2009 marks the 24th year of Fort Worth’s art/food/music/film/good times fest, the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival. Art Fair SourceBook recently called the annual event the No. 3 fine arts festival in the nation, and with one glance at this year’s lineup, it’s easy to see why. The festival…

I was watching Animal Planet the other day when this show called Cats 101 came on. It was a segment about short-haired Orientals, and it focused on a woman with a 10-year-old autistic son, whose life was drastically changed through animal therapy with their two Oriental cats. Before they got…

Natalie Portman is smart. You gotta give her that. She went to Harvard, got straight A’s, etc. But sometimes that chick confuses me. For instance, in the movie Closer (2004), she played a petite stripper who, get this, didn’t strip. No nudity whatsoever. But then in Wes Anderson’s 2007 short…

Road trips are usually seen as some kind of party-on-wheels for the young folks, with crazy driving and lots of stops for hard partyin’. But, behind all that, there lies something deeper in the undertaking of such a journey. It’s a sense that, whatever you may encounter or discover on…

Road trips are usually seen as some kind of party-on-wheels for the young folks, with crazy driving and lots of stops for hard partyin’. But, behind all that, there lies something deeper in the undertaking of such a journey. It’s a sense that, whatever you may encounter or discover on…

Every so often, the masterminds over at Disney come up with a new game plan, and no matter how crazy the newest idea might be, it always seems to work. In my day, Disney was all about the animated films based on classic fairy tales, and that stuff had every…

If someone told you they were going to give you the golden palm, wouldn’t you think you were about to receive some kind of awesome high-five? Maybe even from a king or the Dalai Lama or something? I sure would. But, alas, no, it turns out the Golden Palm (or…

I like how kids always name their toys based on what they are. They call their dolls Dolly, a stuffed horse becomes Horsey and plastic dump trucks are lovingly known as Dumpy. That’s why kids will feel right at home in the audience at Sesame Street Live: Elmo’s Green Thumb,…

I’m not quite an expert on ballroom dance. My credentials are as follows: A) I’ve seen several episodes of Dancing With the Stars and B) a friend of a friend used to compete in ballroom dancing competitions 10 years ago. And yet, despite my lack of experience or research on…

As metalheads and indie rock kids alike can no doubt attest, a show’s opening act can make or break the whole affair. That first performer sets the mood and gets the fans pumped for what’s to come, and if they don’t mesh with the headliner, it can make for a…

Most of us are pretty familiar with the ancient Greek, Roman and Phoenician societies, but I can’t for the life of me remember learning anything in school about the mighty Etruscans. If you, too, are drawing a blank about these ancient peeps, consider checking out From the Temple and the…

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, there’s a scene toward the end in which the main character, Dave, is flying through space in a pod, encountering one strange, brightly colored landscape after another. There are no signs of human life, and the scenery seems vaguely earthlike but also very alien, which…

Because Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the Japanese New Year is celebrated on January 1, which, of course, happened a while ago. But if you were too busy sipping Champagne and watching the ball drop to think about celebrating the end of 2008 with Japanese traditions, this is…

As American citizens, and therefore privileged, spoiled jerks, most of us have never been harassed or heavily questioned at a border security checkpoint. The closest we’ve ever gotten to that kind of tomfoolery is watching Children of Men and realizing, oh, man, that would suck to be treated like total…

Not to be crude or anything, but usually when someone talks about “New Year’s runs,” I can only assume they mean they ate too much brie at a party on New Year’s Eve. But apparently if you wake up on January 1 and by some miracle feel refreshed and ready…

Not to be crude or anything, but usually when someone talks about “New Year’s runs,” I can only assume they mean they ate too much brie at a party on New Year’s Eve. But apparently if you wake up on January 1 and by some miracle feel refreshed and ready…

Remember when Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was the coolest game ever? They used to let kids play it at school because teachers thought it was educational. Ha! It wasn’t about education! It was about being a spy! The mission was simple: Track down the world’s most notorious…

And now for a bonus question: what do Lisa Leslie, arguably one of the greatest female basketball players ever, and Michael Lockwood, a controversial first-time author, have in common? Answer: Both of their last names start with the letter L. Also, as a side note, they’ll both be at Barnes…

Now that December’s finally here (yippee!), it’s time to gather up the kiddies and take ’em on some good, old-fashioned holiday outings. Might I suggest a leisurely drive through a well-to-do neighborhood to look at Christmas lights? Or bundling up and going caroling door-to-door? Wait, what’s that? You’re not broke?…

The color pink gets a bad rap. First it was the girliest of all the hues, a symbol of the birth of a baby girl and the color of choice for little girls’ frilly party dresses. And then, as if that wasn’t enough humiliation, frat boys went and adopted it…

At about this time last year, folks like Martin Sheen, Patrick Fugit and Robert Rodriguez descended on Fort Worth for the very first Lone Star International Film Festival. If you couldn’t make it, or just couldn’t get enough, there’s good news: The LSIFF is back for its second year of…

A lot of us have a complex relationship with fashion. Sometimes we find an item of clothing that makes us feel good, and BAM, we’re in love. But sometimes nothing fits, and we’d rather just walk around naked than deal with the whole thing. And yet, compared to the way…