http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01 Articles and stories from the November 2009 issue of TEXAS MONTHLY. en-us Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:02 -0600 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:02 -0600 PHP 5.2.11 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss cllewellin@texasmonthly.com (Charlie Llewellin) http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia3.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/ux8wd7qrUBk/multimedia3.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia3.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bird.php A person gets to a certain age and realizes that some dreams are never going to come true. She'll never date Daniel Day-Lewis. She'll never sort her junk drawer. She'll never tell Alex Trebek, "What is the Crab Nebula?" Which is why, when a rare third chance at the dream deferred arrived in the mail, I grabbed at it. "Dear Prospective Juror," the summons began, just as the previous two invitations had. The first time, lured by the promise of $6 a day, I'd eagerly trotted over to the courthouse, only to be dismissed for obvious bleeding heart tendencies. The second time, I didn't wear the dashiki but the defendant settled. This time, I knew I had to admit the real reason I ached to come out on the right side of voir dire: Becoming a lawyer had always felt inevitable to me, as it does to so many'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/WgdStEM8G7o/bird.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bird.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/thehorsesmouth.php NAME: Dave Campbell | AGE: 84 | HOMETOWN: Waco | QUALIFICATIONS: Founder and editor in chief of Dave Campbell's Texas Football, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary / Member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame / Southwest representative for Heisman Trophy balloting / Former sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald ' Back in the early days of Texas Football, Darrell Royal was just starting to roll at the University of Texas. He was very much a proponent of the ground game. I won't say that what Darrell ran was 3 yards and a cloud of dust'it was better than that. But he thought you had to run the ball first. Now think of the game today. Everything has opened up with the spread offense, and every team thinks it has to throw the ball. ' When Emory Bellard [who coached at Texas A'M in the seventies] took the job'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/yPvPytCjdHQ/thehorsesmouth.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/thehorsesmouth.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/theworkinglife.php Goode grew up on a ranch in Damon, where he now runs an artificial insemination business. He travels the country collecting DNA for a U.S. Department of Agriculture research project on mad cow disease. Back in the seventies, my dad learned to artificially inseminate cows by reading a book and using trial and error. There were no schools for AI, so you just had to figure it out. He was actually very good at it, and he would help other ranchers breed their cattle too. I learned all of it from him, and I tell you, the first thousand are the hardest. It takes a certain touch to inseminate an animal. Sometimes I go to other people's facilities, but most of the time customers bring their animals to us. We've marketed ourselves with the saying "Drop them off open and pick them up bred." We tag the cows,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/C82gGhTB1-w/theworkinglife.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/theworkinglife.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/thetexanist.php Q. Can anything be done about my infuriatingly ill-mannered neighbors? Marty B., Dallas A: Unkempt grounds? Revolting garbage cans? All-night parties? Illegal day care? Unlawful rodent storage and disposal? During his adventures in the housing markets, the Texanist has dwelt in a variety of zip codes, some more savory than others, and has known many a neighborly disturbance. On the whole, however, he has found that the simple concept of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you has been so repeatedly drilled unto, onto, and into young Texans that even the most annoying, engine-gunning-in-the-driveway yokel can be persuaded to recall his manners. We can all thank our mothers for that. The fact is, the citizenry of this fine state end up mostly civil and mostly tolerant of one another. Sure, sure, there are always rapscallions who slip through the sturdy weave of our social fabric'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/k1__rn30mzQ/thetexanist.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/thetexanist.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/themanual.php Every November 2, known as the Day of the Dead or All Souls' Day, Hispanics across the Southwest transform grave sites, offices, and corners of their homes into vibrant memorials for their deceased loved ones by assembling multitiered ofrendas, or altars. "The day is devoted to the departed, and an altar pays special tribute," says Malena Gonzalez-Cid, the executive director of Centro Cultural Aztlan, a nonprofit that has organized San Antonio's largest D'a de los Muertos celebration for 32 years. Altars are also meant to welcome returning spirits, so they include both personalized and traditional elements'including several dating to the Aztecs'that will guide an honoree on his journey from the land of the dead. Here's how to offer a proper reception. ' A large photograph of your loved one is the centerpiece. Smaller, informal snapshots can adorn the lower levels. ' Water or, more typically, fruit punch is served'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/8snfnGTWZNA/themanual.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/themanual.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/objectlesson.php At his 2,300-acre property downriver from El Paso, Tony Rancich, a John Malkovich look-alike with flaxen hair, plays two roles without skipping a beat: farmer and music man. He co-owns and operates a pecan orchard, whose nuts are sold to a subsidiary of the King Ranch, and owns Sonic Ranch, a "residential recording studio compound" that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Conor Oberst, and Ministry have called home. For weeks at a time, musicians and producers from around the world retreat to this refuge in Tornillo for the solitude, the homey vibe'Zenaida Sanchez, the cook, is regularly thanked in album liner notes'and the high-caliber equipment. In the largest studio on the property is Rancich's crown jewel, the Neve Control Room. "This is where the tracking, or the recording of the music, takes place," says Rancich. All hours of the day, band members, interns, and engineers can be found tweaking songs'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/u_siaRqB1fk/objectlesson.