We’re flashing back through the top stories of 2011. Check back daily for what you missed loved this past year on DLT. Happy New Year! We’ll see you in 2012!

And you thought recovering US Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords had an amazing view of today’s Space Shuttle launch. Check out this pic snapped by airplane passenger, Stephanie Gordon, as she flew into Palm Beach, FL this morning. According to Gawker, the images have been viewed more than 120,000 times since she uploaded them to Twitter.

Kick up your hooves at Superstition Farm, a working dairy in far east Mesa offering a variety of farm-tastic fun. Bring the kiddies for a tour featuring a super-clean petting zoo, hay mazes and hay rides, as well as a fresh-squeezed milk bar. Big kids, meanwhile, will melt for the handcrafted butters, creams and ice creams from the farm’s award-winning Udder Delights dessert boutique.

3440 S. Hawes Rd., 602-432-6865

Remember how your parents always told you things were so much better back in the day? Well, it turns out they were right, at least when it comes to the scourge that is light pollution. Check out this breakdown of how our electrified lives have ruined out appreciation for the majesty of the nighttime sky. Large format photo after the jump.

»READ MORE

And you thought recovering US Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords had an amazing view of today’s Space Shuttle launch. Check out this pic snapped by airplane passenger, Stephanie Gordon, as she flew into Palm Beach, FL this morning. According to Gawker, the images have been viewed more than 120,000 times since she uploaded them to Twitter.

See a full sized pic after the jump.

»READ MORE

The nerds are coming, the nerds are coming! As we count down to Phoenix Comicom on May 26 – 29 (aka the Valley’s largest comic book and pop-culture convention), we wanted to spotlight one of the fest’s wackiest attendees. Named the Arizona Ghostbusters, they are, well, it’s pretty self-explanatory, right. These kid-party favorites will be rolling into Downtown Phoenix with their vintage ECTO-AZ station wagon and inflatable Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in tow.

Even cooler, they will be joined by actual ‘Ghostbusters’ cast members such as Ernie “That’s a big Twinkie” Hudson and William Atherton (pictured), who played the seezy guy you love to hate in classic movies such as ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Die Hard.’

Love everything about this new video by Danger Beach, from the minimalist-but-irresistibly-catchy melody, to the ah-mazing illustrations. Please to enjoy.

Is there something in the water in the fine city of Mesa? First came the news of a 24-year-old woman arrested for dancing in the nude, in the middle of the day, inside a cemetery. Now AZ Central‘s reporting that a 22-year-old Mesa man was arrested after racing across several rooftops because he thought Batman was chasing him.

It all started on Friday when the chipper looking Kara Rene Mitchell was spotted dancing topless atop graves at the Mesa City Cemetery. And because why stop there, she eventually decided to shake her money-maker completely au naturel before commandeering a golf cart. Needless to say, she’s been charged with indecent exposure and (oddly) soliciting sex in public, says the Phx New Times.

»READ MORE

Ever wonder what iconic rockers, The Beatles thought about anti-immigration hysteria? Us neither until we watched this grainy clip from 1969, where Paul, John and the boys sing “The Commonwealth Song,” sarcastically suggesting that immigrants from Pakstan, India and beyond need to ‘Get back because they’re too common for the [British] commonwealth.’

[NY Times]

Newspapers might be dying, but they still make great gag fits. Dig this hilarious gift card by our old pals at Old Tomfoolery.

They say the best way to cure a hangover is to just start drinking again. Therefore, you better believe we are FeExing ourselves one of these Bosch IXO Vino corless drills featuring a corkscrew adpapter. After all, what more frustrating that having to wait while you manually remove a corkscrew when you could be drinking in mere seconds. Or as ‘Barney the Drunk’ from The Simpsons would say, “Just hook it up to my veins!”

[UnCrate]

Celebrate Cinco de Drinko with this crazy-good concoction from the new-and-improved La Hacienda inside the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort. Now run by famed chef and modern Mexican maestro, Richard Sandoval, the space has a more casual vibe and a handsome outdoor patio lit by firepits. Then there’s the agave-fueled winner that is the La Hacienda’s tequila bar, offering nightly artisan tastings and featuring 110 varieties of tequila. The food, meanwhile, is spectacular—fresh, bold and flavorful, but never spicy just for the sake of being spicy. Plus we’re hog wild for the weekend pig roasts, coming to the outdoor courtyard in Spring.

Full recipe revealed after the jump.

