Arts & Culture

We’re what you’d call “white.” Our Mexican ex-boyfriend has confirmed this many times, despite our challenges to the contrary. “But look right here,” we’d say, “this spot is kind of brown!” He would just laugh and direct his gaze in a more southwesterly direction. Now we can really compare and…

Most folks stop caring (or should stop caring) about their birthday by, oh, about the time they hit 25 years old. We s’pose there’s nothing wrong with raising a glass to a milestone age like, say, 30 or 50 or 75, but 57? What else would you expect from a…

A cover charge seems fairly reasonable for a live musical performance, but many of today’s dance nights provide zero visual stimulation. That is, unless someone in the crowd gets drunk enough to strip and/or vomit in the middle of the dance floor. So why would you pay someone to push…

We’re tired of reading the preseason practice reports of college-football squads. They basically all say the same thing. Most teams feel great and think they can compete for the national championship. Whatever. These canned quotes are wack. Thankfully, beginning next week, we won’t have to hear this anymore when the…

Your Mama and Papa always told you to stay away from strange men, especially those who wore leather outfits in public. According to them, these strangers were prime qualifiers for the Neighborhood Watch’s registry of dubious citizens. Truth is, your parents were probably worthier of a re-education than those they…

There’s a lyric from one of the Richard O’Brien tunes in his intergalactically famous The Rocky Horror Show that goes, “It was great when it all began/I was a regular Frankie fan.” It’s a lyric that has proven more true than the then-starving young playwright could have known when he…

Come on, now — you don’t print photos. Hence the “Wanna see my boyfriend? Come look at my phone” phenomenon. Tilt Gallery compensates for us flakes, showcasing the finest photography in its cozy jewel box of a space. Though historic and alternative processes (a.k.a. not Walgreens) are Tilt’s focus year-round,…

What if Lennon and McCartney had parted ways before Revolver? Smith and Wesson before the .357 Magnum? Gilbert and Sullivan before The Mikado? Wait. Gilbert and who? Before the what? So it goes for the great British comic-operatic team of W.S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan, who were once bigger…

It’s ironic that consistency, longevity, and predictability have come to be the hallmarks of “true punk,” but that’s where we are more than three decades after Johnny Rotten blew his nose all over things. As Jello Biafra recently sang, there’s all these bands singing their “hits from the ‘good old…

Before the medium ate the message, poet and rap precursor Gil Scott-Heron forewarned that the revolution would not be televised. When the tides turn, Immortal Technique will be there to provide color commentary between lobs of Molotov cocktails. The Peruvian-born, Harlem-raised fire-breather scorches tracks with scathing lyrical criticisms of the…

It’s the summer of 1988 and the Valley’s music scene is ruled by such venues as Edsel’s Attic, the Sun Club, Long Wong’s, and the Mason Jar. Meanwhile, over in Mesa, an entrepreneur named Ross Wincek quietly opens the doors of his bar and grill, Hollywood Alley, 2610 West Baseline…

Herewith, for your entertainment/discussion, an Unofficial Top 8 Highlights of Comedian Gilbert Gottfried’s Career: 8) His “You fool!”-spouting regular on the late Nineties/early Aughts version of Hollywood Squares 7) Jerry the Belly Button Elf, Ren & Stimpy 6) various, VH1’s Best Week Ever 5) his proclivity for voicing various birds,…

The new semester starts in just a few days. Thank God? Yes, because if you’re like us, you’re probably looking for anything to break the routine of lounging on the couch or by the pool. Seriously, though, you don’t really want to go back to school, especially after checking out…

May 20 was a red-letter day for this year’s Arizona Diamondbacks team – red meaning scarlet. Up to that point, the young D-Backs were 27-16, the toast of the baseball world, and poised to lock up the National League West crown. In May. Then came 5/20, Miami, and that friggin’…

The indie filmmaker introduces the documentary Poison Wind, a chronicle she and partner Norman Patrick Brown made about the blight caused by uranium mining in the Grand Canyon and other points in the American Southwest. On her Web site, www.jennypond.com, Pond says she and Brown hope to “raise the level…

The charming, anti-cynical storyline of Julie Taymor’s odd 2007 love story gets lost behind the film’s “device”: its characters move the story along, Moulin Rouge-style, by singing plot-appropriate Beatles songs, including “Girl,” “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?”, “Helter Skelter,” “If I Fell,” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Jim…

The beautifully photographed 2007 indie film from Argentina’s Lucía Puenzo is based on Sergio Bizzio’s short story “Cinismo,” about a teenager born with both male and female genitalia. Tue., Aug. 26, 6 p.m., 2008…

Kiwi actor Warbeck is the star of both of these B movies. The first is a 1981 splatterfest from horror master Lucio Falci. The second is a sex comedy from 1973. Sat., Aug. 23, 9 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 24, 5 & 9 p.m., 2008…

Trinidad Escalante was a mojada. A wetback. Un illegal. Actually, I can’t prove that. But I can say with total confidence that the woman was Mexican. She was born in Hermosillo, Sonora, and eventually crossed the border. Legally or not? Quien sabe, as the Spanish say. She lived during different…