The colorful Midland oilman, profiled by journalistMike Cochran in Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter, has made and lost fortunes, but he is best known for his unsuccessful 1990 gubernatorial campaign against Ann Richards.The oil business has always been boom and bust. Which is more satisfying, the
This poll on the Texas Senate race appeared on the Web site of the well known liberal blog Daily Kos, which bills itself as “the premier political community in the United States,” with 600,000 visits a day. That’s a few more than this site, give or take 595,000
I was in Washington last week working on a profile of John Cornyn, as Congress was preparing for the vote on the reauthorization and expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known in D.C. as S-CHIP, “s” standing for “state.” CHIP is designed to cover children from families whose income
There’s something to be said for familiarity and consistency. So when my husband and I stumbled across Castle Hill Cafe on Fifth Street (in Austin, of course), we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dine at one of our old stomping grounds. And, we were pleased with the
October is Texas Wine Month. Besides activities around the state, why not have your own little celebration at home, by pairing a Texas wine with a recipe from a Texas restaurant. Or, learn more about pairing at Fall Creek Vineyards wine seminar
I had lunch last week with a Republican friend who is very much involved in the campaign season. No, not Eppstein. Every time I write something like this people say I’m just a conduit for Eppstein. There are other smart guys out there, you know.Anyway, my RF said a number
The Los Angeles Times reports today that a California ballot initiative that would allow 53 of the state’s 55 electoral votes to be awarded to the winning candidate in each of the state’s congressional districts is “a shambles,” following the resignation of the election law attorney who was
… And I intercepted it, on the Web site, GOPUSA.com. It’s a fundraising advertisement for John McCain’s lagging presidential campaign. The next reporting deadline is Sunday, September 30, and McCain desperately needs a good showing to keep his hopes alive. Here’s the text: Dear Fellow American, When the clock is
The summer before my freshman year of college, as I prepared to move from New York to Austin, I was shocked to hear Bob, my best friend’s father, say, “Don’t worry, you’ll be right at home. Texas barbecue was invented by our kind, you know.” Bob’s greatest pleasure seemed to
May I vent? Which restaurant first thought up the silly idea of offering a black napkin (in lieu of white) to guests with black pants or skirts? Please! I might see the point of a color-matched napkin if a restaurant was using, say, sheepskins or pieces of old chenille bedspreads
Having recently returned from a family vacation that stretched from as far north as the Red River to as far south as Kerrville, I want to affirm two things: 1. Interstates bad, U.S. and Texas highways good. 2. My love for breakfast tacos on a Saturday is boundless.Hence, the tribe
And I thought this was the funniest thing you could do at the drive-thru. Three men in a pickup truck tossed a python through a drive-through window at a Taco Bell worker who is afraid of snakes, police said. Round Rock police say the incident may have been a
How is this for a “pox-on-both-your-houses” poll? Rasmussen, August 10-11, 800 likely voters: Of the seven major presidential contenders, more people are committed to voting against them than for them.Hillary Clinton DEFINITELY FOR 32%, DEFINITELY AGAINST 44%Rudy Giuliani DEFINITELY FOR 25%, DEFINITELY AGAINST 37%Fred Thompson DEFINITELY FOR 23%, DEFINITELY AGAINST
I love the food here in Boston, for sure, but sometimes a Texan just has to have a really good taco (for a multitude of ideas, see Pat’s story from the December 2006 issue). Hence, I have set out to find the best taco in town, perhaps a
I spoke with Fred Hill today about his decision to retire from the Legislature. He was in northern Montana, and the temperature was 55 degrees, and he didn’t sound like a man with a lot of regrets. “I sold my business in July,” he said, “and that really changed the
According to food writer John Griffin in the San Antonio Express-News, a air date has been set for the Food Network episode of “Throwdown” that was taped in San Antonio last May at Hacienda de Los Barrios, home to chef and author Diana Barrios-Trevino. See Bobby Flay and Diana go
