Cover Story
A Community Divided
The destruction of friendship—that’s the latest byproduct of the fear and racism that has helped dismantle the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican-American studies program. The program took its last breath on Tuesday, April 10, when TUSD governing-board members voted 3-2 against renewing MAS director Sean Arce’s contract. Earlier, talk had surfaced that TUSD administrators had…
Mega Food-Truck Action Tonight and Friday
The local caravan of mobile eateries will descend upon the Lazydays RV at 3200 E. Irvington Road this evening. There will also be beer and margaritas for sale. More on that here. There’s another food-truck event this Friday at the Bookmans Entertainment Exchange on Grant Road at which there will be a screening of a…
Federal Judge to Tombstone: No H20 for You!
Looks like Tombstone will have to make due with the water it can get to. So says a federal judge, who earlier this week denied the city’s motion for a preliminary injunction related to it being denied access to a series of water sources in the Huachuca Mountains west of Tombstone. Tombstone filed suit against…
You’ll Enjoy This Justin Bieber Article More Than You’d Think
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com There’s no particular takeaway to Drew Magary’s profile of Justin Bieber in the new issue of GQ other than the fact that he seems to be kind of dull, doesn’t want to be punched in the face and likes to draw penises on things, although his failed attempt to do something…
Overlay Zone Challengers Go Back to Court
Remember, Weekly World Central contributor Dave Devine’s guest commentary on the city’s adoption of an overlay zone near the UA and the city’s botched rejection of the signatures collected for a referendum to go to the voters? (Tim Vanderpool also did an excellent story further explaining the issue that you can read here). A lawsuit…
Talking Comics: Supercrooks Edition
As a Republican, I personally find the idea of being sympathetic to super-criminals offensive, but apparently sticking up for disorder and mayhem is no problem for Eric and Arnie. A real shame what’s happening with the kids today.
Running Against Grijalva? No Voter Database for You!
The Arizona Democratic Party refused requests from two Democratic Party candidates for the party’s voter file — both candidates, Amanda Aguirre and Manny Arreguin are running against incumbent Raul Grijalva for U.S. Congress. Hat tip to Huffington Post writer Alex Brant-Zawadski , who followed up on a story that first ran on conservative blog Western…
Getting Potted in the Desert – No Job is Too Big… or is it?
Plant Care and Photo by Kara Smith of The Contained Gardener A Well Grown Winter Potted Garden If you are just starting out with creating a potted garden for your desert home, think through what commitment you want to make right now. If your attitude is that you can do anything and you are just…
Today in Gross Things People Say Are in Cigarettes
From a Mother Jones article about the book Golden Holocaust, a compendium of terrible things the tobacco industry has done, by Robert Proctor [bold added]: By his own estimate, Proctor spent a decade poring over more than 100,000 tobacco industry documents unearthing details such as a primer on how to reach “young starters” and a…
Let’s Make Scratch-Off Tickets
I have no idea what I would use scratch-off tickets for, but if I need to make a printed invitation for anything in the near future, you can be assured it will include this technique from the blog The Dainty Squid. [Laughing Squid]
Shameless Self-Promotion/Erotic Fiction Alert!
Tomorrow: More win m b4 u can buy em WWE Supershow tx and Erotic Fiction with the ever erotic @DanGibson520 #fb— fook (@FookShow) May 15, 2012 If you’ve ever wondered if someone can blush from embarrassment through the radio, you’ll have your opportunity to find out tomorrow at 8ish on KFMA as morning show guy/fellow…
Today in “Simpsons” Episodes Come to Life
Listen: don’t tell people it’s “all-you-can-eat” if you don’t really mean it. This is America. We don’t put up with that sort of falsehood. Bill Wisth, I don’t use the word “hero” very often, but you are the greatest hero in American history. God bless you and your work.
