Arts & Entertainment

Ah, how innocent things were pre-pandemic. Remember when the former Affiliated Computer Services building suddenly became the archenemy of Italy’s Leaning Tower of Pisa? Yeah, that was cool. In February, an 11-story office building in Dallas refused to fall after a failed demolition attempt. That caused the structure to lean and selfie-loving spectators to come flocking, turning it into a sort of second-rate tourist attraction. Eventually, the building was downed in a cloud of dust and debris, but oh, the memories will never fade.

It’s strange the way music can sometimes lie dormant until a time when its meaning can be better understood. Back when we thought the pandemic would be over before we knew it, Yells at Eels and Pinkish Black released their soundtrack to isolation, Vanishing Light in the Tunnel of Dreams. The collaboration between Dallas’ most prominent avant-jazz and avant-metal acts had actually been recorded over two years beforehand, but when the lockdowns started, the members of each group along with producer Stéphane Berland of Ayler Records dusted off the old tracks and delivered an album that transcends the conventions of any genre. Grounded in a search for connection at a time when connections between people seemed a distant memory (as well as a steady diet of old zombie movies), Pinkish Black’s Daron Beck spent nearly a month mixing the 2-year-old audio to be a reflection of the weird world we find ourselves in.

DGDG was having a strong year before the pandemic hit; last Halloween, they premiered the limited engagement Bippy Boppy Boo Show at Theatre Too (Theatre Three’s basement theater). The show combined dance and comedy with plenty of horror and a little of the occult to offer a spooky love letter to theater and to Halloween; the show was so good that they’re bringing it back for round two this Halloween. DGDG took a more serious turn when the pandemic hit, producing the film The Savage Seconds in association with Undermain Theatre (where Georgiou is associate artistic director), whose themes of loss and adolescence blended with pandemic-related angst. These productions, both written by Georgiou and Justin Locklear, were fabulous additions to a tumultuous season of Dallas dance and theater.

There are so many classic plays out there, from Shakespeare to Ibsen to O’Neil, that it would be easy to never write another play and simply perform the brilliant works from centuries past for centuries to come. In spite of this, there is still a need for new plays. In their New Works Initiative, Theatre Three describes the value of classic plays for giving us perspective on the past while new plays are needed to give us the context of the present. Lee’s new play, which premiered at Theatre Three in February, does exactly that. The play paints a vivid picture of racism in Dallas today, a reality that was just as important to witness before the death of George Floyd as it is after. And yet, this play is written with humor and ease. Although it takes clear note of the issues of racism, it also shows the worth of humanity and therefore the worth of fighting against racism.

D’Andra Simmons took on fellow housewife LeeAnne Locken in The Real Housewives of Dallas‘ latest season. We’re assuming she won because Locken is no longer on the show, but that’s not the only reason we’ve grown to love her. Simmons took over her mother’s skincare and wellness company, and when she needed help learning how to keep the business afloat, she enlisted fellow housewife Stephanie Hollman’s husband, Travis, a businessman. Unfortunately for all involved, Simmons had a hair appointment the night before that took too long, so she didn’t make it to her early business meeting with Travis. If that sentence wasn’t enough to convince you that Simmons is The Ultimate Housewife, we don’t know what will.

Three Links has just absolutely killed it during this pandemic. Period. Full stop. For those of us who made live music our lifeblood in those days before the pandemic, the desire to see live music since March has been real. Live music streaming will never replace the live music experience, but the folks at Three Links have seen it fit to provide fans with something of a live music supplement and its regular bands with something of a supplementary income for one night at least. In the months that have passed since mid-March, livestreamers have been able to see Upsetting’s single release show, punk stalwarts The Scandals bring down the house and The 40 Acre Mule give a soul-lifting performance with the memories of riots fresh in our heads. Three Links has always been eclectic and always kept local bands and fans first. Could there be anything more punk rock than that?

There are many reasons we’re impatiently waiting for the end of the pandemic. One of the bigger ones is going to bar trivia nights. The weekly trivia games that ran at Glass Half Full taproom in the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson were the most fun ways to feel really stupid on a Wednesday night. Geeks Who Drink host Eric Riggan presented rounds of cleverly worded questions with Jeopardy-grade contextual hints on subjects like geek pop culture and more challenging topics like the history of government agencies and insurance terminology. Riggan has the perfect temperament and voice for a grade-A game show host and a sense of humor and attitude. He puts the “master” in “quizmaster.”

