courtesy Sumita Tomerlin Foxy Lady: Sumita loungin' it up... Wednesday is hard, and to get past it and closer to the weekend, we need help. That's my thinking behind my new Wed. feature: Hump Day Honeys. Every Wednesday, I'll feature some amazing babe from the Valley of the Sun along...
Right now, vino is pretty damn keen-o. Never before has wine enjoyed the prominence and popularity it does now, whether being imbibed by scenesters, serving as a social lubricant at fancy fetes, or getting lauded in flicks like Sideways. So it's probably a good idea your uncultured ass knew about...
Radio Free America I know what you're thinking, but no, this isn't a recap of how I spent the weekend. It's almost the holidays so I had to forego the hookers this time around. Rather, this post is marking a milestone of sorts for Radio Free America, soon to be...
Health food was always on the menu at the small south Scottsdale apartment where Blair and Kimu Parker lived with their three children. The Parkers were vegan, a common but less-than-household term that sounds distinctly extraterrestrial, possibly because the star Vega has spawned numerous science-fiction aliens that bore the name...
How can you explain the disparity between Japan and Mexico? Japan is a nation a fraction the size of Mexico, with zero natural resources, suffered a devastating war of four years that included two atom bombs, yet has reached the highest in educational achievements, technological advancements and economic power. Then...
The lousy CD cover to Knives in the Attic's 5 song EP, Death Pop, does it a great disservice. Sure, the blood-spattered, knifed teddy bear doodle fits the angst/death-obsessed lyrics, but it comes off amateurish. And this is a band that should be in the midst of a bidding war,...
This is not George Lazenby making his doomed run at James Bond, or even Mel Gibson presuming to play Hamlet. This is serious heresy, combined with a touch of felonious assault. It has evidently not occurred to Steve Martin that, just as there is only one Eiffel Tower, there is...
For Margarita Parada, a 19-year-old from a village deep in Mexico, the adventure of a lifetime is about to start. It is April 11, 2005, and Margarita has stuffed a suitcase and her backpack with favorite clothes and personal mementos. Margarita is the second youngest of Maria and Pablo Parada's...
It's a Saturday evening in late November on the border of Phoenix and Glendale. The scent of barbecue drifts through the brisk air on a residential street just north of Camelback Road. All seems quiet at the moment in this working-class neighborhood. But just after 10 p.m., two cars turn...
WED 11/16If you're looking for an alternative to Hollywood's seasonal onslaught of high-concept blockbusters, you'll find it at "Video Slam!" -- a digital offshoot of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art's popular "Slide Slam" series. "Video Slam!" features experimental offerings by Tony Ash and Steve Gompf and a screening of...
Gary Sedlacek is awakened by someone pounding on a side door to his home in downtown Phoenix's historic Coronado District. It's about 5:30 on a dark, drizzly morning, February 19, 2005. At the door is Shawn Drake, Sedlacek's 29-year-old neighbor from a few doors down on North Richland Street. Drake...
Gabe Cruz was pumped as he left work at 3 a.m. on the morning of March 3, 2005, a Thursday. Gabe had put in a long shift as a "bar back" at Graham Central Station, a popular Tempe establishment. He'd hustled all night, cleaning tables and stocking the bar at...
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...