‘Steeling’ for a Hot Summer
By Drew McCullough Apocalypso, a steel band from Tucson, Ariz., originally was formed in 1999, and has been together ever since. Apocalypso plays shows around Tucson at various venues, such as the restaurant Sakura. Don Cox, Apocalypso’s drummer, has played every steel drum that exists. “[I love] showing the community something unique and fun,” Cox…
These Are the Crappy Shows Coming to Network TV in the Fall
The fact that I’ll probably only have so long to appreciate some of my favorite TV shows (Community, 30 Rock and Parks & Rec, like every jerk on the internet) is a little troubling to me, so I’m not particularly inclined to enjoy new shows on network TV just because I think they’re going to…
The “Actors Studio” Guy Actually Has Interesting Things to Say About Mitt Romney
I wouldn’t have suspected that James Lipton, the strange man who asks his guests on Inside the Actors Studio what they hope God says to them or their favorite profanity, would have a particular insight into what makes Mitt Romney so creepy and off-putting, but on New York Magazine’s website, he totally does: When challenged…
Today in Daniel Patterson’s Delusions
Thx #Tucson voters asking me run 4 re-election as champ for real people, education, jobs & economy; 2012 unlikely, 2014 maybe — Daniel R. Patterson (@DanPattersonUSA) May 15, 2012 First of all, if I’ve learned anything from this job, it’s that most people generally don’t care about the Legislature. Sure, there are flare-up moments when…
Recommended: a Series of Articles About British Game Shows
I fully recognize that an in-depth discussion of the current state of British game shows might be the sort of thing that only interests a hundred people (including and especially myself), but The Gameological Society, a new game focused spinoff of the AV Club (itself, a more serious, pop-culture oriented offshoot of The Onion) is…
Spring Arizona Restaurant Week Is Upon Us
Think of Arizona Restaurant Week as a sort of culinary talent show where area restaurants bundle up their finest offerings into three-course meals for a special price. It starts this Saturday, May 19, and runs through the following Sunday, May 27. That is actually a week and two days, but we’re going to overlook that…
Check Out the New Arizona Winery Hops and Vines
There’s a new winery down in Sonoita called Hops and Vines, and I am smitten with it. From the winery’s brand-spanking-new website: We’re a small winery that’s awesome! One of many great Sonoita-area wineries in Southern Arizona, our family farm is a fun, warm place for families and wine afficionados alike. From its interesting line…
Idiot Boksen – The First Great Bit of Millenial Television
If you spend any amount of time in the writing/publishing world, you’ll hear an aspiring (or accomplished) writer extolling the virtues of Stephen Pressfield’s The War of Art or Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. For good reason, too. The War of Art is an excellent book about discipline, a sparse quality among creative types. Outliers compellingly raises…
Happy Birthday, David Byrne
Happy 60th birthday to David Byrne, born on May 14th, 1952 in Dumbarton, Scotland. Mostly I’m just using his birthday as an excuse to post one of my favorite live performances of all time (Adrian Belew on guitar!). Still, I really do hope he has a happy birthday.
Coachella Announces Next Year’s Dates That You Probably Won’t Get Tickets To
While they can’t promise you a hologram of a (probably) dead rapper this far in advance, this year’s attendees haven’t had enough time to clean the dust from their orifices, and it’ll be months before we even get a sense of who will be performing, the people behind Coachella have announced the dates for next…
Consider Going to Gary Paul Nabhan’s Talk This Week
Author Gary Paul Nabhan will be in Tucson this Friday to talk about his book Desert Terroir. If you’ve ever considered getting your mind blown by a storyteller who easily weaves ethnobotany, food, culture, history and humor into one tight fabric, you might want to attend. Nabhan will speak at 7 p.m., Friday, May 18…
RIP, Don Ritchie
Although the internet does enough to make me feel like I hate every single person on the planet at times, without it I would have never read the Christian Science Monitor’s story in 2010 about Don Ritchie, an Australian man who moved near a famous suicide spot for the view and in the process ended…
Tom Horne’s Attack Against Mexican-American Studies Continues
On Thursday, May 10, our illustrious anti-Mexican-American-studies state Attorney General Tom Horne filed a nine-page intervention complaint and 12-page motion to intervene with U.S. District Court Judge David C. Bury, saying that the Unitary Status Plan being developed by the court-appointed special master had better not violate state law. The Attorney General, on behalf of…
Jesse Kelly Just Making Stuff Up as He Goes Along
The audio on the above clip is faint, but Jesse Kelly has been using an anecdote about the power of oil to power the economy: I think energy’s the way forward in this nation. We talk about gas prices, jobs, and all these other things. Two million oil jobs alone are sitting out there. And…
Political Roundtable: The Race for Gabby’s Seat, Unpacking the Legislative Session & the U.S. Senate Race
On Arizona Illustrated’s Political Roundtable this week: Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod, Republican strategist Sam Stone and former state lawmaker Peter Hershberber talk about the race between Republican Jesse Kelly and Democrat Ron Barber to complete Gabrielle Giffords term, as well the end of the legislative session and the latest in the U.S. Senate race.
