I think New Year’s “fun runs” are an apocalyptically bad idea. Clearly, the whole point of a New Year’s run is to start off your year by being all healthy and athletic. And while the serious runners will always make it to a January 1 race, the Everyman will resolve…
Trysts in Toledo, luckily, is not about sexual exploits in Northern Ohio. That particular subject matter would perhaps be best tackled by the Coen brothers in a sprawling film with bleak panoramas and pitch-black humor. And while this would probably be a given for Oscar contention, it maybe wouldn’t work…
As with many local art spaces in the past year, Barry Whistler Gallery has been on something of a roll. Having just hosted the stark work of Johnnie Winona Ross and the whimsical photographs of Allison V. Smith, the gallery has received a fair amount of press, resulting in some…
The things I remember most about the Christmases spent with my family while growing up don’t really include the gifts. Though the latest in Cabbage Patch or Hot Wheels technology was always loved and appreciated, what I really took away from all those holiday seasons is probably what you’re supposed…
It’s been a rough season on my football psyche. It started with so much hope and swagger. In the days leading up to the start of the season, my eight-hour-a-day Ticket habit left me assured that my beloved boys in blue and silver would be making a Super Bowl appearance…
In the town where I grew up, there were three Jewish families. Most of the kids in my elementary school were absolutely fascinated by the lone Jewish student, who we thought was the luckiest kid in the world…because he got eight full days of Christmas presents. Obviously, cultural sensitivity was…
Tracy Morgan is a complex character, a comedian who seems to exist somewhat seamlessly with his alter ego, 30 Rock’s Tracy Jordan. Morgan’s portrayal of Tracy Jordan on the critically acclaimed sitcom is a performance so natural that it hardly receives any notice at all. While Tina Fey and Alec…
Blue Yule might be a super-apt description for Christmas this year, given the financial dire straits many of us are finding ourselves in right now. Between layoffs, escalating prices on almost everything and dwindling stock portfolios, it’s a little hard to find yourself in the Christmas spirit. And gift-giving this…
Not since the days of the Equal Rights Amendment has there been so much to say about gender. The political bids by Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin brought to light a maelstrom of gender politics, made feminist blogs bookmark material and really brought forth a dialogue about how gender defines…
Dan Rather is a cultural icon–a man whose voice takes us back to the golden age of television news when it took more than a good head of hair and expensive dental work to be a network reporter. Most of us know Rather as a stately figure, a man whose…
Landscape or cityscape art frequently falls into the trap of being a little too postcard friendly. I can admit to seeing more than one gallery show where renderings that are supposed to be “haunting depictions of the ravages of industry on our landscapes” are little more than benign reproductions of…
The first thing that strikes me about the artist behind Super Market is that he was born in 1985. In 1985, I was angling for a Spuds McKenzie T-shirt for Christmas and obsessing over Depeche Mode. Brent Ozaeta, however, was being born. This piece of knowledge has the effect of…
When the weather turns cold, there is nothing better than coming home from work to a Crock-Pot full of hot chili. It’s part of the reason I look forward to winter so much–just thinking about opening the front door and getting a whiff of that spicy, peppery, onion-y goodness is…
What do you buy a white rhinoceros for his birthday? They don’t really have a sweet tooth–they spend most of their time eating grass–so treats are out. The indignities we heap on our dogs in the form of cute sweaters aren’t an option, ’cause a 6-year-old rhino weighs almost 4,000…
Has there ever been a better time to embrace the story of a dashing vigilante who sweeps in and evens the score for the downtrodden? Actually, there probably has…all things considered, most of us aren’t reduced to eating stale bread like they did in the heyday of Robin Hood. Yet…
More often than not, going to a show is about experiencing how a band sounds outside the trappings of a studio—and maybe hearing a couple of your favorite songs. But for anyone with tickets to see the criminally underappreciated Mountain Goats, the expectation is wholly different. With a catalogue of…
If there were ever a movie that should be adapted into a Broadway play, it’s Thelma and Louise. Think about it: The Dixie Chicks could provide a rollicking soundtrack by writing songs in the vein of their hit, “Goodbye Earl”; Daniel Radcliffe could take a break from getting naked with…
Oscar Wilde is certainly one of the most celebrated personalities in all of literature. He’s credited with inspiring legions of glam rockers nearly 70 years after his death, and without him, our sweet, tortured Morrissey would have little to sing about. And that’s a reductionist view, at best–it would take…
Art has a number of functions, both on a societal level and an individual level. It makes us think about space and color and form. It helps us relate to the world around us and view it through different lenses. It challenges our notions of beauty and culture. Sometimes, it’s…
One of my earliest childhood memories involves being left with a babysitter so that my parents could go see a Tina Turner concert. My babysitter was particularly morose because her idol, Sid Vicious, had just died. The fact that I remember this means that a) I am old and b)…
The timing of the much-lauded Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit could not be better for the Dallas art scene as a whole. The internationally anticipated event will bring thousands of visitors from around the world to Dallas, each seeking a peek at artifacts from the past…
When he’s not posing for pictures in turtlenecks and convincing photographers to use their mastery of Photoshop to make his blue eyes seem even more piercing, Michael McDonald is a purveyor of, well, blue-eyed soul. And that means that he’s a white dude who croons “R & B-tinged” songs that…
