We don’t need to remind you that this year was terrible, because you’ve surely heard by now. In the spirit of giving thanks, let us focus on the positive so we can get back to planning on stuffing our faces with, well, stuffing. Through COVID deaths, unemployment, shutdowns and political…
Country music has had a tough year. With Lady Antebellum changing their name to Lady A, losses from COVID shutdowns, the death of country icons and backlash befalling critics of Dolly Parton for her support of the Black Lives Matter movement, 2020 naturally ended with a shit show known as the Country…
David Zoller, Dallas pianist and composer, died Monday morning at his home surrounded by family, his son Matt Zoller Seitz announced. Zoller, who was born in 1941, was revered for three generations for his jazz and piano compositions. His discography includes 3x4x, Snug Harbor and Love Song to a Genie…
Anyone who’s ever applied for a job might have taken one of those personality tests that confront takers with a hypothetical problem and solution and ask them to respond by choosing one or two words: “Agree. Disagree. Strongly agree. Strongly disagree.” The aim is to gauge the applicant’s assertiveness as…
In case you haven’t heard, Dallas voted for Joe Biden. So did other major Texas cities, such as Austin, El Paso, San Antonio and Houston. While most of the state was seeing red, Dallas was a little blue puddle in a sea of crimson, an oasis in a red desert,…
Yella Beezy will be making an appearance at Friendship-West Baptist Church in southern Dallas on Election Day, in an effort to entice young voters to cast their ballots. The hip-hop artist, who has millions of streams with singles such as “Headlocc (feat. Young Thug)” and “Restroom Occupied” with Chris Brown,…
California band Trapt, best remembered for their alt-metal hit “Headstrong” and now known as a band whose slogan is “Make America great again,” are having a MAGA meltdown on Twitter after their Dallas show was canceled. In March, the band cooked up Twitter beef with Dallas metal band Power Trip…
2020 has challenged everything we knew to be good and constant about the world, so let us do our part in restoring a sense of comforting continuity: the Dallas Observer Music Awards will take place this year. Before your imagination runs wild, know we won’t try to Flaming Lips it…
For most of us, a to-do list represents a series of daunting errands, everyday chores and endless cycles of grocery shopping. Dale Blasingame has more exciting tasks to cross off his list: getting to know every part of the country through its national parks. Blasingame’s love of parks is greater…
Fox Nation host and right wing puppet Tomi Lahren has made an entire career out of queefing out controversial statements seldom rooted in any logic. The (unfortunately) Dallas local has been an outspoken critic of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee and the Black Lives Matter movement —…
Frank Mendez, a Corpus Christi actor and one-time Dallas resident, died on Sunday. He was 57. Mendez is best remembered for a memorable scene in the 1997 biopic Selena, as the character credited as “Second Cholo.” During a scene from the film, when the singer’s bus gets stuck on the…
There’s something satisfyingly clandestine about looking for art in a dark downtown parking garage. Inevitably, dark parking lots conjure a sinister image of suspenseful possibilities; they recall Bob Woodward’s meetings with Deep Throat, any bad-guy scene in a suspense movie and a number of real life attacks. Venturing into a…
The suburb of Watauga now has something to “boast” about: It has the only Trump store in DFW. Owner Mary Talley has a background in entertainment as an owner and operator of carnival rides; when COVID hit and the State Fair of Texas and other fairs were canceled, she started…
Sometimes a picture is really worth a thousand words. The best words. The bigliest words. The yugest. A photo of side-by-side homes in East Dallas’ Lower Greenville neighborhood went viral last week for its display of political rivalry. One of the adjoining duplexes has banners supporting the Trump campaign, and…
Most venues are trying their best, and some are even doing it right. Still, the words “COVID safety and precautions” have become the new “thoughts and prayers”; they may be filled with good intentions, but the practical results amount to a placebo effect at best. Any weekend drive-by glance around…
In a battle of political slogans, critics of the Black Lives Matter movement often come back with their own version: Blue Lives Matter. But blue lives don’t matter, Dallas punk band Sub-Sahara wants to make clear with its song “13-12,” which was released in late July. “1312” is derived from…
Danni James and Kris Williams grew up in the same Fort Worth neighborhood and never knew it. When the musicians finally met 10 years ago in their 20s, they had a lot of play time to make up for. Like most meaningful modern relationships whether romantic or professional, the pair…
Some hotels are more accessible than others, but our lodging options are usually restricted by our budgets. One hotel in Dallas, however, is soon to become uber-exclusive, and your money won’t be getting you in. The hotel will cater only to the 2 percent: only Dallas County residents who have…
Longtime sports radio talk show host Norm Hitzges announced Thursday that he’s being treated for bladder cancer. Hitzges, 76, made the announcement on his show Norm and D Invasion, which he co-hosts with Donovan Lewis on 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket. Bladder cancer is a rare form of the disease…
Nick Metzger is a local business owner, a part-time DJ, and a self-described “vintage audio enthusiast.” About eight months ago, he put up an ad describing some items he was looking to buy: “Reel-to-reel players, tapes and other vintage hi-fi gear,” he remembers, though he doesn’t recall whether it was…
Trini Lopez, a music and film icon of the 1960s, died of COVID-19 complications on Tuesday. He was 83. Lopez was born in Dallas on May 13, 1937, and spent his early years in what we now call “Uptown,” then known as “Little Mexico.” “It was a Mexican and Black…
Dallas museums have tried their hardest to keep us entertained (and, above all, cultured) while we ride out the pandemic at home. For months, most major local institutions have adjusted their content to offer virtual tours and other online programming, so we can only blame ourselves for spending most of…
