When the boy next door had a cowboys and Indians-themed birthday party, I stood outside the door to his house in my fringed jean skirt and red cowboy boots, vivid pictures of the Old American West in my head. Sure, the party decor was just a cake and streamers, but…
Even though I was raised Jewish and was part of several community groups that reinforced my Jewish identity, I never dated a Jewish guy. Unless you call what happened at summer camp with Jason Kaplan in 1982 dating, and nobody in their right mind would. I am now happily married…
Once you have an “Elegant Dinner on the Titanic” at a grocery store, you’ll never let go, Jack. Never let go. Because you can be blase about some things, Rose, but not about the Titanic and the re-creation of a first-class meal thereon. Wait for absolution at Central Market, where…
As with many classic books, we could analyze Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden to pieces. The undercurrent of magic, the power of positive thinking and the importance of friendship are all there and are all valid points to discuss about the book. But what it boils down to is…
You made it through the holidays relatively unscathed–that means it’s time to go out and reward yourself with the fruits of someone else’s labor. Head on over to the Norwood Flynn Gallery for its 2009 Christmas Holiday Group Show, featuring the works of three local artists new to the scene:…
Fanny Brawne is a heroine you expect to find in a Jane Austen novel; a woman with a penchant for poncey poets, chaste passion and Regency-era finery. Brawne is not a figment of early chick-lit, however, but the real-life inspiration for much of the poetry produced by Britain’s beloved John…
Slide down the river of milk chocolate, eat the tree branches made of gum drops, dance with the little orange men, but whatever you do, don’t eat the blueberry gum, as you may experience a rather literal “you are what you eat” phase. If you haven’t figured it out already,…
Have you taken your children to see Santa Claus yet? No? What are you, some kind of Birkenstock-wearing, free-market-hating hippie? You probably don’t let your kids watch TV either! Would it help if I told you that NorthPark Santa Carl Anderson bears a striking resemblance to legendary Band keyboardist Garth…
Have you taken your children to see Santa Claus yet? No? What are you, some kind of Birkenstock-wearing, free-market-hating hippie? You probably don’t let your kids watch TV either! Would it help if I told you that NorthPark Santa Carl Anderson bears a striking resemblance to legendary Band keyboardist Garth…
Matthew Posey does things with puppets no child should ever witness. Posey’s Balanced Almond troupe is at it again over at The Ochre House performance space by Fair Park, with the fourth and filthiest installment in a series of X-rated comedies built around a puppet character named Coppertone. Is it…
The money is on the screen in Avatar, James Cameron’s mega-3-D, mondo-CGI, more-than-a-quarter-billion-dollar baby, and like the Hope Diamond waved in front of your nose, the bling is almost blinding. For the first 45 minutes, I’m thinking: Metropolis!—and wondering how to amend ballots already cast in polls of the year’s…
Let’s be honest here: This is little more than meringue-whipped empty calories served alongside the real meat and potatoes at this most award-whoring time of the year at the cineplex. Which is fine. Better than fine, frankly, as Hugh Grant yet again proves he’s the most reliable deadpan smart-ass this…
Man, British heritage cinema can be dull and boring when assembly-lined for the export market. Laboring under lampshade millinery, hair that looks like cake, and more sumptuous banqueting than we should ever have to sit through, Emily Blunt is cute, sassy and wildly improbable as the titular Majesty-in-waiting, who, in…
So, you feel bad for the pounds of food you stuffed down during Thanksgiving, and you know it’s just the beginning since Christmas is literally days away. The gym can be so un-motivating, and the weather begs you to hibernate. There’s always a way around boring workouts, and alternate activities…
The best Christmas show in the world might just be THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER! What? You thought The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol? Boring! Think holiday chaos, questions about the true meaning of Christmas, and the six worst children in the history of the world: the grimy and unruly…
Feliz Navidad! I definitely learned that entire song in my middle school Spanish class. My name was Guadalupe every day for an hour–Lupe for short. I wasn’t a pro at learning Spanish, but I knew “Feliz Navidad,” among a few others, of course. The DFW International Community Alliance is hosting…
“Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus. He’s standing in your living room, disguised as a homeless man.” This scenario could go in more of a Halloween direction, or at least the direction of a holiday courtroom drama. But happily, it’s just the set-up for Another Night Before Christmas. The…
Is there a more storied program in college basketball than that of the University of North Carolina? Let’s examine the facts, shall we? Five NCAA championships (including last year’s), 17 ACC titles, 18 Final Four appearances. And did we mention the North Carolina alumni that have gone on to NBA…
You braved the crowds and finished your Christmas shopping ahead of everyone else, so now it’s time for a present for yourself. Leave the kids at home and check out some “inappropriate humor for all” with Slow Children Crossing, a Los Angeles-based sketch comedy group featuring Brett J. Butler, Destini…
Tim Allen was against Santa rolling down the block in a Panzer. Would he object to a Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, Porsche or a Rolls Royce Phantom? It’s bye-bye, sleigh, and hello, automobile, at The Ultimate Toy Drive. For every toy donated to Bryan’s House, a facility for children affected…
Remember all that vintage shopping you did for your Mad Men party this year? How you struggled to find the perfect Joan skirt or a just-right Don Draper hat or a little plaid dress that says “Peggy Olson is pregnant and crazy?” And how now those clothes are hanging sadly…
I went to a trail of lights display last year, and it was OK. But the whole time I was walking along, looking at cardboard Disney characters and rows of red and green porta-potties, I had this itchy feeling in my heart, like something was missing. So, when I heard…
