Most of us know what it’s like not fitting in. Getting tripped in the halls, laughed at by classmates and pushed into lockers is the all-too-familiar formula awarded to unlucky outcasts. Whether it was buck teeth, thick glasses, a bad perm–or if you’re really unlucky, all three–you want nothing more…
Everyone knows the image: a woman in a beautiful kimono is hitting notes that would normally peel paint off the walls in a voice so sweet, because her heart is breaking, and if you’re in the audience, your heart is breaking too. Some people say Madame Butterfly–the story of a…
February 2, 1959, was the end of an era; a tragic night that saw three of the most promising musicians American popular music had ever known dead in a plane crash in a remote field near Clear Lake, Iowa. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and the man who…
Artist Leigh Anne Lester’s work wouldn’t look out of place on a storyboard for a Peter Jackson epic. By combining elements of biological reality with fantasy, she creates “hybrid plants” that serve as a commentary on “genetic modification and the biological impact it has had on our environment.” Lester, a…
You have to be a special kind of person to enjoy musicals, and by special I mean weird. I’m not knocking musicals, but there’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief necessary to accept the workings of your standard musical, and Avenue Q is a perfect example. Only in the…
There’s a lot of weird stuff out there, and the popularity of The Human Centipede pretty much puts into perspective how many people like the stranger stuff in life. Photographers Jimmy and Dena Katz can appreciate that, and have documented the sideshow acts from World of Wonders, a traveling showcase…
It would be great to be famous and thereby acquire large quantities of money, chicks and glory. In some cases, however, famous people become even more famous for doing gross/stupid/bad things, and that’s never good. O.J. Simpson might be one example; Ashlee Simpson another. It can even happen to people…
This week, golf attempts to get past the controversy and hubbub, and back to long-standing traditions and class acts at The HP Byron Nelson Championship. The ninth longest-running active tournament on the PGA Tour, the Byron Nelson has a long history in professional golf that began in 1944. That year…
James Bond movies are classics, but they also fall into another category: car porn. It’s simply Bond’s birthright to drive–and wreck–the kind of cars most men only get to test-drive during the obligatory midlife crisis. Let’s face it; Bond’s not going to settle for my grandma’s Grand Marquis when he…
Guests can be sure to get the best seat in the house at Dallas Symphony Orchestra Saturday night. Seriously, seat swapping is encouraged! Highlights to the annual free open house include an opportunity to rub shoulders with music director Japp van Zweden and DSO musicians; performances by resident organist Mary…
The Ringling Bros. Red Nose Run, an American Heart Association benefit, is considered a “fun run.” Too bad, because a “terrifying run” would be much cooler–and jack up heart rates of kids and other participants. Just equip circus clowns with bloody fangs and have them chase runners along the 5K…
We’ve always found it easy to rag on George Lopez’s lame excuse for comedy, but when it comes to the man himself, it’s a bit harder. After all, he’s inarguably one the most influential Latinos in the country, and has won numerous awards for his humanitarian work. Plus, he publicly…
Nine innings of baseball can go three hours easy, so it’s remarkable that Most Valuable Player, a play about Jackie Robinson’s first three seasons in the majors, manages to work in spring training, a couple of World Series and an All-Star game in 70 minutes flat. The production at Dallas…
Another movie, not as awful or deluded as this one, might one day find better use for the easygoing vibe between Queen Latifah and Common, the stars of Just Wright, a romantic comedy (for the ladies) with basketball and cameoing NBA players in it (for the fellas). That absolutely no…
Is it an accident that Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood plays like a rousing love letter to the Tea Party movement? It’s certainly something of a surprise. When the movie was announced in 2007 with the title Nottingham, reports suggested that it would sympathize with the normally vilified Sheriff of Nottingham…
Artist Awadh Baryoum delves headfirst into the world of visual analogies with his new exhibit, Analogical Context, now showing in the Lillian Bradshaw Gallery at the Dallas Public Library, 1515 Young St. According to Baryoum, his paintings explore the “the tensile linkage between the known and the unknown; the visible…
Anyone who’s watched Leonardo DiCaprio sketch Kate Winslet naked on a couch or dared to look under their meth-addicted roommate’s trap door knows the artistic highs and lows that can come from an hours-long flurry of single-minded inspiration. Could be art, could be a bicycle tire wrapped in unbent paperclips,…
Remember the Myers-Briggs personality test? I recently discovered that, as it turns out, when you break down the U.S. population in terms of ENFJs and ISTPs, most Americans are introverts. Of course, one of the questions is whether you’d rather read a book or go to a party, and given…
If you can’t tell whether the Tupperware bin of leftovers is from this week or last month, your cooking needs some variety. At “Panqueques With Dulce De Leche” ($15) 10:30 a.m. Monday, learn how to make tender crepes filled with golden dulce de leche. Then, at 6:30 p.m., winemaker Gaspar…
These days, vampires are like viruses. They’re everywhere, thanks to Twilight. There are the garden variety evil vampires, vegetarian vampires, vamps who drink synthetic blood, and–wait for it–singing vampires. One wonders if the fangs get in the way of a high A. That’s a question for The Urban Vampires, a…
Contrary to what you may thing, “The Mexican Tsunami” is not the name of the newest WWE SmackDown personality, though it is still quite a force to be reckoned with. No, Sin Limite – The Mexican Tsunami, is actually a collaborative art installation piece by local artists Hugo Garcia Urrutia…
More than once, it’s come up on local news blogs that Dallas just lacks certain pieces to complete its status as a cultural destination. Clearly, we’re no New York City. We never will be. But much has been accomplished in the past few years with the buildup of the Arts…
