On March 4, a new gallery will open in the old anti_space location on Fourth Street and McKinley in downtown Phoenix. Like other galleries in the area, Cade Gallery will exhibit a variety of artwork, but (nerd alert) it’s also an old school, mini-arcade, so customers can kill space bugs…
If you’re not sure how to get to Pita House, do not use Google for directions. Google tells you to head north on Drinkwater and make a right onto First Avenue, which is impossible, because at that spot, First Avenue is restricted by an iron gate. We stupidly parked in…
The party’s pretty much over for spice lovers in Arizona. Today, Governor Jan Brewer signs House Bill 2167 into law. Introduced by Arizona State Representative Amanda Reeve (R) in January, House Bill 2167 bans ten chemical compounds commonly used in spice blends. Before getting to Brewer’s desk, the bill passed…
Anybody who’s ever tried to grow anything in our desert soil is familiar with the green-thumbed frustrations of bulging water bills or running into caliche while digging. Local blogger Jeffrey Ross gets it, and his blog, Gardening on the Moon, dishes helpful tips that are tailored to our desert environment.For…
Remember when Starbucks’ Frappuccinos were all the rage? Well, there’s long been another version on the market, made by another company headquartered in Seattle called Seattle’s Best. And while we prefer to go with Starbucks for the hot coffee that we make at home, Seattle’s Best might have the winning…
There’s not much mystery behind the Mystery Castle near South Mountain, but there is a great story behind this sprawling, quirky house.Construction on the castle started in 1929, when the builder, Boyce Luther Gulley, drove to Phoenix from Seattle in a Stutz Bearcat. He’d been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and, figuring…
The Arizona Pop Culture Museum, home to thousands of comic book action figures, posters, and memorabilia, has moved from its location at CityNorth to Desert Ridge Marketplace. The museum held its grand opening in the new space on Saturday, February 12, and general manager Veronica Garmo says they couldn’t be…
Clarification: New Times didn’t intend to imply that goddess temples in Orange County and Chico, California; Asheville, North Carolina; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Sedona offer sexual services like those observed at the Phoenix Goddess Temple. In addition, Goddess Temple of Orange County reports it’s “registered as a church with the…
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration hosted a media roundtable on synthetic drugs this morning. DEA Special Agent Gary Boggs discussed synthetic cannabanoids (commonly found in “herbal incense” like spice) and newer products being sold as “bath salts” that generally contain synthetic compounds said to produce effects similar to meth…
Fetish Revolution 11 took over the Venue Scottsdale on Saturday, February 12, and to many of the thousand-plus people in attendance, the most exciting performances were flesh-hook acrobatics by local group Life Suspended.But for us, the most exciting performance — and by far the most amazing thing we’ve ever seen…
I didn’t mind that my girlfriend went to look at Annie Sprinkle’s cervix, but I honestly wasn’t all that interested. There were so many other things going on at the Alwun House Friday night during the “Phantasmagorical Spectacular” opening of their annual Exotic Art Show that seeing a famous porn…
The phrase “herbal carbonated drink” makes us think of fizzy dirt tea, so when we saw it on the label for Rejuvenizer, we were reluctant to try it. The fact that the green tea/cranberry flavored Rejuvenizer is a dark purple color didn’t help (we have a history of falling down…
Tree hugging is so 1969. The new wave of earth lovers, led by former porn star and sex educator Annie Sprinkle, takes loving the earth to the next level.”I used to send women out to have sex with something in nature,” Sprinkle says. “I’d tell them to smell, hug, lick,…
When you’re driving along the I-10 East toward the Broadway curve, you may see a giant dish off to the side of the freeway, pointed at the sky. The Arizona Department of Transportation estimates that approximately 239,000 vehicles pass by this dish every day, yet most people have no clue…
Local artist Hugo Medina (he just goes by Hugo) had his first show at the Icehouse in downtown Phoenix almost six years ago. So when he heard the gallery and performance space was slated to close at the end of the year, he decided to put together a group show…
Contrary to the announcement made last November that five chemicals commonly used in spice would be temporarily banned by December 24, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration is now stating that the ban is not in effect.DEA spokesperson Barbara Carreno told media that the emergency ban had to be revised…
Note: This blog has been updated with information since its initial publication.Marshall Shore is from New York, but you’d hardly guess that based on how much he knows and loves about Phoenix. Shore’s blog, Lost Phoenix, highlights historical places and events that helped shape the culture of the Valley, but…
If you’ve driven north on Rural Road toward Broadway in the past five months, you might have seen something strange on the side of the road: Namely, giant silver sculptures that look like those robot performance artists in New York’s Times Square.But these shiny sculptures aren’t part of an art…
Can ceaseless Facebook posts save the Icehouse?In December, we reported that the Icehouse, a performance space and art gallery in downtown Phoenix, is slated to close at the end of the year. Now, the financially ailing venue is trying to drum up revenue by blasting Facebook friends with posts about…
Yesterday, we blogged about Arizona lawmakers’ efforts to ban ten chemical compounds commonly found in spice, also known as “herbal incense” and “synthetic marijuana.”Arizona State Representative Amanda Reeve (R) sponsored House Bill 2167, which would broaden the definition of “dangerous drugs” to include the ten compounds. Reeve said she’d heard…
Phoenix New Times was among the first news outlets to report on people snorting “bath salts” sold in head shops to get high.Judging by the ensuing coverage from other media outlets, our January 13 bath salts story got some peoples’ attention…
Last Thursday, the Arizona House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to pass House Bill 2167, which would expand the definition of dangerous drugs to include ten chemicals commonly used in “herbal incense,” also known as “spice” and “synthetic marijuana.”This news comes more than a month after the federal Drug Enforcement Administration…
