Please imagine me eating a raw steak and drinking dark beer as I tell you about the 20th Annual Mad Hatter’s Garden Party. It takes place during Dallas Blooms and is hosted by the Women’s Council of The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. It features a luncheon, a mystery hatbox…

We’re not sure if Dallas has been called beautiful by anybody—ever—but the organizers of The Fifth Annual Big D Texas Marathon claim theirs is one of the most beautiful courses you will ever run. It starts at the State Fair grounds, continues around White Rock Lake through Swiss Avenue and…

Neil Young has never been a meticulous sort when it comes to his appearance (God love him), and people often think he is at his best with the band Crazy Horse—a infamously ramshackle, slop-o-riffic affair. As slapped together as he can appear and sound, sometimes he can be a notoriously…

Musicians, painters and bearded writers all share something in common—they love to talk about the pain and sacrifice of art while sitting in a comfy chair letting their bodies go flaccid. The Romanian gymnasts arriving to perform in the TITAS presentation of Aeros might have something to say about sacrifice…

Whether you’re a douche, a thug, indie or goth everybody loves a lovely lady. So it’s a can’t-lose proposition when The Lollie Bombs hit the scene with Cult Fiction, a burlesque show of singing, acting, dancing and striptease for contemporary audiences that pays a sexy tribute to nerd-dom. Yep, there…

Let’s talk about cell phones. The Dallas Contemporary Artspace hosts a “discussion” about one aspect of the cell phone in their new exhibit REAL TIME: mobile phone video. Pop culture, diaries, daily life and voyeurism are some of the topics addressed by contributions from inter.sect (a Dallas-based art collective), Kirsten…

Is it looking like it might just be you and a twelver of light beer tonight? Got nowhere to be in the morning? Well, Trinity Hall Irish Pub at Mockingbird Station is hosting “Tuesday Tastings” to help you broaden your palate as well as your social life. Each week of…

Saxophonist Maceo Parker has played with many of the greats. Stints with James Brown, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins’ Rubber Band led him to be forever associated with funk. A solo career as well as guest spots with such devotees as Dee-Lite and the countless sampling of his sounds on…

Railroads are tied to Dallas history. They are one of the biggest reasons Dallas could become such a sizable city without being on a major body of water, and now our fair burg hosts one of the finest railroad museums in the southwest. The museum, in turn, hosts A Valentine’s…

Monterey has long been associated with music. To many it is because of a pop festival, but perhaps to more it is associated with jazz. Celebrating half a century of jazz affiliation, the Monterey Jazz Festival’s 50th Anniversary Band will perform two Texas dates, including one at McFarlin Auditorium. The…

A photograph only has a flat page on which to work its mystery. How good must a photograph be to grab our attention and change the world then? What must be captured on paper to change public perception or policy? Whatever that mysterious “it” is, it seems that every year…

So you think you’re cool, huh? Been going around hijacking scenes from everyone that’s old and out of it? Well, Mr. Hipster, think about this: Ever get a live shout-out from Jimi Hendrix? Ever been censored and then kicked off the airwaves for your apolitical views? Been the subject of…

Look! Up on the stage! Is it a Russ Meyer film? The life story of Kitten Natividad? No, it’s the Valley of the Dolls regional premiere as a stage adaptation. It’s easy to be confused but this presentation by the Uptown Players is based on the 1960s Jacqueline Susann novel…

It’s tough to say anything new about the 1969 Woodstock music festival. We have so much perspective (after almost 40 years!) that everyone pretty much knows the story already. Whether it’s your scene or not it’s hard to deny the power of the film that documents the event, though. You…

Defending the Caveman is the longest running solo play in Broadway history at two years. It’s about male/female relations with comedic insights on feminism, masculinity and the naughty bits of both parties in the light of amateur anthropology, prehistory, psychology, sociology and mythology. The play is not so much a…

First, caller ID and cell phones ruined drunk dialing forever. Now, networking sites allow exposure to ridicule and embarrassment without even leaving the house to go to the mailbox. Humiliation has never been easier for the loveless. Of course, everything changes if the object of your attraction actually wants to…

We like to eat. Not only do we like to eat, but we like to eat in such a way as to make the body a battleground. We’re talkin’ breakfast tacos and a something-on-a-stick washed down with the first of many large coffees followed with a double-decker sandwich with a…

Jeffery “Mayhem” Thompson was a Renaissance fair enthusiast, a television actor, a radio personality, a musician, a bouncer, a personal bodyguard and the head of security for the band Damageplan. It was the security gig that led him to the fateful night when he, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and two…

Compared to other arts, video art is relatively new and is still an open field without a set definition. Defined or not, the Dallas Video Festival has been on top of this medium for 20 years. In recognition of this, and also as a run-up to the 20th anniversary of…

Everybody likes things that go BOOM, right? How ’bout food, music and historic military airplane flyovers? Well, Addison holds a crowd pleasing pre-Independence Day celebration that features all of the above. The Addison Kaboom Town fireworks display has been rated one of the top shows in the country. The 50th…

Despite spirited efforts from some spirited folks, developers won in the end (is anybody surprised?). The deconstruction of buildings at Fry and Hickory streets in Denton is scheduled over the next couple of Saturdays, and Habitat for Humanity is auctioning off the salvaged building materials for charity. Maybe some enterprising…

Ah, the honky-tonk dive is a great source for storytelling. A rich mine of characters, relationships, problems and story arcs await and are explored in Stage West’s presentation of Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music. A comedy by Lee Blessing set in a Houston bar, the play deals with…