December 1998 Archives

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On the Cover

The Real Troy Aikman

His dreams. His fears. The truth about his love life. A candid chat with Texas’ most misunderstood sports hero.

Features

Health

Addicted to Sex?

Even if you’re not, many Texans are: Sex Addicts Anonymous has 61 chapters across the state, tending to the tattered psyches of exhibitionists and other tormented souls.

By Jim Atkinson

Music

Johnny on the Spot

Country singer Johnny Rodriguez has had a career full of highs and lows, but with a murder trial looming, his lowest day may be yet to come.

By John Morthland

Feature

The Disloyal Opposition

How five right-wing members of the State Board of Education are making life miserable for their fellow Republicans—especially George W. Bush.

By Paul Burka

Feature

There’s Something About Weeping Mary

An East Texas community’s simple charms, captured on film.

By Anne Dingus

Feature

Who gives a hoot about an owlish auteur with nary a directing credit in twenty years? All of Hollywood, that’s who—which is why Austinite Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line is the most anticipated film of the season.

By Helen Thorpe

Feature

. . . And the Rest

Pajarito Mountain If you really want to get away from the crowds, scoot over to Los Alamos, thirty miles west of Santa Fe. The nearby Pajarito ski area is almost as top secret as the town was when the Manhattan Project begat the atomic bomb there in the forties. Four

By Texas Monthly

Feature

Taos Ski Valley

No skiing experience has been quite as intimidating as the first time I saw Al’s Run, driving up to the base of the Taos ski area. A narrow alley shooting up the lift line and angling almost straight up toward the heavens, Al’s brought on instant acrophobia. An exceptional

By Texas Monthly

Feature

Ski Apache

Ski Apache is a mountain of the unexpected. Nestled on the northern flank of the 12,003-foot Sierra Blanca peak near Ruidoso, it is one of America’s southernmost ski resorts, so you can simultaneously enjoy mild winter temperatures and alpine snow. The high elevation, generous acreage, and steeply pitched chutes

By Texas Monthly

Feature

Red River Ski Area

Like Aspen, Breckenridge, and Telluride in Colorado, Red River is a mining town that, through a few parallel quirks of geology, geography, luck, and timing, happened to evolve into a ski town. But that old mining town, unique to New Mexico as it might be, isn’t what lends Red

By Texas Monthly

Feature

Ski Santa Fe

I’ve been told that Santa Fe is a pretty good town for food, art, and plush hotel bars with roaring fireplaces. I wouldn’t know. I’ve come here to sit on my rear—I’ve come here to snowboard.I’ve been a skier for more than twenty years, and over the past five

By Texas Monthly

Feature

Angel Fire Resort

Angel Fire resort, a town of 1,200 twenty-two miles northeast of Taos near Eagle Nest Lake, is the planned-resort version of Red River, conceived in the Moreno Valley between Eagle Nest and Taos 32 years ago—Angel Fire is to Red River what Vail is to Aspen on a New

By Texas Monthly

Sports

Just Say Snow

Breathtaking scenery, tons of runs, and pillowy, powdery white stuff: If you need a lift this winter, New Mexico skiing won’t leave you cold.

By Joe Nick Patoski and Jason Cohen

Columns

Behind the Lines

A Test on the Test

A TAAS test test.

By Gregory Curtis

Business

That’s the Ticket

The airlines are locked in a fiercely competitive war. Should you try to benefit? Discount-travel guru Tom Parsons says: All’s fare.

By Joe Nick Patoski

Business

Dow Town

When I was growing up in Lake Jackson, the center of my world was a park owned by my father’s employer. Forty years later, most of it has been sold to a developer, and natives like me are having a chemical reaction.

By Carol Chapman

Health

Killer C

If you had a blood transfusion before 1992 or have ever shared a needle, you could have hepatitis C. You may feel fine, but it could be killing you.

By Jim Atkinson

Music

My Hero, Dorough

He jammed with Miles Davis, enlivened Saturday morning children’s TV, and signed his first major-label record deal at 73. Meet jazz giant Bob Dorough.

By Jeff McCord

Business

He Told Us So

University of Texas economist Jamie Galbraith used to get laughed at when he preached the gospel of full employment. No one’s laughing anymore.

By John B. Judis

Reporter

The Culture

Love and Marriage

How Frank Sinatra, Jr., became a Texan-in-law.

Artist Interview

Love Stories

Once you get past a pregnant Drew Barrymore waddling through a characterless Texas backdrop, there aren’t many laughs in the comedy Home Fries, which was shot in Austin in 1996 and opened in theaters around the country on November 25. On the fall film festival circuit, audiences groaned at the

By Beth Pinsker

The Ex Files

Phyllis George

My mother used to say, “Phyllis, settle down and smell the roses.” I was very busy. I went to church on Sundays, I was the president of the Methodist Youth Fellowship, I was a cheerleader, and for fourteen years I played classical piano. Growing up in Denton was a very

By Patricia McConnico

Music

CD and Book Reviews

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,

By Texas Monthly

Reporter

The End

Serial killer Kenneth McDuff’s victims are unearthed, and he gets his due (we hope).

By Gary Cartwright

Politics & Policy

Surprised Parties

Here’s what Republicans and Democrats were talking about after the November 3 election.George W. Bush’s coattails. They were frayed at best, even though the GOP swept every statewide race. The governor got 68 percent of the vote, but the victorious Republican candidates for lieutenant governor and comptroller, Rick Perry and

By Paul Burka

Business

Soda Flop?

Soft drinks in our public schools.

By Jordan Mackay

Reporter

Extra!

Fifteen minutes of film fame.

By Craig D. McDonald

Art

A Wild Life

A terrific and prolific photographer remembered.

By Anne Dingus

Web

Recipe

West African Couscous

1/2 cup peanut oil or other vegetable oil 2 medium yellow onions, sliced 1 4- to 5-pound roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces, washed and patted dry 3 10 1/2-ounce cans condensed chicken broth 2 teaspoons turmeric 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2

By Texas Monthly

Miscellany

Around the State

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

By Texas Monthly

The Inside Story

International Males

Texas seems to have a town named for every place in the world. There’s Paris, Turkey, London, Athens—you get the idea. But when we say that two illustrators featured in this month’s issue, Henrik Drescher and Olaf Hajek, are from New Zealand and Berlin, respectively, understand that we really mean

By Jordan Mackay

Texas Primer