THE MAIN EVENTTexas Go Bragh In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a subdued event. Many natives go to church instead of the pub, and they certainly don’t guzzle green beer. Texans, on the other hand, observe the holiday with great fanfare. Dallasites go to the Seventeenth Annual North Texas Irish
Take stock at four of the state’s best rodeos (El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio). Plus: Matisse and Picasso go brush to brush (Fort Worth); remembering the Alamo yet again (San Antonio); Luciano Pavarotti, small man on campus (Austin); and classical piano movers and shakers (Houston).THE MAIN EVENTCut ‘n’
All-American TroyTHANK YOU, SKIP HOLLANDSWORTH, for showing who Troy Aikman really is: a fierce competitor, a team player, and most of all, a human being [“The Real Troy Aikman,” December 1998]. What he has done on and off the field has made him the best quarterback in the NFL
Take stock at four of the state's best rodeos (El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio). Plus: Matisse and Picasso go brush to brush (Fort Worth); remembering the Alamo yet again (San Antonio); Luciano Pavarotti, small man on campus (Austin); and classical piano movers and shakers (Houston).
Hot CDs Steve Earle Steve Earle’s The Mountain (E-Squared) is a set of bluegrass originals that joins the San Antonio-bred bad boy with pickin’-and-a-grinnin’ veterans the Del McCoury Band. Earle’s liner notes pay tribute to Bill Monroe and express the hope that at least one of his
A year of asking-for-it Aggies, badass broccoli, contraband coffee, Death Row decor, extrapolating elephants, faux feet, god-awful gimmickry, humongous heavyweights, incomparable ironers, judicial jimjams, kaput kowtowers, lame-brained liberals, moping millionaires, NASA ninnies, off-putting officials, prize-winning pignappers, quasi-comic quipsters, red-handed rapscallions, scarfable sod, theoretical thongs, ungodly ungulates, vomiting vegetation, wild-eyed window-breakers,
2 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered 2 teaspoons puréed chipotles (canned or rehydrated dried chiles) 1/2 cup half-and-half or cream (restaurant uses whipping cream) 2 tablespoons unsalted butter kosher or sea salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs such as parsley,
Fort Worth and Austin say “Uncle”—Miltie, that is. Plus: The art of rock and roll in Austin; college athletes in the swim in Dallas; an operatic debut in Dallas with a familiar Ring; and a post-war jazz master plays San Antonio. THE MAIN EVENTMust See Mr. TVDear Milton Berle: Or
ALL OUR LIVES—our beliefs, our government, our history—changed that day [“The Assassination at 35,” November 1998]. I was thirteen when President Kennedy was killed, and I have always believed it was a conspiracy. After this issue, I don’t. Sis Hoskins Cedar Creek A PRISTINE PRIMER. Remarkable writing, editing, and photo
LEON RAUSCH If Cindy Walker had never produced another song besides “You Don’t Know Me,” her stature would be assured among country and pop writers. But the Mexia woman has written about four hundred others, including “Bubbles in My Beer” (Bob Wills) and “Two Glasses, Joe”
Dallas is not the place.NO, THAT’S HIGHLAND PARK Hon-Ming Chen, the founder of God’s Salvation Church in Taiwan, and 140 of his followers moved to the Dallas suburb of Garland because they thought it was the site of the original Garden of Eden and it sounded like “God’s Land.”WHICH STANDS
They stand politically corrected.WHERE’S THAT TIGER WHEN YOU NEED HIM? During a Galveston City Council meeting, the Reverend James Thomas, an African American member of the council, referred to African Americans who had unsuccessfully challenged his reelection as “Sambos.”HOW SHORTSIGHTED OF HER The City of Houston’s affirmative action director, Lenoria
They’re big, by George.NOW IT’S REALLY EASY TO READ HIS LIPS Houston sculptor David Adickes is creating twenty-foot-tall busts of George Bush and the forty other U.S. presidents for a patriotic theme park he hopes to open this year in Virginia.AW, HE’S JUST BEATING AROUND THE BUSH At a National
“C” why it was a bad year.CRUSHED. Garry Mauro suffered the worst defeat of any Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Texas history, losing to George W. Bush by 1.4 million votes and getting just 31 percent of the vote.CATAPULTED. Tommy Lee Jones was banged up when he was thrown from his
The Bum Steer Gift Guide.THE RON PAUL FAMILY COOKBOOK, compiled by the family of the Surfside congressman, which contains recipes such as Zippy Olive-Beef Spread and a clip-and-mail card soliciting donations to his reelection campaign (free to donors). LEAVE BILL CLINTON ALONE, a compact disc from Austin soul singer Larry
Loving Lyle Lovett; debating CEO pay.
