Welcome to the Phoenix Bucket List. Robrt Pela and Amy Silverman — two New Times contributors and longtime Phoenicians — have put together a list of 100 things to do in this city before you die. Each week we’re presenting another 10; in March we’ll wrap it all up in…
If you’ve ever used OkCupid, PlentyofFish, or the lazy man’s matchmaker, Tinder, you know that dating is scary. Fortunately, there’s a new app that quells at least one of your many dating fears…
Better call a doctor, ’cause you’re gonna be in stitches. Or, wait, no. You’ll need stitches from the doctor because… because of side-splitting laughter. There we go. For all that to happen and for some well-constructed jokes from folks who know what they’re doing, head to the Phoenix Improv Festival…
Take heed, superheroes, superheroines, sci-fi cosplayers, and costumed geeks of the Valley — the City of Tempe is in need of your services tomorrow afternoon for a special mission. Just like Commissioner Gordon firing up the Bat-Signal to cajole The Dark Knight into service, Tempe’s city officials have put out…
Genesis Dance Project at Tempe Center for the Arts They say dance is the universal language of the world. So it makes sense to celebrate the New Year by bringing together some of Arizona’s best emerging and professional dance companies. Representing a diversity of dance genres, artists and companies will…
There were a lot of greats on social media this past year. There was P. Diddy’s cameo on Downton Abbey, My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter on Pinterest, Broken People’s PSA on Bitchy Resting Face, and pretty much everything that George Takei posted on Facebook…
Do you know a person or a business who cares about the human condition? Arizona Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is accepting nominations for three humanities awards that will recognize outstanding contributions in 2014…
Courting Disaster is Jackalope Ranch’s weekly column of dating horror stories, observations, how-tos, and more by Katie Johnson. Names of ex-boyfriends, past hookups, and bad blind dates have been changed to protect the guilty. If you read the first installment of Courting Disaster, which is about my sexual encounters with…
Elvis Presley is the king rock n’ roll, but he’s also the man who started the country on a hip-shaking, pelvis-gyrating kick that doesn’t seem to have lost any steam since he first went on national television with his controversial moves in 1956. Which is why it makes sense to…
Congratulations, Gretchen Wieners fans. It looks like you can stop trying to make “fetch” a thing, because it totally has become one, thanks to L.A. jewelry company Stella and Bow. Best part of all, your dad didn’t have to invent Toaster Strudel for you to be able to afford it…
A tale of love complicated — if not thwarted — by prior responsibilities, intractable barriers, and the rigid high-society norms that frustrate its Victorian characters’ attempts to live as they so desperately want, The Invisible Woman finds Ralph Fiennes proving as adept behind the camera as he is in front…
January! Just the time to snuggle up with a 3D sword-and-pectoral extravaganza. And although some of its more imaginative plot details would make Edith Hamilton blanch, Renny Harlin’s Legend of Hercules fulfills every silly, flimsy promise that it makes in the first place: There are lots of battles (albeit rather…
The terrible reality of modern life is that even beautiful young people on a first date can’t go a whole evening without checking their phones. We need to be potentially connected to every possibility at all times; just allowing the present to happen has become increasingly foreign. That’s the idea…
If you’re a person alive in this age, Ralph Fiennes has at some point probably made you hate him. As the Nazi Amon Goeth in 1993’s Schindler’s List, Fiennes embodied one of history’s great evils, somehow making being utterly detestable compelling. In Martin McDonagh’s riotous, under-regarded In Bruges, Fiennes spat…
It’s not quite Miss America — or even Miss USA — but it still comes with a title, a scholarship and, of course, bragging rights.The Miss Cave Creek and Miss Phoenix pageant takes place this weekend, pitting four teen contestants (ages 13 to 17) and eight “miss” contestants (ages 17…
They say dance is the universal language of the world. So it makes sense to celebrate the New Year by bringing together some of Arizona’s best emerging and professional dance companies. Representing a diversity of dance genres, artists and companies will perform works from their current repertoires at Desert Dance…
Supercross hasn’t been a household word since Jeremy McGrath rode off into semi-retirement, but Ryan Villopoto is on the brink of reaching that level. Villopoto is the dominant rider on the circuit (he’s won the last three world championships) but a fourth straight title would match anything McGrath did on…
If Glendale has been a bit too bright this holiday season with its 1.5 million lights creating a glare visible to other worlds, then rejoice at the Glitter and Glow Block Party, which effectively pulls the plug. Though there have been weekly celebrations and parties with varied themes, this grand…
Brazil is hot right now, especially with the World Cup coming “home” to the country that considers itself the ambassador of the “beautiful game.” Plenty of beauty hails from Brazil, much coming from rough beginnings. Compagnie Käfig is a merging of capoeira (a Brazilian martial art that emphasizes elongated, rhythmic…
If during movies you find yourself rooting for the replicants of the world, instead of the Rick Deckards, there’s a fair chance you’ll make friends at DarkCon. The annual Arizona-based sci-fi and fantasy convention puts a grittier spin on the typical super-hero-laden pop culture powwow.This year, the ‘con is geared…
Sometimes it’s near-impossible to separate actors, writers, and personalities from shows or movies When we think of Janeane Garofalo, we think of Heather Mooney, her totally badass character in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. She’s a chain-smoking outcast who dresses in head-to-toe black, takes no shit, and has a…
Apparently Alexander Graham Bell, Richard Branson, and actor Billy Bob Thorton all have one thing in common: purportedly, each suffers from dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning defieciency that makes reading comprehension and fluency difficult and has two forms, acquired and developmental. Those with dyslexia – potentially as many as a…
