If you’re like me, then you take your tree-decorating seriously. When I saw the holiday themes out this year (if you haven’t noticed, ornaments come and go in cycles) I was less than thrilled. Snowflakes? zzZZZZ. A lodge-style moose, lanterns and flannel ornaments? Seriously, does this look like the Midwest? Ballet…
The holiday season is here, and with it comes the one thing we dread most. No, not packed shopping malls, annoyingly chipper holiday songs, or umpteen-gazillion reruns of A Christmas Story. We’re talking about arts and crafts fairs. Think cinnamon-spiced potpourri sachets. Reindeer sweatshirts. Crocheted doily angels. Well, forget the…
Ever notice how all of the holiday classics are dominated by males? Scrooge. Charlie Brown. George Bailey. The Grinch. So we were thrilled when we heard that Nearly Naked Theatre’s Times Square Angel features a female lead character – until we found out the role is played by a dude…
This time of year, there’s a lot of talk about thinking of others instead of yourself. Whether it’s shopping for the perfect holiday present for your sweetie or picking an angel off the Salvation Army tree, there really is something to be said for the joy of giving. Aww, can’t…
If you’re looking for something different (read: not mass merchandised, made-in-China crap) for your sweetie, or Aunt Ida, or your boss, this is the last First Friday before Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Yes, the last one. Since First Friday can be a zoo, especially before major holidays, we’ve culled the…
Whiny feminists swayed at Lilith Fair, angsty teens flocked to Lollapalooza, and metalheads banged their brains out at Ozzfest. The latest in a long liine of quirky music festivals, KISS FM’s Phooson 2008 features Rihanna, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Jesse McCartney, Varsity Fanclub, Tokio Hotel, and the (vocally) well-endowed…
What separates nude art from porn? The observer? The intent? Or, in the words of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, “a government grant”? ASU assistant professor and controversial photographer Betsy Schneider kicked up a virtual shit storm last summer when New Times published artistic photos of her kids in the buff…
What separates nude art from porn? The observer? The intent? Or, in the words of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, “a government grant”? ASU assistant professor and controversial photographer Betsy Schneider kicked up a virtual shit storm last summer when New Times published artistic photos of her kids in the buff…
Poetry sucks. Poetry was written by dead white dudes. Listening to poetry is like being forced to watch Lost in Translation ad nauseam. Modern-day poetess Leah Marché isn’t buying those lit-class lies. Her all-female lyrical revue Soft & Wet: From Her Lips to Your Ears (The Sequel) is the third…
One will help you through a blind date. Five will make you forget the crappy economy. Drink 10 and that bucktoothed brunette at the bar starts looking like Eva Mendes. If your dream date has great head and a full body, check out Draft Magazine’s The Big Pour Beer Festival…
By Wynter Holden See more shots from 999 Eyes Freak Show in our slide show. Met any freaks lately? Now, by “freaks” I don’t mean the black trenchcoat wearing, Twilight book reading, A Perfect Circle listening, tragically hip wannabe goth set. Or the scary dudes who post pictures of their…
There are two types of people: the kind who alphabetize their CDs and the kind who lose their CDs under the pile of Burger King wrappers and yellowing newspapers in their car’s backseat (bet you can guess which one we are). Whether you neatly fold your underwear or throw dirty…
There are so many things we still don’t understand: cancer, death, the popularity of Dancing With the Stars. When 19th-century artist Elihu Vedder lost two children and then fathered two more, he found his answers in the Rubáiyát, a collection of medieval Persian poetry depicting the endless cycle of life,…
What’s on your “bucket” list of stuff to accomplish before you croak? Write a novel? Scuba on the Great Barrier Reef? Shower naked with Pamela Anderson? The goal of Scottsdale-based commercial photographer Ken Ross is to capture 101 countries by the time he reaches the half-century mark – and he’s…
New parents who say they’d love their kid to grow up to be the next Picasso obviously weren’t paying attention during their high school years. Football players get hot-cheerleader girlfriends and college scholarships. Scrawny art geeks get their heads stuck in toilets. Some go Columbine on their peers; others, like…
To you, “label whore” is a term of endearment. Your purse dogs are named Gucci, Versace, and Vuitton. We needed Sex and the City to educate us about Jimmy Choo and Manolo Blahnik, but you learned to speak fluent Prada before you hit middle school. Well, dear fashionista, November is…
Remember when you thought you could change the world? When former tennis superstar Billie Jean King was 5 years old, she told her mom, “I’m going to do something great with my life.” That she did, as King grew up to win 20 Wimbledon titles, best tennis pro Bobby Riggs…
If the presidential race were like high school – where the cool kid always wins – Barack Obama would be a shoo-in. McCain and Palin have gun-toting rednecks, soccer moms, and warmongering geezers in their corner, while Obama’s got Oprah, rock stars, and most of the NBA supporting his candidacy…
By Wynter Holden After visiting two reasonably healthful restaurants at Tempe Marketplace, I thought it would be fun to see how they compare in a Battle of the Bulge. In one corner of the ring, we have Kabuki Japanese Restaurant, weighing in at a hefty couple of brightly-lit rooms and…
By Wynter Holden If you haven’t been to the new Hob Nobs (in the old Willow House space on McDowell and 3rd Ave.), it’s definitely worth a visit. The place is adorable, with restored original fireplace and hardwood floors, sunlit rooms and local art decking the walls. Another cute-as-heck thing…
Except for Leonardo da Vinci — who was clearly a mutant – artists aren’t known for their brains. Van Gogh had that little ear disaster, Rothko slit his wrists, and Warhol had an IQ lower than Koko the Gorilla. Painter Colin Chillag sees that stereotype as a license for total…
To all of you transplants who say Phoenix is culturally and socially bankrupt, we say shut your trap and open your eyes. Indie businesses have loyal followings, while big chains are having going-out-of-business sales. There’s a farmers’ market in nearly every community. And we’ve got family-friendly fairs by the bushel,…
