If you’re of the opinion that reality TV is nothing but garbage that’s poisoning the already-rotting minds of lazy couch potatoes, then it’s likely you’ll find yourself understanding at least one of the (many) characters in Jess Walters’ novel Beautiful Ruins. (It’s also likely we can’t be friends. Oh wellz.)…
After spending two weeks with our eyes glued to the TV watching the Olympics, we’re more than overdue for an infusion of the artistic type. We could go to a museum, but even that can be too soothing an endeavor. We’re looking for live action and art. Enter Truth Be…
“I can’t change,” exasperatedly says Tracy Jordan, Tracy Morgan’s self-parody character on 30 Rock. “I’m like a chameleon — always a lizard.” Such gonzo self-awareness and unexpected, but irrefutable, logic are trademarks of Morgan’s comedic style on and off the screen. On stage, he’s come under fire for speaking his…
Usually motocross is all about individuals ripping through dirt and vying for hard-fought glory. On Saturday, August 18, Arizona’s motocross community comes together to commemorate the passing of one of their own. Speedworld Motocross Park has hosted its annual Beat the Heat summer motocross series since May, where once a…
Back in August of 2001, long before craft beer sank its jagged little teeth into the hearts of trend-setting hipsters and fixed-gear riding brocavores across the country, a little brick building called the Sonora Brewhouse opened its doors for people to enjoy cold pints of Sonoran Brewery’s locally crafted beer…
The only way to understand why big-ass Broadway-style musicals are so popular is to see one of them in big-ass Broadway style: performed live on stage, with lusty vocals, a nimble dance corps, and an honest-to-God orchestra playing the score. That’s the philosophy of Scottsdale Musical Theater Company, and it’s…
H.P. Lovecraft was a bit of an odd duck, to say the least. The late horror and sci-fi scribe, who shuffled loose the mortal coil in 1937, not only loathed smiling, but also had a weird thing for cats, and was a bit of both a racist and misogynist who…
Diana Taurasi definitely needed a summer vacation. Before she jetted across the pond to London as a member of the U.S. women’s basketball team, the 30-year-old point guard was hurt, tired, and producing relatively zilch on the basketball court as team captain of the Phoenix Mercury. Once she got to…
With July’s laborious trade rumors quickly fading and October looming nearer on the horizon, the Arizona Diamondbacks are finally beginning to show the mettle that many have expected from them all year. Following a 2011 season that began with hardball prognosticators predicting an abysmal outcome for the D-Backs and then…
Kardashian BFF and “half black brother from a Korean mother” Michael Yo hosts an evening of comedy from yukksters Chris Millhouse, Donnell Rawlings, Jay Davis, and Nick Guerra. Wed., Aug. 22, 8 p.m., 2012…
The best-laid staycation plans gang aft agley, and ours ganged majorly agley. We need a culture break even more desperately than usual, and meanwhile, the ambitiously retentive school-year routine has pulled out of the station once again. So we’re sneaking off to the secret oasis of all that’s classy, ASU…
In 1946, Nat King Cole recorded a short and sweet number about one of America’s favorite well-beaten paths. “If you ever plan to motor west / Travel my way, take the highway that is best / Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.” Almost 66 years later, the iconic stretch of…
Some sad news broke earlier this week that Arizona State University has taken a tumble in Newsweek’s rankings of the top party schools in the nation. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. At one time (read: 2002) ASU was at the top of the heap and had a major infamy…
Because the dark corners of the internet world exist everywhere — even on the hipster, pug-owning, crafty marketplace populated mostly by stay-at-home-moms — certain boundaries must be set. On Facebook, posting offensive content is not allowed. On Pinterest, users are not supposed to pin copyright material. Twitter can evidently suspend…
We cyclists are painfully aware that quality movies about our beloved pastime are few and far between. There’s “Breaking Away,” “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” and…well, not much else.Next week brings the latest bike-centric cinematic entry with “Premium Rush”, featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a New York bike messenger with the wrong package…
Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is a seven days of learning more about sharks and gaining useful knowledge for ever-important water cooler discussions. But when you’re done learning about some animals that eat stuff underwater, there’s plenty of ways you can get zen and murderous with video games that traverse the…
See also: First Look at Reincarnation by Phoenix Designer Tiffe Fermaint See also: Frances Vintage to Open a New Location at Biltmore Fashion Park Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: Bakelite was one of…
More than a decade in the making, a stretch of University Drive in Tempe is finally set to get a makeover that will bring improved bike lanes, sidewalks, public art and landscaping to this roadway that is the western gateway into ASU’s Tempe campus.The City of Tempe’s Streets Department released…
From collaborative art group Everynone comes “Ball” — a sharp look at a 3D shape that dominates all aspects of our lives. Everynone is a team of New York-based filmmakers, Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante, and Julius Metoyer, who write that their goal is to “make videos about everyone.” Check out the video…
If you had hoped to check out this weekend’s screenings of Blade Runner at MADCAP Theatres, or any of the other films scheduled to be shown at the independent movie house during the next few weeks, you’re going to need to make some new plans. The Mill Avenue theater and…
See also: NASA Releases Curiosity’s First “True Color” Image of Mars Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the historic landing of NASA’s Curiosity Rover on Mars, and while they’ve been keeping us fairly satisfied with a few, grainy, low-res images from the 2-ton rover that traveled more than 350…
See also: A collection of local photographers and artists in our 2010 Creatives and 2012 Creatives feature See also: Bob Carey on Art, Photography, and “The Tutu Project” The year of the shutterbug overload is here. Old school photographers might wince at the mention of Instagram, Hipstamatic, apps for photo…
