Best Thing to Do on a First Wednesday 2008 | First Wednesday Downtown Chandler Art Walk | People & Places | Phoenix
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Best Thing to Do on a First Wednesday

First Wednesday Downtown Chandler Art Walk

Ugh, the weekday commute: same freeway, same strip malls, same billboards, and same homeless guy on the corner talking to Jesus. After looking at identical crap for days in a row, we don't even see it anymore. It's just part of the dull blur of repeated images — and it's the bane of routine living. By midweek, our eyes are thirsty for something new and juicy to suck in. And having to muscle through the monotony until the weekend just won't cut it.

Head down to the First Wednesday Downtown Chandler Art Walk to enjoy hump-day with stimulating paintings, sculpture, and photography. Walk along Arizona Avenue, just south of Chandler Boulevard, and pop into galleries like Art on Boston and Vision Gallery to get your fill of contemporary local and international art. After you've got an eyeful, get a belly full at any one of the swanky restaurants on the drag to make a night of it.

Best Thing to Do on a Third Thursday

Melrose Crawl

First Friday art walks led to Third Friday art openings. Soon, a veritable calendar soup of days were devoted to exploration of our fair city. We think the only night we're not booked is the second Tuesday of next August.

One event we've penned on the calendar is the Melrose Crawl, a chance to shop our favorite Seventh Avenue shops after dark. From 6 to 9 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month (with events booked for October 18, November 20, and December 18), shops like Hollywood Regency, Paris Envy, and Rust and Roses will open their vintage doors to the neighborhood. One word of advice: With so many of these stores offering amazing deals on new and antique furnishings, we plan to drive, not crawl.

Best First Friday Experience for Grownups

Adult's Night Out at the Arizona Science Center

One of the coolest things about the success of First Friday is the attention it's brought to downtown. And one of the best things about downtown Phoenix is the Arizona Science Center.

So we're really happy that the two combine in the form of Adult's Night Out at the museum on the first Friday of every month. Admission is free from 5:30 to 9, and the museum always features a free lecture on topics like dinosaurs and nanotech. City Bakery stays open, and you have access to all of the museum's 300 exhibits, sans the kiddos and grumpy mommies that usually populate the area.

Best Place to See and Be Seen on a First Friday

eye lounge

If you want to break through in any scene, you've got to network. And to do that, you have to troll the places where the people go. There's really no shame — it's just good business. So if you're looking for some facial recognition in the arts scene, be sure to make eye lounge your number one spot for multiple visits on a First Friday. And all it takes is one cruise through to see why.

Check into any art gallery on Roosevelt Row or Grand Avenue and there's no denying that eye lounge is the expert on packing a place. We're not sure exactly what it is — the great art, the killer location, or the feng shui — but we always have to smoosh our way through a massive crowd each month. Chances are, if you shimmy around its tri-gallery setup a few times, you'll probably run into every First Friday artwalker that's out and about. Which, come to think of it, may be the main reason it's always so busy. The someones, the no-ones, and, heck, everyone is there.

Best Place to See and Be Seen on a Third Friday

The Lost Leaf

The Lost Leaf

Let's face it, First Fridays are about the people and Third Fridays are about the art. On a First Friday, we put on our best outfit, slap on a second coat of mascara and prepare to make a lot of eye contact. Sure, we see the art, but it's not until we take another gander during Third Friday that we actually digest it. The relaxed atmosphere of a Third Friday only requires one application of eye makeup and is a nice treat — although a couple hours of looking at art gets us in a voyeuristic vibe and we can't help wanting to be looked at, too. That's when we head to The Lost Leaf on Fifth Street. With more than 80 beers and 20 wines flowing, the renovated house acts as a beacon drawing the scattered artwalkers to one location. There, we find everyone from hungry artists to loaded lawyers having a drink and taking a peek at everyone who walks through the door. Yes, it's where the lookers and lookees like to gather and, well, look.

Best Local 'Zine

hoozdo

In a world of blogs and instant gratification, there are countless outlets documenting Valley life. Hoozdo, though, is the steady hand slow-roasting our collective experience — provided that hand isn't smarting from a piping-hot steering wheel. With honorable mentions to Your Invisible City and Valley Bird, hoozdo features some of the best writing, photography, and art highlighting the under-appreciated sights, sounds, history, culture, people, and picayune quirks of our desert metropolis with a personal touch. A temporary tattoo bundled in a past issue perfectly captures Phoenicians' heady mix of optimism and anxiety: a regal firebird endlessly encircled by the words "commute, work, commute, sleep."

Best Local Art Blog

www.hearsight.com

We searched cyberspace for a blog that covered the local arts scene, but came up empty 'til we clicked upon Hearsight. The blog is straightforward, offering Arizona exhibition and art resource info, as well as smart, even-tempered reviews. Laid out in a clean — but elegant — design, punctuated by photos actually illustrating the work on display, hearsight.com is simply the perfect place to get the quick and dirty on what's going on artwise, both throughout the Valley and regionally as well. What a concept.

Best Blog Idea

mccainblogette.com

Meghan McCain, the fair, Phoenix-bred, sorta-Cindy-esque 20-something daughter of you-know-who, is, like the rest of the world, blogging. And unlike most of us, she's got a truly compelling topic, and a better-than-bird's-eye view of the best stage in the game.

Yet, the most interesting thing we've surmised from her online scrapbook is that it is, in fact, possible to campaign for Dad (sporadically, between vacays) and keep up your pedicure.

We know we're nuts, we know no one will listen, we know the future of the free world is at stake — but really, we wish someone would let the girl loose. Because if she's saying all there is to say (lots of cutlines under photos of Dad with brilliant observations like "on stage" and too-liberal use of the words "awesome" and "incredible") then the Straight Talk Express really is that straight. Yawn.

We do like some of her playlists, but must snark that the first on the list we just pulled up is B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone."

Mmmm. Too bad. It was a great idea.

Best Local Political Blog

www.espressopundit.com

When it comes to must-read political Web sites — present company excluded, natch — there's simply no question as to which is number one in town. And it's not azcentral.com. Nope, the hottest scoops and best analysis come from a one-man outfit, www.espressopundit.com, which somehow manages to pack more punch than a newspaper with dozens of reporters. Former state Representative Greg Patterson posts his items even while attending law school, working full time as a lobbyist (for the Arizona Competitive Power Alliance) and raising a family. The site has become enormously influential — it was Patterson's criticism of the state's 9/11 memorial that touched off years of controversy, for example — but his regular readers appreciate, more than anything, his thoughtful analysis. Whether or not you agree with him, he's never shrill and always interesting.

Best Local Satirical Blog

The Arizona Report

Last year, we kept getting phone calls from people who wanted us to look into the Arizona Report. Who was running it? And what did they want? After an extensive five-month investigation, we can tell you this: Damned if we know. But we will admit that we enjoy reading it! The satirical Web site is written by someone who clearly knows a lot about politics in the Grand Canyon State — and who doesn't mind poking fun at just about everyone. Our favorite? A post earlier this year about State Treasurer Dean Martin, titled "Martin calls press conference to remind the media he's still around." "Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin announced today that he is still living in Arizona despite a noticeable lack of media stories about him," the post began. For those of you used to Chris Rock, sure, this isn't much. But we political junkies are laughing our asses off.

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