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(02/26/12 7:06pm)
People are weird. I’m not just saying this because I’m weird either; I’m saying this as an aficionado of weirdoes. I love the secret and specific weirdness that everyone has and conceals (and sometimes unwittingly displays), and that’s why swap meets are the best thing ever. Swap meets are where the “Real Americans” of Tea Party fame come together to make a quick buck, and sometimes accidentally let their freak flags fly. It’s hard to imagine anything more American than that.
(02/22/12 5:01am)
Because I’m from Scottsdale, I try to stay as far away from it as possible. Its unique combination of high-end plastic surgery and relentlessly entitled prep-school kids appeals to a very specific group of people -- one that I’m not a part of -- and usually offers little in the way of arts, culture or sanity. However, I was willing to venture back into the land of cougars and Porsche Cayennes for the Made in Arizona Art Festival from Feb. 10 to 12. Made in Arizona brings together more than 100 local artists and vendors annually, and it’s held in Old Town Scottsdale, which is almost not even in Scottsdale anyway (at least that’s what I told myself).
(02/19/12 5:01am)
How can I properly introduce bell hooks? I’ve found that it’s the people we most look up to that are the hardest to write about, so it makes sense that just the prospect of writing about her makes me want to run far away from my computer and draw more pictures of cats. If you know about bell hooks, then you’ll know what I mean, and if you don’t, then here’s the part where I try to condense her myriad accomplishments into a few sentences for you.
(02/15/12 5:01am)
On Sunday, I talked about ASU organization The Underground Foundation. One of the things that TUF does is help local charities and non-profits through fundraisers, the latest one being RISE (Revolution Inspired by Self Evolution). RISE is the name given to Zachary Chipps’ and Thomas Brown’s seven-month, cross-country bike ride dedicated to raising suicide awareness. Hopefully, Zachary says, they’ll be able to “bring the topic of suicide to the fore, ridding the topic of its cultural taboos.” Thomas and Zachary will be leading town hall meetings across the country with Survivors of Suicide groups, as well as meeting with “art and bicycle communities, LGBTQ support groups, Veterans’ Affairs organizations, and high school and college groups involved in community building.”
(02/12/12 5:01am)
Even though I do get genuinely excited about everything I write about here, there are some things that hit closer to home for me than others. The Underground Foundation (TUF) is one of those things for a lot of reasons. TUF is an ASU organization that brings together students “dedicated to solidifying and improving an independent music scene at Arizona State University and her surrounding cities.” Or at least that’s the official story on TUF’s facebook page. In reality, TUF is more than that. Because I can’t say it better than TUF president Khayree Billingslea, here’s our Q&A.
(02/08/12 5:15am)
On Sunday, I wrote about ASU professor Andrew Barnes and his lecture on West Coast Jazz. As much as I enjoyed Professor Barnes’s lecture, something about it did strike me as off -- namely, its failure to mention any female jazz musicians or singers. Considering women’s undeniable impact on jazz as singers alone, I felt compelled to fill in this obvious gap in my newfound knowledge of jazz. I knew about Dizzy Gillespie, but what of Mary Lou Williams, the legendary female jazz pianist whose work is frequently cited as one of his major influences? Or Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane’s pianist/organist/harpist/composer/ wife? Even women’s most widely recognized contribution to jazz music, their work as vocalists, was something that I knew nothing about.
(02/05/12 5:07pm)
I’m always a sucker for someone who has a complete, encyclopedic knowledge of one specific topic. When I was 14, I met a girl who knew everything there is to know about whales -- she’s my best friend to this day. My little sister can tell you anything you’d ever need to know about vintage pin collections. ASU professor Andrew Barnes, it just so happens, has an exhaustive knowledge of jazz. So much so, in fact, that he gave the final lecture in ASU’s Jazz A to Z project lecture series.
(02/01/12 5:01am)
Growing up in Phoenix can be strange. While it’s much too large a city to have that close-knit, small-town feeling, it’s also much more suburban and sprawling than big cities such as New York or Chicago. This combination doesn’t make for very exciting times as a kid, and years of living here left me wondering if being from Phoenix was something to be proud of. To me, Phoenix wasn’t exciting enough to be urban, or welcoming enough to be called my hometown. I’ve never fully gotten over this idea, even though I’ve found plenty of interesting things to do -- I still never felt a very strong sense of community here.
(01/29/12 5:01am)
Time for another confession: I am not outdoorsy. The thing is, I never really feel guilty about it until it’s nice outside; even the most devoted tree huggers have trouble leaving the comfort of air conditioning in 100+ degree weather. However, it’s about that time of year again, and I have to admit that going outside doesn’t sound half bad right now. That’s why last Sunday I took the opportunity to head down to the Roosevelt Growhouse and do some gardening.
(01/25/12 5:01am)
Here’s something that I’ve found to be true for myself, and most people I talk to: you can only go to so many Friday night frat parties before the world starts to look like a pretty ugly place. While that’s easy to recognize, what can be more difficult is finding something genuinely fun to do in place of them. Here’s where the Phoenix Art Museum comes in. Their weekend events are interesting, reasonably priced, and can even include food with admission. Because these are all things that appeal to me, I went to IFP Phoenix’s Masterpiece Challenge for filmmakers last Friday night at the museum to see whether this could really be a viable Friday-night alternative.
(01/22/12 5:01am)
I have to be honest here -- I know almost nothing about hair. Ask me what I’m looking for in a haircut, and my answer will fall somewhere between “uhh” and “shorter”. I get my hair cut once a year, and I dread it every time. I’ve always suspected that the root of my discomfort lay in the assembly-line feeling of the whole process. How can I trust someone I just met to mess with something that I have to wear on my head every day? Can we at least get to know each other first?
(01/18/12 5:01am)
A couple of weeks ago I went to Changing Hands bookstore and sang happy birthday to a room full of people I had never met before. Why, you ask? Because Arizona has the largest number of Sudanese war refugees in the country, none of which know the dates of their actual birthdays.
(01/15/12 5:01am)
Hey there, ASU. I’ve been wracking my brain for the best way to introduce myself to you, as I’m notorious for my awful first impressions. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have any cute anecdotes to tell you that can prove my lifelong devotion to “Arts & Culture”, but I can tell you a little bit about myself.