There’s nothing comical about the badge art created for the upcoming Phoenix Comicon – it’s some seriously cool stuff. From a cartoonish portrait of Cyclops from X-Men to dark, fantastical renderings of Spider-Man villain Venom, every badge art drawing reflects a local artist’s unique style and passion for a particular…
In the real world, Mitch, Casey and Ben Brose are triplets with a knack for mechanical art. In an alternate universe, they are robot cowboys on a mission to save the Wild West from boredom and madness. Born just minutes apart, the Arizona-based Brose Brothers create pieces in the steampunk…
Since we started this “Caffiend” blog almost 18 months ago, we’ve tried tons of coffees, teas, energy drinks, and other caffeinated products. As we near our two-year anniversary, we took a look back at our reviews to see which items pumped us up the most. Here, in descending order, is…
Get ready for the “glamorous, gay Goodwill.” Don Hammill’s resale shop, 3 Snaps, opens its doors on Friday, May 7. The opening weekend bash will include a fashion show and possible appearances by Valley drag queens.Hammill says he named the store after the flamboyant finger-snapping gesture synonymous with gay men…
If you’ve ever wanted to drive an off-road racing truck through the winding desert courses of Baja racing, now you can — from the comfort of your couch, bus seat, or office desk. TrophyLite Rally Racing is a video game developed by a local company, 2XL Games, which features the…
The “World’s Tallest Kachina” looms over the sleepy subdivision of Tonto Hills, about six miles east of Carefree. This 40-foot tall marvel lends a splash of color to the adobe landscape, and has become an off-the-roadside attraction for visitors to the Valley. Designed by renowned Southwest sculptor Phillips Sanderson, the…
If you can’t judge a book by its cover, talk to Thom Butcher and Melanie Tighe. The owners of independent used bookstore Dog-Eared Pages in Northwest Phoenix are human encyclopedias of literary lore, and can help you navigate your way through their labyrinths of books (47,550, to be exact) to find…
More than 225 people packed the Harkins Valley Art Theatre on Friday, April 30, for the sold-out premiere screening of the documentary 9500 Liberty and a Q&A session with co-director Eric Byler. The film chronicles the heated battle over an Immigration Resolution (drafted by the same folks who brought us…
We’ve tried hundreds of energy drinks, and just when it seemed like we’d tried them all, we found Lotte: It’s the Sun energy drink. The colorful 8.3 ounce can looks energizing, with its bright orange and red sun label and depiction of a soccer player, but is there really anything…
There’s a popular saying in the tattoo business: “Your body is a temple, but how long can you live in the same house before you redecorate?” If your “temple” needs to be adorned with some new eye candy, more than two dozen renowned tattoo artists will be redecorating people at…
Filmmakers Eric Byler and Annabel Park may not be psychic, but their acclaimed documentary 9500 Liberty (presented by Phoenix New Times, premiering Friday, April 30 at Harkins Valley Art Theatre in Tempe) could prove prophetic for Arizona’s controversial new immigration reform laws…
Anybody who’s driven down Broadway near central Phoenix has probably passed right by Mofles the Auto Parts Man and failed to notice him. Sure, he’s bright red and nearly 20 feet tall, waving big flags in front of Charly’s Auto Servicio, but he’s easily overlooked because that stretch of Broadway…
The young, dynamic team behind Cenpho.tv knows what’s happening in Central Phoenix, and their regular video and podcasts provide enthusiastic coverage of things the nightly news might just skim over — things like public lectures at ASU, art receptions, and events like “Migratory Bird Day” at the Rio Salado Habitat…
Self-described “Quack Artist” Kenn Coplan is like a futuristic carnival sideshow barker from a parallel universe, driven into the Arizona desert on an endless quest for trash. The 39-year-old transplant from L.A. (not quite a parallel universe) treasures our ravaged beer cans, discarded car batteries, and sun-bleached bicycle seats. Because…
Michael Monti is perhaps best known as the proprietor of Monti’s La Casa Vieja at 100 S. Mill Avenue in Tempe, but the married father of four is a proud Phoenician, too, and his enthusiasm for the East Valley shines through in his blog, 100 S. Mill Ave. Although Monti’s…
Dugaldo Estrada, a.k.a. “Blogaldo,” asks an interesting question at the top of his blog: “If your whole body were a hot air balloon, would you stop eating spicy food?”Estrada’s answer: “How would I get higher?”This is the sort of cheeky humor that permeates Estrada’s musings. By day, he’s a server…
If riding a bike across a cable in the air, watching metal shavings dance to “Technotronic,” and differentiating moose poop from dinosaur dung sounds like a good time to you, then check out the Arizona Science Center on 6th Street and Washington. The 120,000 square foot facility houses tons of…
Dolce Espresso is one of those great little coffee shops that are easy to miss while driving down the street. Located on Camelback Road just east of 10th street, Dolce Espresso sits inconspicuously in a brick strip mall on the south side of the street. But if you slow down…
The woman behind “A Bookish Blog” at www.iheartmonster.com doesn’t reveal much about herself. On her blog, she says she’s an Arizona native in her late 20s that likes hiking and domestic travel, and loves her husband, “Monster.”That’s all cool, but the only thing we really need to know about “A…
Urban acrobat Francesco Caban will demonstrate how to swing from trees and crawl up walls this weekend at Madcap Theaters in Tempe. The super fit Movement Arts instructor from ASU will give demonstrations in parkour before a screening of the movie District 13: Ultimatum on Saturday night, and it’s bound…
Nick Bastian loves Valley Metro Light Rail so much, he started a comprehensive blog dedicated exclusively to it. Want to know more about how budget cuts affect light rail? Need the latest light rail schedules? Not sure what shirt to wear on the annual “No Pants AZ Light Rail Ride”?…
Phoenix is the perfect place to communicate with aliens. That’s the idea behind Probed: Signals, an original sci-fi web series showing at Atomic Comics in Mesa this Saturday, April 24, as part of the store’s “Drive-In Movie Night.”The series follows the fictional story of Phoenician Carter Fox (played by Kevin…
