One of my favorite parts of the State Fair is the arts building, where one can see a fine selection of jams and jellies, scale models of aircraft carriers and, of course, prize-winning patchwork quilts. The fair is only a few short months away, but you can get a head…
Hurry! The days are running out. Soon the sweltering heat will smother any chance of a relaxing springtime picnic. Instead mosquitoes will pester, pit stains will form and any sort of salad sandwich will be unsafe for human consumption after 4.67 seconds outdoors. Friday through June 2, however, ICT MainStage…
I’m not gonna lie: I get all those Live songs mixed up. There’s that “I can feel it…” one. Is that one “Lightning Crashes”? And then “Selling the Drama”; is that the one that says “We won’t be raped like that, no-oh-oh…”?That’s the thing with Live. Chances are you own…
Here’s an odd little fact: The Bay City Rollers have a best-of CD, released in 1995. And, get this, it has 21 tracks, only one of which is titled “Saturday Night,” their hit single from 1975. (The chorus: “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!” Repeat ad nauseam.) Who knew they were so, um, prolific?…
Whether reading Wine for Dummies or surfing tasting-wine.com, I still can’t distinguish mahogany from purple or master the swish and smell. Does it have to be this hard? Can’t I just take a swig and either grimace or grin as a result? I’m this close to being done with my…
The problem with making Top Gun into a musical is that Top Gun is already a musical, as is any movie that has Kenny Loggins on the soundtrack. Footloose? Musical. Caddyshack? Musical. Caddyshack 2? Practically an opera. I can’t wait to see how the writers of Top Gun! The Musical…
In May, attention tends to wander south of the border to Mexico. Especially around May 5, or Cinco de Mayo. The Ice House Cultural Center keeps the spotlight on a little longer, illuminating the Mexican Revolution though Viva La Celebración, a collection of large oil paintings on canvas by Fort…
Four years after “Mission Accomplished,” 28 Weeks Later reminds us that the mission, whatever the hell it was to begin with, is now officially, apocalyptically fucked. The story thus far: Seven months have gone by since the Rage virus passed from chimp fang to British bloodstream in an animal-rights intervention…
In the superbly tacit chamber piece Away From Her, intolerable pressure is brought to bear on the 44-year marriage between a college professor and his homemaker spouse after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Grant Andersson (played by veteran Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent) and wife Fiona (an artfully wrinkled and…
To Catch a Thief: Special Collector’s Edition (Paramount) Starring Cary Grant as a cat burglar and Grace Kelly as a hot-to-trot heiress, this is easily one of Alfred Hitchcock’s slightest films, especially coming on the heels of Rear Window; indeed, its idyllic setting on the French Riviera suggests it was…
There was a time in my life when I might have actually enjoyed Pocket Pool a little bit. Back when I was 12, giving myself migraines from staring at scrambled cable porn, the notion of a game where I could “win” pictures of girls in their underwear would’ve seemed pretty…
Because I Said So! (Universal) Breaking and Entering (Weinstein) The Bridge on the River Kwai: Collector’s Edition (Sony) Cagney & Lacey: The True Beginning (MGM) The Caine Mutiny: Collector’s Edition (Sony) Catch & Release (Sony) Deliver Us From Evil (Lionsgate) Dirty Dancing: Twentieth Anniversary (Lionsgate) Donnie Brasco: Extended Cut (Sony)…
The 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is my favorite movie of all time. So, when somebody told me about the remake, I was like, “Eff that!” And when they told me the Oompa-Loompas were CG, I was like, “Eff that!” And when they told me Johnny Depp was…
Oil paints, charcoal and watercolors were heaven to me in my elementary art class. The fact that the room was away from campus felt more like exile than curriculum, giving it an aura of taboo—as if art wasn’t really education but a secret my school had been hiding from all…
One of the first times I ventured onto Swiss Avenue, I had just moved to Dallas and thought I had stumbled into a time warp. Everything was serene and quiet, there wasn’t a nasty McMansion in sight, and the architecture was breathtaking. I still take the dog on a daily…
Everything I know about horse racing I learned from watching the Marx Brothers. In A Day at the Races Chico taught me about wagering (and to always steer clear of a guy selling tootsie frootsie ice cream and code books), Groucho taught me that horse doctors make questionable sanitarium doctors…
The Squeamish are cousins to the Amish, tucked away in Quilt County, selling cheeseballs to gourmet stores to keep the sect afloat. Then one day, Sister Elizabeth (Arianna Movassagh) has her job as chief cheese maven handed to Brother Nathaniel (Jeremy Whiteker). Unfair? Uh, yeah. So she runs away and…
David Talbot, founder and former editor-in-chief of the Web magazine Salon, comes to the Borders bookstore at the Preston Royal Shopping Center (10720 Preston Road, Suite 1018) at 7 p.m. Monday to pitch his new book, Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years. The book explores JFK’s efforts to…
Even though I’ve never watched the Dallas Desperados and don’t know a thing about arena football, here are some things I think they do better than the Dallas Mavericks: Defend Stephen Jackson, play perimeter defense, drive to the basket and show up. With the Mavericks having ignobly imploded and the…
I’ve never had much use for Harry Connick Jr.’s music—in my opinion, it’s about as slick as his hair—but I do have to give him props for his amazing turn as Will Smith’s wingman in Independence Day. Ditto for his turn as a tail gunner in Memphis Belle. Unfortunately, his…
When it comes to self-control, food is a very powerful tool. Eating can soothe, disgust, pacify, invigorate and depress. When thought of in that respect, it’s easy to see why so many are plagued by various eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia. Seems fitting then that photographer/artist Joy Christiansen would…
Chris Daughtry and Lifehouse will be at Taste Addison this weekend as part of the Two Worst Bands Ever If You Even Count Chris Daughtry’s Band as a Band Tour. Seriously, though—Chris Daughtry rocks so hard. I heard that one time he cussed onstage. I heard he was in the…