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/objectlesson.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/hollywoodtx.php Here's an image to make you choke on your popcorn: A bearded man dressed in rags huddles with his young son, clutching a gun that contains only two bullets. He slowly inserts the barrel into his mouth. "Point it up," the man explains, demonstrating the proper way to commit suicide. The boy looks on in bewilderment before finally nodding his understanding. Better that he should blow his brains out than fall into the clutches of marauding cannibals. That's just the beginning of John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize'winning 2006 novel, The Road, a movie so singularly unpleasant, so resolutely ill-conceived that it should bring Hollywood's unlikely love affair with the iconic Texas author to an immediate end. Focused on an unnamed man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they journey south through a postapocalyptic America, The Road'which finally hits theaters the day before Thanksgiving, after'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/T1EJjiaUc9w/hollywoodtx.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/hollywoodtx.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookrev.php Former Texan Bill Willingham has taken his long-running Fables comic book series to a new medium and new heights with Peter ' Max, his first novel. As in his Fables works, he cleverly reimagines fairy tale and nursery rhyme figures (think Snow White and Little Boy Blue) living in the contemporary world. The title characters are estranged brothers: Peter Piper, of pickled-pepper-picking fame, and Max Piper, better known as the Pied Piper. As a youth, Max becomes bitterly jealous when Peter is entrusted by their father with his irreplaceable magical flute, and he resorts to evildoing'kidnapping all the children of Hamelin, Germany; crippling Peter's wife, Esmerault "Bo" Peep, by hurling her off a cliff; and dreaming of revenge against his brother. The final confrontation, in Hamelin (Peter flies Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then drives up the autobahn), churns up more drama and hubris than you'd expect from these bedtime'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/CczJevyQHZ4/bookrev.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookrev.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookrev2.php The proposition at the heart of The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After, Steven M. Gillon's examination of the immediate aftermath of President John F. Kennedy's death, in Dallas, is that Lyndon B. Johnson's actions during his first day in office foreshadowed the high and low points of his presidency. So when LBJ hunkers down through the night with his advisers, it presages the promise of his Great Society, and when he is cowed by Kennedy's fanatically loyal staff and family, it supposedly foretells his failures in dealing with Vietnam and the race riots on the home front. The idea is intriguing, considering the chaos and trauma that tested Johnson in those 24 hours, but the incidents offered as proof (a farcical misunderstanding about whether Jackie or LBJ should use Air Force One, LBJ's insistence on being sworn into office as soon as possible) are not numerous or consequential'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/UdWEFXFv4t0/bookrev2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookrev2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookinterview.php Readers who know J. Frank Dobie only as a wizened old author on the pages of their English textbooks may not recognize the vibrant and rebellious figure who emerges from the pages of J. Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind. The biography, which seeks to revive Dobie's fading literary legacy, examines the man behind such Texas classics as Coronado's Children and The Longhorns. Davis is the assistant curator of the Southwestern Writers Collection, at Texas State University'San Marcos, which houses Dobie's literary estate. Read an excerpt. Since his death, in 1964, J. Frank Dobie has been somewhat forgotten. Can you provide a quick portrait? Dobie was the first Texas-based writer to gain a national reputation, and he all but invented Texas literature. Born at a transformative time'the Indian wars were over, the open range was getting fenced off, railroads were knitting the country together'Dobie saw an old way'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/XuZtanDx7i8/bookinterview.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/bookinterview.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev.php The best rock trios conjure a rare sort of magic. Each member has to pull his or her weight and, with nothing to hide behind, must know exactly what to play (and, just as important, what not to play). Austin's White Denim does just that, specializing in smart, fragmented melody lines set to skittering rhythms. In the past, the band's formula yielded both starkly fascinating grooves and, at times, a meandering, disjointed tangle. Yet on Fits (Downtown Music), the group is working the puzzle out. While no less schizophrenic stylistically, most songs here seem developed and purposeful. Slowed down, the sound can border on the folkish, but mostly the band rocks'furiously. The opening tracks set a relentless pace. Bassist Steve Terebecki and drummer Joshua Block lay down redlined, hard-driving foundations with abrupt changes, while guitarist/vocalist James Petralli dances over the top with brittle, chopped chording and a voice'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/giOsu2rh1z4/cdrev.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev2.php Stop the presses: Norah Jones is trying something new. With a combined 36 million CDs sold and her three previous releases multi-platinum, one might argue that she can afford to experiment. But give her credit. She could stick to her sleepy after-hours balladry forever and disappoint virtually no one'except maybe herself. Restless, she's shuffled the deck. Not that The Fall (Blue Note) is a radical departure; her rich voice is beguiling whether her cadence is fast or slow. But on this album, she has co-written with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River's Will Sheff, enlisted producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings of Leon), rounded up a new band, and prodded her drummers to pound out some actual (gasp!) tempos. She even straps on an electric guitar. The venture is not wholly successful'there's a dirge or two and one song drenched in more cheesy electronics than a seventies porn score.'