9/3-12/31Designer Michael Graves (of Target teakettle fame) cemented his household-word status in 1979, when he participated in the "Tea and Coffee Piazza" project sponsored by Italian design house Alessi. The next wave, "Tea and Coffee Towers," visits the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art beginning Saturday, September 3. Architects from 11...
FRI 7/29Though you could make the argument that a majority of 21st-century kids (or adults, for that matter) couldn't find Japan on an unlabeled map of the world, that doesn't stop them from looking to the East for their animation. The popularity of anime, the Japanese form of animation influenced...
Jerry Colangelo dreams of winning a trifecta. And he would be well on his way if this town finally gets an NBA championship. He's already won a World Series championship with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. And last week he was bestowed the honor and obligation of bringing back the gold...
It is 1988 in McAllen, Texas. Irene Garza's portrait hangs in the living room of her aunt's home. The fair-skinned girl is hauntingly beautiful. Another family member stops by the house for a visit. Noemi Ponce-Sigler happens upon the portrait and looks into the eyes of the girl. She gets...
Sun 11/14 Wanda Sykes really does do it all. She's trying on a variety of gigs in her Comedy Central show Wanda Does It, including Chinese chef and prostitute. Nothing seems untouchable for Sykes, whose brand of snarky humor has given her labels she doesn't want. When Stuff magazine recently...
A punk rock club with its own record label promises great things, and that's just what Rogue Records -- named after the Scottsdale nightspot -- aims to do. Of course, its first release by The Half Empties isn't going to reinvent the punk prototype of loud and fast tunes, but...
It's the third week of January. By now, if you're like everyone else we know, you've broken your New Year's resolution -- popped that Vicodin, lost your gym membership card, hit the drive-through at Jack in the Box. We know a guy who resolved not to make any resolutions --...
9/9-10-15 Wanna show your boss who's boss? Take a lunchtime excursion to the Arizona State University Computing Commons Gallery, on Palm Walk and Orange Mall on the main campus in Tempe, beginning Thursday, September 9, when the interactive installation "AlphaWolf" opens. Sure, howling, growling and whining into a microphone while...
Cherry lollipop? Check. Eye patch? Check. Bandage on knee? Check. Loaf of bread open on the passenger seat, next to a half-empty bottle of Scope? Check. Bag of groceries with disposable diapers on top? Check. Driver's license, registration and proof of insurance within easy reach? Check. Cell phone turned off...
My job just got infinitely more difficult. See, I just got word that Freedom, the dance-music mecca in Tempe, is closing its doors at the end of May. This is a pain in my ass because I write a little feature called "Needle Exchange" spotlighting a different DJ/turntablist performance every...
Sun 2/29 Face it -- the invite to Sunday's 76th Academy Awards wasn't lost in the mail. So instead of spending a king's ransom on Vera Wang couture or an Armani tux in hopes of sneaking in, better go with Plan B. The Oscar Night America Gala at the Ritz-Carlton...
That Big Playboy in the sky works in mysterious ways. The Lesbian Johnny Knoxville and I had chosen to ride on Minder Binder's ska-punk Thursdays, expecting to find folks bouncing their heads to the sounds of local, Von Dutch-wearin', AFI wanna-bes. But when we arrive at that big, red barn...
A few years back, Sloane McFarland did something a lot of creative young people from Phoenix do. He left. And then he did something unusual. He came back. McFarland is an artist. You can see his video work on display at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, in a one-man...
2/28-2/29 Just say kampai on Saturday, February 28, when the Matsuri Festival toasts 20 years of celebrating Japanese culture in downtown. A traditional Japanese sake keg cracking ceremony launches the weekend of festivities, followed by a lively procession of lion dancers and drummers parading its way throughout the park. Entertainment...
All Around Downtown Chilly reception: I just got finished reading your "Cool Index" ("What's Cool," Amy Silverman, December 4) and I want to let you know how utterly disgusted I am by it. It is this sort of fawning, shoddy "journalism" that makes the downtown community look like a joke...
The dance floor at Hot Pink squirms like an orgy with clothes: Women and men, women and women, men and men and a number of more complicated combinations gyrate together -- humping, grasping, petting each other to the cyberpunk snarl of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself." Blue and red lights...
Polygamy Is Fundamental Financial planning: Far as I can tell, John Dougherty has done it again; provided clear information regarding the situation in Colorado City/Hildale ("Double Exposure," December 25). As a resident of Lake Havasu City/Mohave County, we have strong feelings regarding the lawless activities of the fundamentalists. Most of...
Journalists take it for granted that they can reach professors on the phone for expert opinions. Universities even publish directories to make faculty members accessible to the media. But you can't just call up Richard Florida, Heinz Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Ever since...
Thirteen hundred people packed the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Phoenix on October 21 to hear Richard Florida, author of the wildly successful book Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life, share his recipe for building successful cities. In urban planning circles, Florida's got...
Sat 10/18 You deserve a breakdance today. The ASU Hip Hop Coalition boogies into Burton Barr Library's Teen Central this Saturday, October 18, for a hip-hop hoedown. From 2 to 4 p.m., DJ demos set the beat as breakdancers, graffiti artists and freestylers take to the floor, and participants ages...
Limitless Potential Indy rocks: Your article about downtown Phoenix was very informative ("Sorry, We're Closed," Paul Kix, November 6). It brings out a lot of good points about what is needed as far as support services and entertainment for living, working and playing in downtown. Having lived in downtown Indianapolis...
Secondhand Lions is cornier than the cornfields spread out in front of the dilapidated rural Texas manse inhabited by Robert Duvall and Michael Caine, playing grumpy old brothers with mismatched accents. (Caine, in fact, has accent enough for three actors -- one English, another maybe Texan, another perhaps Australian.) There...
