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…
Glendale’s Cerreta Candy Company not only sells fruits and nuts, French mint truffles, and peanut brittle, but also chocolate bars. Mmm, chocolate bars. Check out the family-owned biz during 30-minute guided tours of the store and its sugary delights. Self-guided video tours are also available during normal business hours. Mondays-Fridays,…
In Big Fish, author Daniel Wallace used tall tales to help a son search for the father he barely knew. In The Watermelon King, he utilized the stories of a town’s residents to help uncover the truth about his mother’s death. And in Wallace’s just-released fourth novel, Mr. Sebastian and…
Even world-class artists have to pay bills, especially if they choose to be grown-ups with families and stuff. David Borders served in the Army, got his master’s, and spent decades teaching others. “The contact with students is both stimulating and frustrating, from the point of view that my studio is…
What’s the matter, baseball fans? Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher and 2006 Cy Young winner, and Ken Griffey Jr. play-alike Justin Upton not good enough for you? Oh, you want more? How about tops in the National League West (at press time) and a three-game series against the surprising…
All Creatures Great & Small: The Complete Collection (BBC Warner) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD (Turner) Back to School: Extra-Curricular Edition (MGM) The Black Widow (First Look) Charlie Chan Collection: Volume 3 (Fox) DangerMouse: The Complete Series (A&E) The Dark Crystal: 25th Anniversary Edition…
He’s a Shakespeare fan, a one-time Bill Thompson impersonator (he played Wallace in a series of Ladmo-centric plays), and an actor/director who’s worked with practically every theater company in town. In his spare time, Wes Martin is the founder of brand-new Off Center Productions, for which he’s currently directing Marat/Sade…
The latest comic meteorite to hurtle forth from the galaxy of producer Judd Apatow, Superbad is about a couple of chronically unpopular best friends who, after four years stuck on the lowest rung of the high school social ladder, find themselves invited to a legitimately cool party. Goodbye, Friday nights…
Has it really been three years since I last saw a production of The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade? It seems like only yesterday I was trying to stay awake during…
Pump Boys and Dinettes: It sounds like the name of an orgiastic furniture store, but Pump Boys and Dinettes is a musical tribute to life by the roadside — along Highway 57, to be exact — somewhere between fictional Frog Level and the town of Smyrna. Original rock- and country-flavored…
Ask a random person five years ago what sudoku is, and you’d be lucky if they mumbled something about Japanese ritual suicide. But go down any supermarket’s magazine aisle today, and you’ll find whole racks stuffed with cheapie newsprint books full of the addictive puzzles. People can’t get enough. They…
Taxi Driver: Collector’s Edition (Sony) “Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads: Here is a man who would not take it anymore.” Martin Scorsese’s 1976 vision of Hell as city-of-night New York rips through the reverential treatment on this special edition like a hunter’s blade through deerskin. A second disc of eight…
When was the last time you mixed fine wine with punk rock? Well, now you can indulge in a wide variety of wines, beers, and cocktails while immersed in an old-school punk soundtrack every week during Punk Rock Mondays. Thanks to the Lost Leaf’s recent liquor license acquisition, this popular…
Before Sony, Sega, and Nintendo ruled the video gaming world, Atari was self-immolating like a financial Hindenburg, burying the millions of unsold games in a desert landfill. But before that, their legendary console, the Atari 2600, spawned a generation of passionate gamers. And a few still carry a torch for…
There aren’t any “Your Momma So Fat” jokes allowed at Positive Open Mic night, because 1) they are way played out, and 2) you wouldn’t want to be a grade A a-hole, would ya? Poets, comedians, dancers, and more are invited to show off their stuff without fear of some…
Westcor’s interpretation of Extreme Makeover: Mall Edition at the venerable Biltmore Fashion Park gave Retail Laboratory owner Chris Bale three frigging weeks to renovate and relocate to their new home across from Victoria’s Secret. Uh, thanks for the warning, guys. But faster than you can say “we’re moving,” Bale created…
It’s no wonder the New York Times gave animated filmmaker Brent Green props, saying his films are “some of the most original animations we have seen in years.” And it should come as little surprise that Filmmaker magazine dubbed the twentysomething one of the top 25 newcomers to the independent…
Urban photography wizard Craig Wactor ventured from downtown’s torn up Baghdad-esque streets and captured other depressive looking doom-and-gloom — the resurgent mining communities of Miami and Globe, Arizona — with his silver gelatin prints. Works by Farrell Yancy are also on display…
It’s time again for the Elvis faithful to grovel at the Graceland gates. Locally, our commemoration of the King’s 1977 demise is more subdued — if you can call the Elvis Memorial Sunset Dog Walk subdued. Those who dress like Presley win prizes, and their furry pals get treats –…
Take it back to the old school, live just enough for the city, or keep it on the down-low during Thumping Thursdays. The weekly shindig showcases live DJs spinning dusty soul grooves and nostalgic R&B tracks. Thursdays, 5-9 p.m., 2007…
It’s difficult to remember New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina. But thanks to the stunning visual epic Hurricane on the Bayou, we can indulge in wicked shots of alligator-infested waters and the Crescent City’s famed electric culture. The 2006 effort, narrated by Meryl Streep, was originally slated to showcase the stunning beauty…
If you happen to be one of those “creative types,” you probably house a huge heap of disgusting laundry hemorrhaging from your closet, green stink lines undulating. And if you can imagine yourself diving into that pile like Uncle Scrooge into his money bin, you might just have a piece…
