The Regional Tourism Council of Paris (France) has launched a good manners campaign for French table waiters, urging them to be more understanding of the cultural peculiarities of foreigners. Unfortunately, the manual on how to be nice to foreigners lumps all of us Americans together, as if the rules of…
There is some magic to the heat of August in Texas. It’s sticky and unrelenting, and in the right moment, it’s sexy. It unites us, even if only in complaint. So when an invitation to an anniversary party in the back lot of Studio 410 made the rounds, there was…
Oh, no, no, no, Madame Dallas Morning News. You don’t giveth and then taketh away from us just like that. We were absolutely thrilled by your piece Sunday in which you published a big fat picture of U.S. Senator Ted “Take this government and shove it” Cruz’s foreign birth certificate…
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…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
Must be more to the President George W. Bush arterial stent operation than we have heard so far. About the only conclusion fair to draw, in fact, is that not all the facts have been made public. The Dallas Morning News has an op-ed page piece in the paper this…
I admit it: I have a serious boner for The Price Is Right. I can’t wait until I’m a senior citizen and my love for this show is finally age-appropriate. In case you haven’t seen The Price Is Right (probably because you’re under 75 years of age or have never…
The person who shares living quarters with me is a Dallas native who lets out a small yelp whenever she comes across a mention in the media she thinks is insulting to Dallas. I’m a carpetbagger. I don’t even notice. This morning’s offending mention was in The New York Times…
Last night on WFAA Channel 8, reporter Brett Shipp aired a one-on-one interview with a retired Dallas business executive living in Santa Fe saying that Dallas schools chief Mike Miles needs to be whacked. I’m not accusing Shipp or the former businessman, J. McDonald Williams, of expressing anything other than…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Daniel Markham, with his shoulder length, straight brown hair and soft-spoken demeanor, is one of those rare breeds of cat who is both incredibly talented at his chosen craft of songwriting and sharply handsome, and were I a little farther toward the middle on the Kinsey scale, I’m sure I’d…
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,…
A federal district court finding in New York has spurred a national conversation about police “stop-and-frisk” practices ruled unconstitutional by the judge. Even though the judge referred to it in her finding, one key factor gets left out of a lot of the media chatter: It’s never a good idea…
Of course, rapper Machine Gun Kelly always talks a big, lewd game, but he backed up his boasts during last Friday’s show at the newly opened Monroe Lounge. Porn star Rachel Starr gave the fans in attendance a chance to make a sex tape of their own after she dropped…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
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…
Nate “Igor” SmithCody Morin, juggalo and Make-A-Wish recipient.We first heard about 17-year old Cody Morin on our way in to Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, site of the 14th annual Gathering of the Juggalos. After hours spent driving through Southern Illinois we stopped at a restaurant/visitor’s lodge in the park to ask for…
Time out. Wait a minute. Maybe it’s my fault. Now we’re all over the map and flying blind on the Museum Tower/Nasher Sculpture Center thing, headed for outer space. Let’s see if we can’t steer this ship back toward Mother Earth. The protracted, very bitter dispute between two buildings in…
Drew AilesWondering what’s in a “stoner bowl?” Keep reading.One of the true hardships that we face as a nation is the omnipresent problem of being surrounded by booze and stimulating foods. In the comforts of your own home, you may be able to curb your pizza roll addiction into having…
