Arts & Culture

The five-member teams in this group/elimination tourney will try to crush — or at least badly bruise — each other in support of the Arizona National Guard Emergency Relief Fund. Sun., Dec. 9, 11 a.m., 2007…

Why is it that the heaviest bands often have the goofiest names? There’s a definite trend within the grindcore, hardcore, and death-metal scenes demanding cheesy names, outrageous costumes, cartoonish stage antics, and song after song about nonserious subjects such as drinking (or abstinence, for the straight-edgers). Bands like Arsonists Get…

Chief among the reasons Deftones is one of the most compelling hard-rock acts of the past 15 years is Chino Moreno’s gripping vocals, which often act as a moody, atmospheric foil to the band’s raging guitar riffs. But with Team Sleep — Moreno’s long-running side project — pretty much everything…

The fab Phoenix artist unveils 12 fab new works while fab Phoenix DJ William Reed spins fabulously in the background. Sounds fab. Wed., Dec. 12, 8-11 p.m., 2007…

Despite the bold assertion in the accompanying photo, author/photojournalist Tammy Lechner should’ve titled her book Chicago Cubs: Big, Fat Losers. Rather, she chose the high road in her new Our Team, Our Dream: A Cubs Fan’s Journey Into Baseball’s Greatest Romance — described as a “passionate photo documentary highlighting 15…

The early morning hours of October 29, 2007 was a dark time in downtown Phoenix. The Willow House, the iconic, seemingly unmovable coffee shop/art-centric hang/performance venue turned out its lights after a huge blowout bash featuring a séance, DJs, punk rock, and free jazz. Two days later on Halloween, some…

Eat your heart out, Richard Simmons. That’s right. The king of sequined tops and spandex shorts would be soooo jealous if he was hip to the Upsetting Spandex Blacklight Party. The, uh, tight evening will feature beats by Djentrification and “mandatory spandex.” Thu., Nov. 29, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., 2007…

Steve Weiss has labored in near-anonymity for five-plus years to bring us the best microcinema works by filmdom’s unwashed underdogs. He’s moving on up to the (extremely relative) big time beginning in January with his new “No Festival Required Presents” series, which will offer creations “from international directors and distributors,”…

Hobgoblins. Enchantresses. Greedy hags. It sounds like an episode of Desperate Housewives, but it’s really Center Dance Ensemble’s annual take on Hans Christian Andersen’s good-versus-evil epic. Sat., Dec. 1, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 2, 2 & 5 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 8, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 9,…

Timothy Treadwell, an outdoorsman and author (Among Grizzlies), loved grizzly bears so much that he decided to live among them in their Alaskan stomping grounds. His passion for the brutes was so all-consuming that he undoubtedly continued to adore them even while one was gnawing on his rib cage. The…

Valley folks usually don’t flock together in large numbers — except to watch the Cardinals lose — so it’ll be nice to see a few hundred thousand Phoenicians rubbing shoulders during the APS Electric Light Parade, which features numerous illuminated floats and marching bands. Sat., Dec. 1, 7 p.m., 2007…

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

You’re driving around neighborhoods searching out Christmas lights with your screaming kids hopped up on hot chocolate and peppermints. “Stop here! No, there!” The little darlings trample over fencing and a lawn jockey while the plastic baby Jesus cringes fearfully in His swaddling. Thirty seconds later, Junior’s grabbing the donkey…

We always hear that there’s strength in silence and solitude, but that just ain’t gonna happen with writers like ourselves with a weekly deadline. So maybe we can take a page (or a hundred) out of Norman Dubie’s books. The accomplished poet and ASU’s Regent’s Professor of Creative Writing took…

Known far and wide for his coffee-table travel books (and privately for being something of a pack rat; his Silver Lake, California, home is reportedly overflowing with pole lamps and Krispy Kans and large plastic philodendrons), kitsch king Charles Phoenix is becoming even better known for his wacky comedy slide…

Known far and wide for his coffee-table travel books (and privately for being something of a pack rat; his Silver Lake, California, home is reportedly overflowing with pole lamps and Krispy Kans and large plastic philodendrons), kitsch king Charles Phoenix is becoming even better known for his wacky comedy slide…

Mmm, December in the Valley: The distinctive aroma of brown cloud. Holiday shoppers bundled up in T-shirts and flip-flops. The rumble, rumble, clack of festive skateboards at the “Sk8 Deck the Halls” art show. “There’s going to be a huge mixture of people showing there, from all different types of…

If you’re grappling with what to do on Saturday night, if you can’t quite pin down your plans, if indecision has you in a full nelson . . . well, here’s a suggestion: Go to Chandler Cinemas for some Mexican-wrestling madness. Starting at 8pm, tireless B-picture maven Midnite Movie Mamacita…

Despise the holidays and all of its mainstream consumerism? No worries, because you can indie-shop ’til you drop during the a.ware Sale, where you can pick up one-of-a-kind artist-made books, jewelry, bags, textiles, prints, and more. Dec. 1-2, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., 2007…

Only in the good ol’ U.S. of A can a holiday about family, food, and sharing be followed up with an insane, credit-card-fueled, post-turkey day consume-a-thon like “Black Friday.” But even with that grim celebration of unbridled avarice behind us, we won’t really be out of the woods ’til those…