Explosions, pratfalls, and robots; heroes, aliens, and blondes — it must be summertime at the movies. Beyond the flash, though, it’s striking to note just how many movies will require us to actually think this summer. (Aren’t we supposed to save thinking for the fall?) Maybe it’s the election, but…
Getting through the summer is no mean feat, and I find myself buying a lot more crap in July and August than I do any other time of the year, if only for the distraction. Recently I’ve found an amazing place to shop for really great stuff, but I can’t…
Once upon a time, people were allowed to be unhappy. Today, we have Deepak Chopra and Prozac and seminars that turn ordinary people into psychobabble-spouting Dr. Phil clones who say things like, “The way that you’re showing up for me is as someone who’s in denial about the trauma I’ve…
She was everything I wanted, from the cool bohemian attitude with a sprinkling of urban hipster to the sparkling green that sheathed her ample curves. We seemed the perfect couple. Politics, religion, women’s rights, environmentalism — on every major issue our ideals matched seamlessly. I imagined long walks on the…
It’s said that vice is virtually recession-proof. Meaning no matter how poor one gets (believe us, we’re getting there), there’s always enough scratch for a smoke or a drink. In fact, we can’t think of a better way of escaping all the economic bad news (as well as the summer…
As unconscionably evil as the summertime sun gets in our desert domain — reigning over our asses from May to September like a Third World despot — there are plenty of positives to enduring five torturous months of brain-melting heat. Besides increasing our excuses for noshing on gelato, and expelling…
Hipster fashion isn’t the only thing you can hawk in exchange for some serious scrilla in these cash-strapped times. Everything from the books and CDs on your shelves to the blood in your veins is up for grabs to the highest bidder. Here’s how to sell out: SELL YOUR CDS…
Piggy bank empty? Yeah, ours, too. Gas is so expensive that it costs too much to cross this town, let alone leave it. There’s even a term for this summer’s phenomenon: staycation. In honor of all you budget crunchers out there, we’ve sent our own penny pinchers out to find…
There’s a good chance that if you shop in Tempe, you hate me. And it has nothing to do with the stories I’ve written for this newspaper. From August 2002 until the middle of 2006, I was the bitch behind the counter at Buffalo Exchange, sorting through your castoffs, silently…
Remember when moving was cause for celebration? Well, housewarming parties and gifts of crappy potpourri are a thing of the past. And since everyone seems to be putting off marriage and kids for as long as possible these days, we live like nomads – dragging our hand-me-down futons from one…
We’re pretty sure that the prototypical fantasy geek and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis never imagined that his acclaimed children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia would spawn something as scary-sounding as an “immersive marketing experience.” So trust it to late capitalism to concoct such a beast in the form of “The…
Four-dollar-per-gallon gas is around the corner, and (ugh) $5 is just down the block. Mass transit is on the upswing and folks are modifying their transportation habits. Pedal-pushing bike culture is finally being recognized as one of the best, most viable alternatives to petrol-based consumerism. The Brooklyn, New York, chapter…
The Arizona Browncoats don’t need to get a life, as per William Shatner, but perhaps we can suggest a social life. See, these are grade-A geeks, fans of a six-years-gone TV show that lasted a mere 14 episodes. Still, give ’em props for wrenching themselves away from their plasma screens…
According to legend, the Diné (Navajo) underworld was a supercool place to live for the Holy People. The weather was perfect, food grew in loads, and the staples of Navajo art – such as rug weaving, silversmithing, and basketry – were cultivated and honed. In his “Underworlderness” exhibit, Navajo artist…
Black Carl is basically the perfect band to play at the “PLASTER THIS! The Art of the Concert Poster” First Friday exhibit. Why? Because the Tempe-based group incorporates all that’s good and fine with music, including upbeat rock, soul grit, and booty-shaking grooves. As for “PLASTER THIS,” the exhibit features…
Pssst. Yeah, you. Wanna buy some Reefer Madness? No, the musical, you hophead! Why has Nearly Naked Theatre has chosen to present the Arizona première of this gaudy whirlwind of sex, drugs, and lounge music, based on the idiotic/cautionary 1936 movie of the same name? Says the play’s director, Damon…
Armed with an endless arsenal of records, Afrika Bambaataa threw park jams in the South Bronx as hip-hop took its first steps in the early ’70s. In the ’80s, he and his Soulsonic Force band set the Zulu Nation in motion and united restless youths with the song “Planet Rock.”…
When it comes to poet, performance artist, photographer, improviser, and Grand Avenue Live! talk-show host Kevin Patterson, we either love him, hate him, or sum up his well-meaning presence with a universal-size sigh. However, there’s no doubt how we’ll feel during the Kevin Patterson Roast, where he will be verbally…
For some folks, nothing says “happy” better than a pink-iced Hostess cupcake and an ice-cold Nehi. And then there’s Mindy Sue Meyers, whose sweet tooth is lodged firmly in her brain, which is spilling over with new ideas for making sweets into visual art. Her inspiration comes from old cookbooks,…
Remember how much fun it was to swim at the public pool as a kid? Unfortunately, when you grew up, you realized that the oasis of your memory was just a chlorinated hole filled with grimy little creatures who got pleasure from peeing in the water and stewing in their…
We love the song “A Girl and Her Horse” by the band Carbon Leaf. Surfacely, it’s about . . . well, a girl and her horse. Subdermally, it’s a metaphor for loss. The same might be said of author Deanne Stillman’s new literary nonfiction work Mustang: The Saga of the…
Whereas other comics deliberately diversify, Jerry Seinfeld is known for exactly three things (and no, his wife’s recent brush with cookbook legitimacy isn’t one of them). They are: his brilliant, groundbreaking sitcom, the moderately grating promotional onslaught for last year’s Bee Movie, and the comedian’s total dedication to the art…
