Arts & Culture

I learned to ride a bicycle when I was 34 years old. I don’t recall now why I refused to learn as a child, although my father remembers that I thought bike-riding was “childish,” which sounds like something I might have said when I was 5 or 6; I was…

Did searching for color-dipped ova left in your backyard by an over-sized specimen of the lagomorpha order leave you lacking in egg-citement this Easter? Consider that you might have gone to one of these events instead of chomping the heads off innocent chocolate bunnies, sicko. They can’t help that they’re…

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball is a comedy for smart people. Funny girl Neda Tavassoli playfully chews the scenery, portraying the play’s protagonist, Dana Fielding, as a famous but paranoid artist who ends up in an institution after attempting suicide over a failed exhibition and the loss of her lover…

Calvin peeing on Ford. Calvin pissing on Chevy. Calvin urinates on anything that ain’t a Chrysler-owned brand during the HEMI Show and Shootout at Speedworld Raceway Park. The MOPAR-only event – MOPAR is short for MOtor PARts that encompass Dodge, Plymouth, Jeep, etc. – features a car show, a swap…

Cowboy art in most galleries: a man and his steed; a man and his steed resting by a stream; a man and his steed looking upon the prairie. Bo-ring. Cowboy art in the “Cow Poked” exhibit, which clowns that crap outta traditional Western art: a tub-of-lard cowboy kid riding away…

Those wacky government employees at Goodyear’s Estrella Mountain Regional Park are at it again with their Full Moon Over Ireland Hike. This time, bards in boots compete in an Irish History Month limerick contest while trekking ’neath the silvery orb. It leaves at the Toothaker trailhead. Fri., March 21, 6:30…

Most rap sports the power of a guerrilla uprising and the musicality of a cantaloupe. Thump. Those who like a little melody with their revolution should check out DJ Spider, a world-beating L.A. spin doctor who specializes in hip-hop but deftly drops in elegant soul stirs by the likes of…

A point that was driven home time and again during Super Bowl mania is that Scottsdale throws a bumping party. Some of us, though, like our shindigs more locally focused and arty, which is why we’ll be in Old Town when the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art shines a spotlight…

A point that was driven home time and again during Super Bowl mania is that Scottsdale throws a bumping party. Some of us, though, like our shindigs more locally focused and arty, which is why we’ll be in Old Town when the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art shines a spotlight…

Football is full of mobile sides of beef who’d kick their grannies in the dentures if push came to shove. The NBA is mean streets all the way. Robert Horry. Steve Nash. ’Nuff said? The NHL? Todd Bertuzzi. Chris Simon. Marty McSorley. Butchers on ice, the lot of ’em. Baseball,…

Football is full of mobile sides of beef who’d kick their grannies in the dentures if push came to shove. The NBA is mean streets all the way. Robert Horry. Steve Nash. ’Nuff said? The NHL? Todd Bertuzzi. Chris Simon. Marty McSorley. Butchers on ice, the lot of ’em. Baseball,…

The NFL-champion New York Giants finished 14th out of 32 teams in scoring. Yaaaaawn. The San Antonio Spurs, reigning NBA overlords, are averaging 95.8. Blaaaaah. Our Arena-league pinball wizards, the Arizona Rattlers, won their March 1 opener 63-62. Scooooore! And continued satisfaction is guaranteed thanks to the team’s historic playoffs-or-full-refund…

Late bloomers hold a special place in our hearts. They represent perseverance, new directions, and second acts. Such is the story of Long John Hunter, a Texas bluesman who didn’t “make it” until he was 66 years old, when Alligator Records turned him into a star — outside of the…

Freaks are apparently in high demand these days. Just look at the 999 Eyes Freakshow, a roving band of human oddities and their beloved cohorts that returns for a show at Trunk Space. Says Samantha X, the odd squad’s co-founder and freak mama, “Since the last time we visited Phoenix,…

Because we’re pea-brained individuals at times, we write about things solely because they have weird or effed-up names. A perfect example: Aubrey Debauchery and the Puke Boots. The alt-ish/country-ish band from Chico, California — Chico! — plays simple-enough-sounding tunes with some jacked-up lyrics, like, “I’m gonna tie you to the…

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust, the newest, Internet-only album by Saul Williams, may not be what fans expect from the accomplished writer, star of the 1998 movie Slam, and poet/musician. It’s more gritty, electronic-based, and, at times, even more pissed-off. For that, we can thank Trent Reznor of…

3/20 vs. White Sox, 7:05 p.m.; 3/22 vs. Angels, 1:05 p.m. Thu., March 20, 7:05 p.m.; Sat., March 22, 1:05 p.m., 2008…

All games start at 1:05 p.m. unless otherwise noted; (ss) = split squad. Schedule: 3/1 vs. Rangers; 3/3 vs. White Sox; 3/6 vs. Diamondbacks; 3/7 vs. Rockies; 3/9 vs. Cubs; 3/10 vs. Giants; 3/13 vs. Angels; 3/14 vs. Rangers; 3/16 vs. Giants (ss); 3/20 vs. Brewers; 3/22 vs. Padres; 3/24…

The HorrorPops have been called psychobilly for years, but these genre-hopping Danish rockers don’t like boxes. We chatted with a few of the bands’ members about their rebellious streak, their homeland, and their new album, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill. New Times: Your music has always been defined by an anti-status…

If you know of him at all, you know singer/songwriter Steve Poltz by his association with Jewel, with whom he wrote the No. 1 hit “You Were Meant for Me.” It’s hard to imagine a more unlikely pair to pen a No. 1 song. Jewel’s a slacker megastar who’s can’t,…

The stage, during a performance of 9 Parts of Desire, is crowded with Heather Raffo. She’s alone up there, but the American/Iraqi actress is surrounded by the many women she’s created in this one-woman show. Raffo’s characters, all Iraqi women whose lives have been impacted in different ways by the…