Besides being known for its ginormous mosquitoes and quirkily homespun Americana, the great state of Minnesota has proven to be a phenomenal birthplace for musical greatness. We can rattle off names like Prince, Bob Dylan, Hüsker Dü, and The Hold Steady (not forgetting, of course, Babes in Toyland, Soul Asylum,…
The title of Katie May’s Black Sheep Gospel refers to a trio of itinerant sisters — an actress, a lesbian, and a religious zealot — who return to the fold to watch their dying, abusive stepfather get his just rewards. Part of ASU’s Festival of New Work, the play provides…
Unless they spew right-wing propaganda, mind-numbing sports analysis, or shock-jock talk à la Howard Stern, it’s hard for radio hosts to snag the attention of a vast audience. Not so with National Public Radio’s Ira Glass, an unlikely airwave celebrity who’s offered countless strange-but-true narratives uncovering the nooks and crannies…
02-19-2009 Thursdays, 9 p.m., 2009…
National championship? Bah. Rose Bowl? Humbug. As every ASU Sun Devils fan knows, any Devils coach — in this case, Dennis Erickson — who doesn’t whip the University of Arizona Wildcats risks decapitation. Erickson gets his first crack at the upset-minded ‘Cats. Sat., Dec. 1, 6 p.m., 2007…
Ah, winter. This is why we live in the Valley, right? Daytime temps are in the 60s. The sun is shining. All this means, uh, what? Additional coffee drinking? Yes. Eating homemade soups? Perhaps. Being a lazy ass and staying indoors? Only if you’re a slacker. Need some motivation? Check…
At the very least, The Canary Effect — a powerful documentary that explores abuses wrongly absorbed by Native Americans during both historical and contemporary times — will make viewers want to fight the power for these folks who are unfortunately treating as second-class citizens in our society. The flick, which…
Why is it that the heaviest bands often have the goofiest names? There’s a definite trend within the grindcore, hardcore, and death-metal scenes demanding cheesy names, outrageous costumes, cartoonish stage antics, and song after song about nonserious subjects such as drinking or abstinence for the straight-edgers. Bands like Arsonists Get…
It’s that time of year when every single party guest has overdosed on spinach dip, mini franks, Chex Party Mix, and other cloying holiday treats. And that’s not the worst part. Party season has just begun. It’s going to be a Stepford Season’s Greetings if you’re not careful. That’s why…
A car scrub with Wi-Fi and a fresh-food restaurant might seem overkill, but we’re talking about the Scottsdale Auto Salon, which offers an express wash and imported beers for you and a Victory Lane with concierge service, hand-washing, and champagne for us. As Suns broadcaster Al McCoy would say, “Oh,…
The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? We have to wonder if the same philosophy applies to politics. If the anti-immigration folks chose to chow down on some tasty tamales, not only would their stomachs stop grumbling, so would they. At the very least, they’d temporarily…
Remember the human tussling involved in that child’s game King of the Hill? Does that mean that the King of the Track Invitational will showcase a bunch of mechanized bullies running each other over to the death? Guess we gotta pound some canned Coors Lights and find out for ourselves…
Swimming. Biking. Running. Ouch. We can manage sitting if we don’t have to get up too often for more Pabst, so kudos to those participating in the challenging Anthem Holiday Classic Triathlon & Adventure Race. Sat., Dec. 8, 9 a.m., 2007…
When we were kids, we’d stare closely at newspaper photos until we saw the uniform black-and-white dots pop out. Or approach the TV screen to admire the beensy red, green, and blue rectangles. Artist Devorah Sperber specializes in the eye-brain miracle that makes images out of dots and pixels –…
Have you ever found yourself conspicuously avoiding cracks in the pavement or neurotically measuring the distance between the eyes of every person you meet to gauge their inherent lunacy? You may, then, have a sick proclivity for order and abide by a system that only you can truly comprehend. It…
G is for “guilty pleasure” where the works of Sue Grafton are concerned. We bet that even literary snobs whose bookcases are stuffed with Nietzsche and Nabokov occasionally draw the blinds and furtively feast on Grafton’s spellbinding, genre-bending “Alphabet” series of suspense thrillers starring the tough but vulnerable private eye…
Phoenix’s “artlife” scene is not really a scene at all, because it lacks synchronicity. But there are hotbeds of hope, and one is the northwest corner of Central Avenue and Camelback Road, where indie shops like Frances, Stinkweeds, and Red Hot Robot ply their trade. Check ’em out during the…
One of our favorite record stores just got even hipper. The folks at Revolver Records are hosting a First Friday shindig and they’re doing it the signature absurd-central-Phoenix way with Ukulele Ray, a San Fran comedy-rocker who plays a “lunchbox-a-lele.” Fri., Dec. 7, 6 p.m., 2007…
Remember securing your horse to the hitching post and stacking hay for eight hours a day, buckaroo? Of course you don’t, softie, but artist Gordon McConnell — who incorporates scenes from old movie Westerns into his mixed-media creations — does. Check out the work of McConnell and Tom Carlson during…
The man who brought us the auto airbag also saddled us with the Texas windbag. So say the critics of Ralph Nader, the muckraking consumer activist whose indie run for the presidency in 2000 sucked just enough wind from Al Gore’s sails to squeak George W. Bush into the White…
Before there was a building boom downtown, back when First Fridays meant you and 11 other people kicking rocks down Roosevelt, Casey McKee was putting out work that made him an underground sensation. Before long, he became all famous and would sell out shows, which, around here, can mean only…
It sounds all bright and shiny — like a good Christmas movie should — but this 2005 anti-war film by director Christian Carion is as dark as the Grinch’s heart, pre-Cindy Lou. It’s based on the true story of the unplanned and unauthorized Christmas Eve truce of 1914 during World…
