Shh… Today, dear readers, I’m going to let you in on a little geek secret: We self-proclaimed nerds, geeks and dorks have an internal rating system. Think of it as a 1-10 scale of geekdom, with 1 being the girl who wears a bowl cut and plastic glasses in an urban-chic way and 10 being this guy: Whether you…
Maybe it’s just us, but doesn’t it just seem like a really nice day outside today? Mild weather, cool breezes, and lots of clouds. Basically, the perfect kinda weather to be out all weekend on the sidewalks of downtown Phoenix. It’s Art Detour weekend, which means Roosevelt Row, Grand Avenue,…
Hark! The Arizona Renaissance Festival is back for another glorious year, and that means giant turkey legs, jousts to the death, and big-breasted babes in bodices. We’ll drink to that — with a tankard of ale, natch! If you want to fit in with this carny crowd, you’ll need proper…
If you haven’t heard of the gory stage show turned slasher flick known as The rest of the cast literally rocked, from Phantom of the Opera soprano Sarah Brightman as GeneCo opera diva Blind Mag to Anthony Stewart Head (yes, fellow vampire nerds, that’s Giles from Buffy) as a doting…
Ever since the Aquarium opened at Wildlife World Zoo, I’ve been dying to go. Yes, as of last month, Phoenix has an Aquarium! Like a real city! Through the oh-so-fab “crappy coupon booket o’ the week” I get delivered to my doorstep, I had a coupon good for $3 off…
Saturday Night’s Poe Show, a macabre fiesta put on by local lit group Anthology, Inc. in celebration of Poe’s 200th b-day, was completely sold out. The dude was rumored to be a drunk, a drug addict, a pedophile — although his marriage to a 13-year-old cousin makes that last one kind of…
Like a kid on Christmas Eve I could hardly sleep. Filled with anticipation for this day I set an alarm just in case, but I didn’t need it. I was up by 8, showered, made myself a nice breakfast and was out the door. When I arrived at my destination…
The HoodRide treehouse. The intersection of Fifth and Roosevelt Streets has become one of the hotspots for the downtown Phoenix arts district. And one of the coolest parts of this cluster of galleries, boutiques, and coffee places was the HoodRide treehouse. Built into an olive tree in front of the…
If you’re looking for something different (read: not mass merchandised, made-in-China crap) for your sweetie, or Aunt Ida, or your boss, this is the last First Friday before Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Yes, the last one. Since First Friday can be a zoo, especially before major holidays, we’ve culled the…
There are many reasons to visit the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. Chief among them is the spectacular selection of eats available every weekend at the outdoor bazaar. And sometimes, the amazing eats come from an equally amazing person such as the captivating Belinda Powell. The local pickle maker’s homemade creations…
There are only two things restaurateur Peter “Kaz” Kasperski can’t live without: work and good food. For him, the two are so deeply intertwined that the thought of losing either blows his mind. And that’s meant a windfall for Valley diners. Kaz began his torrid love affair with the restaurant…
Jeffrey Hattrick is a real-life Mad Hatter, minus the shaggy gray sideburns and cartoonish purple getup. Most days, you can find this self-proclaimed “tea guy” in a top hat and tails, pouring fragrant oolongs into delicate porcelain cups for little Alices and their moms in the Ritz-Carlton’s tea room. (See…
Dani Danger ain’t shy about discussing the body modifications she’s endured over the years. The outgoing, tattooed-and-pierced 25-year-old eagerly gushes about the subdermal silicone crucifix embedded in her chest or the trilobite-shaped scarification located above her left breast just as breezily as she discusses the weather. The aptly named Danger…
Don “Hollywood” Yates isn’t someone you wanna mess with. Boasting a fearsome countenance and muscle-bound physique, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound badass has made a career out of battling both man and beast. As the villainous “Wolf,” a breakout star on NBC game show American Gladiators, he’s fiercely taken out contestants, unleashing…
By day, he is mild-mannered Tait Johnson. But when evil strikes your carburetor, he finds the nearest open phone booth and becomes . . . Honda Man! Okay, not really. He doesn’t have a cape or a fortress of solitude (though his repair shop, HON-MAN, is well-hidden, behind an East…
When Georganne Bryant thought about opening her own boutique, she researched boutiques in L.A. — you know, the stark shops in super-edgy ‘hoods that buzz customers in — and found exactly what she didn’t want. Bryant wanted to peddle her wares in the north central Phoenix neighborhood she calls home…
Gregory Gordon has style. And it’s pretty obvious, considering he and partners Brad Plumley and Lew Gallo are the triumvirate of taste behind Haus Modern Living, one of the premier urban furnishing stores in the nation. Besides being lauded in the pages of influential shopping mag Lucky, Gordon and company…
If ever there was an embodiment of Phoenix’s weirder side, then Stephen Strange and Sahar Mitchell are it, and proud to be. He’s a 32-year-old occultist and magician with a flair for the fantastic. She’s 34, a graceful serpent-wielding dancer dubbed “the Mother Fakir.” Collectively, they’re the Strange Family Circus,…
Corporate VP Rick Provenzano is the quintessential red-blooded American male. He loves sports, works in the family business, and lives in the ‘burbs with his wife and their 2.5 kids (the youngest is still a baby, so we’ll take the liberty). But there’s one part of his life that breaks…
Oscar Mastrantuono, owner of Bomberos in Sunnyslope, has an unshakable confidence that would make his hot-blooded South American ancestors proud. Though he was raised in New York, the Uruguayan-born entrepreneur carries himself with the same Latino swagger that helped his father immigrate to this country and then run a successful…
Forget any notions you’ve ever had of a fat lady singing opera onstage. Mezzo-soprano Olga Perez looks more like she belongs in the cast of American Idol. But this fall, Arizona Opera’s newest diva-in-training will take on one of her first major roles, in the company’s season opener, Rigoletto (for…
Travis Mesman engages in a nonstop battle with gravity. At 34, the dancer and movement artist wages his war against the invisible adversary during each of his performances, whether he’s propelling his lithe and muscular body through twisting acrobatic routines, or stilt-walking on a stage like a gigantic daddy longlegs,…
