Boise Weekly

Phunky locals Polyphonic Pomegranate are playing a surprise show at Reef tonight. PP's super danceable music attracts booty shakin' crowds wherever they play so you'll probably have as much fun with your fellow show-goers as you will with the band. Check out their music on their Myspace page . Rebecca Scott starts the evening off and the party starts at 9 p.m. [ Subscribe to the comments on this ... Full Story »

Some tool thinks it's funny to insert non- BW material into copies of BW . It's not funny. Particularly when that non- BW material is as offensive as this little insert. We figure you're smart enough, readers, to know that if you pick up a copy of Boise Weekly with this little insert, that it's not from us. But for the record, if your copy of BW has a slip of paper about the size of a 3-inch by ... Full Story »

In 10 to 20 years, there will be a history book with a chapter titled: Age of Idiocy, when Democrats and Obama ran it all. Quote of the Week In 10 to 20 years, there will be a history book with a chapter titled: Age of Idiocy, when Democrats and Obama ran it all. ObeyMyObama, BW online Extension Cuts? I am disappointed that there has not been more widespread concern over the fate of the ... Full Story »

A special screening at the Flicks rounds out a weekend of family drama, family happiness and proof that sometimes family isn't always necessarily made up of the people you're related to. CrudeIn association with Treasure Valley Community Television, the Flicks presents Crude, a documentary that follows a class-action lawsuit filed by Ecuadorians against Texaconow Chevronfor their ruthless ... Full Story »

Good news for all but the most masochistic among us beer drinkers. by David Kirkpatrick When it came to holiday brews in the past, I'd always been something of a Scrooge. With few exceptions, I found most of them to be painfully out of balance. Too many were packed with cloyingly sweet malt and fruitcake flavors, or tricked up with excess spice and pine needles. Well, either my taste buds have ... Full Story »

When Syracuse University junior Christopher Pesto came across sign-wielding anti-gay evangelist Michelle Deferio, he decided to stage his own protest. Over the course of a few hours, dozens of students joined his anti-corduroy, pro-gay rights protest . Pretty damn cool. Chris Pesto and Michelle Deferio at Syracuse University [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] Full Story »

I have failed as a blogger. Blogging is supposed to take place in “real-time,” or something akin to it. Due to the fact that my down time in Jordan was spent nursing a nasty ear and sinus infection, I wasn’t able to blog as much as I would have wanted as our journey was unfolding. And once I returned to Idaho—well, you know what it’s like when you come back from vacation. Back to the grind. So ... Full Story »

Looks like my metal friends have once again earned the respect and adoration of a random group of people selected to choose this year's Grammy Award nominees . OK. The review process isn't really that random, they aren't really my friends (although I did recently interview the bass player ) and that headline is the worst. But I am excited that Metallica has been nominated for Best Hard Rock ... Full Story »

It’s now a matter of fact: Boise’s bike community walks the walk, or rather, pedals the pedal. The final totals are in for the annual Tour de Fat , which raises money for locally based bike organizations, and little old Boise beat out much larger towns on the 11-city tour. This year, money raised in Boise went to the Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association and the Treasure Valley Cycling ... Full Story »

Click on the map, plot your First Thursday route. Zoom and pan your way across First Thursday tonight, with BW's third mensal First Thursday Map Mashup. Say that nine times fast. You can also read Tara Morgan's highlights : snow monsters, beer labels and String Theory. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] Full Story »

Enter the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), a network of futuristic stations and buses designed to offer a cleaner and safer alternative to the local taxis. by Nicolas Brulliard, GlobalPost JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — After thriving despite the oppression of the apartheid regime and surviving years of violent infighting, South Africa's taxi industry is ready to take on its latest foe: a ... Full Story »

McChrystal marked on a white board the message he wanted to deliver to the troops in Kandahar. by Ben Gilbert, GlobalPost KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – With a dry wind blowing across the dusty terrain, Gen. Stanley McChrystal arrived to this crucial proving ground for the pending surge of 30,000 troops. McChrystal, the commanding general in Afghanistan and the architect of the troop increase ... Full Story »

Capitol Hill politicos will debate the pros and cons while calculating the partisan benefits of their position; Afghans are trying to figure out which option gives them the best chance of staying alive. by Jean MacKenzie, GlobalPost KABUL, Afghanistan — President Barack Obama's announcement on troop strength will be just as eagerly awaited in Kabul as it will be in Washington, D.C., but the ... Full Story »