Hot CDsComing Home, the debut release from Paula Nelson (Luck Records), one of Willie’s daughters, proves that the 29-year-old shares at least one thing with her father: the ability to say so much with so few words. This contemporary singer-songwriter’s CD, which deftly weaves a “chamber pop” ensemble around torchy,
After years of watching their fathers tear up the NBA,19-year-old Moses Malone, Jr., and 22-year-old George Gervin, Jr., have the ball in their court—at the University of Houston. Malone, who graduated from Friendswood High School in May, and Gervin, a San Antonio native who spent last year at San Jacinto
Why not party like it’s 1999-since it will be? Watch Junior Brown, Alvin Crow, and other troubadours ring in a honky-tonk New Year (Austin, Forth Worth, San Antonio, and Elsewhere). Plus: A benefit concert by the nation’s top cello fellow (Dallas); a filling exhibit of oil company ads (Elsewhere); Mexican
A handsome young president, a convertible limousine, a sniper, three shots (we think), and our lives were changed forever. A special report on what is, for many, the defining event of the past fifty years.
Published often in The West News of West, Texas, this recipe comes courtesy of Nita and Freddy Gerik, longtime residents of West who answer the Westfest information line in their home. According to them, Mrs. Jerabek’s recipe is very reliable.Dough2 yeast cakes or 2 packages dry yeast 1/4 cup lukewarm
A few (ahem) letters about Dennis Rodman.
It took a couple of seconds for the president to be killed, 35 years for mountains of conflicting evidence to pile up, and two months for associate editor Michael Hall and assistant editor Pamela Colloff to sift through it all and compile a sort of highlight reel of Kennedy assassination
Hot CDsDistancing themselves further still from their earlier banjo-punk novelties, Austin’s Bad Livers go with what they know on Industry and Thrift (Sugar Hill). There is too much attitude and eclecticism at work to call this traditional bluegrass, yet despite a couple of electric interludes, the musical leanings of composer-singer
The magic bullet, the president’s jacket, Oswald’s camera, and other artifacts from the National Archives.
American folk art moves into two Fort Worth museums. Plus: Real cowboys take their rodeo drive to Amarillo; a multimedia show brings the Harlem Renaissance to Houston; an Austin symposium looks at women with the write stuff; and in Houston a Texas actress is ballpark frank. Edited by Quita McMath,
A King Ranch roundup; Jasper’s grace under fire.
Hot CDs“You’ve got to market this music like you were a dope dealer.” So goes a line in “Village Idiot Savant,” the opening track of The Right to Remain Silent (Heiress Aesthetic) by Cottonmouth, Texas, the nom de guerre of Jeff Liles, who was rapping when Vanilla Ice was still
A bueno new home for Latin American art (San Antonio). Plus: Dan Flavin’s artful neon (Houston); music fans go bock to the future (Shiner); the queen of the Lion King roars back with The Flying Dutchman (Houston); and Porgy and Bess, you is my show now (Austin).THE MAIN EVENTA Grand
For and against George W. Bush; Wichita Falls bites back.
