“So, did you ever think you’d see so much of Mickey Rourke’s bare ass?” “No, I didn’t even look. I was too busy trying to see Lisa Bonet’s boobies.” I’m discussing the sex scene in the 1987 movie Angel Heart with Bootstrap, my girlfriend of more than two years. Obviously,…
Last month, we reported that drug tests capable of detecting “synthetic marijuana” use were being developed and were expected to be available by the end of this year.Well, one laboratory moved faster. Yesterday, California-based Redwood Toxicology Laboratory (RTL) announced it now offers lab-based testing for so-called “fake pot” metabolites (if…
On a recent Friday morning, blacksmith Bill Smith stands over the coals at his workshop at the Cattle Track Arts Compound in Scottsdale. It’s almost 100 degrees outside already, but it’s even hotter in Smith’s workshop, where he’s crafting an ornate fireplace poker. Smith, 75, has been a professional blacksmith…
Those unfamiliar with the meaning of the slang word “crunk” may not see the humor in naming an energy drink after the term, but in hip-hop speak, “crunk” means being stoned and drunk — hardly an “energizing” state of being.Nevertheless, Crunk Energy is surprisingly refreshing and invigorating. We tried the…
Darrell Crump holds a clear plastic deli cup in his hands. Inside the cup is an amber-colored dune scorpion, not much larger than a grasshopper. When Crump removes the lid, the scorpion races up to the edge of the cup, pinchers open, and tries to climb out. “That one wants…
Already whipped through your summer reading materials? No worries. All week, Jackalope Ranch contributors will review candidates for your nightstand (click here for links to previous reviews this week). Have a suggestion for us? Leave it in the comment section. When English poet Alexander Pope said “Brevity is the soul…
There’s a building in central Phoenix that looks like a primitive mud hut barely held together by tree branches. Small squares of ancient glass are wedged in the walls for windows, and the “backyard” is a five-foot wide patch of dry weeds and broken glass. Hardly charming, but the place…
For the past five months, we’ve been reporting on the sale and use of synthetic cannabinoid compounds called JWH. Research indicates these compounds are four to five times more potent than THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. JWH is sprayed onto “herbal incense blends” like Spice and K2, and is…
As our colleague Robrt Pela noted in his review of Evil Dead: The Musical (running through Saturday, July 3 at Phoenix Theatre’s Little Theatre), the horror camp subgenre may never die, but even a movie like Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead can become a “charming new production.” Here are four other…
Comedian B.T. describes himself as “your everyday kind of man.” Born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma, this “Okie from Muskogee” has an interesting take on his home state. “Our license plates say, ‘Oklahoma is OK,'” B.T. says. “We’re not great, we’re just okay. We’re a state with low self-esteem.” B.T…
Higher Phoenix temperatures = more hot sex? According to a recent survey by Trojan Brand Condoms, that’s exactly right. Trojan’s “Degrees of Pleasure” survey links weather with sexual satisfaction; the results for Phoenix show, among other things, 70 percent of the people polled in Phoenix are “always up for sex,”…
Last week’s Phoenix New Times cover story, “Pop Art,” spotlights some of the pop-up galleries currently operating out of empty retail spaces around the Valley. While we focused on the pop-up galleries on Marshall Way in Old Town Scottsdale, we had to mention Gallery 2345, a pop-up in Phoenix.Gallery 2345 opened this May…
“California’s original punk/surf power trio” released a greatest hits album in May 2008, the appropriately titled Surfing to Some F#*ked Up S@!t. Of course the compilation includes the classic “Bloodstains” (an old favorite of DJ Rodney Bingenheimer on L.A.’s KROQ station), and “Everything Turns Grey,” another track from the band’s…
The Buckhorn Baths have been on the corner of Main Street and Recker Road in Mesa since 1936. In its heyday, the 10-acre property included a bathhouse annex with 25 whirlpool hot tubs, a motel, and a wildlife museum. Its large neon, Vegas-style sign beckoned to weary travelers from the…
On a simple wooden outdoor stage, a blond girl in florescent green leopard print tights wildly grinds her hips in a circle. Industrial dance music buzzes and throbs through the speakers, while a dozen zombies in blood-splattered clothing bob their heads below. There’s a giant, burning halo spinning over the…
Forget regular old energy drinks – sustained energy is the thing now, or so those 5-Hour Energy drink commercials would have us believe. Slap Energy is advertised as a “multi-stage energy supplement,” and its manufacturers claim that an energy “sensation” builds as you drink it…
Starting today, we’ll bring you occasional reviews of hookah lounges around the Valley. If you have a favorite hookah place you’d like us to visit, e-mail niki.dandrea@newtimes.com.I’m sitting on a leather couch with two friends, blowing clouds of white smoke into the air, and complaining about stupid songs that get stuck…
As the state remains embroiled in a battle over immigration policy, the question emerges: What if you are against SB 1070, but in favor of Arizona’s economy? Makes things awkward. Leave it to Kimber to find a solution. More than 700 Arizonans are expected to gather at the Heard Museum on…
Correction: This story should have identified Bentley Calverley as the owner of the building that houses Bentley Gallery on Marshall Way in Scottsdale. It also should have reported that Bentley Gallery is closed for the month of July, but open in June, August, September, and October. The gallery does not…
The west Valley might not have the biggest nightlife scene, but it is home to the biggest baby possibly ever seen from a freeway.That’s right — there’s a gigantic cardboard baby in Goodyear. He stands almost 20 feet tall and perpetually looks down at a cardboard tractor. He’s been sitting…
Legendary filmmaker John Waters will bring his iconic mustache and holiday cheer to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts for A John Waters Christmas in December — and tickets are on sale now.Tickets for the show cost $34 for “B” seating (i.e., the back end of theater) and $44…
Back in February, we wrote about a synthetic cannabinoid called JWH for this blog. Several things have happened since then, so much that we now have a category dedicated to synthetic marijuana called “Buzz Buzz” on our arts and culture blog, “Jackalope Ranch.” In addition to several states – not…
