Shine Like They Do

I love INXS. (Yeah, yeah, shut up already.) They can go all adult contemporary and produce a musical, I really don’t care. More than a decade of their music, ranging from ska and punk to Top 40, provided a soundtrack to my life, and for that they get my loyalty…

Before the Fourth

You’re off on Tuesday, which means you’re probably not going to be partyin’ into the wee hours when you have to get up for work Wednesday. No, a logical person would take a vacation day Monday (having done the responsible family picnic-type stuff over the weekend), use said vacation day…

Before the Fourth

You’re off on Tuesday, which means you’re probably not going to be partyin’ into the wee hours when you have to get up for work Wednesday. No, a logical person would take a vacation day Monday (having done the responsible family picnic-type stuff over the weekend), use said vacation day…

Before the Fourth

You’re off on Tuesday, which means you’re probably not going to be partyin’ into the wee hours when you have to get up for work Wednesday. No, a logical person would take a vacation day Monday (having done the responsible family picnic-type stuff over the weekend), use said vacation day…

The Process of Drawing

Oh, it’s not enough for Alain Gerard Clement to draw cool stuff and hang it on the wall. No, he’s got to show everyone up–smoke the proverbial asses of artists near and far by employing a time-consuming extra step–the photogenic technique/process of W.H.F. Talbot straight outta the 1800s. Clement turns…

None More Black

Lewis Black cannot let things go. From politics to the fact that he’s running behind for our interview, Black has got troubles that aren’t going anywhere. And yet, the notoriously surly comedian is friendly and unintimidating off screen (a shock, since he owns one of the most distinctive baritones in…

Look at that Figure!

What’s more inspiring, artistically or otherwise, than running one’s fingertips over the supple curves or taut musculature of…um, er, never mind. Look, all I’m trying to say is that for centuries the human body has motivated and inspired artists in their creative processes. The AlSo Gallery, 1425 Dragon St., honors…

The Is the Tops

This is serious stuff, folks. I don’t want to alarm anyone or cause unjust anxiety, but according to press materials, ELLE DÉCOR’s Dining by Design is “the pinnacle of tabletop celebrations.” The pinnacle, people. This is as good as it gets. I know we’ve all experienced what we thought were…

Sunscreen to Silver Screen

While the idea of luxuriating in a relaxing wave pool and watching a family film does sound pretty damn cool, it just seems obvious that there would be an elevated opportunity for aquatic mayhem with parents and kids staring up at a movie screen instead of paying attention to the…

Acts Now

Many people may not be pleased with the current administration, but that doesn’t make them any less “American.” In fact, the desire to speak out and speak up is just about as American as it gets. And speaking up doesn’t necessarily require vocalization. Take it from artists like Michael Miller,…

Finding Davy

Davy Rothbart loves trash. Just look at the USA Network’s “Characters Wanted” tag featuring the frequent This American Life contributor and founder/editor of FOUND Magazine (as well as the publication’s two compilation books)—the man hauls off and dives into a dumpster, for cryin’ out loud. But the personable and effervescent…

Variety Show

The CityArts Celebration people just might be the most intelligent event planners ever. Know why? Because CityArts takes place the second weekend in June. Not the last in July, not the third in August. These people realize that we actually live in Texas, in Dallas, in the meteorological equivalent to…

Ever Since the Turn

The piano greets me before I even reach the main entrance to the Dallas apartment where I’m meeting the pAper chAse. I wait for the playing to pause before knocking…it’s just polite. The greeting is appropriate–that very instrument symbolizes the thread of transformation, and even maturation, that the Dallas band…

All Day Long

Take a deep breath and release it. In your core, in your powerhouse, just below your heart, above your diaphragm and to the left of the Texas pride is where, if you’ve lived life to the fullest, you can find your Latin energy. OK, seriously though, living here in Dallas,…

It’s an Illusion

Parents, take a moment to venture back to the days when you were but a child or perhaps an adventurous teen. Now go ahead and tell me there wasn’t some crazy shit you would’ve paid money to keep your parents from finding out about—and probably still keep secret to this…

Homes on the Move

The Green Mountain Energy Parade of Homes at the Bluffs at Winding Creek in McKinney made us feel like the biggest idiots on the face of the planet. The event’s name prompted us to wonder aloud, albeit for only 1.57 seconds, “They seriously plan to drive a bunch of model…

On Target

One might think that the title of Plush’s latest exhibit, Gunslingers and Slayers, is a misnomer as there are no six-shooters, no dusty duels depicted outside a velvet-curtained cathouse and certainly no tin stars. Likewise, there are no sword-wielding warriors of evil or guitar-ravaging tunes. However, Teresa O’Connor, Eric Pearce…

A Living Crisis

A friend once referred to my apartment as incapable of housing two people, saying such an arrangement would be as comfortable as a prison cell. I find my space to be less than roomy, sure, but generally comfy. I’m grateful for it, for my things in it, for my ability…

Droplets and Air

Normally the terms “repetitive” and “inflated” aren’t necessarily used in the most positive of ways. They sound more like descriptive words for ‘tween dialogue or Top 40 pop music, but when applied to the paintings of Charlotte Smith and the sculpures of William Cannings respectively, the terms denote specific style…

Through and Through

Acquaintances and casual relationships can cause fleeting change, but true, real friendships can change your life forever. I may have a scandalous affair with some peek-a-boo-toe heels, but my Converse patiently wait for me to take them to brunch the next morning and bitch about the night before—like true friends…

Musical Theater for $800, Alex

Last week, I was faced with a harsh reminder that I was a serious musical dork in high school. (And by “musical dork” I mean not that I had unpopular taste in music but that I had seen and knew many lyrics to many musicals.) It was, I believe, during…

It’s an Illusion!

So as I’m writing this I’m hearing staff writer Rick Kennedy extol the virtues of David Blaine and how he got the raw deal after Monday’s television special Drowned Alive. “Dude, he had to get out of eight handcuffs! Everybody’s all like, ‘He was only in there for seven-something minutes,’…