ABC’s Mark Halperin came through Austin yesterday to speak to a group last night at the Headliners Club about the presidential race. He began with a not so cryptic remark: “Yes, she can, and I have no idea whether he will or not.” It wasn’t hard to break the code
In the posting about Admiral Inman’s survey of the global political situation, I was a victim of my own faulty notetaking. I wrote (from my notes) that Turkey did NOT want to join the European Union. A couple of correspondents wrote to say that this was incorrect, and I received
Austin’s Fox Network station, Channel 7, released the results of a Rasmussen poll (500 likely voters, automated calling) last night that brought good news to Texas Republicans.President Bush approval rating:26% Excellent24% Good18% Fair31% PoorThat’s a 50% approval rating, better than he has polled here in a long time.Rick Perry did
Just like pork is the other white meat, El Paso is the other border town. When people think of the Texas -Mexico border, their minds invariably jump to Brownsville/Laredo. Rarely do the far west Texas twin cities of El Paso and Juarez even cross their mental
I realize this blog isn’t called “Drink My Words,” but tequila is like food, right? Business Week just posted a story on its web site about a fight over the ownership of Patron Spirits Co. involving its co-founder, Austinite John Paul DeJoria (a.k.a. the Paul Mitchell guy),
Governor Perry spoke to the California Republican state convention on September 7. The speech is on the Perry campaign Web site, but I could not access it. The governor’s office said that my browser was pulling up an old version, or maybe my cookies were crumbling. In any case,
… about the possibility that Nancy Fisher may be leaving the speaker’s office, and that the person who might replace her is former representative Suzanna Gratia Hupp.
Rick Noriega has countered Mikal Watts’ early success in landing Rio Grande Valley endorsements in Hidalgo County with some endorsements of his own in adjacent Cameron County. The endorsers included three state legislators–Rene Oliveira, Juan Escobar, and Eddie Lucio III–and a slew of courthouse officials, including the DA, county clerk,
Warren Chisum has withdrawn his request for an attorney general’s opinion on the issue of whether public or private entities that receive state funds can use those funds to pay a registered lobbyist. As Chisum drafted the question, his inquiry included even the question of whether an entity that receives
This just in: There’s a new breed of Texas wildcatter. The Texas Olive Ranch, a group of five friends and bidness partners, brought in its first big Texas olive harvest–the equivalent of Spindletop–this last weekend, at a spread in South Texas near Carrizo
Admiral Bobby Inman, who has served as Director of the National Security Agency and Deputy Director of the CIA, spoke at UT’s Frank Erwin Center last night on geopolitics. His talk was an off-the-cuff analysis of the political situation in most of the world’s potentially troublesome areas. The event was
Mikal Watts spoke to the Young Democrats at UT last night. I’d estimate the audience at around a hundred people. It was one of those semicomical moments in a political campaign when everything goes off the tracks. The event was supposed to start at 8, but the professor who was
Just had a conversation with a Republican numbers cruncher. Half of Texas Republicans believe that the country is on the wrong track. The split before the 2004 election was 60-40 “right track.” The NC’s assessment: “You can’t just put any presidential candidate at the top of the ticket and expect
As many as three members of the El Paso legislative delegation–none of whom are friendly to Tom Craddick–face reelection challenges that could have a major impact on the speaker’s race.* Paul Moreno has an announced primary opponent. She’s 28-year-old Marisa Marquez. Capitol Annex has the story, quoting an El
The results of the Democratic straw poll were ridiculous: Edwards 38%, Obama 21%, Hillary 20%. Reduced to rounded numbers, this makes the mathematical tally, for the 8,101 votes cast:Edwards 3,078Obamaa 1,701Clinton 1,620No chance that this is an accurate reflection of the Texas Democratic electorate. None.Some media outlets reported the results
