FAMILY

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE JUNE 2020 FAMILY FROLIC » DISCOVER » IMAGINE » FAMILY » FUN » CONNECT

RECESS AT HOME Coloring book gives a peek into renovated shopping center

Annika Tomlin >> The Entertainer! S ummer is knocking on the door, and people are still stuck at home trying to figure out how to pass the time. Downtown Phoenix’s Arizona Center staff created an activity book for all ages to enjoy at home.

“We wanted to connect with our community and bring something special to them during this difficult time,” says Paola Cicuttini, vice president of marketing and corporate communications for Parallel Capital Partners.

“We just wanted to provide fun activities to do while at home, especially now that it’s starting to get a little bit warmer and unfortunately you can’t take breaks that you want to take.”

The activity book, called “Recess at Home with Arizona Center,” is a free downloadable and printable book that includes coloring pages, trivia, word scramble, word search and recipes.

As a way to showcase the shopping center and office complex, Cicuttini and her team reached out to Gensler.

“Gensler is the architectural tech company that did the renovation at Arizona Center that we completed last year,” Cicuttini says. “They had these

beautiful renderings of the center, so we talked about it and decided that we really wanted to do coloring pages that were landmarks of Arizona Center.”

Those landmarks include the Third Street and Van Buren corner, The Grotto, Taylor Street and Prickles.

“Prickles is our 15-foot saguaro cactus that we bought last year,” Cicuttini says. “The community really loves Prickles, so we wanted to make sure that we had her in there as well.”

Taylor Street as well as Third Street and Van Buren add hip geographical shapes to the mix.

“I think this book is helpful even if we weren’t in the situation that we are

in today,” Cicuttini says. “It’s something that gives people the opportunity to do something while we’re avoiding the heat that we avoid all summer long.”

The activity book includes recipes from the center’s restaurants, including the original buffalo chicken dip by Hooters, citrus tilapia by 1130 The Restaurant and adovo chicken pasta by Canyon Café. The book also has recipes for cream soda ice cream float, an iced mocha and a side of guacamole.

Recess at Home with Arizona Center

arizonacenter.com/recess

Arizona Goat Yoga breaks up

the pandemic with ‘field trips’

Annika Tomlin >> The Entertainer! M otivating kids to do homework is a challenge during the pandemic. Gilbert’s Arizona Goat Yoga is here to help by offering virtual tours for classes to meet yoga goats, alpacas and chickens. “I have three kids of my own and I see how hard it is now that school is online to get motivated to really do it,” says Arizona Goat Yoga owner April Gould. “I was trying to think of a way that we might be able to help and so we decided to do virtual field trips, and that has been so much fun.”

Gould takes teachers and students around the Gilbert farm to show them the animals’ daily lives. The farm has 58 goats, 19 of whom are babies; two alpacas and six chickens.

“During a field trip I just walk around and show the animals and talk about them, and then there’s a lot of Q&A,” Gould says. “I get questions as simple as ‘what is their name?’ to “how long do they live?’ A lot of questions are super cute.”

According to Gould, some teachers ask their students to research the animals first and then they discuss what they’ve learned with the class. This makes the experience both fun and educational.

“The kids were coming back with all these facts about alpacas that I didn’t even know, which is pretty neat,” Gould says.

The pandemic has kept the farm from hosting goat yoga, during which baby goats parade in rainbow tutus, prance around at guests’ feet and run across their backs.

“It’s really sad right now that we’re not able to do goat yoga, because we have so many babies who need lots of love and attention and human interaction,” Gould says. “It’s unfortunate for them that they’re not getting a lot of human interaction from hundreds of in-person people.”

Gould says the virtual field trips, which are free for teachers, have been well received.

“The best thing for me is seeing the kids having fun and it being so different for them,” Gould says. “As soon as we get on, all I hear is, ‘Aww.’ I just love the excitement of the kids.”

Teachers have thanked Gould for breaking up the monotony of their new everyday life having school online.

“Since it’s virtual, it’s fantastic because you can do it anywhere,” Gould says. “Kids can get to see not only the goats and alpacas and things like that but

they also get to see another place in the United States of what life is like right now in Gilbert.”

Besides the teachers’ free field trips, guests can visit virtually for 10 minutes for $35; have a customizable goat gram for $35; or a 30-minute “alpacalypse” conference call for $75. The conference call brings alpacas Kip or Napoleon to virtual business meetings for 30 meetings.

“I’ve been getting a lot of requests for birthday parties, which is a whole new level,” Gould says. “I’m excited for that because, apparently, virtual birthday parties are going to be kind of the thing for right now.”

Gould is anxiously awaiting her first goat breakup gram customer. The goat comes online with a sign that reads, “We

can still be frieeeends.”

“I’m super excited for it when that day comes,” Gould says. “Let a goat break up and do all the dirty work. It makes the let down a lot easier that way.”

Aside from the fun, Gould and her team are having a tough time through the pandemic.

