Internet Trickery
As I write this, there's a mini-scandal brewing involving New York Rep. Anthony Weiner, and a photo of a guy in his underwear that was sent via his Twitter account to a college girl from Seattle.
Weiner claims his account was hacked, which is a mildly dubious claim, especially since former Rep. Chris Lee used the same excuse in February, when the now-ex-congressman sent a shirtless picture of himself to a woman through a Craigslist personal ad. However, there are some facts in Weiner's defense: The photo doesn't give any indication that it is him; the woman supposedly on the other end of the tweet says she has no real connection to Weiner; and the only retweet of the original message was done by someone with a long-standing grudge against the congressman.
Weiner may or may not be guilty of trying to pick up a college girl in a ridiculous way, but, still, there's something strange about the hyper-connected world we live in, considering that a congressman could possibly be communicating in some form with a college girl across the country who mentioned that she's interested in him.
Meanwhile, social media seems to provide another opportunity for people to attack the famous and prominent. Whether that's what happened to Rep. Weiner remains to be seen.
THE WEEK ON THE RANGE
We briefed you on the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Arizona's employer-sanctions law; talked to state Sen. Al Melvin about why he wouldn't accept federal money to help out-of-work Arizonans or expand the Nogales port of entry to improve cross-border commerce; and noted that congressional Republicans were threatening to wreck the economy unless Democrats agree to slash Medicare benefits for future senior citizens.
We suggested you consider helping legendary local producer Craig Schumacher, who is struggling with cancer; told you where you could find an amazing new release from the Rainer archive, featuring material he recorded with Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico shortly before he died in 1997; and checked out the Calexico double-feature at the Loft Cinema, including the documentary Circo and the world premiere of Flor de Muertos, director Dan Vinik's exploration of the local All Souls Procession set against the backdrop of a Calexico concert at the Rialto Theatre.
In science news: We followed Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station, including a talk with kids from Gridley Middle School and a wake-up call featuring the music of Calexico; and celebrated the UA's Lunar and Planetary Lab's win of an $800 million grant for OSIRIS-REX, a spacecraft that's headed to a nearby asteroid to gather data and samples and then return to Earth.
We kept on eye on the Tucson Padres' latest home stand; brought you new reviews of Tucson food trucks; noted that Garrison Keillor was not boycotting Arizona; let you know that the Santa Cruz River Farmer's Market was relocating; coveted a magical ice-cream maker; and shared the sad news that Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's Toys was shutting her doors.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
"sucked"
—TucsonWeekly.com commenter Andi Berlin succinctly offers her opinion on one alternative rock act covering one of the most famous songs by another ("Indie Rock Punching Bag Weezer Cover Indie Kings Radiohead," The Range, May 27).
BEST OF WWW
Now that the heat has finally (and somewhat unfortunately) kicked in, maybe you'll spend the summer playing volleyball in the sand, or perhaps sitting by the pool tanning—but here at the Tucson Weekly, it's summer cocktail season, so we've been polishing our shakers, putting away our winter liquors and thinking of what we'll be drinking during the 100-plus-degree days. While the negroni is considered the classic summer booze choice on the East Coast, we asked Tucson bartenders what they like to drink during the insufferable season. This week, we'll start sharing their picks with you.
Also, with the end of the Sand Rubies era this week, we look back at some of their videos.
