When the girls’ basketball coach at the only high school in Bloomburg moved in with another woman, it cost her a job and at least a few friends. But the tumult over a lesbian relationship in this tiny East Texas town wasn’t the end of the story.
Pat's Pick|
June 30, 2005
Cool QuaffIf any drink is identified with the Fourth of July, it’s lemonade. And the best “lemonade” in Texas comes from famously quirky Houston Mexican restaurant Irma’s. This rustic pink refresher is made from fresh fruit— just about every variety in the universe—and while owner Irma N. Galvan’s exact recipe
Pat's Pick|
June 30, 2005
It’s the Sistine Chapel wallpaper on the walls and ceiling of the entry that clues you in: “Hip” Riccardi’s is not. The Dallas establishment may be new, but its heart belongs to an earlier time—when restaurants looked like dining rooms, not stage sets; when waiters didn’t try to be
Here comes the sun.
Sarah Bird|
June 30, 2005
It can be achieved—if you have a surprise wedding.
Around the State|
June 30, 2005
July—People, Places, Events, Attractions07.02.2005In the summer of 1955 a Hollywood imperial army invaded the small West Texas town of Marfa. For five weeks acclaimed filmmaker George Stevens and a huge Warner Bros. cast and crew labored on nearby drought-stricken ranchland to create Giant, the story of the lordly Benedicts—played by
She shares that curious fact with you for posterior’s— er, posterity’s sake. What you really need to know about the shopgirl turned shoplifter is that her rehabilitation is continuing apace atop Dallas’ social heap. And thanks to a new reality show about her life, there’s no end in sight.
If you were a Somali refugee arriving in San Antonio—and America—for the first time, with a family in tow and no modern life skills to speak of, what would you do? Eat chicken, shop at H-E-B, and figure out how to pay the rent.
A short, illustrated history of my childhood. And Wes’s too.
A few lawmakers in both parties distinguished themselves during one of the worst sessions anyone can remember. As for the rest? Well, in the words of Jon Stewart, that famous observer of Texas politics: not so much.
Michael Ennis|
June 30, 2005
For starters, even though its self- image is big and brash, it’s the most politically wimpy city in Texas.
Behind the Lines|
June 30, 2005
The Ben Franklin of McGregor.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
From tamales and chile con carne to boiled fish and macaroni with mushroom sauce, the first-ever compendium of Mexican American cooking, Mexican Cooking: The Flavor of the 20th Century—That Real Mexican Tang, takes readers on an unusual culinary ride.
Texas History 101|
May 31, 2005
The Baylor University women’s basketball program has come a long way.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Six more watery adventures, from birding on the Trinity to tubing the Frio.
Happy Trails|
May 31, 2005
Helen Cho on Houston. For some good, cheap Chinese or Vietnamese food, go to Bellaire.
Books That Cook|
May 31, 2005
Review of Texas Ties: Recipes and Remembrances.
Texas Tidbits|
May 31, 2005
From a sock hop in Galveston to a basketball competition in Austin, Juneteenth celebrations across the state commemorate the emancipation of slaves.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Freelance writer and former Texas Monthly intern Stayton Bonner, assistant managing editor Stacy Hollister, editorial director Christopher Keyes, and new-media director Charlie Llewellin talk about exploring the state’s rivers for this month’s cover story.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Illustrator Christoph Niemann on inspiration and the creative process.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Photographer Sarah Wilson on basketball phenom Brooklyn Pope, whom she shot for this month’s issue.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Author John McManus on his book Bitter Milk and the writing process.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on the Devils River, white water, and tents.
Web Exclusive|
May 31, 2005
Senior editor Pamela Colloff on state representative Hubert Vo’s winning campaign strategy and Houston’s Asian community.
La Barranca Grille, Laredo
Contributors|
May 31, 2005
Mark UlriksenAlthough San Francisco illustrator Mark Ulriksen has been to Texas several times (“I even got a traffic ticket from a no-nonsense cop in Amarillo, my first ever”), he had to do some catching up on state politics for “Carole Keeton Strayhorn Has Guts…”. “I’m pretty familiar with
“The record’s clean. I’m sure that I haven’t done everything that everyone would like me to do. But I’ve never hurt anybody.”
Cancer used to be something you died from. Now, thanks to clinical trials, it’s increasingly something you live with.
Roar of the Crowd|
May 31, 2005
S. C. Gwynne’s “Safe at Home” is not really about the children [April 2005]. It is about the parents’ need to be “the best.” By having their children compete for regional, state, and national titles, parents can feel that they have done a superior job of parenting. The fact
The demographics of one legislative district in Houston have changed so dramatically that they allowed a novice Democrat to unseat an eleven-term Republican powerhouse. But the real story is what could happen elsewhere in the not-so-distant future.
