The Eighty-First Legislature was like Seinfeld: a show about nothing. It was dominated by an event that was a year away, the looming 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary battle between Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and by issues that were political rather than substantive, none more so than the session-long battle
Not that you’re looking for an excuse, but these five original cocktails concocted by Texas bartenders using local liquors are a thoroughly acceptable reason to pour yourself a drink. Or three.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first humans to set foot on the surface of the moon. Forty years later, the researchers, astronauts, engineers, scientists, and NASA officials who made the voyage possible remember the day the Eagle landed.
It was a new era at the Capitol, with a new Speaker and a new mood of peace, love, and bipartisanship in the war-torn House. But the eighty-first legislative session turned out to be a lot like the eighty that came before it—some heroes, some villains, and enough hot air
Teddy Roosevelt acquired a number of skills during his time in Texas, but the most important may have been the ability to brag.
Has an out-of-work Los Angeles musician discovered a sunken Spanish treasure worth hundreds of millions of dollars in a lake near Refugio? Maybe!
It’s time for Texas to start taking better care of people like Darla Deese, a developmentally disabled woman who has spent most of her life in our harrowing state schools.
There’s no more-welcome sign of the summer reading season than Joe R. Lansdale’s Vanilla Ride, featuring the troublemaking and problem-solving escapades of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. The unlikely pair of crime fighters (Hap is a white, determinedly heterosexual, underemployed construction worker; Leonard is a black, loudly queer,
As pseudo-realist dub/funk/Afrobeat/hip-hop/Latin ensembles go, it’s tough to beat Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada. Okay, so they’re unique—but as a spin-off of two genre-bending bands, you’d expect nothing less. Ocote Soul Sounds is a pseudonym for Martín Perna, the founder and saxophonist of NYC’s Antibalas, the dozen-member group
It took four novels for Steve Hockensmith to steer his sleuthing ranch hand brothers, Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer, to Texas, but the budding town of San Marcos circa 1893 proves a fine fit for The Crack in the Lens and its unpretentious brand of
The San Antonio author has exhibited an impressive sense of worldliness with his literary mysteries, the settings of which range from seventeenth-century Amsterdam to twentieth-century Florida. The Devil’s Company, his sixth novel, returns to eighteenth-century London, where pugilist-turned-PI Benjamin Weaver—who first appeared in A Conspiracy of Paper and later
The Austin-born, Dallas-raised lead singer for the Old 97’s has led a fruitful double life as a solo artist with the albums Mythologies (1989), The Instigator (2002), and The Believer (2006). He has just released his fourth album, Rhett Miller (Shout! Factory).You actually began as a solo artist, making your
From his public sparring with the Nashville establishment to his marriage to (and subsequent divorce from) Dixie Chick Emily Erwin, Charlie Robison has often attracted more attention for his personal life than his music. Which is a shame, because the Bandera-raised singer is a sharp, natural talent with an
“The great cities of the world are not defined by one or two ethnicities, religions, or backgrounds. It must be that way for San Antonio as well.”
How did you celebrate your high school graduation? Wimberley’s Sarah Jarosz marked the occasion with a debut album, Song Up in Her Head (Sugar Hill). The eighteen-year-old overachiever has been well-known regionally for years, appearing at numerous festivals and even with the Austin Symphony. Yet unlike a lot
Susie Q. (not her real name) has been reviewing hotels, restaurants, and retailers anonymously for about six years. She works for several market research companies, such as Sinclair Customer Metrics, to whom she reports her findings after posing as an everyday customer and testing out products and services. She has
Some things never change, like the irrepressible desire to float a Hill Country river on a 100-degree day—with, most naturally, a cooler of beer. And while the basic art of loading one’s booze boat also remains the same (use a separate inner tube with a bottom, pump it with extra
Cucumber Mintini1/4 cucumber 5 fresh mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish 2 lime wedges 2 sugar cubes 2 ounces simple syrup (one part sugar dissolved in one part water) splash of fresh lime juice 1 1/2 ounces Tito’s Handmade Vodka splash of club sodaMuddle cucumber, mint leaves, 1 lime
Recipe Courtesy of Tyler Treharne, 2900 Restaurant, El PasoBeing an avid gardener myself, I like to utilize the fruits of my labor in every culinary experience, and drinks should be no exception. Basil is a nice herb that is easy to grow, and most of all, loves the West Texas
A few of the state’s best mixologists share their secrets to making delicious drinks.
2 ounces jalapeño-infused Republic Silver Tequila 3 jalapeños (for tequila and garnish) 1/3 kiwi, peeled 6 fresh mint leaves 3/4 ounce ginger syrup (such as the Ginger People) 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1 ounce 7UPTo infuse the tequila: Slice 2 large jalapeños and remove seeds. Insert peppers in a
2900 Sangria Photograph by Adam Voorhes1 navel orange wedge, peeled 1 half-inch slice fresh pineapple 3 fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced in half 3 red seedless grapes 1 slice Red Delicious apple 1 ounce Paula’s Texas Lemon 1 ounce Paula’s Texas Orange 5 ounces 2005
3/4 ounce homemade rosemary syrup 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary (for syrup and garnish) 2 ounces Treaty Oak Platinum Rum 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 egg whiteTo make rosemary syrup: Combine one part sugar and one part water in a pot. Bring to a
1 1/2 ounces Cadenhead’s Old Raj Dry Gin 1/2 ounce Paula’s Texas Lemon 1/4 ounce Pagès Parfait Amour Crème de Violette liberal splash of Fever-Tree Bitter Lemon Luxardo maraschino cherries (garnish) lemon peel, long and twisted (garnish) edible orchid (garnish, optional)Combine gin, Paula’s Texas liqueur, and crème de violette over
Before her death, Farrah Fawcett achieved what had long eluded her: three-dimensionality.
Texas school districts will no longer be required to offer health classes—and that’s just sick.
To a bystander, the French red, white, and blue covering the lawn of the historic French Legation Museum might seem as if a confused group of Austinites was celebrating the Fourth of July a week too late. But when night falls, the scene turns into an outdoor Parisian café nestled
Investigators and social workers in the Mineola Swingers Club cases have admitted that there was plenty of evidence that never made it into the first three trials that resulted in three life sentences. Will it make a difference?
This Hill Country spot has a little something for everyone, from the oldest dancehall in Texas to specialty shops to two rivers perfect for tubing.
Bob Hudgins, director of the Texas Film Commission, talks to Katy Vine about the “Waco” controversy, tax incentives, and how to get your movie made in Texas.
Yes, it’s summer in Texas. It’s the summer to end all summers (please, God), with record-breaking heat, triple-digit temperatures, and the uncontrollable urge to sit in your freezer, atop the Häagen-Dazs bars.
A tribute to the original Texas bombshell and our favorite angel, Farrah Fawcett.
Twice I had the honor—that’s what it was—of interviewing Walter Cronkite. The first time was in September 2003, in the restaurant at the Regency Hotel, in New York, where Mr. Cronkite met me for breakfast and an extended talk about the state of journalism. He was clearly hobbled by various
One of the notable characteristics of this magazine is that it manages to inspire an equal amount of criticism from all parts of the political spectrum (this will come as a surprise, of course, to all parts of the political spectrum). Since our subject matter is a state, and
I can only assume that your editors carefully discussed the merits of placing Joel Osteen on the cover. And I can only deduce that they decided that the benefits (presumably in terms of the appeal to his religious constituency) outweighed the costs. One question they might not have considered, or
