Dallas sees dozens of Independence Day celebrations with the traditional patriotic parades, family cookouts and fireworks shows every summer. Throughout the season there are also countless opportunities to experience less familiar celebrations that some of us have yet to branch out and try. Of course, we’re not saying you should…

Ever since Al Gore’s little PowerPoint presentation turned up in movie theaters last year, being environmentally conscious is what’s hot. And, while I’m usually skeptical of Hollywood hipster trends, this is one bandwagon I’d like to ride. Luckily, the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas feels the same way. For…

Sure, some wines relax you and put you in the mood for solo piano music and candles, but sometimes you sip a fruity Australian Riesling and you just have to rock out. In that case, what you need is a taste of Urbano Restaurant & Paninoteca’s Rock and Roll Wine…

Every Sunday for the past few weeks, I’ve watched episodes of Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel. And in addition to introducing me to cave worms that glow like twinkle lights and a bird that transforms into a smiley face during its mating dance, the series reminds me about the…

I think my all-time favorite Elvis Presley song has to be “In the Ghetto.” It strikes a chord with me not because it’s a sentimental piece with a heartfelt message, but because it’s totally hilarious. My favorite part is the line where songwriter Mac Davis rhymed “runny nose” with “cold…

Usually, when error messages or pop-ups have a field day with my computer, I freak out. But while visiting one of the many Web sites for JODI, a collective of two new media artists, I learned that sometimes the sight of 1,000 pop-ups dancing across your screen is considered…art. The…

Having sat through more than my fair share of performances of The Nutcracker, I can think of a few things that would make the ballet more interesting. For one, if Mother Ginger hid something more exciting under her skirt (like, say, cougars), it might spice things up a bit. But…

If you had to be trapped on a desert island with one of the Food Network chefs, whom would you choose? It’s a tough decision, I know. Rachael Ray is definitely out, because perpetual cheerfulness probably gets old very quickly when you’re staring death in the face. And you certainly…

Easter’s here, and kids everywhere are peeing their pants thinking about all the Peeps they’re gonna eat. But in Dallas, Easter is about more than just candy—it means the arrival of the annual Easter in the Park event, where we get to enjoy a free Dallas Symphony Orchestra concert and…

You can probably think of at least 99 reasons why “99 Red Balloons” is not the greatest song ever written, but that might be precisely the point of the new show opening Saturday at the artist-run 500X Gallery. “99 Red Balloons” Was the Greatest Song Ever Written showcases the art…

I read Kerouac’s On the Road a few months back, and, yes, after turning the last page, I desperately wanted to do what everybody who reads the book wants to do: set out on a magical journey of self-exploration that takes you back and forth in a drunken zig-zag across…

Lord of the Fries! Tropic of Scalloped Corn! The Chicken on the Rye! Let’s face it—reading ain’t easy, and you can work up quite an appetite trying to get through the latest book Oprah told you to read. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have your prose and eat…

How come nothing truly awesome gets invented anymore? When do we get the goods? What we really need are TVs that spit stuff out. Remember in Tommy, the rock opera, when the TV gives that lady free samples of all the products being advertised? I want that! But we have…

Any kid can be a soccer player or a violin prodigy. I was special. I was a nearsighted ballerina. I never wore my glasses when I performed, for fear they’d go flying and render a fellow wood nymph unconscious. So I danced blind, never knowing when another dancer would appear…

When my father was a little boy, he liked to eat. A lot. His baby sitter had a peach orchard in her backyard, and he once ate two dozen peaches in one sitting. This decadent feast was inevitably followed by a nasty stomachache, and to this day, if my dad…

I usually hate when people say, “Well, now I’ve seen everything,” because that’s just preposterous. There’s simply no way you could have seen every single thing in the world, you lying liar. But now that I’ve seen that video of the late Anna Nicole Smith in clown makeup, talking baby…

I love The Wizard of Oz. I love sparkly shoes and friendly lions and houses that fall on people you don’t like. There is one scene I despise, however: I hate the part where Dorothy’s neighbor tries to take Toto away. I mean, I’ve had bad neighbors before, with screaming…

I wasn’t alive in the 1800s, but I’ve seen re-enactments on PBS where people dress funny and aren’t allowed Internet access, and it doesn’t look like fun to me. And yet, the folks at Dallas Heritage Village found a way to make kids love that magical time before videogames. How,…

As a kid, when I first heard of The Vagina Monologues, I assumed what any reasonable person would: that the show features people dancing around in costumes that resemble female sex organs. Perhaps, I thought, the performance has a kick-line or two, with big musical numbers and fireworks during the…

Whether the phrase makes you think of the 1978 film with Brooke Shields as a child prostitute or a brilliant but creepy Cursive song, “pretty baby” always seems to refer to a loss of innocence in childhood. However, the works in the new Pretty Baby exhibit at the Modern Art…

If you’ve ever been in love, had your heart broken or suffered a major crush on that scruffy Starbucks barista, you’ll relate to at least one of the many stories in the romantic musical comedy Adventures in Love. See it with your valentine this weekend at the Flower Mound Performing…

One of the first albums I ever knew by heart was Joe Ely’s Love and Danger. My parents used to play the cassette in the car nonstop, and the whole family loved it. As a seasoned Ely fan, it was a treat when I recently saw the documentary Lubbock Lights,…