Thursday, June 19 Sleep Number, Tempur-Pedic, Isotonic Foam, Craftmatic. Bedding is out of control. No one sleeps on a normal mattress anymore. We even admit ours has a coveted “pillow top.” It may have taken years of technological breakthroughs, but we’ve discovered where mattress mania began. Thanks to that damn…
A burlesque show isn’t just stripping with rhinestones, pleather thongs and Kid Rock tunes. To quote contemporary cabaret girl Miss Kitty Crimson, “Burlesque is really an art form. It is sexy without being lurid, racy but not X-rated. Striptease is one thing, but burlesque is much more about the tease…
6/21 Checking our electricity bills, it would appear that it’s been summer for more than a month already. But, alas, the official first day of summer is Saturday. It’s the longest day of the year, also known as the summer solstice, or, alternatively, the formal decree that, “It’s only going…
6/21 We just won a war, the Fourth of July is rapidly approaching and so it follows that jingoism is in the air. Don’t tread on me, folks. Feeling red, white and blue? Well, what could be more American than a Harley motorcycle? How about racing Harleys? Nah, you’re right,…
6/20 For those of us who feel the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is inherently un-evil and are practically shaking in our cloaks and homemade Gryffindor scarves with anticipation for the fifth installment, the fine folks at Barnes & Noble are ready. Several locations have officially planned release parties…
6/19 Have psychotherapy and bath products always gone hand in hand? “Adam,” said Eve, “I know you’re having feelings of guilt about that whole apple sitch, but just take this body wash, go for a little dip down at the Euphrates and I’m sure you’ll feel a lot…cleaner.” It’s not…
6/22 Every member of the 200-strong Turtle Creek Chorale will be a spectacle unto himself during the lusty throng’s summer concerts on June 22 and June 27. Bespectacled in outlandish homage to Elton John, TCC members will revel in the pop culture icon and consummate musician’s body of work with…
There is one character in Ad Wars, Fran Wheatly, who’s a feminist grad student, fresh-faced and ready to get her career started in advertising. The play in no way revolves around our Fran, and most of her lines are intended solely for laughs, but you kind of pity her. All…
Having seemingly exhausted all permutations of the sports comedy formula (Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, et al.), Ron Shelton has now moved on to another obsession: the Los Angeles Police Department. Earlier this year, we got the uncharacteristically somber Dark Blue, a “what if” tale of the alternately corrupt…
The hero of Ken Loach’s Sweet Sixteen is an isolated teen-ager mired in a gray Scottish slum with only a vague dream of family life to sustain him. Like previous Loach heroes–the impoverished boy who finds hope training a falcon in Kes, say, or the downtrodden working stiff struggling to…
The first question on the minds of most potential viewers of Owning Mahowny is probably something along the lines of “What’s up with that spelling? Who spells ‘Mahoney’ with a ‘w’?” Do the marketing people think we somehow won’t get that it rhymes with “owning” if there isn’t a “w”…
Here’s another stranger-in-a-strange-land yarn, but Matt Dillon in his feature directorial debut delivers loads of atmosphere to tart up the threadbare paradigm. Playing a slick nobody insurance broker on the lam from the FBI, Dillon journeys from Big Apple ennui to Cambodian exotica in search of his mentor, the typically…
You need not leave the house to know what’s playing in movie theaters in coming weeks. You’ve already seen these films, with titles consisting of letters followed by numbers. There’s no surprise in the dark, just the bumping into of familiar faces, legally blond or largely green, and furious franchises…
Lovers meet each other coming and going in The Last Five Years, a poignant and inventive two-person musical now onstage at Plano Repertory Theatre. Writer-composer Jason Robert Brown uses just 14 songs and 90 minutes of brief vignettes to dramatize the romance between ambitious New York writer Jamie Wellerstein (Ric…
Real men don’t eat quiche. Real men don’t cry. Real men don’t ask for directions. Real men don’t use clichés. We’re clear on what “real men” don’t do, but we have a bit less information on what bastions of manliness do do. Apparently, this is the fourth year that Real…
6/16 Considering that we here at the Dallas Observer concern ourselves with nothing but the cutting edge of pop culture, we have no idea what’s going on in the world of professional wrestling. Ever since Vince McMahon’s WWE released its headlock on the top cable spot a few years back,…
6/14 Think you’ve got mad blowing skills? To clarify, that’s bubble gum bubble blowing, and kids under 12 get to find out if they’re up to par when Wal-Mart stores nationwide host the fourth annual Dubble Bubble National Bubble Blowing Contest. Kids compete to see who can blow the biggest…
6/12 It’s kinda flawless what they do-o-o-o over there on Swiss Aveno-o-o-o. Many are singing the praises of the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, and why not? It’s an art- and artist-advocacy Mecca, with a tireless, committed board; a devoted executive director; and nearly 500 artist and patron members who…
6/12 Dance still may be a hard sell in Dallas, but it’s all the rage on Broadway. Last year, Contact, a plotless dance show with recycled pop music, memorably Robert Palmer’s “Simply Irresistible,” won Tony awards and filled the seats. Why? Amazing dancing. This year, Billy Joel’s music and Twyla…
Thursday, June 12 One of the current great mysteries in our life is why that car dent repair kit sold on the TV infomercials comes with a free glue gun and glue sticks. It’s sad, we know. Even sadder, though, is that we don’t really care. They’re free, and everything…
Everybody knows David Brent. We’ve worked with, under or over someone like him, and it’s nothing other than excruciating. He’s the boss who points to a “Billy the Big Mouth” fish plaque and says, “You can’t put a price on comedy.” He’s the guy who warrants an unflattering PhotoShop job…
6/14 In the not too distant past, we scoffed at what we called “indulgent pet owners,” people who outfitted their furry friends with premium treats, name-brand apparel and high-end accessories. (We’re talking the Burberry dog coat and the Swarovski crystal collar.) That was, of course, before we adopted a dog…
