Cover Story
Go Outside!
It’s been five months since Ta Pay left the Thai refugee camp he’d called home since he was born 12 years ago, a place where his parents sought safety from Burmese soldiers during a decades-long struggle that’s left thousands dead and thousands of others stuck in camps. On a recent spring afternoon, Ta Pay joined…
Jon Voight: WTF?
I guess they forgot that our entry into fascism was confirmed once habeas corpus disappeared. What are they complaining about now?
Political Semaphore
We dis politicians cuz they be biters and we be tools. But why be hatin’? They just need help keepin’ it real. You down? So I be flossin’ a grip with this mad crunk, hella dope and off the hook chart. Aiight? Peace out.
Info on Tess Martinez Services, Funeral Fund
Services for Tess Martinez will be held at St Melany’s Byzantine Catholic Church, 1212 N. Sahuara Ave. A rosary will take place on Monday, June 8, at 7 p.m.; the funeral services will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, June 9. The family is also collecting donations for Tess’ services. Donations can be made at…
Flight 447 Commentary
UA astronomer Chris Impey, who says he’s traveled over 5 million miles by air, shared his perspective on the recent Air France tragedy in an opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Times.
State Budget: Sierra Club Reax
Here’s the weekly bulletin from Sandy Bahr, lobbyist for the Grand Canyon chapter of the Sierra Club. Among her concerns: The GOP budget plan eliminates impact fees for three years and limits them thereafter. Hi all! I am putting this out on Thursday night as tomorrow I am off to talk about electricity transmission for…
The State Budget: What’s Next?
Republicans cobbled together enough votes to pass a budget this week, but they’re sitting on it rather than transmitting it to Gov. Jan Brewer, who isn’t happy with the spending plan. We’re still unpacking the GOP budget, but it contains deep cuts, lots of debt and bad policy. We’ll share tidbits in the days ahead.…
Delirious in the Sun: My Search for Rio Nuevo
I, too, am fed up with Rio Nuevo! Except, I don’t know what it is. So much about this chimera remains unknown to mortal citizens. Its beginnings are cloudy; its workings are mysterious; its mission is perplexing; its fate is indeterminate. Its habits – what it eats, how it mates – are complete enigmas. No…
The Onion: Bill Would Stop ‘Penis Black Market’ For Marriage-Crazed Lesbians
From the brilliant minds at The Onion: Conservatives Warn Quick Sex Change Only Barrier Between Gays, Marriage
ScrambleWatch ’09: Off and Running
The Tucson City Council races are now all official: Yesterday was the formal deadline to file nominating papers. Barring a legal challenge, here’s what we’ve got, with handy links to their campaign sites: In Ward 3, Democratic City Councilwoman Karin Uhlich will face Republican Ben Buehler-Garcia, a former flack for the Tucson Chamber of Commerce.…
State Budget Passes Senate, Off To House
The Arizona Senate stayed up past bedtime last night to knock out a budget in time for Sen. John Huppenthal to go to San Diego today. It had the bare minimum 16 votes, all Republican. Howie Fischer has the details here. The House is expected to pass it today. Gov. Jan Brewer isn’t saying what…
A Japanese Classic and More at Loft’s July Kiddie Film Fest
Yipee! The Tucson International Children’s Film Festival returns to the Loft for its third summer, from Saturday, July 25, through Sunday, Aug. 2, each day 10 a.m. And the best part about the fest, besides the fact that it is FREE (free popcorn, too), is the lineup. This is the best thing the Glassman Foundation…
OUTRAGE at the Loft
Director Kirby Dick’s Outrage, which examines the record of closeted gay Republicans, opens at the Loft Cinema on Friday. Nathan Lerner interviewed Dick in TW last week and the Tucson-born filmmaker will be at the Loft on Saturday night to discuss the film.The New Republic’s managing editor, Richard Just, had a recent debate with Dick…
Tear Down This Wall
Arizona is stuck in the heated center of the immigration debate, and after years of failed strategies, it’s hardly surprising that the debate led to an effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. But a new documentary—made by filmmaker and actor John Carlos Frey—that follows the construction of that wall makes the case…
