Arts & Culture

“Sister Christian” is the Citizen Kane of songs about a skanky teenage girl coming of age. But as with most artistic expression, the lyrics’ message is still open to debate and interpretation. This is why Jesus invented the internet. We visited lyricinterpretations.com to find some alternate takes on the true…

As if an old 1920s warehouse weren’t creepy enough, the Cutting Edge Haunted House people decided to put a bunch of scary crap in it to up the Halloween ante. Check out Texas Chainsaw Massacre-themed frights, traditional gothic freak-outs and weird shit that just ain’t right. It all goes down…

I really wish country music stars would get better agents. Namely, agents that will change their name from vanilla to buttered pecan. Case in point—Pat Green. Seriously? I’ve already forgotten his name. These homegrown folk want to keep it real despite the fat cash they aren’t rolling in because they’re…

Imagine if Spinal Tap evolved from a fictional band into a real band. That’s not too far from what happened to The Porcupine Tree. The band started as a joke between Steven Wilson and his friend Malcolm Stocks. They made up an elaborate history, complete with discography, for a legendary…

It’s fall, for certain, when you can go to Target and buy candy corn. Even if it’s 95 degrees outside, once the sugary confection is in-hand, it’s time to start thinking pumpkins and candy apples. You know the drill. Fall is also (in theory, anyway) the one time you can…

Americans have always had a soft spot for the “Latin Lover” type. And when there are two of them, the sparks will fly like it’s Día del Descubrimiento de Puerto Rico. The whirlwind romance of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony has warmed hearts and adorned tabloid covers nationwide since their…

Been lookin’ for a way to have some nice, wholesome family fun in the West Village? No? Okay, so it might not be the most logical place for that kind of thing, being that it’s usually home to sexier events like outdoor fashion shows. But all that changes noon to…

Sadly, I’m just a muggle, but then again, so are you. We have no magical powers, no Quidditch, and certainly no house elves to do all of our chores—it’s a wonder we make it through the days. The only real magician I’ve seen lately is J.K. Rowling. Her magic seems…

Disney, apparently, can turn anything into a G-rated movie. No word yet on whether they’re working on animated versions of The Story of O or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but we’re sure Disney could whitewash those down to “general audiences” standards. They’ve already done it with The Hunchback of Notre…

Maybe I’ve been listening to a little too much Art Bell, but I’m a believer, baby. There are just too many people with spooky stories, too many urban myths, too many times my cat stares at something I can’t see—I know there such things as ghosts. Which is why I…

When Halloween rolls around, I’m more of a get-drunk-and-wear-a-stupid-costume person than a go-scare-my-balls-off person. And, I’ve been that way since I was a kid and my mom handed me my first Halloweentini. But, if you like all of that gory, chainsawing, running upstairs when some dude is trying to kill…

There’s really not much I have to say about Goya’s Ghosts to sell it, frankly. Javier Bardem. Natalie Portman. Milos Forman. Two of today’s most beautiful and talented actors paired with the man who directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest—it rarely gets more quality than that. We’re going to…

As a child you may have learned about death from your grandparents. More specifically, grandma bit it and then your folks had to explain why you wouldn’t be getting any more five dollar checks for your birthday. Or you may have learned about death the same way you learned about…

Will Rogers, asked during a Dallas visit what to do with the Trinity River, reportedly suggested “Pave it.” Most of the City Council agrees, wanting to rework a voter-approved parkway into a tollway running through the city’s flood plain. According to hysterical campaign propaganda, this is either the only solution…

Would you rather be a dog, a rat or a weasel? Watch what you pick, because in Raychael Stine’s work, you could be the strong protagonist, a sweet companion along for the ride or something much worse. With her first solo exhibition Dogs, Rats, and Weasels, Stine gives us a…

How do you turn a street urchin into an attractive, cultured lady? In Dallas, you ban the use of shopping carts and limit the area’s of food distribution for the homeless. But George Bernard Shaw took a different angle in his 1913 play Pygmalion. In the classic that would later…

On the Web site of Doug Varone and Dancers, the word “kinetic” comes up more than once. Kinetic. As in, the energy or force of motion when relating to material bodies. When applied to current choreography, basically, it just means “you need to see this company perform, like, now.” Their…

Eraserhead was the holy grail of David Lynch films for me and my friends in high school. We’d all seen Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, were obsessed with Twin Peaks, and had even managed to find a copy of The Elephant Man hiding in the stacks at Hastings. But Eraserhead…

Conduit Gallery’s current exhibitions feature three artists whose works bring to light those uncomfortable, embarrassing or intensely personal acts that are either performed in the dark or perhaps ought to be. Sex, politics, religion, reading, writing and watching movies are the themes of art works by New Yorker Annabel Daou,…

When I saw the word “droid,” my inner Star Wars geek came out, thinking it would be some tribute to the robot-humanoids of movies. Alas, no, this DROID is but a multimedia exhibition showcasing video as art via projection, sculptural monitors and mixing with soundscapes. Might not be the droids…

This weekend’s Bookworm Bash book sale benefits Senior Adult Services, “a nonprofit organization that improves the lives of seniors.” Sweet, right? Except it takes place in Addison, where anyone over the age of 28 gets the early bird special and a discount at the movies—that is, if you manage to…