Arts & Culture

For the past 16 years, artists have been getting together to discuss the capitalist feeding frenzy that happens every December, and wondering aloud about the meaning of it all. Behold The 17th Annual Bad X-mas Pageant, an event that is becoming a downtown tradition. Jeff Falk, one of the founders…

At the center of many good hard-boiled novels is an elusive object of pursuit, à la The Maltese Falcon. But in the case of Plainclothes Naked — wherein author Jerry Stahl blends gruesome but slapstick violence, bizarre scenarios and perversely witty writing, then sprinkles it liberally with crack — the…

You can talk to Taggart Barron about sex, just don’t show him — or his kids — any photographs of it. Barron has become a tireless anti-porn advocate ever since Castle Megastore opened in his Deer Valley neighborhood two months ago. Although the sex boutique is protected by city zoning…

Hip-hop thespians Wu-Tang Clan might want to put their litigation counsel on retainer; the real monks of Shaolin Temple, from whom Wu-Tang borrows extensive imagery, have been on the swarm this year fighting the appropriation of their sacred Shaolin name. Across the globe, companies have used the Shaolin tag as…

You knew it was on its way even before Halloween merchandise hit the clearance shelves: Christmas. You noticed the sudden transformation from orange-and-black to red-and-green color schemes in stores, the subtle but inescapable sounds of carols and sleigh bells, the tinsel at every turn. And you wondered if someone forgot…

The wine list at Chili’s Grill & Bar is pretty lame, but my subject is too young to appreciate a good Pinot Grigio anyway. Fourteen-year-old Chris Cottrell is the author of the just-passed Proposition 103, also known as Chris’ Law, a constitutional amendment that will prevent accused sexual predators from…

From Fear’s “I Love Livin’ in the City” to “In the City” by The Jam, the history of punk rock is chock-full of tributes to urban life and all the struggle and glamour that it entails. But aspiring rockers growing up in Middle America, aching to escape suburban ennui or…

A thumb-size nuclear reactor, four Confederate soldiers throwing rocks, and a Trojan watermelon to impress the ladies. If any of this makes sense, you’ve probably seen a performance by Valley improv troupe The Barrow Gang. Scattershot, the latest offering from the troupe, is the launch of its “Not-So-World Tour.” Founding…

Steve Dart is an hour late for our meeting at Coach’s, a west-side bar that tonight, coincidentally, is hosting a dart tournament. He’s late because he fell asleep on the couch watching Spiderman cartoons — a perfectly appropriate excuse, given that Dart’s been in the spotlight lately for scaling a…