The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 10, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 11, 2014 Page: 4 of 12
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: University of Dallas Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the University of Dallas.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Arts & Entertainment
November 11, 2014
4
The University News
Taco Diner: go for the mambos, not the chips
Core
Decorum
a
Fish tacos from Taco Diner.
Mainstage presents tragic message in hilarious light
Clare Myers
Staff Writer
Linda Smith
A&E Editor
inside contrasts with
a breezy outdoor pa-
tio where a DJ spins
on the weekends. The
crowd was more older
men and women than
college students, but
nonetheless it had a
professional vibe.
The Mambo Taxi
lives up to the hype. It
is a sweet drink with a
tequila kick, making it
much more balanced
than the average mar-
garita. A word to the
wise, though: the deli-
cious slushy concoction
is all too easy to finish
too quickly.
As the self-appoint-
ed University News
salsa expert, I tend
to judge any Mexican
restaurant by its chip-
and-dip game. That
may not be fair, but
first impressions mat-
ter. At Taco Diner, the
complementary chips
come with both a stan-
dard table salsa and a
salsa verde. While the
tomatillo salsa was no-
ticeably better than the
salsa roja, both were a
frustratingly smooth,
nearly pureed texture.
Had they been chunk-
ier, I might have been
able to use the salsa to
mask the blandness of
the tortilla chips. The
“Queso Blanco” ($4)
was slightly better, ac-
cording to the table
consensus. Two strong
Mambos in, I was still
unimpressed. The main
course did not do much
to save Taco Diner from
my chips and salsa
blacklist. When our
food was brought to
Nearest DART station: North Lake College Station
Distance from UD: 4.9 miles
How to get there from UD: Take the Orange Line towards DFW
Airport station for two stops (Irving Convention Center). Take the
501 bus towards Downtown Irving/Heritage Crossing Station for
11 stops (about 10 minutes). Get off at Corporate @ Executive and
turn left onto MacArthur Boulevard. Follow MacArthur Boulevard
for 0.4 miles.
1_______
Photo courtesy offoodspotting.com
the table, my order,
the “‘TD’ Chicken Fa-
jita Salad” ($ 1 0), was
incorrect and another
plate had to be brought
out several minutes
later. The salad itself
was unremarkable,
though the chili-lime
vinaigrette added some
much-needed tang. My
friends ordered a vari-
ety of tacos ($6 for 2
with rice, $10 for four
with rice). One friend
loved the spiciness of
the “BBQ Pulled Pork
Tacos,” and another
deemed the “Fish Ta-
cos,” pan-seared tilapia
with a citrus marinade,
to be fairly good. While
the table approved
overall of the food, I
found it of solid quality
but nothing more.
As for the service, it
was generally good, but
instead of one server,
we were served by a
number of waiters and
waitresses who at times
apparently did not com-
municate with each oth-
er. This did not cause
any major problems,
but it did cause a few
moments of confusion.
After a few experi-
ences with Taco Diner,
I am still not an enthu-
siastic fan of the place.
With an abundance
of great Tex-Mex and
Mexican food within
easy distance of UD,
I would forego dinner
there in favor of try-
ing another restaurant.
However, as a place to
sit down for a Mambo
or two with friends,
Taco Diner is still a
good option.
ter. Sitting in different
sections of the theater
also provides differ-
ent opportunities for
laughter, as you no-
tice different things
in the play from each
section. Perhaps the
most important char-
acter is a clock in the
background that rings
at random, and for a
random number of
times. The play begins
with 17 chimes from
the ominous machine,
then the chimes range
in number from two
to 29. I feel as though
the clock chimes to re-
mind us of how much
time has passed, both
in the world of the
play and in our own
lives, and makes us
ask ourselves what we
have done with that
time. As these char-
acters try to have sig-
nificant conversations
with sentences such
as, “We have eaten well
Newspaper,” which Mr.
Smith reads. The lights
change when a charac-
ter goes into a short re-
flection or when the set
changes, accompanied
by a catchy ‘50s house
party tune.
