During last week's May Day madness in Seattle, self-proclaimed superhero Phoenix Jones waded deep into the fracas, attempting to protect an historic building with a can of pepper spray.

While that was happening, a plot was being hatched against him by the previously unknown Rex Velvet, aka, the people's villain.

Velvet released a viral video attacking Jones and his style of vigilante justice, telling him to give it up before his plot came to fruition.

Today, Velvet officially launched his plot with another video.

The video features another gripping monologue and encourages viewers to take part in a social media and activism campaign to drum up resistance against the superhero movement. It features downloadable fliers kind of like Kony2012, but without the secret Christian agenda.

It also shows Velvet speeding off in a DeLorean. Pretty swank.

In a fortunate turn of events, the much-loved Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo falls on a Saturday this year—meaning margaritas festivities can be fully enjoyed without the threat of co-workers questioning the dark circles under your eyes and your lack of productivity the next morning.

It’s the perfect day to get outside and celebrate, and the second-annual Cinco de Mayo Street Festival, presented by Capitol Terrace on Eighth Street between Idaho and Main streets, is one of the best places to do it. From 4-9 p.m., you can imbibe outdoors (within the designated area) without threat of receiving a ticket, listen to live music, enjoy Hispanic folk dancing and mariachi performances, and grab some grub from the myriad participating restaurants that surround the area. Entry is free, but food and beverages are not.

The Modern Hotel’s mid-century decor seemed to rub off on this year’s crop of Modern artists. For the fifth-annual Modern Art event on May 3, Bryan Moore tricked out the wraparound porch of the hotel’s Business Office with vintage tiki decor, Bruce Maurey covered the walls of his vice-themed den with neon blacklight posters of celebrities who died in hotel rooms, and further down the hall, Vinyl Preservation Society slid into their polyester pantsuits and cranked out the disco jams.

Not to be left out of the throwback action, Boise Weekly staffers donned their finest flapper gear and poker faces in a 1920’s-themed speakeasy art barter room, while directly below, former BW'er Tyler Bush staged a re-creation of John and Yoko’s bed-in for peace with the fabulous Minerva Jayne, complete with frequent sing-a-longs.

But the evening wasn’t all a blast from the past. There were oracles, 9-year-old picketers, neon cat butts and crocheted VHS tape galore. Not to mention beds covered in delicate cut-paper, beds covered in pointy nails and downy feathers, and beds littered with stuffed fleshy bits, hair and marshmallows.

If you missed out on any of the artsy action, check out our slideshow here.

• The Boise Home Brewer's Club cooked up some American Red at the Adult Night on Wednesday.

After his demonstration on the fermentation process, Discovery Center of Idaho education director Woody Sobey unveiled a treat for Wednesday, April 25's Adult Night Science of Brewing audience: a pony keg containing a beer designed to exhibit the spirit of the DCI.

"How many of you out there want to try sticky-kid-hand beer?" asked Sobey. "Well, how about Dawn dish soap beer? Peanut butter and jelly beer?"

Joking aside, the keg contained the "explosion" brew, featuring notes of Chipotle and malt dried over an open flame. The result was a fiery, smokey blend of flavor that led to a lot of burnt tongues.

The spicy beer was no match, however, for the evening's other offerings. Payette and Crooked Fence passed out porters and IPAs aplenty, while the Boise Home Brewer's Club poured samples indoors.

The result was an evening of childlike wonder, perhaps hastened by the effects of alcohol hitting attendees' brains. Check out the video below for more on DCI's Science of Brewing event.

• Ignite Boise presenters commanded the attention of an at-capacity crowd.

The eighth Ignite Boise series filled the 700-plus seat Egyptian Theatre to the brim. Before the lights went down, most of the crowd's hands were busy: cradling beer or wine in one while tapping at a smartphone screen in the other.

Fifteen presenters took the stage armed with 20 slides and five minutes on the clock to regale the crowd with their idea. Topics ran the gamut from Tim Milburn's humorous treatise on the four-way stop to author Alan Heathcock's call to action and Jake Lee's passionate plea to connect Boiseans with local refugees.

If you missed out, fret not. Ignite will post the videos on its website at a later date.

Here's a collection of last night's tweets marked with Ignite Boise hashtag for the evening: #IB8:

• Alejandra Regalado
• A photo from Alejandra Regalado's photography exhibit.

After local artist Allison Corona's parents moved back to Mexico, she felt lost.

"Her family migrated back to the state and she felt suddenly alone," said Valerie Mejer with the Mexican Consulate in Boise.

So Corona began frequenting Mexican markets around the Treasure Valley, like Campos Market on Orchard Street, that sell Jarritos sodas or Marinela cookies. Corona used photography to rediscover her culture.

"She found in these little cantitas her universe created again," Mejer said.

