It Takes a Village Idiot

“Fuck You, Joe Arpaio” seems like a threat, but when rapper, one-man band, and comic devil Page the Village Idiot utters the insult, it reeks of promise. Page’s meager beginnings with hardcore punk outfits Idols of Perversity and The Claymores taught him the stage moves, but he soon tired of…

How to Quit MySpace

MySpace. CrySpace. A place for friends. A place for nauseating self-indulgence. Whether you love or loathe the online meeting and sharing place, there are sure signs of addiction: Obsessing over the “About Me” statement. Sending butt-hurt e-mails when you aren’t on somebody’s top friends list. Staying up all night dolling…

Magic Touch

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is something alchemical. To an astonishing degree, the 42-year-old Mexican filmmaker best known for his contribution to the Blade and Hellboy franchises has transformed the horror of mid-20th-century European history into a boldly fanciful example of what surrealists would call le…

Hung Out to Dry

Imagine being trapped in a tiny room full of people who cannot sing but insist on doing so anyway (at the top of their lungs!), and you’ll understand my discomfort while confronting Desert Stages’ Suds last month. This is one of those musical revues — and they are legion —…

Paper Tigers

Viva Piñata begins with you acquiring the deed to a barren patch of land on “Piñata Island,” a strange place where everyone wears masks and the main form of currency is chocolate coins. Your first order of business is a little gardening, breathing some life back into your dusty plot…

He’s Really Doing That

The Protector (Genius Products) Thailand’s Tony Jaa has made clear his plan to take Jackie Chan’s crown as the king of Holy crap, did he just do that?! He’s about halfway there. Though Jaa is devoid of Chan’s charisma, his hyperathletic kickboxing style will make your jaw drop; here’s a…

How to . . . 2007

Hey, you — yes, you. You’ve been on the couch since New Year’s, glued to James Bond marathons and all those ads for freaky pills that promise to trim 30 pounds overnight. Here’s your license to kill your TV — and all those stupid ‘007 references — and really make…

How to Pole Dance

I can’t keep up with modern exercise trends. First, I pretzeled my way through the Downward-facing Dog and the Feathered Peacock pose with at-home yoga videos. Then I hyperventilated and sprained my way through Pilates. Hey, it worked for Daisy Fuentes! So when my editor informed me that this year’s…

How to Choose a Wine

Right now, vino is pretty damn keen-o. Never before has wine enjoyed the prominence and popularity it does now, whether being imbibed by scenesters, serving as a social lubricant at fancy fetes, or getting lauded in flicks like Sideways. So it’s probably a good idea your uncultured ass knew about…

How to Quit Smoking

Now that Proposition 201 has passed, you’re paying 82 cents more per pack and counting the days until you’re forced outside in the scorching summer heat for an after-dinner puff. It’s resolution time again, and this year we’re suggesting you take the easy way out. A 1992 study conducted by…

How to Become a Vegetarian

Lost the taste for animal-dominant meals like grandma’s special meat loaf? Looking to lose weight and gain energy? Then it may be time for you to ditch the cow and go veggie. But how does one start to eliminate the main staple of mainstream American cuisine? Slowly, says Stephanie Carrico,…

How to Start a Record Collection

If you’ve ever wanted to amass a ginormous record collection (à la John Cusack in High Fidelity), but don’t know where to start, peep the advice of Steve Jansen, New Times’ resident record nerd, on journeying into the vinyl frontier. Q: How do you create a collection? A: Get stuff…

How to Eat a Cholla

You’ve seen prickly pear jam at the supermarket, but did you know many varieties of cholla cactus are edible straight from the ground? According to the James Beard Foundation’s Foods of the Southwest Indian Nations, the Tohono O’odham Indians regularly consumed cholla buds — a smart move considering a palm-size…

How to Break Up With a Friend

It’s just before 2 a.m., and the clamor of the phone ringer yanks me out of the early stages of sleep. I fumble for my cordless and mutter a muted, “Hello?” It’s Katie (names have been changed to protect the innocent — and me), an on-and-off acquaintance I’ve known for…

How to Defend Against the Next Serial Killer

The alleged Serial Shooters and Baseline Killer are behind bars. But what to do the next time a serial murderer hits the mean streets of Phoenix? Our best advice: Stay in your house! If that doesn’t work, try Seth Moylan’s mom’s advice. “She always told me that if you can’t…

How to Restore a Photo

Thanks to photo-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, it’s never been easier to repair vintage family photos marred by dust, mold, wrinkles and discoloration. And though it does take some time to get to know the program, the rewards are endless, according to Scott Lizama, photography and graphic design instructor…

How to Make Your Garden Grow in the Desert

Phoenix natives usually stick to xeriscaping and cactus gardens when it comes to outdoor gardening, but coastal transplants are determined to grow azaleas and roses that feel like home. Can you grow an East Coast garden in the desert? Yes, says gardening professional Gary “Curly” Smith of Summer Winds Nursery…

How to Do a Magic Trick

Street magician David Blaine amazed television audiences when he appeared to hover four inches off the ground during his 1996 televised special, David Blaine: Street Magic. There were public outcries of witchcraft. Others were convinced Blaine studied Eastern philosophies of meditation until he developed telekinetic powers. “It’s not actual witchcraft,…

New Times‘ top DVD picks for the week of January 16

Clerks II (Weinstein) Council of the Gods (First Run) Die You Zombie Bastards (Image) Dreamland (Image) Employee of the Month (Lions Gate) Gridiron Gang (Sony) Grim Reaper (Lions Gate) Her Minor Thing (First Look) La Moustache (Koch Lorber) Lucky Number Slevin (Weinstein) Monroe: Class of ’76 (Image) Pulse (Weinstein) Rotation…

Laura Kerrigan

She’ll empty ashtrays and even clean the lobby toilet, but don’t ask Laura Kerrigan to make your dog a star. By day, Kerrigan is Desert Stages Theatre’s marketing director; by night, she’s likely to be found reading a trashy novel, stumping for a mattress firm, or pushing her company’s latest…

How to Bake a 14-Layer Cake

Yeah, we know your mama slaved over a hot oven, baking each thin layer of this classic Southern dessert in a separate pan. But John Paul Hutchins, executive chef of Scottsdale Culinary Institute’s Le Cordon Bleu program, helped us create this unique 14-layer cake recipe that appeals to the American…

How to Refresh Your Library

Is your home library stocked with high school reading list classics such as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (yawn), Rudyard Kipling’s Captains Courageous (ugh), and Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (sigh)? Then spice up your reading choices with unconventional literature written in the 21st century that oozes with…