You couldn't miss him: a teenager dressed always in black, with Elvis sideburns and a hard-charging way of bounding up the stairs, as if life were moving too slowly for him. In the same class as my oldest son at the Science and Engineering Magnet at Townview, occasionally at our...
Does the world really need a new film from Woody Allen every single year? Yes, he is one of America's great auteurs. Yes, he's responsible for some very fine movies, many of them comedies (Annie Hall), several of them tragedies (Crimes and Misdemeanors, Another Woman) and some hovering in that...
Remember the Bass-amo Two Texans work to regain the state's fishy pre-eminence In a town not far from here, on acreage sponsored by Budweiser, there swims a 13-pound largemouth bass that may be The One--the one that reclaims glory for Texas, that smites those smug Californians, that proves there is...
Amid the Christmas rush at the Mall of the Mainland in Texas City, Ruth Pavelko's back scrunched into a prickly knot. The 49-year-old mom stumbled through the Foley's parking lot to her Pontiac, her lungs feeling as if they were filled with Jell-O. Three blocks down the street, Pavelko lurched...
The Groden family lives out in the middle of the New Mexico desert, far from main roads. They grow, harvest and/or kill all their own food, own their own home and make what little money they need from crafts. They have no phone or indoor plumbing, and they haven't paid...
1/13 On the list of endangered species, the Richardson Symphony Orchestra sits next to the mighty rice rat. The orchestra, now in its 44th season, announced in November that it is in danger of closing because of a dire lack of funds primarily the result of a dearth of private...
Bad Medicine A new documentary takes aim at a dubious diagnosis The scene is like something out of Kafka: A young woman named Misty Jones in her 34th week of pregnancy is arrested at her home and taken to a local hospital in handcuffs. Her labor is induced and her...
Flap Like an Eagle Cowboys suck: I gotta say, having been raised in Northeast Philly for a good deal of my life and having "bled Eagles green" for all of my 34 years, your article really hit close to home ("Good Grief," by John Gonzalez, February 10). Loved it. Our...
The Ring, Gore Verbinski's 2002 remake of Hideo Nakata's Ringu, offered sufficient closure that it didn't exactly demand a sequel. The horror lay in wondering why a mysterious videotape kills viewers seven days after they watch it; to a lesser extent, there was the mystery of the creepy girl, face...
Undiplomatic A whistleblower in the Bolton nomination learns the power of the blogosphere On a warm, windy morning last week, in front of a neighborhood coffee shop, Melody Townsel asks herself the question that hangs in the air. "Would I do it again?" she says. She doesn't know the answer;...
Nominations for the Dallas Observer Music Awards will be announced in next week's issue. Originally, I planned to unveil the list at the end of March, but apparently, I keep secrets about as well as Linda Tripp. Until next week, I'm taping my mouth shut, which should at least please...
Never Annoy Your Shrink What about the children: My heart goes out to Dr. Susan Diamond ("An Irritating Woman," by Glenna Whitley, March 3). It may be small comfort for her to know that Tarrant County family court is equally outrageous. I was crucified by my ex for more than...
Stephen Lapthisophon As a kid, the enormous cardboard box that came with the new refrigerator offered a world of palatial and spaceship possibility. As an adult, it is a throwaway, recyclable or, for the many who have fallen on hard times, an extremely economical and available form of refuge. Lapthisophon's...
Pointed Criticism Feeling edgy: As soon as I read Points, the "edgy" new Sunday section in The Dallas Morning News, the first thought that came to mind was this: I can't wait to see how the Observer blasts this mindless bit of self-promoted fluff. I was not disappointed. You guys...
Buzz is a little late getting around to reporting this--been busy and all--so forgive us for sharing a little old news about a class action lawsuit filed against Belo Corp. for its recent circulation woes. You may be aware of the suit if you read the business section of The...
Albania. Where's that? It's not a country most Americans--let alone Dallas residents--have much familiarity with, and for good reason. Locked into obscurity and solitary confinement throughout most of its history on account of its rugged, mountainous topography, Albania nonetheless has had a tendency to incite violent intrusions. This is because...
My bedroom floor is a mess. I lovingly think of it as a multipurpose tool: a dirty-clothes hamper, a bookshelf, a CD case, a file cabinet and even a tool rack. But in spite of the land mines between my bed and my door, a good six or seven square...
Prathap Rajamani had been looking forward to this day. The chemical he'd ordered online had just arrived. Chloroform, a colorless liquid with a slightly sweet taste, is used today to produce Freon. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was used as an anesthetic. That fit Rajamani's...
The Dead Monkey That says it all. Nick Darke's two-act drama arrives as dead as King Kong's hairy corpse. Hank and Dolores (Wm. Paul Williams, Tina Parker) watch their 15-year marriage unravel after the death of their beloved chimp, a son substitute that's supposed to remind us of the invisible...
Ideally, before reading this review, you would have already played Before the Dawn Heals Us at exceedingly high volume on the best speakers you could find. Sure, that would make reading difficult--seeing as how your mind would be blown to bits--but opening track "Moonchild" works much better without knowing that...
Vasco Araújo The most striking quality of Vasco Araújo's video showing in the Project Room at Conduit is its references to two related strains of thought, style and ideological practice--namely classicism and fascism. Running in a 15-minute loop, "Hipolito" unfolds according to the interaction between disparate visual and sound narratives...
Frank Stella's boisterously painted sculpture from the 1980s is phenomenal in a muffled way. It operates something like the Doppler Effect, heard in the ever-quieter acoustic waves that trail behind the siren of a passing ambulance. Like those receding sounds, these bright and mangled heaps of aluminum and fiberglass follow...