Texas Monthly’s October issue, currently on the presses, contains an excerpt from Robert Draper’s well received book about George W. Bush, “Dead Certain.” It actually got a good review from the New York Times, which is rare for a Texas author not named Cormac McCarthy or Lawrence Wright. Draper is
Following Fred Thompson’s airing of his national TV spot during Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, I blogged about what I regarded as its ineffectiveness in advancing Thompson’s candidacy . The spot ended with Thompson urging viewers to check out Fred08.com for more information about his campaign. I took him up on
A silly friend just sent a silly link to the silliest food I’ve heard of all week: a milk-chocolate bar with bacon bits. And not just any bacon bits, but applewood-smoked bacon. And not just any chocolate, but Vosges. It isn’t from Texas, but it resonates with me.Calling all
Andrew Weissman and wife Maureen are back from vacation — including a trip to Maureen’s home in Costa Rica to take the baby (born last January) to see mom. Maureen told us before the trip that it would be the first time home since babe was born, a command performance
Soleil has taken over the space that used to be Cafe Europa, a nice little bistro with an Asian fusion sort of take on things. The laundry at the front of the strip center burned down and the parking lot chaos of the remodeling phase and the rather poor visibility
If you didn’t see Fred Thompson’s TV spot during the Republican debate (which I didn’t, since I was slogging away on a blog posting), you can find it on YouTube, as I did. It opens with a still Fred head (any resemblence to the ex-legislator of that name is
If you saw the New York Times dining section yesterday, you saw Florence Fabricant’s story on how fancy restaurants are dressing down. “All around town,” she writes, “bare tables have shed snowy linen, customers’ shirttails are hanging out as ties and jackets are left in
Fabrizio McLaughlin and Associates has just released its second decennial survey of the attitudes and views of members of the Republican party (“The Elephant Looks in the Mirror Ten Years Later”). It is a very interesting document, not least because it reveals how much the party has evolved since the
In the journalism business, there’s a saying that some stories “write themselves”–that the situation is so clear, and so egregious, that all the writer has to do is describe what happened. Such is R.G. Ratcliffe’s story in today’s Chronicle about Mikal Watts’s boasting about his influence with
Though no longer a Texas Monthly staffer or Austin resident, I remain a devoted foodie in my far-away home of Boston. I’ve made some initial explorations here, yet hunger pangs hit me for familiar favorites like Vespaio, Mandola’s–oh, that melanzane pizza!, Din Ho Chinese BBQ, and Fonda San Miguel.While I
Rove recently published a piece in the National Review that could serve as an outline for the book he plans to write in praise of the president whom he served. The headline is “The Long View.” In trying to give readers a sense of Rove’s arguments without
Last week I reported, in a piece on Speaker Craddick’s strategy to take his case for his reelection as speaker to the Republican base, that Linda Harper-Brown was trying to recruit a primary opponent for Kirk England. My information was specific: that she was advising a potential candidate who worked
Life is too short to enjoy cocktail hour with a bag of Doritos. In Kate Heyhoe’s new book Great Bar Food at Home, we learn that you can have a sophisticated bar atmosphere in the comfort of your own pad. You just have to plan. And Heyhoe is ready to
Executive editor Mimi Swartz discusses her profile of Eva Longoria.
Senior editor Michael Hall on writing about Dallas County district attorney Craig Watkins.
Rain, rain, go away.
Warren was born and raised in New York but has lived in Houston for more than twenty years. She is an eleventh-grade U.S. history teacher at Hastings High School, in the Alief Independent School District, which serves one of the state’s most ethnically diverse student populations. More than sixty languages
Is it okay to dip and spit at the office?
THE SPIRITIt’s the season to abandon reason, so make your fanaticism count. Don all that team paraphernalia, yes, but distinguish yourself from a couch potato with shows of true commitment: face decals, dye jobs, strategic shaving, and, of course, body paint. Also imperative are your ride’s trimmings (bumper stickers, hitch
