Andrea Silkey is obsessed with the quality of her music mixes. Every week, the 31-year-old DJ (who’s also know as Sonique des Fleurs) spends several hours in front of her computer hunting through digital music sites like beatport, djdownload, and trackitdown, sampling more than 500 MP3s of techno, house, and…
You might remember the story of four young Latino men from Carl Hayden High School who built an underwater robot named “Stinky” in 2004. They stunned the nation when Stinky kicked MIT’s lame robot’s ass in a college-level competition in California — not once, but twice. The foursome quickly became…
I’m sort of befuddled about the recent requiems for Phoenix arts community members who’ve left town for greener pastures — just as they always have and just as they always will. Okay, so it does seem like there’s an arts diaspora going on here, which some scene watchers view as…
Check out portraits, nudes, decorative abstracts, florals, mythological compositions, and more by the artist, who’s also the drummer/percussionist for the all-female Phoenix rock band W.O.M.B. Sat., Sept. 27, 4-7 & 8-11 p.m., 2008…
The fundraiser on W’s slick WET deck features a concert by the Grammy-winning hip-hop group (pictured), food by Sushi Roku, and a silent auction. All proceeds benefit Suns Nite Hoops. Thu., Sept. 25, 7 p.m., 2008…
You know those performances that you can’t get out of your head, even years later? For us, that’s the Taraf Degrief show from the summer of 2007. The group – composed of pianist Jacob Adler and unplugged vocalist DJ Richard – performed impassioned traditional Jewish songs written by Adler’s great-uncle…
Who are we? Why are we here? Are we obsessive-personality quirks led by a voice in our head? Is it God? Or is it our dog? Yes, we think too much, but that’s why we blow off steam by throwing chairs at people and attacking bystanders with various scissor holds,…
You heard that NYC’s infamous queer rapper Cazwell is coming to town, and not even a wholesome breakfast of fellatio from your No. 1 wife can keep you aligned. With his standout sound and carbonated persona, Cazwell tends to skew perceptions, especially when he performs his raunch-o-rama single “All Over…
Generally, if there’s a grow house nearby, The Man wants it shut down. But gRow House, a brand-new gallery and community garden on Roosevelt Row, is strictly legal, if still somewhat trippy. On First Fridays, visual arts, music, and scenesters overtake the House right behind Conspire and other Fifth Street…
Hardcore World of Warcraft players creep us out. Most resemble Harry Knowles (of Ain’t It Cool News fame) and spend every waking moment immersed in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Personally, we prefer Kingdom of Loathing geeks. For the uninitiated, KoL is a lo-fi MMORPG utilizing stick figures and…
For Bill Campana, being at a loss for words is rare. When he first set foot on a Valley slam-poetry stage, Campana’s goal was to “blow the place apart,” and the wordsmith’s booming voice has left audiences and venues reeling for the past 11 years. His vocal cords rival the…
It’s Friday night. Gentlemen are pressing their newest shiny button-down shirts and tweezing those rouge nipple hairs. Ladies are lathering with bronzer and reaching for padded bras. After a few million minutes in front of the mirror, it’s finally time to party. But this time, the debauchery is not in…
After filmmaker Cynthia Weber saw the post-9/11 spin ads featuring citizens of various races declaring their patriotism, she created her own ad and video series documenting the experiences of “forgotten” Americans — including political refugee Phil McDowell, Hurricane Katrina evacuees, an undocumented immigrant, and Minutemen founder Chris Simcox. Weber will…
If a grown man told us that he had a comic-book character named BopBagBill for an alter ego – a persona with “the same attributes as an anti-hero who sometimes gets involved with heroic acts, but [who] mainly is a character that works as an agonist” – we’d look for…
The granddaughter of Dashiell Hammett discusses the author and his run-ins with Red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy in this event held in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts’ “Big Read” salute to Hammett’s book The Maltese Falcon. Mon., Sept. 29, 7 p.m., 2008…
If the Arizona Renaissance Festival and Dungeons and Dragons produced a love child that was then raised by a haunted house, it would end up resembling Shadowlands, a Halloween-themed scare-a-thon filled with costumes, role-playing, and a heavy dose of the heebie-jeebies. Visitors can participate in a series of interactive and…
Those who think Rush wrote the line “All the world’s a stage” won’t know, or care, that Southwest Shakespeare Company has taken certain liberties with the Bard’s great comedy As You Like It, SSC’s season opener. On the other hand, those who believe it’s heresy to tinker with Shakespeare –…
There’s nothing like being in a public place without the public. We’ve achieved this higher state of being twice, and we’re not about to tell you where or how. Find your own deserted public crib to crash. As an example, take the Phoenix Zoo, a facility that’s difficult to navigate…
One of the art world’s greatest tragedies is scheduled to take place at 12 a.m. January 1, 2010. That’s when the Polaroid goes kaput. In case you haven’t heard, the cats behind the instant-film enterprise are only making enough consumer product to last through the end of 2009. There’s a…
If victory is a drug, then Kerri Walsh must be a hardcore addict. After all, the 6-foot-3 professional beach-volleyball player has amassed more than 100 wins on both the AVP and FIVB tours with longtime partner Misty May-Treanor, and has scored gold in back-to-back Olympics (including the Beijing games). Walsh…
Author Steve Almond has made a mint satisfying his oral fixations, and he didn’t even need kneepads to do it. A self-proclaimed chocoholic, Almond dove into the luscious, chocolate-coated underbelly of the sweets industry in his nonfiction book Candyfreak, satisfying his love for language with several witty collections that border…
It’s getting harder to pull off that old argument about Phoenix not having any culture, especially when the arts season here is so significant that it rates its own kickoff celebration. Phoenix Art Museum’s Urban Affair is being called “the Valley’s premier urban living event,” and that, as they say,…
