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Hit the road

5/9/2008 | Every bike commuter has a reason. Cycling saves money, is good for your health and the environment, and can often be more convenient (and more fun) than driving. With gas prices soaring and Bike to Work week starting Monday, many people who have been thinking about riding will finally make the leap.
Bike commuting isn't for everyone. But if it's something you want to try, here are a few tips to get you started.

Does green go with this?

4/18/2008 | Over the coming week, Earth Day celebrations locally and around the world will encourage people to recycle their water bottles, switch to energy-efficient light bulbs, shorten their showers and buy organic goods.

Gen X in the spotlight

4/11/2008 | Jeff Gordinier wants to make one thing perfectly clear: He doesn't hate baby boomers. He just says it's time for them to move along.

Photographer finds solace behind the camera's lens

4/4/2008 | St. John's Cathedral isn't the typical place you'd go to for a First Friday art show, but then again Bethany Mahan isn't your typical artist.

Show us your 'BOOBIES'

4/4/2008 | If you see someone walking down the street wearing a t-shirt or button that says "BOOBIES," it's not necessarily a pervert. It's part of a promotional campaign launched by Team GiGi to raise awareness about breast cancer, at the same time raising money for the Spokane Race for the Cure.

For art's sake

4/4/2008 | Winter's over. It's time to crawl back out of your cave and witness the promise of spring. Tonight's First Friday art walk ushers in a new season: A time of growth, a new palette (anything but white! or gray!), fresh new work, some inspiration, and more than a few budding artists.

In a world of his own

4/4/2008 | You'd think that Conrad Lionel, the protagonist of Lars Brown's comic strip "North World," would be a happy guy. After all, how many people can walk into a forest, unsheathe a sword and do battle with a giant bear?

Exercise appeal

3/21/2008 | She hangs upside down from the vertical pole – no hands, just her bare legs gripping the shiny stainless steel. In her six-inch, black stiletto heels, Megan Goude begins to spin as her inverted body slowly slides down the pole. "It makes you feel sexy," says the 23-year-old, using her muscular arms to climb back up again.
Before your mind even goes there, stop. This is not a sleazy strip club. In fact, there's no nudity involved.

The counting o' the green

3/14/2008 | Right now, droves of puka-shell wearing ballcappers are mentally preparing to don green polo shirts and pour into area bars to trade greenbacks for green Bud Light and slur along with "Whiskey in the Jar," their favorite Metallica song.

St. Paddy's Day quiz

3/14/2008 |

Perfect for the part

3/14/2008 | Silvia Lazo and her character in "The Clean House" at Interplayers, the housekeeper Matilde, have plenty in common. Both are from Brazil. Both speak fluent Portuguese.

Hillyard's hopping

3/7/2008 | Twenty minutes on a Saturday afternoon. That's how long it took us to realize something about the small Hillyard bar scene: These people know how to party.
It wasn't even 5 p.m. and we were only halfway through a round of Hamm's at The Capitol, but already we'd listened to a lady loudly accuse the entire bar of stealing her VFW stuffed-horse-race ticket, seen someone get thrown out the back door, been flashed by a middle-aged woman, were handed boxes of candy hearts, and had a guy wearing sunglasses and a Mardi Gras mask explain to us the difference between jam and jelly (the answer, unfortunately, is too obscene to print here).

Liberace: The 'King of Bling'

3/7/2008 | LAS VEGAS – Liberace, he of pink-feathered cape and "Beer Barrel Polka" fame, hasn't attracted too many fans among a generation weaned on pop-music tarts and gangster-rap thugs.

German-Japanese digital artist to visit Spokane

2/29/2008 | Most of us who were standing on two feet in 1995 remember the O. J. Simpson verdict. It was the culmination of a much-publicized U.

LARPing on the local scene

2/22/2008 | In the documentary "Darkon," fantasy and reality blend into something larger. The movie, which hit the festival circuit two years ago and comes out on DVD Tuesday, tackles the world of LARPing – or, as it's better known, live-action role-playing.

Vodka with pop culture

2/22/2008 | Eryn Johnson was chaperoning a dance at a local community center in 2005 when she warned her 16-year-old daughter. "Just wait, when my song comes on, watch out."

Keeping in step

2/15/2008 | Each generation of presidential candidates has its own way of connecting with potential supporters. My parents received their political news mostly through newspapers, magazines, radio and, beginning with the 1952 conventions, on television.

Guitar hero keeps rocking

2/8/2008 | Velvet Revolver, led by guitar-slinger Slash and singer Scott Weiland, is touring behind its energetic second album, "Libertad," and already weighing a third. The band, featuring former members of Slash's Guns 'N Roses and Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots, mixes its original material with a few hits from the earlier bands in concert.

Legendary Laughs: Top comedians hit Spokane

2/1/2008 | February, for reasons known only to Comos, the Greek god of revelry, is shaping up as comedy month in Spokane. Five national acts will hit town in February, with several more following right behind.

One more for the road

1/25/2008 | You crammed your life's possessions into cardboard boxes. The moving van's burping diesel exhaust into your living room. Now, it's time to make like a flea and flee. But first, there's this: How to spend your final day in Spokane. What would you do? Spend hours eating at your favorite restaurants? Take one last run down your favorite ski hill? Hike your favorite trail? Grab a drink at your favorite watering hole?

Video show keeps comic fans informed

1/25/2008 | When's the next issue of "X-Men" coming out? Was "Amazing Spider-Man" No. 545 worth the wait? Will the new "Batman" movie be worth watching?

Cap is back, and he's packin' a gat

1/11/2008 | The big news in the comic book world is that Steve Rogers is still dead. What's not so surprising is that Captain America is being resurrected just nine months after he was killed off for the first time since the World War II super soldier made his debut in Marvel Comics in 1941.

From burnt toast to the "hair of the dog," everyone has something they swear by. Some of the so-called hangover remedies have more basis in fact than others.