Thomas the Tank Engine now qualifies for Social Security in addition to the sweet senior discount at Denny’s. The beloved children’s book icon is turning 65, but he isn’t retiring from the railroad anytime soon. He’s marking the milestone with a celebration tour that will stop at the Grapevine Vintage…

During the climactic final scene of Romeo and Juliet, its impossible not to hope that maybe just this once Juliet will awaken before Romeo downs a dram of poison. But the apothecary isn’t joking when he warns, if you had the strength of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight…

The Public Trust couldn’t have chosen a more socially aware title than The New Deal: A Group Exhibition for the latest opening at the Deep Ellum gallery. But this isn’t a collection of Depression-era work. The exhibit is a nod to the gallery’s past and a glimpse of its future,…

The thought of running stairs voluntarily makes me want to curl into the fetal position and cry for my mommy. Four years of running bleachers during high school basketball practices left me as conditioned as Pavlov’s dog. Not everyone is permanently scarred by a sadistic coach, though. The big daddy…

Fashionistas who can’t go to Fashion Week can get their fix in Dallas, where designer duds, from wedding gowns to plus-size styles, will roll down the runway this Thursday.The Pin Show, now in its third year, showcases the creations and talents of independently established designers, models, stylists, artists and photographers…

More than a few nights during our childhood, my sister and I were awakened by storm sirens. We would sit with our Barbies in the family’s first-floor bathroom as our father stood at the open front door, watching for tornadoes. The power of nature manifested in thunderstorms and tornadoes is…

“In sleep we lie all naked and alone, in sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness,” wrote novelist Thomas Wolfe. “And we are strange and beautiful asleep.” Dallas photographer Alicia Stepp-Woody, who professes a lifelong fascination with slumber, might agree. While She Sleeps, Stepp-Woody’s exhibition at…

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as the old saying goes. Whoever said that conveniently forgot to mention that really sincere imitation can be downright creepy, though. At the top of that list: fat, sweaty Elvises clad in white leather. Further down the list is Led Zeppelin 2, the…

Every comedy fan’s favorite whipping boy (besides Dane Cook) has to be Carlos Mencia. The Comedy Central alum has been accused of stealing material from several comedians over the years, but despite the accusations, Mencia still has traction. The formula of his lowbrow shtick is simple: make fun of pretty…

The Prince everyone will remember is the one immortalized in Purple Rain, the 1984 cult favorite that produced one of the best-selling soundtracks ever. The film sees Prince at the height of his ’80s glam phase: the poufy near-mullet, the purple suit, the dark eyeliner and the ruffled blouse (Dave…

My introduction to Texas country happened at Gruene Hall on a summer night many a moon ago. Cross Canadian Ragweed was there, as was Bruce Robison. Afterward, I wanted to buy Bruce’s CD, but by a very lucky mistake I bought his brother Charlie’s 2003 Live record instead. Charlie makes…

The themes of sacrifice and escape pulse through the heart of the classic of all classic films: Casablanca. The romanticism of sacrificing for love in the midst of war is narcotic, as is the tantalizing promise of escaping the ties that bind. There’s a whisper of everyone’s life in Casablanca…

There’s a certain charm to movies that are so bad they’re almost good. That’s true of Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space, dubbed the “Worst Movie of All Time.” The 1959 sci-fi/horror flick is, as a guy dressed in a tux dramatically intones before the opening credits, based on…

Nothing kills a movie faster than Paris Hilton. That’s why Repo! The Genetic Opera didn’t even make it onto my radar. But now that the rock opera is edging into Rocky Horror territory, it’s worth giving a second chance. Amber Does Dallas, an evolving local performance company, is performing a…

The thousands of runners who’ll be pounding the pavement at the Metro PCS Dallas White Rock Marathon this weekend can leave their iPods at home. A few dozen bands, including the hilariously named Fat Sandwich Band, will be turning out rock, country, pop and hip-hop tunes along the 26.2-mile marathon…

Even after all these years, it still stings that Steve Nash defected to the Phoenix Suns. But as a former denizen of Arizona, if there’s any other Western Conference team I’d even think about cheering for, it’d be the Suns. Not the Lakers and especially not the Spurs, thank you…

One Christmas, after begging my parents for months, a much-beleaguered Santa brought me a toy train set. My pride and joy was a Union Pacific locomotive that magically puffed real smoke (that unfortunately smelled like cooked carrots, much to my 10-year-old chagrin). The tracks wound through “Sweetwater,” a town with…

If your name is Clark Griswold, stay far, far away from The Old Red Museum until further notice. On display in the first floor special exhibits gallery are a dozen Christmas trees decorated by Dallas nonprofits. You can “vote” for your favorite by dropping a donation in a box near…

My mom, who grew up in Texas and spent summers in North Carolina and Georgia, considers herself well-versed in Southern cooking–or “cookin’,” as it’s called around here. I was in college before I realized that there was a special name–“Southern-style cooking”–for what my family whipped up all the time in…