I’d never tasted Creamsicle punch until the City of Scottsdale served it to me during a recent forum on the Los Arcos redevelopment project. Orange juice mixed with 7-Up and vanilla ice cream is a lot easier to swallow than the sugary half-truths developers ladled out. Their caldron of crap…
Until this fall, the only thing that Republican John McCain and Democrat Claire Sargent had in common was the fact that both ran for the United States Senate in 1992. Now they’ve both published memoirs. McCain prevailed as a candidate, and he prevails again as an author. This weekend he…
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers Honky Tonk Union Real to Reel (Emma Java Recordings) Roger Clyne obviously didn’t like the prospect of forever being cast as the smirking musical bard who fronted the Refreshments. That, more than anything, may explain both the faults and the merits of the debut album…
On my belly they lay the blue strings You know what that means Here comes my family On their faces I see pain Thinkin’ in my head I’m the one to blame And now it’s over They close the casket And my son just became a goddamn bastard How many…
What calls itself a hospital, has acted like a hospital since its formation 16 years ago, is licensed as a general hospital in the state of Arizona, but isn’t really a hospital? According to federal authorities, the answer is: Phoenix Children’s Hospital. In a development that surprised those who have…
They have at least two things in common. First, Paradise Valley cartoonist Bil Keane, 76, and Chicago Web developer Greg Galcik, 29, attended the same Philadelphia high school. And second, neither thought Keane’s recent cease-and-desist letter to Galcik would prompt so much attention and outrage. “I just thought it would…
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Humble John McCain officially kicked off his presidential campaign on Monday in New Hampshire. The Snowy-Haired Senator was downright jocular with reporters on his campaign plane, commandeering the PA to announce, “We haven’t raised as much money as we had hoped to, so I’m going to have…
Dope pushers lurking around playgrounds? I don’t think so. Dentists are more to blame for turning America’s children on to the perilous joys of getting high. My dentist introduced me to drugs when I was just 9 years old. A white-haired, kindly man, he laid me back in a soft,…
All is deceptively quiet on the Arizona political front. There are some rumblings — to the east, as Scottsdalians wonder who might challenge Mayor Sam Campana, and farther east, as presidential contender John McCain pounds the New Hampshire pavement — but for the most part, no one’s talking much about…
ANTHONY PERRI IS QUICK TO TELL PEOPLE THAT he’s not an educated guy. He dropped out of high school on the first day of his freshman year, after attending Italian (the one class he figured he could pass) and lunch. He’s a little fuzzy on history (he refers to General…
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO HAS INVITED critics and fans and, of course, reporters, to help him commemorate this week’s third anniversary of his world-famous, “first and only” all-female, gravedigging chain gang. The sheriff’s September 19, 1996, start-up of the all-girl gravedigging chain gang so enraged some ministers that they stopped performing…
While an increasing number of investors speculates that the Baptist Foundation of Arizona will soon file for bankruptcy, outraged Christians who say they got fleeced by BFA are filing more actions against the financially troubled BFA in Maricopa County Superior Court. James Cook, a former BFA director, filed suit against…
As the Arizona Diamondbacks inch closer to the National League West pennant, questions are swirling about the financial health of the franchise. According to a front-page story in Sunday’s Arizona Republic, the Diamondbacks face a “cash crunch” caused by skyrocketing payroll and a dropoff of 9,000 in 1999 season ticket…
They’re Not Saying “Bruuuce” Arizona State University football fans have seen plenty of disasters at Sun Devil Stadium during Bruce Snyder’s tenure as head coach. But nothing comes close to Saturday’s debacle against 28-point underdog New Mexico State. Not even last year’s 42-38 opening loss to Washington, a game lost…
H.R. Pufnstuf You could fetch a pretty penny if you had the seven-inch TV soundtrack album containing songs like “Mechanical Boy” and the Witchiepoo anthem “Oranges Smoranges.” Freddie the Flute’s Herbie Mann impersonations notwithstanding, most of the musical content of Pufnstuf was handled by Jack Wild, who had three singles,…
Frank Crerie loves modern art. He loves the Sonoran Desert. And at 80, the retired venture capitalist has cash to spend and not a lot of time to spend it. So Crerie figured he’d combine his passions by commissioning artists to create a sculpture garden in the middle of the…
Dapper in his suit and freshly shined shoes, Marcus Giavanni strides into the New Times offices with his wife Celina and 6-month-old son, Atouro. He’s also proudly toting a 484-page hardcover book entitled Nelson vs. the United States of America: A System in Denial, which went into print late last…
The Beatles Yellow Submarine Songtrack (Apple) Most people’s candidate for least fab Beatles album is the original Yellow Submarine soundtrack, and with good reason. No one wanted to shell out full list price for an album padded with an entire side of George Martin instrumentals, two previously released Beatles hits…
Stan Freberg Tip of the Freberg: The Stan Freberg Collection 1951-1998 (Rhino) Once upon a time, radio and television advertising was no laughing matter. Before Stan Freberg showed up, commercials just weren’t funny. They were strait-laced, straightforward litanies of the products’ purported benefits. They were also cynical as hell. The…
Robert is in his mid-teens and has been involved in gangs since he was 10. That kind of admission has become almost a cliché in the past decade, as the media, the courts and the political system grapple with the pressing problems of a dysfunctional society and the increasingly violent…
Gene Rushing, a soft-spoken, 27-year veteran of the Phoenix Fire Department, is accustomed to emergencies and sudden changes in stride. But he was stumped the night he showed up to coach a Pop Warner football practice in mid-August. The first practice had gone pretty well. Five teams of helmeted kids…
Can a model car save a kid from the mean streets of Phoenix? On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Isaac Avila, 11, focuses all his attention and an overused paintbrush on the underside of a ’61 Ranchero Custom. Satisfied with the paint job, he sorts through dozens of plastic pieces in…
