X-Men. Archie. Sailor Moon. If you thought comic books were limited to namby-pamby superhero tales, Manga and All-American “good guy” serials like Richie Rich and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, take a peek at local artist J. Scooter Harris’ graphic novel/comic book series, True Crime Theater, and you’ll be shell-shocked. Courtesy of J. Scooter Harris, www.studiohadra.com Drawing…
Actress Mischa Barton landed in the nuthouse after the producers of A Beautiful Life ordered her to pack on, then lose, some blubber. Megan Fox had to beef up or get lost from the Transformers sequel, and singer Kelly Clarkson’s photos for an article on body confidence were retouched so…
Remember that student in high school who boycotted science class on the day of the fetal-pig dissection? If you were that kid, or are a member of PETA, you might have mixed feelings about Tempe artist Brent Adrian’s “Poetics of Dissection” exhibit and its hyper-realistic oil paintings of roasted duck…
Tattoos have come a long way, baby! Once reserved for sailors and burly bikers with Grizzly Adams beards and leather chaps, tats have slowly slithered their way onto college students, cubicle workers and yes, even geeks. While some of our geeky brethren were busy roleplaying or getting first editions signed at the Discworld convention this past weekend, a…
As if Andy Warhol wasn’t already considered enough of a freak, a rotting wedding cake, a signed poster of Jackie O in the buff, and a mummified foot were recently found among his old storage boxes. Dude puts the packrats of A&E’s Hoarders to shame. But he wasn’t the only…
Local photographer Angela Franks Wells isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. No, she’s not a hitwoman. And no, she isn’t snapping porn. Wells uses an old-school, and very messy, photogravure technique involving toxic chemicals that leave her hands stained black and smelling like copper pennies. The untidy process is…
It’s no surprise that most cubicle workers feel constrained by their drab gray prisons. But what about people with cool jobs? Sensing that his tattooed, funky models weren’t fully expressing themselves, commercial photographer John Covington liberated them from constraints — and clothing — in a private photo shoot. The very-public…
Love Food Network’s combat cookery shows? In this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter, find out which upcoming competition will be hosted by Iron Chef America winner Mark Tarbell of Tarbell’s Restaurant, and which two local chefs will battle it out in the kitchen. We’ve also got the word on a trendy new…
Turns out some of our local burlesque hotties are actually real-life geeks. They crochet. They do crafts. They love books. Some of them are fans of Star Trek or Firefly. You don’t have to be naturally gorgeous to be a burleque dancer, says Provocatease Burlesque troupe member Lolli VonLingus. “You could be somebody…
When it comes to “stoking the fires of passion,” men have porn and women have authors like Diana Gabaldon. Yeah, yeah, we know that there are plenty of women who find some manner of porn — whether it be Internet smut, Debbie Does Dallas or Penthouse letters — enticing, and at least a…
Her name may sound cute and innocent, but Phoenix artist Alison Sweet admits she likes porn. Don’t expect to find her surfing the Net for wet hunks or busty babes, though. Sweet’s interest is purely academic. Her artwork features old 16mm filmstrips illuminated in wall-mounted light boxes – and, as…
Lawyers call it the “CSI Effect.” Since everyone and their mother started watching behind-the-scenes forensics shows, juries expect to see crap like mitochondrial DNA and holographic reenactments or they won’t convict. Crime labs process evidence overnight, right? And shoeprints or skin flakes are found at every scene. Suuuure. It’s no…
After recently overhearing a few out-of-town visitors discuss their aversion to sampling fish from a “non-coastal state” (oh, the horror!), we felt compelled to shed some light on the Valley’s fine seafood offerings. In this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter, we’ve got a hot tip on a North Valley Japanese restaurant that offers traditional sushi, oak-grilled…
Last night, the Tempe Center for the Arts was filled to the hilt with adoring fans. Dozens more — mainly dudes — waited in a line outside the doors in the hundred-degree heat, hoping to score a seat in the packed house. What the hell was this? Blue Man Group? Lady Gaga’s “I’m not a…
It’s one of the most abused, misunderstood, and revered subjects in history. According to most artists, it’s a total bitch to capture realistically. See how the likes of Deborah Butterfield, Korea’s Nam Jun Paik, and Los Carpinteros of Cuba depict the human body in the “Figuring Prominently” exhibit at ASU…
Remember how you lovingly pimped out your first ride with flames and a chrome shifter knob — despite the fact that the junker was worth less than a pair of designer jeans? Lowriders started out as cultural expressions of the poor, but things have come a long way since then…
Book discussions are always a crapshoot, but their location will give you a clue to the tome’s level of suckage. Meet at a comic-book store and you’ll get Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Wine bar? Oprah’s next Book Club loser. Gun shop? Ann Coulter, natch! We’re holding out hope for…
What do Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears, and Keri Russell have in common? They each got their start in the Mickey Mouse Club, and, whether in real life or on film, they’ve all played characters so annoying you want to beat the crap out of them. True-life examples like these are…
If you’re craving a juicy hamburger but don’t want to deal with kiddie playgrounds and cartoon characters, check out this week’s Meal Ticket dining newsletter for info on a late-night date place where burgers are king. We’ll also have the scoop on a back to school party for grown-ups and one of the…
For those of you who give the whole Twilight phenomenon the “talk to the hand” gesture, there are several types of Twilight fans: namely the Twilighters, which are the regular folks who love the books, and the Twerds — those crazy geeks who own every piece of Twilight movie merchandise…
Saturday night, a group of thirty or so animal activists led by Dani Thumma — with the help of the California-based Animal Protection and Rescue League and In Defense of Animals — pounced on the Biltmore in East Phoenix to protest the serving of foie gras at Christopher’s Restaurant and Crush Lounge. Not the best…
If you think right-wing religious nuts went crazy when Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code came out, just wait ’til they hear that businessman Lon Safko rewrote the Bible. The Social Media Bible, that is. He even blogged his own Ten Commandments, which begins with the obvious “Thou Shalt…
