May 2002 Archives

Sailor, the Steve Miller Band (Capitol) Return to the Wide Open Spaces, Live at the Caravan of Dreams featuring, among others, David “Fathead” Newman, Ellis Marsalis, and Cornell Dupree (Amazing) Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams (Mercury) La Musica de

By Joe Nick Patoski

Feature

Alternate Routes

South Padre Island to Rio Grande Valley International Airport, Harlingen, on Texas Highway 100 and FM 510 and 106 (33 miles) This narrow two-lane shortcut from the beach to the airport is one way to avoid the congestion and speed traps on U.S. 77. It slices through parts of the

By Joe Nick Patoski

Feature

Pretty Drives

Presidio to Lajitas on FM 170 (50 miles) At first El Camino del Rio dips and winds along the Rio Grande through a maze of low, dry arroyos framed by bare lunar landscapes. Before long, the West Texas sky looms so large that it practically swallows the road. The 15

By Joe Nick Patoski

Around the State

Atsbox

A Great Weekend In Houston

Treat Your Mama Right If Mom is an arts lover, then your search for the perfect Mother’s Day gift is over: Treat her to a weekend in Houston. You wouldn’t want to subject her to the inevitable Friday afternoon traffic, so arrive Thursday, May 9, and enjoy a stroll around

By Eileen Schwartz

Atsbox

Dance

All the Right Moves For someone who grew up studying classical ballet, modern dance seems foreign to me. Where are the outward foot positions? The high jumps? Of course, ballet and modern share some of the same principles, and this month you can see moves that reflect both traditions. In

By Patricia McConnico

Atsbox

Straight Talk

MODEL ATHLETE LISA LESLIE, the starting center for the defending world champion Los Angeles Sparks, sashays into the Compaq Center on May 27 to play in the Houston Comets’ season opener.First of all, let me congratulate you on winning the WNBA title. Thanks. It’s a pretty great feeling. Our team

By Brian D. Sweany

Atsbox

Fine Art

The Awakening Unlike Houston, whose thriving art market allows its artists to live in the Bayou City and sell globally, Austin has always had a tough time cultivating a reputation with dealers as a serious visual-art town. Before the high-tech economic boom, Austin artists complained that nobody bought art in

By Katy Vine

Columns

Politics

Right Makes Might

After a conservative think tank used its clout to help scuttle a science textbook, some Republicans declared victory. The rest declared war.

By Patricia Hart

Texana

Cold Comfort

Texans turn to Dairy Queen for more than just Hungr-Busters, Steak Finger Country Baskets, and Blizzards. They also come for a taste of days gone by.

By Anne Dingus

Media

Tune In, Turn On

Why Grand Prarie's Bobby Patterson of KKDA-AM is my favorite deejay in Texas.

By Joe Nick Patoski

Behind the Lines

Gig ’em, Ray

Farewell to an Aggie prez.

By Paul Burka

News & Politics

Giant

Master of the Senate, Robert Caro's third volume on the life of Lyndon Johnson, is an exhaustive study of power, persuasion, and private parts.

By Don Graham

Art

Moving Pictures

At Houston's FotoFest 2002, digital art took center stage as never before-and proved that the Next Big Thing might really be the next big thing.

By Michael Ennis

Reporter

Sand Trap

John Spong surveys the remaking—or is it the unmaking?—of Lajitas.

By John Spong

Reporter

Cat Osterman

Cat Osterman turns on the heat.

By Brian D. Sweany

First Person

Relativity

Climbing a new branch of the family tree.

By Pamela Colloff

Web

Pat's Pick

Blowfish

Fishing Expedition Blowfish is blowing my mind. I’m sitting in this jazzy, five-month-old sushi bar in an Arlington strip center looking at a menu that’s as up-to-date as anything in Dallas or Houston. You want pure raw fish? A wide array is offered—tuna, yellowtail, eel, conch, plus specials like Hawaiian

By Patricia Sharpe

Travel & Outdoors

Road Rules

If you need a refresher course on the basic courtesies of drivingboth in the city and on the highwayhere are ten tips that will keep you in the fast lane.

By Patricia McConnico

Web Exclusive

“A Bunch of Junk” [January 1986]

Dallas' cultural aspirations take a beating when city fathers reject a sculpture.

By A. C. Greene

Recipe

Vietnamese-Style Summer Roll

These Vietnamese summer rolls are from Blowfish in Arlington. They are light, refreshing, and perfect for a hot-weather appetizer.

By Patricia Sharpe

Web Exclusive

Driving Directions

Directions for driving from Galveston to Corpus Christi From Galveston take FM 3005 to San Luis Pass, where you will pay $2 to cross the toll bridge. Continue south on Blue Water Highway to Surfside. Turn right on Texas Highway 332 North and cross the bridge to Freeport. Take a

By Texas Monthly

Texas History

Sharp Shooter

Richard Young knows it takes a lot of practice—and a little natural ability—to be a proficient cowboy action-shooter.

