The so-square-it’s-almost-hip fest features ostrich races (naturally), swine races (not quite so naturally), a demolition derby, a sea-lion show, a “Thrill Circus” featuring the “Globe of Death,” medieval jousting, and an odd slate of live music that ranges from contemporary country crooner Mark Chesnutt (pictured) to the antediluvian pop band…
Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If the “us” is the average Christian songwriter, then we’ll say that God is probably not for songs filled with clumsily rendered metaphors or music that is as restrained as a Van Halen cover band. Luckily, Bradley…
There are two schools of thought on how to celebrate the annual exercise in alcoholic excess that is Saint Patrick’s Day, which falls this year on Tuesday, March 17: A) Gather with hundreds of drunken, screaming malcontents covered in cheesy green trinkets and listen to clamorous Celtic rock bands while…
Planning an impromptu visit to Austin for South by Southwest? Screw that noise. The indie-music blowout is cool and all, but every hotel is booked, and you’ll just come back super-frustrated that you weren’t able to see every band you wanted to. Instead, hit up the can’t-miss RAMPAGE Fest 2009…
Joe Biden was installed as Vice President. Danny Boyle won the Academy Award for Best Director. Mickey Rourke wrestled his demons to the mat, and almost snatched an Oscar himself. Conan O’Brien is about to take over The Tonight Show. Amid all the other high-profile racial and ethnic gains in…
You’re in the nightclub, precious first-impression seconds ticking away, and she’s looking at you with breathless expectation. The lie just slides out. “I’m a Navy SEAL.” There it is. Suitably impressed awe. Can’t go back now, sailor, but you can’t go forward, either, so hitch up your tighty-whities, look that…
Do you remember that scene from the 1998 crapfest . . . er, rom-com The Bachelor in which hundreds of crazed wanna-be brides wearing white gowns dash down a San Francisco street chasing Chris O’Donnell? It’s kind of like what The Brides of March event is gonna be like, except…
It’s one of those weeks in the Cactus League. No marquee affairs like Manny and the Dodgers invading HoHoKam to take on the Cubs. No blood-feud rivalry games. Split-squad affairs everywhere you look. Blecch. It’s time to tune out the match-ups and check out a hot new park: Goodyear Ballpark…
It’s one of those weeks in the Cactus League. No marquee affairs like Manny and the Dodgers invading HoHoKam to take on the Cubs. No blood-feud rivalry games. Split-squad affairs everywhere you look. Blecch. It’s time to tune out the match-ups and check out a hot new park: Camelback Ranch…
Jason Webley used to stage his own theatrical death each Halloween — until a couple of years ago, when he announced that he would no longer die each autumn and would instead live year-round, singing about death and drinking in venues large and small. The former Seattle busker, who travels…
James Stewart and a pre-princess Grace Kelly steam up the joint in Hitchcock’s timeless tale of a murder caught on-camera by a hobbled voyeur (Stewart). The flick gave us the delicious image of a luminous Kelly slowly removing her gloves, of a lurching Raymond Burr, and of poor, tortured Miss…
The discoverer of the famous skeletal hominid named Lucy and founder of the Institute of Human Origins, now based at ASU, signs Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. Tue., March 17, 7 p.m., 2009…
The former reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of The Heartless Stone — a sociopolitical examination of the diamond industry — now turns his attention to an even deadlier concoction of nature in Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World. Zoellner hopped the globe to…
The author/filmmaker signs his charming New York Times bestseller, The Art of Racing in the Rain, a novel about personal redemption narrated by a dog named Enzo. Thu., March 12, 7 p.m., 2009…
Valley fever gets a bad rap. So what if it killed your dog or gave you a hole in your lungs? Big freaking deal. It’s not all bad. In fact, there’s a happening tonight that we’re all gonna want to catch. On Thursday, March 12, get infected by SMoCA Nights:…
Indie curator Suzanne K. Frantz discusses the life and work of Venice’s Tagliapietra, widely considered to be the greatest living glassblower. Wed., March 18, 7 p.m., 2009…
The nightlife series showcases a different Dale Chihuly sculpture and Chihuly-inspired cocktail weekly. This week’s featured sculpture: Chiostro di Sant’ Apollonia Chandelier. Cocktail: Topaz Champagne Cocktail. Entertainment: Black Carl (pictured). Thu., March 12, 5:30-8 p.m., 2009…
It seems, somehow, a little late in the game for another film about the religious condemnation of homosexuality. But while Daniel Karslake’s documentary For the Bible Tells Me So makes the usual points — about whether God censures gay relationships; whether the Bible actually even addresses the subject; whether gays…
The newly relocated fest features ethnic performers from the Southwest and Hawaii, island grub, cultural demos, and what’s billed as the largest group hula lesson in Arizona history. Sat., March 14, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., March 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2009…
It takes more than an overly ironic band name and a nasal-intensive vocal style to be a pop-punk singer. But not much more. Perhaps that’s why No Use for a Name vocalist Tony Sly decided to try his hand at an acoustic-indie-folk side project. Now don’t you go sobbing into…
If your hip-kid pride is offended that Night & Day is covering David Archuleta, you can just kinda eff off. Seriously, lighten up. We all have our guilty pleasures, and taking your cool factor too seriously is really, well, not cool. Archuleta, one of our favorite contenders on season 7…
Sporting events on Saturday nights are an iffy proposition. If you manage to convince a girl (or an effeminate guy, we don’t judge) to go, there’s always the risk that she’ll spend the evening reminding you of the romantic (read: boring) movies and nice (read: expensive) restaurants that you could…
