This might be of interest to some of you: Democrats.org is offering the opportunity to send a note to Gabrielle Giffords, thanking her for her service in the House of Representatives.

I spend far too much of my time listening to the music I loved in the mid-to-late nineties, seeing shows at the Downtown Performance Center, noisy, buzzy, stuff that had the snarl of punk, but different chords, released on labels like Matador. Since Cloud Nothings occupy a space that allows me to engage in that sort of sentimentality while still listening to music releases this decade, I'm excited to see them at Club Congress on February 27th.

Also, they have a new video for their song "No Future, No Past", which is weird and disconcerting. Maybe listen while looking at another screen? Maybe I'm just being a baby about it. I don't know.

KGUN is reporting that chief meteorologist Erin Christiansen has contracted Valley Fever. The ailment has sidelined her of late and KGUN management expects her to remain off television for at least another week. According to a statement, Christiansen is undergoing treatment and the prognosis is good.

In the interim, Aaron Brackett has been filling in. Brackett will transition to mornings starting next week and April Madison will handle the evening weather reports until Christiansen returns. Jessica Chapin will take care of weather updates during weekend newscasts.

Jesse Kelly is back, and he's polling.

The beaten Republican candidate who limped off to Texas after nearly toppling Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in 2010 released a poll today which showed him out front of the pack of probable Republican candidates for the special election to replace Giffords.

According to the survey, Kelly has a combined 35 percent of definite and leaning voters. State Senator Frank Antenori pulls 15 percent of definite and leaning voters, and local sports broadcaster Dave Sitton gets 7 percent.

The poll was conducted on the 24th and 25th of January, 2012 and sampled 300 likely primary voters from throughout the current Congressional District 8.

Republican state Sen. Frank Antenori, who is expected to announce his candidacy this week, said he has done his own polling for the seat — but he didn’t ask if voters supported Kelly because he didn’t think Kelly would run.

“What’s really astonishing is that he had no intentions of running in the normal election and he had already started cutting staff away, and all of a sudden Mr. opportunity is back in town,” Antenori said.

The special primary election for CD8 will be held in April, and a special general election to replace Giffords will be held in June. In November, the candidates would have to run again to keep the seat in a whole new district, the newly drawn CD2.

Downtown restaurant 47 Scott at 47 N. Scott Ave. starts serving brunch this Saturday. Owners Nicole Flowers and Travis Reese tell us that Ciaran Wiese from the adjacent cocktail bar Scott and Co. has even created a signature Bloody Mary for the event and that other libations from the bar's amazing drink menu will be available.

This could shape up to be one of the greatest downtown brunches yet. The newish outdoor dining area at 47 Scott is awesome, and Wiese's drinks are some of the best in the city. The restaurant also sprinkles its pomme frites with little chopped up pieces of rosemary at times, which makes for the tastiest French fries I've had in recent memory.

The new brunch takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There's more on the restaurant over here.

Not only does Newt Gingrich want to build a permanent base on the moon by the end of his second term (wishful thinking, dude), he wants to set things up for it to become the 51st state:

He added that he had once proposed legislation that would allow a moon colony of at least 13,000 Americans to petition to become a US state, and that he still supported the idea. I don't recall, incidentally, what the proposed state would be called - perhaps readers could suggest names in the comments below.

In any case, the Gingrich plan faces some difficult - some might say insurmountable - hurdles. Under George W Bush, NASA was trying to build a moon base by 2020, but a panel of experts appointed by the Obama administration in 2009 said in a report that it would take much longer and cost more than initially estimated - and Obama eventually canned the idea.

However, all credit should be given to Black President Bush from the Chappelle Show, who was a real innovator in the field of space travel:

At the Saturday, Jan. 14 community forum, Tucson attorney Richard Martinez gave an update on the federal court proceedings in the lawsuit he filed against the state in 2010. Martinez first filed the lawsuit in 2010 with 11 Mexican American Studies teachers signed on as plaintiffs and eventually added two students to the lawsuit.

Maritnez will be on All Things Political with Steve Leal today at 12 Noon, on 1330 AM The Jolt. Give a listen, or even call in at 520-529-3508.

After the jump is part of the legal update from the Jan. 14 forum on U.S. District Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima's recent ruling from Martinez.

As we report in this week's Skinny: We're excited to announce that we are having the first Project White House Beer Summit from 4 to 6 p.m. next Wednesday, Feb. 1, at downtown's newest brewery, Borderlands Brewing Company, 119 E. Toole Ave. Stop by to meet the candidates, and try some cold, freshly brewed craft beer!

We hope to bring you some big news soon about televised Project White House 2012 debates!

The Range caught up with state Sen. Frank Antenori on the state Capitol lawn today, and although he hasn't officially announced, it's clear he's running for Congressional District 8 in the special election to replace Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Antenori is supposed to make a big announcement in Green Valley this Friday — and we’re willing to bet a 24oz hunk of charred mammal meat that he’s getting into the race for Congressional District 8.

The question is: Will he resign his state Senate seat to focus on the Congressional campaign?

“I haven’t decided (if I’m going to resign). I really, seriously haven’t — I’m taking advice from a lot of people right now,” he said, noting he would probably make a decision sometime next week.

Because he’s in his final year of the term, Antenori can choose to keep his state Senate seat and run for Congress simultaneously — or resign from the Senate and focus his energy on the Congressional campaign.

Rumor also has it that beaten CD8 candidate Jesse Kelly is looking to another run for Giffords’ seat — and Antenori had some harsh words for the man who within a percentage point of unseating Giffords in 2010, and then left Arizona for Texas.

“We went through a period of time in the state where there were a lot of political battles,” he said, citing the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission and the Tucson City Council. “Some of us stayed to fight those battles and work for the conservative cause in the party and some of us didn’t.”

“When the going gets tough, Jesse Kelly gets going,” he said.

Tickets go on sale Saturday for Brad Garrett's show at Casino Del Sol Feb. 19, but we have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky comedy fan. Just go to our contest page and enter before Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 5 pm. The winner will be notified via email.

For more information about events at Casino Del Sol, including their Lunar New Year event on Feb. 4 or Boz Skaggs on March 9, "like" them on Facebook.