The MAC (3120 McKinney Ave.) launches its latest and greatest Friday evening in a two-show 2013 opener. In the main space, celebrate 20 years of subversive collage with work by A&M Commerce School’s painting professor and Director of Studio Art Graduate Studies, Micheal Miller. Just how influential has Miller been…
The original Ballets Russes company performance of Rite of Spring is one of the most fascinating stories in music history. Whether it was Igor Stravinsky’s score or the accompanying choreography that instigated the rioting crowd is still something of a debate. Most likely, it was the combination of the two…
GIF by Shebuscus As internet-based forms of communication gain popular traction, they naturally find their way into contemporary art’s dialogue. It’s technological symbiosis. While they’ve been around for 25 years, just in the last few GIFs have dominated our screens and galleries. The avalanche of choppy motion is versatile and…
— Quick question: How is Austin’s only soul/funk band completely dedicated to foot worship, Foot Patrol, NOT playing this party? Somebody make a call, please.– Sure, it’s a niche fetish, but that won’t stop Footnight Dallas from rubbing its freshly scrubbed toes all over this city’s face on Tuesday, January…
When pirates began invading ships and taking hostages off the coast of Somalia, it was world news. We heard daily about these ransoms and the rather archaic seeming bandits responsible for the acts. Really, pirates? In this day and age? What we heard little about was why these Somali people…
“I think Mars is boring,” says Robert Ballard. The deep sea explorer is working as we talk. He’s also planning his anniversary dinner and looking at a very bold male cardinal who’s perched outside of his window – a brilliant burst of crimson life against his stark gray Connecticut winter…
While most of us couldn’t find enough pants to properly negate Sunday’s chill, one brazen posse took the road less clothed to endure a day-long celebration of partial nudity meets public transport. It was the 2013 No Pants Subway Ride, and our photographer Stephan Masker was on hand to capture…
It was a crushing ordeal to watch. Just as it seemed that everything was aligning for Jan Brady Lady Edith Crawley, wide-eyed goofball, early-bird dining enthusiast and longtime Bell’s palsy sufferer (unconfirmed) Sir Anthony Strallan abandoned her at the alter. In effort to remove all visible wedding evidence after the…
Tuesday Night Trash, we salute you. The Observer awarded Tuesday Night Trash Best Cheap Date in 2012, so we’re all a little (read: very) crushed to see it go. The program was a free, weekly adventure into the depths of poor taste, think video’s equivalent to those freaky 10-foot worms…
Well Dallas, it’s time to shake out your joints and do some deep lunges — you don’t want to sprain anything during Saturday night’s flood of first looks. Yep, it’s a big night for the Design District, and everyone’s flexing their favorite talent to kick off 2013 after a sleepy…
Comic, playwright, one-man funny train set to full speed: Mike Birbiglia is in town on Saturday. Dallas, you looked so precious as you slept through the holidays — I couldn’t bear to wake you. But it’s clear that someone ripped the blankets off, because this weekend is like a toddler…
When pirates began invading ships and taking hostages in the seas surrounding Somalia, it was world news. We heard daily about these hostages and ransoms and the rather archaic seeming bandits responsible for the acts. What we heard little about was why these Somali people suddenly began hijacking giant vessels…
In Dallas, the closing out of the holidays is accompanied by an artful renewal. Saturday evening, nearly every CADD Gallery in town presents its fresh collection of seasonal work. Here’s a quick guide to a few favorites from that massive list, and visit Mixmaster, the Dallas Observer’s art and culture…
It still feels like one day his fame simply arrived, and when it happened, we all knew. Since that day, the “This American Life” contributor, author, actor, director and — oh yeah, comedian — Mike Birbiglia has only gained more notoriety. His book Sleepwalk With Me & Other Painfully True…
It has been speculated that Neil Hamburger was first brought to popular attention when the comedian’s body was discovered frozen in an Atlantic City dumpster. He was, of course, thawed and wrung-out, then rapidly educated in the last 40 years of pop culture. But Hamburger has little love for these…
There was a corridor of time when Cuba’s potential felt unlimited. Revolution brought power, and — at least for a while — it seemed like everyone would get a slice. Castro had some big ideas about how to make that happen, but one of his grandest involved a golf course,…
Creative collaboration comes naturally to Austere Magazine’s co-owners Natasha Stoked and Nikki Crouse. Friends since childhood, the pair knew early on that they wanted to convey ideas as a profession. So while others piddled away their formative years, the future business partners spent theirs experimenting with Photoshop and developing a…
Some will tell you that comedian Neil Hamburger wasn’t born in a traditional sense, that he instead materialized in the coat check of mid-scale pizza parlor off the I-30 frontage road in Atlantic City. Hamburger speaks in a collective “we,” and whether he’s including his phantom “management,” adoring fans or…
Because a news reporting bird, hamsters in a blimp, a kitten halftime show and 63 puppies hadn’t been adorable enough to initiate world peace, Animal Planet announced a new addition to its roster yesterday: a “squadron of cheerleading hedgehogs.” They’ll take the field for the main event from 3 to…
Va-va-voom! Those gutsy dames of Viva Dallas Burlesque were back at it on Friday night at Dallas’ Lakewood Theater. Performers Iris Le’Mour, Miss Malicious, Ruby Joule, Coco Lectric, Angi B Lovely, Blaze and Donna Denise peacocked their glitziest feathers at Burlesque Royalty, a show that would make any king blush…
You know the back of his head better than the front. That’s because Joel Hodgson is the human creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000. For six years he served as camp cinema’s whistleblower, pelting verbal tomatoes at sacrificial B and C genre films with assists by snarky robot sidekicks. Now…
Should we blame a script oversight or shoddy editing for our collective emotional blue balls? It’s a question Downton Abbey fans are asking themselves after being left at the alter midway through the season three premiere. After two years of following Mary and Cousin Matthew’s dramatic push and pull, we…