Sometimes, when we watch the work of a truly good actor, it seems impossible the actor could be in any way different from the character they are playing. When you see their face again in another work, it is sometimes shocking to see that they are in fact acting. They aren’t merely walking and talking on a stage but are transforming themselves into different people. This year, Kelsey Milbourn exhibited just this dexterity as an actor, first in Undermain Theatre’s The Thanksgiving Play and then in Stage West’s Ada and the Engine. In the first, she played ditzy, self-obsessed and iPhone-obsessed actress Alicia with such conviction that it seemed only likely that Milbourn herself was that type of person (much as we would like to hope otherwise). And yet, two months later she transformed into Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician and the total opposite of her Thanksgiving Play character. Both performances were riveting but in completely different ways, demonstrating the breadth of Milbourn’s talent.

A newcomer to Dallas, Kara-Lynn Vaeni had a fantastic season in DFW theater, which in spite of being sadly cut short by COVID, demonstrated her directing chops and established her as a welcome director in the area. In December 2019, she directed the brilliant and complex Noises Off! at Theatre Three. The play is uproariously funny but is only capable of being so in the hands of a strong director. Vaeni handled its intricacies well, ensuring that each joke led to knee-slapping and joyous tears. She followed this with The Children at Stage West, which opened in mid-March and hence closed after its first weekend because of the pandemic. The Children went on to be one of the first Dallas plays streamed online, and Vaeni’s work gave online theater a strong first step.

It was a much simpler time, the ’60s, the ’90s and July 2019, when Three Links owner Scott Beggs put on the first and possibly only ever WoodScott festival in honor of the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. The celebration was intended to celebrate the festival’s entire history, including its 1969, 1994 and 1999 editions. For e two nights in July, bands came together to perform sets honoring The Who, Parliament-Funkadelic, Green Day and Limp Bizkit among others. Bands and fans alike reveled in the nostalgic hits. In some cases, what began as a joke became a source of real ’90s alt-radio vibes the audience just couldn’t help but dig into.

Earlier this year, Dallas dancer Genea Sky became famous after she was filmed falling from a tall pole during her routine. From there, haters trolled her on the internet and derided fundraising efforts to help her pay for jaw surgery. Instead of letting them keep her down, though, Sky took the high road, even appearing on an episode of The Wendy Williams Show. During the segment, Williams gifted the former dancer with $10,000 to finish beauty school. Now, Sky has attracted upward of 200,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts clips from her work as an up-and-coming esthetician.

Ro2 Art always offers interesting exhibitions of contemporary art, but they have been a particular delight to art lovers during the pandemic, opening their virtual doors to those desperate to get back into gallery spaces. Summer 2020 saw their exhibitions From a Distance and My Corona with the first exclusively online and the second tentatively opening to real-life visits. Their exhibits do what art does best: respond to the outside world in a way that is all at once disturbing but also calming and reassuring. When we see art that is focused on the struggles of our lives, they can be painful reminders of what’s actually going on, but they can also be comforting reminders that we are not alone in our suffering and that we have the opportunity to fight against it with our fellow sufferers.

This is the guy to watch, y’all. Joshua Ray Walker is an incomparable crooner who’s well on his way to country legend status. His sophomore album, Glad You Made It, would make Townes Van Zandt proud. The Observer isn’t the only outlet that recognizes Walker’s gifts; Rolling Stone has also penned some favorable reviews of both his solo work and his band, Ottoman Turks. His guitar playing is top-notch, and he can hit all the high notes with perfect precision. Don’t believe it? Listen to “Voices,” the first song off his latest album.

Everyone and their mom has a podcast these days, so it’s hard to keep up even with just the local ones. But true crime comedy podcast Sinisterhood by Dallas comedians Heather McKinney and Christie Wallace hits all the high notes. Yes, it’s possible to laugh at the same time as being scared shitless, a discovery made thanks to these ladies’ ingenuity. Sinisterhood is so good it’s made it on iTune’s Top 10 U.S. comedy podcast list. Plus, lawyer McKinney helps break down the legalese behind complex cases, which helps a ton. Listen, if you dare.

Drive-ins have made a solid comeback ever since the pandemic effectively shuttered concert venues. Fear not, live music-starved friends: Armadillo Ale Works in Denton has you covered. The craft brewery created the Last Ditch Drive-in Concert Series, a weekly local music show dedicated to infusing a pinch of normalcy into everyone’s weekend. After purchasing tickets, fans park in a large lot where they can sip beers, take in tunes and eat phenomenal Latin street food from the neighboring restaurant, Boca 31. It’s like one big, socially distanced tailgate party. What’s not to love?

Take that, Gov. Greg Abbott! After the governor issued a bar closure mandate for the second time, Chris Polone, owner of Fort Worth’s The Rail Club Live, geared up to fight back. Instead of accepting yet another blow to his business, Polone opted to organize what he calls “the largest bar protest in Texas history,” Freedom Fest. He said 797 bars registered to participate in the grandiose July event, during which they operated under stringent safety guidelines. It was a roaring success, Polone said, but the battle to reopen is far from over.

