Expletive Delighted

Living the single life is brutal, and since no one wants to resort to total slutdom, many spend endless evenings alone with a few cans of PBR and some perverted lurking on xtube. If you happen to be one of these poor unfortunates, check out Stay Fucked, a screw-you rock…

Pop Culture Club

Our introduction to Dane Cook came abruptly one night, when, out of boredom or curiosity, we turned to Saturday Night Live and watched in amazement as the host, a fairly normal-looking, frattish-type man, energetically described flicking a cashew off his erect penis. The monologue went on for some time –…

Stormin’ Mormons

With the Spurs, Lakers, Mavericks, and Hornets lurking about, it’s easy to forget about other Western Conference threats like the Utah Jazz. Don’t. Led by Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, this team is formidable and, well, often overlooked. The Phoenix Suns aren’t likely to do so after the Jazz’s 108-86…

Pass the Blowtorch

Shaq’s a has-been. Dwyane Wade’s a walking M.A.S.H. unit. That makes the Miami Heat easy pickin’s for Your Phoenix Suns, right? Well, that’s what we said about the Lakers before Kobe and company applied the blowtorch, and Miami’s just the kind of team the Suns seem to overlook. We’ll see…

The Color of Money

His name will be forever modified by the phrase “the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Angels in America,” which certainly is no hardship. But Tony Kushner’s name might as easily be tagged with the parenthetical “(and author of Caroline, or Change),” because this unusual musical is in many ways as moving…

“Duck the Balls”

The five-member teams in this group/elimination tourney will try to crush — or at least badly bruise — each other in support of the Arizona National Guard Emergency Relief Fund. Sun., Dec. 9, 11 a.m., 2007…

Cheesecore

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…

Atmosphere on the Side

Chief among the reasons Deftones is one of the most compelling hard-rock acts of the past 15 years is Chino Moreno’s gripping vocals, which often act as a moody, atmospheric foil to the band’s raging guitar riffs. But with Team Sleep — Moreno’s long-running side project — pretty much everything…

Jason Hill

The fab Phoenix artist unveils 12 fab new works while fab Phoenix DJ William Reed spins fabulously in the background. Sounds fab. Wed., Dec. 12, 8-11 p.m., 2007…

Tammy Lechner

Despite the bold assertion in the accompanying photo, author/photojournalist Tammy Lechner should’ve titled her book Chicago Cubs: Big, Fat Losers. Rather, she chose the high road in her new Our Team, Our Dream: A Cubs Fan’s Journey Into Baseball’s Greatest Romance — described as a “passionate photo documentary highlighting 15…

The Willow House Grand Re-Opening Party

The early morning hours of October 29, 2007 was a dark time in downtown Phoenix. The Willow House, the iconic, seemingly unmovable coffee shop/art-centric hang/performance venue turned out its lights after a huge blowout bash featuring a séance, DJs, punk rock, and free jazz. Two days later on Halloween, some…

Upsetting Spandex Blacklight Party at Ruby Room

Eat your heart out, Richard Simmons. That’s right. The king of sequined tops and spandex shorts would be soooo jealous if he was hip to the Upsetting Spandex Blacklight Party. The, uh, tight evening will feature beats by Djentrification and “mandatory spandex.” Thu., Nov. 29, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., 2007…

No Festival Required Part 50: The Final Part

Steve Weiss has labored in near-anonymity for five-plus years to bring us the best microcinema works by filmdom’s unwashed underdogs. He’s moving on up to the (extremely relative) big time beginning in January with his new “No Festival Required Presents” series, which will offer creations “from international directors and distributors,”…

The Big Chilly

Hobgoblins. Enchantresses. Greedy hags. It sounds like an episode of Desperate Housewives, but it’s really Center Dance Ensemble’s annual take on Hans Christian Andersen’s good-versus-evil epic. Sat., Dec. 1, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 2, 2 & 5 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 8, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 9,…

Grizzly Man

Timothy Treadwell, an outdoorsman and author (Among Grizzlies), loved grizzly bears so much that he decided to live among them in their Alaskan stomping grounds. His passion for the brutes was so all-consuming that he undoubtedly continued to adore them even while one was gnawing on his rib cage. The…

200K Is Company, 300K’s a Crowd

Valley folks usually don’t flock together in large numbers — except to watch the Cardinals lose — so it’ll be nice to see a few hundred thousand Phoenicians rubbing shoulders during the APS Electric Light Parade, which features numerous illuminated floats and marching bands. Sat., Dec. 1, 7 p.m., 2007…

Warren Miller’s Playground

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

Warren Miller’s Playground

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

Warren Miller’s Playground

Eat my powder. That’s the mantra of filmmaker Miller, whose extreme-sports flicks capture extreme-sports fanatics in various states of extremity. This time around, Miller hops around the globe to various deep-powder destinations — including the highly unlikely Arabian Desert locale named Ski Dubai — to bring us desert dwellers a…

Oddball Home for the Holidays

You’re driving around neighborhoods searching out Christmas lights with your screaming kids hopped up on hot chocolate and peppermints. “Stop here! No, there!” The little darlings trample over fencing and a lawn jockey while the plastic baby Jesus cringes fearfully in His swaddling. Thirty seconds later, Junior’s grabbing the donkey…

Norman Dubie at Changing Hands

We always hear that there’s strength in silence and solitude, but that just ain’t gonna happen with writers like ourselves with a weekly deadline. So maybe we can take a page (or a hundred) out of Norman Dubie’s books. The accomplished poet and ASU’s Regent’s Professor of Creative Writing took…

Kitsch and Tell

Known far and wide for his coffee-table travel books (and privately for being something of a pack rat; his Silver Lake, California, home is reportedly overflowing with pole lamps and Krispy Kans and large plastic philodendrons), kitsch king Charles Phoenix is becoming even better known for his wacky comedy slide…