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/DYZ-yCfWLd8/cdrev2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/musicinterview.php The 44-year-old Austin rocker has fronted many bands, but it was on the success of his 2000 solo album, Lonelyland, that he rose to national fame. His latest CD, Lovely Creatures (Kirtland), was just released. You're the son of an opera singer. Yes, but my dad's now retired. He was in a band'he actually taught me how to play guitar'but then he fell in love with opera and moved us to Germany when I was two. I spent twenty years in Munich, though we moved to El Paso for a couple years so that my dad could study with a voice teacher. It must have been interesting to go from Munich to El Paso. It was terrifying. But I later ended up at UT'El Paso and had a blast. I was trying to get into an art school in California and didn't. Unbeknownst to me, my mom, to get'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/9Jjf4z1hBqk/musicinterview.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/musicinterview.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/streetsmarts.php 1. Berry Street Bakery Skip the drive-through and head to this quaint clapboard house for the most important meal of the day: a hearty but speedy breakfast of honey-sweetened granola, sausage biscuits, and Walk-Away Omelets (they travel well). Come back later for sandwiches on fresh-baked Bavarian, honey wheat, or sourdough bread, as well as specials like the chicken potpie served between two monstrous puff pastries. Diet-busting treats, like pecan pie bars, flaky turnovers, and decorated cookies and cakes, are hard to resist. 901 Berry, 325-247-1855, berrystreetbakery.com 2. The Acme Caf' on the Square Ordering a seafood dish miles from the Gulf Coast could be considered a risky endeavor, but it's no gamble at this cozy lunch spot across from Llano's historic courthouse. Owner Maurie Kay Beasley's hand-formed, two-inch-high crab cakes, served with a zesty homemade remoulade, are as tasty as they are unexpected. And no less attention is'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/96JkAjyCmSo/streetsmarts.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/streetsmarts.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/patspick.php To paraphrase H. L. Mencken, no one ever went broke overestimating the appetite of Texans for red meat. It doesn't seem to matter how many steakhouses there are in our fair state, there's always room for one more. And so it was that a month ago I found myself in the company of my friend the Good Doctor at Bailey's Prime Plus, a glitzy new Dallas meat mecca. Doc had convinced me that then-two-week-old Bailey's, in the tony new Park Lane development east of North Central Expressway, promised to be a cut above the competition. And indeed, before the evening was out we'd had some damn fine steak, some damn fine seafood, and some damn good desserts. The menu was hardly cutting-edge, but everything we tried was so competently prepared and the well-trained servers so adept at making us feel important that we wouldn't have been surprised to see'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/dTk-NZsHm7o/patspick.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/patspick.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe.php Recipe from Bailey's Prime Plus, Dallas 1 Brie wheel 1 cup water 6 eggs 1 cup panko bread crumbs 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 1 cup almonds, sliced and finely chopped 1 cup almonds, sliced and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup parsley, chopped flour as needed for dredging vegetable oil as needed to cover brie Place wheel of Brie into freezer for 30 minutes so it becomes semi-firm. Remove Brie from freezer and cut wheel into 45 to 50 even triangle pieces. Place back into freezer until Brie becomes semi-firm again. To bread the Brie, place flour into a shallow pan. Mix water and eggs together with a wire whisk and place into a separate shallow pan. Mix the bread crumbs, cheese, almonds, and chopped parsley together in a bowl. Dredge the wedges in flour, dip into the egg and water mixture'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/C0vrtDwDkDE/recipe.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/filterdining.php Fabi + Rosi European Kitchen Austin All traces of Zoot have disappeared under the natty black and white florals and stripes of Fabi + Rosi. Votive candles appear to float in midair over the banquettes, making the remodeled West Austin cottage an airy showroom for chef/co-owner Wolfgang Murber's European menu. Best starters on our recent visit were a classic, semisweet chicken liver p't' and a salad of wild arugula and fabulous "Overnight Tomatoes" (herb-marinated and treated to a long, flavor-intensifying stay in the oven). Though a special of pan-seared snapper, sided by a good, slightly tart slaw of fennel and lemon, was great, it was the rare medallions of leg of lamb in a port demi that got the table's top vote, though we nixed the accompanying dryish, heavy potato souffl'. Even so, pluses so far outweighed minuses and prices were so reasonable that we're eager to return. Beer ''... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/aTgNnbYGt44/filterdining.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/filterdining.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/roar.php I'd about given up that y'all even knew Texas had other college football programs outside of the University of Texas ["Mike Leach Is Thinking . . . " September 2009]. Kudos for finally realizing what we've known for years: Mike Leach is a great coach and is giving much-deserved recognition to Texas Tech football and West Texas. Cindy Spess Austin Mike Leach is not the best college football coach in the country, as texas monthly asserts. Leach isn't even the best in Texas. No, that would be Gary Patterson, of Texas Christian University. Conference titles: Patterson 2, Leach 0. Seasons of ten wins or better: Patterson 5, Leach 1. Top 25 finishes: Patterson 5, Leach 4. And Patterson is doing it at TCU without the BCS cash. John C. Sherwood Dallas I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed your feature on Coach'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/W58qRoacHsw/roar.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/roar.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/letterfromkingcounty.php The traveler heading east out of Lubbock on U.S. 82 soon leaves the fields of cotton and maize behind and enters some of the most desolate country in Texas. Beyond Crosbyton lies the land of the big ranches, the Pitchfork and the 6666. There is nothing here but prairie, cattle, horses, and an occasional ranch building. The closest thing to a billboard is a handmade sign saying, "Join the NRA." Dickens, the next town up the road, has a cafe and a liquor store, but by the time you get to King County, ninety miles from Lubbock, you think you have come to the end of the world. According to the latest census estimate, there are just 281 people in the entire county. Many of them live in Guthrie, the speck-on-the-map county seat, in dwellings provided by the 6666 or the school district for their employees. The town has'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/kNAt2ASskwo/letterfromkingcounty.