If fast food served with wine-in-a-box is not quite bringing the romance anymore, the Veuve restaurant might have the solution. The restaurant is serving a four-course dinner that includes absinthe, the infamous alcoholic drink whose principle component can be used in the synthesis of psychedelic drugs. Woo-hoo! The drink, often…

Before the fuss over Harry Potter corrupting children to pagan ways, much was made of The Chronicles of Narnia being a Christian allegory. Who would have thought? Kids sure don’t; they are above such analysis and petty trifling. At its core Narnia is a simply a collection of fantastic images…

Because the audience is so—ahem—tired at a midnight showing, the louder and more easily followed a movie is, the better…if it’s going to be followed at all. The Fifth Element is on the marquee for Midnight Madness at the Inwood Theatre this weekend, and it fits the bill nicely. The…

The Museum of Nature and Science, formerly known as the Dallas Museum of Natural History and the Science Place, follows its education objectives (focusing on the nature of science, life science and earth science) by presenting Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm. A magical school bus, hmmm?…

If you’re reading this we’ll assume you’re of the demographic that is into the wintry ways of poinsettias, teas, treats and nativity scenes more than toys. For you, the holidays might actually be relaxing as opposed to the torturous anticipation children are contending with. If so, Holiday at the Arboretum…

So it’s Christmas. Wait! No, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but every grocery store and mall tells us it’s time to celebrate that most wonderful time of the year—early and often. So while you’re at it, the Great Russian Nutcracker is one of the better ways to get in the…

We think it’s well-established that kids are not the biggest opera fans, so we’re not sure about the following combination. Radio Disney and the Dallas Opera are joining forces to present The Dallas Opera Cartoon Carnival. It’s not quite chocolate and peanut butter, but it is “an afternoon of music,…

We’re getting old. Remember the days when skateboarding, BMX, inline skating and freestyle motocross were called extreme (or, for that matter, even punk)? Well, those days are gone—we are now pleased to inform you about the LG Action Sports World Championships for the above mentioned activities. Qualifications for this event…

Winter is on its way, leaves will fall and all sorts of traditions will seasonally celebrate ghosts, spirits and that which is otherwise dead or dying. While we here in the States are used to dressing as ghosts, zombies and vampires, some Americans seem to think the Mexican “Day of…

Rusty, Trixie, Geoffrey, Sugar Bear and Sweetheart need your help and a home, so through the month of October (Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Month), Operation Kindness, a no-kill animal shelter, is offering a tasty adoption special. Each adopted dog 40 pounds or larger will go home with 40 pounds of free Iams dog…

I’m a Yankee born in New Jersey, and perhaps the devil himself according to many of you, but even I can recognize the Dallas Stars have become an essential part of this town’s legacy of sports, entertainment and violence. It is odd pulling for a hockey team this far south,…

It’s not easy on the soul pushing toy guns and brightly colored, bombastic commercials on unsuspecting children, so sometimes advertisers choose to do some good. In the early ’70s, advertising executive David McCall observed that his son was having trouble with multiplication tables but somehow seemed to know the words…

The Magnolia at the Modern is an ongoing series featuring recently released, critically acclaimed films, and this time around they present the Charles Bukowski boozefest Factotum. Adapted from a 1975 novel of the same name, the story centers on Hank Chinaski, the author’s alter-ego author who engages in dead-end part-time…

Cabela’s is hosting a YES event. That’s a Youth Education Seminar to you and me, and it’s the type of event one would expect from an outdoor outfitter. So, it will not feature riding in a pickup truck, hitting a bottle of whiskey and spotlighting deer, but it will “provide…

Did you know a Texas wine had a hand in ending the Cold War? In 1990, then President Bush served Soviet President Gorbachev a 1987 Llano Estacado Chardonnay with shrimp and crabmeat salad at Camp David. Texas is also home to such wines as Cap Rock, Delaney Vineyards and Pheasant…

Considering the hazy, light-polluted night skies we get around the metromess area, it may take a little imagination to understand the awe the night sky used to inspire. Stargazing around these parts usually means getting into an exclusive club and having a B-list brush with greatness. Stars of the Pharaohs,…

There are many excuses to drink, and you better believe we’ve used ’em all. Getting hired at a job, getting fired from a job and celebrating days with a “Y” in them, you can count on us…to drink. This Sunday is the best excuse we’ve heard in a while (and…

The Hip Pocket Theatre, an experimental arts ensemble, produces original scripts and pieces not usually performed in this area, or any other area probably. The theater’s productions are interdisciplinary, utilizing traditional theatrical elements along with music, mime, dance, puppetry and projected images, so if anyone would be able to pull…

Judging by the amount of people that take pictures of themselves with cell phones or cameras trained on their reflection in a mirror, the self-portrait is more popular than ever. Started in Northern Europe as a genre born of convenience, finance and ego, it has become a staple in art,…

Art, like pornography, is difficult to define. It can be purely decorative or completely utilitarian, the result of some spontaneous expression or a well-planned and rehearsed performance or ceremony. Art is many things, and we’d like to hope it is in all things, but what it is exactly is difficult…

The first screening of Jaws took place at a Dallas shopping center. From these humble beginnings the film surpassed $100 million at the box office, a high-water mark never accomplished before that time. The film also went on to make a generation of kids (and probably a few adults) afraid…

Stevie Ray Vaughan is assured a place on lists of important guitarists because he executes each note with a muscular confidence that convinces a listener that Vaughan believes what he is playing. The uniqueness of this quality in popular music is a shame, but the impact is all the more…