Daniel Rodrigue

Tabula Rasa, the Chemistry Set, Sunward

Saturday, August 25 at Dada

A Saturday Night Underground

There, next to the Rio Room dumpster, was one of clubs well-suited security men, manned with a velvet rope and a flashlight. The beautiful people were in Rio's front room, but Saturday night another set of Dallas misfits were making their way down the stairs into that glow-in-the-dark basement. Th ... More >>

This South Padre Island Spring Break Beating Left a Brookhaven Student in the ICU (Video)

Our friend Daniel Rodrigue, once a writer here and now a journalism teacher at DCCCD's Brookhaven College, sent word this morning that one of his students, Derek Madrigal, was the victim of a vicious beating on the beaches of South Padre Island over spring break. The story is popping up in the media ... More >>

Photos From 35 Denton: The Jesus and Mary Chain and Ty Segall

The Rest of the Fest: One Last Look Back at 35 Denton

It was four days facing the elements: Wind, rain, solar flares and, on Saturday night, slime. In between, there were late-night basement dance parties, close calls with golf carts, mysterious bruises, random introductions and the chance to catch music at every turn. 35 Denton feels like what SXSW p ... More >>

Thursday's 35 Denton Review: Cold Winds, Diamond Age and OM's Drone Revue

See also: The Thursday night fans . "Holy fuck it's cold" was a common refrain last night, the first night of 35 Denton, as temperatures dipped into the 40s and winds whipped at our faces indiscriminately. There weren't a whole lot of people on the square, which could be chalked up to that dip, or ... More >>

The Ghosts of Saturday Night: Man or Astro-man? Live From Sons of Hermann Hall

Daniel Rodrigue​ Man or Astro-man? Sons of Hermann Hall Saturday, December 17, 2011 Better than: Having amoebas eat through your brain. A snippet of conversation overheard before the Man or Astro-man? show: "I'm really freaked out about Neti pots right now." "Why?" "Well, I read this sto ... More >>

Oddfellows Hosts Texas Coffee School's "Coffee Cupping"

Daniel Rodrigue​On Friday afternoon, about 45 folks packed into Oddfellows in Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District for one of Texas Coffee School's "coffee cupping" events lead by the school's founder Tom Vincent. Much like a wine, beer, scotch or cheese tastings, the coffee-cupping classes teach ja ... More >>

Dallas Area Rapid Transit's Towing Buses and Trying to "Unstick" Light Rail

Daniel Rodrigue​Dallas Area Rapid Transit has suspended most of its light-rail service due to ice and wind. There is this update, though: "We are operating 4 trains on the Trinity Railway Express this morning instead of the usual 6. We are trying to operate trains out of Union and T&P about ev ... More >>

Watch: Datahowler's "Prophet" Scores Some Nice Extreme Sports Photography

Gloria LevarioDatahowler​This past weekend, Datahowler, the chilled-out identity of Frisco's Ross Edman, made his live debut at Club Dada's New Year's Eve Do-Over Party -- and our Daniel Rodrigue came away quite impressed with what he saw from this young performer. Can't say that this much is too ... More >>

Mercantile Coffee House Brings Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee To Downtown

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​It's funny how fast word travels around town when a new coffee shop opens its doors. No sooner had Roasted heard about Mercantile Coffee House than people were telling us -- or asking us -- about it left and right. The coffee shop, located downtown a stone's throw from M ... More >>

Get Your Hot Coppa On Tonight With Eatzi's "Pizza Night"

Daniel RodrigueEach Thursday evening, empty pizza boxes line both sides of the Oak Lawn Eatzi's entrance. ​Pizza Patron and Little Ceasars may have the market cornered when it comes to the whole hot-and-ready-to-go-pizza-pie thing, but those chains' pies don't hold a caper to the savory pizzas yo ... More >>

Zaguán Latin Café & Bakery's Known For Food, But The Coffee's Damn Good Too

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​This morning, after hearing very good things about the coffee and espresso at Zaguán Latin Café & Bakery from several of the folks around the bullpen at Observer HQ who regularly visit the establishment, Roasted finally headed across the street for an early-morning ... More >>

It's A Grind Coffee House Still Grinding Away, Banking On The Green Line

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​Yes, It's A Grind Coffee House is a real coffee franchise and not just a fake coffee shop where the drones on Weeds grab their morning cup to go. But, until this morning, Roasted had yet to visit the It's A Grind in Deep Ellum. Despite having heard from friends and co-wor ... More >>

When It's Too Hot Out For Coffee, Just Grab Buli's Naughty Toddy

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​Not everybody had a Memorial Day spent reveling in work-free, care-free bliss; for many of us the holiday was pretty close to the same ol' daily grind. And, not naming names, but a handful of us showed up at Observer HQ on Monday. By noon, Roasted had already finished off ... More >>

Black Forest Bakery and Black Forest Coffee: A Tale of Two Cups

Daniel Rodrigue​After an early pre-breakfast trip on Saturday to the behemoth that is Northwest Highway Half Price Books, Roasted couldn't resist walking across the street to Henk's European Deli & Black Forest Bakery. It was just after 9, and the tables in the quaint restaurant/bakery/deli an ... More >>

Giveaway: Two Pairs of Tickets to Tonight's of Montreal Show at The Granada Theater

In this week's paper, Daniel Rodrigue catches up with founding of Montreal member Bryan Poole and gets to the nitty gritty of the band's dynamics behind enigmatic frontman Kevin Barnes."It's not a normal band now," Poole concedes. "It's not a democratically creative band. It's Kevin's band. They're ... More >>

Jubilee Park Residents Tell DISD Board They Won't Leave Homes Without a Fight

Daniel Rodrigue​As promised, some 70 protesters marched the sidewalks around Dallas Independent School District's Ross Avenue HQ in advance of last night's board meeting. The group of men, women and children -- most of whom donned white shirts in a show of solidarity -- showed up to oppose the dis ... More >>

Corner Market Offers More Than Just Food and Flowers--Free Coffee Refills

Photos By Daniel Rodrigue​Until this weekend, Roasted had come to associate the Corner Market with two things: food and flowers. For whatever reason--despite the fact that we had ordered flowers, food and coffee on several occasions in the past and despite living in the Lower Greenville area--Roa ... More >>

So, About Those Other Downtown Trees They're Chopping Down Right Now ...