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/letterfromkingcounty.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/books.php She was arguably the most famous woman in print journalism in America. Her column appeared in over three hundred newspapers, she had several best-selling books, she was an icon in the liberal, progressive wings of politics and media, and like it or not, she cemented for millions of her fans and critics a certain image of Texas. But Molly Ivins's path to fame had ordinary origins: She owed her first newspaper job to her dad. "General Jim" Ivins was the president of Tenneco, an oil and gas company in Houston, and after his daughter's first year at Smith College, in Massachusetts, he helped arrange an internship for her at the sleepy Houston Chronicle. It would keep her home, and he could take her out on his Lightning yacht. And so in 1964 she returned to her parents' house, on Chevy Chase Drive in River Oaks, and had her initial,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/X0zKDtq0CGM/books.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/books.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/editorsletter.php The clich' about any great tragedy is that it creates indelible markers in time and space: Had John F. Kennedy visited Dallas in 1963 without incident, few Americans would be able to recall much about where they were or what they were doing on November 22 of that year. As shocking news spreads, it generates hundreds of thousands of individual memories that fill the dark days on the calendar. For Aggies, and for many Texans, the date of November 18, 1999, is densely packed with these grim reminders. Everyone knows where he was when he heard that the Texas A'M Bonfire had collapsed early that morning and that a number of students had been killed. The loss of life was shocking and deeply upsetting; what made it even more painful was the knowledge that A'M's most passionately observed tradition'perhaps the most passionately observed tradition at any university in the'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/7Ug0n4BeIEs/editorsletter.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/editorsletter.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature.php "The bonfire symbolizes two things," reads the 1947 Texas A'M freshman handbook. "A burning desire to beat the team from the University of Texas, and the undying flame of love that every loyal Aggie carries in his heart for the school." The tradition began as a wood-and-trash pile in 1909, when A'M was still an all-male military college. Over time it grew in scale and ambition, eventually setting a world record in 1969, when it reached 109 feet. In keeping with A'M's belief that Aggies should learn as much outside the classroom as they do in it, the arduous task of constructing Bonfire was left entirely to students. Until 1999, it burned every year except for 1963, when it was torn down after the assassination of President Kennedy. Head yell leader Mike Marlowe explained, "It is the most we have and the least we can give." And then,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/Q8GTr5RpfVU/feature.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/btl.php Two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar.All for fossil fuels, stand up and holler. The several thousand oil company employees who disembarked from buses at the Verizon Wireless Theater in downtown Houston came to rally against federal legislation that, as they saw it, threatened their jobs and their industry. They would have been in a considerably more relaxed mood had they known that within six weeks the Obama administration would announce that it was abandoning its efforts to pass a major climate-change initiative this year. That sweltering Tuesday in August, however, the workers and their employers still had plenty to worry about. Some had come from The Woodlands, the headquarters of Anadarko Petroleum, about thirty miles from downtown, to cheer for Big Oil, the home team, and to jeer the American Clean Energy and Security Act'or, as it is informally known, the cap-and-trade bill. The legislation would,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/mKdtBIt9WjM/btl.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/btl.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature2.php We know what you're thinking. You've read the subhead to this story, promising a holiday feast that focuses entirely on pecans, and at this very minute you are saying: Who in his right mind would want to eat a meal with pecans in every single dish? Well, we have a question for your question: Who wouldn't? Pecans are fantastic! Not only are they nutritious but, unlike walnuts (troublingly bitter) or cashews (as eccentric as your weird Uncle Louie), they taste marvelous alone and play well with other ingredients. Their texture is not too hard, not too soft, but just right, and their shell is so yielding that a three-year-old could crack it (well, that's true of modern hybrids; the same cannot be said of the native pecan, which requires a reinforced steel nutcracker or perhaps a ten-ton boulder to smash it). Finally, pecans give back to society by providing'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/6abHgqU-IJE/feature2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature3.php As he walked through the front door of 2J's, the modest little cafe down the road from his family ranch outside Refugio, Thomas Michael O'Connor had a feeling that something was wrong. It was a bright winter day in January 1995, and T. Michael, as he is known to all, had come in for a lunch meeting with Glenn Lynch, the operator of a legendary oil and gas lease on the O'Connor Ranch named for T. Michael's great-aunt, Mary Ellen O'Connor. The ranch is one of the state's largest, covering parts of Goliad, Victoria, and Refugio counties, and T. Michael ran its operations. At forty, he was a multimillionaire, heir to a family fortune in cattle, oil, and land that stretched over five generations, but he often ate lunch at 2J's. The dusky interior was a relief from the bleached South Texas light, and he liked that he knew'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/uGZw4iBesgs/feature3.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature3.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature4.php Edwin "Bud" Shrake, who died earlier this year at age 77, was one of the best writers Texas has ever produced. His ten novels explored two centuries of Texas history and culture, a range so daring that it sometimes baffled editors, critics, and even friends. Shrake had the ability to go anywhere. In But Not for Love and Strange Peaches he rendered perfectly the carousing darkness within the soul of the Dallas elite. But he was equally at home in Blessed McGill, chronicling the exploits of a nineteenth-century frontiersman who goes to a martyr's death. He wrote compelling as-told-to memoirs for Willie Nelson and Barry Switzer and five books with golf legend Harvey Penick, including Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, the best-selling sports book of all time. Between these projects and long stints as an acclaimed sportswriter at the Dallas Times Herald, the Dallas Morning News, and Sports Illustrated,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/88gt_dSBIDM/feature4.