thursday april 1 According to Joe Louis' autobiography, the title confab of Black Theatre Troupe's new production, Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting, really happened. Ed Schmidt's play, directed by Douglas Alan-Mann, tells the story of a 1947 conference called by Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey in which he asks other...
Diary of a Mad House How did you guys get a hold of my real "secret diary" of the impeachment proceedings (Flashes, January 28)? Questioningly, Jon Kyl United States Senator Thanks for your recent satire of Jon Kyl's "impeachment diary." I wish you would expose it for what it is,...
The marquee is lighted and the front door is open, but the lobby of the Valley Art Theatre is empty. Outside, Mill Avenue is alive with the modest bustle of a Thursday evening in downtown Tempe. College kids, yuppies, panhandlers and cops are about their business. But with the possible...
It was one night in Arizona's rave scene. One night of glow sticks, blow pops and pacifiers. Of whispered lies, sabotage and cops with shotguns. One night of cuddle puddles and the best dance music on the planet. Of stink bombs, broken windows and gambles gone bad. One night of...
thursday march 11 For the second year in a row, the Phoenix Art and Antique Show offers a staggering array of bric-a-brac, objets, macguffins and other assorted knickknacks from 43 galleries around the U.S. and Europe, which are exhibited and sold for the benefit of Phoenix Art Museum. The goodies...
Jewel Spirit (Atlantic Records) Jewel Kilcher may have made a mint by marketing guilelessness, but she's a bit savvier than she lets on. Consider that her latest single, the characteristically preachy "Hands," instructs listeners that "only kindness matters." Of course, a pesky music fan wouldn't be out of line to...
Elvis Costello once sang about a fictional couple who had "songs for every occasion." You could make the case that Jamal Ruhe has bands for every occasion, or at the very least, bands for every type of song he wants to play. Ruhe, guitarist for the late, lamented Tempe band...
The Crime of Punishment Two years ago, while a visiting third-year law student at Arizona State University, I had the pleasure of meeting, and briefly working with, Dale Baich. Barry Graham's column "Near-Death Experience" (October 29) did an excellent job of portraying Baich. How Baich can do the work he...
The City of Tempe is about to serve notice on the "crusties," or homeless youths, who flock to Mill Avenue for the winter: "Watch your butts. Literally." The Tempe City Council, in conjunction with the business district's management company, Downtown Tempe Community Inc., is preparing to pass a municipal "sidewalk...
Tempe street artist, avid cyclist and self-made celebrity Frankie Martinez, known to most as Elvis, died October 8 after one of his lungs collapsed. This came as little surprise to any of the thousands who recognized him or the few who actually knew him, because Elvis always looked pitifully sick,...
It's early morning at the "Jungle in the Desert," the Combat Railfans' annual New Year's bash, which unfolds along the track southwest of Phoenix. Bacardi Carty, a founder of the fanatical Phoenix-based group, opens a beer for breakfast, the start of a routine day in camp for a Combat Railfan...
Not long ago, Pete Forbes was talking to a Nashville rep for Risk Records. The label rep had called Forbes after hearing the Phoenix singer-songwriter's thoughtful, well-crafted debut CD, The Gulf Between, which was released earlier this year. "This record is great. I love this record," the rep said. "Oh,...
Not long after the death of former Gin Blossoms founder Doug Hopkins five years ago, his family began the task of assembling his musical legacy. With the help of one of Hopkins' closest friends, Robert Shipp, the process of tracking down and cataloguing more than a decade's worth of material...
Squat's Up I totally disagree with Tempe's proposed ordinance to prevent homeless kids from sitting on sidewalks ("Crusty Crackdown," David Holthouse, October 22). I think it is wrong and should not be accepted. I am an upper-class white male, and feel sorry for the bums on the street. They have...
You Can't Fight the INS Thanks for publishing the column on Oscar Fuchslocher ("Red Hot Chile Paperwork," Amy Silverman, December 17), which was no doubt an eye-opener for many of your readers. Few native-born Americans have any idea of the monster lurking at the heart of the federal government--an unaccountable...
1998 DECEMBER 3-9 december 3 thursday Does the phrase "A river of liver and an ocean of fish" ring a bell? If so, then you're probably a rerun junkie--it's from the "Adam's Ribs" episode of M*A*S*H, in which Hawkeye Pierce starts raving about the wretched cuisine dished up by company...
thursday november 26 It's Thanksgiving, for heaven's sake. Stay in, stuff your face, and lapse into a tryptophan-induced stupor in front of the tube. If, after showing your gratitude to the Powers That Be by gorging yourself on Earth's bounty, you recover any energy later in the day, eat pie,...
As yet another scalp-searing summer draws to a close, the local gentry at Casey Moore's seem suitably pacified with drink and the promise of cooler temperatures just around the corner. That cheery notion isn't enough to straighten out the furrowed brow of the Grievous Angels' figurehead, Earl C. Whitehead. Tonight...
Each day, a squadron of earthmoving machines tears through rolling Sonoran desert 30 miles north of downtown Phoenix, ripping out native plants, destroying wildlife habitat and preparing open space for development. The planned residential community dubbed the Villages at Desert Hills is bisected by Interstate 17 and is being reshaped...
Bob Jacks knows what's important, and what's important isn't carrying high-interest revolving credit debt on his back. In fact, Jacks doesn't carry much at all. The Hammertoes guitarist and self-described "American gypsy" understands that enjoying the freedom of moving at a moment's notice means denying himself material goods some consider...
The Tempe Arts Center (TAC) has always existed precariously. It was conceived by a well-meaning city committee in 1981 to be an independent, nonprofit spot of culture on then-run-down Mill Avenue. It grew into an ad hoc arts center that mounts a wide range of exhibits and sends artists into...
Gordon Biersch, 420 South Mill, Tempe, 736-0033. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., seven days a week. It's hot. It's sticky. It's August. How do you find relief this time of year? If you've got some vacation time and disposable income, you can get a cabin in...