This video is like a masterclass of radical, retro-inspired video effects, and it doesn’t hurt that the song slams. Front man Jordan Richardson and co. are at it again with a single that meets this totally strange moment. It’s an end-of-the-world banger that the replicants in Blade Runner would party to, with some Steely Dan-esque yacht rock breaks thrown in for good measure. In other words: totally out of this world. Meanwhile, video editor Rickey Kinney’s visual effects look like how it’d feel to trip balls inside the internet, where Illuminati-inspired imagery and bikini-clad women seamlessly coalesce. Far out.

Have you picked up smoking again to manage the boredom? Or maybe you’ve powered through both good times and bad with your American Spirit’s proudly tucked away in your shirt pocket? Now, where to smoke them? With non-mask wearers most recently taking all the heat, smokers are free to spark it up without being shamed. The parking lot of Bishop Cidercade, a retro arcade with a killer food truck, provides the perfect setting for a midnight smoke. Nestled on Irving Boulevard and tucked away from the crowded city, the parking lot gets the kind of cool summer breeze you’d imagine from a Francis Ford Coppola film. The only thing missing from this industrial park is graffiti stating “The Motorcycle Boy Reigns.” Smoke ’em if you have ’em.

There’s a pretty good chance you haven’t been following the progression of Dallas’ face-meltingest metal act Mountain of Smoke, but when their cover album Replicated comes out with all of its incredible takes on The Prodigy, Duran Duran and Fugazi, you’re going to wonder just how much you missed out on. The short answer is a lot. Mountain of Smoke began as a two-piece band with Brooks Willhoite on bass and vocals and PJ Costigan on drums. The band slowly added to its membership and sound. When Mountain of Smoke’s Gods of Biomechanics came out in 2018, the addition of pedal steel guitar player Alex Johnson gave the band a more industrial depth. Now, with the addition of Kyle Shutt of Austin metal band The Sword, Mountain of Smoke’s December 2019 release Future Sins bit back even harder, faster and with the intensity of a band that has now outgrown its old stages both in its physical presence and sound.

Bridging the gap between highly anticipated awards contenders and the best of local cinema, the newly launched North Texas Film Festival (NTXFF) became the go-to festival for Dallas film buffs. Festival audiences got the chance to watch early previews of some of the fall’s most acclaimed films launched at international festivals, including Marriage Story, The Two Popes, Clemency and Dolemite Is My Name while also getting a slice of local cinema thanks to NTXFF’s “Best of DIFF (Dallas International Film Festival)” short films and feature presentations. Throw in a full-on red carpet, themed events, selected guests and a select series of classic films that included Honey, I Shrunk The Kids and Friday Night Lights, and NTXFF became an exciting new hub for Dallas cinephiles in pre-pandemic times.

Although she’d made a name for herself in the past few years with limited roles in projects such as Justified, The Front Runner, and Beautiful Boy, Dallas-raised star Kaitlyn Dever announced herself as one of the most exciting young talents with not one, but two critically acclaimed performances. The 23-year-old star wowed with her performance as the anxious high school senior Amy in the crowd-pleasingly progressive comedy Booksmart, and also received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as the victim of a sexual assault in the Netflix series Unbelievable. Dever’s hype train won’t be slowing down anytime soon as she will next be seen in the Hulu horror anthology series Monsterland and the highly anticipated film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen.

It takes a lot of work to keep up with Kathryn Dunn, former Dallas Mavericks dancer and beauty pageant queen turned reality TV star. Dunn competed on CBS’ 21st season of Big Brother, and even though she didn’t take home the money, she did earn a reputation as a “conspiring bitch.” Since the show ended, she has gone on to launch a podcast, YouTube channel, clothing line and still kept people interested in her love life. (She ditched her Big Brother co-star for a fellow Dallasite, Bachelor blogger Reality Steve.) Her tweets about who she’s stanning in the Big Brother All-Stars house now keeps everyone on their toes. Even though she could have left her hometown and headed to Hollywood, Dunn stayed in Dallas and keeps conspiring away.

Before the pandemic, Alexandre’s had been known for offering platforms for local actors, singers and performers. Owner Lee Daugherty has also been quite vocal on his political stances and encouraged healthy conversation in his bar. Since the bar and restaurant closures, Daugherty organized a crowdfund to support his employees. In addition to creating a safe environment for queer and trans people, Daugherty remains ardent about human rights. He attended several protests in support of Black Lives Matter this summer and was even detained for one night. Even outside of work, Daugherty embodies Alexandre’s values.

