Sometime around second grade, with kiddie fat starting to fade into just awkward kid, I got my first taste of the Orient. My dad worked for a Japanese company. I had pen pals in Nagano. I got my first kimono, and I was working on mastering the chopsticks. Our family…
I will readily admit I’ve never seen stand-up comic Sam Tripoli perform. But after looking through the “Rants and Ravs” section of his Web site (I can only assume he means “Rants and Raves,” but maybe he’s referring to the Hebrew word for “rabbi”…in which case, points for randomness), I…
Oh, how we Dallasites love our transportation. We traipse around in giant trucks and SUVs guzzling gas as though we actually have hauling to do. Back in the days of the carriage–which really connotes hauling of the simplest and toughest kind–there was no pay-at-the-pump and no individual seat warming. Beasts…
We like to see people get busted for doing bad things…especially if they fall into that vein of overbearing and morally compromised characters that house the Colonel Jessups (A Few Good Men) and Alonzos (Training Day) of the fictional world. It’s a desire to see someone who lords over people…
I’ve taken art classes at more than four institutions of higher learning. They were all good, but the one that was great was Richland College. An underdog because of its “community college” status, Richland doesn’t seem like the pick for fantastic labs, galleries and art profs, but it is. And…
You want to get people interested in the artwork you create? Become a master of difficult mediums. Take painter Brad Ellis. The man works with encaustic for crying out loud. Yeah, that’s pigmented hot wax, in laymen’s terms…and it’s freakin’ hard to just slap some of it up on a…
What better than a mother-daughter team to nurture and support local artists? ART is ART, the family-run East Dallas consignment store/local art depot that moved last year from its smaller digs on Oram to a bigger and better home on Henderson Avenue, is now celebrating its first anniversary in the…
Faux Fox’s latest, All That Remains, will make you want to fashion some sort of bizarre shrine to Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, irony and tight pants using decoupage and fake fur. It’ll make you want to fuck around on your SK-1 and record brazenly self-indulgent lyrics in your bedroom while…
If you can say you inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Coco Chanel (among others), simply because of the way you lived your life, then you deserve a touring museum exhibition dedicated to your legacy. If you can say, in even uncertain terms, that you are a…
Designers gain inspiration from art, so this seems like a natural conclusion: In our fashion-obsessed society, why not send an artistic statement through fabric? Artist Sunny Sliger has done just that, creating soft sculptures by tearing fabric pieces and attaching them in ways that allow the “tendrils” to flow from…
When you come in the door at night, do you say hello to a meowing, four-legged family member? Do you occasionally leave the TV on so someone with whiskers can watch his “favorite show” and have “company”? Do you have more cat food bowls than you do cereal ones? If…
I’ve never made a crêpe. Well, I’d never made a crêpe until recently, that is. Often, I go into restaurants to review them and I can say, “OK, I’ve made that.” I have an idea how difficult or how easy it is to pull off at least a variation of…
Due to travel issues, US Congolese KORA Music Award winner Awilo Longomba (Rhumba legend), has not performed or even stepped on US soil in three years. Until now. Finally, those who appreciate the Longomba’s traditional African music and Ndombolo talents will enjoy a dramatic performance featuring music, dance and general…
Paula Nelson may not look like her daddy, the king of the Lone Star State’s bio-herbal brigade and creator of some of the most legendary country ever, but she’s got him in her voice. There’s the shrill twang of Willie and a natural stage presence…mixed in with a bit more…
For the “most popular women’s event in the Southwest,” VISIONS: The Women’s Expo knows exactly how to target their audience. When it comes to bonding the ladies together, always go with the three F’s: free stuff (facials, hairstyling, tastings, demonstrations), fashion shows (pet, human and jewelry, of course) and firefighters…
In a Moleskine safely tucked away in the area of “things to grab if there’s an apartment complex fire,” I have an original drawing on a napkin by one artist, Tonybones. It was from an interview I did with him for a graffiti piece in our long-since defunct section Full…
When we consider the idea of a political cartoon, we often think of a detailed drawing riffing on some error in judgement by one of our fearless leaders. Bill Clinton smoking a cigar. Barbara Bush needlepointing a “Read my lips: No new taxes” throw pillow. JFK picking up a scrip…
You know, a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. After getting out of my stone-columned enclosure right around lunchtime I was trying to retie my toga in that swooping fashion that my BFF showed me last week (I like to be up with the latest trends), and…
The first thing I envision when I think of Czech art is the kolache. Oh, seriously. Those hunks of perfect, tender dough, the hollow in the middle cradling some perfectly sweet fruit compote and, perhaps, some cream cheese. There’s no telling how many of those delectable bastards I can put…
As a younger person in the age of the crystal shards, Fizzgigg, Kira and Jen, I was less about the fantasies and more about the comedies. I’d sit and watch The Jerk or Airplane! over and over but only just tolerate movies like The NeverEnding Story and The Dark Crystal…
Who doesn’t need to be more productive? I’ll tell you who: Dr. Jeffrey Spencer. The man has not only been a Tour de France team member eight freakin’ times, but he’s also a chiropractor, lecturer and–oh yeah, this one’s good–he’s a life coach to the stars. Now, he may not…
Who is Shakey Amy? She’s an advocate, a Lakewood resident, a music lover, a wife, a videographer, a woman with dystonia. OK, so what is dystonia? It’s a neurological disorder causing severe, repetitive and painful muscle contractions. It’s not something to wish upon anyone as there is no cure–efforts can…
