Smashburger2222 McKinney Ave.Dude Factor: 8, or Orson Welles, on a scale of 1 (Britney Spears) to 10 (David Hasselhoff)We’d been hearing positive buzz about the Addison Smashburger ever since it opened a little over a year ago. Unfortunately, we rarely go to Addison for burgers. We might venture up there…
When we’re not hating the Spurs, Dallas Mavericks fans are generally fuming about the Los Angeles Lakers, the last in the triumvirate of Western Conference teams that have reached the NBA Finals in the past twelve seasons. The checkered past of Kobe Bryant, the shady, lopsided Pau Gasol deal, the…
Scientists have found that despite hundreds of years of modern civilization, man still instinctively fears the creatures that once hunted his ancestors. In fact, in one study, when confronted with images of a lion and a zebra, young school children who’d had only minimal exposure to the concept of these…
We were on a high school choir trip in Austin once where the entertainment consisted of pulling the bus up to the multiplex and letting 60 teenagers run wild for a couple hours. Unfortunately, our girlfriend at the time wanted to see the Meg Ryan/Matthew Broderick vehicle Addicted to Love,…
Most local watering holes whip up some black-eyed peas, tap a few new kegs and call it a day when it comes to their New Year’s celebrations. But the Meddlesome Moth is not your average watering hole, and for their first New Year’s celebration, they’re going the extra mile, offering…
Between the recession, a brutal political season, Wikileaks and that bitch of an oil spill, 2010 was a total headache for a lot of people, but at least we’ll look back and laugh at it all–especially at the Tea Party. This New Year’s Eve, get a head start on the…
In the midst of all the brouhaha surrounding former first round pick Rashad McCants and whether or not he’d report to Frisco–and once he did, whether or not he’d leave for China–the rest of your Texas Legends toiled in obscurity, taking six of their first nine games behind the solid…
The thing that makes writing about music at once an exciting and frustrating endeavor is the fact that enjoyment of the art is subjective. One critic’s trash could be another critic’s treasure (see: easily the most debated album of the year, Sleigh Bells’ Treats), just as one critic’s treasure can…
Dairy Palace2301 N. Trade Days Blvd.CantonDude Factor: 5, or Antiques Roadshow, on a scale of 1 (Cash In The Attic) to 10 (Pawn Stars). The little missus and I recently found ourselves with an unexpectedly free weekend and a serious case of wanderlust, so we pulled out a map and…
It’s always a little bittersweet for die-hard Mavs fans when Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns come to town. After all, once upon a time in the early ’00s, Nash was our guy, swishing threes, dishing out dimes and clowning around with Dirk at more than a few local watering…
Since they married in 1996, Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison have been the sweethearts of the Texas country music scene, with a string of critically acclaimed records, four kids and one adorable Claritin commercial to their credit. Kelly is definitely the better singer of two, but if you’ve listened to…
Athens, Georgia’s Drive-By Truckers formed in 1996 and spent a good five years paying their dues before they broke through with 2001’s Southern Rock Opera, a double-LP concept record about Lynyrd Skynyrd and “the duality of the Southern thing” that they self-financed with the help of their fans. Since then,…
Honestly, “The Star-Spangled Banner” can be a beating even when performed in a competent manner. Only a select few have ever really knocked it out of the park — Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix, Jose Feliciano, etc. — and most of them had to change up the song considerably to do…
Lebron James broke ten million Ohioan hearts this summer with his Decision, perhaps the best example of misguided egotism in the history of sports. In bolting to South Beach, he also helped create the NBA’s most evil franchise, a basketball Death Star with Pat Riley in the role of the…
If you haven’t heard much about your Dallas Stars this season, don’t fret. Thus far there hasn’t been any real reason to unless you’re a passionate hockey fan. The team has started the first season of the post-Modano era with a 9-7 whimper–not Mavericks great, but not Cowboys bad, either,…
Better than: Seeing the Flatlanders at the Wyly or the Granada, where they’ve played their last two shows. The ballroom at the Sons of Hermann Hall is their natural element, as dusty and real as the colorful West Texas characters that populate the band’s best songs. The silver-haired hippies that…
At this point in the young NBA season, the Chicago Bulls and your Dallas Mavericks are both promising teams with giant question marks hanging over their heads. The Mavericks have shown moments of brilliance thus far, with impressive defense and actual production in the middle thanks to Tyson Chandler, something…
Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields released one of the most enduring documents of the indie rock era with 1999’s 69 Love Songs, an ambitious triple album that sounded a little like something Cole Porter might have written had he been a particularly big New Order fan. Since then, Merritt’s released three…
Fogo de Chao4300 Belt Line Road972-503-7300Dude Factor: 9, or Seu Jorge, on a scale of 1 (Anderson Varejao) to 10 (Pele).Last week we celebrated — or more accurately, mourned — our 30th birthday. And because she’s such a sweetie, the old ball-and-chain decided to take us out for a fancy…
Austin artist Jules Buck Jones spent part of last year living in Florida’s Everglades, sketching gators and chasing panthers through the world’s most famous swamp. But instead of carefully documenting Florida’s wild creatures like a member of some Darwin-era expedition, Jones let his imagination run free with the inspiration, resulting…
Wait Until Dark–first staged in 1966 and written by Frederick Knott–tells the story of Susy, a woman forced to confront three hoodlums who’ve come to her apartment looking for a very valuable doll. If that doesn’t sound too suspenseful, try this on for size–Susy is blind and the doll is…
Photographer Keith Wilson’s images of Austin apartment buildings remind us of our college days spent partying in crappy complexes with high-falutin’ names like “Telluride” and “El Dorado”–the dank, crowded units never quite lived up to the promise of the signs. Wilson’s photographs appear alongside those of Lupita Murillo Tinnen–whose work…
