Elvis Lives

SAT 6/18Elvis. He’s in the building. He’s left the damn building. Oh, it really doesn’t even matter, because fans everywhere still seem to witness and connect with that jumpsuit-wearin’, love-me-tender, peanut-butter-eatin’ crooner on some plane, be it earthly or astral. In fact, he’ll be making an appearance via the body…

Man Show

6/10-6/12Michaleen Kringle describes the “Big Boys & Their Toys” Arizona Men’s Expo, which she’s co-organizing with founder Gary Glava, as “family-friendly.” Right. We know better. As if any self-respecting man’s man could peel his eyes and attention away from more than 200 exhibitions of SUVs, luxury cars, speedboats, motorcycles, sports…

NET Gains

5/28-8/21How are Happy Meals marketed? The cynics and curmudgeons among us might scream, “Animated movies!” Fortunately, though, no cheap hamburgers are associated with Bob Sabiston’s new film, Grasshopper. Its inspiration was a random interview in a park with a complete stranger. When asked a lame question about astrology, “he just…

About Face

TUESDAYSHold on to those collagen-coated dreams, because that little Botox blast you’ve been praying for might just be within your grasp. Palazzo, the downtown hot spot at 710 North Central — and advocate of sexy, hedonistic fun — is paying homage to both the addictive television show and the cosmetic…

Buck Amok

5/13-5/14Generally, if you mention the letters PBR, it’s cause for ears to perk up in hopes of a crisp snap of the tab that pops open a cold one. Well, it won’t be that PBR, but there surely could be some snapping sounds, mainly those of human bones, when the…

Deth Becomes Them

FRI 4/29 Loud-ass guitars dealing out sadistic riffs, flailing hair, sweaty bodies and hands raised and locked in the two-finger devil horn salute can only mean one thing. No, not a night with Beavis and Butt-head, fool. It’s the “AZ Blackend Deth HardKore Fest II” on Friday, April 29, at…

Green Men

Fox Mulder’s undeniable hotness, er, relentless pursuit of the truth regarding alien existence on Earth kept believers and skeptics alike glued to the tube on Sunday nights for nine years via The X-Files. Dr. Stephen Greer, meanwhile, as the founder and director of the nonprofit organization The Disclosure Project, has…

High Times

WED 4/20 A bong-toting “Happy Hitler” is probably the last thing those celebrating “4-20” will expect when stumbling into the Paper Heart, 750 Grand Avenue, desperate for munchies. The reflexive response to such a warped spectacle is, of course, to get on your cell and curse out your dealer for…

Gag Reflex

4/14-4/17 It’s been a year since you were laughing your ass off at the quick-witted humor being bandied about at the last Phoenix Improv Fest. And here it is, time for what co-organizer Jose Gonzales calls “the biggest one ever.” And that, comedy hounds, is no jive. The 2005 Fest,…

Money Shot

SAT 4/9 Wanna be in gay porn pronto, Tonto? Better show ’em your “Oh!” face on Saturday, April 9, at the Bunkhouse, 4428 North Seventh Avenue, where Will Clark, a gay porn “star” — none of the men at the Bunkhouse during a recent happy hour would admit to knowing…

Word of Mouth

FRI 4/1 Get your ears spanked when the thick whip of verbal science comes crashing down Friday, April 1, at the PHiX gallery, 1113 Grand Avenue. A group of 15 Valley poets congregate to stir your minds and souls while laying down their collective abilities of articulation for the first…

Turn the Tables

SAT 3/26 If your heart goes fluttery at the scent of dusty blue chalk, and beats to the cracking sound of a cue ball barreling through a triangle of solids and stripes, then you need to see how it’s done “Sledgehammer” and “Assassin”-style at the Women’s Pro Shootout, Saturday, March…

Fairy Scary

SAT 3/26 Little girls love their fairy tales of Prince Charmings, glass slippers and magic wands. But Erin Smith wasn’t a typical little girl. When her elementary school teachers wanted her to read “Cinderella,” she read the “twisted” version from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes instead. Now 17, the senior at…

Great Scots

2/26-2/27 Stereotypes are an awful blight, which is why the Scottish are such an inspiringly indefinable people. Any group that counts among its sports the Hammer Throw, Weight Toss, and Standing Stone Put are on the high side of macho. Yet those same people are just as likely to be…

Taboo You

2/11-3/11 Get your drink on, get your freak on, and get your strap-on, because the 22nd annual Exotic Art Show is back again. “People who like to dress crazy and sexy can come here, and nobody gives them a problem,” says Baron Dixon, one of 60-plus artists exhibiting work in…

Hank Material

WED 2/9 Many a music fan has declared Hank Williams III to be more about image than talent. They’ve accused the Misfits-loving, tattoo-wearing cowpunk of milking the hellbilly persona of a hard-drinkin’, Southern-fried outlaw, labeled him a novelty act, and sentenced him to forever toil in the shadow of grandpappy…

You Say You Wanna Resolution . . .

It’s the third week of January. By now, if you’re like everyone else we know, you’ve broken your New Year’s resolution — popped that Vicodin, lost your gym membership card, hit the drive-through at Jack in the Box. We know a guy who resolved not to make any resolutions –…

Art Scene

“Brian Alfred: The Future Is Now!” at the Phoenix Art Museum: New York-based artist Brian Alfred ponders corporate culture and rampant industrialization in his latest exhibition. Although Alfred’s retro-futuristic paintings and collages emphasize society’s fascination with the digital age and subsequent sensory overload, his collection of work is surprisingly sensory-friendly…