October 2003 Issue

Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.
On the Cover

The Spirit of ’76

How Matthew McConaughey got discovered, why Renée Zellweger’s part is so small, why some of the actresses can’t eat ketchup to this day, and everything else you didn’t know about the making of the classic high school flick Dazed and Confused.

Features


Feature

Greatness Visible

The dream of a first-rate university rising out of the prairie north of the Colorado River is almost as old as Texas itself. Which prompts the question, When will UT finally live up to its potential?

Feature

The War at Home

For so many American families with loved ones overseas, Vietnam complicated everything. The Allens, of El Paso, found that out the hardest way possible.

Feature

God and Man at Baylor

Can one man change the world's largest Baptist university? He can if he's controversial preacher-president Robert Sloan, Jr. And, just maybe, one man can destroy it too.

King’s Ransom

At UT's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, extraordinary cultural treasures are available for your inspection—if you know the magic word.

Around the State


Atsbox

STRAIGHT TALK

BRIGHT WEITZ With his brother, Chris, 38-year-old Paul Weitz has co-directed or co-written such Hollywood blockbusters as American Pie, Antz, and About a Boy. The two will be panelists at the Austin Film Festival, which runs October 9-12.You have an extensive filmography for your age. Are you a workaholic or

Atsbox

A GREAT WEEKEND IN BIG BEND

ARE WE THERE YET? If ever there was a time to go to Big Bend, the weekend of October 10-12 is it. Period. (Let us clarify: For the purposes of our conversation, “Big Bend” means the Marfa-Alpine-Marathon corridor.) On Friday, head to Marfa, and before you retire for the night,

Atsbox

EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN

DEAR ABBY: I’m a working mother trying to balance my family life with my career. Like so many millions of other women, I’ve discovered that encouragement is a huge motivator, whether it comes from someone I know or someone I don’t. I’m writing to you because this month there are

Atsbox

ART

THINK SMALL Edward Hopper is known for his lonely scenes of the American cityscape, not his Impressionistic images of France. So when “Edward Hopper: The Paris Years” opens on October 16, the location may strike you as fittingly incongruous: the Tyler Museum of Art (it isn’t every day that a

Columns


Cartwright's Texas

Holy Trinity

When I was growing up in Arlington, the upper Trinity River was a dirty joke—and it still is. But the lower Trinity? You've got to see it to believe it.

Texana

Cottage Industry

For decades, family-run motels looked after weary travelers all across Texas. And who looked after the families who ran them? The Temple-based Tourist Court Journal.

Reporter


Web


Pat's Pick

Luna Blue Cafe

MOONSTRUCK “Luna” means “moon” in Italian and Spanish, but San Antonio newcomer Luna Blue Café will be on my must-visit list way more often than once in a blue moon. To begin with, the service at this bright, light ristorante is excellent—the waiters watched our table like hawks, and the

Recipe

Steamed Mussels With Chorizo Sausage

CrostiniUse any rustic style bread, such as ciabatta or sourdough. Slice bread and brush with extra virgin olive oil. Either grill or toast bread slices. Rub garlic cloves into hot bread.Mussels1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 16 to 18 Prince Edward Island mussels, cleaned with beards removed 1/4 ounce white

Pat's Pick

BOOKSHELF

STYLE AND SUSTENANCE Back when I was a newly minted teenager, my mother took me on a shopping expedition to the Neiman Marcus store in downtown Dallas, complete with a lunch break at the Zodiac Room. The details of the trip are fuzzy, but the lasting effects have been an

Pat's Pick

BEST FESTS

FOREIGN AFFAIRS Forgo October’s usual rowdy beer-drinking and bratwurst-eating festivities and instead treat yourself to souvlaki and spanakopita at Houston’s thirty-seventh annual Original Greek Festival. To be held October 2-5 at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the event features—what else?—all things Greek: music, dancing, crafts, jewelry, and of course, food

Web Exclusive

Horns Aplenty

Senior executive editor Paul Burka talks about this month's cover story, "Greatness Visible."

Web Exclusive

Talk To Me

Associate editor John Spong talks about Hollywood types, drinking beer, and a typical high school scene.

Web Exclusive

Austin or Bust

I was looking for a change when I decided to move to Austin and attend the University of Texas. Until I got there, I had no idea how big the change would be.

Texas Tidbits

Texas Tidbits

You may know the story of Bevo, but do you know when UT first played a football game against A&M?

Recipe

Tlacoyos

Tlacoyo is the common name, a variation of the Nahuatl words tlatlaoyo and claclaoyo, given to an antojito typical of central Mexico: corn masa formed into a flattish elongated oval and stuffed often with ricotta, requeson, or a paste of fava beans. They vary enormously in size from very large—about

Happy Trails

Happy Trails

The tiny community of Egypt, southwest of Houston, is a place of antiquity, which makes it the perfect town to visit if you are a history lover like me.

Miscellany


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