By Steve Jansen I’m pretty sure that Kevin Brockmeier won’t be reading this blog entry about Kevin Brockmeier. Last year when Brockmeier visited Tempe’s Changing Hands Bookstore to plug his amazing novel The Brief History of the Dead (the book fuses suspended belief with a light dusting of science fiction),…
During the early part of this decade, capturing the impoverished of the Far East was all the rage. U.S. photojournalists snapped heartbreaking images of Chinese slave laborers while Naomi Klein’s written manifestos, No Logo and the subsequent Fences and Windows, detailed corporate globalization with a focus on Asia. Basically, it…
Most of us are familiar with the refugee-to-the-U.S. story, but how many have heard of American “refugees” high-tailing it to a Third World country? We hadn’t until checking out The Boys of Baraka, which details how four African-American kids from one of the most violent neighborhoods in Baltimore are sent…
Because we’re born-and-bred Phoenicians, we reacted to the Desert Ice Bonspiel similarly to how we did when the Phoenix Coyotes first set up shop here in ’96. It went something like this: Uhhhhhhh . . . WTF? Y’all want to sweep boulders down a giant sheet of ice in this…
Check out this questionable sentence structure from the Tire Pros Monster Truck Nationals online event description: “Get ready for two days of nothing but Trucks, Trucks and more Trucks.” Ah, bad grammar and unneeded capitalization. Reminds us of our kin to the south, whose carbon copies will certainly be at…
There are all sorts of fun facts in the press material for the 24th annual My Nana’s Salsa Challenge. Like, the Inca created salsa, it sells better than ketchup does in the U.S., it translates to “sauce” in Spanish and Italian, and . . . aw, hell. Enough reading. Give…
When we told someone we were gonna see Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Art Museum, the response was, “Why not just watch it at home with Netflix?” Good point, well-taken, but as with most movie experiences at PAM, it’s the value-adds we dig: free, big screen, with a crowd,…
Being the introverted, hide-behind-our-byline type, we especially love this quotable quote from Korean-American actress and comedian Margaret Cho: “People drain me, even the closest of friends, and I find loneliness to be the best state in the union to live in.” However, we’ll ditch our shell and head down to…
It’s no secret that we’re college-football freaks. That’s why this time of year is especially trying for us pigskin pigs. For example, we recently, during a fit of boredom, perused various athletic Web sites looking for out-of-town gridiron trips this coming fall. (This was in March, mind you.) But no…
Most of us know that the music industry is a corrupt machine that could give two poops about the little dudes and dudettes trying to expose their sonic art to larger audiences. But thanks to supercool events like Record Store Day, the folks who spend much of their lives overlooked…
Most of us know that the music industry is a corrupt machine that could give two poops about the little dudes and dudettes trying to expose their sonic art to larger audiences. But thanks to supercool events like Record Store Day, the folks who spend much of their lives overlooked…
Most of us know that the music industry is a corrupt machine that could give two poops about the little dudes and dudettes trying to expose their sonic art to larger audiences. But thanks to supercool events like Record Store Day, the folks who spend much of their lives overlooked…
March showcases the get-shitfaced Irish festival. In May, we have the white-boy/dude/bro-friendly Drinko de Mayo. So what so-called holiday can we waste our pathetic lives celebrating in April? Hmm? Oh, yeah. Duh. The international holiday of cannabis appreciation, otherwise known as 4:20. (We promise we’re not stoned. Well, at least…
Not to go all Little House on the Prairie on you or anything, but you might want to consider homesteading. You know — live off the Earth. Make your own clothes. Heck, make the thread for your own clothes. Harvest rainwater, save seeds. When he’s not making art or throwing…
Want bondage gear, gags, dildo harnesses, or whips made of imported Italian pleather? Then look no further than Vegan Erotica, a Phoenix-based company that Camilla Taylor has run for the past seven years. Place your order at the Web site (www.veganerotica.com) and Taylor — who makes and assembles every listed…
I’ve witnessed many things at the Willow House on Van Buren, but I’d never seen a drummer nearly kick his kit across the room. That is, until a recent Sunday night, when I saw culture rockers My Feral Kin jam in the front room of the central Phoenix coffee shop…
Hey, stop sniffing that Sharpie and pay attention. Your home could be hazardous to your health. Don’t worry, Heidi Tourangeau — one of 10 EcoBroker-certified Realtors in the Phoenix area — and her mom Valerie, a certified building biologist, want to help you find a more eco-friendly space. From feng…
Picture some of the most in-demand NYC-based musicians with a bent toward jazz forming a band. Now, imagine that the group stays together for more than a decade without rotating guest musicians (not atypical for, say, a rock outfit, but quite unusual in jazz). Think of how awesome the music…
Though we’re big into reggae, we tend to get forget the names of the many sons following in Bob Marley’s wake. There’s Ziggy, Damian, Stephen, and . . . and . . . oh, yeah, Ky-Mani, who’s scheduled to headline the Reggae Spring Festival. Sat., April 12, 11:45 a.m., 2008…
With the release of Ire Works in 2007, Dillinger Escape Plan made a leap into the super-visceral metalcore stratosphere while abandoning many elements of its signature, technically proficient mathcore. The New Jersey band also abandoned many fans, according to various online message boards, and long-timers scoffed at the group’s new…
There are poetry readings of the “I was born in a log cabin” variety (ick, snore, groan) and then there are poetry readings, those slamming shindigs that showcase raw wordplay with kickback musical backing. If you hit up the Poet Bar Mic Check, you’ll find the latter and more. The…
What’s your definition of a freak? One of those dudes who hangs from the ceiling with meat hooks in his skin? Yeah, maybe. However, our definition are those crazy tri-athletes who train for eight hours a day, drink nothing but pineapple juice, and calculate carbs in order to meet their…
