The San Diego Padres. Ugh. What to say about these NL West cellar dwellers? [Insert enough white space here to fill up the article’s predetermined word count.] Aw, man. That ain’t going to fly with our editor. Plus, we want to keep our job, so we’ll gab as best we…
Mark Mothersbaugh lives a symmetrical life of wild extremes. Consider: • He’s was born and still lives in Akron, Ohio – all-American birthplace of the rubber tire, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the soap-box derby – but made his name as frontman for the band Devo, which posited that mankind was digressing…
By Jonathan McNamara What is the most over-the-top form of entertainment? This weekend, two forms of joyous audio/visual overload locked together in battle to find out. U.S. Air Guitar Championship (Phoenix) A gang of invisible guitar strumming maniacs hit The Brickhouse Theater in downtown Phoenix this weekend proving that you…
By Jonathan McNamara Friday: Gunnin’ for that #1 Spot Director Adam Yauch’s documentary about NYC’s Rucker Park hits theaters this weekend. See local b-ball hero Jerryd Bayless and seven other players looking for a shot at the NBA go head-to-head in a dramatic basketball showdown. For more information, read “Baseline…
Whether you realize it or not, your day is a minefield of perception pitfalls. It starts with that first glance in the mirror, when your nose looks like a flamingo beak and that pimple looks like Mount Vesuvius. On the drive to work you wonder if that asshole cut you…
Of the summer’s many revenge-of-the-nerd fulfillment fantasies, Wanted stands the best chance of dislodging Fight Club from fanboys’ Facebook pages. It has the same dizzying style, the same ultraviolence, the same undeniable appeal of punch-clock payback, and — best of all — no irony! Fed up with your shit job,…
Many will attempt to describe WALL-E with a one-liner. It’s R2-D2 in love. 2001: A Space Odyssey starring The Little Tramp. An Inconvenient Truth meets Idiocracy on its way to Toy Story. But none of them does justice to a film that’s both breathtakingly majestic and heartbreakingly intimate — and,…
In Kit Kittredge, all it takes to cure the Depression is a little Miss Sunshine. To my 10-year-old daughter, the term “American Girl” means “that store my meanie of a mom — unlike all the other, higher-quality moms — won’t let me go near.” Why should I? She hates dolls,…
The words “user-generated content” usually mean you’re about to encounter one of two things: an irritating Super Bowl commercial made by 16-year-olds, or another dramatic chipmunk. Still, people love this stuff. So it’s no surprise that video-game developers are catering to the YouTube generation with Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy…
The Downtown Phoenix Public Market has made shoppers think locally about their produce and proved there are bargains beyond clipped coupons and grocery-store discount cards. Because of the market’s popularity, other homegrown items have sprouted on the downtown asphalt, including Mics @ the Market, an open-mic hootenanny that gathers poets,…
You live in a town long enough, and every corner contains a memory of someone you used to know. I’ve been here almost half a century, and I can barely walk across the street without being reminded of one person or another. I drive past that cheesy diner at 16th…
While most of the Valley’s various symphony orchestras have gone on hiatus for the summer, the monthly Downtown Chamber Series manages to roll on and represent the local classical music scene despite the heat. The latest edition of the series is presented at the Phoenix Art Museum and features the…
We asked a guy out to Morton’s Steakhouse last month. Our socially awkward invite: “You wanna eat some meat?” Poor sap. If he’d only said yes, we would’ve followed it up with, “You wanna drink some booze?” and taken him to the lecture/tasting “Bourbon: The Journey From Barrel to Bottle.”…
University of Arizona and former St. Mary’s High School star Jerryd Bayless is one of the featured hoopsters in Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch’s new film, Gunnin’ for That #1 Spot. The documentary about 24 of the best high school players in the country coming together on a basketball court…
Unless you consider Nickelback rock ’n’ roll, you probably don’t rely on the radio to find the hottest new rock music, so why settle for FM-radio-filtered hip-hop? As with most music genres today, if you want to hear the best, you need to go underground. One of the best is…
It’s rather tiresome how people (journalists, especially) try to pigeonhole music into one distinct flavor of the month, like, “Ya know, it’s electronic shoegazer grape rockabilly.” That’s why Phoenix’s Courtney Marie Andrews and her sweet strains are such a breath of fresh air. Andrews’ acoustic alt-folk and clear, endearing vocals…
Island BBQ. Tropical drinks. Pseudo-Tahitian dancers. Hey, we’re all for commodifying Polynesian culture in exchange for a night of gluttony and drunken depravity. That’s why we’re chomping at the bit for the second annual Tiki Lounge Party. We can already hear the glorious song of inebriety echoing in the vomitoriums…
Man, say it ain’t so. One of our favorite dance clubs is closing? Yep, the rumors are true. So let’s cry and our beers and shake our booties off during the Glam Closing Party. Club regulars Bigie, Kevin the Makeout Bandit, Epidemic, and BC/AD will spin at the party. Sat.,…
Most standup comedians seem to follow the same career path. First, they spend up to a decade traveling to every college town in the country, honing their skills, and waiting for the big break. Once they get it, they’re off to Hollywood for small parts in successful movies. Then there’s…
Let’s face it: What most of us know about transgender people could fit into a Barbie shoe. And what we think we know about them — that they are men in dresses or confused, closeted lesbians — is just plain wrong. Lori Girshick, a sociologist and activist who teaches at…
The new iPhone drops and has the Internet going nuts like Paul Wall. Like the bling-mouthed Southern spitter, you feel compelled to stunt and cop the two-year AT&T contract just to keep up with Twitter. In a world thirsty for attention and applause, Jason Koster seeks the Zen of one…
No one can question Mike Ness’ punk rock badge, with him being the sole remaining original member of seminal rockabilly punks Social Distortion and having survived an addiction to heroin. And while some may question the authenticity of Ness’ solo work — which is markedly less “punk” and more straight-ahead…
