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• Best Crafts Studio
  Smashing Times
  This place is smashingly good fun in addition to bringing out the artist in folks of all ages. Using bits of broken glass, ceramics and tile (all tumbled to remove sharp edges), patrons turn frames, candleholders, coasters and vases into colorful works of art. Actually, the place has a threefold... More >>
• Best Fall Reading
  A.W. Gray
  If you like your reading fast and gritty, with lots of bad-guy chasing and a liberal sprinkling of sex with the scams and body count, Dallas' A.W. Gray is your man. He's been spinning best-selling mystery tales for years, beginning with his popular series about local private eye Bino Phillips... More >>
• Best Clog
  25th Texas Cloggers Rally
  Like Riverdance performed underwater by fat people, clogging has its own strange appeal...or not. If you just can't get your fill of mature ladies in sensible shoes making their skirts fly up over their panties, you could see a psychiatrist, or you could call the number above for the Texas... More >>
• Best Place to Meet Your Own Kind
  Dallas-Plano TX Meetups
  Say you're a lonely Howard Dean supporter, a witch, a native speaker of French or a pagan (same thing), a John Kerry supporter, Web logger or Goth, and you want to meet others of your tribe. Meetups is the place to go. Operating by Web and all over the world, Meetups arranges get-togethers in... More >>
• Best Early-Morning Comedy Routine
  Daybreak with Scott Sams, WFAA-TV Channel 8
  If we were up for drinking games at 8 a.m., this would be the quickest way to get shit-faced. The rules would be as follows: One drink every time Scott Sams mispronounces and/or gives the incorrect name for a local charity, council member or day of the week. Two drinks every time he makes a... More >>
• Best Case of Compassionless Conservatism
  State Senator Robert Deuell, R-Mesquite
  Before anti-abortion senators helped pass legislation that mandated a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions so they could have a period of reflection and read literature about abortion's possible hazards, pro-choice senators made a fevered pitch to exempt those women who want... More >>
• Best African-American Bookstore
  Black Images Book Bazaar
  Over the years, Emma Rodgers' store has become a full-fledged cultural force in the community, sponsoring literary and political discussions, promoting local authors, bringing African and African-American books to Dallas that otherwise would never get here. But it's still at its core a great... More >>
• Best State Legislator
  Senator Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant
  It's rare that we stray from our Dallas best, but the political courage of Senator William Ratliff is so exemplary that it deserves being celebrated, even though he hails from Mount Pleasant. With conservative Republican Governor Rick Perry so partisan he can make David Dewhurst look like a... More >>
• Best Rookie Judge
  Susan Hawk
  You wouldn't think that a former assistant district attorney who was named "Prosecutor of the Year" by law enforcement boosters for her zealous pursuit of child abuse cases that had grown old and cold would make the most impartial judge. It might prove too difficult to keep an open mind so that... More >>
• Best Political Move
  Judge Sally Montgomery
  This election cycle was supposed to be the year of the Democrat (remember the Dream Team?), particularly in Dallas County, where 24 Democratic judicial candidates tried to bust up the Republican monopoly over the courthouse. But the lone Democratic candidate to win a bench had a long history as... More >>
• Best Visual Artist
  Greg Metz Cyn McCurry
  Although he's busy as an instructor at the University of Texas at Dallas, Greg Metz is still a master in the world of sculpture and installation. His art carries energy and a bit of controversy. To Deep Ellum regulars, his most public work is the set of faces that adorns the Club Dada building.... More >>
• Best Reason to Run
  Dallas-Fort Worth Hash House Harriers - www.dfwh3.org 214-804-3999
  Some people run for their health. Some run for charity. And others would run only if someone were chasing them. But some (God bless 'em) will run for beer. They're the Dallas-Fort Worth Hash House Harriers, or hashers for short, and every week they gather to embark on a common mission: booze.... More >>
• Best Place to Learn Quilting
  Lone Star House of Quilts - 1210 W. Abram St., Arlington 817-277-4749
  It not only offers a step back into a kinder, more communal time but a complete inventory of fabrics, patterns and books for the beginner as well as the expert quilter. In the back of the store, a variety of classes are offered by Alice and Dave Cooksey, who purchased the store from quilting... More >>
