Arts & Culture

There will be plenty of laughs unleashed as former Def Comedy Jam host Joe Torry presents a hilarious line-up of urban jokesters, including B-Phlat, A.G. White, and Comedian Kyle Thu., Feb. 12, 8 p.m., 2009…

The doc tells the far-out tale of John Peterson, who transformed the farm that had been in his family for generations into an artists’ colony in the 1970s, then rescued it from insolvency in the new millennium by turning to organic crops. Showing with the student film National Medicine: A…

Turns out the iMac has one fatal flaw: it enables sorority girls from Huntington Beach to market themselves as an electro-pop group. Meet The Millionaires, three young Jessica Simpson-alikes who wear Amy Winehouse costumes and became overnight Internet sensations thanks to MySpace and the Apple-exclusive GarageBand. Posing with alcohol bottles…

If you recently competed in P.F. Chang’s Rock ’n’ Roll Arizona Marathon and Half-Marathon and would like to inflict more pain on yourself, feel free to so during the similarly titled IMS Arizona Marathon and Half-Marathon. This debut shindig is a Boston Marathon qualifying event, so if you’re eager to…

You can justify just about anything while suffering from a broken heart. Sleeping around, drug abuse. But what’s a group of broken and betrayed straight-edge kids from Orange County supposed to do? Well, some of ’em started a metalcore band named Bleeding Through, which features vocalist Brandan Schieppati expressing his…

The celebrated featured film, Noodle, is a dramedy from writer/director Ayelet Menahemi about an El-Al flight attendant named Miri Kalderon (Mili Avatal) whose already complicated life is turned inside out when her Chinese maid seemingly abandons her young son (Baoqi Chen) to the Israeli woman’s care. The afterparty follows at…

Whether you’re a literature snob (“Oh, I only read McSweeney’s books, Chilean authors, or anything that City Lights in San Francisco recommends”), graphic-novel fan (“They are not called comic books anymore”), or connoisseur of supermarket-aisle reads (“So what if I like Dean Koontz? How many books have you written, buddy?”),…

The St. Valentine’s Day Music-Art Expo might be what your heart desires on February 14. Besides boxing matches between members of the Arizona Derby Dames, the offbeat V-Day affair will feature the works of 20 local painters and numerous tattoo artists, race cars, off-road trucks, and live music by BORG,…

At first glance, the SkirtChaser Race Series sounds like it might boil the blood of a feminist or two. A gaggle of well-toned female racers, many clad in specialty micro-mini skirts made for runners, will take off from the starting line at Tempe Beach Park and engage in a five-kilometer…

At the tender age of 9, you accidentally wandered into a dark, secluded tent on the outskirts of an amusement park. There, you first laid eyes on a naked female, dancing amid flames, her grotesque fatty orbs pointing at you like the Devil’s trident. Fear overtook you and you ran,…

If the godfather of Phoenix poetry wanted you to co-host a show with him, would you turn him down, even though you weren’t really into the whole co-host thing? Heck no, according to Shawnte Orion, who had previously turned down collaborating on any and all poetry gigs. “When Jack Evans,…

Should African-Americans cling to the legacy of slavery as part of their identity or should they distance themselves from this shameful, victim-identified chapter of their history? Thomas Gibbons’ A House with No Walls, in a co-production by iTheatre Collaborative and ASU, explores this conflict by juxtaposing a fictionalized, present-day story…

Big ballahs can head to the clubs, where the real parties will be happening. As with last year’s Super Bowl, a slew of hip-hop artists, such as Rick Ro$$, will descend on the Valley. The Def Jam slickster will host tonight’s bling-bling VIP Diamond All-Star Party alongside Suns guard Jason…

The NBA Hall of Famer and architect of the L.A. Lakers’ great Showtime teams signs his new book, 32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business. Thu., Feb. 12, 7 p.m., 2009…

Valentine’s Day can be as dry and dusty as those little candy conversation hearts that we will inevitably choke on. Since when does being struck by Cupid’s arrow mean allowing flowers, chocolates, and a fancy dinner to get in the way of the fun stuff, such as passionate sexiness festooned…

Wanna see something that’s the shit? You can, literally, when local DJ The S.H.I.T. performs during the weekly hip-hop MC showcase Gallery BLU re:DEF. The edition on Tuesday, February 17, will also feature a grip of funky purveyors of the wheels of steel, including Wildlife Refuge, DJ Refleckshin, DJ Emgee,…

The acclaimed short-fiction writer presents her new collection of short stories, Nothing Right, which is set in the Southwest. Wed., Feb. 18, 7 p.m., 2009…

Based on the book of the same name, the tasting will be spearheaded by a brewmaster from Four Peaks and a representative from Studio Vino, who’ll offer recommendations and tips. The cost includes one copy of the book and six tasting tickets. Preregistration and prepayment are required. Wed., Feb. 18,…

Cynics will scoff at the title of former President Jimmy Carter’s new book, We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land. After all, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict seems as untamable as a knapsack of bumblebees. But Carter does have a Nobel Peace Prize, and they don’t give those away in Cracker…

Your friends are enjoying romantic dinners and holiday sex while you, dear singleton, are home burning voodoo dolls of your exes. Well, screw the chocolate kiss-laden crapfest and head to the “You’re My Only Hope” photo exhibit for some relief. Juried by ASU grad and Booklist magazine founding editor Darius…

Here’s a little pop quiz for ya: 1) Do you love ladies? 2) Do you love the vagina? 3) Would you wear a button that reads “I heart my cunt”? If you answered “yes” to two out of three, we’re thinking you should head to Muff Mondays. The event goes,…

A cool grand. One thousand smackers. At press time, that’s the kinda serious scrilla you’d be dropping on eBay to get inside US Airways Center, 201 East Jefferson Street, for Sunday’s sold-out NBA All-Star Game. Since you’re choosy with the chedda these days, the options for finding big-time b-ball action…