Ah, the circus. What little boy hasn’t dreamed of running away and joining the circus? Besides virtually every other boy born in America since 1913, we mean. Nevertheless, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey keeps chugging along, a cultural artifact kept alive by fans–parents mostly, one presumes–indifferent to the fact…

Let’s see, you take various assorted techno-geek cannon fodder, give them lots of cool gadgets (possibly a couple of annoying kids too), isolate the entire group in some improbable locale and then have the latest technological marvel go horribly awry as a result of human hubris. Of course, we’re talking…

Never really got the whole “cowboy poetry” thing. Seems like contrived sentimentality, the bane of good poetry, but since this Sunday Fort Worth will mark the National Day of the Cowboy with a tribute that includes the Cowtown Opry cowboy poetry contest, we thought we’d give it a shot. Let’s…

Of all the versions of “Cinderella” handed down by various cultures, why was the United States stuck with the syrupy translation of Frenchman Charles Perrault’s tale? His Cinderella is a sappy little do-gooder who eventually forgives her wicked stepsisters. Better is the Brothers Grimm take, in which the stepsisters end…

Of all the versions of “Cinderella” handed down by various cultures, why was the United States stuck with the syrupy translation of Frenchman Charles Perrault’s tale? His Cinderella is a sappy little do-gooder who eventually forgives her wicked stepsisters. Better is the Brothers Grimm take, in which the stepsisters end…

You can keep your 2006 fully animated version of Curious George, about the inquisitive ape and his friend The Man in the Yellow Hat, voiced by Will Ferrell. Whatever, kid. Those who know better understand the sine qua non of George, the proper way to ingest him, is in pajamas,…

Imagine asking your cardigan-wearing, golf-playing grandfather if he wants a gin and tonic. “Fo’ shizzle, mah nizzle,” he replies. Gack. That was our reaction when we saw the Dallas Symphony Orchestra is presenting Video Games Live on Wednesday and Thursday. Who is this blend of costumes, game competitions and live…

So, have you ever been tested? Look at you, blushing. We know. We’ve never had an HIV test either, and man, that’s embarrassing. We’ve never needed to be tested, and what sort of sad, cloistered life must have befallen a person who grew up during the frenzy of the AIDS…

So, have you ever been tested? Look at you, blushing. We know. We’ve never had an HIV test either, and man, that’s embarrassing. We’ve never needed to be tested, and what sort of sad, cloistered life must have befallen a person who grew up during the frenzy of the AIDS…

Time was, the celebration of Juneteenth—commemorating June 19, 1865, the day Union Major General Gordon Granger informed slaves in Galveston that they had been freed—was a much bigger holiday. It was black Texans’ version of the Fourth of July. Today, the celebrations are more modest, but the day of freedom…

“What is so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is he gives good kids bad ideas.” I suppose if you’re an aficionado of Serious Cinema, you could substitute the words “film directors” for “good kids” in that line from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and blame Ferris creator John Hughes…

Cats are better than dogs. Oh, I know you’re thinking that’s just my opinion, but you’re wrong. Having just dog-sat for a friend, I can prove it. To wit: Cats don’t smell; they don’t make you feel like the orphanage guy in David Copperfield when you eat; and not once…

Ah, the Ice Queen with the hidden, passionate, horny heart of fire; the bookish woman who whips off her glasses, shakes the bun out of her hair and growls. Keep your Madonnas and your whores, your bleached bims and skeletal supermodels; for sheer hotness, nothing beats Marian the Librarian with…

Coolness. Kansas is coming to McKinney’s Myers Park and Event Center—at last, a band from my high school years in the ’70s. I remember the first time I heard “Heat of the Moment,” it was…huh? That was Asia? Right. Anyway, I really dug “Come Sail Aw…” Oh…that was Styx. Um…”More…

Here’s an odd little fact: The Bay City Rollers have a best-of CD, released in 1995. And, get this, it has 21 tracks, only one of which is titled “Saturday Night,” their hit single from 1975. (The chorus: “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!” Repeat ad nauseam.) Who knew they were so, um, prolific?…