Tag Archives: events

The Duce in downtown Phoenix offers everything you could want

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Last night I discovered yet another spot in downtown Phoenix to point out to people who claim Phoenix is lame and has no culture: The Duce, on Central Avenue. It’s a shame it took me so long to get there, but I was stoked to attend a fundraiser for Arizona Senate candidate Don Bivens there last night.

The Duce is an ultra-eclectic joint that’s part store, part bar and restaurant and part work-out center. Yep, there’s a massive boxing ring surrounded by handmade cooking aprons overlooking the bar, with the venue taking space in a old spacious warehouse.

The energy at The Duce is interesting, with a decidedly retro vibe coming through both the vintage handmade cocktails and the fashionable finds throughout the store, including cruiser bicycles.

The cocktail menu is full of handcrafted drinks, ranging from dirty martinis to grapefruit mimosas.

You can enjoy your drinks on the patio, which also includes an organic produce stand, or in the bar, with simple long tables and some retro furniture filling it up.

Live music takes place on the makeshift stage, which doubles as the boxing ring. When I was there last night, lights were strung up to light up the platform, which was surrounded by old school punching bags and giant tires. When we first arrived to the mixer and sat down to drink, I noticed a trainer and his client doing shoulder presses. It was one of the quirkiest places I’ve experienced.

And that’s why The Duce is so charming. You can wander around and check out the unique finds throughout the space, you can enjoy good food and drinks (I heard the noodle kugel, $4 off the small American menu, was amazing), you can work out, or you can listen to live music. There’s also a Chicago soda fountain, and on top of everything else, The Duce hosts ice cream socials and birthday parties.

I’d definitely like to go back during the day some time for brunch, though their brunch menu is served all day long. I bet sitting on the patio in the sun would give a whole different feel to the place, and I can’t wait to go back.

NovemBEER at Casey Moore’s a refreshing fall event

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Now is the perfect fall weather to do some day drinking in, so I was stoked to head to NovemBEER at Casey Moore’s in Tempe this past weekend. The Phoenix New Times-sponsored event brings 10 different local and regional breweries to my favorite Tempe bar every Saturday in November, and $10 gets you 10 pours to sample.


I think that’s a great deal, and the bar wasn’t oversaturated to the point you couldn’t find a place to sit, and all the vendors were really friendly. Each Saturday has a different theme for the beer tastes, and this past weekend featured amber beers. We had samples from spots such as Old World Brewery and Prescott Brewing Company, and my pal and I got so buzzed, we weren’t even able to sample all 10–we only had seven each throughout the 2 hours. Next week, seasonal and specialty beers will be featured.

If you’ve never been day drinking at Casey Moore’s, I highly recommend it. The patio is so pretty with plants all around, and neighboring houses surround the bar. I always say it’s like a little piece of Flagstaff here in the Valley because of the peaceful, laid-back vibe and unpretentious people who come.

This Saturday, November 26 is the last day for the event, which goes from 2-4 p.m. For more information, log on to www.novembeer.com.

Arizona Storytellers celebrates people of Arizona and their stories

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Can you believe Arizona is about to turn 100?! In honor of the state’s centennial celebration, my former employer The Arizona Republic hosts a monthly event called Arizona Storytellers.

The event is held at a different venue every month with a different theme, and I participated in it this past Friday when it was at Narcisse Champange Lounge in Scottsdale. Around 10 Arizona residents get up in front of the audience and tell stories that took place in Arizona relating to the theme. Friday’s theme was scares in the Grand Canyon State, and stories ranged from tales of ghosts and Ouija boards to burglaries and spooky living spirits. I told the story of the scariest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life, a rollover car accident that resulted in a helicopter trip to the hospital and a totaled car.

I was extremely nervous, but it was really cool to be a part of a really amazing event that celebrates our state and the people in it. The next Arizona Storytellers event goes down Friday, November 11 at The Clayton on the Park in Scottsdale. Admission is $10 and benefits Republic Charities. For more information, and to watch videos of past speakers, log on to www.azcentral.com/storytellers.