• Best Place For Your Kid To Create a Masterpiece
  Dallas Museum of Art - 1717 N. Harwood St. 214-922-1203
  Each fall and spring, budding Cassatts and Renoirs have the opportunity to participate in the DMA's Art Exploration Classes. Small groups of kids 3 to 5 years old, each with a parent or guardian, spend an hour on a single artistic element such as color, patterns or texture. And because the... More >>
• Best Portrait Artist
  Connie Connally - 7019 Claybrook Drive 214-340-1943
  Portraiture isn't exactly a lost art, although fewer painters choose it as their area of specialty now than they did in the time of Renoir. The demand has changed a bit since the camera was invented. Even well-intentioned, sentimental people who ache to capture the charm of their 6-year-olds, or... More >>
• Best Portraits That Are Also Art
  Paul McKay
  The piercing blue eyes of executive assistant P.J. Vitruk stare from a page of Paul McKay's sample book. The crimson of the regal chair in which she poses seems to infuse her silver hair, as one elegant index finger rests lightly on the rim of the object she holds, the focus of the portrait: her... More >>
• Best Library You've Never Heard Of
  University Park Public Library
  Until 2001, University Park had the peculiar distinction of being the nation's largest city without its own public library. Until then, residents had been able to use the Highland Park Library without charge. When that changed, an energetic group of volunteers called Friends of the University... More >>
• Best Place for a Writer to Volunteer Time and Talent
  Kids Writing Connection at John F. Kennedy Learning Center
  For the past nine years, this writing and illustration competition has been making a difference in the lives of students at this mostly minority school in East Dallas by matching them with professionals who mentor them through a semester-long project. The mentors and young writers and artists... More >>
• Best Art Gallery
  Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery
  America loves an underdog, the saying goes. And we do, too. While it's consistent in the quality of the exhibits it organizes, Photographs Do Not Bend doesn't get the shower of praise some one-hit-a-season wonders do. PDNB represents artists working in a wide range of photographic styles and... More >>
• Best Public Sculpture
  "Harrow"
  The best public sculpture is something that doesn't blend into the background of everyday life. No matter how many times--every day, once a week, once a year--that it's seen, it never ceases to attract attention. Meet "Harrow," a steel sculpture in Lubben Plaza Park. It always amazes us. A giant... More >>
• Best Newsletter
  The North Texas Skeptic
  Don't get us wrong. We like UFO stuff and The Lost City of Atlantis and health supplements and crop circles and magnetic shoe arches and secret government experiments. This is the stuff of life, the fruit of the twisted imagination. We just have a difficult time taking it in its raw,... More >>
• Best Clones
  Starlight's clonal family
  We're looking forward to the day when someone clones Mayor Laura Miller. That woman is so busy busting nicotine addicts and one-legged beggars--and fixing to drive the Dallas Cowboys away--that we're certain she does the work of two Laura Millers. And wouldn't a second Laura Miller be a treat... More >>
• Best Downtown Redevelopment
  Stone Street Gardens
  Dallas' big Soviet-style downtown projects--the stalled and poorly named Victory development, for one--get all the ink and ire. The city center's real victories have been won where someone has thought small: the Jeroboam restaurant, the Umlaut bar and a host of others that are just getting out... More >>
• Best Locally Produced Literary Figure
  Victoria Alexander
  She booked out of Dallas right after graduating from Walden Prep School at 16 and worked her way through New York's Hunter College as a stripper at a Manhattan joint called The Doll House. Got your attention? OK, skip to the present, when 37-year-old Victoria Alexander, now living in SoHo, is... More >>
• Best Place to Get Your Geek On
  Titan Comics
  It's our annual fave, and the other local comics shops should not take offense; when you've experienced the prosecutorial hell Keith's Comics has been through of late ("Comic Appeal," August 14), you deserve at least honorable mention and then some. But Jeremy Shorr's place on Bachman Lake,... More >>
• Best Theater Company
  Quad C Theatre
  How does this college theater do it? Using student actors and non-pros cast from open auditions, Quad C consistently offers professional-level productions that outshine Equity-heavy downtown stages. In three acting spaces, including the 350-seat John Anthony Theatre, Quad C produces enormous,... More >>
• Best Theater Director
