Ira Glass is prepared to disappoint you. On the street, in the grocery store, at a restaurant, the witty, stuttering, guffawing, nasally, dorky, much-loved host of This American Life knows that he cannot live up to the expectations people have for him. Nobody can. They’re not real. They’re his show’s…
More than a dozen local musicians will join forces Saturday to create a live score to the 1923 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But it’s not a shared love of silent films or Lon Chaney, the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” that unites the keyboard-and-turntable-toting members of Mission Giant,…
Thursday, April 15 Many German fairy tales, though cute and fun, offered a stern moral for those who listened. Playwright and actor Fred Curchack’s one-man show Gauguin’s Shadow could be interpreted as a similar warning: Girls, don’t date artists. The play, which combines acting, masks, puppets and video projections, illustrates…
I’ll admit it: Tendril was one of those bands I always saw listed in club schedules but never saw. Well, sometimes I saw them packing up their gear as they left the stage before another band played. Sometimes I heard the last song or two. But it took someone booking…
It was one of those years. Three beloved major-label acts dominating nearly every major category, with little but their hometown in common. One a sweet, unassuming Christian family making music beyond their years. One a crew of aging but still-scorching rockers giddily throwing up the devil horns. One a chorus…
Doonesbury gets the letters of complaint and the threats to cancel newspaper subscriptions. But Bizarro hits its mark faster and more stealthily. Instead of four panels, the nationally syndicated newspaper cartoon Bizarro takes just one frame to lambaste those who oppose gay marriage but don’t apply the same standards to…
Thursday, April 1 We’ve been told that to appreciate NASCAR and not see it as cars driving in circles, we must attend a race. Only then, schooled by a fan of the sport, will we fully understand the skill behind pit strategy, the technology of cars going really fast for…
The Theater Fire’s eponymous, full-length debut is like an old record found at the bottom of a flea-market stack, jacket yellowed at the corners, vinyl scuffed with wear and smelling of mystery. It’s hard not to compare this Fort Worth septet–that’s right, seven people–to something archaic. There is mandolin, banjo,…
Doing the marathon of Dallas and Fort Worth’s seasonal gallery events is like eating at a buffet restaurant. You scoop up a smidgen, walk a bit, spoon over some more, round the corner, grab something else. But we have some advice: Just because it’s a buffet doesn’t mean you can’t…
Thursday, March 18 Only the absolutely nerdiest shindigs require their own specialized dictionaries. Latin club, Klingon conventions, Scrabble championships–all havens for people who never got to spend their own lunch money. But they’re also full of people who take themselves very seriously. Just check out Word Wars, the 2004 Sundance…
There’s been a lot of talk about Jesus lately. Maybe you’re sick of hearing about Jesus. Or perhaps it’s just a momentary Jesus overload. Well, buck up. We’ve just started the season of Jesus. There are months and months ahead of talking about Jesus. There’ll be discussions of his passion,…
Some people will never appreciate Charlie Chaplin turning two dinner rolls into dancing feet in Gold Rush. Others will never laugh at John Cleese’s “The Ministry of Silly Walks.” And, sadly, some will never give due credit to Fishboy and his band of merry men, including the kazoo- and horns-playing…
“Rock and roll. Period.” That’s how singer/guitarist Matt Riggle has described the fourth album in just over four years by his band, 41 Gorgeous Blocks. And it hits that mark. Two guitars, bass, drums, vocals is a tried-and-true formula, but they can only be manipulated so many ways. Here the…
Thursday, March 4 We’ve often wondered if video artist Bill Viola found inspiration for his work The Crossing from watching football games in which a coach is doused in Gatorade after a winning game. We loved the way Jimmy Johnson’s stiff hair pasted onto his forehead when all that gel…
We were an expert in brainwashing long before our English class watched The Manchurian Candidate in high school. We had nearly perfected our technique by age 3, having nightly whined, “Mommy, read me Inside, Outside, Upside Down” and “Daddy, read me Green Eggs and Ham.” Eventually, we moved beyond those…
Thursday, February 19 We were nearly 10 when we saw Stand By Me the first time, and it scarred us for life. It wasn’t the body in the woods, or the leeches, or the scramble across the train trestle. Oh, no, it was the story about the pie-eating contest. Competitive…
It’s time for that annual exam. Put on the backless, scratchy paper examination gown. Giddy up those ankles onto the icy cold stirrups. Now scoot closer. No, closer. Seriously, closer. Sounds like a lot of fun, huh? Sure, we can complain–and we will–but we’ve got it better than women in…
Thursday, February 5 Our line of sight falls somewhere just below five feet. We’re short and tend to look down when we walk, plowing through crowds of people like a fox running through heavy underbrush. So when it comes to buildings, it takes a lot to catch our attention. Yet…
Slaves in Texas didn’t learn of the Civil War’s end and the announcement of their freedom until nearly two-and-a-half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became official. It took until June 19, 1865, for Major General Gordon Granger’s Union soldiers to land in Galveston and begin spreading the word. And…
Thursday 22 We believe that any year that honors the monkey has got to be a good year. Then again, we also believe our horoscopes and trust our TV weatherman. So don’t take our word for it. According to tradition, since today begins the year of the monkey (and more…
We dislike today’s kids because, first of all, we’re adults now and they constantly step in front of us when we’re walking fast, stare at us at restaurants and burst our eardrums by screaming while we’re trying to talk on our cell phone at Target. Sure, they look cute, but…
Thursday, January 8 If you check the “single” box on forms and enjoy the beauty of a gourmet meal, then you’re probably really picky and there’s good reason you’re still alone. We wouldn’t know anything about that. We do know the glory of having discriminating taste and high standards, as…