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/feature4.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe2.php Recipe from Larry McGuire, Perla's Seafood ' Oyster Bar, Austin Toasted Pecans 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cups pecan halves 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons brown sugar, light or dark Melt butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saut' pan. Add pecans and toast over medium heat until brown and fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Pour pecans onto paper towels to drain and cool. Arugula and Pecan Pesto 1 cup arugula 1 cup basil 1/2 cup toasted pecans (see preceding recipe) 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/2 cup olive oil juice of 1 lemon kosher salt and black pepper to taste Place first 4 ingredients in a food processor and process until finely chopped, about 30 seconds. With processor running, add olive oil in a'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/sFMndREo6MU/recipe2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe3.php Recipe from Nick Badovinus, Neighborhood Services, Dallas Roast Turkey Nick's mom's recipe for roast turkey. 1 twelve- to fourteen-pound turkey kosher salt and black pepper to taste 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped 2 carrots, coarsely chopped 1 to 3 cloves garlic 1/2 bunch fresh sage 2 lemons, halved 2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, at room temperature 2 cups dry white wine 2 cups chicken stock Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse turkey and pat dry inside and outside. Generously season cavity with salt and pepper. Stuff bird with onion, celery, carrots, garlic, sage, and lemons. Gently rub butter under skin of breast and on exterior of legs and thighs. Truss butcher's twine and place on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up. Season with additional salt and pepper (and don't be shy). Place'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/VrYdzLQ1ajo/recipe3.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe3.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe4.php Recipe from Josh Cross, Oloroso, San Antonio Vinaigrette 1/4 cup pecan halves 1/4 cup champagne vinegar 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon chopped shallot 3 ounces (about 1/4 cup) grated Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons walnut oil 1/2 cup mild-flavored oil, such as grapeseed or canola Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toast pecans on a baking sheet for about 10 to 13 minutes. Check frequently, as they can burn quickly. Cool and coarsely chop. In a blender, pur'e the pecans with vinegar, honey, shallot, and cheese, then slowly drizzle in oils. Add warm water to thin to desired consistency. Salad 6 handfuls fris'e 2 handfuls arugula 10 branches chervil, leaves only (optional) 1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced seeds of 1 pomegranate To serve, combine salad ingredients and toss with vinaigrette. Serves 8.'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/IKIQlaOhafE/recipe4.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe4.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe5.php Recipe from Molly McCook, Ellerbe Fine Foods, Fort Worth Baked Squash 6 cups butternut squash (approximately 1 1/2 squash), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (removed from stems) 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup olive oil Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, gently toss ingredients to coat with oil. Scatter squash on a baking sheet and cook 15 minutes. Remove from oven and turn. Continue cooking until lightly browned, about 10 more minutes. Spiced Pecans 2 cups pecan halves 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon light brown sugar Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Spread pecans on'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/3ok2dWfFdNI/recipe5.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe5.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe6.php Recipe from Randy Rucker, Formerly of the Rainbow Lodge Houston Pecan Sabl' (Shortbread Cookies) Note: Both recipes should be made at least a day in advance. 1 1/2 cups pecan halves 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup powdered sugar 2 large egg yolks 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups flour, sifted 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toast pecans on a baking sheet for 10 to 13 minutes, checking frequently, as they can burn quickly. Allow to cool, then roughly chop. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees. In a medium metal mixing bowl, thoroughly cream butter. Then gradually cream in sugar, egg yolks (one at a time), and vanilla. Add flour and salt to form a dough. Fold in toasted pecans. Transfer dough to work surface and flatten into a disk before wrapping in plastic'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/YkSEyhkl_-U/recipe6.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe6.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev3.php Fabled Texas yarn spinner Robert Earl Keen has seen his songs resonate among his many fans for years, and his work has influenced a new generation of songwriters. With a quick, dry wit, he makes what he does sound easy, and that's part of the problem. His laissez-faire attitude and detached, unemotional singing give his detractors the impression, fair or no, that he's not trying that hard. Both fans and critics will be emboldened by The Rose Hotel (Lost Highway), Keen's first album of new material in four years. Poignant, genial works like the title track and "Goodbye Cleveland," as well as his Levon Helm tribute, "The Man Behind the Drums," easily belong alongside the best songs in his canon. But setting Townes Van Zandt's "Flying Shoes" to a throbbing rock beat is not exactly a creative reimagining, and choruses like "Throwing rocks, getting stoned" and a tune'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/hdjKDah9Tas/cdrev3.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/cdrev3.