Your justification for including me on the Ten Worst list was primarily based on your false assertion that I was to blame for the demise of a judicial pay raise bill [“The Best and Worst Legislators of 2005,” July 2005]. In fact, I voted “present not voting” on
“The worry is that we’re going to put the Bell system back together. You hear that a lot. Anybody who says that is just not informed.”
As a landowner of Devils River property for 75 years, I can assure you, Mr. Gwynne, that the only reason the Devils River is the pure and pristine river it is today is because of those ornery landowners, who were, and still are, trying their best to preserve for future
August—People, Places, Events, Attractions08.08.2005To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, the Inprint Brown Reading Series has invited a writer whose penchant for eccentricity, outspokenness, and outlandishness (in print at least) equals that of his host city. John Irving, that master of weirdly irresistible characters and extravagant, tragically comic plots (or is it
“Old-timers’ Day” [May 2005] is the best thing that’s been in Texas Monthly in years. I’ve always enjoyed both Gary Cartwright and Dan Jenkins, but this was like sitting and listening to them argue and tell stories over a long lunch. Please persuade, cajole, bribe, or threaten both these
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
“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.”
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
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
May—People, Places, Events, Attractions05.2005Coast into summer with a warm-up trip to the Texas beach: Our 367 miles of shore offer hundreds of sandy little oases, and along with fishing and birding, there are oceans of inexpensive activities at various state parks. On May 1, 8, and 15, play sea-creature roulette
“Nobody doing what I’m doing is important anymore. Not in the way Winchell, Kilgallen, Hedda, and Louella were important.”
“Kinky, your absence is going to be more devastating than Dan Rather’s leaving the ‘sunken anchor’ biz. Please rethink your aspirations!”
“I knew immediately that they’d be serving ice water in hell about the same time I’d be cast in [Sideways].”
April—People, Places, Events, Attractions04.07.05It has been ten years since my daughter SELENA was killed, and my family and I decided that we should organize a concert to remember her life and her music. Shortly after she died, I promised to keep her music alive as much as I could. So
“A lot of people are perfect fits for universities. I’m a perfect fit for Texas Tech. I understand West Texas. I am West Texas.”
“There’s not anything that’s happened since Election Day that proves to me that Bush is going to be moderate at all.”
“It isn’t about cheap. You can make a pizza so cheap nobody will eat it. You can make an airline so cheap nobody will fly it. It’s about the product.”
“Texas is a huge, growing state on a border. We have some very basic issues that need addressing, and I don’t think they’re being addressed right now.”
“You can’t make all of TV and movies kid-safe. If you do, we’re all going to be watching the Care Bears. I think there should be things that are just for adults.”
OKIE DOKIE STOMP-A-THONThe blues took hold of the BeaumontPort Arthur area back in the day when gambling and prostitution houses were abundant and bars were open round the clock. Not that the outside world noticed much. In time, the scene died down and Houston, with its well-documented blues history, overshadowed
A MEMORABLE SEASONLong known for its innovation, the Houston Grand Opera goes back to its roots for its fiftieth season-opener, Madame Butterfly. Puccini’s perennial launched the company in 1955 and has been its top draw ever since. What sets this production apart from the fourteen previous ones, however, is the
So what if Smarty Jones opted to spend the rest of his days at Three Chimneys Farm, near Midway, Kentucky, thereby forgoing an appearance at this month’s BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD THOROUGHBRED CHAMPIONSHIPS. Pleasantly Perfect, Birdstone, and Perfect Drift, along with dozens of other horses, will be competing at the event,
Look who’s coming to Texas. P.J. O’RourkeThe political satirist will be speaking at the University of Texas at Austin on September 16.Do you consider yourself a conservative humorist or simply a humorist? I consider myself a humorist who happens to be a conservative. I think that things are just funny
LubbockAt the National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration September 912, some 25,000 people will converge in Lubbock to pay tribute to cowboy culture and Western history. Festivities include a horse parade, a Native American mini powwow, a chuck wagon cookoff, a nondenominational devotional service led by a cowboy minister, and a
Hundreds of thousands of music worshipers who have made the pilgrimage to Zilker Park the past two years to see their idols perform at the Austin City Limits Music Festival will no doubt make the journey again this year. The lineup, which includes Cat Power, the Pixies, Ben Harper and
“I like to go out at night. I like to sit in a nice room and look at beautiful women. I don't want to just sit on my back porch drinking scotch, and there isn’t much more to do in Archer City.”
Down in The ValleyWhen the Queen of Latin Pop takes the Dodge Arena stage, in Hidalgo, on July 30, the small border town will have pulled off a musical coup. How often does a big-time performer like Gloria Estefan kick off a national tour in the Rio Grande Valley? Not
Catching AirWhether you call it kiteboarding or kitesurfing, riding a surfboard while strapped to a kite is not for the timid. As Jeff Chilcoat, of Corpus Christi Kitesurfing, told us, “On a good day, my kite can pull a car.” We recommend proper instruction. AIR PADRE KITEBOARDING, South Padre Island;
“We’re a real NFL football team, and we can go out and make plays. We have talent. We can beat teams. It’s not a fluke if we beat the Cowboys.”
