Is your vinyl collection more Munny than Mudhoney, more Kid Robot than Kid A? Do you relish the thought of tearing through generic boxes (and your checking account) in hopes of a one-in-a-million variant? Then this, vinyl toy aficionado, is your holy grail: the Vinyl Thoughts Art Show from 7…

Biology dictates that small children, particularly those ages 2 to 4, are just not good people. They can be sweet, sure, but they deploy that only strategically and in private. In public, there are fits and lapsed “inside voices” and the total inability to just sit in a chair and…

Dallas benefactor Algur H. Meadow found himself at a Spanish museum during a business trip in the 1950s, and it changed everything for him. Story has it, he fell in love with the Prado Museum and with the works contained within it, and decided to open his own “Prado on…

Long before Cindy Sherman, that gender-bending, class-blurring, social-hierarchy smashing doyenne of dress-up photography, there was Hannah Cullwick. Cullwick was a maid in Victorian England who, along with her employer/boyfriend/dominant Arthur Munby, produced a series of photographs that totally out-Sherman good ol’ Cindy. Cullwick is photographed as a chimney sweep, a…

Talk about bang for your buck: Where most theater treats you to one solid piece of play writing, Kiss Me Kate gives you layers of it. The Cole Porter masterpiece takes on two separate but kind of intertwined romances, a dose of ’40s-era gangster drama and an entire Shakespeare production…

If you’ve ever driven that stretch of Interstate 35 just south of Dallas and been floored that the miles of green pastures and wooded areas that lined the highway just a decade ago are now a perpetual tract of retail and restaurant and storage units, you’ll appreciate Debora Hunter’s exhibition…

The circus left town a few weeks ago and you’re still whistling “Entrance of the Gladiators.” Maybe you’re thinking about chucking it all and heading for clown college: Elephant training seems preferable to cubicle dwelling, and flying trapezes sound way less treacherous than the office gossip mill. It’s tempting. Then…

Many moons ago, my friends and I — having long since burned through all of the Studio Ghibli offerings—found an ad on the back of a newspaper for a place that promised a large selection of anime titles. When we arrived at the windowless building just outside the city limits,…

Maybe bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens aren’t your bag, but you totally get what that Von Trapp broad was on about: Surround yourself with little bits of beauty to ward off the big uglies in life. Enjoy moments in the sun with family and friends, immerse yourself in…

This ain’t your mother’s charity event. No ladies lunching or cakewalks here. Instead, expect a lotta leg, a ton of tassels and a glut of glitter at the Lollie Bombs Burlesque Fourth Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Show at Pocket Sandwich Theatre, 5400 W. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 119. At 11:15 p.m…

Our city’s skyline is modest by big city standards — a concentrated cluster, for sure, but it packs an iconic punch. There’s no mistaking that you’re home when you see Reunion Tower’s big glowing ball or the stately lights of the Arts District — it’s a silhouette that comforts and…

You know what sucks about the State Fair? OK, nothing. Nothing at all. Except that it doesn’t start for more than a month. But fortunately, our good friends in the northern hamlet of Denton can patch up the fried hors d’oeuvre-sized holes in our hearts — at least for a…

They say that all you need is love. They sound pretty sure about that, and we have to hope it’s true — because Dallas residents will need a lot of the stuff to get through the cavalcade of media attention focused on our fair city during the 50th anniversary of…

If I told you that there was a play that captured a cultural zeitgeist so perfectly, that it keenly married issues of sexuality, immigration and cultural identity, you’d be intrigued, right? And what if I told you it was written 20 years ago? Skeptical? You shouldn’t be. Guillermo Reyes’ masterful…

We take our chills when we can get them in the summer months: snow cones, the air-conditioned confines of we-don’t-even-care-where, and blood-curdling moments on the big screen. I’ll argue that the spate of summer slasher pics don’t quite accomplish that, though — nobody feels cool after 90 minutes of anxiety-feeding…

The Dumpster pool is perhaps the most brilliant of brilliant summer ingenuities. Co-opting a fire hydrant for a little cool-down action has moxie, you understand, but only until a truckload of pissed-off firemen arrive. But a pool that bypasses all manner of construction equipment to bring you a deep, shimmering…

This isn’t your first go-round under the big top, so you probably think you know what to expect. Popcorn, peanuts, thrills, chills, etc., right? Well, right. But Universoul Circus adds a whole new dimension of spectacle to the circus experience with this hip-hopping, vaudevillian event full of acrobatics, exotic animals,…

If you don’t know what people mean when they say “dress for success,” you need to have lunch in downtown Dallas sometime. Sit on a patio and watch the people stream from those tall buildings in power suits and 3-inch executive heels and the entire inventory of Ann Taylor. For…

This summer has been largely bereft of quality action flicks. We had our usual apocalyptic entries, the predictable superhero flicks, but nothing so far that just took our breath away. And it’s not like those are super hard to do, Hollywood. Good adventure stories have practically been around since the…

If you wanted to make this your summer of culture, to take advantage of all the art and theater and music that this city has to offer, you’ve had ample opportunity thus far. And if you’ve wanted to do it on the cheap, well, this season was practically made for…

The demise of the bookstore is a well-trodden topic, but it’s still a jarring reality. Few bookstores remain, corporate or independent, and though they can’t compete with the instant gratification that digital downloads allow us, we still like being there. We love seeing “staff picks” and thumbing through pages, or…

As much as we complain about Texas summers, we secretly love them. The sticky, hot nights bring their share of mosquitoes and stunning utility bills but their charms come in spades — soaks in the pool, barbecues, cold drinks and sizzling social soirees filled with loquacious party people like you’ll…