Daniel Rodrigue​After yesterday's dust-up over the weekend removal of trees at Elm and North Harwood Streets, a few downtown-dwelling Friends of Unfair Park are a bit skittish. Hence, the myriad what-the-what e-mails we've received over the past hour asking about the removal of eight elm trees on ... More >>

Murray Street Closure Slows Business, Not Service, at Murray Street Coffee Shop

Daniel Rodrigue​ Monday morning, business was far from usual for the baristas and patrons of Murray Street Coffee Shop. Seems there's nothing quite like a police-enforced road closure and a crew of 200 folks filming a Jerry Bruckheimer-backed pilot in the neighborhood to put a damper on the day-to ... More >>

Progress Dallas Says Let's Get Wet and Spend the 10 Million Bucks in Extra Tax Dough on Fixing Potholes

Daniel Rodrigue​Today, in the foyer of the Kroger at 5665 E. Mockingbird Lane, Progress Dallas officially launched its effort to collect the 68,846 signatures needed to call a local option election giving residents the chance to vote for the elimination the dry areas of Dallas, as well as endi ... More >>

NX35 Is Starting Right About... Now.

​Right about... well, right now, actually, the very first event of the second annual NX35 Conferette is underway--a discussion about the DFW art scene and its future. As for me? Well, I'm hitting the road right now to head up to the conferette's second event this weekend, a panel in which TXA 21's ... More >>

If Opening Bell Keeps Giving Away the Free Stuff, Might as Well Sell Your Coffee Futures

Daniel Rodrigue​There's nothing like a dreary Monday to get the week off to a drowsy, snail's pace start. And, with weather like this, Roasted knows it's gonna take a cup of coffee, or four, just to make it through 'til the whistle blows. So, it's always nice when the first steaming-hot cup of th ... More >>

The Pearl Cup Celebrates One Year Serving Up Choice Espresso on Henderson

Photos by Daniel RodrigueInside Pearl Cup on Saturday, where there's usually more room to stand.​On a bitter-cold Sunday afternoon, when a bad case of the drags and the more-errands-to-run blues has Roasted feeling down, there's no elixir that can jazz us up quite like a double dose of straight es ... More >>

Roasted: Our Take On Dallas Coffee Culture, Starting With Drip Coffee's Fine Morning Brew

Photos by Daniel RodrigueActual coffee. Because sometimes the virtual kind just isn't enough to get you going.Wake up Dallas and smell the coffee. Oh, that hot, cup of pluck--it's just what we need to get the heart racing and the morning going in one wired adrenal-pumping shot. Though, honestly, tod ... More >>

NX35's 2010 Keynote Speaker: Steve Albini

​Just last week, Daniel Rodrigue caught up with NX35 festival organizer Chris Flemmons to see how things were going as preparations for year two of the pre-SXSW fest began.Today, some news to report on that front: On its festival blog, NX35 has just announced the keynote speaker for its 2010 go-'r ... More >>

Dallas Observer Music Awards

NX35 Announces Festival Performance, Speaker Schedule

Over at NX35.com, which is, fittingly, the home page for the inaugural Denton debut of the former North by 35 South by Southwest day party--but on a much larger scale--the festival's organizers have released the performance and speaker schedules for its four-day jaunt around the Denton Square. Noth ... More >>

Poster Of The Week: Lumberjack V

This week's pick is a bit anticlimactic, I'll admit. We already ran the poster on Tuesday, in Daniel Rodrigue's post about the Spitfire Tumbleweeds' final (or is it???) show. But nothing else really grabbed my attention the way this stark, subtly spooky image did. Plus, it does a good job of capturi ... More >>

In the Bishop Arts District Last Night, Cautious Optimism Gave Way to Joy

Waste Management Issues at a Texas Stadium Demon-Burning Festival? Seriously, Who Saw That Coming?

Send Lawyers, Guns and Money (And Drugs, Lots of Drugs)

So You Know: There's Some Local Connections To Tonight's Show At The Lounge

Matt Bauer Moves Islands In Storms. Also, A Giveaway!

Would-Be Dropouts Can Expect a Phone Call from Mayor Tom Today at 3

They Cut Heads, Mayor Tom's Included

Just Wait Your Turn, Kids. The Mayor's Getting His Picture Taken.

Last Night, Larry McMurtry Was All Booked Up at the Nasher

Decadence, Thy Name is Stoneleigh

Woodbine to Get Convention Center Hotel Deal This A.M. (OK, Maybe)

Tattoo You (And You and You and You and You and You and You and You...)

Weekend Roundup: The Cure, French Kicks, Frightened Rabbits, Calhoun

Saturday We're in Love ... With The Cure at the American Airlines Center!

Aural Ambush: The French Kicks

Aural Ambush: What Made Milwaukee Famous' "Sultan"

The Dork Knight Returns

Just Who Were All Those Clowns at NorthPark Last Night, Anyway?

Denton Arts & Jazz Fest Looks Like It Was A Ton Of Fun, Huh?