Ceramicists always wonder why they’re left in the dust while painters and sculptors get the glory. Let’s face it, clay boy, no one’s gonna care about your pot unless they can smoke it. Maybe that’s why Midwestern artists Teri Frame, Alex Hibbitt, and Liz Zacher decided to combine mixed-media and…
By Wynter Holden My husband had a field day with this one. On a recent trip to score a bottle of Stone Brewing Co.’s new 8-8-08 lager at AJ’s Fine Foods in Phoenix, he spotted this in the soup aisle and felt compelled to point it out. Ha ha. I…
By Wynter Holden After getting turned down by two bartenders at Chandler’s Regal Beagle, we finally hit the mark with someone who couldn’t refuse or pawn us off on someone else: the token new girl. Michelle Anthony is a tiny, adorable blonde who giggles nervously when she talks, loves gymnastics,…
By Wynter Holden I know what you’re thinking. A dieting column about going to a Chinese buffet? I must be crazy, especially after my abysmal failure at Chino Bandido a few weeks back. But that’s exactly why I chose the dreaded Chinese buffet. To serious dieters, the buffet restaurant is…
They say that those who can’t do, teach. Local artist Sarah Kriehn couldn’t disagree more. She taught elementary art for over 20 years, then retired and started a solo printmaking career. According to Kriehn, it’s not that teachers aren’t talented. The problem is that they just don’t have enough time…
By Wynter Holden This week’s supermarket find goes in my Hall of Shame for worst food product concepts. The Fear Factor candy was gross, but expected; the prawn crackers an example of differing cultural tastes; and the Irish moss drink repellent, but at least it was rumored to have aphrodisiac…
By Wynter Holden While house hunting a few years ago, I saw one cottage with a lovely orange tree in the backyard. The house itself was nothing special. But the tree was perfect. I imagined myself picking plump ripe oranges and making fresh juice; the first step on my way…
By Wynter Holden Eating healthy doesn’t always mean weighing food, counting carbs or avoiding sugar. In her book French Women Don’t Get Fat, author Mireille Guiliano advises women to order exactly what they want, but savor every morsel. No distractions. No speed eating. And no shoveling heaping forkfuls in your…
She is pure evil. Her words are biting, her stare pure ice. Her shrill voice will melt the paint off your walls. Your house is never clean enough for her. Your parenting skills and your appearance provoke her barbed tongue to lacerate every inch of your self-worth. And if you…
by Wynter Holden I do love a good fennel sausage. They had a mean spiced sausage with sweet, licorice-y fennel at my local organic market back in Portland, where I spent the past year and change. I sautéed it with apples and pasta in a light olive oil and garlic…
By Wynter Holden It’s minutes before midnight on Friday night and I’m packed so tightly against a skinny brunette in a hip-hugging black dress that I can practically feel the outline of her thong against my thigh. The room pulses with energy. The evening’s long-awaited final act begins exactly as…
By Wynter Holden Everyone’s always trying to find out what’s under 21-year-old bartender Naomii Musial’s skirt. That’s because the slender, tanned brunette works at Tilted Kilt, the South Tempe bar that combines Hooter-licious hotties in teeny plaid minis with the perks of an Irish pub and sports bar. Outside of…
By Wynter Holden Yes, you read the title right. If you haven’t already heard of Chino Bandido — or seen their mustachioed, sombrero-wearing panda mascot — you might be a bit shocked, even offended. In this age of political correctness it’s a miracle that such a place exists. That being…
Public Enemy No. 1 isn’t George Bush, Osama Bin Laden, or Exxon/Mobil. It’s Father Time, that bothersome creep who eventually turns your hairline into the Sahara or your perky boobs into rapidly sinking sandbags. Bastard. When artist Richard Lee realized that Rembrandt completed many of his famous sketches in seconds,…
Craving the beach? No problem. Hop in the car, drive west for five hours, and spend a couple hundred bucks on gas just to feel the waves on your feet. Screw that! Stay here for free and dip your toes in the beachside infinity pool at the new W Hotel…
By Wynter Holden There are a few horrible fads that I wish I could erase from my memory. Like those singing fish plaques. Furbies. Parachute pants. And this: Somewhere along the line between Survivor, Fear Factor and the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods, watching other people eat disgusting, scary food became…
By Wynter Holden It all started at a recent weekend brunch. Things were running pretty smoothly, until two of the girls at the table next to me started a vicious sauce debate that threatened to come to blows. Or at least a good catfight. Now, don’t get me wrong, I…
By Wynter Holden Bartender Crista MacKenzie of Chez Nous in Phoenix is every man’s dream girl — a lot of sugar, with just a touch of spice. She doesn’t drink much, loves her native Arizona and is devoted to her four-month-old son. Aww…how sweet. If not for the blue-tinged platinum…
By Wynter Holden Eating Asian food while on a diet can be a tricky proposition for an American diner. You’d think that Thai, Chinese and Japanese eats would automatically equal diet-friendly. I mean, proportionally (pun intended), how many overweight people live in these countries vs. the U.S.? Asian obesity rates…
It’s been more than a century since the glory days of Wyatt Earp and Geronimo, yet boys of all ages are still playing cowboys and Indians. And even when semi-automatics replaced six-shooters and battles over land moved into the legal arena, the, um, game has remained exactly the same. Take,…
He left the seat up. She painted the bedroom fuchsia. He used a photo of her mom for target practice. No wonder playwright Rich Orloff – whose Engagement Rules premières at Phoenix Theatre’s annual New Works Festival – takes his comic cues from other people’s relationships, because dysfunction is damn…
What’s the first thing you think of when you see soy sauce? Chow Mein? Sushi? Somehow, gefilte fish and matzo don’t make the list for me. That’s why I was surprised to see this quirky little line of sauces and marinades at Wal-Mart. The brand is called “Soy Vey!” and…
