4/23
Here's a suggestion for a theme for Earth Day: "Keeping the flame alive--barely." Or how about: "A clean environment--remember when America cared?" Or maybe: "No, it's not just a bunch of tree-hugging hippie crap." Yes, friends of Earth, it's an SUV-drivin', Alaska-drillin', cold, cold Republican world out there these days, and festivities such as Earth Day are seeming kind of quaint, which is just one small step from "irrelevant." Not that that's stopping the DFW Green Alliance. Its fifth annual Earthfest for the Metroplex, which will be held Saturday at Flag Pole Hill, 8100 Doran Circle, is heavy on events for kids, who are young enough not to be jaded about the future of the environment. (Get them young: It's a strategy that worked for the tobacco industry, why shouldn't it work for Earth?) From 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., kids and adults can learn how to recycle and compost and see a demonstration of how dumping used motor oil, pesticides and other toxins in the back yard can dirty streams and lakes. Singers Colin Boyd and Annie Benjamin will perform, and kids will have a chance to make musical "shakers" from recycled items and perform with Benjamin. There's also food, art and crafts--all suitable for the kids. So go and bring the youngsters. Maybe they'll learn a little respect for Ma Nature--before they turn 16 and start asking for the keys to your SUV, that is. Visit www.dfwgreenalliance.org or call 214-824-2448. --Patrick Williams
Comfort's Food
4/26
More than 15,000 women and children have escaped domestic violence by knocking on the door of Dallas' Genesis Women's Shelter. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, Genesis has published a cookbook, Creating Comfort, and Tuesday you can buy it at Genesis' Mother's Day Luncheon, at which Maya Angelou will be the keynote speaker. An abused woman herself, Angelou is the author of 12 best-selling books, most notably her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a story of racism and child rape. Last year, Angelou published her cookbook, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories With Recipes. Both hers and Genesis' talk of creating comfort through the food one eats. The luncheon's in the Landmark Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 300 Reunion Blvd., at 11:30 a.m. Tickets start at $100. Call 214-559-2050. --Paul Kix
Talking Head
4/26
Good thing about Barbara Walters? She helped broker peace between Egypt's Anwar Sadat and Israel's Menachem Begin in 1977 when they agreed to a joint interview with her. Bad thing about Barbara Walters? She launched the career of Star Jones. It seems there is no other way to consider her impact on television news: Sure, Walters was the first woman to anchor a morning show (Today), a nightly newscast (ABC's) and a newsmagazine (20/20); she also asked the world, or, more specifically, Katharine Hepburn, in 1981, "If you were a tree, what sort of tree would you be?" Walters gives a lecture Tuesday at Southern Methodist University's McFarlin Auditorium, 6405 Boaz Lane, as part of the school's Tate Lecture Series. Tickets start at $40. Call 214-768-8283. --Paul Kix
Heavy Metal
4/26
We're not sure how many people are big into welding, but based solely on the attendance at Dad's "weekly welding racket," there very well could be a large number in the vicinity. Yet even among welding enthusiasts, there has to be a draw (Flashdance doesn't count) to bring red-hot-metal workers to the 2005 American Welding Society's Welding Show from April 26 through April 28 at the Dallas Convention Center, 650 S. Griffin St. The show's main attractions are NASCAR driver Casey Mears and (hello, ladies!) West Coast Chopper founder and Monster Garage star Jesse James. Those two troublemakers and 400 other exhibitors mean Dad can check out new gear while Mom slowly loses her mind over James' "capable forearms." We're so not joking. Register at www.aws.org to get free admission and show details. --Merritt Martin