Courting Disaster is Jackalope Ranch’s weekly column of dating horror stories, observations, how-tos, and more by Katie Johnson. Names of ex-boyfriends, past hookups, and bad blind dates have been changed to protect the guilty. My editor recently forwarded me a press release titled “The Rise of the Beard Transplant: And…
After 28 years on Marshall Way, Lisa Sette is leaving Scottsdale for midtown Phoenix. Lisa Sette Gallery will host one last show — “Domesticated,” featuring paintings by Carrie Marill, opening Thursday, April 3, in Scottsdale — before packing up and moving this summer to a renovated Al Beadle building near…
Glendale is gearing up for some serious street art — make that sidewalk art. The Vestar Chalk Art Festival presented by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance will make its debut at three Valley locations next month — and we’ve got all the details to help you get down…
John Waldron never got high telling jokes. “Back when I was doing stand-up comedy,” Waldron recalls, “the other comics would come off stage and they’d just be high as kites from the laughs they’d given the audience. They couldn’t sleep for hours. I never had that.” But when Waldron heard…
The Chicano labor leader César Chávez now can join Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela in the pantheon of heroes whose world-altering achievements are dutifully recounted in timid, lifeless films any substitute teacher can pop into the school DVD player when the regular history teacher is out with the flu. With…
As Bob Zmuda tells it, screenwriter Norman Wexler used to tote a briefcase full of thousands of dollars to pay off the many people that he pissed off each day. Zmuda — the comedian, writer, tall-tale dispenser, and longtime wrangler of Andy Kaufman — dished his best Wexler story on…
As Bob Zmuda tells it, screenwriter Norman Wexler used to tote a briefcase full of thousands of dollars to pay off the many people that he pissed off each day. Zmuda — the comedian, writer, tall-tale dispenser, and longtime wrangler of Andy Kaufman — dished his best Wexler story on…
To hear Darren Aronofsky tell it, in the interviews he’s given recently to the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker, there was no way in hell he’d let his special effects extravaganza Noah, years in the planning, be your run-of-the-mill, candy-ass Biblical epic. The ark built by Russell…
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s name is only about one-seventh the font size of the title on the poster of Sabotage, formerly Breacher, formerly Ten, his third attempt — after the full-auto Western The Last Stand and the goofy Stallone-co-headlined prison-break joint Escape Plan — in 14 months at a post-gubernatorial comeback. A…
Great cities have great centrally located parks where music & cultural celebrations and people seeking to commune with nature get equal play. A new vision for the much overlooked Margaret T. Hance Park will roll out at enHANCE, the Hance Park Master Plan Community Celebration on Thursday, March 27.While Hance…
Bring out the paint brushes and whip up the pancake batter. The Pancakes and Booze Art Show is making its biannual trip to Phoenix. Founded and produced by Angeleno Tom Kirlin, this all-you-can-eat food and art spectacular is held in major cities across the country, including Miami, Chicago, San Francisco,…
It’s easy to be a cynic these days. It’s as if the unrelenting assault of negativity that characterizes television news has thrust its way into every imaginable medium so that not even the craftiest curmudgeon can elude its reach. If only there were an elixir, a fix for the soul…
If Alison King refers to you as a MoPho, know that offense is not intended. It’s the Modern Phoenix founder’s shorthand for fellow Phoenicians who are crazy for Midcentury Modern architecture.And those folks will turn out in abundance for this year’s Modern Phoenix Week.The design-focused celebration gets going on Saturday,…
While there may be plenty for outsiders to scoff at (wacky politicians, questionable legislation, sheriffs named Joe), there are still a few things that make Arizona pretty appealing. In fact, Arizona’s rich landscapes, famous highways, and mostly beautiful weather make our state a downright oasis for any biker thirsty for…
Put away the ballet slippers and tap shoes because this isn’t your average dance performance. Contemporary Japanese performance duo Eiko & Koma are taking their acclaimed elemental choreography from New York to Arizona with Regeneration, a three-part retrospective of some of their most notable works. This performance will showcase four…
Pilobolus is hard to define. Yes, there are synchronized movements to music, but also the execution is mind blowing. Named after a quickly developing spore, Pilobolus often looks more like a kaleidoscope than a group of people performing. The troupe blossomed into a gorgeous display of movements in Ok Go’s…
Classical ballet’s fine and all. But does it move you?If yes, you’ll want to attend Ballet Arizona’s Masters of Movement. If no, you’ll want to attend Ballet Arizona’s Master’s of Movement. And if you’re on the fence, same goes.The program promises three distinct movement styles. There’s the weirdo modern choreography…
Classic farce: great fun for an audience but not so much for the characters, considering all the unintentional dishabille, mistaken identity, and frustrated efforts to engage in naughtiness. Don’t Dress for Dinner, presented by Scottsdale’s Desert Foothills Theater through Sunday, April 13, is a perfect example, called Pyjamas pour Six…
Get ready for some real estate envy. It’s time for the Windsor Square Historic District Home and Garden Tour at Central and Camelback to open up 10 showcase-ready homes and two residential gardens. In addition to the door-to-door detour, there will also be 27 craft vendors, a beer garden from…
Just as you’re getting over being completely stuffed from Devoured, it’s time for another round of deliciously rich samples from local, independent restaurants. With 30 different restaurants participating, Check, Please! Arizona Festival is bringing some of the best eateries in town to CityScape.With a panel of James Beard Award winners…
The Valley’s gearing up to host the Super Bowl and its accompanying parties next January. Yawn. Holler at us when we finally land the insane international fiesta that is the FIFA World Cup. Until then, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team vs. Team Mexico on Wednesday, April 2, will have…
James Franco.Now that we have your attention (if not, what are you even doing here?), here goes: Franco stars with Catherine Keener in Maladies, about a young actor in 1960s New York who visits the oceanside home of a friend to process some instability (of the identity and behavioral variety)…
