A Massachusetts YMCA physical instructor invented volleyball in the late 19th century. And he invented it for old people. Clearly, the sport has come a long way. See for yourself at the SPIKED! Summer Pool Party when the jocks from Desert Volleyball Alliance party with guests. See all those young,…
See this Coen Brothers classic on the big screen. Thu., Sept. 2, 7 p.m., 2010…
In a sea of emo junior high kids, undead zombies, and angry religious types distributing pamphlets throughout downtown Phoenix’s First Friday art walk, there is a beacon of hope for art lovers looking to learn a little bit more about some of Phoenix’s best kept art-gallery secrets. Just look for…
Having a superstar successful sibling can create a lifetime of jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, and repeated evidence that your parents, in fact, care less about you. When it comes to the Murphy family, however, we can’t help but feel triumphant about Charlie Murphy, who gives hope to all forgotten siblings…
Make a dumb comment about your pile of dirty dishes on Facebook and someone living in Brazil might gostar it. (Yes, yes, we know that Brazilians prefer Google’s Orkut, but just play along, okay?) This hyper acceleration of potential for human connection is what drove curator and fine art consultant…
Boo on you, UofA. You’re indirectly responsible for the Arizona State Sun Devils Football ho-hum schedule to begin the 2010 season. You see, months before former Wildcats’ head coach Dick Tomey announced his retirement as head skipper of San Jose State’s football squad, he and his Spartans chinced out on…
With real unemployment hovering near 20 percent, there is nothing in sports more accessible to the common fan than the last game of the NFL preseason. While the established stars don baseball caps and feign interest, the men on the field know that one big play or horrible mistake could…
The Arizona Diamondbacks may not win a lot of games, but they understand how to serve revenge. In July, the D-backs had a chance to damage the playoff hopes of their hated rivals, the San Francisco Giants. The fact that the Diamondbacks proceeded to drop four straight games to San…
While bizarro their name doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, it doesn’t seem to be hurting !!! (CHK CHK CHK). The group, which originally formed to play an all-night party in Sacramento, has been called one of the most inventive dance-punk bands around. Their catchy tunes will infiltrate your noggin…
Bay Area darlings the Stone Foxes affirm their devotion to blues-soaked monster rock on Bears & Bulls, the highly anticipated follow-up to 2008’s self-titled debut. The gutbucket six-string riffs and soulful shout-singing on tracks like “Stomp,” “I Killed Robert Johnson,” and “Little Red Rooster” show this band of twentysomethings has…
Screaming Females were delivered to my desk when I worked at a local radio station. An unabashed riot grrrl fanatic, I hosted a weekly show that juxtaposed yelling, pissed off variations on Kathleen Hannah with 60s girl groups harmonizing about how much they wanted to get married. So maybe it…
It’s no joke that great, lusty swaths of the male demographic find Iliza Shlesinger visually appealing. Yet there are reasons aplenty the Dallas native was crowned the sixth-season winner of NBC’s reality contest Last Comic Standing, and they aren’t merely her blonde tresses, her sultry baby blues, and her perfect…
This family-friendly jaunt winds along the Gila River. Thu., Sept. 2, 8-9 a.m., 2010…
After a brief hiatus, Kung Pao Radio Sundays at The Lost Leaf are back and cooler than ever. No, really. When we say cooler, we mean it in more ways than the night’s new resident DJ duo. You see, the downtown Phoenix hot spot has also added a new air…
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s September. That means we all start mentally fooling ourselves into believing that the hot weather is almost over (yeah, right). One little trick is to head outdoors for some strenuous exercise because, you know, that sweat is from working your body, not the heat (eye roll)…
The old town Scottsdale gallery unveils a new group show inside of its digs on East Main Street. Mondays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 7. Continues through Oct. 20, 2010…
To appease a shy personality, Charlie, with the help of his friend, passes off as a foreigner so he doesn’t have to talk to anyone. Instead, he listens and discovers a sinister plan. Of course, comedic mayhem ensues. Fridays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m.; Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Starts: Sept. 3…
Pat Tillman, the Arizona Cardinals safety who enlisted in the Army Rangers eight months after September 11, read Emerson, Chomsky, and, though an atheist, the Bible. Resembling a beefier Seann William Scott, he shunned cell phones, cars, and professional-athlete megalomania. A fiercely private (and principled) person, his death in Afghanistan…
Remember birthday parties where the main entertainment was playing with all the kid’s new stuff? Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art must feel that way about the gift they received earlier this year: works from the collection of Don and Carolyn Eason. The just-opened treasures in “Thirty Years of Collecting: A…
Sometimes you feel bad for movie marketers, tasked with connecting any given film to as large an audience as possible. Take, for example, The American. Judging by the film’s trailers and advertisements, it’s a fast-paced Euro-stylish thriller starring George Clooney as a dashing, conflicted hero. Yet it quickly becomes apparent,…
Happily sampling nasty beats and riffs from the Scorsese catalog, the new Aussie crime saga Animal Kingdom begins with a hushed but breath-holding set piece: A gawky lad watches TV on the couch next to his dozing mum . . . until the already-summoned EMTs arrive and the boy calmly…
Every eight years or so, I give Neil Simon another try. Usually I do this by trying to make it through one of the perfectly terrible film translations of his treacly and annoying stage plays by watching one on TV. (I always fail to get much past the middle of…
