Democrats drink pinot. Republicans drink whiskey. Libertarians drink at bars. Even better, the grumblety-peg curmudgeons host their political conventions at watering holes – or at least our local cranks will at the Maricopa County Libertarian Party Convention today at Ticoz Resto-Bar. Action items on the alcohol-stained agenda include the election…

So here are some of your options for Friday, December 12: a political twist on the Nativity (American Pastorela). Spins by a world-class deejay (Mark de Clive-Lowe). A lo-fi/punk Christmas bash (East Side Records Christmas Party). A Bad Santa-style show for the attention-challenged (7 Minutes Under the Mistletoe). A winter…

“Retail” is a six-letter word. Don’t spell it. Don’t speak it. Heaven forbid, don’t pay it. That’s our motto, and the sentiment may be growing on you, too. Problem is, your car has carved a groove from your driveway to the local mall. You’re like a fancy lab rat in…

Unless you count “Fairytale of New York” by Shane MacGowan and Sinéad O’Connor — which we don’t, necessarily — what’s the last popular song that entered the collective Christmas consciousness? (Don’t say Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.” Them’s fightin’ words.) And how about Hollywood? The dream factory specializes in pumping out…

So, will you boo Mike D’Antoni or will you cheer him? What’s the etiquette for a man abandoning a listing ship? Yes, the former head coach of the Phoenix Suns did bail in favor of the New York Knicks, but he did it nicely enough. He asked first, in an…

In a triumphal return to his MVP stomping grounds on November 2, Arizona Cardinals QB Kurt Warner torched his former team, the St. Louis Rams, for 343 yards and two touches on 22-of-33 passing. Ho-hum, just another day at the office for The Man Who Would Be MVP Again. For…

A few things you might not know about Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, the quintessential “Christmas film”: 1) the name Bedford Falls was combined from two New York towns, Bedford Hills and Seneca Falls; 2) the snowy scenes were shot on a Hollywood backlot during a heat wave; 3)…

As founding members of Procrastination Nation, we were just fine with the notion of leaving our unfinished artsy-craftsy projects unfinished – until we read the tag line for Modified Arts’ December Art Night event: “Felipe is bringing the soy milk and cookies.” Okay, well, now that you mention it, that…

Let’s not pull punches. Phoenicians detest Tucsonans, their Birkenstock flip-flops and patchouli cologne, their laissez-faire approach to life, their liberal voting habits. (On the other hand, we’ve got Sheriff Joe and the idiots who keep electing him, so maybe they’re on to something.) Mostly, we loathe the University of Arizona,…

Generally speaking, we frown on guided hikes. The Sonoran Desert is not the Louvre, and true hikers hardly need to have someone spell out its (fairly obvious) magnificence. The extraordinary exception is the Elephant Mountain Fortress Hike at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The relatively difficult seven-miler takes participants into…

Some artists who’ve been touched by the Universe have the ability to make a lovely place look lovelier than it is. Obvious choices would include Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and, closer to home, painters Ellen Wagener and Ed Mell. Another Arizonan with that special knack is photographer David Muench, who…

God, are we lucky. While the poor schleps in most parts of the country suck down the tryptophan, play emotional footsie with their families, and suffer through a couple of football games that hardly ever amount to much, we Phoenicians can slip on our short-sleeve shirts, head for the park…