I stumbled across her about two years ago, when a detour on I-17 dumped me onto the slatternly mess that is Washington Street at Black Canyon Highway. Stuck in traffic slowed to a crawl, I was distracted by her bosomy façade and the wide, corset-like turret she wore wrapped around…
It has to be said: the AZ music scene suffers from a severe lack of spookiness. Perhaps it’s the overabundance of sunshine or scarcity of graveyards, but in the greater Phoenix metro area, it’s hard to get rocked in that “this music could very well be sucking the blood from…
It’s fitting that Muppet Show creator Jim Henson based his Dr. Teeth character on pianist Dr. John, who has served as unofficial mascot-ambassador for the city of New Orleans and its indigenous musical forms for a good fifty years now, arguably filling the shoes of none other than Louis Armstrong…
You opportunists should get ready for the most shameful steal of your life. Our constipated housing market is prairie-dogging the dump of the decade, and you should be at the ready, pooper-scooper and shady real estate agent at hand. Once you get your cheapskate paws on the new pad, try…
We heart Arizona Bike Week – one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the state, currently frequenting the Phoenix area – but we eco-friendly, transportation-challenged types prefer our bikes non-motorized and of the pedal variety. That’s why we’ll take extra precaution not to be run down by a burly chopper…
Not since the mid-’90s street tournament at Arizona Center has a b-ball happening tickled our jones for pavement hoopin’. Radio station 101.5 Jamz presents Gus Macker’s Who’s Got Game? 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at Tempe Marketplace. The shindig will feature slam-dunk and free-throw contests as well as blacktop balling. April 5-6,…
One of the biggest complaints we hear in this town? “Phoenix has no culture.” Hey, crybaby. Ever been to Guadalupe, the Native American/Hispanic enclave nestled between Phoenix and Tempe? If not, get your behind to the off-the-hook ’hood on Saturday, April 5, for Guadalupe Days. The event, centered on the…
We found an awesome quote on the Interweb recently that stated, “The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos.” If you’re the latter, it’d be wise to avoid Mesa Centennial Hall as the Arizona Tattoo Expo…
Here’s something you’ve never stopped to ask yourself: Why are the words “hog” and “motorcycle” often used interchangeably? You think it’s because revving choppers sound like snorting swine, don’t you? As poetic as that would be, it’s not so, as you’ll find out after visiting the Harley-Davidson Traveling Museum, a…
One thing was always certain on The Cosby Show: When Theo Huxtable (played by Malcolm-Jamal Warner) escaped the influence of his pal Cockroach, he was actually a pretty smart guy. In real life, Warner is a pretty deep dude who performs a one-man music/spoken-word routine. Warner gigs on the rooftop…
Don’t worry. Just because this piece you are reading will soon plug the lecture appearance of Eric Schlosser, author of the bestselling fast-food exposé Fast Food Nation, it doesn’t mean that we are going to slam Fat America. Instead, we are going to slam Fat Planet Earth. Okay, maybe the…
Human beings continue to find new and insane ways to challenge each other. Think stunning feats of endurance like Mount Everest and hot-dog-eating contests. Twenty-four hours straight of open-mic poetry is of a similar epic nature, a fact not lost on David Tabor, who will hold down the fort at…
Michael Lundgren takes a nice pic. His silver-gel landscapes offer unadorned depictions of our lovely, denuded desert. Odds are, you’ll like ’em. So God forbid the works should be allowed to speak for themselves. No, their meanings must be spelled out, tediously, in terms you have no hope of understanding…
It’s hard to feel pity for something with four-inch spikes, but even an Echinocereus fendleri deserves a break from the sun. It’s a fearsome thing, the Sonoran hedgehog cactus, but also a thing of beauty, which is why Desert Botanical Garden wants to keep fendleri and friends comfortable and resplendent…
“Ashy to classy” was how The Notorious B.I.G. described his ascent from street-level hustler to champagne-swigging rap star. Similarly, Officer Ugg and the Garbage Pail Kids of yesteryear might affect a George Jefferson-like swagger after seeing their fellow adhesive-Americans elevated from Trapper Keepers and street lamps to gallery walls. Local…
Be it great or small, every single creature roaming God’s green Earth has a natural enemy. For the deadly cobra, it’s the wily mongoose. Mice? Easy prey for felines. As for piñatas, they’re afraid of one thing and one thing only: baseball bats. We’ve lost count of the number of…
Isaac Newton has the market cornered on early physics genius, but his formidable contributions to science are rarely mentioned in the same breath as art. Sculptor David Young, who draws a bit of artistic inspiration from Newton, recently had his own apple-on-the-head moment. “I’ve always loved taking things apart, and…
Phoenix Film Festival. Sounds kinda rinky-dink, right? Well, that’s how the East Coast film snobs must’ve reacted back in 1978 when the Utah Film Commission unveiled its Utah/United States Film Festival. From such barren seed sprang Sundance, and you don’t hear much bleating from the cognoscenti these days. While our…
It seems as if everybody, especially Los Angeles Dodgers fans, is creaming him or herself over the Dodgers’ acquisition of outfielder Manny Ramirez. True, the slugger is leading the team’s charge toward NL West supremacy. But just wait until he ditches his best behavior and the loose cannon starts firing…
Ever wonder why there’s no History Channel equivalent of MythBusters? There should be, because it’s not that hard to pull off a pseudo-historical sham. Sure, we could have paid more attention in history class, but that would have meant missing out on prime note-passing time. So dangle some black-and-white photos…
The tix are a bit pricey, but why not? You get to rub shoulders with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Kevin Costner, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Clive Davis while raising funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Phoenix’s Barrow Neurological Institute. Reba McEntire emcees and croons, and additional musical performances…
Among the many wonderful things about the Maricopa County Fair is that it’s one of the few places where you can get religion at Madame Zelda’s Puppet Circus and then sit back for some light entertainment at the Gospel Throwdown. And as you might expect, there’s so much more to…