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra.php It was finally show time. Cheeks brushed for air kisses. Champagne flowed freely. After more than ten years and $354 million dollars donated mostly from private pockets, the AT'T Performing Arts Center opened with a whirlwind of ballet, opera, and theatre. Over the course of three days, some of Dallas's most deep-pocketed philanthropists mingled with artists, architects, and aesthetes. The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, with its glossy candy apple red exterior, hosted ballet, opera, and a night of Broadway. An evening of theatre was seen at the thoroughly modern Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, an innovative rectangular box covered with vertical aluminum tubes. But Saturday night was the evening everyone waited for. With Tony Award winners Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth'the Oklahoma native walked out on stage wearing an oversized UT football jersey bearing Colt McCoy's number 12'George Hearn, and Kiril Kulish performing, it was regarded as'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/Sf8zLOd06UE/webextra.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/contributor.php Ed Gabel and Joe Zeff That is not Bonfire on this month's cover. Instead, it's an idealized version of the iconic Aggie tradition, thanks to the creative minds of Ed Gabel and Joe Zeff, of New York's Splashlight studios. "Blueprints weren't available online," says Zeff, who met Gabel when they worked together in the graphics department at Time magazine. "So we made screen captures from a History Channel documentary and went from there." That involved intensive 3-D modeling and precise digital photography to get the most realistic effect. "It was our intent to be as accurate as possible," he says. Mimi Swartz "In a sense, we're witnessing the sequel to Giant," writes executive editor Mimi Swartz in "Below the Surface". Here the O'Connor ranching family fills in for the'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/pOcIGp5hfgg/contributor.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/contributor.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/qcQXt7234mE/multimedia.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe7.php Recipe from Executive Chef Chun Lau, Fortune Chinese Seafood, Austin 1 live lobster (approximately 2 1/2 to 3 pounds) 1 cup flour 1 gallon container of vegetable oil for frying 1 tablespoon butter 3 to 4 scallions, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic 2 jalapenos, chopped 1/2 cup water 1 teaspoon black pepper powder 1 teaspoon sugar 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine cilantro or parsley for garnish Clean the lobster and then butterfly and chop into 2-inch pieces with the shell on. Mix the lobster with flour so that the sauce will bind to the lobster during cooking. Deep fry the lobster in 325-degree vegetable oil for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Take out and place on a napkin to absorb excess oil. Mix butter, scallions, garlic, and jalapenos in'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/1bQaxm1MqN8/recipe7.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe7.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra2.php The ground in College Station is alive: It shrinks or swells, spitting out or swallowing up groundwater from the persistent rain, and those expansions and contractions make it shift, breathe. On November 17, 2004, Bob Shemwell walked out of the rain and into Texas A'M's maroon-draped Rudder Auditorium. A tall, soft-spoken man with brown hair and permanent creases in his forehead where his eyebrows tend to travel, Shemwell crossed the stage and took the podium. He had been invited back to A'M, his alma mater, to give a presentation, "The Story of the Bonfire Memorial," the night before the dedication ceremony on November 18. Shemwell was the lead architect on the design team that first sketched, then created the memorial honoring the twelve students who died in the 1999 Bonfire collapse. That night, he was worried. It had been raining for three days straight, and he was thinking about'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/xKJZEx6XhTo/webextra2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra3.php Let's get one thing straight: The twelve indicted men from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have impressive legal representation for the upcoming criminal trials in Texas. Executive editor Mimi Swartz wrote about attorney Gerald Goldstein, who is handling the Yearning for Zion Ranch head Frederick Merril Jessop's case, in the April 1996 issue of Texas Monthly ("The High Times of Gerry Goldstein"). "It was his 1978 appeal that reversed the convictions in what has come to be known as the Piedras Negras Jailbreak Case, in which two Texans stormed the border city's jail and, Rambo style, freed fourteen American inmates charged with drug offenses," Swartz wrote. "He is a counselor and loyal friend to superhead Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, wrote an amicus brief on behalf of Noriega, and has defended on drug charges the sons of such prominent men as BeBe Rebozo'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/xoffOt1lfIE/webextra3.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra3.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra4.php Blinky was a feisty blue free-range parakeet, the only child of Mary and Mac McGinnis. Mary and Mac were our next-door neighbors. We called them Aunt Mary and Uncle Mac because over the years they became like family to us. I suppose that would make Blinky an unofficial cousin. In one old family photo my brother Steve and I, dressed in our Easter finery, posed beside Blinky's cage. Blinky was the kid next door. Mary and Mac doted on Blinky. When they called him, he would fly to them, land on their shoulders, and give them little affectionate parakeet pecks on the cheek. Mac was a chemist whose pants were always hiked up too high and Mary was a soft-spoken, elegant stay-at-home mom to Blinky. Mary spent her days talking to Blinky and keeping an immaculate house. Perhaps it was time consuming to clean up after a bird'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/9qiBtOc5FSo/webextra4.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra4.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/themanual20.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/hX-OGYl895Q/themanual20.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/themanual20.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia2.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/2TgL9hqKZaQ/multimedia2.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia2.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/behindthelinespodcast.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/0y3Ut_Cvxiw/behindthelinespodcast.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/behindthelinespodcast.