»READ MORE

Who says college students are just drunkards who can’t be bothered to keep up with current events? Well us, because it’s true drunk dorm pooper. But we are impressed by whichever Sun Devils managed to pull themselves out of a Mill Ave bar long enough to repaint Tempe’s A Mountain in honor of the killing of 9/11 mastermind, Osama bin Laden.

Image via AZ Central

So not to start a panic, but the Valley’s officially under attack from a a motley collection of savage beasts. First it was a mini-kangaroo mercilessly hopping through the streets of Tempe and peering into people’s living room windows! (OK, so he was just a runaway pet and a real ‘cutie-patootie’ according to the cops; we’re paraphrasing.)

But how do you explain the 80-pound black bear cub found roaming the streets of the West Valley? According to CBS 5, this ferocious man-eater was captured Sunday morning near the Sunrise Library in Peoria after wandering down from the Bradshaw Mountains north of the Valley in search of food.

So how did they capture this terrifying creature? Well, he was actually described as sheepish, not aggressive at all, and “shyly looked out from behind a wall before they shot him with a tranquilizer dart.” But still, look at those claws! Needless to say, the bear was unharmed and transported back to the mountains.

»READ MORE

In what sounds like a fraternity stunt gone wrong, a driver in Tempe called 911 to report that a Kangaroo was spotted hopping around the streets of a neighborhood late Thursday. And despite their disbelief, officers responded to the call did in fact discover two-foot-tall Wallaby, or mini-kangaroo, wandering outside a residence, peeking in the windows at a dog living inside.

According to AZ Central, it was simply a case of a runaway pet, Wesley the Wallaby, who belongs to someone down the street. The Wallaby, described as “friendly, docile and very cooperative,” was loaded into a large dog kennel, and eventually returned to his owner, where Wesley was last reported doing keg-stands while a bunch of shirtless dudes wearing backward baseball hats shouted “chug, chug, chug!” OK, we made that last part up.

Looking for laughs this weekend? Head on over to Old Town and check out the chortle factory that is Stand Up, Scottsdale! (They added an exclamation point to the name, so you know it’s awesome!) Housed inside the former Anderson’s Fifth Estate, this new comedy club features top touring comedians performing twice-nightly every Friday and Saturday. There’s even an open-mic night every Wednesday for all you wannabe stand-up comedians out there (we’re talking to you, Eric Eats Out.) This weekend, catch a performance by famed goatee aficionado, Craig Gass, best known for his role on as Tom “Big Boned” from Sex in the City, as well as appearances on The King of Queens, Family Guy and Howard Stern.

Admission is only $15, but there’s a two-drink minimum. (Which sounds like a challenge we’re willing to take on.)

Who says the real estate crash didn’t have a sliver lining? As we celebrate the news that the planned demolition of the Scottsdale’s iconic Pinnacle Peak Patio has been put on indefinite hold, we’ve got a review of two of the Valley’s fav cheesy chophouses.

Look, we love nothing more than noshing on premium Prime steak at the Valley’s various highfalutin chophouses. From Mastro’s to J&G, Bourbon Steak to the iconic Durant’s, we’ve been there, loved that. But sometimes it’s just as fun to embrace the Valley’s touristy, cheese-a-riffic Wild West heritage. So round up the little buckaroos and pull up yer bootstraps, ’cause we’re hitting the trail to visit two of Scottsdale’s classic Cowboy steakhouses, pardner.

»READ MORE

So say you’re an enterprising pot dealer on the AZ-Mexico border, and you’re not sure what to do with your marijuana now that the cops discovered your sneaky parking space drug tunnel? Why not build a giant catapult and launch bundles of pot right across the border? Well, surprise sursprise, that’s exactly what happened in Naco, some 80 miles southeast of Tucson.

See the oddly hilarious video after the jump:

»READ MORE

Ever wonder what it’s like to ride a real-deal racehorse as it flies around the around the mile-long track at Phoenix’s Turf Paradise at some 40 miles per hour? (You know, without all the actual talent, risk and crazy crash dieting it takes to be a professional jockey.) Check out this wild first-person footage taken from a camera strapped to the jockey’s helmet. Named EquiSight, this new technology was developed by a couple of University of Arizona students, and will worn by all jockeys this Saturday, April 30 during the Turf Paradise’s Arizona Breeders’ Day races, where the winning jockeys’ footage will be replayed on the big screen.