The historic Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff is an indisputable source of pride for the city; it has survived fires, decades of inactivity and changes in ownership — and now, 2020. Besides having one of the best sounding rooms and some of the best live music programming, the venue has remained a class act throughout the pandemic. Owner Edwin Cabaniss was instrumental in the fight for the Save Our Stages Act introduced in late July, which could mean billions in relief to independent venues. The staff also entertained the neighborhood using the theater’s marquee to spell out uplifting messages and educated us through song recommendations with a song of the day. Even with the curtains drawn, The Kessler refused to leave music-starved audiences to their own devices and directed us to Iggy Pop, Soundgarden and even Miley Cyrus’ latest SNL performance.

Perhaps one could say that Netflix reality series The Circle predicted we’d be stuck in quarantine for an indefinite amount of time. Upon the show’s premiere this past January, Dallas-native Chris Sapphire became a fan favorite, offering gems of advice for people to maintain inner peace and high self-esteem. One of his most notable one-liners on the series refers to being patient with others and yourself as you continue to grow through life. Perhaps we should all live by the motto “don’t rush a cake, let it bake.” While there’s no telling when this pandemic will be over, we should all channel the spirit of Chris Sapphire and remember, “tomorrow’s a brand new day to slay.”

Dallas native TikToker Nakia Smith, better known as @caunsia, is a deaf TikTok user creating educational and humorous content for more than 374,000 followers. Smith posts daily sign language lessons and educates hearing people on issues deaf people face. She also occasionally takes requests from the comments and educates people on how to sign certain phrases and expressions. In the time of COVID-19, it is important now more than ever that hearing people try to learn how to sign so they can communicate with deaf people without having to lower their masks and have them read lips.

Independent radio has enough challenges for its survival in this day of personalized audio content and homogenized media. Now add a tornado that wrecked their studio and offices into the mix. That’s what KNON 89.3 FM faced last year, but it didn’t keep them off the airwaves. The locally produced and funded radio station didn’t come back. They never left. The staff stayed strong and kept their station on the air even when the entire operation had to be moved several times before and after the tornado. The station delivers an eclectic mix of independent music across every genre that gets zero airplay elsewhere on shows like the blues and soul morning show Grown Folks Music and the weekly reggae program The Friday Night Caribbean Party.

One of the hardest parts for kids enduring this summer must be the heartbreaking closure of water parks. Splash pads are hardly a replacement for these massive altars to aquatic entertainment, but Little Elm’s 3,500-square-foot refreshing playground for children is pretty damn close to the kiddie area of a major aquatic theme park. The McCord Park splash pad is vibrant and colorful. It has features for little to big kids from the water-squirting garden fixture that shoot light mists and spurts of refreshing water to the massive, spinning paddle wheel that dumps gallons on the heads of the overheated.

What. A. Gem. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins has been one of the few Texas officials willing to act like the adult in the room. Unlike some, Jenkins is dedicated to heeding guidance from public health officials to prevent further COVID-19 spread. He’s been steps ahead of state authorities the whole way through, understanding just how essential a universal mask mandate is to stymying transmission. Speaking of masks, Jenkins isn’t afraid to wear his Black Lives Matter face covering. Listening to experts’ advice and championing social justice? Swoon.

The mask mandates intended to help slow the spread of the coronavirus created a movement that defies all logic: the anti-mask people. Organizer Sam Walker tried to hold his million moron march in July around the baffling idea that Krogers’ asking customers to wear masks is akin to the rise of a Maoist regime. He started with a Facebook event that attracted way more critical comments than supporters. Walker eventually just shut down any further public discussion, the digital equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and humming. The attempted protest at a Kroger store in Irving that followed attracted four unmasked freedom fighters and a bunch of cops and store managers who knew they were coming despite their attempts to hide the location of their demonstration by communicating on Facebook Messenger. There is nothing we can say that sums up this failed attempt to poke in the eyes of “Big Mask” better than Walker’s response to our questions about his demonstration. “You know how many people showed,” Walker wrote in a Facebook message. “How do you think it went?”

The escape room concept reached an uninspired peak in the past year. This once-novel entertainment experience has racked up more weak and uninspired imitators than an Elvis impersonator convention. Then at the beginning of the year, Raleigh Williams and his Alcatraz Escape Games company came up with a brilliant, fresh concept. The Lewisville Labryinth takes away the tedium of trying to figure out the same, endless strain of lateral thinking puzzles and code deciphering in a single enclosed room and builds on it with a multi-room experience through different theme worlds containing a wide variety of challenges. It’s designed to be an all-encompassing experience for players of all kinds, from the beefy bro who’s good at physical challenges to the brainy nerd who can see patterns the way the kid in The Sixth Sense can see dead people. Williams and his crew clearly put a great deal of work, ingenuity and style into the challenges and theme worlds. The whole thing even tells a story from beginning to end by tracking players’ progress with electronic ID cards leading them to a boss battle against an evil supercomputer. The Lewisville Labyrinth is a multilayered, real world point-and click adventure game.

