Arts & Culture

If you’ve ever had a premonition that the band geek you made fun of in high school would somehow end up cooler than you, rest easy, because it probably didn’t pan out that way. That is, unless you went to school with eventual members of MarchFourth Marching Band. While you…

Turning an errant beach towel into a cape is awesome, right? Why is it such a big deal if you decide to wear one (clothespins and all) around the office? We can think of few things that would better boost morale. Although it won’t take place inside cubicles, the KA-POW…

There’s nothing wrong with knocking a few back on what’s become a beloved drinking holiday, but there are plenty of other ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. For instance, you might try checking out the work of noted Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido in the Foundation fo Latin-American Arts’ production of…

What’s worse than shoving your hand up a puppet’s ass on national TV? Looking like a complete ditz as you struggle to improvise dialogue to distract from your humiliation. But don’t let Real Housewife Teresa Giudice’s epic fail on Celebrity Apprentice put you off seeing, or trying, real improv. The…

There’s no quicker way to have your grandmother fear for your eternal soul than to tell her you’ve rejected her religion. Let alone that you support gay marriage. Alternately, there’s no easier way to win friends than to agree with them. Humans are irrational, and we assume that just because…

There was a time when Lucinda Williams wasn’t a famous country rock star. True. Back in 1998, just a few weeks before her Grammy-winning Car Wheels on a Gravel Road was released, I found Williams sitting alone in a Boulder, Colorado, bar next door to the venue where she had…

The world record for the longest continuous wheelie (riding on one wheel of a bicycle) is slightly more than eight miles, and held by a South Yorkshire, England, youth. While there is no documented Arizona wheelie record, maybe one will be recorded at the second annual SanTan Wheelie Jam Super…

Not to rag on the hard-working educators who shaped our young, impressionable minds, but if they’d illuminated U.S. History half as amusingly as author Sarah Vowell does, then maybe we wouldn’t have texted through fourth period. You can bet that we wouldn’t have felt the slightest tinge of excitement had…

Hispanics everywhere hate RJ Brewer. And he loves every minute of it. As one of the biggest villains on MTV2’s Mexican-style wrestling show Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors, the 32-year-old grappler has been showered with trash, boos, and practically every single Spanish vulgarity imaginable. It ain’t surprising, considering the 6-foot,…

Like any celebrity, Food Network chef Giada De Laurentiis gets grief for being who she is: the granddaughter of a legendary film director (not her fault — she has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and doesn’t even like being in front of a camera) and a genuine Italian person (which…

When the local chapter of design organization AIGA teamed up with the movie junkies at FilmBar for a monthly series, we knew we were in for a treat. On the last Monday of every month, the twosome have featured films about typography, industrial design, architecture, fine art, and graphic design…

Pin a label on Rosie Thomas at your peril. Her pop-laced folk albums were breathy outliers on Sub Pop’s roster during the mid-’00s, both timeless and charmingly out of step with current trends. Friendships with Sufjan Stevens, Damien Jurado and Denison Witmer offered Thomas the opportunity to prove herself as…

Being that Phoenix natives are as elusive as the Sasquatch (or millionaires who pay adequate taxes), many Valley residents have never even heard the name Jack Durant. But one moniker even the greenest transplant will recognize is that of Bugsy Siegel, the notorious mobster who was one of Durant’s best…

Sad face! We missed ASU’s biannual Ceram-A-Rama in January, a four-day progressive gala and fundraiser that, for aficionados of 20th-century and contemporary ceramic art, is the equivalent of a party bus to Burning Man, Model U.N., Storage Wars, and a Vegas buffet. But we’ll be consoled by the Ceramics Research…

Since there’s really no better accessory than a cocktail in your hand, each week Jackalope Ranch brings you a tasty adult beverage from one of our favorite drinking establishments, complete with recipe. This week: Brass Monkey at The Parlor Aptly named, The Parlor is the perfect spot to enjoy quality…

In an effort to connect with adolescent and teen cyclists around town, the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department created a line of comic books that show the graphically dangerous side of not practicing proper bike safety.The six-episode series and their accompanying posters, funded in part through a grant from…

According to the official website for Jell-O, there are 15 recommended ways you can utilize the gelatinous dessert during the springtime season, including mixing it into pies, cupcakes, and other treats. The organizers of this weekend’s Mega Metal festival in Cave Creek, however, have a different idea for using Jell-O…

Summer is a slow time for gamers. Publishers put the kibosh on triple-a titles until the holidays rear their three-pronged check, credit card or money order. After prestiging in CoD, becoming a master spartan, and even whipping out the SNES for an hour or so gamers come to the same…