As chosen by you, here are the most popular stories OF ALL TIME (aka last week). Just in case you missed it

ASU just announced it’s mildly-anticipated uniform redesign today. Created by those branding gurus at Nike, the new-look unis replaced the Sun Devils long-time mascot, Sparky, with a stylized pitchfork. Plus, ASU’s various teams will now sport a rotating collection of mix-and-match tops and pants that will help sell more crap “springboard us to a new level of branding,” says ASU athletic director, Lisa Love.

Sounds great and all, but where’s Sparky? You know the longtime mascot, best known for his pushups prowess and for reportedly being modeled after Walt Disney. And we’re not the only one’s asking. According to ABC 15, “Sparky” became a trending topic on Twitter at 2:30 pm today.

No explanation needed.

Scottsdale’s fav scumbag, Nik Richie is expecting a child with his fellow psuedo-celebrity wife, Shayne Lamas. So, um, congratulations? Richie (real name Hooman Karamian) is infamous for creating a just truly awful website called The Dirty, where he and other fine folks post pics of club chicks and Jersey Shore dudes and then make fun of them. Weee. Formerly based in Scottsdale, Richie slimed his way over to the bright lights of LA a few years back. But that didn’t stop him from creating a minor hullabaloo a few month back when he revealed that one of The Dirty’s first sleeziod contributors was none other than Ben Quayle, aka AZ’s newly elected US Congressman.

Shayne Lamas, meanwhile, is best known for being the spawn of somewhat-famous TV actor, Lorenzo Lamas, as well ‘winning’ The Bachelor a few years back. Needless to say, her TV engagement did not stick. However, it appears she’s found true love with Hooman, whom she married after partying with him in Vegas for a few hours.

Mazel Tov, kids.

If there’s a grain of truth in every stereotype, then this one’s more like a mountain. Tempe’s A-Mountain that is. Yes, the trendy gossip/news site, Gawker just posted another story poking fun of AZ’s latest political fiasco. Something about guns and circumcisions. We so wish we kidding.

All of which was catnip for the site’s famously-snarky commenters. But for once, they weren’t focused on making fun of us desert dwellers. Instead they were too busy chiding the writer for confusing UofA with ASU, when he said …

»READ MORE

File this one under, things could always be worse. Yes it’s Monday, and yes it’s Tax Day, but hey at least you’re not Erin Sullivan (pictured below). That’s because this poorly-mannered Peoria resident went and bit a police dog during his arrest last fall while fleeing a home he’d just robbed. Even wackier, he’s now suing the boys in blue for a cool $450,000, saying they used excessive force. Bad burglar!

According to AZ Central, this hairy situation started back in March 2010, when a police helicopter responding to calls of someone jumping over backyard fences spotted Sullivan and alerted cops on the ground. Officers then sent in Zeke (pictured), a police K-9, to apprehend the subject. Police say the dog pulled Sullivan from a hiding spot, while Sullivan says he was in plain sight awaiting arrest. Either way, both side agree that Zeke bit the burglar multiple times (click here see the gnarly pic below) and Sullivan responded by biting the dog above its right eye before officers separated them with a rolled up newspaper pepper spray.

Needless to say, both have recovered and Sullivan is serving an eight-year sentence in the AZ State Prison in Florence.

Mugshot via

Think that group singing showtunes on the Light Rail put on a good show? Imagine if you’d been riding the rail in Phoenix on Wednesday evening when a 25-year-old transient woman decided to disrobe. Yes, Nicole Annette Antone (pictured) was arrested by Phoenix police after stripping off all of her clothes while riding the train near 19th Ave & Camelback Road. But first officers had to tackle the woman, who was twisting and squirming to avoid arrest, and reportedly hit and spit in the face of one of the cops.

Needless to say, authorities think she might have been under the influence of drugs. Sounds like somebody needs to set this lady up with the Naked Drug Fiend who hangs out in Gilbert sewers.

[ABC 15]

Who says tunnels in AZ are just for smuggling drugs? A city cleanup crew in the West Valley suburb of Avondale just discovered a 40-foot long tunnel hidden under a roadway that was stuffed to the gills with 800-pounds stolen stuff. According to AZ Central, an undercover officer suspected a group of homeless people of running criminal ring that stole bikes, jewelry, electronics, copper wire and other goods. He tracked the group back to a trash-filled highway underpass near Buckeye and El Mirage roads and requested a cleanup crew. That’s when workers discovered the hideout pictured at left, which also included a sleeping quarters.

However, before you get any ideas about renting out this now-available studio space, know that the AZ Dept of Transportation has already cleaned out and filled in the space to ensure the safety of drivers using the roadway.