Hello Big D

There are two days a year I dread, Valentine’s Day and my anniversary. This is shocking to most since I happen to be married to the best husband ever, but I’m not a fan of romantic holidays. So this year when my dad invited us to join him and his girlfriend on their traditional anti-valentine’s date at Hole In The Wall, I quickly jumped at the chance.

This worn-in biker bar, towards the north end of Harry Hines across from (insert strip bar of choice), has one of the best burgers in town. Made the old fashioned way on a griddle, it was greasy and fantastic. Top that off with some onion rings and a man singing the blues in a red three piece suit and you have a new Valentine’s tradition. I’m hooked.

A few things to be aware of:

1. You must purchase a membership card – I have no idea why you need it or what you get for being a member but we got it for free making the experience that much sweeter.
2. Don’t expect fine dining – I’m not sure if anyone has cleaned the place since it opened. It’s dark and has bras hanging from the ceiling.
3. Beware of the regulars – The regulars will more than likely stop what they’re doing, turn around and stare as you walk in causing a bit of an Animal House moment. It will pass and your burger will be worth it.

Bars, Food, Little Miss Dictator, Music, Restaurants, awesomeness | No Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

Do you remember that scene in Armageddon when Bruce Willis pushes Ben Affleck into the future space capsule, thereby ensuring that he’d be the one to lay down his life in order to press the button that destroys the asteroid? Do you happen to remember Bruce stumbling into a super cool record store to waste time until there were only like two seconds left on the doomsday fun clock? Well, Good Records is just like that record store. Ok, that didn’t happen, but I think it’s always wise to relearn the lessons taught by Bruce’s rugged team of reluctant heroes.

And if there were an outlet for all of your record buying needs situated on a death meteor hurtling toward our eastern seaboard, I’d imagine that it might be Good Records-esque…mostly because retired drillers occupy the front counter. Ok, that’s not true, either. In fact, none of this is relevant, but you should give Good Records a shot. Considering the dearth of quality record shops in our fair burgh, it has to be high on your Dallas to-do list.

All the hippest and nowest (not a word) cd’s are super organized and ready for perusal in Christmas light enhanced rows. It’s easy to find whatever super cool Japanese Neil Diamond bootleg you “need,” but I wouldn’t recommend it…you don’t want to face the oil-covered staff with such a disreputable purchase. If you want high fives about the new Animal Collective, though, this be yer place (pirate talk?). The cherry on top of their rad selection of new stuff (that you say you’ve heard despite only having read about it on Pitchfork and Insound) is their growing selection of new and used vinyl lp’s. If you think it’d be cooler to have the Brighten the Corners reissue on vinyl (you’re right), then consider such a need fulfilled.

I like records, and I Iike cd’s…but I triple like excellent bands playing free shows. Guess what, people of earth, they have an amazing roster of bands playing in store every week, too. It’s actually a pretty nice venue, what with their Astroturf stage and opium den (ssshhh). I shuffled off to the Brightblack Morning Light concert, at which pixies were floating freely and sprinkling pink dust into everyone’s ears…and offering freshly cured meats. Sweet tunes and amazing sandwich fixins? Count me in. But really (this is how a fifth grader starts a sentence), the space is quite conducive to live performances and offers an intimate venue for free. You would be well-advised to catch your favorite band there…and buy some records…and visit the pixie deli counter. Yum-yums on all counts.

Art, Live Events, Music, Uncategorized, Wild Mountain Lover | No Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

I usually get buyer’s remorse after buying anything new. Especially new books. It seems like such a waste on something that I will be done with in a week or two and then probably never look at again. That’s why Paperbacks Plus kicks ass. You can set up an account and then just trade in your old books (or CDs, DVDs, LPs, cassettes, 8-tracks, video tapes, comic books, and magazines) for other old books or just build up your store credit (although some cash is required for a portion of the transaction). And the store isn’t huge so it won’t take you long to find what you’re looking for. It’s really inexpensive, too. I bought two books there yesterday and the total was under $5. It’s in East Dallas right off of Skillman. Click here for directions.

We decided to make a desktop background of a photo from Paperbacks Plus. Download them here:

• 800 x 600
• 1024 x 768
• 1280 x 1024
• 1440 x 900
• 1600 x 1024
• 1680 x 1050
• 1920 x 1200

Books, Children, Family, Junior, Music | 3 Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

I love books. Any kind of book. Fiction, non-fiction, history, art, children’s books and especially cookbooks. I once told a doctor when he asked me if I had any vices that I thought I was addicted to books and magazines–no lie. The local library was one of my favorite places when I was little, but I until last week I hadn’t stepped foot in a public library in 18 years.

I first went to the new library that just opened up on the other side of Love Field, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Regardless, I signed up for a library card and decided to try a few other branches before giving up. The next library I checked out was the Preston Royal branch. This definitely felt a little more familiar and they had a bigger selection, but I still wasn’t satisfied. So I headed to the central library downtown last Saturday. It was all I had imagined and more.

It has seven stories of seemingly endless shelves of books to look through. The first floor houses a decent selection of dvds, books on tape, and a general collection of recently published books. The entire second floor is dedicated to kids. The Fine Arts section on the fourth floor has a large, but random selection of cds, and the rows and rows of cookbooks on the fifth floor left me breathless. If you haven’t visited the public library in a while, stop what your doing and head downtown immediately.

The best things about the Dallas Public Library.

1. You can check out up to 250 books at a time. Seriously.
2. You may return checked out items to any Dallas library branch.
3. You can renew your checked out items on-line or over the phone.
4. You can request items from any Dallas library to be sent to the branch closest to you.
5. If you are looking for something specific, you can look it up on the library’s website and see if they have it before you go.
6. It’s free.

Here’s the thing about the Dallas libraries, each branch has something different to offer so you may want to check several out in your area before you find the one that’s right for you. Also, the libraries are not perfect, but if you love books as much as I do you won’t be disappointed.

Get a map of all the Dallas Public library locations here.

Authors, Books, Children, Family, Free, Little Miss Dictator, Movies, Music, Public | 2 Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook