Sexy Scissors Two Ways by Glu and Greg Beets

PopCult Magazine: Return to Roswell This was originally published in the Austin Chronicle, but this version is better.

Interview With Ralph Stanley Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, is dead, but the uncle of bluegrass is still alive. He and his banjo have brought me closer to God than I've ever gotten. The sheer awe that he inspires in me and countless others cannot be underestimated. So it was terribly nerve-wracking to interview him -- it took many false starts over a few days to finally get him on the phone, which didn't help. He was very kind, but it was clear that he wasn't a man of many words and had answered every interview question in the world a million times over. Doesn't that make you excited to read the thing? Still, it was one of the sparkling moments of my life, getting to talk to him, getting to shake his hand at the show.

Gary Baum: Friend or FoE? This was part of a story package on McSweeney's-related people and phenomena, which included nothing directly about Dave Eggers. Gary's Aphrodigitaliac site is on extended hiatus, but he's currently writing great stuff for USC's Online Journalism Review.

Dear Everyone: Online Diarists Show Us a Little More I wrote about weblogging before it was cool. OK, Not really. This story also involved a taperecording disaster: I woke up way too early to interview Thomas Mallon, a writer whom I admire greatly. As our call drew to a close, I glanced down at the taperecorder only to discover that it had run out of batteries about 40 seconds into the conversation. He was nice enough to do some salvage work with me over e-mail. It still hurts me to think about it.

George "No-Show" Jones sidebar In which I lay the odds on whether the Possum would show up to his Austin gig.

Knife in the Water This was my first music feature, and I had to interview the band members and turn the story around in a weekend. Not too horribly bad, considering.

Karaoke Fantastic My first real cover story. I loved writing this story package and still I love how it turned out. Except I'm seasoned enough now to know that religious metaphors are stupid.

A Fool and Her Plastic Cutesy credit cards: Materialism not only means the things you buy -- now it encompasses the means with which you buy them.

The Cowboy From Vienna Werner Zotter is a 100% genuine accordion-playing, lip-synching, waltzing, polka-ing Texas cowboy with a public access TV show.

MUSIC REVIEWS:

Johnny Staats: Wires & Wood

Committed Soundtrack

Giant Sand: Chore of Enchantment

Radar Bros.: The Singing Hatchet

Lambchop: Nixon

Quasi: Field Studies

Friends of Dean Martinez: Atardecer

Drunk: Raised Toward and June Carter Cash: Press On (scroll down)

Lambchop: What Another Man Spills (scroll down)

Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman & the Theremin (scroll down)

Bonnie "Prince" Billy: I See a Darkness (scroll down)

Wheatsville Co-op Employees: The Wheat Album (scroll down)

Diane Izzo: One (scroll down)

Live Review: Elliott Smith (scroll down)

Live Review: Will Oldham (scroll down)

Live Reviews: Calexico, Bright Eyes, Li'l Cap'n Travis (scroll down)