Niotan Inc., of Mound House, Nev., is the first American company to be identified as a buyer of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). by Joe Lauria, GlobalPost UNITED NATIONS — A Nevada-based company's purchase of minerals looted from eastern Congo is helping to finance a decade-long war that has claimed the lives of millions of civilians, an unpublished United Nations ... Full Story »

by Mathias Morache One aspect I appreciate about the Boise music scene is just when you start to think you have a pretty good grasp on what to expect, it throws you a curve ball. Monday night, I went to a show at the Linen Building for the first time, and from the people I spoke to in the crowd, I wasn't the only one. The cavernous, warehouse-like interior makes for a surprisingly intimate ... Full Story »

Yep, you read that right: nachos for breakfast. by Amy Atkins I have a few friendships that have flourished upon a foundation of regular breakfast dates. A few of those relationships that were at one time merely cordial have risen to a comfortable level of closeness in large part due to my introduction to and subsequent shared love of Focaccia's breakfast nachos. It's a dish that the little ... Full Story »

Many aspiring journalists and cartoonists in their 20s have embraced the Web. They don't dread a future without print. by Ted Rall DAYTON, OHIO--One topic towers over all others in my circle of friends: the future of journalism. Print media is in trouble; online media is ascendant. But consumers don't pay for online content, and online advertisers pay much less for readers online than in print ... Full Story »

Now that our Thanksgiving house guest has left I can vent. I live in a shared house with kids of my significant girlfriend and my own spawn. Sometimes those multi-genetic spawn invite the spawn of other genes. Most of the time it's for a sleepover, or in the case of the older spawn, a spontaneous party that sees the light of dawn. As the oldest spawn has left for the ocean, he has occasionally ... Full Story »

Lately I've been searching for some not-too-difficult and not-too-lame crafty Christmas gifts to make people. But besides a ton of cookie recipes and various knitted things, I haven't come across anything mind-blowing. That is, until I stumbled across this little gem on Instructables.com . Like all amazing things, it makes you shake your head and wonder how you could've lived so long on this ... Full Story »

Talk about jamming a few activities together. Try this one: a cyclocross race, holiday toy drive, fundraiser and costume contest. It can only describe the Kringle Cross, the final local race of the cyclocross season on Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Idaho Velodrome and Cycling Park . Organizers will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the Salvation Army’s annual toy drive while racers will be decked ... Full Story »

Joyce Alexander The Ada County Coroner has confirmed that Boise Police found 65-year-old Boise State English professor Tom Trusky dead in his home yesterday. The cause, though not yet determined, is not believed to be suspicious. Trusky, a longtime member of the Boise State faculty, founded the university's Ahsahta Press , which publishes works of Western American poets, in the 1970s. He was ... Full Story »

In last week's main feature, "The Forgotten Epidemic" about HIV/AIDS, local activist Duane Quintana said that sensationalized news coverage of HIV/AIDS often swallows accounts of the reality of living with HIV. That is, unless a former Boise State athlete is knowingly passing on the disease, we're not likely to see HIV/AIDS in the local news regularly. Not even when the president lifts a long ... Full Story »

Our weekly cartoons help us embrace that side and, in keeping with being the most unique and community-focused game in town, the majority of our cartoons are from local artists. by Rachael Daigle In addition to our serious side, which we employ for breaking news at boiseweekly.com, in-depth reports on gritty stuff like the current state of HIV/AIDS cases in Idaho, and the occasional finger ... Full Story »

Milk is not all Boise Milk does; that's just where it all started. by Rachael Daigle The milkman has returned. At Boise Weekly, we've been talking about a return to the simpler times of food for a while now. Snagging a dinner salad from your own dirt or a breakfast egg from your own coop. The profusion of backyard gardens and the rise of urban chicken raising may be an indication of a larger ... Full Story »

With pulverized fish cakes and miso soup mingling in our bellies, we embarked on round two: sushi and pad Thai. by Tara Morgan When we pulled into the Krung Thai parking lot on a frigid fall evening, I was taken over by a distinctly David Lynch-ian feeling. A strand of multi-colored Christmas lights wound around the perimeter of the lone building, and through the open blinds, witness ... Full Story »