By Wynter Holden While hunting for rum raisin ice pops (yum!) in the nearest Food City today, I stumbled on something in the spice aisle that made me raise an eyebrow. Two, actually. There in the loose tea section was a package of small flowers and leaves labeled “Arnica -…
By Wynter Holden Recently, a boba-loving girlfriend recommended the durian shake at Lee’s Sandwiches in Chandler. Great, I thought, but what the heck is a durian? I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. The durian is a prickly fruit that’s native to Southeast Asia and has a rather…
By Wynter Holden California native Steve Delaney, who’s worked behind the bar at Tempe’s Rula Bula for over three-and-a-half years, is the only one in his family that hasn’t been to the Emerald Isle. He has no brogue, and I’m pretty certain he couldn’t direct you to Killarney or tell…
by Wynter Holden After last week’s adventure into grannyville, I thought I’d venture into trendier territory this week. So when I suggested a mid-week trek to the upscale, chic Bombay Spice Indian bistro at 16th St. & Glendale in Phoenix, my roommates squealed and said, “hell, yeah!” Since my return…
Live video shorts with no script, no real actors, and no plot. Sounds as palatable as Mike Myers in a thong, but according to Phoenix Neutrino Project director Mark Jordan, it’s pretty funny stuff. “The audience plays a role in the filming, like a home video where [they] live vicariously…
Deviant sex just doesn’t shock like it used to. Madonna made the lesbian kiss passé, CSI episodes about necrophilia and “furry sex” raised the perversion bar — and who could forget Phoenix’s infamous Baby Man? Leave it to the Japanese to come up with something new. Yaoi (yah-oy), also called…
by Wynter Holden Lots of foods are rumored to have aphrodisiac properties. Strawberries and champagne, which I personally find more romantic then sexually stimulating. Oysters, because of course there’s nothing sexier than slipping slimy, wet shellfish into your gullet. Ugh. Then there’s figs, garlic, chocolate; all of which I love,…
by Wynter Holden I’ve heard of it. I’ve seen it on menus. But honestly, I had no idea what the heck it was. So when I spotted cassava as a solo ingredient on the tapas menu at Havana Café in Phoenix, I figured it was about time I got acquainted…
by Wynter Holden Lisa Dowd is a witty, personable New York transplant who likes to gossip with her neighbors and knows an awful lot about “cawfee.” Five years ago, she ditched a lucrative (albeit stressful) career as an X-Ray tech to open a small coffee shop inside a Scottsdale salon…
By Wynter Holden Sure, it’s easy as fat-free pie to stick to your diet if you’re at home weighing meat or eating entrees out of a box. Some dieters just give up altogether on eating out, but I say…screw that! So I’m looking for creative ways to help you stick…
Who doesn’t love watching two dozen tall, lanky women panting, sweating, and bumping up against each other? If you do (and we definitely do), then watch the Phoenix Mercury get down and dirty with the Connecticut Sun. In this season’s WNBA preseason opener, Connecticut whipped the Mercury’s ass, so our…
Portrait artist Derek Wilkinson is among good company, the likes of Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh. Then again, Da Vinci was charged with sodomy, Rembrandt bedded his maid, and Van Gogh mutilated his own ear. Yikes. Luckily, it’s their work we remember, not their personal lives. “I think Rembrandt’s…
By Wynter Holden I’m trolling local markets sniffing out the weirdest, wackiest foods found on grocery store shelves. For the inaugural Shelf Life, I was imagining some exotic unknown foodstuff, or maybe a soda pop with a name that got butchered in translation. That was, until I saw this at…
By Wynter Holden In my freshman year of college, this hot musician I’d been salivating over asked me to dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant. I remember seeing “chili padi” listed as an ingredient in my dish; but I wanted to keep the smart girl image in front of my…
She was everything I wanted, from the cool bohemian attitude with a sprinkling of urban hipster to the sparkling green that sheathed her ample curves. We seemed the perfect couple. Politics, religion, women’s rights, environmentalism — on every major issue our ideals matched seamlessly. I imagined long walks on the…
The greatest fakers in the art world aren’t forgers, wanna-bes, or even drones churning out 20 Mona Lisas a day for oil-painting stores. They’re practitioners of trompe l’oeil. French for “fool the eye,” the art style was first used in ancient Greece, where landscape murals were so realistic that citizens…
Lace up your vinyl corset and strap on those dusty “fuck me” boots we know you have hiding in the back of your closet for Tranzylvania. The weekly goth/industrial night features drink specials, laser-light shows, and performances by DJ Dan of Anderson’s Fifth Estate and DJ noiz.fkr, who scratch hardcore…
Why are Americans so obsessed with individuality? Perhaps because we have a dismal track record with groups. Think Heaven’s Gate. The Arizona Cardinals. OJ’s first jury. Printmaker and curator Camilla Taylor knows firsthand that coordinating a group isn’t easy, especially when they’re all artists. “It’s always torture to get people…
The Rockabilly Revival conjures images of slicked-back dudes with oil-spill hairdos crankin’ out “Ring of Fahr” on sunburst hollowbodies and big-ass slap basses. According to “The Wolf,” a Valley music promoter and founder of azrockabilly.net, rockabilly is a lifestyle that connects folks to a simpler time. “It’s a romance of…
Excuse us while we daydream. Imagine being defended by power attorney Claudia Schiffer or watching Queen Latifah debate Hillary for a seat in the Senate. How about confessing your sins to Cheech Marin, best known for his offbeat stoner films with former partner Tommy Chong? Penance would be to sing…
Phoenicians are ambivalent about historic preservation. We mourned the Ciné Capri but turned our backs on the Washburn Piano building. Tempe’s geodesic dome disappeared overnight and we barely noticed. Enter artist-developer and Artlink founder Beatrice Moore, the Supergirl of historically significant structures, who stops bulldozers and saves buildings with a…
Long before she was “discovered” at age 11, singer/songwriter Shannon Curfman had plans to become rich, but she wasn’t dreaming of fast cars or big houses. “I wanted to be a doctor, because they made money,” Curfman, now 20, tells New Times. “And I knew to buy all of the…
