Does this look like Michael Bolton to you?By John Seaborn Gray Used to be you’d have to hit bar after bar until you found just the right jukebox, which promptly became your own personal lair of alcohol consumption. Folks demanded more freedom of choice, however, so many bars have switched…
When I wrote about a small tavern in Oak Cliff, I praised small menus, saying that kitchens tasked with too many dishes often end up with watered-down plates fraught with errors, or that the menus themselves are just a pain in the ass to read through. My last few meals,…
Korean comedian/musician PSY’s track “Gangnam Style” became a global viral hit over the summer and served as an example of the Hallyu, or Korean wave. This week, Schoolboy Records (the crew behind Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen) picked PSY up for releases in North America, the most high-profile deal…
Lyle Lovett is a modern legend. His laid-back vocal delivery offers a flirtatious wink at the listener and is as identifiable as his wild-ass hair has been, since he began performing in the early ’80s. The 54-year-old troubadour could sing the words to a Panda Express menu and it would…
Remember when Sean Connery ordered a Smirnoff martini “shaken, not stirred,” while appearing in Goldfinger? The vodka bottle’s label was not-so-casually displayed facing the camera, kicking off a whorish product placement campaign that runs through all the Bond films. Back in the Connery days, though, vodka was simple. It came…
Seeing that the first show I ever took my son to was Iron Maiden, I get a special feeling every time the legendary metal act makes its way to our area. Anyone who calls themselves a metalhead knows the “hits,” so in honor of the band playing tonight at Gexa…
This weekend I spent some time at the Dallas Farmers Market. I showed up Saturday around noon and milled about, checking out various vendors and wondering how the market will change if the proposed privatization effort is completed. As I wandered around tasting tomatoes, slices of cantaloupe and strawberries, I…
One could argue that Roky Erickson’s entire body of work is underrated. Nevertheless, I waded through his maddeningly inconsistent catalog and picked out five songs that may have escaped notice, either solo or with the 13th Floor Elevators. Please feel free to add to the list, and check out Erickson…
See also: The Warped Tour in review Judging by the horde at Gexa Energy Pavilion on Tuesday, the local economy is doing just fine. Out of the nearly 100 bands that performed at this year’s fest, I’ve whittled it down to the 10 best that I literally stumbled across. As…
Since those bombs are about to be bursting in air, here are a few songs to go along with the noise. I know that some folks will be mad because I left anything from Springsteen off the list, but go ahead and add your own recommendations if you like…
The summer I bought The Breeders’ Last Splash on cassette at the mall was the summer I dyed my hair with Kool-Aid, and woke up with ants on my pillow. It was the summer I lost my grandfather, though my mother swears that was him making our lights flicker every…
So Burger King has a new bacon sundae on the menu. This means I have to eat it. And fast on the heels of a few hundred guisado verde tacos for lunch from La Nueva Fresh and Hot, I found myself in a Burger King drive-through. Nick was kind enough…
I love Central Market. I love the food maze they make you cart through. I love that they always have approximately one zillion apples in that place. I love that I always find some random shit I don’t need but is freaking amazing (See: wasabi arugula, pictured above). I love…
This weekend I was walking past a friend’s garden and noticed a beautiful row of dill plants. Atop each long, thin stem was a flurry of yellow trumpet flowers, and I thought, “I always say I hate dill, but really I’m probably being too harsh. How can something so beautiful…
Mark Zuckerberg and his new wife Priscilla Chan are spending some time in Rome on their honeymoon, during which they are expected to purchase both Rome and patent for pasta. Yesterday The Telegraph out of London reported that the newlyweds had lunch at Nonna Betta, a kosher restaurant in Rome’s…
Yesterday the Huffington Post reported that 7-Eleven is nationally debuting Slurpee Lite. Slurpee Lite will be made with Splenda instead of real sugar and promises to be “50% fewer calories, 100% awesome taste.” Give me a summer-fucking break. Seems to me that if you’re inside a 7-Eleven at all, you’ve…
Another tiresome food trend to add to the Valhalla-like halls of the Museum of Annoying Food Trends: the Taste of Whatever City/Country. Japan McDonald’s Big America campaign, which attempted to surmise the taste of entire American locale between the crusty buns of a meatburger, did roughly the same. Now comes…
Dear Athena Hohenberg, I’m sorry to address you in such an adversarial tone, but I see no way around it. Your recent class action lawsuit filed against Ferrero, the company that manufactures the deliciously chocolate-like, hazelnut spread Nutella, is the saddest case of consumer idiocy I’ve seen in a while…
When I reviewed the Chesterfield, and wrote about drinks the color of Skittles, I was referring to those bight blue drinks you see bopping around inside clubs. Red drinks, too, a vibrant crimson, often containing little alcohol and sometimes shuttled around in test tubes. What I wasn’t thinking about was…
Yesterday The Dallas Morning News reported that food trucks serving the Arts District had received notices of violations. They were operating in a public right of way and that’s no good. The trucks responded by moving from where they were — a plaza across from the AT&T Performing Arts Center…
First, a little back story: Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has fired off round after round of press release material lately. The company is intoxicated with its expansion at every gas station and mall food court across the land, and its public relations firm mainlines Red Bull in order to make sure…
Update: I’m catching some heat in the comments by readers who defend the practice of projectile bottle opening. This photo (pictured above) just landed in my inbox. It’s an old fashioned made with whiskey, bitters, sugar, and citrus. It’s garnished with a metal bottle cap scooped from the ice bin:…
