“I didn’t drive eleven hours across Texas to watch my cholesterol.”   ——  Robb Walsh, food writer and author of the fantastic cookbook, “Legends of Texas Barbecue.”

The Texas quote of the day: “There’s a vastness here and I believe that the people who are born here breathe that vastness into their soul. They dream big dreams and think big thoughts, because there is nothing to hem them in.” —– Conrad Hilton

I roam around Texas and think about how I’d describe my work in the movie version.  Like this ….

My work is a swirling soul pantomime, a slow two-step danced in a country-western cathedral under a lone star sky. The power of this place at this time lies in the concatenations; our own ghostly fathers live […]

 
Earlier today, I was at the intersection of Braker Lane and Lamar Boulevard in north Austin. It’s a standard, nondescript intersection. There is a CVS pharmacy on one corner,  a Goodyear Tire Center on another, a Penske truck rental place, a Thai restaurant —- your typical north Austin suburban scene. But that particular intersection is […]

 
A man gets a lot of time to think about things as he’s wandering the back roads of Texas. On March 6th, my thoughts inevitably turn to the Alamo.
The first question is why the battle was even fought in the first place.
In retrospect, it’s apparent that neither side should have engaged the other at the […]

Having read nearly every major account of the Alamo, it’s my opinion that these are the five essential books about both the history of the Alamo compound and the siege that changed the course of history:
1. The Alamo Story, by JR Edmondson: A general history of the Alamo itself,  from the time before […]

I spent last night reading J. Frank Dobie’s Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest. While I don’t feel that it’s at nearly the same level as earlier Dobie works like  A Vaquero of the Brush Country or The Longhorns, one quote, in particular, touched my innermost Texas soul.  It comes in the first […]

 
Preservation Texas is the only private, nonprofit membership organization in Texas that is dedicated to being a full-service statewide preservation organization.  They have just released their Annual List of Texas’ Most Endangered Places.  Please consider Volunteering  or Donating to help these fine folks out. 
 

TEXAS NEEDS YOU!

 
A really great video of Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, and Dusty Hill talking about women, money
 

 
 
 
I wonder how strange it must be for these guys to play places like Paris and Stockholm, Sweden and see tens of thousands of fans in the audience. Not bad for that little ol’ band from Texas, eh?