Denver is a place where I’d love to live

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I’ve been wanting to visit Denver for pretty much forever, considering I love a good hippie vibe that will remind me of back when I lived in Flagstaff. I finally got out to the city of the north this past weekend, and I had a blast exploring the city, as well as Boulder. It wasn’t just a great escape from the desert heat–the people were fun, and there were a lot of cool activities to try while I was there.

My first night, my pal and I went to dinner at 1515 restaurant in the lower downtown part of Denver. I immediately loved the place, housed in a historic building with a hip bar downstairs and fine dining upstairs. The upstairs dining room had expert, knowledgable servers, and it was decorated with black and white photography.

I had the best meal of my life there, and I really loved their seasonal, molecular menu. I started with the Loaded Baked Potato Soup ($7), which was made with Creme Fraiche, powder cheddar cheese and a chive oil (I left off the bacon). It was rich and creamy and tasted super-fresh.

My entree was absolutely amazing, the Raspberry Goat Cheese Ravioli ($19). I’ve never had anything like it and never thought I’d be eating pasta with a bright pink stuffing. It was delectable and covered with walnuts, watercress and a grapefruit butter sauce.

Even the bread and butter before the meal was so good, with an orange-infused butter to spread on the freshly baked bread. From start to finish, everything was wonderful, and I’d recommend it as a fancy date place if you choose to eat upstairs.

Later that night, we went to one of the hippest bars I’ve ever been to, the Green Russell, also in lower downtown. All the male bartenders wore dapper duds that would fit in well at a speakeasy, and a hostess seats you to take in your cocktails–it’s not just drinking, it’s an event, and you can even make reservations since the place gets so packed.

Each cocktail, starting at $12, is handcrafted with a variety of fresh ingredients, and the bartenders make them with a showy flourish. The bar also serves up some local brews ($6) and a variety of pies nightly.

The next day, we explored a little more of the city of Denver, starting with a trip to the Denver Art Museum.

The sprawling art museum spans seven stories and houses Native American, European, Central American and Asian art. It had a great mix of classic and modern works, and it’s the largest art museum between Chicago and California. I definitely could have spent all day there, and there were lots of cool exhibits to check out.

Next, it was off to the Downtown Aquarium.

Compared to another aquarium I’ve been to, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, this one was much smaller, but it was still cool to see all the fish and marine life–and the sea otters were so freaking cute.

That night, we went to a Colorado Rockies game to help cheer them on to beat the San Francisco Giants.

The stadium was super-cool, and I loved their dinosaur mascot. I was happy to see so many people at the game, and even though they ended up losing 9-1, it was still a really fun experience–especially because I was super-close to Brian Wilson!

We headed to Denver’s Oktoberfest afterward, which goes for two weekends and features a slew of German music, food and beer to sample. It was a huge hit with the downtown Denver crowd, and it was a lot of fun to check out.

The next day, we drove about 45 minutes to nearby town Boulder, a college town that reminded me so much of Flagstaff. There were tons of people riding bikes, the weather was cool and beautiful, and there were a ton of fun street performers along the Pearl Street Mall part of town.

There wasn’t too much to do in the town part besides eat, drink, shop and watch street performers, but Boulder is also known for its hiking and biking trails.

Later that night, we went to the 16th Street Mall back in downtown Denver. It has all the mainstream shops and sort of reminded me of a more laid-back Times Square.

We saw some really cool break dancers on the street battling it out, and it was pretty fun to walk around and people watch.

Later that night, we went to the Denver Improv to see comedian Sebastian Maniscalco from Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show. Tickets were a steal for $16, and we saw three high-quality comedians that kept us laughing. The Improv was way smaller than the Tempe Improv, and the show felt really intimate. It was a really relaxing way to cap off the weekend.

I really loved Denver because the downtown area was a much prettier, more cultured version of downtown Phoenix, and the people there were way less superficial than the vibe in Old Town Scottsdale. The weather was gorgeous (I didn’t even need long sleeves during the day), and the scenery was greener. The city just had a great vibe to it, and I’d highly recommend it for a fun little getaway close to Phoenix.

