'OUf( POP t ' -~ ~ ~ ~ -~- - -- - ---- ~ ~ -.... • RRYS BIRTHDAY FEBRURRY 2ND ~~ -- -~ SUPER B[]WL XLI FEBRUARY LIT III GIVEAWAYS with tt. SBXLI GRIDI .... - -- ---.. Advance tickets includiog V1~t~f;ntri:lnce Only $15. On sale at South "a'Oh. JR'S, Male Uwear, Hollywood tM2MFashions SOBeResident OJJimmy Skinner •• Early TU Guest OJ David Knapp -10:30 until5am THE COOLEST PLACE ON EAR - Red Bull + UV Red Drink Specials all night! 810 Pacific Avenue 713-529-S1 Red Attire EncOU~ed www.SouthBeachtheNlghtcl Clothes + CoatCMckAvaifable MySpace.com/sobehO 131:.l'Eir liJVaeB St.. J 52474.6481/ WWW.l!t1arti&SaUStin.et:JII © Publishe NAM Media Investme General Manag John Carrol Art Directo. ~fi rm.m~ Carole St. John Graphiri " Operations Directot; ~~o~(;1~ Skip Bromfield, '~' Sales & Marketing Director Copy Editor Bob Dineen [email protected] 210-896-2048 DIFW Metroplex Sales & Marketing Director Music Editor Jimmy R. Smitl [email protected] " •••a Texas Legend returns!" 201-362-773 bout Texans, By Texans For Texans Everywhere! Houston Bureau Chi Richard Vorl(: 512-497-05~~{ [email protected]~ Houston Representativi .. ageS Title Page Alex Cueva, Freshbeats by Jimmy Smith 713-686-5751 ages 8 &9 [email protected] Page 12 Events around Texas Page 15 Homoscopes by Mario Mares Page 18 ClassicTWT by Bob Dineen age 21 Dear Diva Page 24 15 Minutes More by Benjamin Nicholas ~ Page 27 Super Bow IFeature by Ross Correia :, Account Manager 1" , Ross Correia Pages 30 - 32 Cover Feature Chi O1i LaRue hangs out !:'.~ Production Associates Texas Tea more than ever before! Mario Mares Pages 37 - 44 Patrick McReynolds Pages 46 - SO ~TWT Guide Photographers Jimmy R. Smith Page 51 Classifieds Alejandro AIo_ Webma This Week In Texas Magazine Lupe Hemand, ghskip@hotmail.! SUBSCRIPTIONS Post Office Box 12367 San Antonio, Texas 78212 ForLa 'ThIn $10.00I month 210-896-2048 @1JM1[jff)lii1fm }j@&Jff ilWifll [email protected] $2.25 per copy/$9.00 per month will have your This Week In Texas Magazine delivered via first class mail! Copyright 2007 This Week In Texa. Magazine reports indicate she won't exactly be flying under the rader here, either. "She symbolizes a blogging-age, middle-class girl; cockily am- bitious, skeptical yet enthusiastic, technically savvy, musically open, obsessedwith public ex- pression and ready to fight back, "said the New York Times. "Through and through [the album] sounds like part Millie Small, part Gwen Stefani, part Blondie, without never really sounding much like Allen's own mash-ip of cool," said Rolling Stone. Allen's cheeky, street-smart observations imbue Alright, Still with an unerringly modern female point-of-view. On her smash UK single "Smile" Lily admits to feeling guilty-but not that guilty- for feeling good then and ex-boyfireid cries be- cause she won't give it another go. On "Knock "Em Out, " a lame pick-up line is met with a litany of bogus reasons (ranging from various sexually transmitted diseases to a house fire) why it's not gonna happen. Cynicism and a sun- ny outlook aren't mutually exclusive in Allen's world, which goes a long way towards explain- ing her unbridled confidence and contagious joie de vivre. Gottahavit! And that's Music... THISWEEKIN TEXAS. tr J\wwllly 1<.... 'S;W\\-th email Jimmyat:[email protected] "'its USShores With her omnivorous musical tastes and cheeky "mixtapes" that also featured tracks by Dlzzee attitude, London-based pop singer/songwriter Rascal, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Lily Allen made a name for herself almost as Ludacris. The critical acclaim her work fueled soon as she released her demos on the Inter- Allen's publicity, leading to tens of thousandsof net. The daughter of comedian Keith Allen, Lily friends on MySpace, airplay on BBCRadio One, spent most of her childhood bouncing from one and a record deal with RegallParlophone before school to another .. in fact, she attended 13 the end of 2005. different schools between the ages of five and 15. This constant moving meant she didn't have "I guess I knew from an early age that I could much of a chance to make lasting friendships, never do a job where I'd have to sit in an office soAllen entertained herself with books and, es- all day long, " saysAllen. And it hardly seems pecially, music: she listened to everything from she'll be spending any time in a cubicle any T_Rex, the Specials, and the Slits to the Happy, time soon. The 21-year-old artist, pronounced Mondays and drum'n'bass, and even ran away to by the UK's New Music Express as "the arche- see the Glastonbury Festival when she was 14. typal singer-songwriter for the iPod genera- After she left school a year later, she realized tion," took Britain by storm this past summer that music was the only career for her. Allen with her debut album Alright, Still, rocketing concentrated on her songwriting and singing, onto the UK album chart at #2 and her first UK developing a style that was equally sweet and single, "Smile, " topping the UK Airplay chart bratty; late in 2005, she set up