All Access: Front Row, Backstage, Live! does not offer the no-holds-barred access to the excess that its name implies. That may not come as a big surprise since IMAX prides itself on maintaining its wholesome, family-entertainment values. And most of the artists highlighted in the film left their decadent periods…

Sports are a good way to measure a culture. Cricket, for example, reflects the English culture that developed it. In the same way, football (Australian-rules style, natch) rules Australia. In the upcoming World Cup soccer championships, one can witness how a nation’s culture dictates its style of play–from the methodical…

What is the potential of the human mind when everyday distractions are removed? Is there a wellspring of untapped aptitude waiting to be awakened and used for the good of all mankind? Or is the result more primal, focusing on the satisfaction of needs and desire for attention? Most likely…

Few animals have been allowed to remain in the human-centric concrete jungle, not including those that call research laboratories home or are identified using the phrases “fresh” or “Grade A.” That leaves rats, squirrels, cats, dogs, cockroaches and birds. So much for biodiversity. In an ecosystem where teddy bears outnumber…

UFO investigators have a tough time coming up with anything concrete to support their claims, especially when objects come and go in multiple dimensions and the only witnesses are threatened to silence by a shadowy government that doesn’t officially exist. It is not for lack of trying, though. These pursuants…

Guitar shows and sci-fi conventions always bring out a special type of person. One wouldn’t think guitars could be lumped in with tri-corders, but the difference between a sci-fi convention and a guitar show is not as great as you might think. The genetic pool that created the person wearing…

Our fascination with miniatures begins in childhood. Children love to have control of a world where the roles are reversed, and everything is miraculously smaller than they are. Many adults still love their train sets and dollhouses, but it is the privileged few who can find time in a hectic…

While Saturday Night Live freed comedians from the reputations established by USO and radio-show performances, Penn & Teller were taking their craft out of the Doug Henning-dominated ’70s and making sure magic would have a life in a time when making tigers disappear wasn’t “cutting edge” anymore. Though performances on…

When I had the good fortune to travel to Ireland a few years ago, I was almost sent home at the first airport customs checkpoint because of how little money I was carrying. The thought of this happening had never crossed my mind–I’m American for crying out loud! Biggest military…

Since the advent of television, movie theaters have battled for viewers. Their major strategy has been to manufacture “movie experiences” through weapons such as 3-D glasses, popcorn, Milk Duds, and other ineffable extras that will draw people away from the warm glow of the idiot box. A “no food and…

Although the skill of tying shoes is a distinct childhood milestone, it’s a boring and ordinary feat. It’s expected. With few exceptions (cowboys, businesswomen, fans of Velcro), people can and do tie their shoes every day. But whistling or making armpit noises–now those are real defining talents. They’re skills learned…

Nobody likes a showoff. In fact, no one likes a winner if he wins too much. Something makes us want to tear down anyone or anything that becomes too successful. From politicians to pop stars, anyone who sits on top for too long eventually will be ousted. The Harlem Globetrotters,…

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters wrote The Wall after a tour in which he felt isolated from audiences. He saw them merely as barbiturate-laden barnacles clinging to the band and viewing what he considered art as simply a good soundtrack for their lava lamps. In effect, an actual barrier was being…

Robots always get a bad rap. They’re bad-mouthed for stealing jobs from hard-working folk, and they get exploited as man’s obedient servants. Then human-centric Hollywood portrays them as cold-blooded killers, or, worst of all, lets the likes of William Shatner outsmart them and thwart their nefarious schemes. Now the robots’…

The drub-drub-drub of a primered ’70s muscle car has joined the more common, but just as loud, boom-boom-boom of a lowered Lincoln sporting ground effects at the intersection by my house. Rarer in the custom-car world, the muscle car’s call thumps “alpha male” as indiscriminately as the usual bass rattle…

Marilyn Manson may get most of the attention in the realm of controversial rockers these days (What? A rock musician taking on organized religion? No way!), but GWAR has been kicking it shock-rock style and waving its collective “cuddlefish” in the face of all that’s decent for decades, managing to…

Nothing will send a Dallasite into a panic faster than an SUV’s broken air conditioner in July. Summer commands fear and respect while winter is merely a brief relief from the angry sun god. Already Winter Solstice is upon us and, after this week, the sun will start getting higher…

Beached WailWe can thank the ’60s beach-party genre for starting a few celluloid trends. Because of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, twentysomething actors are allowed to play teenagers. Also, there are the misconceptions that in California high jinks have replaced homework and the parents of cool kids are either never…

Speed DemonsWhen used in advertising or marketing, the word “extreme” should be as useless as the phrase “alternative music.” Each is too often used to describe mainstream products, the sort of stuff created only to exploit the youth culture for profits. But, unlike most things called “alternative music”–which ceased being…

Until now the revisionist media tried to convince us that we missed out on something really big if we didn’t experience the revolutionary social changes and psychedelia of the ’60s. They made everyone appear to be either a mini-skirted model, a bearded protester, or a mind-expanding musician decked out in…

When a friend asked a few days before Halloween whether I thought we could get away with trick-or-treating–ya know, for the candy–I didn’t automatically say yes. Or no. I just let the idea hang with a noncommittal “Yeah, that would be funny.” It’s an unwritten rule that using fake blood,…

I’ve lived in several run-down houses in Denton. One was a two-bedroom house that I shared with four roommates. We drank a lot and talked about how we were destined to rule the world because of our wonderful ideas. Rent was $125 a month, and I spent more money on…