Arts & Culture

Want to see a string quartet without having to sit through another boring wedding? Then head to TCU for the annual Mimir Chamber Music Festival, where world-renowned classical musicians such as pianist John Novacek and violinist Nathan Cole will spend their days teaching students the nuances of chamber music while…

Contrary to what Wu-Tang Clan would have me believe, I seriously doubt the rapping skills of the average Shaolin monk. While they may be well-trained and diligent practitioners of a multitude of acrobatic kung fu styles, they aren’t particularly boastful and don’t seem to say a whole lot, so it…

Attending a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in the 21st century isn’t so much about going to hear the band as it is about experiencing the Lynyrd Skynyrd institution, a cultural celebration of what used to be considered the antithesis of culture. It wasn’t too long ago that shouting “Free Bird!” at…

Local women’s group Friends in Deeds would like to invite you into the Empowerment Zone, wherein I can only assume you’ll feel like “Oh, no she didn’t!”-ing all over the place and telling your friends to “Go, girl!” In the Empowerment Zone, you’ll be asked, “Are You Living Your Best…

Aw, the early days of MTV: Kurt Loder. The moon man. And most important, Pat Benatar videos. Benatar ruled the early ’80s. I would stretch the neckhole in my T-shirt so that one shoulder would be exposed, tie a headband on and belt out “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”…

Hello, my name is Rich, and I’m a figure-skating nerd. There, I said it. Yes, I know the difference between salchow and axel jumps. I also understand the new scoring system put into place after the controversial 2002 Olympics judging of the pairs competition. And after the women’s short program…

The phrase “running with the bulls” would seem to indicate that you and the bulls share the act of running together in blissful athletic harmony. In fact, the bulls are chasing you, and when they catch you they don’t graciously congratulate you on a good race. They impale you. Or,…

The first screening of Jaws took place at a Dallas shopping center. From these humble beginnings the film surpassed $100 million at the box office, a high-water mark never accomplished before that time. The film also went on to make a generation of kids (and probably a few adults) afraid…

One of the few things that we remember from all those “self-defense for women” courses is the GTP—grab, twist and pull. And if our male readers protectively cup their testes at the mention of those four words, then we know we’re on the right track. You know what else feels…

A few decades ago, the cat dragged in a bunch of long-haired, outrageously dressed, glam-rock leftovers and coughed them up onto the carpet. Twenty years later, “Talk Dirty to Me” is still as fun as it ever was, and Poison is going on tour to make sure you remember that…

If you attend ONSTAGE in Bedford’s production of The Jungle Book, be sure that your expectations are tempered. This interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic short stories does not stretch so far as to include bebop-loving bears and orangutans—no “Bear Necessities,” man. And for Pete’s sake, the characters do not become…

Indians (think “subcontinent,” not “cowboys and”) know how to throw a good wedding. Instead of the usual stifling black-and-white nuptial garb, traditional Indian costumes are colorful and comfortable. Indian food is like Narnian Turkish delight: addictive. The best part, however, is the henna. Why the application of handcrafted body art…

There are hypnotists who say they can make people do anything. Like punch someone in the face. I’ve never seen it happen, though. I have, however, seen hypnotists who can make people dance like Michael Jackson, which is sort of funny if you know the person but also sort of…

Steamed about the magical foul-acquiring powers of NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade? Rattled by lackadaisical refs in this summer’s World Cup? Wish that technology would usher in an era where sporting events are no longer altered by bad calls? Then the World Series of Video Games is for you, control…

Dallas’ lit scene is a tiny one; there’s Will Clarke (Lord Vishnu’s Love Handles), Harry Hunsicker and…oh, you could probably name one or two comers, but be honest. HH’s second Lee Henry Oswald mystery, The Next Time You Die, is forthcoming next month, and it’s a hun-dinger (heh). But speaking…

I used to think photography was a cop-out kind of art. Where was the actual creation? Heck, I could snap a picture and have me some art! But my Mesquite mentality (hey, I used to live there) was soon changed after seeing Richard Avedon’s In The American West, a collection…

If the Angelika in Mockingbird Station, with its unusually unblemished facade and persnickety taste in film, is the Jake Gyllenhaal of movie theatres in Dallas, then the Inwood Theatre is Mickey Rourke. It’s curiously and oddly attractive, picks some of the most raucous films and displays its age well. But…

When I heard Journey was coming to an art gallery in Plano, I couldn’t wait to get all “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin'” north of 635. With “Open Arms,” I would welcome the band into the suburban fold. Then, somebody told me Journey at the 14th Street Gallery was not, in fact,…

Spelling bees are for kids, and Scrabble is for family fun time. Crossword puzzles are where it’s really at if you truly love words. As a person who attacks every puzzle I see with a pen, I have to admit that Will Shortz, puzzle editor of The New York Times…

Alas, the detestable bird-faced harpies of CBS’s Tuesday Night Book Club will no longer grace the airwaves. Not to worry. Local book clubs are popping up all over the country and now that television and popular culture have deemed reading fashionable, otherwise functionally illiterate, self-obsessed shrews have yet another public…