http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Venus_von_Willendorf_01.jpg

Venus von Willendorf

​You're on the internet. That means you're accustomed to a lot of T&A.

Here, on our classy arts and culture blog, we've brought the T&A to you in a very sophisticated way: with a top ten list of art history's greatest T&A ever.

You're so welcome.

1. Venus von Willendorf
Alright, we're really reaching back into history for this one. But if there's a statuette with penises for breasts, it's got to be included in this perverted post. This little darling was made sometime around 22,000 BCE. She was discovered in the early 20th century in Austria. Of course, due to her humungo boobs and intricately carved vagina, scholars believe her to be fertility symbol. We believe her to be kinda gross lookin'.

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Mashable

If you're a celeb on twitter, a mayor on foursquare, an organizer on meetup or still trying to figure out all three, er, billions of others, then today is your day. Congratulations!  

Actually, you might want to leave work now so you make the party (according to Mashable, right now, the event is today's 14th largest Mashable meetup event in the world).

It's hosted by Social Media Arizona (SMAZ) at MADCAP Theater from 5 to 7 p.m. today. Party-goers can give verbal, in-person tweets about why they love social media, which is their favorite tool and share social media experiences from the MADCAP stage. Sounds like a lot for 140 characters -- this could be some interesting stand-up.

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Tags:

Facebook, Mashable, Meetup, SMAZ, Social Media, Twitter

Photo by Jill Keig

 

One of our favorite boutiques, Frances, always seems to be ahead of the stylistic curve, especially when it comes to those hard to find items with the intriguing combination of quirky and cool.

Case in point: The String Doll Gang. With more than 100 characters, the gang commands an entire stainless-steel wall at Frances -- making it the largest String Doll retailer in the country. Frances purchased more than 800 dolls this past year (most stores who order the dolls regularly purchase between 30 and 50 every two months). Talk about a stringy obsession. And we're hooked. 

The String Dolls are creations of Kamibashi ("paper bridge" in Japanese), the brainchild of Kristen and Chris Daniels. The couple met young artists while teaching English in Japan. When they moved from Kyoto to North Carolina, they decided to bring (and share) their new friends' arts and crafts. 

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Just as our fashion choices, the books we read, or the films we watch speak volumes about who we are, our homes are an expression of our own unique personal style. So beginning this week, Jackalope Ranch is celebrating local Phoenicians who've created amazing dwellings -- clean and modern or eclectic and vintage -- with a series, Personal Space.

Spring Eselgroth

Carrie & Jay

​Ralph Haver's architecture is everywhere in Phoenix, but it doesn't make it less valuable or less cool. Haver homes are a part of the city's history and help define the post-war era when Phoenix began to grow with leaps and bounds.

In north central Phoenix, just a few blocks away from Marlen Grove -- the epicenter of Haver homes -- Carrie Wheeler, freelance journalist and blogger and Jay Wiggins, a.k.a. DJ Funkfinger, live in one of seven Havers in their neighborhood.

More of their story and a slideshow after the jump.

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courtesy of Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre

Sarah Dowling and Matthew Rickard have some ideas about "What Can You Do With a General" that they share with Mark DiConzo (right) in I Love a Piano.

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Barry Manilow, for the love of God, please make sure that you've placed a wise, discerning person in charge of approving shows based on your songwriting catalogue in the event of your death. Of course this is an event I hope happens far, far in the future. (I am, by the way, available for that job.)

Yes, I know there is a Barry Manilow revue already, but that does not stop these vultures from creating additional travesties like I Love a Piano, centered around the works of Irving Berlin, currently exerting itself all over the main stage of Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Mesa.

Co-creator/playwrights Ray Roderick and Michael Berkeley are well-meaning fellows who love music and the theater and have resumes stuffed with successful professional work experience. They just don't translate to a decent evening of entertainment. Irving Berlin's songs, all by themselves, sung with competent styling, guarantee a top-notch evening of entertainment. But tasteless over-accessorizing can drown out what's good and true.

That's the main problem with Piano, and that's my advice to Mr. Manilow and/or his representative, and to all good songwriters (although bad ones will listen to me sooner).

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Photos by E. Groves

​The Buckhorn Baths have been on the corner of Main Street and Recker Road in Mesa since 1936. In its heyday, the 10-acre property included a bathhouse annex with 25 whirlpool hot tubs, a motel, and a wildlife museum. Its large neon, Vegas-style sign beckoned to weary travelers from the middle of nowhere across an expanse of undeveloped desert.

Seventy four years later, Buckhorn Baths is a place lost in time, an urban ghost town surrounded by gas stations, drug stores, and housing developments. It's certainly rustic, but its decay is beautiful in its own way, tempered by nostalgia. Walking this immense, abandoned property (which still has all buildings intact), we can only imagine what this place was like when it was thriving.More >>

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73: Mark Klett

Courtesy of Mark Klett

​Mark Klett's a geologist-turned-photographer. He describes his work as "the intersection of cultures, landscapes and time." Fortunately, his work hasn't gone unrecognized; he's received fellowships from (among others) the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and his work is held in over 80 museum collections worldwide. He's currently the Regents' Professor of Art at Arizona State University.More >>

Guillermo Reyes

Teatro Bravo announced its 12th Season today: three plays in the fall and two plays in the Spring -- all under one new artistic director.

Reyes will step aside from his duties for the season on July 1. His new gig -- Interim Director of the School of Theatre and Film at Arizona State University. There he wil oversee the entire program as well as supervise this year's slew of student productions.

Replacing him will be Fernando Teson, who's currently Head of Performing Arts at Metropolitan Arts Institute.

Teatro will be performing its three-play repertory there in the fall including "Manzi: The Childhood of Cesar Chavez," written by Jose Cruz Gonzalez, "Rancho Pancho," written by Gregg Barrios and directed by Fernando Teson and Reyes' late-night comedy "Dudes Gone Wild" in September and October.

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You're in for a real treat.

​"Hike with the heat." is my mantra during the summer. And Quartz Ridge Trail is the best place to do it.

The heat is less shocking if you keep climbing mountains alongside the climbing temperatures. Plus, I've found it makes for an easier summer: I complain a lot less if I man-up and get acclimated.

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First Friday, including Lisa Albinger's August exhibit, will indeed go on.

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More than two weeks ago, Jackalope Ranch reported that Phoestival, the retail and vendor portion of the monthly First Friday art walk, would not be happening in July and August. That followed with this post that cleared up any misconceptions about the future of the popular monthly art walk, which will continue to operate normally for the next two months, just without the vendors.

But then late Monday night, this piece by Sadie Jo Smokey of the Arizona Republic sent a wave a panic that has spread from Phoenix to the Pacific Northwest. Smokey's story concluded, much like the aforementioned New Times pieces, that the future of the First Friday vendors are on uncertain grounds, but not the monthly gallery stroll.

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