Comedian Tony Rock falls into a category that can be a blessing and a curse: younger brothers of Saturday Night Live alumni. On one hand, you’ve got Jim Belushi, whose career has lasted far longer than that of his brother John, and who made K-9, the second-best police-dog action-comedy of…
As local artist Erik Lee Thompson’s exhibit Black Jesus and Others comes to a close, I have to wonder who the “Others” might be. If we’re going with figures in history, I would like to see a white Jimi Hendrix. But if he’s going down the religious iconography route, then…
The work of artist J. Blake Harris could easily make for some striking concert posters were it not for the complete lack of text. His hand-colored photographs of simple, natural objects such as goldfish, pine cones and seahorses highlighted with splashes of bright blue, yellow and pink end up looking…
The landscape of children’s literature is a varied and sometimes treacherous terrain. For every light-hearted, sugar-coated read by Beverly Cleary, there’s a Where the Red Fern Grows, a lovely story about a boy and his dogs…that ends in nightmare-inducing tragedy. I remember my heartbreak as I finished that book, and…
Houston has produced a number of talented musicians: ZZ Top, DJ Screw, Destiny’s Child, The Geto Boys…the list goes on. H-Town’s most enduring musical export, however, is “The Gambler.” That’s right, I’m talking about Kenny Rogers. His career has spanned several decades, swerving from country to pop and back again,…
The lives of The Beatles have been closely documented and retold, from seedy movies about the Hamburg days to headlines involving murder, legal controversy and multimillion-dollar divorces. However, there was a magical time in the mid-’60s when everything was so good for The Beatles that there was nothing left to…
Oh, sure, Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux is part of the bel canto era and contains some of the most gorgeous of his, and the era’s, vocal works, but let’s focus, people. The plot is pure romantic trauma, and it isn’t even a love triangle as one might expect. It’s a…
As of this writing your Dallas Stars sit near the bottom of the Western Conference, in only slightly better shape than the Atlanta Thrashers of the Eastern Conference, who visit the AAC tonight. Named for the state bird of Georgia, the brown thrasher, the team obviously has a cooler name…
I have never seen a person actually fly of their own volition, but the closest I’ve come to it is Pilobolus: skating barefoot, creating momentum seemingly from nowhere, gliding through solid bodies to form magical human shadow puppets (remember the 2007 Oscars?). It appears that Pilobolus can do all of…
When I was a kid, my parents read T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats to me and the poems were favorites of our whole family. We even had a kitten named Jennyanydots. Then, in the early ’80s, Andrew Lloyd Webber destroyed my childhood by composing a cheesy musical…
I’ve got a thing for China. Home of the giant panda, Wong Kar Wai and last year’s amazing Summer Olympics opening ceremony, I’m pretty well convinced that it’s a country of millions of talented (albeit short) people who could kick our creative asses, if only for the years of practice…
Valentine’s Day: Not just a single day on the calendar any more. Now it’s a season, a couple of weeks in which it becomes appropriate–nay, required–to go above and beyond and show your loved one just how much you truly care. Ugh. Talk about annoying. I Love You, You’re Perfect,…
My Dearest Muffy, You are my darling, my love, my wearer of quilted Chanel suits like it is, as the less fortunate say, “nobody’s business.” I write to express my painful frustration; for too long, dearest Muffy, we have been investing in contemporary art for no one’s true benefit! When…
In my younger naive days, I really didn’t like the Harlem Globetrotters beyond their special appearance in a Scooby Doo cartoon. The whole shtick went totally over my 5-year-old head. Why couldn’t they just play the game? What was up with referees letting them get away with these antics? And…
The number of times thatA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court has been adapted into a musical, cartoon, motion picture or made-for-television movie? Ten. The number I’ve actually watched? Four. Now it’s time to see the famous novel acted out on stage by kids and for kids at the Creative…
When you put a baritone mouthpiece on a tenor saxophone and play the thing loud with a bluesy sound it’s known as the Texas tenor style. Lots of great musicians, including Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane played the tenor saxophone but the Texas tenor sound is distinctly original…
Back in November, world leaders met at the White House to discuss the economic crisis…over $500 bottles of Cabernet. Given the subject matter, Carlo Rossi would have been more appropriate–or better yet, beer. Fine ale can stand up to any wine and for a hell of a lot less. Need…
We’re trying to care, really we are. It is Super Bowl XLIII, after all. The Steelers are making their seventh Super Bowl appearance, the Arizona Cardinals their first. Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, who is, like 60 years old or something, is making an unlikely third trip to the championship. Bruce…
Most of us are pretty familiar with the ancient Greek, Roman and Phoenician societies, but I can’t for the life of me remember learning anything in school about the mighty Etruscans. If you, too, are drawing a blank about these ancient peeps, consider checking out From the Temple and the…
With a title like A Feminine Ending, you would think that the WaterTower Theatre’s new production would culminate in a true love chase sequence a la The Graduate (or My Best Friend’s Wedding or 27 Dresses). Or maybe it takes the riot grrrl approach, with heroine Amanda Blue biting the…
Ladies and Gentlemen, what you are about to read details the most horrifying attraction to resurface on the Dallas film scene. It tells of a picture with scenes so shocking, we strongly recommend that this not be read by anyone with a heart condition or anyone who is easily upset…
Some jobs are perfectly suited for narration. Or rather, they’re the kinds of jobs where it would totally rock to have some guy with a cool voice come in and read aloud while everyone works. Envelope stuffing, Twinkie stuffing, all manner of assembly line stuffing jobs, really. Others, like air-traffic…
