Dallas Life

Last weekend, thousands of fans of strategic, virtual violence descended upon the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine for QuakeCon, an annual gaming celebration that offers first glimpses of some of the most anticipated game releases of the year. The people who turn out aren’t ordinary gamers. They’re a special breed…

It’s been a year since “Pokémon Go” sent gamers scrambling to collect virtual creatures all over Dallas, and the app is still providing entrepreneurs opportunities to cash in. An Austin-based company called Pokémon Go City Tours recently expanded to Dallas and Arlington. The startup’s founder is 27-year-old Austin resident Phil…

The University of North Texas is hoping to become a pioneer in eSports. On Aug. 30, it will open a new practice space called The Nest inside the Media Library. The Nest will provide a place for teams playing various competitive video games, from Overwatch to League of Legends to…

Nothing can feel as unproductive and costly as going out drinking. So why not work in a competitive match of trivia? Bring the right team to one of these trivia events in DFW, and you can turn imbibing into an educational and perhaps even free activity. These 10 trivia nights…

Big news around this year’s pride festivities includes Skittles receiving online backlash after selling bags of all-white candies to show its support for the LGBTQ community and President Donald Trump breaking former President Barack Obama’s tradition of proclaiming June Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. Meanwhile in Dallas, pride…

The Hill, a 275,000-square-foot development at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway, just got its first business, and it’s already breaking records. TreeHouse, a store that sells sustainable home improvements, is also Dallas’ first energy-positive building. TreeHouse has been dubbed the “Whole Foods of home improvement.” The company’s CEO and co-founder,…

Dan Savage will speak tonight, Thursday, May 11, at The Kessler Theater Longtime sex-columnist and LGTBQ activist Dan Savage is this generation’s Dear Prudence, his sage advice delivered with the confident bluntness of Judge Judy. Through his podcast Savage Love, which is in its 11th year, Savage has literally redefined…

Eight months ago, Mary-Brennan Reich started making jewelry in the middle of the night, on a whim. Now, the 24-year-old Southern Methodist University graduate has successfully launched her own online accessory shop, Bare & Golden. “I was working a retail job to pay rent while doing improv and taking acting…

Dallas’ Valley View Mall has been on its death bed for years now. The demolition permit, which was finally pulled back in December, gives Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition 180 days to get the wrecking ball started or it will expire. There’s not too much sand left in that hourglass. Before…

Most sunglasses companies are not inspired by 1700s Renaissance writers, but new online shop Volterre is. Sarah Dauterman was exiting Paris’ Voltaire metro stop, on a journey to replace her favorite pair of vintage sunglasses, and got to thinking about its namesake’s idea that while Paris was beautiful, it lacked proper…

The very first QuakeCon, the annual gaming convention held by gaming software giant ZeniMax Media that oversees game developers such as id Software of Dallas, was held in a La Quinta Inn in Garland with an attendance of just 50 die-hard fans. These days, QuakeCon needs a much more substantial…

Cassandra Peterson, Greg Freres and Dennis Nordman will speak at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Frisco Conference Center Many actors setting out in their careers dream of someday tearfully accepting a shiny golden Oscar statue. But Cassandra Peterson, who became a pop culture icon in the early ’80s when she…

Daiso Japan, the obscenely well-organized Japanese $1.50 store, was enough of a magnet to draw lines of obsessive shoppers to Carrollton, but now the same strip mall on Old Denton Road has added Kinokuniya, upping the ante and making the shopping center the ultimate destination for those of us who live…

Between rare books from Sylvester Stallone’s personal collection and sports memorabilia as extraordinary as Evel Knievel’s leather motorcycle jumpsuit, Dallas’ Heritage Auctions is putting every single one of your estate-sale finds to shame. These are the eight most absurd items currently up for bids. Fair warning: They aren’t cheap, but…

From an early age, Chelsea DeVos watched as her mother suffered from epilepsy. “In 2016 her doctor recommended she look into CBD-rich hemp oil to help control her seizures,” DeVos says. “I had already been researching cannabinoids to help with my anxiety, so she and I started taking the CBD…

Shoppers have been raiding Elluments since the vintage clothing boutique announced that it will close at the end of February and owner Felicia Dunnican blamed gentrification in Deep Ellum for forcing her hand. “After months of negotiation, we’ve been priced out of our space,” read her Jan. 8 Facebook post to…

L.A. lady Lola Rogers and her younger sister Taylor are the cool girls behind Blue Jean Baby, a Dallas-based, online-only boutique. At ages 25 and 27, the Allen natives are already kicking ass and stitching their brand name on bandanas and vintage denim. “To us, a blue jean baby is…

On Saturday morning, Liz Cook is in a back room of her tattoo shop, Rebel Muse in Lewisville, inking a creepy clown on the left leg of a returning client. On a nearby shelf sit about 10 trophies for tattooing. Sometimes she enters the competitions, sometimes her clients enter for her…

Even though we live in an age when powerful video games can be delivered to the TVs in living rooms or to smartphones in pockets, gamers still long for the noisy mess of a video game arcade. Cidercade, a pixelated transformation of the Bishop Cider Co. on Irving Boulevard that…

Six grandmasters recruited to UT Dallas from all over the world by program director Jim Stallings have led the team back to chess’ version of March Madness with a chance at a sixth win at the Final Four, a round-robin style event that this year pits UTD against Texas Tech, St. Louis University and Webster.