Peppermint Patty would be horrified. Lucy would scream bloody murder. But Charlie Brown is here to save the day from evil dentists who are filling our faces with evil contaminants. Brown is the legal counsel for the Coalition to Abolish Mercury Dental Fillings, a group of dentists, physicians and environmentalists…
March 21, 2003though he never knew the precise date, it was the very day Nile Southern had been waiting for longer than he cared to remember. On that day, Southern went into the Chelsea Mini-Storage facility on Manhattan’s West Side, grabbed the largest dolly he could findit looked like a…
There’s theater, and there’s great theater, and Dirty Blonde though enlivened by excellent performances and Arizona Theatre Company’s clever staging is just theater. Not even the best work of our biggest and brightest can make more of this pleasant trifle, a sort-of biography of screen star Mae West. Dirty Blonde…
A man, peering through the scope of a sniper’s rifle muffled by a silencer, holds hostage someone he considers an evildoer. They communicate via telephone: The sniper insists that if his prey disconnects for any reason, he will shoot to kill. To prove he is serious, not merely a lunatic…
Even under our current government, drugs are still something of a problem in society, which means that the rockin’ and reelin’ Spun hasn’t arrived too late to buzz with significance. In modern pop culture, being young, hooked, miserable, depraved and endlessly self-pitying reached its zenith of coolness about a decade…
The Second Annual Phoenix Am Skateboard Contest rolls into Desert West Skateboard Plaza this weekend, and unschooled spectators may want to travel with an interpreter — the proceedings involve more jargon than the most technically advanced operations at Honeywell. The 26,000-square-foot skating facility is ready for action: Its pyramid, volcano,…
Thursday, April 3 We don’t think rock ‘n’ roll ever died in the first place, but for the past two years, there’s been nonstop buzz about its revival. Whether you believe the hype, you only need to believe in the beat and it’s alive and well with the next generation…
From Hiroshima to the Hula-Hoop, American visual culture was dramatically transformed by World War II and its aftermath. A new aesthetic emerged as reflected in fine art, architecture, fashion and furniture that stood in stark contrast to the harder, more machinelike forms of prewar design. And the fruits of this…
4/5-4/12 While bicycle commuting seems like such an ecological, politically correct practice, here in the Valley, any thought of pedaling through the duress of summer is just impractical. So what better time for fair-weather environmentalists to make a point than just before the Arizona heat launches its offensive?Valley Bike Week…
Mon 4/7 So your little kid looks, acts, talks and pitches like a mini-me of Randy Johnson – we’re sorry about everything but the pitching, really… what’s a parent to do? Chances are you’d be well-served by taking the tyke (or tyke-ette) to the Major League Baseball National Pepsi Pitch,…
4/4-5/31 Every picture tells a story, and Valley music lovers are about to get an earful. Phoenix is the single Southwestern stop on the North American tour of “Linda McCartney’s Sixties: Portrait of an Era,” an exhibition showcasing 51 candid shots of the decade’s most prominent personalities. Including images of…
4/3-4/6 The macabre tale of Tosca – strewn with love, murder, jealousy and evil, exacting revenge from beyond the grave — has left audiences weeping for two centuries.Allan Glassman, the tenor playing Mario Cavaradossi in Arizona Opera’s production, has played the role many times but jumped at the chance to…
It was only in 1967 that Great Britain struck from its jurisprudence the “common scold,” essentially a crime of catty insolence for which the convicted party — almost always a woman disturbing the peace by nagging a man — was punished via a public ducking into cold water. Nobody likes…
Sat 4/5 At times like this, we all have, at least briefly, the instinct to turn away from the news. Perhaps this would be a good week to get reacquainted with your favorite book while discovering the Arizona Book Festival, set for Saturday, April 5. This is actually the Sixth…
3/283/29 If you are what you drink, then Glendale will have a cosmopolitan. Home to more than just antiques shops and cowboy bars, “Glendale’s got rhythm… and blues, reggae, alternative, folk, pop and Latin fusion,” says special events coordinator Vern Biaett. And that’s just a sampling of the lineup at…
Mon 3/31 Hunter S. Thompson first defined the word “gonzo” in the ’70s with his drug-fueled journalism. In 2001, the term was redefined by an outfielder who drove in the winning run in the bottom of Game 7’s ninth inning for your Arizona Diamondbacks.The D-Backs announced last week that Luis…
3/294/19 The Herberger Theater’s got a mouse in the house, but there’s no need to break out the traps. Not only is this rodent a well-regarded literary figure, but she’s got a knack for accessorizing. Childsplay’s stage adaptation of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, based on Kevin Henkes’ popular children’s book,…
4/14/10 The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of many forms of human suffering from the dark veil of communism to the comedy of Yakov Smirnoff. Unfortunately, it also marked the end of one of the most fascinating eras of art in the 20th century: the…
3/273/30 Like so many inspirational success stories, José Jalapeño has turned liability into laughter. A beloved character of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, the pepper has been stuck “on a stick” his comic catch phrase since his county fair pogo routine took a turn for the tragic.”Señor Dunham tinks I am funny,”…
I couldn’t help but scoff. A friend had forwarded me a notice about “Art & Society,” a new lecture series taking place at Arizona State University, and the kickoff event sounded too precious by half. For one thing, there was the setting: brunch at a posh resort, the Grayhawk Golf…
If there’s a flaw in August Wilson’s Jitney, it’s that it bends the rule that says there are no easy resolutions in modern drama. Wilson, in his desire to present proactive plays about black solidarity, ties up too neatly the heartbreak and calamity in the lives of the cab drivers…
War, as it turns out, is good for absolutely nothing when it comes to anti-war songs. At the risk of sounding like Bill O’Reilly (who, no doubt, listens only to Wagner), it’s time to protest the protesters, most of whom are blowin’, all right, just not in the wind. The…
