Cult of Personality Porn again: Thank you, New Times, for tipping me to Katie Rose’s porn (“It Girl,” Megan Irwin, May 25). I had no idea; I’m far from being in that loop. I’m happy to read that she’s not embarrassed by having done it. I’m puzzled why she spends…
During the Arizona State-Arizona series in Tucson a few weeks ago, Arizona Daily Star sports columnist Greg Hansen wrote of ASU’s head baseball coach: “Pat Murphy will win no one’s popularity contest. He’s thoroughly unlikable, but that’s good in the sense of the UA-ASU thing. . . . One thing…
Arizona State University officials cut an outrageous deal with insiders on the sale of the ASU president’s house that appears to have shortchanged taxpayers more than a half-million dollars, according to university records and interviews with key ASU officials and area real estate agents. The money lost to ASU could…
A little more than a year ago, the Arizona Department of Transportation paid Paul Braunstein almost a million dollars to go away. Braunstein is the owner of BasePlans, a small engineering firm in Tempe. He once counted ADOT as his biggest client. A native of Hoboken, New Jersey, Braunstein had…
Keystone Klowns Who needs Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey when Maricopa County’s got its own version of the Insane Clown Posse on call, 24/7? Yep, these clowns wear brown instead of round red noses and greasepaint, and they’ve even got shiny badges instead of water-spittin’ daisies on their shirts!…
Whenever I bad-mouth illegal immigration at work, many of my Latina co-workers automatically assume I’m bad-mouthing Mexicans. Why do Mexicans always think that when a gabacho expresses dislike toward illegal immigrants, that they’re talking about Mexicans? Fences Make Good Neighbors Dear Gabacho, Where to begin . . . where does…
Before the P-town Rihanna and I get blunted at the four-year anniversary of the Dolemite of hip-hop clubs in the PHX, there’s a little information we must convey to the masses. In the last Inferno at WWIII Sadisco (“War Games,” May 18), I mentioned that Sadisco co-founder Donnie Burbank believed…
A Hard-Rock Life It’s been done before: About Katie Rose, her fans who worship her are either people who lead dull lives and who are dissatisfied with themselves or they’re people who don’t have anything better to do with their time (“It Girl,” Megan Irwin, May 25). Pretty pathetic, if…
It’s a Monday evening in early May, business as usual at The Rogue, a dive bar on Scottsdale Road, not far from the Tempe border. The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” is on the stereo, and the daytime bartender serves cheap beers to the early regulars. As if on cue,…
Boy, are a butt-load of you homos (and by homos, this plumed penman means Homo sapiens) wack! And no, The Bird ain’t talkin’ about Tom Cruise with a mouthful of placenta, or Keith Richards climbing a freaking Fiji coconut tree. Rather, this cee-gar-chompin’ nest-dweller’s squawkin’ about the nutty response to…
And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him; therefore is he justified. — Joseph Smith’s 1831 revelation on marriage and polygamy as currently published in the mainstream Mormon Church’s Doctrine and…
Dear Mexican, Why don’t Mexicans like being called Hispanics? Hispanic Doesn’t Make Me Panic Dear Spic, Because Mexicans aren’t Hispanic — Mexicans are Mexican. Besides, the history of “Hispanic” involves two attributes Mexicans despise: political correctness and a clueless bureaucracy. In 1975, Caspar Weinberger — then Secretary of Health, Education…
You Got Served Actually, the Wrigley wasn’t amused: Wow! That was some funny stuff you published about Chef Kaz Yamamoto (“Xtreme Cuisine,” Stephen Lemons, May 11). You had me going for a while, but lines like, “Mr. Brad Pitt, he lick plate clean,” about Mayor Phil Gordon and Marlon Brando…
The Bird’s been wondering what’s up with the rather noisy bitch fight between the queen of the philodendrons and the City of Phoenix. Word on the street is that Tera Vessel is planning to unload her hugely popular nursery, Tera’s Garden, situated in the old William Edward Cavness House at…
Jett’s run off in a corner somewhere at Mardi Gras in Scottsdale, snapping a pic of this squalie’s ass, while I’m dodging flailing arms and legs near the dance floor. On stage, there’s a bald white dude, in a flowing Middle Eastern-type shirt that reaches all the way to his…
Surely We Jest The Wrigley Mansion Does Not Cook Dogs! A recent extensive article appeared in New Times asserting that the Wrigley Mansion hosted an event that served up “unconventional” cuisine such as dog, cat, penguin and other exotic meats (“Xtreme Cuisine,” Stephen Lemons, May 11). Although the article was…
The last morning of Abigail Nicole Lahnan’s short life begins peacefully. It is March 23, 2005, a Wednesday. Abby, who was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital on November 28, 2003, awakens in her crib across the hall from her parents, Deanna and Patrick. The young family lives in a second-story…
The warm glow of candlelight suffuses the Wrigley Mansion’s grand living room, as George Gershwin’s ghost tickles the ivories of an ancient Steinway, belting out the dulcet tones of “Rhapsody in Blue.” Seems Gershwin was a guest of chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. back in the day, and recorded…
It may be a practice dating back to ancient Rome, when primitive drawings announcing “Mongo was here!” decorated the walls of caves, but The Bird says “Beware!” to local graffiti artists and taggers: Our cultural wasteland isn’t your canvas so much as a dragnet waiting to drop on your spray-paint-stained…
Paul Rubin was named Virg Hill Journalist of the Year for the third time in his 20 years as a staff writer at New Times, at the 82nd annual Arizona Press Club awards banquet, held May 6 at the Heard Museum. Sarah Fenske was honored as Virg Hill first runner-up,…
Heavy Meddle Metal is as metal does: Kudos on your column (“Heavy Issues,” Stiletto, Michele Laudig, April 27). It is simple-minded people in the local scene and even the national and international scenes that place a black mark on metal with their ignorant rants of what is deserved in their…
Arizona State University’s men’s basketball coach Rob Evans revived a program disgraced by a notorious point-shaving scandal and reached postseason play four out of his eight seasons. While winning was important, Evans’ overarching goal was to teach his players how to succeed in life. He kept close watch on his…
