Tempe Conventions & Visitors Bureau

Stray Cat Will Stray No More 

I love live theatre and there are so many theatrical groups in the valley that I can always satisfy my love for real, live, gritty, funny, dramatic live performance on practically any night of the week.  

One of my favorites is Stray Cat Theatre.  Last night I attended the opening of Stray Cat’s new season in their new home, the original Tempe Performing Arts Center in the Mill Avenue District.   The play Everything Will Be Different – A Brief History of Helen of Troy was powerful, intense, moving and often hilarious with first-rate performances by the entire cast.  It’s a one-act play about a teen-age girl named Charlotte who is grappling with the grief of her beautiful mother’s recent death.  The subject matter was heavy and often-times sad. At the same time, the production was so well-balanced, with just the right amount of well-placed comic relief that the deep subject matter did not overwhelm.

Tempe has been the source of great theater for a long time.  Childsplay, ASU Gammage and the ASU Herberger College of Arts have, for years, given us with some amazing live performance.  I’m thrilled that Stray Cat has found a new, and I hope permanent, home in
Tempe.  I love their new location.  It’s so convenient to all the Mill Avenue restaurants, which is great because you can park, walk to a restaurant and then walk to the theater. That’s what we did and it was so easy, pleasant and unrushed.

I’m really looking forward to Stray Cat’s entire season.  The next one is a “holiday spectacular” titled A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant. It will be unconventional for sure and one I must see.

Tempe is known for it’s many great restaurants serving tasty and diverse cuisines.  Among the many excellent chain restaurants you can find a number of fantastic independently owned places serving delicious, authentic food.  One that has been a true local favorite for several years is Yupha’s Tai Kitchen, which just moved from it’s old location at Elliott and Hardy to it’s new location next to Pollack Tempe Cinemas on the Southeast corner of McClintock and Elliott. 

I had heard about Yupha’s, but just tried it for the first time on a recent Friday evening, when four of us decided to have dinner there before taking in a terrific independent foreign film at the OneNightCinema next door.  We were glad we arrived early and found a table easily because in a short time, the place was packed. And, it was obvious that many of the diners were regulars.  You could tell by the way they greeted and were greeted by the gracious and friendly staff.

The menu is huge and it took a while to decide what we wanted to order.  This was made easier with a glass of a delightful white Tai wine. We shared an order of the light and crispy spring rolls and each ordered a different entrée and sampled each others. I loved my dish, the sautéed vegetables with chicken, medium hot, with brown rice. The veggies were crisp and delicious and served in some kind of wonderful savory sauce. Everyone ordered something different, so we all could sample four different entrées and everything was absolutely yummy. The portions are generous, the prices so reasonable and the service was terrific.  I can say for sure that I have joined the ranks of Yupha’s regulars.  I can’t wait to return. 

Want to go out this weekend but can’t decide what to do? Here’s a list of 5 things to do when you’re in Tempe for $25 or less.

 5. Ready? Set. Draw! – This Saturday, join the Portrait Drawing For Beginners workshop from 2-4pm at Changing Hands Bookstore. Just $25, the class is lead by Tony Carrillo, the creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip F Minus. 

4. Happy Birthday, TCA! – This month the Tempe Center for the Arts turns one year old and a special art exhibition has been created that showcases paper, a tradition for a first anniversary. Explore some amazing and unique works of art created from paper and while you’re there, check out the Ballet Under The Stars on Friday, 9/26. Both events are 100% free.

3. Greg Behrendt at Tempe Improv – As a consultant on Sex and the City, he coined the infamous phrase “He’s just not that into you” and turned it into a best-selling book. At just $22 per ticket (not including the two-drink minimum), you can laugh all night and still stay under budget.

2. Dinner, drinks and live music at Rúla Búla – This traditional Irish Pub located on the north end of Mill Avenue serves up some of the best Fish and Chips in town for just $11.95. Wash it all down with the perfect pint and some great live music from your favorite local bands.

1. Harkins turns 75! – Founded in Tempe 75 years ago, Harkins Theatres will celebrate all weekend long by giving away free scratcher tickets. Prizes include movie snacks, memorabilia and the chance to win an entire year of free movies. Tempe locations include Arizona Mills, Valley Art and Tempe Marketplace.

Tempe takes home three Valley Forward awards

“Tempe, Arizona – The City of Tempe claimed three honors at Valley Forward’s 28th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards for its transportation program and arts center. Held Sept. 6 in Scottsdale, the awards ceremony recognized the sustainability initiatives of 49 public and private projects in 24 categories, from private homes to commercial buildings to public spaces.

The Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) and Tempe in Motion (TIM), the city’s transportation program, won prestigious Crescordia awards. The Tempe Center for the Arts won an Award of Merit in the Site Development and Landscape/Parks category. In the Buildings and Structures/Public Assembly category, the Tempe Center for the Arts was praised for transforming a former landfill on the south bank of Tempe Town Lake into an architectural showpiece that houses local arts organizations and adds to community quality of life.

