Tour de Fat Trades Car Culture for Bicycle Bliss

By Yvonne Zusel Afro-wigged men in kilts and beanies, tiared-and-fishnetted ladies and 27 Waldos converged on Tempe Town Lake this weekend for one reason: to promote the benefits of the bicycle. See more shots in our Tour de Fat slideshow. Well, that, and to drink copious amounts of beer. Sponsored…

Brew Review: Dead Guy Ale

By Jonathan McNamara What makes a rogue? I couldn’t help wondering as I stumbled over to the Rogue Web site after sampling their Dead Guy Ale. The qualifications are numerous (ten to be exact) and include such gems as “rogues pursue the long shot” and “rogues ignore the accepted patterns…

Death Gawd

Just about anything has a license to be extreme in the world of Japanese comics, especially when martial artists shoot fireballs from their hands and fifty-foot-tall robots are commonplace. Death Note is no exception. The comic is a dark tale about a Japanese high school student (and it is always…

Futurekind at Last Exit

By Jonathan McNamara Last Wednesday, Music Editor Martin Cizmar gave mention of Futurekind’s CD release party held at Last Exit this past Friday. Always on the look out for a new source of sonic sensation, I took his advice and checked them out for myself. Now you can too even…

This Weekend: First Friday, SMoCA and Haunt of the Living Dead

By Jonathan McNamara Another week has drawn to a close. Don’t worry, we’re not pulling a 32 post blog tour de force like last Saturday’s Edgefest coverage. Nah, we’re taking it easy. Here’s where we’ll be chillin’ this weekend. Friday, October 3: First Friday Saturday, October 4: SMoCA Fall Opening…

Marketside Opens Four Valley Locations

By Jonathan McNamara Convenience stores are too expensive and grocery stores are better reserved for doing a lot of shopping. This seems to be the hope of Marketside, a store that sells groceries but does not identify as a grocery, a store that aims to be as efficient as a…

Love Phoenix Or Leave Phoenix

Last week we asked why Phoenicians elect to stay in this dusty desert instead of heading out into the world. Check out this first entry from Phoenician and New Times reader Stephanie Christenholz: I work in fashion and often I have to take a deep breath when defending Phoenix. I…

Love Phoenix or Leave Phoenix

Last week we asked why Phoenicians elect to stay in this dusty desert instead of heading out into the world. Check out this first entry from Phoenician and New Times reader Angie Uyeda: I was born at Williams Air Force Base. My dad was a mechanic and my mom was…

Stephenie Meyer and Paramore

By Jonathan McNamara Fans of the Twilight Series likely have this track on heavy rotation on their iPods, but we mere mortals might be interested to know that the song “Decode” by Paramore from the upcoming film adaptation of Twilight is currently available for a listen on Stephenie Meyer’s Web…

Brew Review: Red Bull Cola

By Jonathan McNamara I know, I know. Rest assured that we’ll be diving back into your regularly scheduled dose of legitimate brew review next week (in fact, I’m currently securing some samples at the recommendation of Al the Pal) but this time around I’d like to focus on something that…

Love Phoenix Or Leave Phoenix

Last week we asked why Phoenicians elect to stay in this dusty desert instead of heading out into the world. Check out this first entry from Phoenician and New Times reader Patrick Mertz: I’m a native son born in Phoenix in 1956, to parents who themselves are native Arizonans born…

Muhammad Ali Maize Maze

By Jonathan McNamara It’s amazing what people will do with vegetables these days. For the past five years, Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek has been cutting mazes through corn fields in the likenesses of celebrities including Larry King, Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno. Whose face would be temporarily etched into…

Love Phoenix Or Leave Phoenix

By Jonathan McNamara Last week we asked why Phoenicians elect to stay in this dusty desert instead of heading out into the world. Check out this first entry from Phoenician and New Times reader Matt Self: I grew up in the East Valley where the land is flat and dry,…

Over the Weekend: Edgefest 2008, Chandler Oktoberfest and More

By Jonathan McNamara Edgefest 2008 Music Editor Martin Cizmar lead a journalistic team of photographers, writers and one, loan videographer to bring you up to the minute Edgefest 2008 coverage on Saturday. Check this Edgefest blog recap for the whole story and don’t miss this comprehensive collection of multimedia coverage…

Chandler Oktoberfest

By PJ Standlee SanTan Brewery’s first ever Oktoberfest on Sept. 27 packed a crowd of hundreds to sample tasty beers from Arizona breweries, but the long lines, tiny tasting cups, and lack of lederhosen relegated the advertised German styled Oktoberfest to a lesser beer tasting event. While most happily suffered…

Edgefest Coverage Closer: Must-See Multimedia

Jonathan McNamara One sweaty day gave our crack team of journalists more fun and excitement than we get in a week. For us New Times folks that’s really saying something. Music Editor Martin Cizmar has already given you the low down on our written content, but I’d like to step…

Edgefest: Hot Girls and Wild Hair

By Jonathan McNamara We’ve been hinting at it since we started covering Edgefest and now the wait is over. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Hot Girls and Wild Hair slideshow courtesy of Clubs Editor Benjamin Leatherman direct from Edgefest 2008…

Edgefest: Local Band Video Sampler

Jonathan McNamara There was more to Edgefest than Flogging Molly and Gogol Bordello. Check out this video from video ninja (and clubs editor) Benjamin Leatherman showcasing local acts Comfort for Change, Captain Squeegee and the Soap Suds and Emerald Honor…