Museums like to use the word “comprehensive” to describe their exhibits. Too often it means simply that they don’t have the funds to purchase several well-known and important works by a famous artist, so they’ve bought one showpiece and a few older, less significant pieces at bargain prices. And when…
During mid-afternoon, Chrystal Hays of the Ravenhill Rescue Home stands among–but not quite surrounded by–a variety of dogs in the small parking lot outside the Red Jacket on Lower Greenville. “When people drive by and see this,” she says, “they probably think a little more about taking care of their…
I would rather wear a barrel Than conservative apparel For dress has always been My strongest suit Sir Elton John didn’t write these words (the musician lets Tim Rice handle the lyrics). He also didn’t sing them, but they may as well be his motto since he’s made a career…
It may not be the end of the world, but it is a sign that things are bad when most people define an act of religious devotion as attending the latest televangelist superstar’s arena tour. Call us old-fashioned, but remember when “seeing the light” meant something other than watching a…
Yes, Your Teen is Crazy!: Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind is the new book by psychologist Dr. Michael Bradley that has exactly the type of title that any teen-ager is going to hate. Further aggravating any young person is Bradley’s assertion that there is actually something physically wrong…
Everyone needs to escape from the daily grind, and pretending to be a brave knight in shining armor or a beautiful princess frocked in a flowing, nearly transparent gown is just as valid a pastime as volunteering for Big Brothers/Big Sisters or holding up a bar stool in a neighborhood…
Those who like to get a buzz off the green stuff probably don’t think they’re addicts. It’s just for fun. It’s only recreational, right? The truth is green chiles can be addictive. What green stuff did you think we were talking about? See, chiles contain capsaicin, a substance that causes…
Musical mastery does not necessarily equal engaging entertainment, and rare is the case when serious musicians can tear themselves from technique long enough to consider the audience. But California Guitar Trio is a rare case: The combination of musicians of their caliber is something akin to a harmonic convergence, bringing…
Six days into her 10-day jail sentence, Megan Lewis had found a novel way to win friends behind bars. A vegan who eats no animal products, the 24-year-old animal-rights protester gained some popularity among her cell mates at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center because she was willing to trade the…
The Bath House Cultural Center sits along the shores (if you can call them that without a hint of irony) of White Rock Lake in an area that was, during its construction in the 1930s, a rural area outside Dallas. Now it’s only a few minutes by car–though a world…
Guiding a silver ball at speeds as high as 90 mph through a maze of ramps, loops and bumpers to reach the ultimate “wizard award” still sounds exciting, but the opportunity to do so is about as rare as hunting a water buffalo or spotting a dirigible. At pinball’s height…
The Ramones are indeed legendary, and the recent death of lead singer Joey Ramone makes an inside scoop on the group even more timely. However, the band members’ jeans-and-T-shirt style and their stripped-down rock and roll tell us all we’d ever need to know about the band. But if another…
Picture my recent lazy Sunday afternoon: The cable is out, but luckily a retrospective on Animal House is on network television. The first hour includes interviews with cast and crew that attest to the importance of the film; the two-hour movie follows. Fifteen minutes into Animal House, I wonder why…
The biggest problem with the typical all-ages show is that it usually takes place when the sun is still up. And, Lord knows, it’s next to impossible to make rock happen before sundown. Making things more difficult, the show often happens outdoors underneath an oppressive sun that changes the challenge…
Mir may be the Russian word for “peace,” but when the space station of that name was launched in February 1986 peace seemed well out of sight. The threat of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and America was still very real. But times have changed, which is the focus…
Dallas gets its share of celebrity sightings, but the few-and-far-between-ness of them makes even B-grade celebrities seem fresh and exciting. Our favorite entries in the brush-with-greatness category are getting dirty looks from Jason Bateman (rumored to be a lousy tipper by local waitresses) when Necessary Roughness was filmed in Denton…
Spring officially ends Thursday, which means there will be a quick transition from when the sun leaves a pleasant feeling on the shoulders to when its oppressive waves sear them brick red. For the next few months, indoors is the place to be, but staring at the same four walls…
Answer these riddles and pass may you to the next level of sci-fi enlightenment and unlock the secrets contained within this sidebar. Who, my young padawan, are Mara Jade and Nien Numb? “Easy,” you say, “Mara Jade is the Star Wars character who first appeared in the trilogy offshoot book…
It’s no wonder that the military is a source of so much paranormal interest when top-secret projects and experimental technology leave plenty of room for the imaginative mind to fill in the blanks. Area 51, the Philadelphia Experiment and UFO sightings have had their time in the spotlight. Now another,…
The moral and ethical direction of scientific progress can certainly be called into question. Thankfully, it often is. But even its staunchest detractors cannot deny that, for better or worse, progress has been made. That claim cannot be made by fringe or psuedosciences that have been running in circles on…
Rent-a-cops have run skateboarders, bicyclists and Rollerbladers out of every parking lot, school ground and parking garage there is. The suburban streets and strip malls no longer welcome the bored suburban kids on wheels, giving them the sort of disdain usually reserved for the angered youths who spray-paint a vulgarity…
Urban renewal can only hide the truth; it can’t change it, and the truth is that Dallas has a seedy underbelly. Dallas is no Amsterdam, of course, in that Big D maintains a kind of kitschy, ’50s-style sleaze that retains a certain degree of innocence, aligning itself more with Bettie…
