PROVIDENCE

Has Obama peaked? Yes, he has

Yes, he made history. Unfortunately, it’s all downhill from there.
To listen to some pundits, Barack Obama's public image began taking a serious beating when the off-year election returns came in a week ago. Or maybe it was the undeserved Nobel Prize, his approach to the war in Afghanistan, or when he revved up his pursuit of national health-care reform.

By STEVEN STARK | November 12, 2009

Letter Rip

The Phoenix discovers secret messages in Hollywood-connected political correspondence
Hollywood celebrities who fancy themselves pols and pundits don’t just bring impassioned everyman views to the legislative banquet.

By CHRIS FARAONE | November 12, 2009

Fight for your right to party

Civil Liberties Dept.
Rhode Island's tragic collision with teen drinking in recent years has heightened concern about substance abuse in the state's school districts.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | November 11, 2009

Review: DJ Hero

Hit the decks in DJ Hero
Shortly after DJ Hero ’s release, a couple of craiglist ads popped up from gamers claiming they’ll plug in and play the game at your party for $75 — all you have to provide is the TV and the speakers.

By MADDY MYERS | November 12, 2009

Interview: Leonard Nimoy

Hot Vulcan
If Leonard Nimoy’s acting work had been limited to that deliriously crazy music video for “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins,” he’d probably still be celebrated by a lot of us.

By ROB TURBOVSKY | November 16, 2009

Easy Ed strikes again

More propaganda from Achorn. Plus, legislative musings and more.
It’s always easy for Ed. That’s “Easy Ed” Achorn, the Other Paper’s deputy editorial pages editor who is the equivalent of a right-wing P&J.

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 11, 2009

Review: Pirate Radio

Richard Curtis’s boat rocks
A rusty, red-painted trawler bobs in the waves of the North Atlantic. Inside is a claustrophobic warren of rooms: tiny, brine-smelling bunks, a well-stocked bar, and, crucially, a broadcast booth, its shelves crammed with the latest 45s and LPs, its turntables manned in shifts by a motley squad of hirsute rogues.

By MIKE MILIARD | November 16, 2009

Review: 2012

Doom and doomer: the bullshit hits the fans
Doomsday is good therapy. What does it matter that billions die if that brings a family together in one big hug?

By PETER KEOUGH | November 12, 2009

A neighborhood theater is reborn

The Arts
It took quite a while, and north of $10 million, but last month the long-closed Park Cinema in Cranston opened as the ambitiously named Rhode Island Center for Performing Arts.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 11, 2009

The Big Hurt: Another Brown bagged

Plus Stockman sickened, Sublime subpoena'd,
Ian Brown: lady hitter?

By DAVID THORPE | November 11, 2009

Phattening Providence lyrics

Beats and Rhymes
The flyers appeared on coffee shop message boards and street corners. "We Phatten Rhymes," they read, and "Brown/RISD Rappers: Get Your Lyrics Doped."

By ABIGAIL CROCKER | November 11, 2009

Readers' problems are bottomless ... and topless

Dr. Lovemonkey answers your questions
I just got a new job . . . exotic dancing!

By DR. LOVEMONKEY | November 11, 2009

The Beehive Café

Keep an eye on the pie
When Three Rivers Café closed last year, fans of chef Eli Dunn eagerly awaited his reappearance.

By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | November 11, 2009

Man and machine

Cirque Mechanics finds the balance
For anyone fascinated with wheels and gears, circus stunts, or political satire, a troupe of performers called Cirque Mechanics bring all that and more.

By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | November 12, 2009

Music and revenge

Elemental Theatre’s masterful Amadeus
As a play, Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus has more than its share of theatrical muscle.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | November 12, 2009

Biker gang

‘Procycle 2009’ at Machines with Magnets
You’re looking over the handlebars of a bike, down the narrow canyon between a pair of city buses heading right at you.

By GREG COOK | November 12, 2009

Thinking person’s metal

The Empire Shall Fall rise up on Awaken
Jerky’s Bar continues its hot streak of delivering quality live acts spanning all genres, and next weekend the hardcore metalheads will descend upon Richmond Street for a fistful of metalcore bands, including the much-anticipated return of former Killswitch Engage/Seemless frontman Jesse Leach.

By CHRIS CONTI | November 12, 2009

Mixing it up

B. + Sage + Roz + Chelsy + Stefan + more
B. DOLAN and SAGE FRANCIS provided memorable highlights at this year’s Rock the Bells in Mansfield; watch the Strange Famous reps slay Jerky’s Bar (401.621.2244) with special guest SLEEP on THURSDAY (the 12th).

By PROVIDENCE PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | November 11, 2009

The South's opt-out program

Idiot Box
During the Civil War

By MATT BORS | November 11, 2009

Devendra Banhart | What Will We Be

Warner/Reprise (2009)
With the title of his latest album, this lovably polyglot erstwhile (and unwitting) “freak” folkie turned gallery darling and global lounge lizard asks a valid question. Indeed, what will we be this time?

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | November 10, 2009