You may try to control every aspect of your life, but often chance encounters prove more significant than the meetings you’ve inked in your day-planner. In Blind Date, by Argentinean writer Mario Diament, a man (Kevin Grammer) alters his usual routine one day and sits on a park bench for…
People in general are so often forgetful. We forget birthdays, anniversaries, our coats, where we put our cellphones, etc. And so what? Those little things don’t matter. But what about when we forget the really important stuff? Immediately following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, lots of people did amazing things for…
Back in the ’70s, Peter Frampton was so famous he could have legally changed his middle name to an expletive. His double-live album Frampton Comes Alive sold so many copies that it even gets a mention in the movie Wayne’s World, where Wayne states “Everybody in the world has Frampton…
Transcending boundaries is a theme shared by art and religion, so it makes sense that an exhibit with transcendence as a theme is shown in a spiritual space. This month, 22 artists–including Sarah Jane Semrad, Eva Semrad, Guy Reynolds and Courtney Perry–display their photographs in the CityGallery, an entity of…
For years after my mom shared her late mother’s so-called “Caesar” salad dressing recipe, I didn’t even let my wife read it. According to family legend, my grandmother sweet-talked the chef at a St. Louis restaurant out of the secret recipe. The restaurant was subsequently destroyed by fire, a fate…
Book fairs used to be an all-important matter in schools, a day when the library would mysteriously shut down and re-open with rows of Beverly Cleary books for sale to excited third-graders. It was a powerful sort of affair—elementary school-wise—unifying all manner of readers, from the kids that read the…
11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, see Paula Deen Live 2007! presented by Smithfield Foods at the Music Hall at Fair Park, 909 First Ave. Paula Deen should be cooking and teaching people how to get more out of their time in the kitchen, but because it’s at the Music…
Quilting, the quintessential American craft. You can just picture them, can’t you? The Mennonite womenfolk gathered in the farmhouse parlor, peacefully stitching and chatting. Yeah…and where the hell you been, stuck in 1911? In small towns in the heart of the nation’s Craft Belt are shops at which one can…
Internationally renowned artist Peter Max is coming to Dallas. Ever heard of him? Apparently he’s done everything. Max’s work has appeared on stamps, U.S. Border murals, phone books and even a jumbo jet. He has been designated the official artist for five Super Bowls, the World Series, the 2006 U.S…
At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, get your Hamiltons together and come see Mandy Patinkin: In Concert (featuring Paul Ford tickling the ivories) for a fund-raising gala to support Casa Mañana’s arts education programs at (you guessed it) Casa Mañana Theatre, 3101 W. Lancaster Ave. in Fort Worth. Mandy will be singing,…
Is Deep Ellum dead this week? I can never keep up. I blame some of that on Kettle Art. Yeah, you, Frank, Kirk and company. You go and have all these phenomenal art shows, getting everyone excited about the local scene. You have affordable art that doesn’t shun the mediocre…
If you were one of the unlucky ones who missed awesome early ’80s events like the Us Festival or the Texas Jam back in ’78 then this is the week to redeem yourself. The Texas Metal Jam is swooping down upon Dallas like a spandex-clad bald eagle of pure rock!…
Francis Bacon, the artist—not to be confused with his relative, Sir Francis Bacon, the Elizabethan philosopher—was known for his figurative, often macabre works. Macabre isn’t the most desirable way to be portrayed for posterity, so why was he in such high demand to paint portraits? Find out when Dr. Hugh…
You may not be familiar with designer-to-the-stars Manuel, but you’ve certainly seen some of his work. Got a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band laying around? Manuel designed those suits. Love the Man in Black? Johnny Cash would have been the Man in Store-bought Levi’s were it not…
Few activities satisfy the soul like imitating an old-school film noir private detective: “Hey, see! Get Carmilla on the line, see? We’ve gotta get to the station, see?” Ah, those were the good old days, when men ran around in trench coats and women wore nothing but red lipstick and…
Taxi Driver: Collector’s Edition (Sony) “Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads: Here is a man who would not take it anymore.” Martin Scorsese’s 1976 vision of hell as city-of-night New York rips through the reverential treatment on this special edition like a hunter’s blade through deerskin. A second disc of eight…
The latest comic meteorite to hurtle forth from the galaxy of producer Judd Apatow, Superbad is about a couple of chronically unpopular best friends who, after four years stuck on the lowest rung of the high-school social ladder, find themselves invited to a legitimately cool party. Goodbye, Friday nights chugging…
It seems fitting that a movie about debate competition should produce ambivalent feelings. As a master debater says early on in Jeffrey Blitz’s Rocket Science, a strong opinion is a luxury the great ones don’t allow themselves—it only gets in the way. What matters is being able to argue either…
As likable as it is, Social Security suffers from a serious case of the coots. The two-act comedy by Andrew Bergman, now onstage at Contemporary Theatre of Dallas, wants to be a smart and witty farce about three generations of mother-daughter power struggles. What it is, however, is Golden Girls…
Ask a random person five years ago what Sudoku was, and you’d be lucky if they mumbled something about Japanese ritual suicide. But go down any supermarket’s magazine aisle today, and you’ll find whole racks stuffed with cheapie newsprint books full of the addictive puzzles. People can’t get enough. They…
All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Collection (BBC Warner)Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD (Turner)Back to School: Extra-Curricular Edition (MGM)The Black Widow (First Look)Charlie Chan Collection: Volume 3 (Fox)DangerMouse: The Complete Series (A&E)The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Edition (Sony)Dynasty: The Second Season (Paramount)Essential Directors:…
Been experiencing a stifling sensation lately? Maybe you’ve got too much soul. Best to chop some up, Lord Voldemort-style, and dump soul slices somewhere else. But if you’re a good-hearted weirdo who wants to hang on to your soul, it might be better to get rid of some different sole—not…
