Fat Cats

SAT 7/16Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, booze hounds, but despite having a hops-happy handle, the latest event in the Fat Tire Triathlon Series on Saturday, July 16, at Tempe Town Lake, 80 East Rio Salado Parkway, won’t include any competitive chugging of the famous amber ale or…

Living Hell

SAT 7/16Dante got it wrong: There are actually 10 circles of hell, and local filmmaker Nicholas Holthaus has been there and back making Dante’s Arizona, which premières Saturday, July 16, at the Alwun House, 1204 East Roosevelt. “Four people have died during the making of this film, including my mother…

Got Spirit?

As a professional ghost hunter, Christopher Moon says he’s been scratched, pushed, beaten, and suffered third-degree burns courtesy of some seething spirits who refuse to cross over to the other side. Obviously, this guy can’t take a hint. On Saturday, July 16, the Valley native — and owner of Colorado-based…

Space Cases

SAT 7/9Get your geek on with the members of the United Federation of Phoenix, the nation’s second-oldest continuous Star Trek fan club, as they party poolside on Saturday, July 9, sipping sodas and swapping stories of Klingon valor. The universe may be a lonely place for some people, but not…

Bare a Tone

SUN 7/10Ever seen a melodramatic series filled with conniving story lines, sexual innuendos and wanton women who live only for sensuality? Nope, it isn’t Desperate Housewives. It’s Carmen, the 1984 film version of the famed 19th-century Georges Bizet opera. At 2 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625…

Reigning Cats and Dawgs

SUN 7/3The local hip-hop underground goes above ground, as the true record playas of the Valley will turn on their turntablism talents during Reign of the Tech on Sunday, July 3, at the Old Brickhouse Grill, 1 East Jackson. Myriad mixmasters from around the PHX will mass for the 21-and-over…

Red Hot Bluegirl

7/1-7/30 While typecast TV stars have quotation-marked middle names for faster recognition — witness Jaleel “Urkel” White — it’s quite uncommon for a fine artist and portraitist. But avant photographer Heidi “Bluegirl” Calvert, whose photographic retrospective opens with a reception from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at Perihelion Arts on Friday,…

Hot Wheels

MON 7/4If you have a hot jalopy that you’re dying to show off to a group of ogling, salivating spectators, gas it up and drive to Chandler, where the Arizona Veteran Rodders Club hosts a classic car show at Tumbleweed Park on Monday, July 4, as part of the Lions…

Fireworks Fiesta

MON 7/4 This year, you can choose to fire up the grill and celebrate America’s independence by inviting over your near-and-dears, replete with the usual band of screaming kids and unruly pets, or you can go to the City of Phoenix’s 20th annual “Fabulous Fourth” celebration at Steele Indian School…

Without Reservations

SAT 6/25If the Indian nations as a whole were ever to declare a sport their national pastime, you can bet basketball would be right up there with lacrosse. Basketball has been an all-consuming passion and a source of pride in Native American communities for generations, with reservation courts serving as…

Swat Team

SUN 6/26Admit it, you’ve been bad . . . really bad. But it’s all good, especially since you’ll be getting a well-deserved whuppin’ at the Sky Lounge, 132 East Washington, on Sunday, June 26, at “Spanked.” This classic “tea dance” — a popular afternoon or early evening dance party aimed…

Belly Up

THU 6/23We love belly dancers like the desert loves rain. Lucky for us, “Splash: Summer SMoCA Nights,” on Thursday, June 23, at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts, quenches our thirst on both fronts — metaphorically speaking. Along with performances by electronic duo Peachcake and DJ Maji, the Gamil Zarah…

Shilling an Arab

MON 6/20Vince McMahon has no shame. Throughout the existence of World Wrestling Entertainment (and its previous incarnations), the pompous promoter has created controversial characters to draw attention to his brand of sports entertainment. Among the many “heels” (or bad guys) Vinnie Mac has conjured over the years, none has been…

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…

Burning Art

WED 6/22Carpetbag Brigade finds fire fascinating, and not in a Beavis-and-Butt-head, preteen-pyro kind of way. The members of the “physical theater company” will emulate the flames of the 2002 fires that ravaged northern Arizona in an acrobatic, stilt-walking production called Mudfire, showing Wednesday, June 22, at the Paper Heart, 750…

Street Smarts

When he left Mesa Community College for Chicago State back in 1999, Tony Jones knew in his gut that he’d be back in Phoenix as a pro baller. Of course, he hoped he’d be wearing an NBA uniform. But six years later, Jones, a.k.a. “Go Get It,” is playing straight-up…

Baby Man

It’s late on a warm Thursday night in April, and William Windsor heads to the checkout stand at the Fry’s supermarket at 20th Street and Highland Avenue, in central Phoenix. Customers and cashiers stare at the 5-foot-11, 180-pound man, who is dressed in a pink bonnet, pink shorty dress, and…

Amor Latin Feel

SAT 6/11Can you imagine a more popular four-hour television show than Univision’s Sábado Gigante? Now, picture a live version of the program that honors the best entertainers in Latino/Latina arts. Saturday, June 11, will be a good night to set the VCR, because the Seventh Annual International Las Palmas de…

Eureka!

SAT 6/11 During opening day for the Mesa Miners, one of eight teams in the brand-spanking-new Golden Baseball League, 3,500 spectators turned prospectors waved makeshift pickaxes made out of foam fingers and aluminum cans to celebrate a historic win. It was mass hysteria! Pure bedlam! Okay, maybe the pickax thing…

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…

Girl’s Best Buddy

More than 40 years ago, Buddy Stubbs won the Daytona 100 and finished his motorcycle racing career. And he’s still got a way with the ladies. On Thursday, June 9, Stubbs and his Arizona Harley-Davidson dealership in north Phoenix host the Buddy Stubbs Ladies’ Night, yet another indicator of women…

On Porpoise

FRI 6/3Andrew Lockwood discovered he wasn’t the performer he fancied himself as part of the local bands Velveteen Dream and the Heartgraves. “When the Heartgraves disintegrated, I decided I needed to go in another direction,” Lockwood says, “and to very specifically stop trying to rock. Rocking is for people who…