Dear Restaurant Staff — Please Don’t Touch Your Customers, Ever

If you dine out with any frequency you’ve surely encountered the custom. Your waiter comes to the table, politely hands out menus and says hello. Then, as he prepares to deliver his opening service monologue detailing local farmers, the meaning of share plates and the chef’s guidance on special menu…

Navigating the World of a Clinical Drug Trial

Lindsey BestAndrew Youssef[Editor’s Note: Long-time concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out two years ago that he had stage IV colon cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events, on top of other freelance work and working a day job at a hospital, of all places…

Time to Wake Up

Dear Mexican: In a nutshell, you inspired me to rediscover my culture, my pride as a Mexican and love for my people (though it’s hard to love my own people at times). I’m writing a college paper on Mexican apathy, which is deeply rooted here in my city of El…

Which Restaurant Surcharges Burn the Most?

When was the last time you decided to split an entree with your date because you weren’t that hungry, only to find a split plate charge on your bill? Or how about a fee for the sauce you chose after you’d already committed to a $50 steak? CNN’s Eatocracy is…

Should Farmers Branch Raise or Fold?

I don’t like the anti-immigrant rental ordinance that the suburban city of Farmers Branch has spent seven years defending in court. I was delighted last month when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck it down. Last week when I saw white Farmers Branch residents on TV begging their…

Hooray for Mexico’s Mutts

Dear Mexican: This pregunta has been simmering in my brain for a while, and the recent question about whether saying “Viva la Raza” is racist reminded me to ask you. According to José Vasconcelos, the Mexican people are La Raza Cósmica (Cosmic Race), which, to me at least, seems like…

The 32 Most Memorable Juggalos From the 2013 Gathering

Nate “Igor” SmithFor five magical days in August, Cave in Rock, Illinois hosted one of our favorite events, The Gathering of the Juggalos. Our photographer, Nate “Igor” Smith, took thousands of pictures at the Gathering, but some of the folks he captured stood out more than others. There was the…

Get Over It, Valley Ranch. You’re History.

So I’m walking into this very faded 1990s airport hotel bar that smells like my vet’s waiting room. It’s 10 in the morning. There’s one customer, an old broad slumped over a beer at a table in front of the TV, her whole head wreathed in cigarette smoke. And I…

John Kirtland On Touring and Building a Record Label

He’s a very busy man, indeed…running Kirtland Records (Boom Boom Box, Toadies, The Fixx, The Hourly Radio, Polyphonic Spree, Bob Schneider, Sarah Jaffe, more) and Sonar Management as well as part of a building developer partnership in downtown Dallas, he’s not the easiest fella to catch up with. But Kirtland,…