Free Movie Time: The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

It was one of the most egregious and highly publicized miscarriages of justice in American history: the murder of Emmett Louis Till, a sixteen-year-old black boy who was brutally murdered for the alleged crime of flirting with a while woman in rural Mississippi in 1955. Though the obviously guilty perpetrators…

A Talulah Jones 24 Days of Christmas: Day Thirteen

We’re all hearing a lot of talk this holiday season about shopping local and what it means to a community. But Talulah Jones shop owner Robin Lohre is doing more than that: Beginning December 1, Lohre will host a reception showcasing a different local artisan every night through Christmas Eve…

The Santa Ratings: Aspen Grove

The Aspen Grove Santa is a wandering one. Luckily, he’s trailed by gaggle of carolers — dressed like real-life, Disney-like Dickens characters, no less — so he’s easy to track down along the sidewalks of the outdoor shopping and “LifeStyle Center.” I found him taking a break on a bench…

Over the weekend: 360 MacDev looks forward

It was not enormous, nor was it filled with flashing lights, giant monitors or masses of people. Instead, 360 MacDev’s current incarnation was a smallish gathering of like-minded individuals of all ages (more on that later) interested in getting together, talking shop and discussing theory. While most people these days…

Gettin’ Crafty: this wine is mine, bitch

For all those who give pom-pom critters for birthdays, feel an urge to stick googly eyes on everything or just occasionally get a twitch to fold some origami, we bring you “Gettin’ Crafty” where we feature a craft you can easily make with minimal supplies and limited finances. If you…

A Talulah Jones 24 Days of Christmas: Days Ten, Eleven and Twelve

We’re all hearing a lot of talk this holiday season about shopping local and what it means to a community. But Talulah Jones shop owner Robin Lohre is doing more than that: Beginning December 1, Lohre will host a reception showcasing a different local artisan every night through Christmas Eve…

Light up at the 13 Lumens Candle Art Show

Eric Matelski is all about making art accessible to others, especially work by local and emerging artists, and the 13 Lumens Candle Art Show, which opens tonight with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Art Salon, isn’t the first time he’s taken this approach: reproduced art printed…

Hemingway’s Garden of Eden is this week’s most ridiculous trailer

Of the modernists, Ernest Hemingway was by far the most man-friendly: A robust outdoorsman with a spartan style, Hemingway personified his best characters and in fact eclipsed them in legend. And though, like them, he had a brooding dark streak that eventually led to his demise, the portrait of him…

The Ratcracker and ten other sad endings to Christmas stories

Everyone knows The Nutcracker, but few people know the story — and that’s for a good reason: It’s is so slight, it’s almost incoherent. Yeah, there’s a pseudo-plot in the first act about a battle with a Rat King or something, but that’s all wrapped up by the second act,…

Gimme Gimme Pillow Toast opens pop-up shop at Mod-Livin’

Since Gimme Gimme Pillow Toast closed its Belmar retail doors last fall, store owners Andrew Novick and his wife Janene have been selling their collected Japanese kitsch online. Now, in a partnership with Mod Livin’, the couple has brought Gimme Gimme’s stock back to the tangible world, setting up shop…

Dendiggityopolis: Westword parents make their kids draw superheroes

Superman provides the basic template: publicly mild-mannered and lame, but secretly able to jump tall buildings and dominate everything. The potential for variations on that superhero theme is basically endless — and particularly so coming from kids, whose superheroes, unencumbered by the conventions of the genre, don’t really have to…