We’ve been hiking the same secluded stretch of scorched earth for about 15 years now, and we rarely saw another soul. This past spring, our secret spot was suddenly swarming with folks sporting fanny packs and squeaky new hiking boots. Our first instinct was to kill us some tourists, Deliverance-style…

God bless the Internet. The Information Superhighway has opened yawning new realms of possibility for the once-dispossessed, including the ability to make a living from breakfast meat. Not eating it. Not manufacturing it. Waxing rhapsodic about it. Bacon is the niche that Heather Lauer has carved out for herself. The…

Whatever your stance on right-wingers, they’re not funny. Newt Gingrich. Not funny. Ronald Reagan. Not funny. Ann Coulter. Funny as a crutch. The Bushes. Okay, unintentionally funny. Syndicated radio jock and right-wing attack dog Glenn Beck fancies himself the reactionary with a difference, and he’s out to prove it with…

Best dumb movie ever made? Maybe. Best mindless summer movie of all time? It’s not even close. The 1978 leather-and-lace romp starring John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, and Stockard Channing (who went on to pull down a seven-year stint as the First Lady on The West Wing) had us groaning on…

Most of us live here for the sun, but that doesn’t mean we have to die by it. And for area vamps and other creatures of the night who’d like to get wet without being basted alive, Sunsplash has the perfect recipe for summer fun sans the sun. The popular…

The Atlanta Braves who are coming to town to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks are not your daddy’s Tomahawk-Choppers. For one thing, there are very few remnants of the great Braves dynasty that set a Major League Baseball record with 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005. Head coach…

Modern dance? Many would rather submit to a combo IRS audit/alien rectal probe. Combine that aesthetic ambivalence with the body blows the economy’s been raining down on the arts, and it’s kinda surprising the form’s still breathing. For Lisa Starry and Scorpius Dance Theatre, life is good. Why? Because Starry…

We know. We know. We’re only a quarter of the way through this seemingly interminable season, and there seems to be precious little reason to keep watching. Here’s one: the Diamondbacks Live Postgame Show, a newish misery-loves-company experience centered on the District Stage at Tempe Marketplace. The fan-friendly affair features…

We know. We know. We’re only a quarter of the way through this seemingly interminable season, and there seems to be precious little reason to keep watching. Here’s one: the Diamondbacks Live Postgame Show, a newish misery-loves-company experience centered on the District Stage at Tempe Marketplace. The fan-friendly affair features…

Liberal-leaning artists in the PHX know how difficult it is to maintain their open-mindedness, even in the context of this ever-more-cosmopolitan burg. Imagine the challenge for painter Ernest Blumenschein, circa 1897, when the displaced Easterner tumbled into the lovely but politically savage land of Taos, New Mexico. The founder of…

It’s official. Jimmy Buffett’s in league with the Devil. How else to explain how a dude can milk a four-decade career out of a beach-bum shtick and a couple of decent songs from 1974? Or, worse, how the same marginally talented bum, er, dude can put the capper on the…

We learned long ago that the only real justice in this world is a clean conscience and a good time, and that’s what’s on tap at Da Una Mano/Give a Hand: Fashion Meets Social Justice, a fundraiser for the clean conscience/good-time gals at Las Otras Hermanas, an anti-poverty group that…

Our little slice of scorched Earth offers little in the way of refinement during the summer months. One lingering touch of erudition — that’s erudite lite — is Theater League’s Broadway musical series. Come about now, when our other options are pool parties or knuckleheaded movies, we like the notion…

Consider the tango. More a visual language than a mere shuffling of feet, the dance is aggressively romantic and frankly bedroom-eyed, defined by the grand theatrical gesture but still a deeply private public act of connection. Doing the tango is like puffing on a fragrant cigar under a South American…

If your mother’s a pill, do your duty with some used mausoleum flowers and a trip to Cracker Barrel. If your mom’s kickass (like ours), make a res right now for the Haute Holiday Brunch at CANAL. The $39-per smokin’ deal includes a three-course meal by chef Justin Beckett, a…

What’s there to like about summer in Phoenix? 1) Salt River Tubing at Salt River Recreation. 2) Hmmm. No, that’s about it. After a winter of wearin’ friggin’ sweaters, we’re ready to work up a proper sweat, then plop our butts in one of Salt River Rec’s oversize tubes for…

For a town with the Hispanic presence of Phoenix, we see far too few big-name Latino/a musical acts. The folks behind the annual Food City Cinco de Mayo Festival are remedying that dearth with their 16th annual blowout, which features Grammy-winning supergroups Los Horoscopos de Durango and Montéz de Durango,…

Our little slice of scorched Earth offers little in the way of refinement during the summer months. One lingering touch of erudition — that’s erudite lite — is Theater League’s Broadway musical series. Come about now, when our other options are pool parties or knuckleheaded movies, we like the notion…

The best thing that’s happened to Peter since he returned from the war is meeting Agnes. Their love story unfolds in playwright Tracy Letts’ Bug, but it’s not the sort of romance one would find on, say, Lifetime Television for Women. This story includes an abusive husband, who follows Agnes…