Hot CDsI was already familiar with James Brown’s Say It Live and Loud (Polygram), which was recorded live at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas on August 26, 1968. I was there, a couple of rows back from the front, and hearing it all over again is one sweet pleasure: the tight,
They worked hard, overcame obstacles, bucked conventional wisdom, and touched our lives. Meet the most impressive, intriguing, and influential Texans of 1998.
Around The State Star speakers hit the lecture circuit: Bill Moyers and George Will in Dallas, Bob Dole in San Antonio. Plus: birding in Rockport and Fulton; a world-class mezzo-soprano in Fort Worth; oil-patch art in Beaumont; and contemporary Mexican photography in Houston. Edited by Quita McMath, Erin Gromen, and
Defending the boy who killed his father; Ivan Rodriguez is a hit.
Hot CDsYou could plunk Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers down on a stage anywhere in the world, with any sidemen, and they could deliver the irresistible dit-dit-dit they’ve plied for more than thirty years without missing a beat. On The Sir Douglas Quintet/Live Texas Tornado (Takoma), a reissue of a
MAIN EVENTA Little Night Music Every Texan knows that, in August, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun. But as a cool wind picks up in the evening, who can resist joining friends around the gazebo or band shell for some free music alfresco? Since
Reviewing Texas movies; saluting our flag.
Hot CDsInevitable baggage accompanies an album whose sessions splintered a great band, ousted three producers, and outlasted a record company. But if ex-Austinite Lucinda Williams is a paragon of self-doubt, she’s also a gifted writer who gets to the core of a character in the course of a three-minute tune.
Houston goes to the dogs—and we mean that in a good way. Plus: Jerry Seinfeld (perhaps you’ve heard of him) in San Antonio; pride of a country legend in Fort Worth; nature on display in Dallas; crossed swords in Austin.THE MAIN EVENTBow Wow The dog days are coming to Houston—and
Singing Willie Nelson's praises; neddling a former drug user.
Hot CDs and Hot Books
What a hall! The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s new wing has a mask of a pre-Inca lord, a re-creation of a Mayan temple, and more. Plus: An international opera star takes the stage in Fort Worth; boxer Oscar De La Hoya goes round and round in El Paso; the
IT IS SO REFRESHING to know that lawmen who are hardworking and corruption-free still exist [“The Last Posse,” March 1998]. These men set an example in their profession. They seem so down to earth and determined. These men are truly role models.IRENE REYESSan Benito LOOKING AT THE COVER PHOTO, I
Hot CDs and Hot Books
AIR FORCE WON During the filming of Paramount Pictures’ I Wanted Wings (1941) at San Antonio’s Kelly Field, military aircraft soar overhead during a ground shot. The director angrily orders a general to “get those planes out of the air!”—and is promptly fired.HIGH JINKS Filmed in (and above) four small
The Bass Performance Hall is open for business, and the acoustical expectations are high (Fort Worth). Plus: Readers and writers celebrate literary Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and elsewhere); the nation’s top golfers get in the swing (Dallas and San Antonio); Texas Czechs bounce to the strains of primo
Pics and pans: Reflections on our one hundred best photos
Hot CDsThis month Texas music shines on the silver screen. The soundtrack for The Horse Whisperer (MCA) not only features cuts from Don Walser, George Strait, and Steve Earle but also a Butch Hancock—Joe Ely— Jimmie Dale Gilmore reunion (long removed from Lubbock, they are now called the Hill Country
For music fans in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Round Rock, and San Antonio, these are the fest of times. Plus: An oilman’s artistic vision is realized in San Antonio; a Dallas photography show honors lensmen from Mexico and Houston; Houston Grand Opera stages Arabella; and many of the nation’s swiftest athletes
HUMBLE Mercer Arboretum, 22306 Aldine Westfield (281-443-8731). A staffer says the arboretum’s three-year-old plantings of dozens of old roses have generated a lot of interest because they’re “ten feet tall and bulletproof.” But not deerproof, which is why you’ll find the roses protected behind fences. Open daily 8 to 5