  Rene Moreno
  Look at the wildly diverse work versatile director Rene Moreno has helmed for local theaters recently: the romantic two-character musical The Last Five Years at Plano Rep, the raucous comedy Buford Gomez: Tales of a Rightwing Border Patrol Officer for Martice Productions in the basement of the... More >>
• Best Actor
  Regan Adair
  Playing a charming psychopath, a frat boy, a wild-haired anarchist or a suave sophisticate, Regan Adair, 29, manages to bring to every role he plays a relaxed authenticity that makes his performances fascinating to watch. Trained as a fashion designer, Adair turned to acting four years ago and... More >>
• Best Actress
  Denise Lee
  Blessed with a singing voice so powerful it shows up on Doppler radar, Denise Lee, 43, proved this year that she's also one of the area's best serious dramatic actresses. In WaterTower Theatre's production of The Old Settler, John Henry Redwood's lovely play about spinster sisters in 1940s... More >>
• Best Alternative Art Gallery
  Plush
  If you said Dallas wouldn't buy it, and Randall Garrett couldn't do it, you were wrong. As Garrett opens the fourth season of Plush, even the naysayers are starting to show up at South Akard on Friday nights for the gallery's "high levels of cultural noise." Live music, eccentric paintings and... More >>
• Best Family Art Outing
  Gateway Gallery, Dallas Museum of Art
  If public schools paid one-tenth the attention to arts education that the Dallas Museum of Art does, the world would be a better place. Education is at least half of the DMA's mission, and programming for children, with families encouraged to participate, is plentiful and of exceptional quality.... More >>
• Best A Cappella
  Turtle Creek Chorale
  When MTV "unplugged" some top rock stars, a whole new generation of young people shivered with the discovery of the sheer power and beauty of the human voice--a cappella or with the subtlest acoustic guitar or piano accompaniment. This, of course, is no big whoop for season-ticket holders of... More >>
• Best Exhibit to Pull Your Kids Outta School For
  Quest for Immortality at the Kimbell Art Museum
  We took our 9-year-old to this exhibit, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. When children are 9, anything you do, say, present or wish for is declared "booooring." But this exquisite exhibit, which (too bad for you) just ended, was one of the most impressive Egyptian tours allowed in... More >>
• Best Radio Morning Show
  KKDA-AM 104.5 (K104)
  Generally, we shy away from that which is popular. Popular movies, popular music, popular mayors--we give 'em all hell. But not when it comes to radio morning shows. The No. 1-rated show for years has been Skip Murphy and the Morning Team, and we think there's a damn fine reason for this: They... More >>
• Best Art Classes for Kids
  art-a-rama
  The credo here is that it is never too soon to encourage a child's artistic interests and abilities. Professionally taught, once-a-week classes are available for ages 2 to 15 in everything from pottery and watercolor to pastels, charcoal and acrylics--all in an atmosphere of fun. There are pizza... More >>
• Best Radio Talk Show
  The Glenn Mitchell Show
  We're not as down on the new breed of talk-jocks as one might think. Howard Stern is always worth a listen, but we prefer seeing his freak show on E! rather than listening to it. Russ Martin on KLLI-FM (105.3) is indeed talented, but his supporting cast drives us nuts. And some of the new folks... More >>
• Best Radio Station
  KHYI-FM 95.3 (The Range)
  The obvious joke is that you feel at home on The Range, but it's true. While other stations dip their toes in roots, rockabilly and Texas music, The Range has taken the full plunge from Day One. They play novelty country, swing, new traditionalists and old sentimentalists. They play Conway and... More >>
• Best TV News Anchor
  Tracy Rowlett, KTVT-TV Channel 11
  As you can tell, we don't have the utmost respect for anchors. They are newsreaders, as the Brits call them. It is a skill, sure, but it ain't journalism. That said, we've always respected Tracy Rowlett. Not just because he has hard-news chops, not because he's overly humble, but also because... More >>
• Best Council Babe
  Dr. Elba Garcia
  We're not dissing the mayor, who, back in the day, could get us all excited with a string of seven curse words. There was something about the dichotomy of her impeccable taste in clothing, her well-mannered air and her filthy mouth that set us tinglin'. Now that she's "mayoral" all the time, eh,... More >>
• Best Radio DJ
  Skip Cheatham, KKDA-FM (104.5)
  Skip Cheatham is one of those guys women want to be around and men want to be, a smooth-talking, slang-dropping fella with his finger on the pulse and his foot on the beat. While it's a 24/7 party at K104, it only hits its peak when Skip's behind the mike, whether he's spinning records or... More >>
