Arts & Culture

If someone asked me to a cropping party, I’d think I was getting an invite to drink beer with farmers in a corn field. But I’d be wrong. A cropping party is a chance for hard-core scrapbookers to get together and work on their masterpieces, and you can be a…

Festival season is upon us once again, and it’s time to start planning your schedule wisely. You may have already missed some of the big ones like the Wildflower Festival or ARTFEST, but don’t fret—it’s not too late to make it to the granddaddy of all local festivals, the fourth…

What exactly is the motivation to take a sport like football and alter its rules, change some of its logistics around—like the size of the end zone, for instance—and try to liven up the equipment, like using a design-oriented football that’s the modern equivalent of the ABA’s red, white and…

What a relief. After all the conflicting news stories, health articles and general word o’ mouth, it’s finally official: Wine, in all available varieties no less, is good for the heart…or, at least, Heart House, a nonprofit agency that provides after-school (and, hopefully, summer, if this event is successful) programs…

If I ever thought global warming was a load of donkey crap, all those ideas washed away as Rain Tour 2007 was like “Is that all you got?” to my windshield wipers last week. I say it’s time to seriously think about how we’re gonna win the war against global…

One-name wonders are so yesterday. The cool kids now boil it down to a simple initial. Take M, for example. Like many great Dallas artists, he sharpened his skill in Denton’s Good/Bad Art Collective and has gone on to create critically acclaimed works like those in Pretend You Hear Voices…

For better or for worse—worse, only because action figures ain’t cheap when they’re purchased by the pound—Star Wars has become our children’s Wizard of Oz. OK, perhaps not your children’s, but I know a few almost-4-year-olds who’d rather go to Tatooine than travel over any silly rainbow, ride with C-3PO…

At first glance, Robyn Raggio’s photographs seem pretty simple, with subjects such as a moss-covered tree branch or a rusty old Dodge. Her gift, however, lies in her ability to bring out the hidden beauty in these everyday things. Hers are the sort of photos that are appreciated most after…

Has it really been six years since Flickerstick won that Bands on the Run reality show on VH-1? It doesn’t seem that long ago that we watched the hard-drinking band agonize more about cheating on their girlfriends than making music or winning the competition. They still managed to win, though…

I love cable shows like Iron Chef, Trading Spaces and Smack My Donkey. That’s why I don’t have cable. I’d never get off the couch. If you’re a fan of HGTV’s Sensible Chic and Curb Appeal, then chances are you’ve seen Richardson native and designer Linda Applewhite at work. Linda…

Never thought I’d see the day that a NASCAR event would be sponsored by the Killers. But here it is, clear as day: the Sam’s Town 400. Must be a good promotion for that crapalicious sophomore album. Strange, I never thought that qualifying sessions for the Indy Racing League IndyCar…

Me: Knock, knock. You: Who’s there? Me: Shawn Wayans. You: Shawn Wayans who? Me: Shawn Wayans. Ya know, that guy who used to be the DJ on In Living Color and now changed his job from being cool to being the guy who lets you know in the preview for…

In an Al-Jazeera (stick with us, rednecks) profile of Arab comedian Maysoon Zayid, the 30-year-old Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy laments that being 30 and single in America is fabulous and very Sex and the City, but being 30 and Arab and single is like being 67. The remarkable Zayid…

Sometimes, I think the vast majority of us forget about culture. In between Heroes episodes and multiple readings of Perez Hilton, it’s easy to forget that pop culture and culture culture are really two separate things. I’m just as concerned about the fate of Peter Petrelli as anyone else, but…

Listening to some ’90s rap music is like mowing your lawn with a hamburger. It’s satisfying, but when it’s done, you’re left with a feeling that nothing has been accomplished. Now, this analogy may not make sense to anybody but me, but just think about it for a minute. The…

Cats are better than dogs. Oh, I know you’re thinking that’s just my opinion, but you’re wrong. Having just dog-sat for a friend, I can prove it. To wit: Cats don’t smell; they don’t make you feel like the orphanage guy in David Copperfield when you eat; and not once…

Ah, the honky-tonk dive is a great source for storytelling. A rich mine of characters, relationships, problems and story arcs await and are explored in Stage West’s presentation of Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music. A comedy by Lee Blessing set in a Houston bar, the play deals with…

“What is so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is he gives good kids bad ideas.” I suppose if you’re an aficionado of Serious Cinema, you could substitute the words “film directors” for “good kids” in that line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and blame Ferris creator John Hughes…

You shouldn’t be, even if Edward Albee’s 45-year-old masterpiece of marital discord does go on well past the three-hour mark. WaterTower Theatre puts on a finely calibrated production directed by René Moreno. Lead actor James Crawford is an SMU drama prof by day, so he’s deliciously authentic as George, a…