December 1, 2007

Chris Klassen, Deejay

Klassen, who performs under the name Prince Klassen, was born and raised in San Antonio. Following in the footsteps of his brother, Jason, he started deejaying at house parties when he was only fourteen. He now lives in Austin, where he regularly spins at Beauty Bar, Whisky Bar, and Nasty’s.I

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Roar of the Crowd|
December 1, 2007

Alpine Mystery Slights

You left out one of the best (if not the very best) towns in your story on Big Bend: Alpine, home to Sul Ross State University, the Museum of the Big Bend, cowboy poetry, Gallery Night, balloon festivals, great people, and no red lights [“River Deep, Mountain High,” October

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Letter from San Antonio|
December 1, 2007

Boom With A View

There’s no stopping the skyrocketing growth of San Antonio—until recently the Land That Time Forgot—and there’s no going back.

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The Filter: Dining|
December 1, 2007

New and Noteworthy

Liberty Bistro, New BraunfelsAt this patriotic spot in the former city hall, founder Darren Scroggins has concocted a brick-and-mortar civic lesson. Portraits of presidents, and a few first ladies, preside (benevolently, we hope) over the tables, and even the private dining rooms have righteous names: the House, the Senate, the

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The Filter: Dining|
December 1, 2007

New and Noteworthy

Liberty Bistro, New BraunfelsAt this patriotic spot in the former city hall, founder Darren Scroggins has concocted a brick-and-mortar civic lesson. Portraits of presidents, and a few first ladies, preside (benevolently, we hope) over the tables, and even the private dining rooms have righteous names: the House, the Senate, the

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Feature|
December 1, 2007

Everyone’s Poop

Sewerage is the cornerstone of civilization, the sine qua non of urban life, and the best possible window into how we live, what we eat, and who we are.

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Sports|
December 1, 2007

That Championship Season

Long before the BCS, long before anyone thought to publish insider newsletters for boosters, the Aggies were the best college football team in the nation—for the first and only time. The long-gone glory days remembered.

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Travel & Outdoors|
December 1, 2007

The Last Resort

After telecommunications tycoon Steve Smith bought the Big Bend town of Lajitas on a whim for $4.25 million, he spent perhaps $100 million more developing what was going to be a five-star, world-class getaway. The desert, however, had other ideas.

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Politics & Policy|
December 1, 2007

Big Red

John Cornyn won a U.S. Senate seat in 2002 by pledging allegiance to George W. Bush and riding a Republican wave to victory. But neither the president nor the wave is as strong six years later, and Cornyn’s bid for reelection may not be either.

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Food & Drink|
December 1, 2007

Meat Your Maker

From city to country, fancy to down-home, the state’s 38 best steakhouses. Plus: the Japanese beef that everyone should be eating, our favorite butcher shops, and how to grill a ribeye that even your father-in-law will love.

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Music Review|
December 1, 2007

Solos, Sessions & Encores

If the conceit of Solos, Sessions & Encores (Epic Legacy)—a collection of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s drop-ins on others’ sessions—is somewhat silly, from a marketing standpoint, no one’s laughing. Does an SRV fanatic really need his 45-second contribution to a Marcia Ball song? Apparently. So we get tracks (some

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Music Review|
December 1, 2007

Patty Griffin: Live From the Artists Den

Austin’s Patty Griffin has always branded her work with a certain melancholic restraint, but Children Running Through, released earlier this year, changed that: She loosened up, let the music flow, and scored a real triumph. On the bitterly cold February night of the album’s release in New York, Griffin

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Music Review|
December 1, 2007

Live From Austin TX

For a San Antonio–born musician who once pretended to be British, Doug Sahm made music remarkably devoid of pretense. Because of this, the late Texas Tornado’s genre-bending explorations have only grown richer over time. As part of Austin City Limits’ Live From Austin TX CD/DVD series (New West),

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Music Review|
December 1, 2007

Atlantic Blues (1949-1970)

Ahmet Ertegun co-founded Atlantic Records in 1947 and, by virtue of his taste and big ears, turned it into one of the most influential independent labels in history. Don’t expect the down-and-dirty stuff on Atlantic Blues (1949–1970) (Rhino Handmade), a four-CD collection displaying the breadth of Atlantic’s reach; Ertegun’s

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Book Review|
December 1, 2007

Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life

There is something irresistibly civilized about the Steve Martin who abandoned live comedy to ply his trade as a writer, first as a playwright (1993’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile), then as a novelist and screenwriter (Shopgirl), and now as an autobiographer, with Born Standing Up: A Comic’s

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Book Review|
December 1, 2007

A Land So Strange

History buffs will know sixteenth-century Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca as one of the first Europeans to explore Texas, but even they will find surprises in A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, by Mexico City native Andres Resendez. Cabeza de Vaca (yes,

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Politics & Policy|
November 30, 2007

Hutchison for Vice-President?

