Honey badger doesn’t give a shit, but Randall, the badass-fabulous voice behind “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger” (more than 42 million hits since it was uploaded to YouTube in January of last year), definitely does. The son of a cameraman for the granddaddy of all nature shows, Mutual of Omaha’s…
If National Poetry Month had its own celebrity spokesperson, you couldn’t do better than Rita Dove. She has the kind of musical voice that makes everything she says sound like poetry, and she is frequently photographed wearing bright lipstick. She also has a laundry list of major credentials, like the…
Adam Johnson had already written a critically praised collection of short stories and a novel when he embarked on his second novel, “The Orphan Master’s Son,” which is set in North Korea. “I read some experts on North Korea,” Johnson says, “and I just went down the rabbit hole. I’d…
In the introduction to his new book of essays, “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts: Drive-by Essays on American Dread, American Dreams” (University of Minnesota Press), Mark Dery lays out the foundation that shores up every one of these short, sharp, well-turned pieces: American Gothic, as epitomized by director David…
Christmas comes a little early to Chow Bella this year — in the form of some darn good holiday storytelling. Today, in honor of the first night of Hanukkah (which begins tonight at sundown) we bring you Deborah Sussman’s chocolate-dipped memories. I know everybody says they love chocolate — it makes…
For many of us, the holidays mean enforced time with our family of origin. And for many of us, that also means trying to retreat into something (work, exercise, drugs) to retain our sanity. My recommendation is books. They don’t require a lot of money or energy, and reading is…
How does a person produce a memoir at the tender age of 20? If the author in question is Bristol Palin (writing “with” Nancy French), she starts by throwing her ex-fiancé slash baby-daddy, Levi Johnston, under the campaign bus. According to the first chapter of Not Afraid of Life: My…
In Scottsdale Conservatory Theatre’s new production of Strange Bedfellows, a period comedy about American women’s fight for the right to vote, characters say things like, “Go get yourself out of those bifurcated abominations!” (exclaimed by a politician to his granddaughter about her wearing bloomers). These lines were no doubt as…
Being a woman is hard work, as any reputable drag queen can tell you. There are the tight dresses and six-inch stilettos, not to mention the fake eyelashes and padded boobs. Witness “female illusionists” such as Lady Ashley, Diva, Masquerade, and Celia Putty working it hard for the crown at…
The “West’s Most Western Town” has had more than a little help getting that way. In 1947, the brand-spanking-new Chamber of Commerce asked local businesses to build and/or remodel using only Western-type architecture, so that Scottsdale could look like the dusty but charming cowboy town that tourists were expecting. This…
If William Shakespeare were alive today, he’d probably fit right in at Alwun House’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Costume Ball. The Bard did so love a bit of fun and frolic, especially where fairies were involved. Entertainment for this year’s ball includes live music by Cosmos and a performance by USA…
Everybody knows that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Less well known is the fact that in many places, it took more than two years for Lincoln’s message to make a difference. On June 19, 1865 (30 months after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed), the Union finally got around to taking…
Rampage, a.k.a. the Lieutenant of Busta Rhymes Flipmode Crew, is surely not the only hip-hop artist to be quoted as saying, “I want to tell the youth that instead of hustling on the block they need to get an education.” But this Flatbush-born, Phoenix-based rapper is putting his money where…