Corona is part of a group of artists called Boisicans, which combines "Boiseans" and "Mexicans." On April 27, she will debut her cantitas exhibition alongside work by Luz Camarena, Bobby Gaytan and Alma Gomez at the Mexican Consulate, 720 E. Park Blvd., Suite 260.

The exhibition is part of a larger event called the Latin American Arts Festival. From Saturday, April 21-Monday, April 30, Hispanic arts will take center stage in Boise. Organized by the Mexican Consulate, the Idaho Humanities Council and Boise State, the festival will spring up in venues across Boise State and downtown.

Visitors entering the Linen Building on April 15 were greeted by a bevy of tables, each festooned with colorful products. More than a dozen Idaho businesses registered to showcase their products at the inaugural Buy Idaho Sunday Market.

At a table to the left of the entrance, Ingrid Andrulis said she was just starting out.

"I want to get more into fashion," said Andrulis, sitting behind a table covered in jewelry.

• Ingrid Andrulis markets her handmade jewelry at the Buy Idaho Sunday Market.

• Boise Hare Krishna Temple
• Holi festival attendees are sprinkled with colored powder for this Hindu celebration of spring.

This Sunday, April 15, the Boise Hare Krishna Temple observes Holi, the Hindu festival celebrating the end of winter.

The festival is connected to Lord Krishna, who throws colored powder on friends to mark the beginning of the warmer months. Millions of Hindus in India and abroad celebrate the festival by grabbing big fistfuls of colored powder for a battle against friends and family.

"It's a spring festival to come see yourself in a way that you've never seen before, once you get your face all colored up," said Arun Gupta of the temple."It's a fun festival. It's very uniting and with a lot of diversity."

At the end of the "festival of colors," as it is also called, participants are coated head-to-toe in bright patches of pigment. The powdery color often finds its way onto scalps, tinting hair a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Last year, we had maybe 40; this year we're expecting maybe 50 or 60," said Gupta's wife, Aruddha, referring to the number of attendees.

The Guptas advise wearing clothing you wouldn't mind stained by an array of colors. A free vegetarian meal will be served at 1 p.m., and the battle begins shortly after.

The rough-and-tumble Old West attitude of Idaho don't much cotton to things like fancy opera singin'. Lessin' of course the fancy singin' in question is about important stuff like cowboys and silver mining.

Well, tobaccy chewers rejoice, 'cause Opera Idaho has your backy. The company is currently rehearsing The Ballad of Baby Doe, an opera about a love triangle set against the backdrop of a historical Colorado silver-mining town. And it's even in English, instead of fancy-pants Italian.

BW stopped by a recent rehearsal with a video camera to get a taste. The show will run Friday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 15, at 2:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre. Tickets are $22-$69 and are available at operaIdaho.org.

• Amber Clontz
• Attendees at Dunia Marketplace's Savor the World event.

Dunia Marketplace’s Savor the World event was not a formal fundraiser. There were no tuxes or gowns inside the very intimate Sage Yoga and Wellness studio. The space was wall-to-wall with a community of Dunia Marketplace supporters, sipping and nibbling on specialty international foods.

Fair Trade retailer Dunia Marketplace has been, in some form, a part of Boise’s Hyde Park for 16 years. With only a few paid employees, the operation is supported through 1,500 hours split between 25 dedicated volunteers. And it seemed as if every volunteer brought their family and three more people to Savor the World.

It was E.B. White who said waking in the morning is a conflict between “a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world.” This sentiment sums up the role of Fair Trade. Co-organizer of Savor the World, Katie Sewell, told BW, “Dunia matters because Fair Trade matters.”

Sewell explained that educating consumers is just as important as organizing responsible selling and manufacturing.

“I don’t think people know the story to the things they buy,” Sewell said. "If they did, they might make different choices.”

Every guest at the fundraiser wore a white sticky tag with their name and interest: books, sign language, pottery, skiing, woodwork, music. Two women stood at a tall table with name tags that read "snowboarding" and "Morning Owl Farms." They were both longtime friends of Dunia’s director, Becky West. When asked if they would come back again next year, Morning Owl's Mary Rohlfing jokingly sighed: “We’ll be here until Becky gives up this job."

You couldn’t swing a sack of Fair Trade coffee beans without hitting a past or present Dunia volunteer. Suzie Hanks used to be a part of Dunia when it was 10,000 Villages and has since showed devotion through shopping there. Hanks was delighted to see so many people she’d never met before.

“As someone who used to know everyone involved, it is so exciting that at least 75 percent are new,” said Hanks. “People here tonight were probably brought by a friend who knew a volunteer and then saw a friend who knows someone else. Only in Boise do you find little circles of people crossing so often.”

Auction item donors included Boise Philharmonic, Record Exchange, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and an entire wall of goods from Hyde Park stores like Goody's and Urban Revival.

“There is also beer to bid on,” Cornelia Sprung announced to the crowd. “New Belgium donated eight cases, so bid on it and invite us to your party.”

• Amber Clontz
• Attendees savor wine at Savor the World.