You Should Adopt This Dog This Weekend
The Humane Society has sent out an SOS for Faye, a dog that needs to find a home this week. Adoptions are free this weekend, so you’ll get all the stuff listed below and all you’ll have to pay for is registration. The only catch, Faye would like to be your only pet, so if…
Hicks Recall Effort Suspended
According to a post today on the Three Sonorans’ blog, the effort to recall Tucson Unified School District governing board member Michael “Rosa Clark” Hicks, has been suspended to focus on the Department of Justice investigations into alleged civil rights abuses by the TUSD administration and governing board. From the blog post: When Citizens for…
Baldenegro Jr. Ends LD2 Campaign
Posted today on Sal Baldenegro Jr.’s Facebook page on his LD2 House of Representatives campaign: Dear friends, I have decided to end my campaign for LD2 House of Representatives. I am leaving in order to focus, 100%, on Wenona’s historic congressional run in Arizona CD1. The people of Arizona have a very real chance to…
Georgia Kid Takes Classmates to Court Over Facebook Page
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player Another way to bring bullies down: When a 14-year-old girl in Georgia discovered a phony—and degrading—Facebook page created in her name, she went to her school, the police, and even Facebook itself without much luck. The page stayed up, and its creators went unpunished. As a result, Alex Boston is…
Check Out Jarita Holbrook’s New Kickstarter Campaign
In 2010, I did an interview with former UA Professor Jarita Holbrook about her work in astronomy and anthropology, but specifically her documentary, Hubble’s Diverse Universe, about nine African-American and Hispanic astrophysicists and their work. “The first 15 minutes … you see a normal science show, but in different colors—all (the scientists are) Hispanic and…
A Sneak Preview of “Thor: Unkillable Thunder Christ”
Eric Esquivel/Ander Sarabia A page from “Thor: Unkillable Thunder Christ” Eric Esquivel, who you might know from the Talking Comics videos we post on The Range, is not just a guy who talks about comics, he also writes them. His latest work, Thor: Unkillable Thunder Christ features a delightful tagline that might end up sending…
Political Roundtable Tonight: The Battle for Gabby’s Seat, Unpacking the Legislative Session & Carmona Vs. Flake (vs. Cardon)
If you’ve missed seeing Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod on Arizona Illustrated’s Political Roundtable, tonight’s the night to tune in: McLeod will be joining Republican strategist Sam Stone and former state lawmaker Pete Hershberger to talk about the race between Democrat Ron Barber and Republican Jesse Kelly to complete Gabby Giffords’ congressional term. We’ll also catch…
Hip-Hop Tribute to Arizona Actually Mentions Tucson
I don’t think I would have ever anticipated hearing a rap instrumental sampling a Simply Red track, but Mouse Powell’s sentimental tribute to Arizona, “Holding Home,” manages to pull it off. While the track largely focuses on the Phoenix area (Powell lives in Tempe, so that makes sense), but there is a mention of roadtrips…
If You Read One Article About Romney’s Nasty Attitude Today…
[Skip ahead to the two minute mark to see Romney’s moment of jackassery.] I’m not particularly inclined to be a Mitt Romney fan, but I actually generally believed that he might be a decent human being, but with the series of stories coming out this week, plus with his generally petulant attitude, I’m starting to…
Sheriff Paul Backs Out Of One Race And Into Another
Guess Washington doesn’t need a new Sheriff, after all. Paul Babeu announced Friday he was withdrawing from the race for Congress out of District 4, instead focusing on a re-election to his post as Pinal County Sheriff. The move isn’t surprising, considering the amount of negative publicity and controversy Babeu has amassed in the last…
This Week in Tucson Bicycling