In the Livable Communities/Multimodal Transportation and Connectivity category, TIM was recognized for implementing innovative projects that provide alternative modes of transportation to improve air quality and decrease traffic congestion. Since the passage of the city’s 1996 transit sales tax, Tempe has added bus service, implemented five free neighborhood circulator routes, created an alternatively-fueled fleet, constructed light rail, built bikeways, constructed two “green” buildings and implemented neighborhood pedestrian facilities. For more information on the Tempe in Motion Program, visit www.tempe.gov/tim

Tempe won an Award of Merit in the Site Development and Landscape/Parks category, for the Tempe Center for the Arts. Design Workshop and the City of Tempe collaborated on the beautifully appointed, 17-acre lakeside art park that is an outstanding contribution to the City of Tempe’s sustainability.

For everyone out there who has rescued a pet, are interested in adopting a pet or would like to do more to help out the animals in the valley, join the Arizona Animal Welfare League and SPCA’s Walk to Save Animals 2008. This special event is being held to save the lives of homeless dogs and cats. This year’s Walk to Save Animals will be on Saturday, November 15 at Tempe Beach Park from 10am to 2pm. Some fun activities include 2K and 5K walk routes, a visit from the Arizona Diamondbacks Mascot, ActivityZone with games, and a PetZone with merchandise and animals for adoption. For more information, visit http://www.aawl.org/events.asp

I was driving to work today and I looked at the A on A Mountain just like I do every day. It made me wonder how long the A has been there. Here’s what I found out on the ASU Web site. They have all types of interesting info about the university in an online campus tour. The following is from: http://www.asu.edu/tour/tempe/amtn.html

“The Tempe Normal School class of 1918 was responsible for installing the first letter on Tempe Butte. When the school changed its name to Tempe State Teachers College in 1925, students retained one side of the “N” to form the stem of the “T.”

The school changed its name to Arizona State Teachers College, and in 1938, the letter “A” was installed on the butte. In 1952, a bomb blast destroyed the letter. The present “A” stands 60 feet tall and was built of reinforced steel and concrete in 1955.”

If you ever have the chance, take a hike up the mountain to get a closer look at the A. There’s great views of Tempe and even the airport from the top.

A couple of Friday’s ago, I got invited to a happy hour at San Felipe’s Cantina at Tempe Marketplace.  I decided to go, uncertain of what to expect having never been to Tempe Marketplace for happy hour before.  It was so packed I could hardly believe it!   Apparantly I was the only one who didn’t know about Felipe’s.  There were so many people there, it was such a fun place to hang out.  There were lots of tables were groups could gather to sit down, a great bar area and fabulous outdoor patio.  The coolest part was that there was live music going on in the outdoor center stage and if you were standing out on the patio you could listen to the music.  It was cool to see a happenin’ bar that wasn’t just full of college folk in Tempe.  I know that Old Town Scottsdale has had the name for a while for  the cool place to go out at night, but honestly, Tempe Marketplace was just as cool if not cooler becuase all of the bars/nightlife are in one centrally located area of the marketplace and all of them were super busy.  I live in Awahtukee so it is nice to have such a fun place to go out that is closer to home.  I definitely recommend Tempe Marketplace if your looking to go out for fun evening.

If you love extremely stuffed burritos covered in tinfoil, then you’ll be happy to hear that they are building a new Chipotle Mexican Restaurant in Tempe on the west side of ASU’s campus just across from the Arizona State University Art Museum. The exact address is located at the corner of 11th Street and Mill Avenue, just a brisk walk from the bars and fare of downtown Tempe. No word on the hours yet (Here’s to hoping that a burrito can be had at 2am!), but the projected completion date is October 2008, just in time for midterms.

United Blood Services and Tempe Fire and Police commemorate 9/11 heroes

United Blood Services and the City of Tempe commemorated 9/11 heroes on Thursday, Sept. 4, when Tempe firefighters and police officers rolled up their sleeves to donate blood in memory of their fellow 411 emergency responders who heroically gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. This event took place at Tempe Fire Station #1, 1450 E. Apache Blvd.

United Blood Services hopes to collect 411 pints of blood during the week of Sept. 8 at its Valley-wide blood drives.

For a complete list of United Blood Services’ Sept. 8 – 13 blood drive tribute locations throughout the Valley, visit www.unitedbloodservices.org/ubs-az/08_9-11.html

It’s time for Tempe’s annual Way Out West Oktoberfest, celebrating this traditional German festival Arizona-style.  Wear your lederhosen or your shorts & flip flops. Dance the polka, or do the chicken dance.  Eat some German Bratwurst, sauerkraut and strudel, or have some pizza. Drink traditional Oktoberfest beer direct from Germany or have a good American brew!

It’s all there at Tempe’s Oktoberfest from October 3rd to 5th.

Way Out West Oktoberfest