The actors really
steal the show. The
Smiths are particularly
prominent, especially
as the first couple on
the stage. Mrs. Smith,
played by sophomore
Zeina Masri, starts off
with a long monologue
of mostly nonsense.
Mr. Smith, played by se-
nior Brian Ahern, does
nothing but click his
tongue until he seam-
lessly fits himself into
the conversation. Mr.
and Mrs. Martin, played
by freshman Noah Ker-
sting and junior Maria
Hotovy, respectively,
enter during a period
of the Smiths’ absence,
amusingly discuss the
possibility that they
fr Jr ' 1
much to the chagrin of
the Smiths, she begins
reciting poems in the
company of the rest
of the characters, as if
she were of the same
status. The fire chief
begins a cycle of story-
telling, and also utters
the line from which
the title of the play is
derived. I include the
clock and audience
as characters because
they both play crucial
roles. The audience
provides an interest-
ng, varied context to
the play. The circular
layout of the Margaret
Jonsson Theater con-
tributes to this. Audi-
ence members can see
one another in addition
to the action onstage,
so they can observe
each other’s reaction.
Some look uncomfort-
able at times, some
are utterly perplexed
and some fall out of
their seats with laugh-
must have met before
and finally realize that
they are actually hus-
band and wife. While
the scene dragged at
times, especially be-
cause it uses much of
the same wording re-
peatedly, their conclu-
sions were amusing
and Hotovy and Kerst-
ing brought a certain
appealing innocence to
their parts.
Perhaps the best
arbitrary additions
to the show are four
characters: Mary, the
Smiths’ maid, played
by senior Deborah Cor-
pening; the fire chief,
played by junior James
McGregor; the clock;
and the audience. Mary
lets the audience in
on the truth about the
Martins, while present-
ing herself as a young
girl wanting to put her-
self into her place in
society and forcefully
doing so. At one point,
M? **
fk s much as I
hate to un-
abashedly
t % rave over a
production, “The Bald
Soprano” is a play that
the University of Dallas
has needed for some
time and that is won-
derfully executed all
around.
The set is simple.
1950s Britain provides
us with a wallpapered
wall (with an interest-
ing twist), four cream-
colored English arm-
chairs and a few black
tray tables, which
quickly go away. What
we are left with are the
props, which include
glasses and plates be-
longing to the main
characters, Mr. and
Mrs. Smith, a box filled
with Mrs. Smith’s sew-
ing tools and a newspa-
per named “An English
this evening. That’s
because we live in the
suburbs of London and
because our name is
Smith,” they continue
to fail and the time
chimes on.
This is a play with
no meaning, no con-
crete plot and no set
ending. The drama de-
partment’s production
of “The Bald Soprano”
ends with a shocking
twist, and the ushers
literally make the au-
dience leave. Initially,
I believed this was un-
couth, but I realized
why. If they do not
kick the audience out,
the play must literally
go on indefinitely. The
crew is trying to usher
the audience into the
real world, to stop let-
ting the clock chime ar-
bitrarily on, so that we
may attempt the real
communication that
the characters cannot
accomplis!
by a sort of furrow-
ing of the brows. The
bold may even embel-
lish it with a slight
laugh, or a mouthing
of the word “sorry”.
If you have no idea
what I mean, or your
face simply does not
bend that way, any
other suitably apolo-
getic gesture is ac-
ceptable.
Step Four: Keep
calm and carry on.
You are almost there,
and now it is time
for the strong finish.
Calmly and confi-
dently resume going
about your business.
Look away, back to-
ward your destina-
tion, your book or
off in the cafeteria?”
Maintain eye contact
just a little while lon-
ger and move on to
step two.
Step Two: React.
This is your moment
to diffuse any tension
or awkwardness. You
must now convince
the other party that
you were not staring
at them intentionally.
One way to do this
that may not appeal
to more scrupulous
readers is to very sub-
tly lie. Give a start,
shake your head, jolt
quickly, do anything
to give the impres-
sion that you have
only just become
aware that you have
been looking at her
— and do it in such a
way that she will no-
tice. If you are mor-
ally opposed to such
a pretense, you might
have to resort to ac-
tually speaking to the
person, explaining
the situation. Imag-
ine! The very thought
makes me shudder.