Some of us just don’t seem to have been raised right. Luckily, there’s Christina Moreland, whose cartoons are accompanied by the simple messages our parents should have instilled in childhood, tried-and-true bits of advice such as “Learn to listen,” “Call your mom,” and “Don’t be racist.” The artist’s work became an instant favorite among music scene figureheads like DJ Sober. Moreland’s newest work is a politically relevant alphabetical series. “A is for arrest the motherfuckers who killed Breonna Taylor,” “B is for Breonna’s killers still haven’t been f*ing arrested” and so forth. With a nostalgic Mr. Men–like aesthetic quality, Moreland’s cartoons offer those lessons that need not only to be repeated but drilled into our minds, reminding us to eat our veggies and to uplift trans voices.

Dallas has its share of superb performance artists, but few are as culturally involved and socially conscious as Kristin Colaneri. The skilled makeup artist is best known for taking a Cindy Sherman turn into the art of transformation by frequently incorporating herself, made up into different characters, into her art. An educator with degrees in theater and film, Colaneri inhabits a fascinating fantasy world but steps out of it long enough to make audiences feel the pain of segregation. Her newest work, called B&W, is a poignant bit of performance art in which Colaneri and fellow performance artist Kwame Lily pose in front of City Hall as intertwined “human sculptures,” body-painted with messages like “BLM.” Their aim is to intersect art and protest through improvisation in a display of quiet resistance. As a relentless advocate for the local arts, Colaneri wants Dallas to focus on its artistic rather than commercial growth. No matter the medium, she has maintained a steady point of view calling for a globalized unity through a celebration of multi-cultural perspectives.

Until recently, Confetti Eddie’s Magic Parlor sat in South Dallas, next to Ochre House Theater and Eight Bells Alehouse. Its presence was unmissable, as the parlor’s door was guarded by a giant, but friendly, dinosaur statue. Confetti Eddie and his dinosaur have since packed their bags of tricks and left the space, though they’ve yet to announce a new address. While the magician and his act evoke a nostalgic vaudeville aesthetic, his dinosaur was undoubtedly modern and health conscious, too. Dino was spotted throughout the pandemic wearing a custom-sized face mask, setting a sound example and proving his status as a Dallas icon — not just of the neighborhood, but of his new era.

Bar trivia has become a distant memory thanks to the coronavirus outbreak even as companies tried to replicate the concept online. Pop culture raconteur and Dallas fan convention emcee Devin Pike decided to do something much different and more fun with his Bacon Samurai Productions empire. His weekly pop culture altar called Universal Remote is a live, interactive game show that anyone who’s watching can play. Pike’s game show creation is based on MTV’s comedy game show staple Remote Control and brings it to our digitized age. The categories are “channels” that run the gamut of retro and modern pop culture trivia from single film and show-focused topics like Twin Peaks and What We Do in the Shadows to unique categories like “Ride or Die” about famous TV and movie cars. He’s also used his con and celebrity connections to score fan-favorite guests to host their own quiz channels like Sleepaway Camp‘s Felissa Rose and actor Keith Coogan, best known for his role in ’80s and ’90s movie staples like Adventures in Babysitting and Toy Soldiers.

We’re not proud of this news, but Dallas became the Karen capital of America this year, in one weekend no less, when several misbehaving COVID hoaxers, racists and other specimens displaying various degrees of entitlement became subjects of ridicule on the internet. Topping the list were Fiesta Karen, who threw her shopping items dramatically across the supermarket’s floor when she was denied service for refusing to wear a mask, and the MAGA Bonnie and Clyde who “protected” their St. Louis home from protesters by pointing guns mostly at themselves (yes, sadly we have to claim them, since they met at Southern Methodist University). But one woman took the cheesecake after a tweet by her husband went viral for its tone-deafness. Doghouse-dwelling husband Jason Vicknair tweeted a photo of his wife, a sad snapshot of a distressed woman who sat depressed at Mi Cocina in Allen waiting for shredded cheese for her fajitas. The shredded cheese never came. She was forsaken. She’d been waiting 18 whole minutes, he wrote, and the pandemic was just no excuse for poor service. Fajita Wife became a viral sensation overnight as commenters rejoiced in sarcastic sympathy for the couple’s first-world problems. The meme reminded us that no amount of death, uncertainty and unemployment could stop Americans from appreciating — and complaining about — the little things.

