Thurday, July 24 This time of year, when temperatures rise to unbearable extremes, some smart aleck inevitably mentions that none of us would be here in the middle of the desert if it weren’t for the invention of air conditioning. Indeed, as we’ve realized during mid-summer power outages, it’s artificial…
A parade of pedestrians streams down Roosevelt Street on a warm First Friday evening in April, bringing life to an urban stretch that is desolate on most other nights of the month. Like colorful spring blossoms sprouting up from barren plots of desert, the dusty sidewalk and parking lot next…
Mon 7/21 “I hadn’t really thought about doing thrillers for adults,” says best-selling children’s author R.L. Stine. He’s speaking of his new book, The Sitter, a creepy summer read aimed at the twentysomething set that grew up reading Stine’s Goosebumps series. “I thought maybe I’d try to grow with my…
Thursday, July 17 Kiss at Mickey’s Hangover keeps up the momentum of last month’s fashion show at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art by hosting local designers for trunk shows every Thursday from 8 to 11 p.m. On July 17, the spotlight is on designers Meredith Elliott and Louis Dorman, who…
Sun 7/13 Grade school trends may come and go, but music will always be one of the true joys of childhood. Seventies tykes sang along to Sesame Street disco records, children of the ’80s got caught up in the lip-synching craze, and ’90s youngsters got a piece of the airwaves…
The independent film revolution is upon us. Thanks to ever cheaper and widely available technologies, just about anyone — with or without film school creds — can make movies. Of course, the democracy fizzles out at the distribution level, which is why your neighborhood megaplex prefers to rake in the…
Thursday, July 10 We should all be so fortunate as to receive a posthumous tribute like “The Garden of Compassion,” the summer exhibition at Lisa Sette Gallery held in memory of beloved former gallery secretary Jane Kealy, who passed away in April. “Everybody who encountered her just loved her,” says…
7/4-7/26 This month, when First Friday coincides with Independence Day, eye lounge tempers blind patriotism with more personal interpretations of what America is all about. “Our American Life,” opening Friday, July 4, offers artistic perspectives from Linda Lewis and Rebecca Blume, two eye lounge members, as well as guest artist…
Thursday, July 3 Make the most out of your long weekend on Thursday, July 3, when the Lake Pleasant Fireworks Show offers a head start on Independence Day festivities. Starting at 4 p.m., head to either side of the lake (Pleasant Harbor to the east or Maricopa County Park to…
Sat 6/28 While the first wave of hot rodders set a standard for fast cars, teens and twenty-somethings these days are building sweet rides on their own terms. Classics and muscle cars are growing scarce (not to mention more expensive), so they’ve satisfied the need for speed with souped-up four-cylinder…
6/28-11/2 “Seven,” the latest exhibition in Phoenix Art Museum’s Fashion Design Gallery, includes fashions so avant-garde that they are scarcely available outside of the Manhattan boutique that is the show’s namesake. The group of seven featured designers – Bernard Wilhelm, Bless, As Four, Boudicca, Cosmic Wonder, Imitation of Christ and…
Imagine you’re writing a novel set in Victorian England. After spending two intense years of working — limiting yourself to reading only literature from the period, listening only to music from that time — what happens when you’re done? If you’re author Melissa Pritchard, your liberation from period fiction inspires…
Tuesday, June 26 It doesn’t have to be the weekend to go out and shake your booty. Every Thursday night, Flavor pumps out house, hip-hop and drum and bass courtesy of two-thirds of the legendary Bombshelter DJs, Emile and Radar (who won “Best DJ” in this year’s New Times Music…
6/20-6/21 Veteran Valley dancers Liz Casebolt and Carley Conder combine their talents to present Falling & Flying, their choreographic debut, this weekend. The collaboration is a mix of modern dance and performance art comprising three pieces set to a diverse score that includes music from G. Love & Special Sauce,…
6/276/29 From Orson Welles to Steven Spielberg, the fraternity of successful filmmakers is a select one indeed. And while it’s safe to assume that the many intricacies required to bring an idea to the big screen are most likely cultivated over the course of a lifetime, a weekend crash course…
Thursday, June 19 Rather than fight or flee the heat, the folks at SIX are handling it in a Zenlike way, starting up a weekly party to make the best of it. SummerSoul, “a celebration of summer lifestyle,” is all about kickin’ it to the laid-back sounds of reggae, funk…
When Phoenix native Angela Johnson moved back to the Valley after living in Los Angeles for eight years, she was prepared to leave the fashion industry behind. She had found success with Monkeywench, her own line of snowboard wear, and with her job as a designer for the popular streetwear…
ONGOING Oil up that arm and get ready to show some strangers just how tough you really are. In homage to the old-style roadhouses of the Wild West, Iguana Mack’s, 1371 North Alma School in Chandler, can guarantee you a good time — if you have the elbow grease. The…
ONGOING It’s more than a fleeting launch fad; it’s the West Valley’s wildest ride. In weeklong sessions continuing through July, the Challenger Space Center’s Adventures in Space program hurls kids into educational orbit. The Space Place Adventure teaches prekindergartners and kindergartners how astronauts eat, sleep and — most fascinating! –…
Thursday, June 12 Eating your lunch at your desk every day gets old — fast. Get a stimulating break from your workday courtesy of the Arizona Humanities Council on Thursday, June 12, with the latest installation in the Thursday Lunch Talks series. Local artist Ralph Cordova, a member of the…
6/5-7/20 We are supposedly the sum of our experiences. If we all had the experiences of Michel Sarda, we’d be pretty damn interesting. Equal parts architect, artist, photographer and designer, Sarda hails from France originally but holds Arizona close to his heart. “Dance in Motion,” Sarda’s collection of photographs of…
Thursday, June 5 Tucson-born comedian Pablo Francisco, best known as one-third of The Three Amigos (with fellow funnymen Freddy Soto and Carlos Mencia), hits the road for a one-man tour coming to the Tempe Improv this weekend. While he’s already got plenty of fans from years of performing in the…
