Pierre Trudeau I.
Yelp
My brother, who's visiting from Vancouver, was standing around minding his own business in Heritage Square earlier today. We were checking out the annual India Diwali Festival taking place there. Suddenly, he sees yours truly stick his hand out to greet some random guy who was walking by and then turn to him and say, "[Bro], this is Phil Gordon, the mayor of Phoenix." Suddenly star-struck, my brother whimpered out a nervous high-pitched "uh, hi" and gave him what he himself says was a dead-fish handshake. We laughed, hard, as he later told me he didn't appreciate my ambushing him with a political figure when all he wanted to do was eat some samosas and look for cute Indian chicks.
Anyway, Heritage Square is a cool little city space where many of the Valley's ethnic communities hold their annual celebrations and festivals. Before India it was Thailand. And I think Japan is coming up within the next few months. It's a great way to sample ethnic foods and just chill out on a Sunday afternoon. You can also wander off to the adjacent Phoenix Museum of History or Arizona Science Center, or check out the old historical homes in the square itself. Not to mention dine at Pizzeria Bianco or Circa 1900 if you're there around dinner time. There is an on-line calendar of events if you want to plan ahead.
[EDIT: Up-coming community festivals include Japan, Korea, Hawaii, and Taiwan]