In his bimonthly livestream, 40 Acre Mule keyboardist Chad Stockslager pulled out every trick in his seemingly bottomless sleeves to entertain his audiences virtually. A North Texas University alum and music teacher, Stockslager engaged thousands of viewers through a surrealist hodgepodge including his piano playing, comedy bits, an uninterrupted 10-plus-minute scene of Stockslager romantically admiring his record collection and story time — in which he recounted random “fond memories” of life — all interjected with poetry, music videos, dream sequences and comfortably awkward dancing. Stockslager’s series was so influential it inspired the CarBaret Variety Drive-In in Richardson, a popular film and music series that’s now taken to the road. But most of all, the musician became the one person we’d choose to be stuck with in quarantine.

While we love the retro appeal of traditional tattoos, Francisco “Frank” Sanchez’s work makes us want to leave our anchor tattoos at the bottom of the ocean and in the past. The tattoo artist’s hyper-realistic work would’ve impressed Renaissance masters. One of the artist’s recent commissions depicting a biblical scene is so splendid it will have you running to convert to a life of piety. Sanchez is a skilled painter, too, and his artistry is evident. His multi-detailed skin art has so much depth it looks like the kind of 3D you’d pay to watch at an IMAX theater. Sanchez works by appointment only and specializes in color realism, black and white, and portrait tattoos. Sanchez also does custom tattoos and manages to make even the cheesiest of pet photos look tasteful.

Picking a best museum is a little tricky in the coronavirus pandemic; some have decided to temporarily shutter while others remain open with stringent safety guidelines. The Dallas Museum of Art is exercising both caution and innovation by paring down its visiting hours and offering phenomenal online exhibits. Homebodies can embark on a virtual tour of a DMA collection with works ranging from modern sculptures to classic European art. Adventurers should check out its Dallas: Art Outdoors compilation, where you can explore 13 public works including sculptures, murals and memorials.

Tweeting out a whole book isn’t anything new; Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You character earned her fame after releasing her book on Twitter, and just recently, North Texas-born Kassie Shanafelt released a book of poems in reverse chronological order through the social media platform. The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American City by author and former longtime Observer columnist Jim Schutze, has long been out of print since it was first published in 1986. But in June, someone decided to type out all 199 pages of the book and tweet it out — sentence by sentence, by the hour. The book details the history of race relations in Dallas, recounting a series of racially motivated bombings against Black households in the 1950s. Rare copies of the book can be found on Amazon (for $1,000, plus $3.99 for shipping). As Black Lives Matter protests flooded the city, and the world, some Robin Hood of literature decided to spread this wealth of knowledge by allowing Twitter users access to this treasured bit of info for free, 280 characters at a time. It’s not a pleasant way to read, but it’s worth it.

Charles Rogers is the co-creator of HBO’s Search Party, a dark comedy that starts off as a mystery about a group of friends searching for a lost companion and evolves by its third season into a satire about crime and a parody of millennial narcissism. Rogers is the sole creator of his Instagram content, however, and his account, under the handle @Gcharlesrogers, is just as enthralling. Rogers, who was born in Dallas and grew up in Brownsville, uses his Photoshop powers in a showing of unparalleled weirdness. The treasures found in Rogers’ posts include photos of himself altered into the likeness of a human-fleshed horse — in a suggested ménage à trois with himself; shower photos of his naked backside transformed into a generous hourglass shape; or eating oysters naked in a cage. Call it surrealism or highly confusing erotica — we don’t know what we’re looking at, but we’re too powerless to turn our eyes away.

Say what you will about the whole “entire world going to shit” theme of 2020, but it sure did a lot to inspire new art. Fort Worth’s Jana Renee was one artist who made lemonade out of the pandemic’s Satan-brand lemons by using the lockdown as inspiration. The artist used her time in isolation to connect intimately with her subjects, asking her friends to send photos of themselves at home. These friends posed in various states of domesticity: with their children, among rows of toilet paper, having sex or lounging in bed. The artist turned these photos into drawings and then into paintings. The portraits document the era and serve as honest and playful timestamps in a whimsical, heartwarming and beautifully voyeuristic way.

Fort Worthian Channing Godfrey-Peoples grew up celebrating Juneteenth with her family, taking in the cultural significance of the holiday’s traditions and reserving special attention to the Miss Juneteenth pageants. In her debut film, Miss Juneteenth, Godfrey-Peoples’ honors those early impressions by imagining the lives of a former winner and a reluctant contestant. The film tells the story of Turquoise Jones (played with flawless subtlety by Nicole Beharie), a former pageant winner who struggles to make a living and whose dream is to pass on the crown to her teenage daughter, who’s uninterested in pursuing the title. The film unfolds slowly, dragging the viewer into a visual folk song sizzling with the subtext of the hardships of motherhood and poverty and the bitter aftertaste of missed opportunities. It’s ultimately optimistic in its metaphorical message of seeking out hope for a better future. Miss Juneteenth was fittingly released on June 19 at the peak of this year’s civil rights protests. Its timing couldn’t have been better.