Beat the Heat Winter Beer Fest at Venue of Scottsdale a sweaty mess

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If you’re going to host an event called Beat the Heat Winter Beer Fest in Scottsdale in August, you should probably make sure your packed venue has air conditioning. For the beer enthusiasts who filled up the Venue of Scottsdale yesterday hoping to sample brews in a chilled out atmosphere, the event was a major disappointment, since the only thing cooling off attendees were some swamp coolers that failed to eliminate the sweaty stickiness permeating the air.


The heat didn’t just start once you were inside. The event was supposed to start at 1 p.m., and my friends and I got there around 1:30 p.m. The line outside was huge, so instead of waiting in the blistering sun, we headed across the street to Dos Gringos for some drinks. Once we came back, I could see why the line was so huge–there were only two people checking ID’s for everyone going in. Compared to another beer festival, Tour de Fat, the event seemed very disorganized.

Once inside, we got 20 drink samples (tickets were only $25, and there was beer and tequila). The cool thing was that most of the vendors didn’t even mark down that you got a sample–at the Cruz tequila booth, I got two shots and a margarita without having my punch card marked at all. It was definitely a great place to get drunk for very little money if you had a sober driver, and I did like being able to sample so many different types of drinks.


I’m no beer expert, but prize for best logo goes to Sleepy Dog Brewery, located in Tempe. The dog’s tongue reminds me a little of my pooch, Chico Hombre, so of course I’m biased.

Besides the drinks, there were some food samplings and a cover band.


I think it would have been a really fun event if we all weren’t sweating to death inside. Hopefully next year, they’ll stay true to their name and actually help Valley residents beat the heat with some air conditioning.

MLB All-Star FanFest a fun way to celebrate baseball

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How exciting is it that the 2011 MLB All-Star Game is here in town?!

While I didn’t snag a ticket to the game, I did go to the All-Star FanFest at the Phoenix Convention Center. It’s a great way to get warmed up and excited for the star-studded game, as it features booths on baseball history, lots of interactive baseball-themed games, baseball player autograph sessions and baseball demonstrations.

When I went yesterday, I saw former Arizona Diamondbacks players David Dellucci

and Jay Bell signing balls, I saw a baseball being stitched, and I played a home run derby video game where you actually swung the controller to hit.

I also loved seeing all the old baseball jerseys and reading about women in baseball. Baseball is my favorite professional sport to follow, so if you’re a fan, the event is worth checking out.

You can still head down there today, tomorrow and Tuesday. Tickets are $30 for adults and may be purchased here.

Improv AZ brings more than 100 Waldo’s to Tempe Marketplace

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I always appreciate a good opportunity to act a fool in public, so I was stoked this weekend to go to my first Improv AZ flash mob. The event had a Where’s Waldo? theme, where more than 100 attendees descended upon Tempe Marketplace decked out in Where’s Waldo? garb. Why? Just to create a scene and give people in the Valley something fun to look at, as well as bring strangers together.

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Before the event, participants were given instructions to dress like Waldo, but not exactly like him. If you were part of the mob, you were to wear three out of four of the following: a white-and-red striped shirt, a white-and-red striped beanie, jeans or glasses. Only the real Waldo would wear all four, and some other “Waldo’s” asked random passerby if they’d seen the real Waldo.

It was a really fun sight to see, and it seemed like a lot of spectators got a kick out of it. I know if I hadn’t been in on it, I would have enjoyed a Waldo invasion at the outdoor mall.

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The whole thing only lasted about a half-hour, with an after-party at one of the Tempe Marketplace bars. Improv AZ also organizes events such as the No Pants Light Rail Ride, and to stay up-to-date on their latest pranks, log on to www.improvaz.com.

Ignite Phoenix #9 touches on girls and beer, stray dogs and Assyrian culture

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A bunch of motivated, intelligent and creative people came together last night at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts for Ignite Phoenix #9.

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18 local people got on the big stage to talk about things they’re passionate about–Arizona wine, 3-D printers, educating people about multiple scelrosis…you can see there are a lot of Phoenicians with a wide variety of interests, and they each got 5 minutes and 20 slides to talk about their loves.

