Ben Carpenter (pointing at map) discusses an early plan for the river. Photo: John W. Carpenter Papers, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: Living With the Trinity, a one-hour documentary that explores the river’s political past and present, airs tonight at 9 on KERA (Channel 13).  If that sounds familiar, you probably either checked out the project’s Web site, which launched in the spring, or heard the series of radio reports that ran on KERA last week. The project has been overseen by my office mate,  Rob Tranchin. If it’s half as good as his South Dallas Pop from 2008, then it should be another insightful look at our area’s history and future. Rob showed the film to Jim Schutze of the Observer last week, who put it into further context.

VISIONS OF BLACKNESS: To view one of the most important museum shows this year featuring a Dallas artist, you’re going to have to leave the city. The Tyler Museum of Art’s current exhibition, “Divine Kinship: Ancient Forms and Contemporary Social Commentary – The Art of Jean Lacy,” collects 80 pieces by the artist who once was the director of the Dallas Independent School District’s African-American Cultural Heritage Center. “An artist who so hauntingly – often beautifully, sometimes wittily, sometimes disturbingly – explores what it has meant to be black in America deserves a major retrospective,” writes Scott Cantrell in his dallasnews.com review. If you’re planning on making that trip down I-20, you’d better do it soon – the show is up through Dec. 6.

INDIE INSPIRATION: Neko Case is one of the more interesting songwriters going these days. And she tries to keep it interesting by writing about that most common of subjects – love – in inventive ways. “You try to be too cool for [love], but no,” she tells the Dallas Observer. “It’s like if you were too cool to drink water: ‘Water’s dumb. I don’t drink it.'” You can see what she means tonight when she plays the Granada.