LITERARY Books In the imaginary world of children’s book author and illustrator Kofi O. Okyere, piccolos are parables, chance encounters become epic twists, and a monkey teaches life’s big lessons. His book To Catch a Monkey, the first in a series called “The Coconut Years,” tells the tale of a…
LITERARY ‘Zine Robbie Pfeffer sits on the couch at The Fixx Coffee Bar in Tempe on a recent Saturday night, talking about Tempe Starving Artist, the ‘zine he launched in December 2009. TSA showcases the works of local creatives, from poetry and short stories to interviews with bands and black-and-white…
LITERARY Playwriting When Phoenix playwright and actor Kim Porter lived in San Francisco, she and her husband took a road trip to Las Vegas. The moment they crossed the California border and saw the shining lights of a city, they got excited. “There it is! Las Vegas!” they exclaimed, driving…
VISUAL ARTS Painting, installation, and sculpture When a friend of artist Sarah Hurwitz told her that everything in her bathroom was covered with microscopic flakes of poop, she could not get the thought out of her head. She was compelled to create a piece of installation art titled “Fecal Free,”…
VISUAL ARTS Mixed media Behind a faint smile, Safwat Saleem says he’s giving up. The graphic designer and filmmaker will be the first to say he’s not an optimist. He’s Pakistani but grew up in Abu Dhabi before moving to Mississippi for computer programming school in the late ’90s. He…
VISUAL ARTS Collage, paint, and wheat paste antigirl doesn’t go by her first name, or her last. By definition, her work is rogue; she has to remain somewhat anonymous. By day, the 28-year-old is a graphic designer whose clients include Showtime, The New Yorker, the Root, and Suicide Girls. She…
DESIGN Tattoo Chris Rupp sits behind the counter of Living Ghost Tattoo Parlor in Tempe, where he’s worked since September, and plucks two strings on a guitar he made out of a cigar box. The cigar box guitars are one of his favorite things to make, and he also does…
DESIGN Fashion Growing up, fashion designer Rebecca Turley was fascinated with the vintage items in her grandmother’s bedroom. “I was the first granddaughter on my mom’s side of the family, so her mother really spoiled me,” Turley says. “In her room, she had a jewelry box with heirlooms, and I…
DESIGN Jewelry Chadwick Uptain sits at a table on the patio of Jobot Coffee Shop in downtown Phoenix, working on his Mac laptop. It’s 5:30 on a Tuesday evening, and he’s got a rare break from watching his 4-month-old baby daughter. He’s working, poring over images of his jewelry designs…
CULINARY Food served from a truck On a sunny Saturday in mid-March at Phoenix Public Market, Chef Brian Webb stands over a charcoal grill inside his van, the Hey Joe! food truck, wiping sweat from his brow and espousing the virtues of Filipino street food. Dressed in blue jean shorts…
FILM/VIDEO Music videos and nightlife videos Francis Lazaro seems genuinely surprised when people give props to his video work. A humble grin typically crosses his moon-shaped face as fans gush about the Filipino filmmaker’s exhilarating and kinetically charged music videos documenting the Valley’s dance music scene. It’s something the 22-year-old…
PERFORMING ARTS Theater Published author, actor, and director Tom Leveen prides himself on being edgy when it comes to art. He co-owned the now-defunct Chyro Arts venue, where he tackled issues of child molestation in The Woodsman and debuted the stage version of Closer (the Oscar-winning film that starred Natalie…
In the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times’ blogs. Today’s entries:…
You might think anyone who could kill his own infant child is a monster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re nuts.Enter 27-year-old Brian Hopf, accused of murdering his 3-week-old daughter in September 2009 and now officially competent to stand trial for first-degree murder.A court-ordered competency hearing for Hopf concluded that the alleged…
We’ve been waiting on pins and needles for word from the Maricopa County Superior Court about the outcome of the sentencing hearing for Susan Brock, the somewhat-estranged wife of Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock, who pleaded guilty to several sex-with-a-kid-related crimes about two months ago.The hearing is going on right…
Jason Bush, the kid-killing accomplice of Minutewoman Shawna Forde, will join his murderous cohort on death row, a Tucson jury decided today.Bush was found guilty last monthd in the murders of an Arivaca man and his daughter in May 2009.In addition to the two first-degree murder convictions for the murders…
Good news: according to rankings from an international think tank, Arizona is not the most violent state in America, which may come as a shock considering we’re one of only two states in the entire country to consider having its own “official state gun.”Bad news: Arizona isn’t even close to…
It’s official — Greg Stanton is the winner of an Arrogant Butcher straw poll gauging who might be the next Phoenix mayor. Stanton, a former deputy Attorney General and Phoenix councilman, claimed victory with 524 votes, or about 40 percent of all the votes cast by diners at the downtown…
A teenage Virginia murderer was sentenced today for his role in the brutal beating death of an 81-year-old Tempe man last year. However, because the boy is a teen, the “rotten little bastard” will only do about seven years behind bars.After pleading guilty last month to first-degree murder in the…
The Arizona state Senate was scheduled to debate the humiliating “Birther” bill yesterday, but that didn’t happen — the Senate has postponed a preliminary vote on the bill.The bill already has failed in the Arizona Legislature twice — once last year and once in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year. However,…
Glendale police have arrested two men in connection with the death of a high school sophomore who police say was either pushed from or dragged by a moving car during a robbery attempt last week.Lino Chavez and Jose Solis Apodaca, both 18, were arrested for the murder of 16-year-old Anita…
We were passing the time last night watching the local TV news (yes, we know…..) as KPHO Channel 5 anchor Catherine Anaya breathlessly read the following story: “Phoenix police say they had to shoot a dog and a man. Officers heard there was a fight near 27th Avenue and McDowell…
