General Interest Driving Us Crazy Ruminations on the aging of information in the information age Treasures of the Andes Peter Yenne has spent the last decade and a half hunting silver treasure in the Andes Mountains, and when he strikes a rich deposit—often in some dusty attic corner or a dirty, disused shed—it’s pure gold. The Ultimate Chicken For a short time, sitting there on the stone steps overlooking the valley, I felt as if I were, at once, both chicken and egg. Be a Poet! Yes, now you, too, can be a poet with your very own Poetic License! Notes from Abroad I will be coming back to Tejas in a week or so. Can’t hack it here. I think I have finally gotten over the thing I had that made me want to be somewhere where nobody else was. Illegal Alien Checkpoint As I come out of the west, the first warning is a speed zone sign where no town ever thought to be. Chaco Canyon It's strangeness speaks in a voice too hushed to comprehend about the mysteries of the people who built the monumental structures strewn about this dry landscape. The End at Danbury High Okay, that one may not have gone down in the annals of rock history, but the events of that evening showed just how outrageous The Doors could be. Guadalupe Thoughts On the occasion of getting sick while camping in the Guadalupe Mountains Jonathan Swift's Satiric Backfire Is "A Voyage to Laputa" really a progenitor to SF, or is it just a disgruntled rant? The Oklahoma Kid Meets Frankenstein I guess it's all Peter Cushing's fault that I am who I am today. The Plaquemine Ferry Sometimes passages over the impassable become the most important parts of the journey. Spring Break 1969 Crazy Glen wanted me to hitchhike to California with him. We were eighteen, in was spring 1969, and it seemed like the thing to do. Profiles/Interviews Interview with Phillip Lopate The author of Being with Children, Bachelorhood, and other collections of essays Interview with Cynthia Macdonald The author of Amputations, Transplants, (W)holes, and other collections of poems Interview with Lionel Garcia The author of Leaving Home, Brush Country, Hardscrub, and other novels Interview with Marie Ponsot The author of True Minds and Admit Impediment Interview with Leon Hale Prominent Texas columnist, essayist, and novelist Interview with Michael McClure Beat poet, playwright, lyricist, and inventor of Beast Language

Texana Articles Harvest Thyme The Fredericksburg Herb Farm is a little bit of paradise nestled in the Texas Hill Country. William Marsh Rice A centennial portrait of the man who founded Rice University A Little Town Named Rice The little stadium visible from I-45 may not be as imposing as the one at Rice University, but they have the same source. A Look Down the Bayou Sometimes history lies right outside your back door. The Devil and Strap Buckner A priceless tall tale featuring Texas legend Strap Buckner Book Reviews Sleuthing the Alamo: Davy Crockett’s Last Stand and Other Mysteries of the Texas Revolution, by James Crisp The Book of Texas Bays, by James Blackburn Along Forgotten River: Photographs of Buffalo Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel, 1997–2001, by Geoff Winningham Ephemeral City: Cite Looks at Houston, edited by Barrie Scardino, William F. Stern, and Bruce C. Webb A University So Conceived: A Brief History of Rice University, by John B. Boles Pitching Tents, by Gail Mount Charles Schorre, edited by Jerry Herring Houston: A Chronicle of the Bayou City, by Stanley E. Siegel and John A. Moretta Bless the Pure and Humble: Texas Lawyers and Oil Regulation, 1919–1936, by Nicholas George Malavis Roads to Forgotten Texas, by Joyce Pounds Hardy and Tommy LaVergne A Browser’s Book of Texas History, by Steven A. Jent The Shadows and Lights of Waco: Millennialism Today, by James D. Faubion Austin, Texas, Then and Now: A Photography Scrapbook, by Jeffrey Kerr

Martial Arts Kung Fu's Number Two David Carradine may just be the second most important actor in martial arts cinema. Chang San-feng: His Life and Deeds An apocryphal biography of the legendary founder of tai chi chuan The Paradox of Violence Where does the truth of the martial arts lie? Is it in the perseverence and dedication to form or in gut-level spontaneous violence and backlash? Film Private Snafu's Hidden War The famed doofus of WWII propaganda cartoons served purposes patriotic and perfidious Out of the Blue We weren't at the Big H Speedway to watch the race. We were here to watch Dennis Hopper blow himself up. Paranormal Haunted: No. 10 The apartment's bright and modernity concealed a lurking evil. Smiley One of the sneaky, freaky Shadow People The Spirit of Bruja Canyon What was the mysterious figure presiding over the hidden canyon?