Downtown’s up-and-coming Orange Theatre Group is bringing back the kind of obtusely symbolic, performance-arty happening that makes people riot in the streets. (Which is great, because we could honestly use a different reason to wave signs and holler at one another.) Their PHX:fringe performance in March featured a toilet, cheesy…
Painter Mark Rothko was opinionated, annoying, and perhaps a little nuts. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) People have allegedly wept upon viewing his big canvases of blurry, floating rectangles of color (dubbed “multiforms” by critics) and still pay tens of millions for them. John Logan, who also scripted…
Creative types are bound to find inspiration in unsuspected places. Picasso looked to war and women, hile Van Gogh conveyed his troubled self through country landscapes and rooms with slightly off perspectives. Ballet Arizona’s Ib Andersen? Jos newest work, Topia, draws on the openness of the blossoming Sonoran desert. The…
Beer: Mr. Pineapple Wheat Brewery: SanTan Brewing Co. Style: Fruit wheat beer ABV: 5 percent Last week, I bought a pineapple. It was an impulse buy, driven in part by its alien appearance and by the realization that I rarely eat the fruit. I bet I can make some interesting…
At the start of Joss Whedon’s long-awaited Marvel superhero supergroup flick, The Avengers, the Tesseract — a powerful, potentially dangerous glowing cube that fell to the ocean floor after Captain America (Chris Evans) liberated it from the Nazis in his movie last summer — is in the hands of NASA…
In this week’s prime example of great parenting and self-awareness, 44-year-old Patricia Krentcil of New Jersey was arrested and charged with with felony child endangerment after she allegedly took her daughter to a local tanning salon and put her in one of the booths. While she denies allowing her daughter…
Two years after Jessica Carroll opened Blueberry Deluxe, she says she and the store’s mascot, her pug Blueberry, are closing up shop. “Simply, I have too many new things going on in my life,” she says. “Some people don’t realize I’m also a full-time art teacher at a local junior…
Nathan Blackwell can remember being a kid and shooting one of his first films about aliens and rayguns. Decades later, after starting a production company, Squishy Studios, and buying a few more cameras, he’s back in space. This week, Blackwell’s kicking off production of the second season of Voyage Trekkers,…
Gem features one standout piece from a local shop. Whether it’s a jacket, necklace, or handbag, it’s on our have-to-have list. What: We caught up with Katie Walker of kt jean last week when one of her designs appeared on The Martha Stewart Show’s Etsy-centric episode. And since then, well,…
The enclave of arty businesses near Fifth and Roosevelt streets includes a little bit of everything, including boutiques, a bookstore, and a beer joint. Starting tomorrow, you can add Bodega 420 to that alliterative list. The neighborhood store, which is co-owned by Jobot’s John Sagasta and local immigration attorney Adrian…
May is National Bike Monthand The American League of Bicyclists has set up a series of dates to get us on our bikes more as the rest of the United States enjoys ideal cycling weather during Bike to School Day (May 9) and Bike to Work Week (May 14 to…
Among the rites and ceremonies of summer is the release of new action figures. As bombastic blockbusters hit the theaters, their 3¾-inch tie-ins flood store shelves and allow 120 minutes of popcorn-fueled entertainment to last an extra three months. Marvel fired the first salvo of the season with The Avengers…
Just in time for the forecasts to hit triple digits and for us all to stock up on deodorant and tank tops, scientists say they’ve discovered and are now analyzing the Lasioglossum gotham, casually called the “sweat bee.” Yes, instead of flowers or melty popsicles, the sweat bee is attracted…
So what if school’s all but out for summer? May promises plenty in the way of brainy endeavors. Drop the beer bong, resist that urge to wear a swimsuit to the grocery store, and dig a pen and some paper out of that soon-to-be book bonfire. Here are our five…
On Saturday, May 5, The The Poisoned Pen Bookstore and the Phoenix Public Library are teaming up to present CozyCon, a mystery-writing conference with a dozen favorite mystery authors. Jenn McKinlay, author of both the Cupcake Bakery series (Sprinkle With Murder, Buttercream Bump Off, Death by the Dozen) and the Library…
Welcome to the Morning Buzz, a catch-up on interesting happenings around the city and country and a quick guide to what (and who) to keep your eyes on. We’ll be here, first thing every weekday, to get you going. Here’s what’s buzzing this morning:Jonah Lehrer finds beauty in the intersection…
Things got a bit naughty at Bar Smith on Friday, April 27 for Sticky Fingers pajama party. The crowd wasn’t quite dressed for a teenage slumber party, but there were plenty of see through shirts and fashionable negligees to go around. We stopped by to take a few fashionable notes…
If you missed the debut of PEDAL CRAFT PHX, there’s no need for despair; the celebration of local bicycle and design culture will be back at Kitchen Sink Studios this Friday, May 4. And while you (not-so-patiently) await First Friday, you can check out the collection of posters designed by…
Art Spiegelman (Maus) calls teachers and librarians today’s foremost allies of the graphic novel. Sounds right to me. Last summer, there were more than a few high school teachers learning alongside me at the Center for Cartoon Studies. An amazing bonus to being at CCS was browsing and borrowing from…
Sips & Synchro at The Saguaro The Saguaro celebrates the weekend with Sips & Synchro every Friday. You can sip on something cool and slip into the pool, though most people left the swimming to the mermaids on this occasion. SanTan Wheelie Jam at Steele Indian School Park The second…
More than 80 artists and community members gathered at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts last week for a town hall meeting to discuss how public arts are managed in the city. The stakes were high at the get-together, which was hosted by Scottsdale Public Art and a task force…
