June 2009 Cover

Photograph by Andy Anderson.

June 2009

Table of Contents

Features

There are plenty of unpleasant reasons to take a staycation this summer, from the collapse of your 401(k) to the global outbreak of swine flu, but there are plenty of pleasant ones too. For the thirteen weekends between the first day of summer (June 21) and the first day of fall (September 22), we found thirteen weekend trips within Texas that will bring you as much fun, relaxation, romance, and history as anything you’ll find out there in the big, bad world.

Jordan Breal narrates a slide show of images from her weekend “roughing it” at the Wildcatter Ranch resort and spa nestled in Graham.

The most shocking thing about the murder of the Caffey family in East Texas last year was not how gruesome or inexplicable the crime was. It was that it was masterminded by sixteen-year-old Erin Caffey, a pretty girl who worked at the Sonic, sang in her church, and loved her parents.

Contributing photographer O. Rufus Lovett narrates a slide show of images that tell the tragic story of how Erin Caffey asked her boyfriend, Charlie Wilkinson, to kill her family.

Is the Texas economy just late to the downturn, or are we insulated from the rest of the country’s woes? To answer this and other pressing pocketbook queries, Texas Monthly sat down with the state comptroller, the chairman of the UT Board of Regents, a legendary community organizer, a distinguished economist, and a state senator with a background in finance, who says we’ve been pretty darn lucky.

For Steve Kemble, having as good a time as humanly possible as often as humanly possible is very serious business.

Columns

Letter From Tomball

State representative Allen Fletcher is the chairman of a House subcommittee on white-collar crime. So how did his very own company get tangled up in a white-collar-crime investigation?

Behind the Lines

Rick Perry, Mirabeau B. Lamar, and the two visions of Texas.

Paul Burka reads “The Secret of My Secession.”

Gary Cartwright

Sure, sure, the newspaper business is dying, and this is bad for freedom, accountability, and democracy itself. But worst of all is what’s happened to sportswriting.

Sarah Bird

Every female on earth believes she can dance. My big break came when a Bob Hope wannabe with shiny suits and a pinkie ring took me on as his sidekick for a two-week tour of Tokyo.

Reporter

The Horse’s Mouth

Cerón on styling socialites’ hair.

The Working Life

Forensic anthropologist.

The Texanist

Can I mow my prickly pear?

How do you get your husband to quit using foul language?

The Manual

How to spit watermelon seeds.

The experts in Luling teach Andrea Valdez the art of spitting watermelon seeds.

Object Lesson

Becca Cason Thrash’s desk.

Street Smarts

Take a virtual tour of the Plaza Theatre.

Take a virtual tour of Cinco Puntos Press.

Take a virtual tour of Hommework.

Hollywood, TX

Why Tommy Lee Jones’s newest film went straight to DVD.

Texas Monthly Talks

Astros skipper Cecil Cooper on life in baseball.

Music Review

Music Review

Music Review

Artist Interview

Book Review

Author Interview

The Filter

Pat’s Pick

Houston

The Filter: Dining

Coast Global Seafood, Plano, and Buenos Aires Café East, Austin

Miscellany

Roar of the Crowd

Pamela Colloff, Barry Blitt, and Andy Anderson

Web Exclusives

Get a taste of what's going on with Texas wines. 

A sports columnist disputes Gary Cartwright’s assertion that sportswriting is dead.

The uncertain future of funding sexual assault programs through strip club fees.

Despite the fact that Texas boasts more than 150 wineries and is growing in popularity as a wine destination, many people aren’t that familiar with the state’s many offerings. The Austin Wine Festival hopes to change that. 

How a stranger with a metal detector helped me find my wedding band three years later.

Whether you are planning a dinner party for twelve or a quiet meal at home for two, cooking has never been so easy thanks to chef David Bull's new interactive cookbook, Bull's Eye on Food. 

Chef David Bull’s New Interactive Cookbook

Meyer Lemonade Shooters With Maple Sugar

Chilled Pea Soup With Horseradish Cream

Green Bean and Prosciutto Salad

Was the Army as much to blame for the Mahmudiyah killings as its perpetrators?

The 24th amendment prohibiting the poll tax on voters has been formally approved by the state of Texas—more than four decades later.

Up close, the little pieces of artist Shou Ping Newcomb’s work begin to pop out: the petals of a bluebonnet, the scales of a koi.

The Polaris Academy in Houston, a KIPP school, has made significant academic gains in its first two years.

Some legislators always step out in style.

What to do in humid Houston during the summer? If you’re Lynn Wyatt, you don’t sweat it and ask a couple dozen of your closest acquaintances to a book signing party for your dear, dear friend Candy Spelling, mother of Tori and author of Stories From Candyland.

Texas is full of buried booty—or, to be a bit more accurate, full of stories about buried booty that no one has been able to find. Here are six of the supposedly greatest Texas treasures still out there. May the hunters strike gold.

Politics, leadership struggles, and the recent resignation of President Elsa Murano have some Aggies in crisis mode.

Multimedia

Behind the scenes with lawyer, author, and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Chilled Pea Soup With Horseradish Cream

Chef David Bull’s New Interactive Cookbook

Meyer Lemonade Shooters With Maple Sugar

Green Bean and Prosciutto Salad

Jordan Breal narrates a slide show of images from her weekend “roughing it” at the Wildcatter Ranch resort and spa nestled in Graham.

How do you get your husband to quit using foul language?

The experts in Luling teach Andrea Valdez the art of spitting watermelon seeds.

Sarah Bird reads “Ready, Steady Go!”

Paul Burka reads “The Secret of My Secession.”

Chef David Bull’s New Interactive Cookbook

Take a virtual tour of the Plaza Theatre.

Take a virtual tour of Cinco Puntos Press.

Take a virtual tour of Hommework.

Meyer Lemonade Shooters With Maple Sugar

Behind the scenes with former UT women’s basketball coach Jody Conradt.

Ross Ramsey of Texas Weekly joins Evan Smith, Paul Burka, and Patricia Kilday Hart to discuss the week in politics.

Evan Smith, Paul Burka, and Patricia Kilday Hart discuss this week in politics, and Last Call at the Lege.

Evan Smith is interviewed by Trey Ware on KTSA radio on how to make Texas a better place.

In a special podcast, Evan Smith, Paul Burka, and Patricia Kilday Hart discuss the best and worst legislators, the furniture, the rookie, and the schnookie.

Evan Smith talks with Richard Wolffe, former senior White House correspondent for Newsweek and author of the new book, “Renegade: The Making of a President.”

Recipes

Recipe from Chef David Bull’s interactive cookbook, Bull’s Eye on Food

Recipe from Chef David Bull’s interactive cookbook, Bull’s Eye on Food.

Recipe From Chef David Bull’s Interactive Cookbook, Bull’s Eye on Food

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