Arts & Culture

Before I got old enough to pair up with a lady and start attending dinner parties, I never really understood why said parties were the setting for so many pivotal events in film and theater. After all, they look pretty boring on the surface, especially if you’re used to your…

“In sleep we lie all naked and alone, in sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness,” wrote novelist Thomas Wolfe. “And we are strange and beautiful asleep.” Dallas photographer Alicia Stepp-Woody, who professes a lifelong fascination with slumber, might agree. While She Sleeps, Stepp-Woody’s exhibition at…

When I was a child I had several of those bizarre compilations with kid versions of adult pop songs. One of my favorite songs was “Up, Up and Away,” followed closely by “Let the Sun Shine In/Aquarius”–which, of course, I had no idea would be a favorite yet again when…

It’s not too often that life’s most talented people live long enough to celebrate 50 years of hard work. In fact, most are taken way too soon. James Dean was 24 when he died in a car accident. Heath Ledger died at 29. But all bummers aside, there’s still some…

Just as big cities never truly sleep, neither do the Texas woods and prairies. As dusk descends, coyotes prowl and howl, armadillos and raccoons loudly rustle through the underbrush and vociferous owls continuously ask that rhetorical question, “Who?” Experience the wildlife after hours on a night hike at Heard Natural…

What do Tina Fey, Gilda Radner and Sarah Silverman have in common? Well, besides my love and respect, they are all stomach-about-to-explode, face- turning-blue, peed-my-pants-a-little hilarious. There is just something about a woman comedian that makes me want to kick every man who has ever muttered the words “Git-R-Done” in…

If you take the title of his newest exhibit into account, you might think that North Texas artist Ted Kincaid has some kind of phobia involving the night sky. However, I Do Not Want the Constellations Any Nearer/L.A. Skies does not feature frightening images of Earth colliding with the heavens,…

Diaries, landscapes and imagined alter-egos aren’t far from things we as interact with on a daily basis. One might journal, track calories or a travel experience. One takes in landscapes pastoral and urban on any given day. And one surely imagines what the evil, angelic or genius twin would do…

As many good memories as I have from days-long road trips through the middle of nowhere, I have hardly any photos to remember the scenery by. When I’m driving, the stops are limited to the kind of place where you can buy a Coke and a ceramic eagle mounted on…

Forget that today’s pirates live in soul-crushing poverty in places like Somalia and occasionally wind up getting shot by U.S. Navy snipers. Who needs grim reality when you can see How I Became a Pirate at Dallas Children’s Theater beginning Friday, January 22? The musical, based on the children’s pop-up…

To some people, a Monte Cristo sandwich doesn’t sound so great. It’s a deep-fried sandwich, served with turkey and sweet jelly and a side of cream. Not, it would seem, a match made in heaven. And yet the Monte Cristo is very delicious. And so we challenge you to think…

And you thought the parties were over. Nope, they’ve only just begun. In honor of the 37th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, Planned Parenthood of North Texas is presenting a night full of music and dance. Rock Your Body Politic is celebrating freedom of choice forever, featuring…

For many of us, growing up in our parents’ shadows meant contending with the legacies of bankers or salesmen, doctors or lawyers. Mimi Clark Gronlund had larger shoes to fill. Her father was Tom C. Clark, the Dallas-born Supreme Court justice appointed by Harry Truman. The 90th Supreme Court Justice,…

Not just any man could bridge the considerable gap between Ice Cube and Larry the Cable Guy, but then again, comedian Bruce Bruce is not just any man. In fact, he is practically two men, and he has brought his formidable frame and comedic talents to both Ice Cube’s XXX:…

Where do I even begin to explain the film The Room? I could say it’s a “quirky black new comedy” and “best film of 2003” like they do in the movie trailer, but I would be lying. I could start off by saying the lead character looks like Phil Spector’s…

There seems to be a new trend in documentary film-making these days that attempts to impart a definite “feel-good” vibe along with a heaping dose of inspiration. At least that’s what I thought when I started watching 2007’s Young @ Heart, one of the shining examples of the new “Hey,…

Part performance art, part thriller, part slapstick comedy show, this is not your father’s Hitchcock. Using an old and well-loved platform to try an innovative and whacky idea that has been nothing but a splash on Broadway, Dallas Summer Musicals’ production of The 39 Steps features a cast of four…

Whoever’s the brain behind making delicious things more affordable for us poor folk, we love you. No, seriously, if we could afford it, then we would take you on a sunset hot air balloon ride. This includes you, Hotel ZaZa. The hotel’s restaurant Dragonfly (2332 Leonard St.) will now host…

I’m just going to go ahead and throw this out there–I’m a geek. A big one. I jump up and down every time I receive my National Geographic magazine, I do cartwheels when Shark Week premieres on the Discovery Channel and sometimes I break out with the Urkel Dance when…