Have you ever read any of the original German, pre-Disney-fied versions of classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales? The story of Cinderella, for example, in which the ugly stepsisters cut off their toes to try to fit their feet in the glass slipper, only to be exposed by birds singing “blood…
You may not know the name Wreckless Eric, but if you’ve seen 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction, then you’ve seen Will Ferrell laboriously learn the simple chord progression of Eric’s irresistible 1978 pub rock classic “Whole Wide World.” And just as Ferrell’s character Harold Crick got the girl, Wreckless Eric (real…
Good luck getting Thomas Friedman’s new book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America from the library when it comes out this September. When Mr. Globalization’s best seller The World Is Flat hit the shelves in 2005, so many patrons requested it…
You want to get people interested in the artwork you create? Become a master of difficult mediums. Take painter Brad Ellis. The man works with encaustic for crying out loud. Yeah, that’s pigmented hot wax, in laymen’s terms…and it’s freakin’ hard to just slap some of it up on a…
It’s very important that we shred our documents. Credit card statements, bills and even personal correspondence is indelibly stamped with part of who we are, whether it’s an identifying account number or a grocery list. But for artist Robert McAn, a document’s value doesn’t end when it’s no longer useful…
I’ve taken art classes at more than four institutions of higher learning. They were all good, but the one that was great was Richland College. An underdog because of its “community college” status, Richland doesn’t seem like the pick for fantastic labs, galleries and art profs, but it is. And…
Ah, summer. As hot and miserable as it can be, it always has its upsides. OK, there’s really only one upside: the beach. The sand between your toes, the gentle crash of the waves, old hairy guys wearing Speedos…heck, even fairy tale characters need a beach trip now and again,…
We like to see people get busted for doing bad things…especially if they fall into that vein of overbearing and morally compromised characters that house the Colonel Jessups (A Few Good Men) and Alonzos (Training Day) of the fictional world. It’s a desire to see someone who lords over people…
Artist Richard Wentworth said, “I find cigarette packets folded up under table legs more monumental than a Henry Moore.” Well, I would have to say that Moore’s sculptures are pretty awesome, but cigarette packs under rocking table legs are nothing short of great ingenuity and–I agree–should be highly regarded. Hear…
Did you know that Chester A. Arthur spent more than three hours a day grooming his sideburns and mustache? Or that Rutherford B. Hayes gambled away fortunes on hop-frog races? Perhaps you’d be surprised to learn that Jimmy Carter was an avid prank-caller. The reason you didn’t know about these…
Forget Bigfoot, how about Purple Foot? At GrapeFest in Grapevine that is exactly what you will encounter. And actually, in the Grapestomp event there’s an award for the best purple foot. Holy grapes, this thing is huge: wine tasting, a champagne terrace, a culinary pavilion, carnival rides, arts and crafts,…
The Heretic’s Daughter tells the story of Martha Carrier, a woman accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. Her story is narrated by her daughter Sarah, who like Martha, is strong-willed and challenges the unjust world they live in. Unlike her mother, however, Sarah lives to tell the tale. Martha Carrier…
What do flip-flops, scoundrels, cheese and opera have in common? Beats the heck out of me, but The Dallas Opera has combined these things (along with cooking lessons, movie screenings and lectures in bed) as a way to pique the public’s interests. This summer they’re bringing us “Figaro in Flip-Flops,”…
I don’t know about you, but if my house got sucked up into a tornado and dropped in some distant land, the last thing I would feel like doing is singing. But if it was 1939, that distant land was Oz, and I was seeing munchkins, witches and Technicolor for…
Russian film is not known for its snappy dialogue and witty banter. It seems to be more about the visual aspects of storytelling. Though I’m more likely to recall dialogue than specific images from a movie, there are a few films that have really stuck with me visually. One of…
Maybe the blue-hairs in the audience didn’t see it coming. Or, then again, maybe they did—it’s not as if The Who’s Tommy maintains a reputation as a production tailor-made for the older theatergoing crowd. So, surely, the seemingly sedate audience attending last Saturday night’s preview performance of the Dallas Theater…
And so another summer movie season comes to an end, not with a bang but a whimper—what else to call four new releases (Babylon A.D., Bangkok Dangerous, College and Disaster Movie) in the past 10 days that weren’t prescreened for critics by their distributors? These are, literally and figuratively, the…
Ahh, the rock opera. It all started in 1966 when The Who released its second album, which contained the phenomenal nine-minute suite of songs “A Quick One While He’s Away,” the tale of Ivor the engine driver and his lustful ways. The Who followed this with a full-length opera, Tommy,…
Truly great art should speak to the soul in a profound way; it should stir within the human heart deep feelings and strong convictions. One should be unable to turn away from great art, mesmerized by the sheer power of its content and execution, which should come together in perfect…
What better than a mother-daughter team to nurture and support local artists? ART is ART, the family-run East Dallas consignment store/local art depot that moved last year from its smaller digs on Oram to a bigger and better home on Henderson Avenue, is now celebrating its first anniversary in the…
For the cultural elite in Dallas, there are few things more exciting than a gala. Not content to go to a simple party or gathering, the local glitterati need quarterly opportunities to squeeze into Oscar de la Renta gowns and rub elbows with their Preston Hollow neighbors. And there’s no…
As any fan of Project Runway knows, much has been said over the blending of fabric and art in the name of fashion. But what about blending fabric and art in the name of art? Artist Joseph Havel does just that in his exhibition of sculptural constructions based on the…