This piece ran in “The Hill,” a Capitol Hill newspaper, on Wednesday. It makes a case for Kay Bailey Hutchison on the Republican ticket. (Dewhurst will second that nomination.)Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) is poised to win her nomination and she’ll soon seal the deal by leveraging her

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Eat My Words|
November 29, 2007

What the Heck Does This Have to Do With Steaks?

The Garcia Art Glass company in San Antonio has come up with the perfect stocking stuffer for the steak lover on your holiday list: an oil lamp entitled “Rare.” (It’s even peppered.) They also sell “Medium,” and “Well-done.” Why would anyone dream up such a thing? Easy. Company owner

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Politics & Policy|
November 29, 2007

RedState on Hutchison and the Leadership Race

This report from RedState.com, sent to me by a Senate staffer, is the best piece I have read about the Republican Senate leadership race. Hutchison is prominently featured. Although RedState is no fan of Hutchison, the article views her as crucial to conservatives’ long-term prospects, because (1) They

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Eat My Words|
November 28, 2007

Always Shuck Your Tamales

I was heartily amused by this NYT article about what presidential wannabes are eating during their swing-state stops. Tagline: “Like everything else on the campaign trail, even the eating is political.” Thus, the Gray Lady sees fit to document not only what the prezzies do, say, and wear,

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Eat My Words|
November 28, 2007

Sticky Fingers

Kudos to Tracy Claros, Austin owner of the Sticky Toffee Pudding Company–she got a shout-out today in the New York Times story on mail-order gifts for the holidays. Those wonderful cakey, puddingy desserts that she makes are indeed irresistible. We should know: We couldn’t stop eating them when

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Politics & Policy|
November 28, 2007

The A&M Presidential Search: A Faculty View

Texas A&M sociology professor Rogelio Saenz has written an op-ed piece on the problems of the presidential search at the university. His e-mail said that it “looks like” the piece will be published by one of the big-city dailies. I interviewed Saenz for the profile of then-president Bob Gates that

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Politics & Policy|
November 27, 2007

Clarification on A&M President Earl Rudder

In my post of November 17, “Into the Wild Blue Yonder,” I wrote about the story circulating at Texas A&M that Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley, a Rick Perry chum in their days at Aggieland, might be under consideration as the next president of Texas A&M. In

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Eat My Words|
November 27, 2007

Can they really cancel Emeril?

In class, I catch the yahoo.com news headline, “Food Network canceling ‘Emeril Live.'” Now I know Anthony Bourdain would give a huge speech on how Emeril is finally going away and it is better service to the Food Network and America. But I grew up with Emeril. He was

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Politics & Policy|
November 27, 2007

Hutchison May Face Opposition as GOP Conference Chair

Things change fast in Washington.Yesterday morning, I reported that Lamar Alexander of Tennessee might challenge Arizona’s Jon Kyl for the position of Minority Whip, which is being vacated by Trent Lott. Yesterday afternoon, I reported, based on phone calls to the offices of Texas’s two senators, that the most likely

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Politics & Policy|
November 26, 2007

Miller Time

I overlooked a comment posted by Charles Miller, former chair of the University of Texas Board of Regents, to my report on the “Future of Houston” discussion at the Jones School of Management at Rice University. I’m going to publish his observations in their entirety:Paul,In regard to your becoming enlightened

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Politics & Policy|
November 26, 2007

GOP Leadership Update

This is the latest word on the Trent Lott resignation and its effect on Cornyn and Hutchison. I have spoken to both offices. By all accounts, Kyl will move up to Whip, and Hutchison and Cornyn will advance accordingly. No challenge to is expected. I’m sorry to hear that. The

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Eat My Words|
November 26, 2007

How About Them Cowboys?

This just in: Fort Worth chef Grady Spears (you remember Reata, right, and the Chisholm Club?) of recently opened Dutch’s at 3009 S. University Dr. is working on a new cookbook. It’s going to be called The Cowboy Way, and it’s being done with long-time collaborator and

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Politics & Policy|
November 26, 2007

Lott’s Departure Opens Door for Cornyn, Hutchison

The AP is reporting this morning that Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi will resign his seat before the end of the year. Lott holds the number-two post on the Republican leadership ladder, behind Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The remainder of the five-member GOP leadership team, in

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Politics & Policy|
November 22, 2007

Remembering Kennedy

Today, November 22, is more than Thanksgiving Day, a time of national celebration. It is also the 44th anniversary of a day of national mourning, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. What 9/11 was to the millennium generation, the Kennedy assassination was to my generation: a universally shared moment, such

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Politics & Policy|
November 21, 2007

Finally, National Primary Calendar Appears Set

Two significant events today:1. The Michigan Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, rejected a constitutional challenge against shifting the state’s presidential primary forward to January 15. The primary will be held on that date, even though the two political parties are threatening to refuse to seat some or all of

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