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texanist eclipse tipsQ: What happens if it’s cloudy during the eclipse?A: Solar eclipse path of totality maps: check. Viewing location: settled upon and secured. Eclipse safety glasses: got ’em. Disaster plans: wait, disaster plans? Forecast: CLOUDY?!The Texanist has seen a lot in his many years on this earth—like the time he saw honky-tonker Dale Watson introduce the great Johnny “Whiskey River” Bush from the stage at Poodie’s Roadhouse, west of Austin, while at the very same time playing the “Westphalia Waltz” as a sort of soundtrack to a barroom brawl that had broken out between a father and son, for example—but he’s never witnessed a total solar eclipse. The last such celestial event to grace the skies over much of Texas occurred way back in 1878, and…

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celebrity-bracket-round-6Over the past week, we’ve asked Texas Monthly readers to make difficult choice after difficult choice in determining the winner of the Ultimate Texas Celebrity Bracket. You’ve had to weigh Beyoncé versus George Strait, Tommy Lee Jones against Matthew McConaughey, Simone Biles versus Tim Duncan, and Bun B against Chip and Joanna Gaines. These figures have helped define the Texas identity, both to ourselves and to the rest of the world, over the course of many years. When it comes to longevity, few icons can come close to the legacy our two finalists have carved for themselves: Willie Nelson’s debut album, . . . And Then I Wrote, was released in 1962. Four years later, Nolan Ryan made his debut for the New York Mets. Both…

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Elizabeth Olsen and Tom Pelphrey in Love & Death.Almost a year after the series premiere, the award nominations for Love & Death are still rolling in: the Max Original limited series has been nominated for a BAFTA TV award in the “International” category. Written by David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, the series is based on parts one and two of the 1984 Texas Monthly article “Love and Death in Silicon Prairie,” as well as the book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, by Jim Atkinson and John Bloom. This prestigious nomination is a huge honor for Texas Monthly, Lionsgate, David E. Kelley Productions, Blossom Films, ITVX, and the rest of the production team. As stated on their website, “The [BAFTA awards] recognize and celebrate the outstanding storytellers of our…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Your Total Solar Eclipse HoroscopeThe Texas sky is always full of beauty, but this April 8 it will get even more special. For a short time on that spring afternoon, our sky will host a rare total solar eclipse. A total eclipse happens when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, darkening the skies as the sun’s light is temporarily blocked. If you happen to be lucky enough to be in or visiting the path of totality (stretching in a diagonal from Dallas to San Antonio), enjoy the view but be sure to practice eclipse safety—there is no luck to be found in staring at the sun without proper eyewear. Astrologically, eclipses predict fated encounters, chaotic disruptions, and loads of excitement in our lives. Eclipses are like a live…

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Teacup Javelinas Are the Tiny New Texas Critter TrendAubrey Greener remembers seeing her first javelinas while hiking in Big Bend National Park ten years ago. She’d just rounded a corner on the Mule Ears Trail when she came face-to-face with a family of the furry gray ungulates—a mother and two babies, called “reds” because of their reddish fur when they’re young. Greener inadvertently shrieked so loudly (with joy) that she scared them away, but after that day, she couldn’t stop thinking about how adorable the piglike young were.Recently, while on TikTok, Greener abruptly stopped scrolling. On her screen was the tawny fur, tiny hooves, and pink snout of a baby javelina. And wait—was it sleeping on a cozy blanket atop someone’s bed? She kept watching. A voiceover explained that, actually, this wasn’t a…

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Houston in the summer is lush and buzzing, sweat soaked and full of life. The terra-cotta pots assembled on the front porch of the last house on Ishmeal Street overflow with flowers and escaping vines. In the front yard, an old well—a round brick cylinder covered by a corrugated steel roof—brims with zinnias. Heavy purple hydrangeas lean over a cinder-block planter. Sunk into the grass in front of a hedgerow, a bright red yard sign reads, “Freeway—No Way!”Molly Cook pulls up in her chrome minivan—the only car that will fit her harp, which she still plays—and gets out carrying clipboards and a stack of postcards. She greets Elda and Jesus Reyes, the couple who live in this house next to the highway. On the eastern…

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Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) talks with members of the media on March 22, 2024 in Washington, DC.Ted Cruz spends three days a week hosting his podcast, Verdict With Ted Cruz. He and cohost Ben Ferguson spend a few hours a week “break[ing] down the most important news stories of the day and reveal[ing] what they mean for you” on the show, which is produced by San Antonio–based radio and podcast company IHeartMedia. When he’s not busy with his podcasting duties, the Houston-based attorney has a side hustle in the U.S. Senate. Watchdog groups have raised ethical concerns about the confluence of these two gigs. Senate rules and federal law prevent members from accepting gifts from lobbyists, and IHeartMedia has been registered as one since 2002. Cruz serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, which regulates the communications industry, of which IHeart is a…

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The Most Texan Moments in Cowboy CarterSo much of the Texas spirit is reflected in one of our state’s most beloved quotes. As Davy Crockett allegedly told the Tennessee legislature before setting off down south, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” There is defiance in it, and the perhaps imprudent confidence that is the backbone of Texas pride. I hear that spirit all over Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter. On the album, which dropped on March 29, Beyoncé is telling us she gets to do whatever she wants. She hops between genres (country, indie rock, Italian cinema scores, opera, pop, trap, and more) and across decades. (Some of this s— goes back to the nineteenth century, y’all.) This album, like Texas, gives off the sense that everything is…

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Here's How "Cowboy Carter" Got to the Vinyl Presses So FastAs an avid vinyl collector and Beyoncé fan, I preordered the limited edition Cowboy Carter record the day she posted it on her website in early March. There’s a standard timeline that record collectors have been conditioned to expect when a megastar announces that they’ve got a new album dropping in just a few short weeks: It’s going to take a while to get here. When Taylor Swift announced her Folklore in July 2020, fans who preordered the vinyl were warned that orders wouldn’t begin shipping until right around Thanksgiving. Last year, while Travis Scott released his Utopia at the end of July, no one was able to drop a needle on it on their turntable until December. Artists such as Beyoncé, Scott, and Swift…

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Historic-Barbecue-restaurants-texas-closing-featThere are only a couple of days left to visit Dozier’s Barbeque in Fulshear before it closes for good on March 30. Ed Dozier opened the barbecue joint in 1957, and Steve Baur and Jim Cummins purchased it in 2019. They told me in a joint statement via email that several challenges, including rising costs of labor, meat, and other goods, contributed to the closure. “We concluded that it was largely the things we could not control, rather than the things we could, that couldn’t be overcome,” they explained.Baur and Cummins hired pitmaster Jim Buchanan in 2020, hoping to bring the joint back to glory. Buchanan added his new-school barbecue technique to the traditional meat market, now a rarity in Texas. The place has long…

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