Skateboarding is always entertaining for those of us who have zero capacity to glide gracefully, let alone jump, with a wheeled artifact, but one local skateboarder has captured our attention and our unending curiosity. A mysterious skateboarder dressed like a skeleton, known as Ribs Man, has become the Banksy of the skateboarding world, at least in the sense that nobody knows his, hers or their true identity. Over the past four years, Ribs Man has earned a huge online following by posting videos of his skateboarding prowess as he wheels around — and above — Dallas. Ribs Man’s identity has become a tireless guessing game for the skateboarder’s followers, but it’s a secret the skeleton will likely keep in the closet.

You can bring both your two- and four-legged friends to this off-leash dog park-restaurant mash-up. Dubbed the canine cantina, Mutts is the best place to sit back, grab a bite, sip a smooth adult beverage and let your pet mingle with other pets. You’ll want to swing by during Mutts’ “Yappy Hour” for cheap cocktails and draft beer and look out for events like breed meet-ups at their Dallas and Fort Worth locations.

This sports bar doubles as an adult arcade. Pingpong tables, dart and shuffle boards are set up inside Sidecar Social where patrons can order cocktails, beer and wine from one of two onsite bars. If these games aren’t your thing, grab a few pals to play bocce ball or foosball. But if you’re just looking to stuff your face and knock back a few drinks, you can find a spot in front of one of the bar’s 18-foot televisions. On TVs this big, you can see where players cut themselves shaving the morning of the game.

Jay Clipp is a 15-year career DJ. Clipp has performed with DJ Spinderella, RC and the Gritz and Erykah Badu. He’s also spun for the likes of Dave Chappelle, Jay Z and LeBron James. A little over five years ago, Clipp began teaching music production courses through his Keep Spinning DJ Academy, making music education a passion of his. Clipp continues to be one of Dallas’ envelope-pushing DJs.

Prism Movement Theater was founded by Jeff Colangelo, a fight choreographer with an exceptional aptitude for miming, and Katy Tye, an acrobat and dancer. That explains the “movement” portion of the theater company’s name. Before a surge of endless drive-in attractions popped up mid-pandemic (we’re hoping that was the “mid” part), Prism set up an “immersive performance experience” in DFW parking lots. Everything Will Be Fine, created by Colangelo and Kwame Lilly and written by Zoë Kerr, uses the pandemic setting to the utmost advantage. The show tells the love story of two face-masked characters through a graceful interpretative dance and a clever use of car lights. The plot and choreography are equally moving, and make for an entertaining display of art which proves that if performers can expend boundless energy through complicated dance moves — in the Texas summer — while wearing a mask, you’ll survive wearing one for five minutes while in line at CVS.

There aren’t many venues that can say they book some of the best rock bands in town and have had Tenacious D make a cameo appearance during a local set. Three Links can. Building on the grave of what was once Deep Ellum’s La Grange, Three Links opened over seven years ago and has been a staple of the local rock scene ever since. Three Links hosted one of the last shows in Deep Ellum, featuring bands Highlife, Calculated Chaos and Periods, before the city shut down for the pandemic. During the COVID closures, Three Links still hosted shows the club livestreamed on their Facebook page. When Three Links reopens, the city will finally be able to get back to rocking.

Chasity Samone is a veteran, activist, actress, model and, earlier this year, she became our official pinup fantasy by becoming a Playboy Playmate. In February, the publication featured Samone on the cover of their “Equality” issue. Samone has positioned herself as more than a sex symbol. Her aspiration is to join the City Council and advocate for marginalized communities. Samone’s brand of sex appeal doesn’t simply cater to the relentless male imagination but lies in her freedom to choose to do what she damn well pleases by celebrating her own body without shame. The model’s outspoken about letting future critics know that her Playboy shoot will not deter her career in politics. She’s said the experience of posing nude is “liberating,” pointing to the fact that art has featured nude women since the beginning. The statuesque beauty was raised in a Baptist family as one of a batch of 12 and joined the Army like her father. If her looks don’t kill, she’s also trained to kick your ass.

This Deep Ellum honky tonk might as well be a local music landmark. One of the oldest bars in Dallas, the country music watering hole has seen the likes of Jack Ingram, Deryl Dodd and members of The Chicks. The first iteration of the venue was opened up in the early ’60s on Cedar Springs by owners S.L. and Ann Adair. Adair’s moved to Deep Ellum about 20 years later, where it has sat on Commerce Street ever since.