“For us, like many small businesses, it really hurts,” Gould says. “Our whole business is based on a lot of people in close gatherings, everything that we’re not allowed to do right now.

“It’s been really tough on us but also really hard on the animals. I know that sounds funny, but the goats are getting really depressed. They’re not used to just grazing and being bored.”

The animals are still playing, sleeping, eating and nursing throughout the day as if they were still doing goat yoga without an audience. Gould is considering continuing the virtual field trips after the stay-at-home order is lifted.

“Now that we’re on lockdown, I think it’s just become a new creative thing and maybe keeping it ongoing for the people out of state or out of the country,” Gould says. “I think it would be so neat to have a virtual tour or field trip to see somewhere different, and this kind of opened up a door for new ideas in that aspect.”

Arizona Goat Yoga

480.269.4144, goatyoga.com, owner@goatyoga.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE JUNE 2020

MUSIC

LISTEN » JAM » INNOVATE » EVOLVE » ROCK » SING

CARVING HER OWN NICHE Cherie Currie introduces ‘miraculous’ new project

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski >> The Entertainer! “ Miraculous” is how Cherie Currie describes her new album, “Blvds of Splendor.”

In 2016, Currie was about to release “Blvds of Splendor” when she fell 12 feet while chainsaw carving on a hilltop scaff olding. Th e accident left Currie with partial facial paralysis and severe head trauma for more than 10 months.

“Something even more miraculous when you don’t believe it’s going to happen,” the eff ervescent Currie says.

“When I listened to the record for the fi rst time after, maybe, nine or eight years, I could just see how good it really is. It’s a gift all over again. When you work so hard on something for so long, you lose sight of how great it is. I’m literally fl oored by how good the record is.”

Th e former singer of the 1970s Sunset Strip band the Runaways worked with a bevy of rock’s fi nest on the new album, including Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Slash and Duff from Guns N’ Roses, as well as Juliette Lewis, Brody Dalle and the Veronicas. Drummer Matt Sorum, of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver, produced the set.

“Cherie hadn’t made a record in a long time,” Sorum says. “We needed to make some kind of statement. When you make albums, you have to remain true to yourself and sound fresh. I brought in some younger guys to play on the record because it’s a good injection.

“My job was to get in the room and make sure the songs were good and the tones were great. As a producer, you put a good team together. We’d work long hours, but it was like I was just vibing with some friends. Th e album is the icing on the cake.”

Th e key was to allow Currie to have a good time.

“Traditionally, when you make a record, you vibe around the studio,” Sorum adds. “People can feel the energy in that. Th ere were situations when I made records and there were tensions that made the record really diffi cult to make. Sometimes those don’t turn out as good—there’s a bad vibe and a bad energy. Th is record was diff erent. It was really fun to make.”

Currie and Sorum began working on the album when Currie was promoting “Th e Runaways” movie with Dakota Fanning as the shy blonde and Kristen Stewart as the fi ery Joan Jett.

“Working with Matt Sorum was just shock and awe,” Currie says. “He’s just such a top-notch musician and producer. Th en for him to bring in all of his friends—Slash, Duff , Billy Corgan, Juliette Lewis, Brody Dalle and the Veronicas—it was shocking, inspiring and extremely humbling.”

Currie admits she was awestruck, especially at the sight of Corgan. However, her fellow musicians had quite a diff erent take.

“Do you fi nd me threatening?” she asks rhetorically. “Juliette threw me out of my own studio. She was too nervous to sing in front of me. Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as well. I don’t know what it is, because I think I’m pretty fun to be around, personally.

“Th ere isn’t any negativity in my being, but for some reason she didn’t feel comfortable singing in front of me. I wasn’t wearing a devil mask or anything. Maybe I should? I don’t know.”

Currie is modest when asked about the project, saying it is Sorum’s “brainchild.”

“Th is is his creation,” she adds. “What he did was bring me because I had never worked with a producer who didn’t try to change me. He didn’t try to tell me that I wasn’t really delivering the way they want it to be or change my particular way of singing.

“Th e thing is, at my age, I have whatever is diff erent from everyone else because it’s who I am. He didn’t try to squelch that. He nurtured that, and he just made me a better artist.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Currie was planning on touring with her band, which includes her and actor Robert Hays’ son, musician Jake Hays. She’s looking forward to returning to the road, and there’s a benefi t to that—fans will know the words to her songs.

Currie has since returned to chainsaw carving, with very little fear. After all, she doesn’t remember it.

“I was knocked out,” she says with a laugh. “I opened my eyes and I saw, over my face, this retired trauma surgeon from Cedars-Sinai. I was actually carving a piece at his property.

“I have no recollection of the fear I must have felt. I actually fi nished the carving and I did have to take time off . I stayed out of the public eye because I had some damage to my face and a lot of nerve damage. Th at took a lot of time to heal. But, yeah, I enjoy carving as much as I have the last 20 years.”

Cherie Currie

cheriecurrie.com chainsawchick.com