Two manuscripts and a microphone. That’s how First Fridays go down at Changing Hands Bookstore. At 7 p.m. Friday, January 4, our favorite lit nerds celebrate three decades of bold souls stepping up to bleed in public (1,500 showcases, give or take) during 30 Years of First Friday Poetry. That’s…
The word “paradise” means different things to different people, but here’s our definition: a world without speed limits, stop signs, cops, speeding tickets, or other stupid-ass drivers. Believe it or not, this automotive Shangri-La actually exists at Firebird International Raceway, 20000 South Maricopa Road in Chandler, during “Run What Ya…
Even on First Fridays, the streets of Phoenix are cold, cruel, callous boulevards where materialism and art clash, hipsters congregate in slow-moving packs, and drunken ASU students suffer from disorientation and boredom. Since last February, “Free Hugs” dude Ian Fecke-Stoudt has made it his mission to bring joy to First…
How could Pump Up the Jams: Randemonium Thursdays at Glam not be the shit? Not only do DJs Adventure Face, Adriane, and Meow Meow rock the place with anything-goes tuneage, but they also instruct us to “wear clean underwear.” No wonder Glam’s our favorite joint for a cheap hookup. Suck…
This crime-fiction author has earned her nut — many times over — with her V.I. Warshawski series (which, as few of you will recall, was turned into a stink bomb of a movie starring Kathleen Turner in 1991). Paretsky’s taken an odd, but welcome, turn in the last few years,…
Fernande. Eva. Olga. Marie-Thérèse. Picasso certainly had a high turnover rate, because, to him, there were “only two types of women – goddesses and doormats.” His attitude toward women was dichotic. He used them as models and muses, yet sought and exercised control over them. Despite this — and no…
It’s likely none of us will be invited to come to the theater in our pajamas again anytime soon, so for that reason — and several others — it might not be unwise to visit Herberger Theater Center, where Arizona Theatre Company is presenting The Pajama Game this month. The…
From Kant to Descartes, countless philosophers have grappled with immortality and impermanence. Phoenix-based artist Junjie is fighting the future that drove the old-timers mad one painting at a time with his “Junjie: Past & Present” exhibit. The solo show by the Filipino native spotlights the artist’s visually dense and layered…
It’s been two days since the New Year busted in on you making urgent and reckless love to your doorknob. Remember? You deposited saliva into four different strangers’ mouths (15 points/deposit), cracked jokes that didn’t cause endless suffering (7 points), and committed hara-kiri (800 points). Yet, miraculously, you concluded the…
It’s a well-known fact that Wu-Tang Clan “ain’t nuthin’ to fuck with,” which may be why the nine original emcees (and savvy businessmen) landed such a sweet record deal back in ’93. Their successful strategy was to maximize cash flow by making it big as a group, then create as…
We’ve lost count of the number of projects that pianist Jacob Koller, percussionist Corey Fogel, and bassist Andrew Jones are involved in around town, and we’re especially jazzed that the dynamic trio decided to hook up and form yet another musical experiment: Music for Bowlers. The group’s sound can be…
You ain’t a real bluesman until you get a clever alias like Leadbelly or Howlin’ Wolf. Since 1958, fellow hip-moniker-bearer Sonny Rhodes (born Clarence Edward Smith) has been creating heartfelt music for the jovial and the blue alike. Influenced by B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, and Pee Wee Crayton, Rhodes is…
No one likes to languish in airports. First, there’s the tortuous wait, barefoot, in line to clear security, hoping your bottle of mega-hold gel isn’t confiscated as weapons-grade grooming gear. Then there’s the airport food. Whether it’s a $12 steam-table hamburger or $12 coffee, you’d better enjoy it, since you’ll…
Ask anyone who’s been to France – it’s all about the food. Wine, cheese, crusty baguettes, amazing sauces, fresh crepes, and appreciation of the culinary niceties in life must be hard-coded into Francophile DNA. Luckily, desert dwellers can enjoy such pleasures without updating the old passport. Restaurateur Vincent Guerithault and…
Christian Slater stars in Frank Cappello’s film about a bland little man trapped in a bland little life whose bleak future is transformed by the unintentional intervention of a damsel in distress (Elisha Cuthbert). William H. Macy co-stars. Tue., Jan. 8, 7 p.m., 2008…
You’re a golfer. You just drove the piss out of the ball straight down that there fairway, Happy Gilmore-style. Then you sink a beast of a putt that’s more ridiculous than an Arnold Palmer hole-sinking tap at The Masters. You’re feeling good about yourself, your life, the kids at home,…
Wear your tie-dye tees and pass the peace pipe during Revolver’s Psych Record Listening Party. Feel free to bring your own obscure strange folk wax to spin. Sun., Jan. 13, 3-5 p.m., 2008…
“The Contact Printers Guild” at 422 Gallery: Breaking off a relationship is a pretty rough gig. Some advice: Give it to them straight. Don’t muddle intentions with manipulation — only candor will bring clarity. The Contact Printers Guild would likely agree with this philosophy. The group of 17 photographers ditches…
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Warner Bros.) — It’s the collector’s-set briefcase that seals the deal, a gunmetal-gray case that all but shouts “Completist dork!” Also: There’s damned near every single version imaginable, plus a making-of doc almost as essential as any iteration of the movie itself. Film school in…
As the waning days of 2007 tick away like Vicodins down the gullet of some rehab-bound starlet, so do your final chances of being bad. See, you’ve finally decided to cut the bullshit, buckle down, and stick to those troublesome New Year’s resolutions you’ve blown off year after year. Which…
American Pie Presents: Beta House (Universal) The Brothers Solomon (Universal) Eastern Promises (Universal) Galactica 1980: The Complete Epic Series (Universal) The Heartbreak Kid (Universal) Intimate Affairs (Universal) The Kingdom (Universal) Lost and Found: The Harry Langdon Collection (Facets) Shattered (Lions Gate) WWE: The Best of Raw 15th Anniversary (WWE)…
At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the American painter turned filmmaker Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls) won the jury’s Best Director award for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, his French-language adaptation of the bestselling memoir by the late Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby. Felled by a massive stroke…