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra5.php When I left Austin a few weeks ago for Costa Rica, a surf trip to neighboring Nicaragua wasn't in my plans. "Jungles and volcanoes," I told my sister before I left, "and see a few birds." But when a buddy sent me an e-mail two weeks into my trip about surfing I was intrigued. He wrote, "Go surf the legendary surf break at Popoyo." I was hooked at "legendary" and left the highland Costa Rican town of La Fortuna on a bus the very next day.' From La Fortuna down the mountains to northwestern Costa Rican province of Guanacaste the flora is a uniform, high jungle canopy, interspersed with small farms of guayavas and papayas, carrots, onions, and peppers. As I enter the flatlands, however, the cool highland breezes morph into humidity and stifling heat.The Costa Rican side of the border is well organized, minimally bureaucratic'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/rHaH2gXbj_E/webextra5.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra5.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra6.php You're one of the only people to know what it's like to be an innocent man on death row, but everybody else thinks you're guilty. What did that feel like to you? When you had those two days left'we're trying to put ourselves in the mind of [Cameron Todd Willingham] and what he was going through. What did that feel like?Like I said, you know, I had prepared myself for it because I know on Texas death row very few people get off of Texas death row alive. And I had myself prepared pretty well for if that time come, I would just lay down and go to sleep and that would be it. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I wouldn't be hollering and screaming. I don't really know what my last words would be. I don't know whether I would have said, "Well,'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/CeZrDwGvCYc/webextra6.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra6.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra7.php The Grim Reaper awaited President Barack Obama's arrival at Texas A'M University last week. No, he wasn't the Brad Pitt, Meet Joe Black version of Death. This cloaked fellow was a member of the Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT), an organization of young people advocating for conservative values. Last year YCT gained national attention after an anti-Obama carnival on the A'M campus during which students threw eggs at a picture of the then-candidate. In this case, the egg-free Mr. Reaper did not come to make a case for the death penalty but instead to protest socialized medicine. Joining Death were more than 500 people from various Texas organizations, all gathered on campus at Spence Park to protest different aspects of the president's policies. Very few were there in actual opposition to the point of his visit'a presidential forum on community service hosted by former President George H.W. Bush.'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/wHENxdgm81k/webextra7.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra7.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia5.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/JRo3NnuLxOY/multimedia5.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia5.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra8.php In 2006 Colt McCoy stepped into the Texas Longhorns' lineup to replace Vince Young, one of the greatest college quarterbacks of all time. Now, as McCoy is wrapping up his own storied career, possibly becoming college football's all-time winningest quarterback, among those looking to succeed him is a familiar face: his brother.For the next two months, Case McCoy's primary concern is directing the Graham High School Steers through their remaining regular-season games and deep into the Class 3A playoffs. But soon after, he'll officially become part of the University of Texas's 2010 recruiting class and begin competing for a spot as the Longhorns quarterback.Brothers who have become successful college and pro quarterbacks aren't that unusual. The Mannings, Peyton and Eli, are the most well-known. Texas has seen it before, with Ty and Koy Detmer. The sons of Texas high school coaching legend Sonny Detmer, Ty won'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/FrNXwceoFFc/webextra8.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra8.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe8.php Recipe from Culinary Institute of America "Latin Flavors" Conference, San Antonio, 2009. Think oysters on the half shell with the famous Brazilian liquor made into a granita. 6 ounces cachaca (Brazilian rum-like spirit) 2 limes cut in wedges 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, or as needed Freshly cracked black pepper to taste Sea salt to taste Cilantro sprigs as garnish Oysters on the half shell, as many as desired Place the lime wedges, sugar, and chopped cilantro in a bowl and muddle well, or use a food processor. Add the cachaca, salt, and pepper and mix in well, then pulse a bit. Place the mixture in a shallow metal pan and freeze it, scraping with a fork every few hours until it is completely frozen and fluffy (if you know an easier way, by all means, do it!) To'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/YQVmABXFj3g/recipe8.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe8.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe9.php 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners or grease generously with butter or cooking spray. With a pastry brush, lightly coat a cookie stamp with a neutral-tasting vegetable oil, such as canola, or mist it with cooking spray. Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until just thoroughly combined. (Don't overmix here or the cookies can be tough.) Using a 1 1/4-inch scoop, drop the dough on the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Stamp each dough ball firmly enough to make an'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/rRLije-vFCg/recipe9.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe9.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia4.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/pXdAU_iUYso/multimedia4.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia4.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra9.php In early October, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that autism rates in the U.S. are much higher than previous estimates. According to CDC statistics, published in the medical journal Pediatrics, approximately 1 in 100 children fall into what's known as the autism spectrum, up from the previous estimate of 1 in 150. Autism is the most commonly diagnosed developmental disorder. A higher level of awareness by physicians and the general public, coupled with a much more expansive definition of what behaviors fall into the autism spectrum, are two factors which may be contributing to the increase in diagnoses. Greg Allen is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. As part of his research, Allen, a licensed psychologist who specializes in neuropsychological assessment, is studying the role of the cerebellum in'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/si67hXgcmEs/webextra9.