Word of Mouth | Tales and tidbits from the pros.In April the 34-year-old chef and co-owner of Uchi, a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Austin, was named one of the ten best new chefs of the year by Food & Wine. Is it really that difficult to slice raw
Poor Laredo. Not even its most rabid civic boosters would call it a mecca for fine dining—or at least they wouldn’t have until last October. That’s when La Barranca opened, instantly creating a local venue for big nights out. In charge of the kitchen is 29-year-old native son Alberto Gutierrez,
The Tom DeLay ethics quiz.
A one-on-one with Brooklyn Pope reveals her to be—off the court, at least—a fairly typical fifteen-year-old girl. But when the game clock starts, she’s the future of women’s basketball. Maybe basketball, period.
In the state with the nation’s most celebrated concealed carry law, is it any wonder that the annual convention of pistol packers, peddlers, and promoters was number one with a bullet?
There was a major don’t-try-this-at-home aspect to my two-day ride on this primitive and unpredictable river. But as scary as it was, it was every bit as beautiful.
Fourteen of them, actually. From kayaking the Colorado and rock climbing along the Pecos to tubing the Pedernales and birding on the Rio Grande, here are the most enjoyable and exciting things to do on some of our favorite Texas waterways.
Encyclopedia Texanica|
May 31, 2005
Is Juneteenth ours?
You’d love my collection of vintage Texas cookbooks. Just don’t ask me to cook from them.
Music Review|
May 31, 2005
Thanks to movies like The Rose and, okay, to JANIS JOPLIN herself, the Port Arthur native is remembered as a drug-addled mess. But as one of the great white blues singers of her generation, Joplin left significant work behind. What’s illuminating about PEARL: LEGACY EDITION (Columbia/Legacy) are the demos
Music Review|
May 31, 2005
Who? MIKE JONES. Who? Mike Jones. It’s a mantra repeated on almost every song of this aptly named Houston rapper’s major-label debut, WHO IS MIKE JONES? (SwishaHouse/Asylum/Warner Bros.) None too shy about self-promotion, Jones even works his cell phone number into his music. Such incessant hype has earned Jones
Music Review|
May 31, 2005
In the eighties KATHY MCCARTY was co-leader of Glass Eye, a peerless Austin band that attracted a cultish national following. Her songs were awash in mysterious imagery and old-world melodies, and no one expected her music to stop along with her band. Yet McCarty delivered her acclaimed 1994 Daniel Johnston
Oscar Casares|
May 31, 2005
But not without some difficulty—even though I’m a third-generation Mexican American.
Behind the Lines|
May 31, 2005
Dewhurst versus Craddick: This time, it’s personal.
Book Review|
May 31, 2005
In the wake of America’s obsession with Texas Hold ’Em comes the tale of Andy Beal, the Dallas banker and amateur numbers-theory whiz whose poker-playing exploits are chronicled by MICHAEL CRAIG in THE PROFESSOR, THE BANKER, AND THE SUICIDE KING: INSIDE THE RICHEST POKER GAME OF ALL TIME (Warner). In
Book Review|
May 31, 2005
BITTER MILK (Picador) doesn’t lack for offbeat and entertaining citizens to populate Chilhowee Mountain, the backwoods East Tennessee setting of Austinite JOHN MCMANUS’s first novel. There’s Avery Garland, who suffers from gender dysphoria. And her overweight nine-year-old son, Loren, and his prattling alter ego, Luther. And patriarch Papaw, who’s
Book Review|
May 31, 2005
Former Austinite OLEN STEINHAUER (currently of Budapest) invents a fictional Soviet bloc nation circa 1967 as the setting for 36 YALTA BOULEVARD (St. Martin’s Minotaur), the third in a series of brainy espionage novels featuring commie spy Brano Sev. Sev has fallen out of favor with the comrade lieutenant
When did I stop being cool?
Around the State|
May 31, 2005
June—People, Places, Events, Attractions06.02.2005As the REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BIKER RALLY gets under way for the eleventh year June 2–5, Austinites prepare once again for the low, eardrum-piercing rumble that thunders throughout the city like a doomsday alarm. Some 40,000 leather-clad, bandanna-armored easy riders will be contributing to the Doppler effect
He asked me if I was going to be white my whole life. I was, of course. But because of our friendship, I’m no longer the clueless upper-middle-class kid I once was.