(In this case, skip
step three.)
Step Three: Smile
apologetically. Time
to muster your cour-
age, buckle down and
acknowledge the oth-
er person. You were
obviously not staring
at them on purpose.
You have made that
clear. Regardless,
staring is still impo-
lite, and this is your
chance to give the
impression that you
are a decent, normal,
socially functional
human being. The
apologetic smile is a
good-natured turn-
ing of the mouth that
often is accompanied
or college stu-
dents who
are new to
the 21-and-up
scene, there are two
words that will imme-
diately catch your at-
tention: happy hour. It
is an unbeatable com-
bination: getting the
night started early and
getting those drinks
at a discount. And
in this part of town,
drinks with a Mexi-
can flair are king. As a
friend of mine recently
wondered aloud, “Are
there any other drinks
besides margaritas at
happy hour?”
Well, yes, there are,
but the fact remains
that the cocktail selec-
tion at happy hours
around here are domi-
nated by margaritas,
with the occasional mo-
jito thrown in for good
measure. And that is
not a bad thing.
One University
of Dallas happy hour
hotspot, Taco Diner,
is just a quick jaunt
from campus. Its claim
to fame is the “Mambo
Taxi,” a frozen white
sangria cocktail with
a margarita swirl that
is $5 on Thursdays
through Saturdays un-
til 1 1 p.m. On a re-
cent Friday night, Taco
Diner was busy but not
packed, so our group
of five was seated im-
mediately. The ambi-
ence of the place is
one of its finer points;
a sleek layout on the
your
your book
your essay, and do
not — I repeat do not
— look back at the
other person. Gather
your wits, make a
show of busyness or
of intense concentra-
tion and make sure
that the other party
knows you have put
him out of your mind.
This is the finishing
touch to convey the
message that you
were not staring at
him to be rude, or be-
cause there is some-
thing wrong with him
or because you are
stalking him.
There you have it:
awkwardness avoided
in four easy steps.
And if you are ever
on the receiving end
of an awkward stare,
please think of your-
self in this situation,
and give others the
benefit of the doubt.
We are all, after all,
trying our best to
stay afloat in a sea
of social niceties and
cultural subtleties.
The least we can do is
help one another out
and not let everyday
situations escalate to
uncomfortable awk-
wardness.
The four-step solution
for awkward eye contact
Everyone has ex-
perienced the gnaw-
ing, cheek-reddening,
stomach-clenching
discomfort of awk-
ward eye contact. It
is a misfortune of ev-
eryday life: walking
down the Mall and
accidentally locking
eyes with a stranger;
staring off into space
during class and real-
izing you were glar-
ing at a bewildered
classmate; typing an
essay on the third
floor of Braniff, gaz-
ing around the room
for inspiration and
staring dead into the
eyes of an intimidat-
ing English professor.
It happens every day,
and sadly it is almost
certainly unavoid-
able.
Disregard the
comment on our so-
ciety that we can face
anything in a text
message or social
media post, but can’t
bear to look one an-
other in the eye. Here
is a helpful strategy
for getting through
your next awkward
eye contact encoun-
ter without emotional
trauma.
Step One: Do not
look away too quick-
ly. This will automati-
cally make the situ-
ation far more awk-
ward than it needs
to be. It gives the
impression that you
were looking at them
intentionally, and are
now abashed that you
have been caught. It
will make the other
person suspicious as
to why you were look-
ing at them as well.
Suddenly he becomes
very self-conscious
and confused. “Is
there something in
my teeth?” he will ask
himself. “Is my shirt
on backwards again?
Did I cut that guy
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The University News (Irving, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 10, Ed. 1 Tuesday, November 11, 2014, newspaper, November 11, 2014; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1221056/m1/4/?q=%22Places+-+United+States+-+Texas+-+Dallas+County+-+Irving%22: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting University of Dallas.