Danehy
As Richard Pryor’s junkie character used to say, “It’s the politics, baby …” • Last week, a Republican-controlled State House panel voted to allow Arizonans to opt out of a national health-care plan. Of course, there is no national health-care plan, but that didn’t stop the six GOP Neros on the panel from fiddling while…
Dance Locally
A driving rain two weeks ago almost sidelined the dance Kimi Eisele was planning for this weekend’s NEW ART concert. “Dew Point” is about longing for the monsoon. “It’s taking that moment in time in June, those weeks when the temperature is rising, and the clouds are building,” Eisele said last week. “It plays off…
Messina
During the 2002-2003 television season, Tucson was the backdrop for the show Greetings From Tucson. “Backdrop” may be too strong of a word, since filming took place in Hollywood. But once in a while, you could catch a quick glimpse of something familiar—a desert road, a cactus or a mountain range. The show certainly didn’t…
T Q&A
Charlie Levy
Guest Opinion
Betty Schroeder was a person I loved very much, yet I would take in a deep breath, look skyward and shake my head at the mention of her name. She was a full-throttle peace activist, obsessed with our collective situation, who could be a profound pain in the neck, even among friends. Betty felt entirely…
Emotional Upheaval
On their respective new albums, Au Revoir Simone and The Antlers—a pair of New York bands now on tour together—address coping with emotional upheaval in different, yet equally successful ways. Au Revoir Simone, from Brooklyn, consists of three young women playing keyboards and drum machines. The 12 songs on their second full-length album, Still Night,…
A Legislature With Sense
Forgive me, folks: For the next week, I am going to claim to be a Nevadan. This claim has some merit, seeing as I was born there and lived there before moving here 6 1/2 years ago. But the real reason for this claim is that I’m rather proud of the Silver State’s Legislature, which…
Media Watch
GODDARD DROPS ‘CITIZEN’ LAWSUIT
Soundbites
ON THE MENU Music editor Stephen Seigel has ventured temporarily to far-off lands. In his place, I will be your server. Here are today’s specials. KING WITHOUT A CROWN Are you ready, Tucson music fans, for the world’s only Manhattan-raised Hasidic Jewish reggae star? While Matisyahu’s unique job description sounds more like the long-winded setup…
Fantastical Journey
Be prepared for lots of laughter and perhaps a little crying, because the folks at Pixar have uncorked their best one yet. Up is a monumental achievement; every frame bursts with supreme ingenuity. This is one of those rare movie experiences that had me marveling at everything I was seeing. It also manages to pack…
Live
Animal Collective, Black Dice
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
9 Questions
Geoff Spencer
Now Showing at Home
Galaxy Quest: Deluxe Edition, S. Darko (Blu-Ray), Revolutionary Road (Blu-Ray)
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
Mailbag
Worries About Violence in Mexico Are Odd Considering the Dangers in the United States I just read your article about Mexico (“Please Come to Mexico!” May 21). I guess I am not the typical gringo, because I travel all over Mexico all of the time. My girlfriend is from Mexico City, and I am with…
Warbringer: Waking Into Nightmares (Century Media)
Ventura, Calif.’s Warbringer pulls the trigger on its second album for Century Media, nailing another pure thrash-metal bull’s-eye that evokes the classic ’80s sound pioneered by bands like Metallica. Waking Into Nightmares rarely strays from the blueprint drawn up for Warbringer’s vengeful 2008 debut, War Without End—unless you count a more polished production job courtesy…
Quest for Justice
“I got away with murder once, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen again. Damn. This time, I didn’t do it.” Right out of the gates, Louise Ure’s third novel, Liars Anonymous, straps you in and carries you along on one young woman’s quest for justice—initially for herself, and then for someone else…
Ask a Mexican!
