At the risk of sounding like an old stick in the mud, I’ve gotta say that all these kids today with their MTV and iPod-whatsits have absolutely no attention span. People love movies by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, but put the two together into a double feature, and it’ll…
When you see Pablo Francisco’s stand-up for the first time, you can’t help but be impressed: The guy can beatbox, and his celebrity impressions are incredibly spot-on. In fact, should he ever tire of comedy, his take on “Movie Voiceover Guy” is so accurate, he could probably be the next…
Remember the “girl power” movement from the ’90s? Everywhere you looked, there was a pre-teen girl wearing a “Girl Power!” T-shirt with little mod flowers all over it, and us young ladies were supposed to look up to that lovable band of bra-burning feminists, the Spice Girls. And while I…
The title of the new exhibition at Road Agent Gallery comes from something Aldous Huxley once wrote: “Three-quarters of the time one’s never in contact with things, only with the beastly words that stand for them.” And while it seems a strange sentiment for someone who made his name writing…
The closest I’ve ever come to Hawaiian food was eating at Islands every Sunday after church when I was a kid. See, the waitstaff wears Hawaiian shirts, and there’s a burger on the menu that you know is authentically Hawaiian because it includes pineapple slices. Yum! But if wine and…
Did you know that the University of Texas system is the largest wine producer in the state? Yes, folks, it’s right there in black and white on Wikipedia, so it must be true. And, yeah, it’s a little surprising that UT dabbles in the winery business, but when you think…
If you’re like me, when you first saw Mrs. Doubtfire, you had two thoughts and two thoughts only: first, “I miss Mork & Mindy,” and second, “This movie would have been a lot better if it were about nuns.” Well, glory, glory, hallelujah, the Richardson Theatre Centre is here to…
People in general are so often forgetful. We forget birthdays, anniversaries, our coats, where we put our cellphones, etc. And so what? Those little things don’t matter. But what about when we forget the really important stuff? Immediately following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, lots of people did amazing things for…
Sometimes in life, we’re forced to make small talk with strangers when we just don’t feel up to it. You’ve had a long day at work, you’re grumpy and the last thing you want is to hear someone else’s discourse. So what do you do? You could run screaming from…
Let’s play a word association game. What word comes to mind when I say, “dance”? Do you think of “poise”? How about “leotard”? Or perhaps, “feet”? I’m no mind-reader, but I’m pretty sure your word had nothing to do with food. And yet, that’s the theme of Addison’s upcoming dance…
Well, it looks like Felicity’s higher education from fictional college UNY didn’t do her much good–she ended up as a waitress at a pie diner in Small Town, U.S.A. And forget about choosing between Ben or Noel–Keri Russell’s now married to a controlling bad egg of a husband who won’t…
SPORM! sounds like one of those weird substances kids were supposed to play with in the ’90s. Remember Floam, that beaded foam stuff? And Gak, that gooey green junk that made farting noises when you squeezed it? And Goooze, Smatter, Skweeez and Sqand? But alas, no, SPORM! isn’t a Nickeolodeon…
Sometimes three’s a crowd. You don’t want your boyfriend’s best pal tagging along on a romantic dinner date or a bystander busting in on your annual physical. All Jay and Silent Bob needed was each other, and another Beavis or Butthead would have been one pimply teen too many. Such…
When I think circus films, Tod Browning’s 1932 horror film Freaks is the first that comes to mind. It’s got everything a good movie about a circus needs: sideshow performers, a beautiful trapeze artist and a sickening eye-for-an-eye ending that would petrify even the most worldly 10-year-old. A true classic…
Why do some insects have feminine names like “damselfly” and “ladybug,” but there aren’t any ‘machobeetles’ or ‘manwasps’? It seems unfair to the menfolk. Although, I heard damselflies were named as such because they’re similar to dragonflies, but smaller and weaker, so maybe it’s the female bugs who should be…
While the image of Rosie the Riveter represents the 6 million women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, it doesn’t apply to all those honored in the newest exhibit at The Women’s Museum at Fair Park. Women in War: Reflections of Courage explores the vital role…
As mindless and dull as most reality TV is, there are still a few shows out there that actually teach us a thing or two. Admit it–before watching the quickfire challenges of Bravo’s Top Chef, you had no idea what an amuse-bouche was. And what about America’s Next Top Model?…
When it comes to movies, everybody loves a nice period piece once in a while, especially if it’s loosely based on a true story and involves a sinking ship. Seriously, Titanic is still the top-grossing film of all time, worldwide, and it’s been 10 years since the film first hit…
When I worked at the SPCA in college, I cared for a puppy that looked exactly like Falkor, that flying dog-dragon thing from The NeverEnding Story. And at first I was scared, because although this puppy was incredibly cute and went by the name of Snowball, I was absolutely terrified…
At first glance, Robyn Raggio’s photographs seem pretty simple, with subjects such as a moss-covered tree branch or a rusty old Dodge. Her gift, however, lies in her ability to bring out the hidden beauty in these everyday things. Hers are the sort of photos that are appreciated most after…
If someone asked me to a cropping party, I’d think I was getting an invite to drink beer with farmers in a corn field. But I’d be wrong. A cropping party is a chance for hard-core scrapbookers to get together and work on their masterpieces, and you can be a…
Not that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it, but I never realized museums celebrated birthdays. I guess it’s because museums in general are just too old. They’d have to make a pretty huge cake to hold 130 candles for the Met, and what about the Louvre? There…
