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vietnam buddhist center photoThe Detours series celebrates lesser-known locales worth visiting across the state. When you stand at the midpoint of the red-railed footbridge that arches over the pond at the Vietnam Buddhist Center, you’ll likely smell the incense before seeing tendrils of smoke curl up from a nearby altar adorned with fresh apples and oranges. Lush green lotus plants blanket the surface of the pond, and their flowers—some as tall as six feet—nod their pink and yellow heads in the breeze. Listen and you’ll hear the sonorous tolling of the metal bonshō bell outside the temple at the other end of the twelve-acre property. Ring that bell and remove your shoes before entering the building, with its ornate three-tiered pagoda roof. A 72-foot-tall statue of Quan Âm, the Vietnamese…

The post Where to Find Serenity in a Houston Suburb appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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bullock museum photo exhibit rosenwald schools photoIn the early 1940s, Elroy Williams attended third grade in a simple wooden building in rural Bastrop County. The structure lacked indoor plumbing and relied on a wood stove for heat. But the walls were lined with windows that let in plenty of light and could be opened in the warmer months to create a pleasant cross breeze. The students’ parents brought firewood to the school in winter, and some of the older kids, in seventh and eighth grade, helped cut it to size. This was a Rosenwald school—one of nearly five thousand schools built between 1912 and 1937 in a historic initiative that transformed public education for African Americans in the rural South.Williams’s future wife, Sophia, went to another Rosenwald school a few miles…

The post These Schools Brought Opportunity to Black Texans During Segregation. Only a Few Still Stand. appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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hunting hogs photoIt was almost 2 a.m. on a moonless October night at a ranch in Caldwell County, just northeast of San Antonio. I sat next to Eli Smith in his small utility terrain vehicle, the engine off. Behind us, the cargo bed held a kennel containing six dogs he had trained to track feral hogs. Smith is a large man with a keen appetite for killing invasive swine—he hunts them as often as four days a week. “I kill ’em any way I can,” he told me. “I shoot ’em with the AR-15. I set the dogs on ’em and catch ’em and stick ’em with the knife.” He prefers the second method, which hunters call pig stickin’.To my right sat Smith’s friend Patrick Plant, clutching…

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Viva-Tejano-Episode-6-Joaquin-CastroTM Audio subscribers have access to this episode one week early. Visit our FAQ page to learn how to link your subscription to your podcast app. This week’s guest on Viva Tejano, Congressman Joaquin Castro, grew up on the West Side of San Antonio, in a household steeped in the Chicano movement, with a soundtrack full of tejano music. Freddy Fender, Emilio Navaira, and Selena were mixed in with eighties pop stars and folk singers such as Linda Ronstadt and Joan Baez (both of whom have Mexican roots).Today, Castro is on a mission to ensure the whole country understands that Hispanic and Latino music is American music. He’s been working to get Latino artists added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, nominating dozens…

The post TM Audio Exclusive: Joaquin Castro on the Power of Celebrating Latino Recording Artists appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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Panda BiotechLearning that Panda Biotech has opened a hemp processing facility that’s the biggest in the U.S. and among the largest in the world is one thing. Beholding the 500,000-square-foot gin, running nearly autonomously, is another thing entirely. When I visited the Wichita Falls plant, just twenty miles from the Oklahoma border, advanced machines called decorticators were chewing through raw fiber and spitting out fine dust that gets swept up and recirculated into other nontextile products. Bales of finished fibers in varying brownish grays were stacked in neat lines, some almost as tall as the 45-foot roof. All of them were tagged with QR codes, which pinpoint where the seed sprouted, giving textile buyers and brands rare insight into their supply chain. From the moment the raw…

The post How a Former Energy Company Is Starting the Hemp Clothing Revolution appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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Aspic InvitationalIn 2023 I walked up the driveway to Susie Hamilton’s tinsel-encrusted 1970s home, clad in green bell-bottoms and a polyester blouse, to attend the fourth annual Aspic Invitational. Thrilled to have scored a coveted invitation, I quivered with anticipation almost as much as my entry—an herb-infused lemon gelatin column layered with goat cheese, fig, almond, and pears, and studded with Thai basil flowers—did.Much to my surprise, I was declared the winner at the end of the ceremonial judging, but maybe I shouldn’t have been shocked; other contenders included gelled potato salad, a clam chowder bombe, and a dramatic reenactment of Aunt Bethany’s kitty kibble Jell-O from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My aim to make something edible and in line with modern flavors and textures paid…

The post This Annual Aspic Cooking Competition Is the Jell-O–Molded Stuff of Retro Dreams appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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Juan GabrielSitting shoulder to shoulder with other visitors in the Juan Gabriel Museum’s packed viewing room, I feel every sway and shimmy of the woman next to me. The first half of this two-hour guided tour of the Mexican pop icon’s mansion turned museum, in Juárez, is spent in rapt darkness in this room, taking in a film of the widely beloved singer-songwriter performing his greatest hits. We watch Juanga, as he’s fondly called by his millions of fans across the Spanish-speaking world, as he croons, smiles, sashays, and flirts with the audience, his Bambi eyes ringed in dark eyeliner, his face sweaty. During his 1980s dance hit, “El Noa Noa,” an homage to the Juárez bar of his youth and its welcoming vibe of joy…

The post Juan Gabriel Is Gone, but the Pop Star’s Spirit Lives On at a Joyful Juárez Museum appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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For as long as anyone could remember, Kimberly Ray had shown a soft spot for animals. When she was five years old, she discovered a newly hatched starling that had tumbled from its nest and was distraught when she couldn’t nurse it back to health. Years later, while visiting a shelter to help a friend pick out a dog, she saw a pit bull puppy and adopted her on the spot because she was afraid no one else would. So it was no surprise when Kimberly, a brunette with apple cheeks and a giggly laugh, landed a job at a pet supply store in her early twenties. She happily spent her days bathing dogs, but just a few months into the gig, she tweaked something…

The post It Should’ve Been a Routine Procedure. Instead, a Young Mother Became a Victim of Texas’s Broken Medical System. appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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ali larter landman stillFind our ongoing coverage of the first season of Landman here. Well, Landmaniacs, we’ve officially made it halfway through our soapy spin through the oil fields of West Texas. There are cartels to contend with, ex-wives to disappoint, and scheming lawyers up to no good. (Our regular disclosure: The show is based on the Texas Monthly and Imperative Entertainment podcast Boomtown, and TM is an executive producer.)We’re two minutes into the episode, and Angela is already wearing nothing and mad at Tommy. He’s out in the patch with Dale and Boss, checking wells, and it’s not looking good. Dale says these wells are 35 years old and will all need to be “worked over”—the phrase describing an expensive attempt to revive a well that may have clogged…

The post ‘Landman’ Episode Five Recap: The First-Ever Hour of Television to Discuss Both Cartels and 401(k)s appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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TM BBQ Club “Pit Perks” are exclusive perks and discounts that Texas Monthly’s network of barbecue joints generously offer to members like you each month. Proof of membership is required to redeem. DECEMBER PERKS BrisketU | Get $15 off any BrisketU Class with code TXMNEWS24scTW Juan and Allie’s BBQ | 20% discount on order*; Address: 114 Texas Spur 511 Sunset Texas 76270 Eaker Barbecue | 10% off all merch and free sticker* Pork Class – January 12, 2025 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Kimchi Class –  January 26, 2025 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM  LeRoy and Lewis BBQ | New School BBQ University is scheduled for Jan 17-19, 2025. Email kasey@leroyandlewis.com to sign up today!

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