• Best Sign That 93.3 FM is Cursed
  The Bone's ratings
  This spot on the radio dial is beginning to look like that stretch of real estate where nothing ever catches on, that place in Deep Ellum where one bar after another comes and goes, rarely sticking around for more than a few months. The Zone didn't work. Neither did The Merge. The Bone looked... More >>
• Best Place to See Dallas Musicians
  New York, apparently
  If you can make it here, well, you can probably do better elsewhere. Say, NYC, for instance. Ask Ben Kweller, Todd Deatherage, Corn Mo, the Secret Machines, Oceanographer (formerly Panda), N'Dambi and a handful of others, almost all of whom went on to bigger and brighter things once they ditched... More >>
• Best Government Agency
  Dallas Police Department
  Yeah, yeah, we know: the fake-drug scandal, the snit over salaries, turmoil at the top, demoralized troops, the crime rate. Why on earth would we name the Dallas Police Department the best government agency? Well, we haven't been shot, stabbed or otherwise assaulted in the past year, so that's a... More >>
• Best Political Moment
  Police Chief Terrell Bolton's firing
  What, was there another contender? Of course, Terrell Bolton's firing was the political moment. Shoot, if we had a category for best shoddy melodrama, we'd give Bolton's dismissal that one, too. (No, wait. That would be redundant.) So, what was your favorite part of the show? Bolton breaking... More >>
• Best Blog
  D magazine's FrontBurner
  This blog by the editors and friends of D magazine is snarky, youthful and vibrant. They discuss political, social, topical and spiritual subjects with an diversity of thought you don't find in the magazine. Not that we don't enjoy going online to find out what the "Top 472 Plastic Surgeons in... More >>
• Best Shoddy Legal Advice
  Dallas Police Department
  Over the summer, one of our writers was in a car accident. The woman driving the other vehicle was not only at fault, she was driving without insurance or a license. It's not that she had forgotten them; she didn't have them--period. To make matters more complicated, she didn't speak English.... More >>
• Best Late-Night Look-Back
  Midnights at the Inwood
  On Friday and Saturday nights, the Inwood Theatre takes us back. Back to a time when things were simpler, back before our childlike innocence went the way of the parachute pant. Well, actually, not that far back, but back nonetheless. With the weekly film series Midnights at the Inwood, the... More >>
• Best Daily Newspaper Columnist
  Ruben Navarrette
  Dallas Morning News op-ed columnist Ruben Navarrette, back for his second straight "best of," was just warming up in 2002. This year, he truly hit his stride. For the first time in memory, the News has a columnist who: A) has better things to write about than his home life; B) gravitates to... More >>
• Best TV News Show
  Monday Mornings With Mattie
  We've long contended that "television news" is an oxymoron. Yes, five nights a year a station reports something you haven't already read in a daily, weekly or monthly publication. But even the Rangers bullpen strikes out the side sometimes; that doesn't mean they're worth watching. No, our... More >>
• Best Lowbrow Museum
  American Airlines C.R. Smith Aviation Museum
  Art? Who needs art when you can look at planes? The American Airlines Aviation Museum is the kind of museum that is fun for everybody--even non-museum types. The museum has a variety of aviation-related displays from the airline's past. There is a flight simulator, a movie and even an old DC-3... More >>
• Best City Council Member
  Veletta Lill, District 14
  Veletta Lill's district is now sort of weird: After redistricting, it wound up cradling the Park Cities, taking in a lot of downtown, covering the part of East Dallas where all the refugees from the real Dallas live, then going way up north to the area around Lovers Lane and Greenville Avenue.... More >>
• Best Amateur Musical Theater
  Woodrow Wilson High School
  One of those strange little cultural artifacts of East Dallas, the spring musical production at "Woodrow" is a generations-old tradition. Parents start putting their kids through dance, voice and acting lessons while the kids are still in grade school to win them a place in the Woodrow musical.... More >>
• Best French Books About Dallas (the TV show)
  Dallas Books!
  Les Maitres de Dallas! Les Hommes de Dallas! Les Femmes de Dallas! Dallas! Tout Sur Dallas, avec plus de 50 photos. This site also offers an excellent stock of English books based on the very popular 1980s television series. This is your chance to sit around a nationally franchised coffee shop... More >>