“That was the most offensive display of sexualized violence I have ever seen,” one wilting fellow in need of a camphor hankie was overheard saying in the elevator. Such blanching is the reaction Last House on the Left is trolling for, but I doubt it will be typical. Permissibility has…
Two shows in a row, Kitchen Dog Theater has picked plays about older men having carnal relations with animals. In Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, produced at KDT last fall, a well-to-do Manhattan husband fell in love and lust with a four-legged woolly mammal with big, soulful…
While Merle Haggard was in San Quentin for robbery in his early 20s, he saw Johnny Cash’s legendary prison performances. These shows inspired Merle to trade a life of petty crime and jail time for the life of a country singer. In the early ’60s, he was integral to the…
An ice-skating mermaid? Peter Pan doing a one-foot axel? Mickey and Minnie going on a double date with Simba and Nala at an iced-over African desert? You’re probably wondering what this madness I’m of speaking of is, and it could only mean one thing…Disney on Ice is back in town…
Spanish heavy metal, with classical and Celtic influences, is the best way I can describe the sound of Mago de Oz. The band is a testament to the idea that music is a universal language; their tracks are filled with familiarity, even if you can’t comprehend a word. Not that…
After Sunday’s road game against the Lakers, Tuesday’s home game against the struggling Detroit Pistons should be a walk in the park for the Mavs, but then again, between the Clippers, the Bulls, the Nets, the Grizzlies, the Kings, the Bucks and the Thunder, the Mavs have losses to at…
In the age of Bridezillas and themed baby showers, those of us who are more comfortable at the modest end of celebration might scoff at the excess that seems so new. The truth is, people have been laying it on thick for ages. Sunday through June 14, the Kimbell Art…
The best thing about being shown a photo retrospective of someone else’s kids, usually, is that they didn’t reach for their wedding video instead. But photographer Todd Stewart’s latest project, The Garden, has taken his twins’ earliest encounters with nature, from the backyard to the Home Depot, and produced images…
Zooming down the Roaring Rapids at Wet ‘N’ Wild in Garland circa 1986 did not a river-rafting adventure make. Sure, it might have provided for some drama when your raft got stuck in that one whirlpool and you couldn’t get over the ridge for going around and around while people…
Every so often, the masterminds over at Disney come up with a new game plan, and no matter how crazy the newest idea might be, it always seems to work. In my day, Disney was all about the animated films based on classic fairy tales, and that stuff had every…
Attention all ambitious joggers of the Katy Trail–it’s your time to shine, and not just with the perspiration you encounter when blazing the three-plus-mile course during your workout routines. This is the time to shine with a new gleam of Victory–the kind you can only find at the First Annual…
If you don’t believe St. Patrick’s Day is the greatest holiday of the year, consider the competition. First, there’s Halloween. Would you rather spend days on a clever costume or find a clean green shirt? Winner: St. Paddy’s Day. Then there’s Thanksgiving. What would you rather gorge yourself on: Mom’s…
Cedric the Entertainer is a veritable Everyman, a baby-faced comedian who lacks the physical restlessness of Eddie Murphy or the sleazy apathy of Dane Cook. The star whose character made controversial remarks about Martin Luther King Jr. in Barbershop (thereby giving Jesse Jackson an excuse to put on his suit…
You made that New Year’s resolution your beeyotch, didn’t you? Your plan to lose weight was an overwhelming success, and you’ve never felt better–job well done, friend. So treat yourself to a few extra-chocolatey calories at Grapevine’s Fifth Annual Chocolate Fest. No, I’m not trying to sabotage your efforts (mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha…)…
Everyone’s important on the Interwebs, and there are many options for marking your place in cyberspace. Highlighting one such vehicle is the newest exhibit at the And/Or Gallery. YTMND (“You’re the Man Now Dog”) is a site that lets users create one-page Web sites that consist of one tiled image…
Classical guitar students will compete for some serious cash prizes this weekend at the 8th Annual Texas Guitar Competition. And hopefully, while they’re at it, the affection of some guitar-lovin’ groupies. It always pays to be a prodigy. In addition, Grammy-winning classical guitarist David Russell and Gonzalo Molano, who won…
Since first being published in 1873, Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days has been adapted countless times for stage and screen, most notably for the 1956 big-screen version starring David Niven and the revamped 2004 take starring Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan. Plano playwright Carol M. Rice still…
Remember whirligigs? Those wooden yard figures whose arms spun like crazy–often with a familiar creak–when the wind picked up? They were pivotal to the seasons of childhood spent outdoors, confined to the backyard or “three houses either way” if you got to play in the front. I don’t know any…
Sometimes partnerships can be a beautiful thing. Take, for example, FC Dallas’ partnership with Brazil’s Clube Atletico Paranaense. Given that MLS players are all older than the league itself, we have to acknowledge the fact that we’re the newbies in the world’s favorite sport (the other football). With that in…
We first came across the whimsical paintings of the late Charley Harper in an issue of Audubon magazine published shortly after his death in 2007, though he’s been a favorite of both nature buffs and commercial artists for years. Harper is probably best-known for his illustrations in Ford Times (a…
The commercials for the Comedy Central special Aisha Tyler Is Lit make the comedienne out to be every man’s fantasy. “I don’t wanna have kids because I think they would really cut into my Xbox time,” she says in the special’s inescapable commercial. I have to admit she is the…
Field trips to the planetarium always inspired big dreams. There were the dreams of a hand touch while sitting in the dark next to that certain someone, looking at projected stars. And, of course, there were the dreams of being hurled into outer space with your alien buddy, becoming a…