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra9.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra10.php Given the alarming number of pediatric fatalities from the swine flu'86 children died in the United States of the virus from April to October'I decided to bring my two-year-old in to the pediatrician's office to get vaccinated. The shots were only being offered during limited hours, so I braced myself for a long wait, but the doctor's office turned out to be empty. Had most parents already brought their children in for the H1N1 shot, I asked the nurse? "No," she told me. "We've been really surprised by the lack of interest. Parents seem to be worried about vaccines these days." An excellent story in this month's Wired magazine, "An Epidemic of Fear," delves into the growing (and erroneous) concern that vaccines cause autism and auto-immune diseases'despite the fact that there is no credible scientific evidence to support such a connection. Writer Amy Wallace offers a'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/4hVyzr1XQSY/webextra10.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra10.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra11.php Although the Austin Film Festival organizes events year-round, the week of the festival conference is certainly the most exciting. This is the week when screenwriters exchange ideas with other like-minded individuals through panels and parties, and when big blockbusters are showcased side by side with smaller independent films. The Messenger, with a mid-November release date, and How I Got Lost, which is still negotiating distribution, are two films that provide a taste of this year's selection.' 'The Messenger Perhaps one of the most undesirable posts to occupy in the U.S. Army is the cadet casualty notification team. This team is in charge of notifying the next of kin when a relative has died, so when Sergeant Will Montgomery (played by Ben Foster) gets relocated from Iraq to the U.S. and is assigned to this team, he is visibly disturbed. These are his last three months of'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/-gDudaN1F9g/webextra11.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra11.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra12.php Texas doesn't get a whole lot of screen time. But at this year's Austin Film Festival, two smaller films seemed to capture the spirit of the Lone Star State. The first is Baghdad, Texas, an earnest, clever comedy with social merit and plenty of subdued wintry Texas landscape. The second is Harmony and Me, a movie that uses the shards of a broken heart to carve comedy from one lovelorn Austin slacker. Baghdad, Texas Here's the pitch: Three Texas ranchers are pretty darn certain they have mistakenly housed Saddam Hussein in their shed. It's a surefire premise for an absurd political comedy'that often-unwieldy genre which eludes many filmmakers. The absurdity is tempered by a qualified realism. The comedy is gentle, and unlike many comedies with a political bent, it doesn't beat the audience over the head with ideology. A left leaner for sure, Baghdad, Texas still manages to convey a'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/Jo9y3mNldps/webextra12.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra12.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe10.php Recipe from Executive Chef John Brand, Las Canarias, San Antonio 1 large butternut squash salt and pepper, for seasoning oil olive, for seasoning 1 bunch Swiss chard 6 strips bacon, diced 2 roasted chicken thighs, shredded 4 ounces aged goat cheese 8 sheets filo dough 1 nine-inch cast-iron skillet Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place on aluminum foil, season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Roast 1 hour at 350 degrees or until fork tender. Peel skin off squash and pur'e in blender or food processor. Blanch Swiss chard in boiling salted water and chill in ice water. Remove stems. Dice bacon and cook until crispy. Shred chicken meat with fingers and mix with crumbled goat cheese and bacon. Lay flat leaves of Swiss chard and center chicken mixture and roll into large pocket or ravioli. Spray bottom'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/DMW4TcG3Yrk/recipe10.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe10.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe11.php Recipe from Executive Chef John Brand, Las Canarias, San Antonio. Crust 3/4 cup gingersnap cookies, ground fine in a food processor 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled Filling 3 eggs 1 1/2 cups pumpkin, roasted and pur'ed 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon bourbon 1/2 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 eight-ounce packages cream cheese Sour Cream Topping 2 cups sour cream 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon bourbon Mix crust ingredients together. Butter inverted spring form pan or small cheesecake molds and spread crust in bottom. Chill one hour. Whisk egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, cream, vanilla, and bourbon in medium bowl. Add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg,'... roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/rvGX_TkcraA/recipe11.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/recipe11.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/texasmonthlytalksseason8.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/0dKAQX7CowE/texasmonthlytalksseason8.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/texasmonthlytalksseason8.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra13.php When Austin started billing itself as the Live Music Capital of the World, it forgot the first rule of nicknames: You don't get to give them to yourself. And sure enough, the declaration had unintended consequences. As soon as it went into effect, every taco shack and barbecue joint in town decided it too needed to be a live music venue. So now you can't eat an enchilada plate in Austin without having to endure some songwriter who should have left his guitar in his dorm room when he got out of college. These days, a corollary slogan begs a new bumper sticker: Live Music Can Ruin Just About Anything.But this weekend's Fun Fun Fun Fest represents the dog that wags the tail, not the other way around. It's driven by Austin's Red River scene, the four-block stretch of garage rock, punk, and indie pop clubs running from'... roar@texasmonthly.com (A) November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/EmkDBDFWiQ0/webextra13.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/webextra13.php http://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia6.php roar@texasmonthly.com () November 2009 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500 TEXAS MONTHLY: November 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/texasmonthlycurrent/~3/8txU9mhf6XQ/multimedia6.phphttp://www.texasmonthly.com/2009-11-01/multimedia6.php