Premises Park founder Ian Abbot is moving the park. The city’s only indoor BMX park is being forced to move because of an issue with the city. Find out why and where they are going. Tucson Police Department received a grant to target bicyclists and pedestrians for two weeks. Find out more about the enforcement.…
Elliott’s on Congress Is Open
The new downtown restaurant Elliott’s on Congress at 135 E. Congress St. is open. If eating things like burgers topped with jalapeno bacon and drinking things like flavor-infused vodka sounds nice, you will want to head down there soon.You can read a bit more on the restaurant here. I’m mainly interested in the Bloody Marys…
High School Kids Getting Ready for Prom Have Lost Their Minds
I have generally pleasant memories of my senior prom, although those moments are likely to be erased from my brain by a combination of old age and newly gathered information about singing-based reality shows. However, while my date and I did share a limo with two other couples, I guess my kids will be forced…
Here’s Your Chance to Be in a Crappy Ayn Rand Movie
You’ll have to hurry because the deadline is tomorrow afternoon and you’d have to publicly declare your love for objectivism, but if you’d like a free trip to Los Angeles next week and a chance to be in a (likely, if the last one is any guide) poorly reviewed movie, head to your social media…
Oh, Those Mayans and Their Constantly Changing Calendars
We all suddenly have a lot more time to complete our bucket lists. That being said, I am cancelling my plans to cliff jump off Lincoln’s head on Mount Rushmore this weekend. According to online science publication LiveScience, the discovery of the world’s oldest known version of the ancient Mayan calender has been found. And,…
Wondering If Bristol Palin Has Something Dumb to Say About Obama and Same-Sex Marriage?
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com Don’t worry…she totally does. So let me get this straight – it’s a problem if my mom listened too much to my dad, but it’s a heroic act if the President made a massive change in a policy position that could affect the entire nation after consulting with his teenage daughters?…
Thank God Someone Is Preparing Us for the Robot Apocalypse
As you may know, I have tried, largely unsuccessfully, to use my platform here at the Tucson Weekly to warn the world of our future enslavement by a self-sufficient horde of robots, possibly involving KVOA’s SKYNET somehow. However, all I can do is sound a warning. I lack the practical robot defeating knowledge that will…
You Should Listen to Mari Herreras on the Radio Right Now
Whatever you’re listening to on your headphones at work today is bound to be less interesting than Mari Herreras’ audio appearance on the Steve Leal show today, which is airing right about nowish (assuming you’re reading this post within the hour of its posting). It’s super easy to stream the show online (or even on…
CD8 Air War: Dems’ New Ad Targets Jesse Kelly As “Too Extreme”
The House Majority PAC has unveiled its new TV ad hammering Republican Jesse Kelly, who is facing Democrat Ron Barber in the June 12 special election to complete Gabrielle Giffords’ term. The ad captures Kelly on the campaign trail, where he has promised to eliminate the minimum wage and corporate income taxes, lower taxes for…
Get Your Cardboard Cover Out for the New Cover of “Time,” Tucson Safeways
If Jessica Simpson’s naked pregnancy photo where she covers up her lady parts was a problem for a local Safeway, I can only imagine what sort of panic will ensue once the new issue of Time hits newsstands this week. Mostly, I’m curious about the “God of Cricket” article teased on the cover. Is the…
CD8 Air War: GOP Doubles Down, Again
The National Republican Congressional Committee must have faith in Republican Jesse Kelly, who is facing Democrat Ron Barber in the June 12 special election to complete Gabrielle Giffords’ congressional term. The Hill reports that the NRCC has doubled its ad buy to $600,000: House Republicans have doubled their investment in the special election to replace…
Caravan for Family Unity Against ICE Practices Today at 10 a.m.
