Photographer Hal Samples just wishes everyone would take off their blinders. You know, those devices we all have that “protect” us from seeing a homeless man on the street and additional “unpleasantries”…like, say, 6,000 other homeless struggling to factor into someone’s line of sight in this city. Samples has, for…

So I tried to read a little Harry Potter fan fiction. It got a little racy, and I felt a little…OK, I felt really wrong. So, I thought, maybe if the witches and wizards were “of age,” you know? Perhaps I picked the wrong book, but it still didn’t work…

A few days ago, I received an e-mail extolling the virtues of the banana. Hangovers, heartburn, woman troubles, you name it—it appears as though the banana is seriously, as Chiquita offers, “the world’s perfect food.” No one had to tell me twice; I find the banana to be an exceptionally…

Do you cringe when SVU’s Detective Elliot Stabler picks up evidence without gloves on? Is Dr. Michael Baden a personal hero? Do you find autopsy findings and evidence-gathering intriguing, as opposed to nauseating? Yeah, me too. The field of forensics, medical examination and criminology have long since taken over my…

A few days ago, I received an e-mail extolling the virtues of the banana. Hangovers, heartburn, woman troubles, you name it—it appears as though the banana is seriously, as Chiquita offers, “the world’s perfect food.” No one had to tell me twice; I find the banana to be an exceptionally…

We are not totally crazy. Please keep this in mind when we tell you that Cinco de Mayo celebrates an actual battle (La Batalla de Puebla in 1862, ending the Mexican Imperial Monarchy). Apparently, some folks seem to think the day is about drinking heavily—sometimes until one vomits directly into…

Ah, further proof that parents should never, never, ever meddle in their offsprings’ love lives: The Fantasticks. Now I’m not saying that I have experience in this arena. I would never discuss, for example, how my mother tried to hook me up with a prom date through her Wichita Falls…

Funny isn’t exactly the term that springs to mind when I hear the words “feminist musical revue.” Instead, I have to admit I instantly typecast and imagine a stage full of DiFrancos—with perhaps a braless L7 or a protesting Baez thrown in for good measure. Hence, the Contemporary Theatre of…

Guidance counselors would have you think they know everything about everyone. The principal’s secretary probably has a golden stash of rumors. But the person who truly knows everyone and holds their fate in her steaming ladle: the lunch lady. Paul J. Williams examines this theory in his one-man show, Dishing…

Shiver. Hmm, that’s something we’ve been doing a lot of. Flu shot be damned, we acquired a lovely affliction sometime last week that keeps us bobbing between sweaty hot flashes and, well, shivers. Fortunately, Lisa Jackson’s new romantic thriller, Shiver, isn’t about colds, flu-like symptoms or lying around and groaning…

For an artist who has worked on solo projects most of his career, collaboration with another artist (or technician) may be one of the most difficult things to master. (Picture this: Cage match. Ego versus ego.) Apparently, little is beyond the realm of mastery for Chuck Close, an artist who…

Back in our first modern dance class, we were instructed to pick a season and be a tree experiencing the weather of our chosen season. Just like that girl in A Chorus Line, we felt nothing like a tree and were less than convincing. Every class, the same exercise. Every…

If there’s one thing I do not fancy, it’s an appointment with the eye doctor. It already takes an army of 15 to put drops in my eyes. Couple that eye neurosis with bright lights, that spirit-breaking air-puff test and utensils intended solely for eye touching and my visit can,…

When I think of art, I immediately think “loin, fatback, shank, strip and sparerib.” You know, overall slaughter. OK, maybe not normally, but it’s hard not to when looking at Mirka Hokkanen’s Manipulated, hanging through April 2 at the Continental Gallery of Deep Ellum’s Continental Lofts building, 3311 Elm St…

What’s sooo terribly unsettling about a burn victim who can really blow a tune who prefers to keep to himself (sort of) and live under an opera house? Nothing…until he has to go and turn completely illogical. After all, who wouldn’t fashion a pasty, nightmare-inducing mask to cover up those…

The Rock N Relays are probably the coolest running event we can think of—and that’s impressive considering we strictly avoid running at all costs and find runners to be out of their gourd for going out, intent on participating in an exercise that no sports bra, New Balance or Lycra…

Raise your hand if you’ve actually seen the last half of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Seriously people. Unless you are in the theater, with an exceptional supporting live cast, the film just doesn’t hold up past the dinner party/people turning to stone portion. Don’t get me wrong, there are…

Hmm, books on our shelves that have the author’s autograph in them: Sarah Vowell’s Take the Cannoli, Augusten Burrough’s Dry, Robert M. Quackenbush’s Detective Mole and the Tip-Top Mystery (thank you Scholastic Book Fair). Hell, we might even possess a signed hardback copy of Jackie Collins’ Lovers & Players (we…

Kettle Art, artist Frank Campagna’s Deep Ellum gallery, was born in November 2005. We weren’t familiar with Kettle, save that Campagna is known far and wide for his commissioned portraits and murals on the side of Gypsy Tea Room and the Black Forest Theatre, so we did a little sniffing…

Much to our surprise, riverdance.com is a gold mine of statistics, tour journals and history that we find totally enthralling. Apparently, Riverdance companies have used 32,000 boxes of tissue, 40,000 gallons of Gatorade, 10,000 stage lighting bulbs, 9,000 costumes, 12,000 dance shoes, 38,400 rolls of self-grip tape and 17,500 years…