The moment I saw footage of Celine Dion singing a “duet” with the King, I pointed my finger of blame right at little miss Natalie Cole. Yeah, she sang next to a screen of her dad, and that’s way more acceptable, but it only led the way to myriad posthumous…
When it comes to self-control, food is a very powerful tool. Eating can soothe, disgust, pacify, invigorate and depress. When thought of in that respect, it’s easy to see why so many are plagued by various eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia. Seems fitting then that photographer/artist Joy Christiansen would…
For decades, the story of my sister learning to drive involved the Freemasons library parking lot in Waco, a giant tank of an automobile and either Uncle Jack or Aunt Donna as the instructor. It was a great package, often told in various incarnations with exaggerated anecdotes, but it always,…
“And you call yourself a Bowie fan?!” This was the reaction I received when it was brought to public attention (and by “public,” I mean a staff lunch) that I had never seen the 1986 children’s fantasy film Labyrinth. Having now seen it, I frankly don’t feel “children’s” is an…
Farewell, Gypsy Tea Room. We’ve said our goodbyes to the venue, but we just aren’t ready to say ciao to the bands or art. Luckily, bands will play at other clubs, but what of the fantastic murals that made Gypsy a landmark? For those we owe thanks to local artist…
After a staged reading of The Secret Life of Girls received raves from teen audiences (hard to get if you’re not Fall Out Boy), their parents (yes, teens and adults sometimes agree) and mental health pros (go with us on this), the Dallas Children’s Theater has launched a full-blown production…
It always makes me wonder when a band’s name incorporates the founder’s name. Do the members of Dave Matthews Band resent the fact that it’s all about Dave? Did Van Halen’s Michael Anthony ever bitch about not feeling like a real part of the band family? And don’t even get…
So you haven’t seen Barbershop, Johnson Family Vacation, Big Momma’s House or Kingdom Come. Perhaps you’ve seen Ice Age, Madagascar, Serving Sara, Intolerable Cruelty, Be Cool or Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Stand-up comedian Cedric the Entertainer doesn’t subscribe to typecasting…or at least not all the time. No,…
Look at a Joachim Kersten painting once and you’ll enjoy it, sure, but look at it twice and it may take on an entirely new attitude, once you notice all the layers or shapes or whatever you missed the first time. (And you will. It’s sort of a rule.) Kersten…
Herbs. It’s a word with a controversial “H” (just ask Eddie Izzard), but shockingly enough, herbs are also an intricate, necessary and dynamic element for mystery. No, not a mystery like “What’s in this? Tarragon?” but actual literary works of whodunit-ness. Native Texan mystery author Susan Wittig Albert will discuss…
Mike Patton has said that Peeping Tom and its self-titled debut is his version of modern pop music. Fine. But pop as we know it and Patton have very little to do with one another so you’d be remiss to expect a KISS-FM makeover on the former Faith No More…
While Nick Cave and comrades venture out with their efforts in new band Grinderman, Mute has issued a double CD/double DVD chronicling the tour immediately following the release of Cave/Seeds’ Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus double album. (Abbatoir marks the first tour and recordings since Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist and core…
Before all you seamstresses and show cowboys get too excited, the DFW Fringe Festival is not a celebration of sewing notions or swaying tassels. The second annual month-long event is brought to you by Shane-Arts and the Dallas Hub Theater and is actually a festival of theatre (try SATERs Shakespeare…
You know him as Lord Have Mercy from Norbit, Harry Beaver from Epic Movie and Money Mike from Friday After Next. In other words, you don’t know comedian Katt Williams from a slew of high-brow, Oscar-worthy cinema. Course, you might also be familiar with the permed and pimpin’ wonder thanks…
Ever have two (or more) worlds (or social groups) that just shouldn’t mix (say, for instance, on a landmark birthday)? It’s awkward, it’s weird and while it’s totally entertaining, it usually requires some explanation to someone somewhere the day after. We’ve all been there. That’s what Sara Goode is about…
Apparently, we were wrong when we made that initial and unwavering assessment that jocks are just meatheads with no creative bones in their bodies. Course, that could’ve been because this one group of white-capped assholes in high school dubbed me “Artsy McRunslikeagirl,” but I still attest that’s my Choctaw name…
Saturday holds one big, slobbering, green option in one hand, and in the other, a later, more culturally sober option in the Fiesta Latinoamericana! Of course the trek to Plano may be disheartening and drive you into the nearest pub for a Guinness, but the reward of poetry from Latin…
My all-time favorite chef/food-realted personality is Anthony Bourdain. The guy’s full of ‘tude, he knows the ins and outs of running a kitchen, he’ll eat anything and he’s written the books to prove all of it. But while I enjoy his being a bit of an asshole, others might not…
Don’t lie. You’re sitting there daydreaming, hoping. You’re envisioning some enchanted evening when you’ll see a stranger across a crowded room…or something. And he’ll be some really settled Frenchman, and there’ll be a palm tree or two. And music. Specifically Rodgers and Hammerstein—which is totally random, but whatever, it’s your…
After the Arcade Fire took leave of hanging with David Bowie but before they hunkered down to record the much-awaited follow-up to Funeral, they listened to some serious Springsteen. Maybe it wasn’t always Nebraska, but that classic had to have been the album of choice, let’s say, seven of every…
In preparation for indie songster/professional whistler Andrew Bird’s upcoming show at the Gypsy Tea Room, we sat down for a listen through Bird’s new album, Armchair Apocrypha. What follows are excerpts of the accompanying selected song-by-song Instant Messenger conversation—a lively discussion of Bird’s clever wordplay, instrumental prowess (Bird is a…
Dots. Raised or flat, they have a multitude of uses. They keep us driving in the correct lane; they end sentences. On old printers, they formed characters. They represent letters and numbers to the blind by way of Braille. In that form, they also inspire artist Christopher French to create…
