Afraid of falling? Imagine being strapped to a platform that slowly tilts back, then falls to the ground. Scared of loud noises? Then picture yourself startled by noise and able to watch your own reaction, filmed in slow motion.
Both scary and giggle-inducing, the new exhibit at the Arizona Science Center will help you understand the science behind our common fears in a series of creative, first-hand encounters. “Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear” is another terrific example of the Center’s ability to make learning a thrilling, interactive experience.
In the Fear Challenge Course, you’ll have the chance to face four common fears – animals, electric shock, loud noises and falling – in a safe environment. Fear In The Wild is a put-yourself-in-the-picture video game that lets you explore common responses to danger, including the freeze, flight and fight mode.
Since most of us are overgrown kids, this exhibit is perfect for just about any age. It also includes a provocative look at the way media and pop culture reflect our collective fears, plus useful tips to help kids move past those early-age fears.
The exhibit is free to members, $15 per person for children and seniors and $17 per person for adults. And yup, that price includes general admission to the Center.
Want another Fear Factor experience? You have until March 12th to enter for the chance to wear a beard of live bees. True story; I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
On Saturday, March 20th, six winning entries, drawn at random, will proudly wear their bee beard at the Arizona Science Center. If you’d rather watch than participate, demonstrations begin at 11 a.m. and run every 30 minutes until 1:30 p.m.
As for me, I have apiphobia (fear of bees), and I’ll be happy to let you wear the beard in my absence. Just don’t try to shave it off.











Comic, late-night talk show host, author, vodka lover and self-appointed floozy Chelsea Handler skewers celebrities, friends and family alike in a
Need to get in shape? People of all fitness levels can head to Civic Space Park for
While the focus of Art Detour involves exploring the artist studios and galleries, you may also want to pay attention to the public art displays at each of the light rail stations. METRO budgeted $6.3 million for the features you see incorporated in the station platforms, each one unique to the neighborhood where the station is situated. According to the METRO Web site:
- The missing pieces of art at the McDowell station are due to a sudden death during construction.
6 p.m. — Pamela Carvajal Drapala reads her poem, ”Following My Heart’s Desire”
So in order not to frown, visit the 52nd
Also, nosh on frybread, posole and other Native foods, or grab a burger or hot dog and enjoy two stages of entertainment, ranging from acclaimed international recording artist R. Carlos Nakai and his “Wilde Boys” trio to traditional Native dance performances. Thanks to a partnership with Canyon Records, enjoy a second stage featuring some of the best Native musicians around!
The Ramada Inn is one of the only buildings in Downtown Phoenix that is built correctly because it is built up to the street. Streetfront retail on city blocks is an absolutely necessary component of an urban city. It encourages pedestrians to walk and shop, which creates a healthy, vibrant, urban street. Street front retail is like a membrane of a cell and it allows economic activity to pass in and out. This membrane is missing from Downtown Phoenix.
This weekend, one of the Big Daddy’s of them all is coming to Downtown Phoenix. On Saturday, February 27th, CitySolve Urban Race will take you and a team partner on a crazy quilt adventure across the Valley.
Come see what they have to offer on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Portland Park (next to the Roosevelt light rail station).
Looking at Oakville’s




Her Secret is Patience
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Say what you will about the floating sculpture in Downtown Phoenix, but it’s magnificent. I’ve heard it referred to as a jellyfish, a uterus, a travesty, beautiful, bold, stupid, a waste. It was installed on March 18, 2009 and even when it was just a rendering it caused such a hullabaloo between people (like me) defending it and people who wanted to see it never happen. It’s fascinating that before the sculpture was even it up it caused so much dialogue but that is exactly what public art should do: bring people together to discuss ideas. Downtown Phoenix is lacking in quality public space and this piece was designed to be part of a new park that was under construction. The park is now open and is next to a light rail station, the new ASU Downtown campus, and Central Station in the heart of Downtown. (Local blogger Yuri Artibise wrote about the pros and cons of the park in a piece here.)
Overall, I like the park and think it has the potential to become a destination, and the floating sculpture will be a main driver behind that. I predict the sculpture will become iconic, something that people who visit the city will go home and say, “You’ll never believe what I saw in Phoenix.”
Art, by definition, should say something. This sculpture says that Phoenix is a city willing to think outside the box and is ready to grow up and have its own identity. Creating such a unique pedestrian location, not on the fringes of the city, but smack-dab in the middle is an achievement of people thinking smart and big and is a major step forward for a city so dependent on cars.
The City of Phoenix has an interesting past with public art. During the construction of the 51, a lot of money was spent installing public art along the freeway. The art consisted of oversized ceramic pots on the side of a major road. I have one main objection: the art was on the side of a major road! A person cannot truly appreciate art while flying by it at 65+ mph and giving it an accidental glance.
But Her Secret is Patience is in a public park that people can get to by walking or taking the light rail. It’s in a park where the community can gather and relax and sit under trees and read and throw a football.
I hope this will be a catalyst that brings more people with vision to Phoenix because the city needs better vision and new ideas. We need better architecture, pedestrian friendly streets, and reasons to be downtown. Her Secret is Patience is just the beginning.
Tags: ASU Downtown, civic space park, downtown phoenix, Her Secret is Patience, METRO light rail
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