Ignite Phoenix actually oversold this event, that’s how popular it is. It sold out within a day, meaning almost 1,000 people crammed into the theater to hear what their peers had to say. I think it’s so popular it could be moved into much larger venues and even be seen at arenas some day, although that’s probably never likely. Before and after presentations, audience members are able to mingle with presenters, and that’s something that is much more difficult in an arena setting. So as long as it stays in this intimate venue, plan on getting your ticket as soon as it’s available.

There were several presentations that stood out to me last night. A woman named Diana Benjamin gave a talk about being Assyrian and how there is an ethnic cleansing of Assyrian Christians in Iraq right now. Her talk was powerful and made me inspired to support the cause.

I also learned from Maureen Basenberg about women’s history with craft beer. There are several local clubs for ladies who love brewskies, and they sound like a really fun time. Hopefully her talk served as an inspiration for women who are interested in becoming brewers themselves.

And I really, really enjoyed hearing from Robert Hoekman, Jr. about the proper way to go about saving a stray dog. I think a lot of people might see stray dogs and not do anything for fear of disease or aggression, but he gave really helpful tips on how to keep stray dogs safe, even if you drop one off at a shelter. He also brought one of his rescue dogs on-stage, which was really cute.

My friends and I agreed that a couple of the presentations seemed more like advertisements for people’s businesses or products rather than their passion. It’s totally understandable that someone may be so incredibly passionate about something that it inspires them to build a business or write a book about it, but mentioning the product or business throughout the presentation makes the passion seem a little less genuine. Maybe including it in the final slide would be better.

Besides the fun talks, I loved listening to local singer-songwriter Tobie Milford, who performed before the show and during intermission. He’s such an amazing violinist, and his music is so beautiful. Seriously, check him out.

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People who attended Ignite went home with CD’s featuring 10 local artists. If you weren’t able to attend the show, you can still get the music for free on www.ignitephoenix.com in the next coming week.

The next Ignite event is on Friday, May 20 at the same location. Submissions are open now, so if you have something you want to share with the local community, you should submit!

Waste Management Phoenix Open and Rickie Fowler a hole-in-one for golf fans, partiers

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I had the freaking best time this past weekend at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It’s a PGA golf tournament, and I chose an awesome year for my first time out–my favorite pro golfer, Rickie Fowler, was playing. He was decked out in head-to-toe bright green glory on Saturday when I went, and the 22-year-old had one of the best days out of all the golfers in the tournament that day.

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I only got into playing golf around the past year and a half, and it was so amazing to be able to walk the course with professional golfers throughout the day. I basically just followed Fowler and his threesome, and I wasn’t alone–like Phil Mickelson, he had a huge following of fans who cheered for him along the way (including me!)

This was my first time watching a live golf competition at all, so I really had no idea what to expect. I thought I’d be stuck behind masses of people at one hole just trying to get a glimpse of people hitting. Instead, it was fairly easy to walk alongside whomever you were following and see all their shots. It was so much fun to be that close to such awesome players, and Fowler didn’t disappoint with his playing, finishing off the day tied for fifth place out of dozens of competitors.

Saturday was also “green day”, where athletes and fans were encouraged to don green fashions on the course. I was surprised to see so many ladies in high heels, but they weren’t really the ones walking, anyway. The fashions I saw were really cool, including brightly patterned golf pants and preppy argyle sweaters. The crowd was almost as fun to watch as the players!

If you’re not really a golf fan, the WMPO would still be a blast to attend. There are lots of food and drink areas and plenty of seats around the course so you can just take in the madness and party. This was also my first year checking out the Birds Nest, the after-party spot of the WMPO. Thursday night, I saw O.A.R., which jammed out Dave Matthews Band-style. I’m not really a huge fan of their music, but the members played enthusiastically and made for a fun show.

Back on the course, for fans of the actual sport, there are huge screens on the holes making it easy to keep track of standings and find your favorite players. It’s a great opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with professional athletes, and following around Fowler was almost as fun as actually playing. Hopefully he’ll be back next year, and I can’t wait to see what he wears!