Arts & Culture

One of my first Dallas Observer stories was on an “apparition” of the Virgin Mary that appeared in the bark of a tree in Oak Cliff. Turns out the miracle was the creation of two little girls, but whatever, crowds flocked. Eventually, the family sold the tree to GoldenPalace.com, which…

We’re pretty proud of our comic book collection. It’s modest but well-organized. But the Spinnaker Collection of 17th-century Chinese snuff bottles makes our enthusiasm for obsessive gathering seem comparatively reserved. The bragging rights that came with our near-mint, first-print edition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #3 don’t seem as impressive…

I never really understood the whole solstice thing; I only knew I needed to add it to my holiday greetings along with Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Otherwise, I would be deemed politically incorrect. By whom, I have yet to figure out. If I’m not mistaken, the solstice itself has something to…

Think of how easy it would be to wrap holiday gifts if they could all fit in 9-by-12-inch envelopes. Go ahead. I’ll wait. While you’re at it, take a look at the hundreds of works of art by more than 200 artists from all over the country, Canada, Australia and…

The holidays are great, but if Santa Claus or the Ghost of Christmas Past showed up in my house, I would freak the *%&# out. Judging by the number of charming holiday tales in which people are visited in the night by strange entities, this is a fairly common occurrence…

Some things are meant to make a comeback, while others I’m not too sure about. If they brought back Fruit Wrinkles and Popples, I’d be all about it, but I think Scooby-Doo and the Magic Mystery gang have exceeded their 15 minutes of fame by a few decades now. The…

What does Dweezil Zappa have to prove? He’s already made a name for himself despite the daunting shadow of his father’s legacy. Before he was old enough to vote, Dweezil was an established guitar virtuoso, blossoming briefly into an adorable MTV personality in the late ’80s and appearing more recently…

Ah, those long, lost days of pyromania. Remember when setting stuff on fire was, like, pretty funny and stuff? Nothing was safe in junior high—paper plates, hairspray, small woodland creatures. But now you’re a grown-up, and there are no more various small fires for you. Unless you go to the…

Christmas is boring in this country. Always the same old tired carols, the fake corporate trees, the insufferable red sweaters with embroidered ornaments. Which is why I try to get the hell out of Dodge this time of year. When I lived in Guatemala, kids spent Christmas Eve lighting what…

In Sweden, Lucia Day is celebrated to honor the promise of the sun’s return after winter. Although the sun doesn’t disappear for too long here in North Texas, we like the idea of celebrating the lightness to come, especially as we close out another year. The North Texas Chapter of…

Consider the Trans-Siberian Orchestra one of the oddest concepts in rock opera if you must. But there’s something about progressive power-metal guitarists teaming up with classically trained musicians to create a multimedia Christmas show that might just warm your heart. Or at least steam it up. What’s a TSO show…

There are things to be learned from Love Actually. First, the title must be pronounced with an upper-class accent (think Thurston Howell III), where “actually” has four syllables instead of three. It’s a moral imperative, and should be a required question on the SATs. Second, Hugh Grant is much hotter…

Veins, arteries, muscles and all sorts of other mysterious and squishy elements are constantly squirming around beneath your skin every day. Most of us never stop to think how they function or how the subdermal landscape might look without our pretty skin to keep it all nice and safe inside…

Doomsday is upon us, and Half Price Books is hosting the much-anticipated event. Well, not exactly. Artist and former Dallas Cowboys Doomsday Defense member Dave Edwards will be on hand from 10 a.m. to noon Friday at the 5803 E. Northwest Highway location, with 50 limited-edition reproductions of his original…

Few things are as tacky as a Gaylord Hotel. Big, brash and garish, Gaylord’s larger-than-life accomodations hit you on the head with their all-thumbs design. The Gaylord Hotel in Nashville, for example, features a slightly smaller version of the Mississippi Delta where Midwestern tourists can be seen paying for boat…

For many children, Santa Claus’ impending arrival is first signaled by his appearance at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. But when I was a kid, you didn’t even think about Santa coming until Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band said so, usually by launching into a…

Every Santa’s been there. One minute you’re dropping off a little gift, just trying to do your Santa business, and the next you realize—”Whoops! Slipped down the wrong chimney.” The first tip-off is usually a startled woman screaming at you. “It’s slippery out,” you say, trying to calm her down…

The stage adaptation of David Sedaris’ contemporary Christmas comedy classic, The Santaland Diaries,/B>, returns for its spectacular sixth season, this time in the Studio Theatre of the Addison Theatre Centre. Ted Wold fills Crumpet’s tiny, bell-toed booties and relives the tales of Sedaris’ brief employ as a department store elf…

Like Joanne Woodward’s characters in The Many Faces of Eve, the Dallas Museum of Art is a cultural beast with multiple personalities. There is the mousy, provincial Eve White who wears out-of-date clothes and speaks with a slow Southern drawl. She is fearful, old-fashioned and kowtows to the world. Then…