Q: I had one of the most horrifying experiences of my life at Mystere. Somehow, we had gotten seats in the front row. A performer dressed in a baby suit rolled a gigantic orange ball off the stage and it somehow landed right in front of me. He started "crying." I awkwardly shoved the ball back onto the stage and he smiled at me, calling me "papa." He beckoned me to come up on stage, and he squirted me in the face with his bottle. He called out to me several times during the show, but the worst part was when he drove through the theater on a golf cart and made me get onto it with him. They took me backstage, dressed *me* up in a baby suit, drove me across the stage, and then had me push the cart back across the stage in the other direction. One of the people who was with me later overheard someone in the bathroom explaining to their child that I was one of the performers pretending to be a clueless audience member. HA! So, that's my "Mystere" story. Actually, that's one of the few things I remember about it, other than I recall enjoying it. I had seen "O" before I saw Mystere, and I must say that I preferred "O"... but Mystere is great, too.

A: positive

Q: I have worked with speedy glass for years. They have replaced my windshield twice over the last couple years - one of the joys of living in a rural area - and are always professional and respectful. Never had any problems with the work done and love that they use manufacturer glass. Thank you speedy!

A: positive

Q: My 700th review (finally!). Hmmm, needs to be someplace special to me, just as my other "Centennial" reviews were. I decided to choose Chandler, AZ, a city I sort of adopted, or maybe it adopted me, in 2007. Oh, I had been visiting it since I started college in San Diego in 1966, even before that a few times, a visit for Xmas in 1954 from where my family lived in Ohio, again in June of 1955 to be my cousin Barbara Gaddis Knox's flower girl, later in 1965 from Michigan as part of a trip out west to look at colleges in California, Nevada, Colorado. Then trips for some Thanksgivings and Easters, since the Knoxes were my closest relatives to San Diego, and finally for most Thanksgivings and Christmases after my parents chose Chandler to retire in from 1973 on. But it was always as a visitor, with the focus on visiting family, not the area. That all changed in January of 2007 when I rushed here, driving all night, after my mother had a heart attack and I didn't even know if she had survived the night till I arrived at 6am. My father had passed away in Dec. 2000. She seemed to to be on the mend and I stayed to be with her during what was supposed to be her recovery but at 89 she just didn't have the strength to bounce back and passed away three weeks later. By then I had been staying in her house and doing the upkeep, shopping in the area, making friends with the neighbors, and now had the daunting task of going thru her possessions, many of which were family keepsakes, and deciding what should be done with them. I mention all this only to give background on how I came to live here. It seemed like the longer I stayed, the more I grew to love the area, in spite of the sad circumstances that brought me here. I ended up being here for nine months, using the post offices, libraries, grocery and hardware stores, taking classes at the local craft stores, driving all over exploring, enjoying the beautiful spring weather, marvelling at the power of nature during dust storms and monsoons, experiencing the triple digit heat in the summer, eating at the variety of local restaurants, making acquaintances and friends wherever I went. I enjoyed it so much I didn't want to return to San Diego! People would ask me where I was from and them ask what I was doing HERE instead of beautiful San Diego and I found myself answering, "Because I love it here!" My line was, "I'm a San Diego snowbird!". I was really sad to leave here, thinking I might never get back. Sadly, a cousin passed away the next July so I did come back. I stayed about a week. Then a few months later my daughter who lives in Mesa talked me into coming out for Easter and I stayed longer. Then again in a few months, each trip lasting longer than the last. I still love coming back here, and spent over half of last year (2010) here! Not all in Chandler, part in Mesa, but still in the area. If anyone asks me if I would recommend this area to live, I give them a resounding yes! If I could have kept my parents' house, I think I would have stayed here myself.

A: positive

Q: We were debating between coming here or going to our old favorite: Moreno's just down the street. Since we found Moreno's by ditching this place a year ago, we decided to try this place out for dinner just to see if we were missing anything. The end result was no, we weren't missing anything by skipping out on this place for so long. The outside looks really outdated and run down but sometimes you can't judge places by how they look on the outside. The inside was pretty clean but also looked like a flashback to the 90's. There was no one in there when we went so we got to order right away, although there was no greeting and the cashier had a serious attitude problem. I was intrigued to see that they offer Indian fry bread but I went ahead and ordered the cheese enchiladas with a chile relleno, and my partner ordered the mini chimi's. We waited not too long and the cashier clomped out with our food and left it in a huff on our table. If you eat there, the meals come in to go styrofoam containers and I began to wonder where the silverware was. When I opened up the container I saw that the forks were on top of the food inside, can you say gross? I don't like it when the top of my straw has been touched by the waiter. It reminded me of going to a buffet and finding the spoon has been dropped into the food. Prices were low but they charged $1.50 for a side of guacamole and extra for sour cream for a dish (chimichangas) that should already come with it. Not a huge helping, one of those small condiment to go containers. The guac had more onions than avocados and the mini chimi's never specified what kind of meat was inside, so they were filled with some mystery mixture that appeared to be mostly beans with essence of beef. The taco meat appeared to be dry but on the plus side the rice was moist and I could smell the tomato sauce. The chile relleno I ordered was spongy at best and the enchiladas were forgettable in flavor. The beans were very greasy but hey this isn't health food right? I can't blame those Chandler High student for getting addicted to this place, teenagers don't know any better. Telling people the only way to get authentic Mexican food is to travel to Mexico or to get real ethnic food is to travel to that prospective country does not make any sense. You would have to tell all of the ethnic home cooks including my parents that in order to make "real" food they have to go back to their countries and cook it there. People who come from other countries if they do it right, are perfectly able to replicate the same meals in America. Restaurants can be authentic if they tried. So while I wait for my dad to return from Cuba and Panama, and my mom to return from Spain with my meal, I will just say this place is not worth it. I recommend Moreno's if you are restricted to this area only or La Tolteca in Phoenix if you can travel.

A:
negative