Way back in 1915, some Mexican banditos raided the McAllen Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Texas. The next day, the Texas Rangers came riding in, just like John Wayne in The Searchers, to eliminate the problem. Roland Warnock, a 19-year-old cowboy, saw how the Rangers did it–shooting two…
From his freaky “Thriller” video to his white socks, sequined glove and tight dance moves, Michael Jackson moonwalked his way into the hearts of Americans everywhere after his debut with the Jackson 5 back in the 1960s. With original hits like “ABC” and “I’ll Be There,” his sweet, soulful voice…
Enter the world of high-end hunting at Visions 2011, the Dallas Safari Club Show & Expo. The annual sporting show draws an international crowd interested in safaris and socializing. Hundreds of booths, with vendors ranging from local dealers to African hunting lodges, offer eye-popping items for sportsmen and -women who…
Everybody, including the world’s top assassins, is against Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau. When the insane former chief inspector, Charles Dreyfus, reaches his breaking point, he tries to blackmail the rest of the world into killing his replacement, the world’s most bumbling detective, Inspector Clouseau. In The Pink Panther Strikes Again,…
Stand-up comedian Pablo Francisco’s knack for spot-on vocal impersonations and eerily realistic sound effects combined with his insightful skewerings of our modern pop-culture obsessed world have earned the former MAD TV cast member quite a reputation as a touring comedian. But of all the zany impersonations Francisco incorporates into his…
Two of us at the Observer competed year-before-last in a hot-wing eating contest, racing to down 25 drummettes and wingettes so powerful our skin numbed wherever the sticky orange-red sauce touched. After going the distance, Patrick Michels downed soothing milk, while I begged for mercy and a beer after 13…
From Beck to Woody Allen, some of our most brilliant artists only really hit their stride when they’re forced to grapple with break-ups and frustrated love. Add to the list writer/director Tommy Wiseau, and his 2003 instant classic The Room, which casts Wiseau as the All-American-slash-vaguely-Eastern-European everyman torn apart by…
Many of us grew up on animated canine-based classics like Lady and the Tramp, Snoopy, The Fox and the Hound and All Dogs Go to Heaven. Maybe some even named their own pups after one of these famous pooches. Now it’s time to share the puppy love with the next…
Are you ready for some puck-pushing hockey? After the holiday season, sometimes a little ice aggression is exactly what we need and the Dallas Stars give it to us. They won’t just have a home-game advantage this time, but will also be used to playing a cold sport in a…
Contrary to our first guess, slitscan photography is not a euphemism for office-created porn made by hiking up one’s skirt and sitting on a scanner. (Copiers are sturdier anyway, so stick to the Xerox machine.) It’s actually a photographic technique that captures motion, stretching its subject to impossible lengths, and…
Have you ever ruminated over the unending flow of information streaming from a printing press? Ever thought the solitude of train passengers was truly beautiful? Probably not–and that’s why Mike Osborne is a celebrated artist and you aren’t. If you want to appreciate a unique point of view and pore…
Playwright Martin McDonagh can be kind of scary. Not the man himself, per se, but the man whose mind can come up with the disturbingly awesome tales McDonagh’s written over the years (see The Pillowman and In Bruges). McDonagh has a knack for making the bloody and horrid hilarious and…
The technical prowess and beauty in a representational work such as, say, the Sistine Chapel is apparent to millions. Even non-artists can recognize the artist’s skill (or lack thereof) in a painting of a landscape, a human or an animal. But can abstract art reach the untutored heart in the…
Scientists have found that despite hundreds of years of modern civilization, man still instinctively fears the creatures that once hunted his ancestors. In fact, in one study, when confronted with images of a lion and a zebra, young school children who’d had only minimal exposure to the concept of these…
Known for being fiercely independent with a serious rebellious streak, painter, poet and actor Salvator Rosa was a bit of a controversial character in the 17th-century Italian art scene–run-ins with the papacy tend to do that for an artist’s reputation, then and now. In the first major U.S. exhibition devoted…
Funny how the little moments in some plays stay with you. An actor wiping a tear from his cheek in a quiet scene in Our Town. That same actor, Joey Folsom, angrily tearing through a package of Oreos in subUrbia. Estelle Parsons reeling down the stairs in August: Osage County…
Chicago has been around for a long time. You may think they are yet another band reuniting, cashing in on the deep pockets of its sentimental fans, but, no, the band has been plugging along, putting out album after album, since 1969. They have lost key members to death and…
Christmas is over, the gifts are scattered throughout the living room and the leftovers are stuffed in the refrigerator–but wait, there’s still another week full of celebration. Yep, Kwanzaa is back, and this year’s celebration is bound to bring nothing but fun. The sixth day of the seven-day celebration, Kuumba,…
The Armed Forces Bowl match-up between the SMU Mustangs and the Army Black Knights is branded as “more than a bowl game,” presumably a nod to the game’s military theme. The military and its cohorts share a flair for cheesy dramatic marketing, which isn’t surprising considering the passel of patriotic…
Leslie Jordan is, hands down, one of the most entertaining people out there–it’s nearly impossible to witness a Jordan performance without breaking into smiles and laughter. Whether you’re short or tall, gay or straight, soft-spoken or rambunctious as all get out, the pint sized character actor is sure to have…
When’s the last time the family got together for New Year’s Eve? Sure, spending Christmas with the family can be a little overwhelming, but playing laser tag and mini golf might entice the loved ones to put in a little extra time with each other. Now’s the time to round…
Best known as one of the founding members of the ground-breaking, quasi-controversial Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, Iranian-born stand-up comic and actor Maz Jobrani must love all the new TSA regulations put in place just before the holiday travel season– after all, his routine on the tour’s 2007 Comedy Central…
