TV execs have known for decades that the real broadcast jackpot is the competition show. Sure, we as viewers got sucked into the vortex that was first dominated by the sitcom and then replaced by the reality dramedy, but we’ve returned to the world of winners and losers with open…

Ask anyone in town and they’re sure to tell you that NorthPark is more than just a mall. Yes, there are the obligatory high-end stores and the much needed food court, but NorthPark is a scene unto its own, and it is home to some of the best artwork in…

There are a few childhood characters that people should never outgrow, and Curious George is most likely at the top of that list. The mischievous monkey and his adventures (along with the Man with the Yellow Hat’s awesome ability to fix every situation) have peppered our childhood memories for decades,…

Pre-season seems to exist for two reasons: to give the sports junkies a quick fix, and to give everyone a taste of what to expect from a team. Like an international friendly, a pre-season game gives a team automatic bragging rights in the case or a win, or an honest…

If you’re getting tired of the old “dinner and a movie” routine, then Fort Worth’s Stage West may have the perfect treat for you this weekend. They’ve recently started Prix Fixe Fridays, a special deal where you get admission to the current show and a meal (with dessert!) from the…

Sure, we love critics, but we love our word of mouth even more, and rumor (interwebs and otherwise) says that Mark Campbell’s Songs from an Unmade Bed is a pretty awesome…er, rather, a “must-see” this season. Not your “typical” musical, Songs from an Unmade Bed is the product of a…

Every year The Dallas Opera puts together a summer-long shindig to prep everyone for its upcoming season. This year’s Baritones & Beachballs will get local opera fans on course for the 2010-2011 season, Dangerous Desires, which will include a production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, the tale of everyone’s favorite…

As if the Magnolia Theatre weren’t art-house enough for you, it is also home to the Magnolia Bar Gallery, which constantly displays rotating exhibitions from some of Dallas’ best local artists. Whether you’re in the West Village to catch a movie or do some afternoon shopping, a stop at the…

Hot on the heels of the World Cup (surely you heard a little something about the biggest and best sporting competition in the world?), local fans of the sport, both new and old, are going to get a special treat. Several international superstars who participated in the Cup, including faves…

Generally speaking, my feelings about Melissa Etheridge lie somewhere between drinking a room temperature soda and being stuck watching a Two and a Half Men marathon–sure, I don’t care for them all that much, but often times my laziness outweighs their mediocrity and I’m stuck partaking in the aforementioned meh…

When your mom said not to play with your food, she certainly didn’t see the future of Spanish cuisine coming. Taking the enjoyment of food to a whole new level, Foodjects: Design and the New Cuisine in Spain is a display of more than 100 cooking and dining implements that…

Art Conspiracy, i.e. everyone’s favorite holiday splurge (“It’s for a good cause,” I rationalized after my fourth purchase last year), doesn’t take place until the cold month of December, but leave it to our local art conspirators to be proactive. In preparation for the awesomeness that is sure to be…

If a variety of local art is what you crave, then Conduit Gallery should be in your Rolodex of galleries to frequent on a regular basis. Often showcasing the works of artists from all over the state, Conduit’s exhibitions are as big and varied as the Lone Star State itself,…

There’s always been a debate about the merits of art school. Sure, you get the basics of technique in school, but can you actually teach talent? There’s plenty of cookie cutter student art out there–like the “political” collages of talking heads and mushroom clouds or the “modern” take on abstract…

In the beginning, the idea of Sarah Geronimo evoked in me the jaded cynic full of snark, but the tween in me (whose first concert was The Jets and who currently follows @DeborahGibson on Twitter) brought the smack down and rallied behind The Popstar Princess (her official title, FYI). Sure,…

Henry Cho freaks my stuff out. If you sit down to do the math, the man’s successful career shouldn’t make sense. Thankfully having no relation to Margaret Cho, the Korean-American comedian grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee (wha…?) and has the twang to prove it. He starred in would-be career killers…

You have to be a special kind of person to enjoy musicals, and by special I mean weird. I’m not knocking musicals, but there’s a certain amount of suspension of disbelief necessary to accept the workings of your standard musical, and Avenue Q is a perfect example. Only in the…

Contrary to what you may thing, “The Mexican Tsunami” is not the name of the newest WWE SmackDown personality, though it is still quite a force to be reckoned with. No, Sin Limite – The Mexican Tsunami, is actually a collaborative art installation piece by local artists Hugo Garcia Urrutia…

The Texas sun can be a beat down, and not just any old shrub or succulent can withstand its heat. That’s why the Dallas Arboretum’s Senior Director of Gardens, Jimmy Turner, is hosting “Lone Star Greats: Texas Tough Plants,” a class designed to show you the perfect plants for our…

These days, toys seem to fall into one of two categories: cheap pieces of plastic trendiness or overpriced geekery that never escapes its original packaging. Somewhere along the line, it seems like people have forgotten the greatness that is the toy, but luckily there’s something to remind us. In celebration…

Instrumentalists are a unique breed. Of course we have all played something once or twice at the prodding of our parents and band recruiters, and some of us thought that we were sure to rock the six-string as soon as we picked up a guitar. But, once we realized the…

Question: In what genre does “over 300,000 records sold” equal best-selling? Answer: kirtan and traditional chanting. Though there’s probably not that much in terms of competition in the world of professional yoga and chant music (as if the serenely enlightened would be in competition anyway), the king of chant has…