10/23-10/24 Perhaps it’s because we appreciate the sheer everyday practicality of their design, or maybe they just appeal to our Wild West mentality. Whatever the case, Arizona has always served as a sort of unofficial Ground Zero for monster trucks and the people who love them. It’s all about the…
As a first-time novelist, it’s hard enough for Marc Acito to get even mild props from the literary establishment, much less any sexual play from adoring fans as a result of his newfound success. So don’t blame the guy for being open to a little bedtime storytelling when Acito and…
“Harvest” at eye lounge: Fall has arrived, and with it comes a fresh exhibition at eye lounge. Harvest, according to curators Carrie Bloomston and Greg Esser, is focused on both the literal reaping of botanical and horticultural bounty as well as the harvesting of the collective energies of the group…
If the tiny Quebecois island of Sainte Marie-La Mauderne is any indication, Michael Moore was right: Canadians do not lock their front doors (an assertion he made in Bowling for Columbine). Of course, the 125 residents of this tiny fictional community have no need to: Murders are unheard of here,…
THU 14 Touring bands — those without the benefit of big-name promotion and record company expense accounts — barely earn enough to pay their bar tab, much less a roadie. Then there’s mamaSutra, a funky, no-nonsense blues/jazz band from southern California, playing at the Rhythm Room, 1019 East Indian School…
A parody of Gerry Anderson marionette shows (like Thunderbirds and Joe 90), Jerry Bruckheimer action movies, and the ’80s cartoon/toy line M.A.S.K. , Team America: World Police boils all those ingredients down to their essences, starting with the theme song “Americaaa . . . Fuck yeah!” (imagine it scored like…
Sun 10/17 While men fantasize about the seductive third-date strip tease, women dread the nuances that come with the nerve-racking experience. What music do I play? Where does one find an industry-standard strip pole? Can granny panties ever look sexy? Who will hold my boobs up while I dance? How…
10/15-10/17 The ladies are packing lightly for Have Tassels Will Travel, a play following the life of burlesque dancer Satan’s Angel, The Devil’s Mistress. The play, which runs from Friday, October 15, through Sunday, October 17, at The Trunk Space, 1506 Grand Avenue, features performances by several burlesque dancers and…
Linda King is digging past a mound of dirty clothes and clutter, into a corner of her bedroom, where the air is stagnant and stale, to find her inspiration. “This is my muse,” King declares, followed by a nervous giggle, as she lifts the clay bust she molded of Charles…
Once upon a time, eighth graders bought pot from classmates and smoked it right on school grounds, with barely a glance over their shoulders. Today, thanks to hyper-conservative “zero tolerance” rules, kids don’t dare carry a couple of aspirins to school for fear of expulsion. Just ask 13-year-old Hayley Hoffman,…
It would be so easy to titter and scoff at Shall We Dance?, a Miramaxed-out version of the 1996 Japanese film of the same name, which told of a bored businessman who is reinvigorated after a few dozen dance lessons. This version, with its cast of glow-in-the-dark movie stars and…
The first exceptional drama of 2004 is here, and it only took, what, six months? Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Mother comes from British writer Hanif Kureishi, who penned the gritty, South Asian-in-London marvels My Beautiful Laundrette and My Son the Fanatic. On the other hand, its director is Roger Michell, lately…
When your name is Dr. Chud, which stands for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Drummer,” and your horror-punk-themed solo project is touring during the scariest time of the year, you’d expect a stage show filled with grisly gore, rotting corpses and ghastly deeds. So what does the good doctor mention first when…
Things we think are truly frightening: The everlasting popularity of Menudo (the boy band from Puerto Rico, not the bowl of hangover relief from Filiberto’s). Tara Francis on News Channel 3 at 7 a.m., while we’re struggling to overcome said hangover. The power of cheese. Come to think of it,…
Sat 10/16 Does Todd McFarlane ever sleep? In between overseeing day-to-day operations at three different companies, raising three kids, developing movie and television projects, and occasionally drawing pages for his signature title Spawn, the Valley resident and comic book mogul has been putting the finishing touches on McFarlane Toys Showroom…
Sat 10/16 With Wall Street watching, there’d better be one hell of a good reason IBM and Microsoft are spending $2,500 each on a sinking ship, er, boat. And, of course, there is. On Saturday, October 16, the aforementioned join more than 30 Valley-based companies on the high seas of…
I had a friendly e-mail from Wes Martin the other day. Normally, theater people only write to tell me that I’m profoundly fucked up and need to be fired, but Wes, who’s the artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre, was writing to tell me how much he admires theater critics…
THU 7 Got a gamer roommate who’s hijacked your TV? Don’t fret. Our advice: Feed his compulsion for escapism with a ticket to the Arizona State Fair, where your Mountain Dew-chugging, Cheetos-eating, entranced-by-the-incomparable-graphics-of-“Soul Calibur II” roomie will be in Xbox ecstasy as GameRiot, “the world’s largest traveling video games festival…
Essayist. Playwright. Radio personality. Librettist. Actor. Novelist. Now, with Bright Young Things, the inimitable British wit Stephen Fry debuts as feature screenwriter and director. Best known here in the colonies either as Jeeves (opposite Hugh Laurie) in Jeeves and Wooster, or as Peter in Peter’s Friends, or possibly as Oscar…
Imagine it’s a weekday morning, and you’re at a trade conference in Finland. You’re sleepy, maybe a little jet-lagged, as you prepare for the next speaker. He’s a representative from the World Trade Organization, and he has come to talk to you about “The Future of Textiles.” First, he presents…
10/7-10/31 By now, we’ve been inundated by so much rigmarole surrounding “Decision 2004,” we’re more likely to pull a trigger come November than a voting-booth lever. Since we’re facing (at least) another month of political Bushwhacking, we’ll Kerry on to “Word on the Street: Politics Unusual,” a collective exhibition by…
Thu 10/7 Naysayers might’ve dismissed kickball as an elementary sport meant for sports washouts like yourself. But it was your only shot at playground immortality back in the day. Remember how your awesome 6-4-3 double play helped turn the tide in the epic Shirts vs. Skins war? You never worried…