By John Morthland

The Culture

Rough Roads

These drives are sure to get your attention.

By Joe Nick Patoski

Web Exclusive

Road Trip From Hell

Driving across Texas can be funsometimes.

By Peter Sanders

The Culture

On the Road

Senior editor Michael Hall, who wrote about Arnold "Pee Wee" Kornegay, and others tell the story behind this month's cover story, "Drive, We Said."

By Texas Monthly

The Culture

Litter Spotting

A new ad campaign hopes to get drivers to stop littering by getting up-close and personal with trash.

By Elisa Bock

Sports

The Rookie

Miguel Salas talks about his role as a Big Lake Owl baseball player in the film The Rookie.

By Gina Petrelli

Texas Tidbits

Texas towns and their claims to fame.

By Erin Donnelly

Texas History 101

Sure, you drive a Chevy, drink Dr Pepper, and eat exclusively at your local diner. But is your baseball glove a Nokona?

By Erin Donnelly

Happy Trails

Spend a great weekend sightseeing in San Antonio.

By Patricia McConnico

Books That Cook

A Real American Breakfast

By Patricia McConnico

Web Exclusive

The Fifty Best Texas Books [August 1981]

THESE ARE MY CHOICES FOR the fifty best Texas books. I would like to emphasize that these are the best books about Texas. By that I mean Texas is their main subject or, in the case of fiction and biography, their chief setting. They are not the best books written

By A. C. Greene

Recipe

Memphis-Style Barbecued Pork Shoulder

Memphis-Style Barbecued Pork Shoulderone 4- to 5-pound pork butt or shoulder roast The South Shall Rub Again [see below] Memphis Mop, optional [see below] Tennessee-Style Barbecue Sauce [see below] 8 to 10 sandwich buns, optional Red pepper sauce, such as Tabasco or Texas Pete, optional1. Sprinkle a generous layer of

By Patricia Sharpe

Web Exclusive

Dallas Is Better Than Houston [February 1978]

TRY TO REMEMBER, BILL, Hell and Houston both begin with a h. —letter from a 19th-century visitorI wish I’d said it first, but I can’t say it any better. It still begins with a h. Houston today is a dozen cities, and you couldn’t give me any of them if

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

God’s Country [November 1975]

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP there in the Thirties and Forties, Abilene was a one-industry town: God.God met the biggest payroll and He was the local real estate magnate. Besides owning the fifty church buildings and employing the people in them, He held title to the three institutions of higher

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

The Highland Park Woman [April 1976]

THE HIGHLAND PARK WOMAN is thirty-two or thirty-three. She says she honestly forgets sometimes. She’s not particularly afraid to tell her age (she’s not that old) but she seldom does. It’s not really necessary: a ten-year-old son in St. Mark’s and a seven-year-old daughter in Lamplighter, three bedrooms and three

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

Jesus and Mead’s Fine Bread [May 1983]

WHEN UPON LIFE’S BILLOWS you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost . . . Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly, And you will be singing as the days go by.— “Count Your Blessings”My first check as a radio gospel singer on KRBC in

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

Old Times [November 1987]

WHY IS IT YOU NEVER REMEMBER the good things about certain jobs, only the bad—and yet the sweetest times, the days of your life you think you’d rather live over, are those seasons when salaries were lowest, the bosses were cruelest, your fellow workers were the most problematic? I spent

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

Upwardly Mogul [November 1976]

THREE YEARS AGO ANYBODY in the business could describe a Texas movie producer for you: loud talking, fast moving (white Eldorado), Frye boots, and a rodeo shirt to match his California girl friend’s; born in Brooklyn (where else?), with two quickies to his credit—one that four-walled Waco, Temple, and died,

By A. C. Greene

Web Exclusive

Why Dallas? [December 1973]

A RIVER BEGAN IT. Sluggish in summer, scant. A red and awesome terror in a wet spring. Too much river . . . or not enough.Called Daycoa by some Indians, Arkikosa by others, in 1690 Alonso de Leon, a Mexican-born officer of the Spanish crown, bestowed its modern name: La

By A. C. Greene

Pat's Pick

Bookshelf

‘Cue Up The Smoke Gods are smiling: May marks the publication of two barbecue cookbooks by Texas authors. The best metaphor for Dotty Griffith’s book, Celebrating Barbecue: The Ultimate Guide to America’s 4 Regional Styles of ‘Cue (Simon and Schuster), is a savory four-meat platter. The

By Patricia Sharpe

Pat's Pick

Primary Flavors

Banh, the Bomb Wondering where to find a bánh mì, the small, tasty Vietnamese sandwich you’ve been hearing about lately? It’s gaining a following among folks outside the Asian community. Typically served on a split, toasted baguette, this morsel is spread with mayonnaise and pork pté and then piled with

By Jennifer Olsen