Have you taken your children to see Santa Claus yet? No? What are you, some kind of Birkenstock-wearing, free-market-hating hippie? You probably don’t let your kids watch TV either! Would it help if I told you that NorthPark Santa Carl Anderson bears a striking resemblance to legendary Band keyboardist Garth…
Have you taken your children to see Santa Claus yet? No? What are you, some kind of Birkenstock-wearing, free-market-hating hippie? You probably don’t let your kids watch TV either! Would it help if I told you that NorthPark Santa Carl Anderson bears a striking resemblance to legendary Band keyboardist Garth…
The Saturday after Christmas marks the beginning of Kwanzaa, the seven-day celebration of African culture and community celebrated since 1966. With each day commemorating a different principle–Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith)–Kwanzaa serves as a yearly recommitment…
On paper, the Portland Trailblazers are potentially one of the best teams in the NBA. Unfortunately, they can’t seem to keep big man Greg Oden healthy (he recently went down with another season-ending injury), and the rest of the team’s been pretty banged up too. All-Star stud Brandon Roy always…
Is there a more storied program in college basketball than that of the University of North Carolina? Let’s examine the facts, shall we? Five NCAA championships (including last year’s), 17 ACC titles, 18 Final Four appearances. And did we mention the North Carolina alumni that have gone on to NBA…
Taqueria La Palomamultiple locationsDude Factor: 8, or company Christmas party, on a scale of 1 (kids’ birthday party) to 10 (bachelor party)My first trip to Taqueria La Paloma was mostly the result of accident and misfortune. I’d just attended a baby-centric event where the “food” consisted of things like cupcakes…
We spent 2009 sorting through piles of folk and Americana releases, revising this list in our heads till the bitter end and failing repeatedly to understand the hype behind the Avett Brothers in the process. While a year of listening brought no shortage of pleasant surprises, our hands-down favorite release…
The Crystal City walkout of 1969 was one of the defining moments of the Chicano movement, as students from the small South Texas town walked out of school in protest of the school district’s poor treatment of the Mexican-American community. The students’ struggle even earned the attention of lawmakers in…
Remember Duck Hunt? Most of you probably played it at some point in the ’80s. So, let’s say you’re playing Duck Hunt and, between flocks of ducks, a celestial being wings its way across the screen, at which point you pump it full of infrared lead. Would you feel bad?…
Zaguan2604 Oak Lawn Ave.214-219-8393Dude Factor: 7, or Devendra Banhart, on a scale of 1 (Devendra Banhart, NSFW version) , to 10 (Devendra Banhart, circa 2008–way to go, dude, way to go).Granted, Zaguan is definitely not the first place that comes to mind when most people think of “Dude Food.” But…
So, it’s finally Thanksgiving and you’re off from work. But the idea of going to the grocery store didn’t exactly appeal to you earlier this week when you were cramming five days worth of work into three, and the idea of hours in the kitchen doesn’t sound so awesome either…
Artist Julian Wolkenstein has a thing for horses, or more specifically, styling them. Her glamour shots of steeds, their manes done up to resemble human hairstyles, are startling and infinitely more memorable than the talking horse movie with Bobcat Goldthwait (bet ya can’t remember the title of that one without…
Despite the fact that he brought upon our fair city what was easily its darkest moment, Lee Harvey Oswald continues to be the subject of much fascination for Dallasites. One of our finest watering holes bears his infamous name. And while the great Homer Henderson’s “Lee Harvey Was a Friend…
El Jordan Cafe416 N. Bishop Ave.214-941-4451Dude Factor: 9, or Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, on a scale of 1 (The Axeman) to 10 (Pete Perkins).This morning I awoke with the type of breakfast hankering no pop tart, oatmeal or yogurt smoothie could cure. I needed some man-size desayunos. You know, the…
The Porch2912 N. Henderson Ave.Dude Factor: 10, or The Stodg, on a scale of 1 (The Great Pyramid of Giza) to 10. This Dude Food is being filed from the home office, where I’m currently enjoying a productive birthday staycation. In honor of this momentous occasion (alas, the last year…
Sure, Dallas can be pretty scary, but have you ever been to Fort Worth, man? There’s no way the Stockyards and the old Hell’s Half Acre aren’t haunted, especially considering all the gunfights and flophouse murders that occurred there once upon a time–and that’s just the real haunted stuff. Hangman’s…
To say that singer-songwriter Tom Russell has led a colorful life is the quite the understatement. Sure, his songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, k.d. lang and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. And yes, he’s released around 20 albums since he started playing Vancouver strip clubs in…
I must have watched eleventy-hundred episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? back in the day, from the British version hosted by Clive Anderson to the American bastardization hosted by Drew Carey, which featured plenty of improv talent trying way too hard to be family-friendly–though to be fair, it did…
To say that singer-songwriter Tom Russell has led a colorful life is the quite the understatement. Sure, his songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, k.d. lang and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. And yes, he’s released around 20 albums since he started playing Vancouver strip clubs in…
[Editor’s Note: So, here’s the deal. In addition to being a staff member here at the Observer, Noah W. Bailey is a member of our music writing staff. He also happens to front The Naptime Shake, an act whose debut album is getting raves from a bunch of local music…
A couple years back the Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened on an island off the coast of Norway, with the mission of preserving the world’s important plant species in the event of global catastrophe. It’s funded mostly by Norway, but also in part by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an…
The Fort Worth Stockyards are a bastion of cowboy culture year-’round, but this weekend will feature even more boot-scooting and hat-tipping than usual as the 19th Annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering & Western Swing Festival rolls into town. Featuring poetry and musical performances, cooks-offs, rodeo events, wild cow milking, calf…
