We Were Up All Night, Or The Mixmaster’s 24 Hour Video Race Entry

Several hours ago (what day is it?), a couple of Dallas Observer staffers were wearing meat helmets. With real salted, cured meats. The reason was very, very simple: the 24 Hour Video Race happened. Which, naturally, means gorilla suits, massive foil balls and a helmet made of roast beef and…

Ted Kincaid’s “Iceberg 616” at Marty Walker Gallery

Each week, Fine Lookin’ Piece offers an image of a work of art visually compelling enough on its own to inspire our readers to hit up the gallery for a closer look — even with no prior knowledge of the artist or exhibition. A recognized Texas artist, Ted Kincaid has…

I Saw The Sign (And It Opened Up My Mind)

With the highly anticipated Dallas mayoral vote happening tomorrow, we all have had more than our fair share of campaign signs seen on every street and yard over the last few months. Former police chief David Kunkle’s austere (if not fashionable) black and white signs break the the typical campaign…

Photo Geek: Hello, My Name Is Allison V. Smith.

I’m in. That was my response when the Dallas Observer told me about the Mixmaster and my proposed role as Photo Geek, the blogger. I’m Allison V. Smith, self-proclaimed photo geek, with a resume to prove it. I shoot with film, digital and cell phones. I shoot for myself and…

Dead White Zombies Debut blahblah at Green Zone

Theater Caps are bite-sized punch-packing capsule reviews by resident theater critic Elaine Liner. Use them as a reminder — or a teaser, if you procrastinate — of her full-length reviews in The Mixmaster’s weekly sister. There is one visually stunning image in UTD professor Thomas Riccio’s new play blahblah, now…

Get Ready For Your Close Up With Krause

George Krause, the Philly-born photographer who started the photography program at the University of Houston, has taken up residence in Wimberley, but the picturesque Central Texas town hasn’t kept the 74-year-old away from the lens. His work is currently exhibited in The Museum of Modern Art in New York, The…

Cannes Chase Kick It? Yes, He Cannes!

My name is Chase Whale and I’m a movie addict. This is a really special week for me, Chase, movie addict, and there are two reasons for that. On Wednesday I headed out to France to cover the Cannes Film Festival for Stella Artois and film culture website GordonandtheWhale.com. Now,…

Giddyap! ATTPAC adds Lincoln Center hit War Horse to Lexus Series

Turnaround time from Broadway to Dallas is getting shorter. The AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Lexus Broadway Series has just added the current Lincoln Center and West End hit play War Horse to its 2012-’13 season at the Winspear Opera House. The play, currently up for five Tony Awards, has become…

Meek’s Cutoff: Unsettled Settlers

Tenacious indie Kelly Reichardt has specialized in quirky, minimalist quasi–road movies in which loners come unmoored in some great American space. Meek’s Cutoff is that and more—one great leap into the 19th-century unknown. The members of a small wagon train crossing the Oregon Trail in 1845 follow their bombastic, wrong-headed…

Bridesmaids: Still a Man’s World

Bridesmaids is a high-profile test case. Directed by Paul Feig (a sitcom journeyman most lovingly known as the creator of Freaks and Geeks), it’s the first female-fronted comedy produced by Hollywood kingpin Judd Apatow, who has weathered criticism in the past for his brand’s dude-centric point of view. It’s also…

Everything Must Go: Will Ferrell Hits Bottom

Greatly expanded from a four-page, single-situation story by Raymond Carver, Dan Rush’s first feature, Everything Must Go, is an ambitious if enervated vehicle for Will Ferrell—playing it straight as Nick Halsey, a middle-class drunk fired from his job and locked out of his suburban home by an irate, never-seen spouse…

Yip, He’s Coming!

One of Design Star’s stars is coming to Dallas. Vern Yip spent four seasons on TLC’s Trading Spaces and also did a little time on NBC’s Home Intervention. He owns his own design firm in Atlanta and after all his years of screentime assisting clueless homeowners, we like to think…

Show Your Booklust

Note: The date for this event has changed from Tuesday, May 17 to Wednesday, May 18. Want to know how to make us lose interest in a book immediately? Tell us it’s part of a vampire trilogy. In this case, though, an excerpt proves Justin Cronin’s The Passage is no…

Kid Around with Sid

Forget Bill Nye the Science Guy; Sid the Science Kid has got it all. Sure, he’s already a pretty smart kid, but he can also teach future scientists the ins and outs of everything science with a little music and humor. The PBS kids television star asks his viewers questions…