a MySpacepage for six weeks in a row. and posted demos of her songs, as both indi- vidual tracks and as part of two limited-edition Now she's set her sights on America-and early Valentines performances on Tuesday and WedneSda February 13 and 14; both shows will include a S!)eci~1 Champagne intermission - the perfect treat for Your \VQfVfNTS special Valentine! Tickets, priced $30-35, are available through the T3 box office at 214-871-3300, option 1,Or Austin by visiting their website at theatre3dallas.com. Hey, Ladies! The festival formerly known as Blowin' Up With Mardi Gras just around the corner, it only makes a Spot! Film Festival: A Woman's Perspective seeks sense that one of the gayest of all gay groups, Gay Bingo, would feature the Fantasy Ball for its next big female filmmakers, musicians, '" ."., ••.,. j \I,., ,,' .•.. shindig on Saturday February 17. Which means actors, workshop presenters, ~~~~~~~~ spoken word artists, and ., i, ,. Bourbon Street, babies....let your imagination go Wild! screenwriters to present their As always, Patti Le Plae Safe and the BVD's host the works at the 7th Annual Austin evening of madcap fun and decadence at the beautiful Woman's Film, Music and-·· Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams Parkway. PrOCeeds Literary Festival April 26-29 at from the monthly event will benefit the John Thomas the Carver Museum in Austin. Gay & Lesbian Community Center. Doors open at 5 prn, This non-profit event is sup- and the action starts at 6 pm. Reservationsare strong- ported by the City of Austin ly suggested. To learn more about Gay Bingo and and the Texas Commission of about the John Thomas Center, pleasevisit rcdallas.org. the Arts. Deadline for early submissions is February 17 (postmark), with late sub- Houston missions being accepted no later than March 17 (post- mark.) For more information about submissions and The Big Men's Club of Houston hosts its monthly social the event, please visit their site at blowinupaspot.com next Saturday, February 10 at 5 pm in the large meet- ing room of the Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Dallas Transgender Community Center, 3400 Montrose, Suite 207. Houston Big Men's Club is a social organization for For those of you that just can't wait until the end of gay and bisexual men of size and their admirers, and March, DIFFAjDalias is hosting a preview party for the works to promote acceptance of larger men in both the 2007 Jacket Collection next Thursday night, February 8, GLBT community as well as society in general. For at 3090 Olive Street, Suite 300, from 7 - 9 pm. The more information, visit the club's website at houston- Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) is bigmensclub.com, or contact the Community Center at the oldest and one of the largest funders of HIVjAIDS 713-524-3818. service and education programs in the US, whose mis- sion is to raise and The speaker for the grant funds to organi- monthly meeting of the zations that fight Houston GLBT Political HIVjAIDS by providing Caucus on Wednesday, preventative education February 7 will be Paul E. programs; provide Scott, Executive Director treatment and direct for Equality Texas and care services for peo- the former executive ple living with or director of the Resource Center of Dallas. TheIi impacted by HIV or AIDS; and, that sup- meeting begins at 7 pm port public policy initia- at the HGLBTCommunity Center, 3400 Montrose Blvd. tives that add re- The HGLBTPC is the South's Oldest Gay, Lesbian, sources to private sec- Bisexual, and Transgender Civil Rights Organization. tor funds. The Dallas Jacket collection, which this year Founded in 1975, the Houston GLBT Political Caucusis celebrates its 18th anniversary, is one of the most pop- dedicated to eliminating prejudice, violence, and injus- ular and glamorous fundraising events in the country, tice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender peo- and the preview party will offer a peak into the incred- ple through education, activism, and political advocacy. ible fashion designs that will be available at the big For more information about the meeting and the cau- event on March 31st. There is a $20.00 donation at the cus, visit their website at hglbtpc.org. door for the Discovery Park Preview of Upsidedown DIFFAjDaliasCollection 2007, and valet and self-parking San Antonio is available. To RSVPfor this event, please call 214- 748-8580. The EsperanzaPeaceand Justice Center,922 San Pedro Avenue, presents Two Nights of Film and Hope, featur- It is that time of the year - time for one of Theatre ing "Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin," a Three's favorite, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now documentary about the American civil rights leader, Change, the Joe DiPietro and Jimmy Roberts musical tonight - February 2 - at 7 pm, and "Beah: A Black comedy about everything you've secretly thought about Woman Speaks," a documentary about African dating, mating and romance - but were afraid to admit.