Though some NASCAR drivers embrace a squeaky-clean image, others have figured out that nice guys really do finish last. Take top-ranked racer Carl Edwards, who gave a prized trophy to a disabled fan and raised dough for Mexican orphans. Dude stopped being Mr. Nice Guy when he purposefully rammed his…

The Victorian era spawned discoveries that revolutionized the world, from electric power and photography to the first glass and iron building. Of course, Victorians also had cholera outbreaks and the greatest divide between the rich and poor in modern history until, well, now. But no time period is perfect, right?…

Admit it: You cringe every time a radio station plays the watered down “Forget You” version of Cee Lo Green’s catchy tune or TV censors bleep out the best parts of Deadliest Catch. Good thing live theater isn’t bound by the same language restrictions or poor playwright David Mamet would…

Thankfully, Tempe is free from 150-foot-tall marshmallow men and green ectoplasm blobs with bad manners. But there is something strange going on in the neighborhood, at least according to paranormal experts who will attempt to document the haunted happenings at Monti’s La Casa Vieja on Mill Avenue and Rio Salado…

Thanks to all of the celeb gossip circulating recently, Halloween costumes are finally going beyond slutty cop and naughty nurse. Expect to see Gaga with a bug-eyed Bill Clinton lapping at her heels, Snooki in her signature tight leopard print dress, and maybe even a few rehabbed Amy Winehouse outfits…

The saying “art imitates life” is certainly true when it comes to adventure novelist Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt novels. Both Cussler and his fictional hero have unearthed amazing shipwrecks. They also share military experience, aircraft knowledge, and a collection of kick-ass hot rods that would make James Bond green with…

Imagine trapping Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in a room with Jennifer Aniston and her baby-daddy hopeful of the month. Add a little vino to the occasion and no doubt Jolie would go all Tomb Raider on Aniston’s ass while the boys sit back and watch the girl-on-girl action. Granted,…

Screw Shakespeare and his depiction of witches as old, ugly hags brewing potions from newt eyes and frog’s toes. These days, witches come in all shapes and sizes, from Wicked’s perky blond enchantress Glinda to the teenage hotties of the CW’s The Secret Circle. Grab your pointy hat and come…

Flashback to the early ’40s: A voluptuous Ella Fitzgerald strolls up to the mike and lays down a scat track in three octaves, accompanied by the legendary Dizzy Gillespie on horn. If the power pair was starting its career today, a waif-thin Ms. Fitzgerald would likely be singing watered-down pop…

Pagan rights may have come a long way since the Salem witch trials, but there are still crackpots burning Harry Potter books and boycotting Halloween because it’s “Satan’s playground” (though the sight of toddlers dressed up as Snooki and Gaga does have us consider the legitimacy of the latter). Get…

The stereotypical ex-con is a burly bruiser whose tattooed biceps are bigger around than Shakira’s thunder thighs. So it’s a bit of a shock to see pretty, petite University of Arizona grad Trisha Hart Ditsworth play a parolee who was convicted of murder in Phoenix Theatre’s musical production of The…

The Sunnyslope neighborhood of Phoenix has attracted an “eclectic” mix of residents since it was incorporated as a town in the early 1900s: first tuberculosis patients, then Haver-esque mid-century mod architects, meth-heads, and, finally, quirky artist types. Get a load of the ‘Slope’s newest residents at the semi-annual Sunnyslope Art…

The Japanese may be responsible for the toilet paper hat and the umbrella tie, but we can overlook those ridiculous inventions considering they also gave us sushi, hybrid cars, and anime, the adult-friendly genre that made Saturday morning cartoons worth watching again. Get your fill of manga, anime, and import…

Hopefully, self-acclaimed “psychic medium” Allison DuBois is better with the dead than she is with the living. On a Real Housewives episode jokingly dubbed “The Dinner Party from Hell,” she got a little tipsy and quipped, “In biology, carnivores turn on each other. Can’t we say you’re sick and pull…

Life isn’t fair, even in the comic book world. Heroes like Superman and Batman get the glory, the girls, and a ton of adoring fans. Meanwhile, the artists and authors whose imaginations give the heroes their powers are rarely recognized. The comic book kingdom’s unsung heroes will get their due…

Media hype makes all fundamentalist Mormon men out to be pedophiles or players, while their women are cast as pitiable victims in dowdy dresses. In reality, most of the LDS community isn’t down with the Big Love stereotypes. “I have lots of family members who would be extremely offended at…

The Tony Awards show used to be a grand, serious affair. These days, it ain’t the Tonys without Chris Rock popping off a hooker joke, Brooke Shields dropping an S-bomb, or Neil Patrick Harris singing about how theater “isn’t just for gays anymore.” It’s doubtful you’ll see such colorful events…

As much as we’d like to think that looks don’t count, let’s face it: Pretty people get a ton of perks, from free nightclub admission to higher salaries. But as local artist Luster Kaboom points out, there’s an upside to not being really, really good looking. “When I have tried…

Phoenix isn’t exactly a breeding ground for superheroes. Gotham and Metropolis get all of the good characters, while the lone Marvel heroine named after our city is a destructive bitch who incinerates everything in her path. Thankfully, there’s Russ Kazmierczak’s Amazing Arizona Comics series, which chronicles the adventures of Phoenix-area…

Late playwright Tennessee Williams’ life story reads like a list of cheesy tabloid headlines: mentally disturbed sister, an addiction to pills and booze, a plethora of stormy gay love affairs. Seriously, the dude put Ted Haggard and Mel Gibson to shame. But rather than sinking into obscurity or going down…

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex isn’t exactly bedtime story material. With a plot that includes child rape, murder, and an incestuous relationship that would make anyone but the deepest Southerner blush with shame, there’s no way that even the trained whitewashers of Disney could make the classical Greek tragedy PG. So it’s…

Auto racing is a dangerous game: Hundreds of drivers have perished on the track, including Dale Earnhardt Senior, Blaise Alexander, and Pierre Levegh, who wiped out 86 spectators when he crashed at LeMans. Perhaps that’s why mystery author Kathy Reichs chose NASCAR as the setting for her new novel, Flash…