08.05.2004More times than not, Anne Frank is the singular face, doe-eyed and smiling, we use to represent the whole of the Holocaust tragedy, the one that stands in for more than 11 million faceless others. This month, however, with the opening of “ANNE FRANK: A PRIVATE PHOTO ALBUM” at the
“Billy can go to a 7-Eleven and buy a soft drink and must pay sales tax, but Billy goes to school, buys a soft drink, and pays no sales tax.”
What was your first act like? I did my first act the night of my high school graduation. I was embarking on a profession where you had to be entertaining and charming, and I wasn’t equipped to take it all in. I couldn’t take compliments. I was negative. I read
Go FishIf you’ve ever tried to reel one in, then you know the struggle between fish and fisherman can be quite a challenge and a thrill. From July 8 through 11, some seven hundred people will test their strength, know-how, and guesswork (you gotta figure out where the fish will
In 1960 four students from St. Mary’s University, in San Antonio, were caving in Comal County when one of the boys felt an unexpected draft. A crawl through a narrow corridor led them to a network of caverns filled with breathtaking formations, and four years later, NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS—named for
Animal Magnetism When was the last time the kids got to feed a giraffe? See a wildebeest? These are just a few of our favorite things to do at the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, in Glen Rose. Explore at your own pace along the ten-mile scenic drive (don’t be surprised
Greatest Hits On June 27 the line to get in the Kimbell Art Museum, in Fort Worth, will probably resemble more closely that of a megaplex theater, and for good reason. It’s the opening day of the summer blockbuster exhibit, “Caravaggio to Dali: One Hundred Masterpieces from the Wadsworth Atheneum
Dallas in the summertime has been called a lot of things—”heaven” has never been one of them. Of course, what isn’t written in stone may be disproved this month when guitar enthusiasts flock to Fair Park for the Crossroads Guitar Festival. The three-day, charity-benefiting rapture masterminded by Eric Clapton—go ahead,
“War is always a great reinforcer of secrecy, but a war on terror is the most insidious threat to opennessyou can always claim, without having to explain why, that something can't be public.”
Last December, when the Second City comedy troupe held a 24-hour show in Chicago just before its forty-fourth anniversary, two actors battled head-to-head in a BILL COSBY impersonation contest. And next year comedian Kenan Thompson—who did a killer impersonation of the Cos on Saturday Night Live—will be playing the lead
The 39-year-old computer mogul on stepping down as CEO of the company he founded, why he doesn’t play footsie with the press (hey!), and the product line he should have launched years ago.
If you’re going to play cowboy for a day, then you should do it in Bandera, the Cowboy Capital of the World. Folks come here from all around the globe to experience what they consider to be the real Texas—the land of rodeos and country music, clear streams and rolling
Technically, the masterminds behind Ballroom Marfa, a haven for contemporary art in West Texas, could have uncorked the celebratory grand-opening bubbly last fall, when they opened their spacious cultural center. But so much for technicalities. The official christening for this dance hall turned gallery begins with the April 23 opening
For the past seventeen years, polo players from throughout the United States have been making the pilgrimage to the Musselman Brothers Lazy 3 Ranch, just outside the tiny West Texas town of Albany, to play Polo on the Prairie, a fundraiser for the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. This year,
HOTELS East meets the River Walk at the Hotel Valencia, where Asian-inspired spaces splashed with color make a statement. But the buzz goes beyond the lobby—the V Bar is where the young play. 150 E. Houston, 210-227-9700. SPORTS The San Antonio Missions, the Seattle Mariners’ AA affiliate and last
You may think you can “just watch” the TEJANO CONJUNTO FESTIVAL from the pavilion at Rosedale Park, but once the music starts up and the audience members begin to pair off and rotate on the floor like a giant whirlpool, you’ll probably feel compelled to do likewise. This year, from
It was more than a decade ago that merchants and members of the San Antonio Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization Program for the area called Southtown—which encompasses the King William Historic District, the Blue Star Arts Complex, and the 1800’s Lavaca neighborhood—proposed that galleries in the area open their doors to the
COURIER SERVICES Thirty-three-year-old Jim Courier, who was ranked the number one tennis player in the world in 1992, will host the Grand-SlamJam tennis exibition in Austin April 29 and 30. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Hope Foundation, a cancer research organization.I read that you’re a musician.If
LAUGH TRACK Why is it that Lucille Ball is still hilarious and Andrew Dice Clay isn’t? We’re willing to take a big leap and say it has something to do with personal style, delivery, and content. This month you can see for yourself (if you’re lucky enough to score a
PLAYTIMES It’s awesome April, baby—or so the colorfully alliterative Dick Vitale might say if he were to sum up this month’s sports lineup. Start in the Alamo City, which hosts this season’s marvelously maddening men’s NCAA Final Four. Sure, the semifinals on April 3 and the championship game on April
MONUMENTAL EVENTS You heard the buzz. You saw the trailers. The release date came . . . and went. Remember The Alamo? Before you fork over $15 for a ticket and the requisite popcorn, take the opportunity this month to explore Texas’s history firsthand. On April 3 Abilene offers its
