Think suburban high school cheerleaders and what comes to mind? Girls Gone Wild contestants. Competitive, Nancy Kerrigan-esque freaks in Bring It On. That bodacious blonde cheerleader playing hanky-panky with James Van Der Beek in Varsity Blues. Anything but a Jack Kerouac-type Dharma Bum searching for enlightenment. Annie Weisman’s new play,…
In the few short months that the Ruby Room has been open, it’s hosted killer DJs (Djentrification, Pablo Luna), bands (Colorstore, Power of Positive Thinking), and nightly lounge shindigs with beer and spirits. So, we thought, is there anything it hasn’t done? Uh, not now, especially when the hipster automotive…
Some people say that the NBA is scripted. Well, we don’t know about that, but the saga that is the Phoenix Suns sure is a page-turner. Just weeks ago, Shawn Marion expressed his desire to be traded after eight seasons and Amaré Stoudemire got back on the gurney for his…
The word “lederhosen” is soooooo overused this time of year, so we won’t mention that a lot of dudes will be wearing ladies’ unmentionables at the “Old World” Oktoberfest. Nor will we say that brats will be served, nor brew consumed, nor polka performed. Sat., Oct. 13, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.,…
Besides three insane “Japanese action comic punk” rockers riffing in a straight-ahead, garage band style, what else can one expect from NYC-based Peelander-Z? Well, during last year’s dual shows at Modified Arts and Trunk Space, they tore up both joints with Jackass-style maneuvers, like human bowling, which actually looked like…
We’re all in favor of saving breasts here at Night & Day, so get your socially conscious self down to Wesley Bolin Plaza for the Susan G. Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure. The PHX event has raised more than $11 million for breast cancer treatment/prevention in its 15 years…
As with most outlaw art, graffiti was only outlaw ´cause it was ahead of its time. Now way “law,” the former scourge of urban-beautification Nazis has made the quantum leap to high society, as with the new “Graffiti Art and Fashion” exhibit, which features creations by pioneers such as Haze,…
On the surface, printmaking is one of the less glamorous stepchildren of the visual arts. Sure, it’s a discipline combining technical craft and detailed vision, but the finer elements of the process are little known to the general public. A real artist struggles alone with intractable materials and personal demons,…
The Arizona Exposition & State Fair is 123 years old. That’s older than all the standing structures in Phoenix combined — plus all living Arizona natives. But you’ve gotta love the hoary old dame ’cause, among other things, the fair is one of those signature events marking the end of…
You’ve gotta love the Heard Museum, which simultaneously celebrates Native American traditions and smashes them to bits, as with its gutsy new “Remix” exhibit and the equally bold Heard Museum Film Festival. The fest features 50-plus flicks, including many that challenge the status quo. Oct. 12-14, 2007…
There’s beauty and goodness in the world when the Arizona Cardinals can find a franchise that’s in roughly the same leaky boat. Though the Carolina Panthers (three playoff appearances in the team’s 12-year history) aren’t the model of futility like the Cards, they’re definitely a squad whose immediate future ain’t…
When I first heard the title “But It’s a Dry Heat,” Tempe Center for the Arts’ inaugural show, it was mid-August and I was automatically turned off. In my sweaty misery, I was in no mood to hear any excuses for summer’s jerk behavior. But despite my surly outlook, I…
When I was 14, my best friend and I stayed up all night in her parents’ backyard, sprawled on the trampoline, discussing the relevance of time as we stared into the night sky and chain-smoked a pack of stolen cigarettes. While I don’t remember the details of this long-winded conversation,…
Paintings by Xiao Shunzhi at Calvin Charles Gallery: After a few hours of viewing art, I sometimes feel as if Ive rubbed my eyeballs with sandpaper. The visual wear makes everything blurry, and the only thing that returns focus is seeing something truly excellent. Such was the case on a…
The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection (Paramount) Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Collector’s Edition (Sony) Christmas Television Favorites (Warner Bros.) The Comedians of Comedy: Live at the Troubadour (Image) Criminal Minds: The Second Season (Paramount) Day Night Day Night (IFC) Entourage: Season Three, Part 2 (HBO) Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer…
“This is a mockumentary, right?” I’ve been asked that question at least a dozen times since The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters made its bow at the Slamdance Film Festival in January. Quite simply, some folks just don’t believe that Seth Gordon’s film about two men vying for…
Mr. Blackwell has his annual Best Dressed List. Condé Nast Traveler has its Best Destinations List. And Phoenix, Land of a Thousand Demolitions, apparently keeps a list, too — of important buildings that are in danger of being demolished. The Most Endangered Historic Places List is compiled each year by…
Billiards is one of the few sports that’s as taxing on a computer screen as it is in real life. It’s played in pubs, after all, and its legendary star was named “Fats.” Unfortunately, most virtual billiard games are behind the 8-ball in terms of quality, with poor physics and…
Caligula: Imperial Edition (Penthouse) (Spoiler alert: Fisting!) One day back in the swingin’ ’70s, somebody mentioned how “absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and then Bob Guccione, Gore Vidal, Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, and Peter O’Toole said, “Let’s make a big-budget movie about that, with come shots. ” And Caligula was born…
The supersweet yet sometimes unpredictable textile-and-homemade-artist-goods scene is going through some changes one mo’ gin. The Collectively Operated Local Artists Boutique (C.O.L.A.B.) is closing up shop at the anti.space building and setting up a bigger and better space at 901 North Fifth Street under the Conspire moniker, marking the group’s…
Thanks to the City of Phoenix peeps, the five-mile stretch of the Salt River southwest of downtown ain’t an effing dump no more. On Saturday, October 6, take a 3.5-mile cycling jaunt along the dolled-up Rio Salado Habitat Project riparian area during the Tour de Rio Bike Ride. The ride…
Our Nana Giles was somewhat prickly, but a few frothy beers and she’d be pulling polka moves with her little dog Liebchen over her head. That’s the power of Oktoberfest: big steins, bigger bratwurst, and the biggest lederhosen. Mein Gott! You can rock the ´toberfest with Deutschland bands and chef…