I am a Chicano in Connecticut. I moved from Arizona to the East Coast for my dream job. I have to admit that I’m still homesick. Connecticut is a completely different world. To sum it up in one phrase, vale madre. It took a while for me to find a Mexican restaurant close to me.…
The Besmirchers: Besmirch and Destroy (Steel Cage)
Like your punk fast, rude and very, very dirty? Behold Tucson’s The Besmirchers. Fronted by wild-man Lenny Mental—a familiar sight to anyone who’s spent any time downtown in the last few years—The Besmirchers are real players. Guitar player Damnation, bass player Downtown Dave and drummer PBR Destroyer are as tight as a fist. The Besmirchers’…
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
The Skinny
WHAT A DEAL! The Tucson City Council was set to discuss a proposed downtown development deal at its afternoon study session this week. That discussion came after our deadline, but you can find details at blog.tucsonweekly.com. Meanwhile, we do have a few takeaways after looking over a draft of the proposal between the city and…
Eminem: Relapse (Aftermath/Interscope)
Eminem is known for both his rock-star antics—like feuding with doggy hand-puppets and storming out of the MTV Movie Awards after getting up close and personal with Sacha Baron Cohen’s package—and his talent as a rapper. He’s counting on Relapse to resuscitate our interest by his preferred methods: 1) being one of the best rappers…
Tax Haven
Few things have dodged the budgetary ax this year, as conservative Republicans milk a rare opportunity to gut the social contract; everything from education to prenatal care has been on the block. But somehow, one local welfare project seems to have avoided this fiscal bloodbath. For nearly 15 years, Tucson Greyhound Park and other Arizona…
Police Dispatch
NUDE AND UNGLUED SOUTH SEYMOUR ROAD MAY 10, 2:31 A.M. A man celebrated the anniversary of his nativity by making a neighborhood ruckus in his birthday suit, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report stated. Deputies arrived at the location, where they heard loud yelling. Entering the subject’s residence, they encountered a yelling male, completely naked,…
Drive-in Fun
Drag Me to Hell may be the best movie about a cursed button made in the last 44 years. Director Sam Raimi, who has earned billions of dollars with the Spider-Man franchise, has now returned to his roots: making grade-B horror flicks inspired by the drive-in movies of the 1960s. While Drag Me to Hell…
Mind the Gap
A virtual avalanche of numbers came crashing down on the state Capitol over the last week, as Gov. Jan Brewer and legislative Democrats released separate budget plans in an effort to bridge a budget shortfall that the governor’s office now estimates to be as high as $4 billion. Meanwhile, the Republican caucus was pushing this…
Between the Bread
This is the perfect time of year to check out the eateries that border the University of Arizona. During summer session, they’re not overrun by UA students and staff, so you can get an idea of what the restaurants can do when they’re not under the pressure they suffer at other times, particularly at the…
Infants in Need
Vanessa West was understandably overwhelmed when she found out that her newborn daughter, Arianna, was born with a heart defect, lung disease, a compromised immune system and other serious problems. “It was so many tests; it was so many procedures,” she said. Now at age 2, Arianna has an occupational and speech therapist, as well…
Noshing Around
Year of the Tiger Tiger, the daytime bartender at the Tap Room at Hotel Congress (and an all-around nice guy), celebrated 50 years of working at the downtown mainstay with a celebration last Thursday. To say Tiger is adored and respected by his patrons is the understatement of the, well, half-century, and the hotel is…
Insufficient Support
It seemed so simple in the economically flush times of 2006: Once the City Council established the Tucson Housing Trust Fund (THTF), millions of dollars of revenue would flow in annually, creating a pot of money to assist thousands of homeowners, renters and homebuyers in need. “The THTF is devised to be sustaining within five…
City Week
Finding Leopold Aldo Leopold Centennial Celebration 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, June 6 Kartchner Caverns State Park Highway 90, nine miles south of Interstate 10 586-2283; azstateparks.com/Parks/KACA/index.html Aldo Leopold is considered by many to be the “father of wildlife management.” He was also a defender of ethical environmental policies, and his work on wilderness…
Martian Snapshots of the Week
A new batch of Mars photos taken by the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab’s HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available online. This week’s highlights include gorgeous craters. Photos by NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Tess Martinez, 1983-2009
Maria “Tess” Martinez, a former Tucson Weekly intern, died Monday, June 1, in a single-car accident in New Mexico. She was 25 years old. Martinez was student at the University of Arizona. In addition to interning and freelancing for the Weekly, she served as an intern at the Tucson Citizen and as an apprentice at…
Excuse Me While I Take a Moment to Rant
Maybe it’s the closure of the Flandrau Planetarium that’s put me in a bit of a foul mood. I didn’t even know how to categorize this blog entry … Do This! … Big Bitch! … Complaint Central? Every weekend, my family and I look through the newspaper listings to find cool things to do. We…
