“New media art” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase for anything from computer-aided graphic design to robotics that blip, beep and animate. Los Angeles-based Petra Cortright’s work is somewhere in between: taking elements of more traditional art and adding graphic elements, like clown noses or cartoon tears, that change…
In late 2007, a chronically depressed 19-year-old named Robert Hawkins was fired from his job at McDonald’s and separated from his girlfriend. The events proved to be the last straw for the mentally ill young man, who responded by stealing an AK-47 and opening fire in an Omaha mall full…
Are you not sure what Kwanzaa is all about, but want to know more? Or have you been celebrating Kwanzaa since day one? Either way, you will be both welcomed and accommodated at the Kwanzaa Gwaride (parade) on Friday, the first day of Kwanzaa, co-sponsored by The Act of Change…
Living only a block away from the million-dollar homes on Swiss Avenue, I have to wonder who’s been dropping the ball lately. The Halloween turnout was lackluster at best, and there’s nary a Christmas light on display right now–it’s a far cry from the old days of decorations galore. Highland…
First it was the Hispanics taking all the good bricklayer and busboy jobs. Now the Indians are coming to America and stealing our standup comedy gigs. Is being a standup comic one of those jobs that nobody else will do? Is UTD offering a comedy class? Or are they coming…
The New Year’s Eve planning should have commenced long ago amidst the marathon of preparation and celebration for the religious holiday of your choice. December is never the time to settle in. That would be…I dunno…maybe the heat seared month of August. But you can at least plan this holiday…
Most of us have played the game Clue, or at least have seen the movie. You know, “Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the lead pipe.” It can be a thrilling game, and when you solve the mystery you get to feel a bit like an armchair Hercule Poirot. If…
What’s happened to Christmas movies? Gone are the days of Ralphie Parker’s bunny suit and Kevin McCallister’s aftershave. Perhaps it began when someone decided it was a good idea to cast Tim Allen as Santa Claus three times, each turn decidedly more ridiculous than the one before. Now that Vince…
The things I remember most about the Christmases spent with my family while growing up don’t really include the gifts. Though the latest in Cabbage Patch or Hot Wheels technology was always loved and appreciated, what I really took away from all those holiday seasons is probably what you’re supposed…
As a huge Wes Anderson fan, I could never figure out why I didn’t like The Royal Tenenbaums. I’ve tried to like it time and time again but couldn’t quite put my finger on what was off. Now I know: It wasn’t Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale). At…
So Sean Avery’s gone, dealing with anger management issues and a big mouth. That’s all very politically correct and all, but if the guy–and all Dallas Stars–used some well-placed trash talk on the ice instead of in the reporters’ mikes, we might get a little more action on the ice…
I mostly remember Edwin McCain from his 1995 hit “Solitude,” which used a vocal cameo from Darius Rucker to help him ride Hootie and the Blowfish’s substantial frat-rock coattails into semi-fame. But even for the month or three I was into Hootie when I was 14, I pretty much thought…
One of Texas’ most influential singer-songwriters, Robert Earl Keen has had songs covered by everyone from The Dixie Chicks and Jill Sobule to Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. But as talented a songwriter as he is, Keen is also one heck of a masterful storyteller. Typically, his between-song banter consists…
What a shame that Ebenezer Scrooge didn’t have a gentleman’s gentleman like Jeeves at his side. Scrooge’s forced march to personal redemption might not have been necessary, and his earlier years would have been less wasted and considerably more fun. Jeeves’ employer, society gadabout Bertie Wooster, certainly seems to enjoy…
For so major a movie star—at least, once upon a time—Jim Carrey seems to make a lot of awfully minor films, several of them over and over again. Isn’t Yes Man, in which Carrey’s self-absorbed Debbie Downer green-lights every bad decision in an effort to reinvent his sorry life, just…
Two years ago nearly to the day, Will Smith and Italian director Gabriele Muccino released The Pursuit of Happyness, one of the most underrated of recent Hollywood movies, which starred Smith as a single father navigating a hand-to-mouth existence on the streets of San Francisco. Writing at the time, I…
Nativity scenes are the lawn ornament du jour for those who like to beat the rest of us down with the Jesus stick this time of the year; the fact that they sell inflatable versions at the hardware store now really says all you need to know about the commercialization…
There is some irony in celebrating peace on Earth with a gajillion lights on the front lawn. Everyone is so energy-conscious and carbon footprint-aware these days that it seems like we’re not supposed to do anything. I say “Bah, humbug” to all that. If the earth is damaged, we won’t…
Remember when Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was the coolest game ever? They used to let kids play it at school because teachers thought it was educational. Ha! It wasn’t about education! It was about being a spy! The mission was simple: Track down the world’s most notorious…
It’s a tired old saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But Marilyn Waligore’s The In/Materiality of the Everyday has been able to make that statement mean something new and exciting. In the case of Waligore’s digital photography exhibition, the artist is able to take recyclable items such…
At some point in time, every little girl gets the sinking suspicion that she was adopted. Who cares if she’s the spitting image of her mother–there are persistent memories of days in an orphanage, singing, dancing and scrubbing toilets for the horrid Ms. Hannigan while waiting for her real parents…
Frankly, I’ve always thought Tiny Tim got undue applause. That “God bless us, every one” line brings out the “ah”s and teardrops but c’mon, people. The kid’s from a good family. He was saying that stuff already; it just wasn’t staged. I know it’s cool he made it through another…