Odd fellows, vagabonds, rabble-rousers and revelers all came together to bring a taste of New Orleans to the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. That is how district business owners Amy Wallace Cowan, Jason Roberts and Corey McCombs would describe themselves. In a short walk between their other creations, Odd Fellows and AJ Vagabonds, sits the trio’s brainchild, Revelers Hall. On the weekends, the house band’s performances usually pour out onto the sidewalk in front of Revelers Hall, but pull up a chair for some patio joy.

The Balcony Club has been providing Dallas with great drinks and music for 32 years now. Seven nights a week, patrons can stroll through and hear some of the best jazz, soul and R&B acts in North Texas. Concerts at this small neighborhood gem often feature surprise guest improv performances. You can see it all and get cheap drinks every night of the week from 5 to 7 p.m.

Magic happens at Louie Louie’s Piano Bar when acts such as Alessia Cara, Shaun Martin, Cure for Paranoia and many others hop onstage for the artist showcase Lockjohnson’s Playground. The showcase has rocked the venue for about two years. It’s the brainchild of local musician and promoter Gino “LockJohnson” Iglehart. At first, the show drew crowds of about 10 people, but it continued to grow until it packed the house. The secret of the show is that Igleheart doesn’t turn anyone away, so on any given night, you could hear folk, jazz, blues and whatever else you can think of.

Originally designed to be a canteen for performers at Trees, The Green room has become a force of its own. There’s nothing better than ordering a Green Room Melon-tini and slamming down a Metalachi Burger while local acts like Quentin Moore slam down a beat in the background.

Founded in Morelia, Michoacán, in 1971, Cinépolis has become the fourth-largest movie chain in the world and Mexico’s No. 1 cinema company. At Cinepolis’ Dallas location, you can hang back in the lobby or at the bar and enjoy a view of Victory Park. There’s not a bad seat in the house at Cinepolis, and their lobster tacos and Texas mule are a to-die-for combo.

Call us biased (our offices were in Oak Lawn until recently), but there are a million reasons why we’re fond of the neighborhood. Most of them, of course, have to do with food. The neighborhood has a Latin bakery (Zaguán), a chocolate and jazz bar (Chocolate Secrets) and the long-standing funky-yogi vegetarian haven Cosmic Café. There’s a social-distance friendly patio (and accessible Champagne) in friendly bar The Grapevine. The neighborhood has a secret garden in Dragon Park and is within a short distance of Cedar Springs’ LGBTQ bars, the greenest parts of Turtle Creek, downtown and the Design District. With the mom-and-pop shops, nail and hair salons, abundance of coffee shops and proximity to Whole Foods, there’s no reason to ever leave.

It’ll Do has become one of Dallas’ go-to dance clubs since it opened its doors in the cold 2012 winter. This East Dallas spot draws crowds of every variety to dance as resident DJs do their thing. It’ll Do has kept the music alive during the pandemic, livestreaming DJ sets for the dance club-deprived masses.

Tattoo artists Marie Sena and Caleb Barnard run Electric Eye Studio, a quaint, clean shop tucked away in North Oak Cliff. Styles range from traditional Americana to fine-line black and gray, and all are executed with great attention to detail and a pleasing color palette. Would rather wear art on your clothes than skin? No problem. Check out Electric Eye’s excellent print and T-shirt selection on their website, which displays original designs by Sena and Barnard. There’s even a sweet black-and-white poster that captures the year’s zeitgeist: “Your mask protects me. My mask protects you. Respect one other.”

Walls can talk, at least through murals, and Dallas loudly expressed its solidarity with Black Lives Matter this year through its street art. With homages to police brutality victims painted across downtown, the words “Black Lives Matter” painted on the road across from City Hall, performance art and other statements of support, local artists turned up to support change. One work by Jammie Holmes stood above the rest — at least physically speaking. The Dallas painter held a multi-city aerial presentation with banners that read the late George Floyd’s last words. The plane that flew over Detroit had a banner that read “Please I can’t breathe” while Dallas’ read “My neck hurts.”

We picked this album before front man Riley Gale died, and we doubly stand by it now. These Dallas thrash metal lords put on some wicked shows, and they’re at the height of their game with Live in Seattle: 05.28.2018. Released in June, this live album is perfect for getting all your coronavirus-induced sorrow and/or aggression out. With eyes closed, curtains drawn and the volume turned way up, it almost feels like you’re at an actual Power Trip concert — ah, if only. Rest in power, Riley; you were the real deal.

Talk about the feel-good hit of the summer. Bobby Sessions, a Dallas native, offers a platinum-worthy track with his new single, “Made a Way.” With a major-chord backing track and groove-inducing beat, Sessions delivers optimism at a time when people need it most. Don’t worry, y’all: It’s been a hard year, but Sessions is here to remind you that you’ll get through. The song’s so fire that it was included in the trailer for EA Sports’ FIFA 21. It’s just a matter of time before Sessions makes his way to superstardom.