There’s a rally and press conference today at 10 a.m. by No More Deaths and Keep Tucson Together Campaign for a caravan send-off leaving Tucson for Phoenix to urge Arizona ICE officials and the Obama administration to keep their promises — to repair failed immigration policies that are tearing families apart. The 10 a.m. send-off…
Playground Debuts a New Menu Next Week
We’re hearing that Playground, the bar and lounge at 278 E. Congress St., is debuting a new menu next week. The first menu was chiefly small plates and playful items like a bag lunch complete with a juice box, so we’re looking forward to checking out what’s in store next. The owner is also tweaking…
The Reggae King
I’m going to come right out and say it: I hate most reggae music. Hearing that annoying “chinka-chink” guitar repetition, along with the stupid popping drums and cymbals, is irksome to me. And the damned music is always so freaking happy or uplifting. Screw that! Music occasionally needs death, destruction and despair. Whenever I end…
Mailbag
We appreciate all compliments, always; Corrections and clarifications
Top Ten in Movies
1. Contraband Universal 2. Haywire Lionsgate 3. Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol Paramount 4. New Year’s Eve Warner Bros. 5. The Innkeepers MPI 6. Joyful Noise Warner Bros. 7. The Iron Lady Weinstein 8. Shame 20th Century Fox 9. W.E. Weinstein 10. The Darkest Hour Summit
Guest Commentary
My dad was a Forest Service ranger, part of the battle-hardened generation stepping back into real life from World War II. Rangers like him moved to tiny towns like Luna, N.M., and Custer, S.D., to work 24-hour days. Their wives were often their chief assistants and sometimes even served as firefighters. The children of rangers…
Runaway Pontiff
No matter the country, it’s common to see the same thing in many movies: A good story done in by bad storytelling. American films might be a little more obvious about it (or maybe we just see a much-heavier concentration of them), but there are countless movies from around the world turned in by filmmakers…
City Week
Trains, music, Mary Poppins, and art for a good cause.
Editor’s Note
Some random thoughts and FYIs this week … • We’re in the home stretch for voting in both our Best of Tucson® and Tucson Area Music Awards (TAMMIES) readers’ choice polls. Voting ends on Wednesday, May 30—that’s less than three weeks away. If you have not yet voted, please head to TucsonWeekly.com and do so…
Jack White: Blunderbuss (Third Man/Columbia)
Blunderbuss debuted at No. 1, a first for Jack White. Albums released by his other projects (White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather) have cracked the Top 10, but haven’t taken the top spot. This makes it an interesting moment to consider Jack White as a pop star, which he is and always has been. He’s as…
TUSD and Desegregation: a History
Desegregation efforts in the Tucson Unified School District started with a lawsuit filed 38 years ago. In 1974, two families filed separate lawsuits against the district to address disparities in the education of African-American and Mexican-American students. In 1975, the Fisher and Mendoza families consolidated their lawsuits, with the Fishers representing African-American students, and the…
Now Showing at Home
The Grey (Blu-ray); George Harrison: Living in the Material World (Blu-ray); Haywire (Blu-ray)
High on Fire: De Vermis Mysteriis (EOne)
To call High on Fire’s sound “punishing” would not be hyperbole. While it may seem unrelenting and repetitive at first, it’s a pain that becomes addictive after multiple rotations. For fans of the band’s early work (see 2002’s Surrounded by Thieves), their latest is a welcome return to form. This band is not your average…
Weekly Wide Web
It seems like there’s a new court case every week or so that could help determine where the lines of free speech fall online—and a decision last week by a Virginia court should have a chilling effect on anyone who uses Facebook. A local sheriff fired one of his employees essentially for “liking” his boss’…
Danehy
A petition is being circulated by mountain-biking enthusiasts who want Pima County to legalize night use of area trails. At first thought, it seems like a reasonable request—but then it turns into one of those pesky adult things where you can see both sides of the argument. The petition is being circulated by members of…
TQ&A
Enrique Garcia, a 17-year-old junior at Pueblo Magnet High School, won the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam all-city championship last month. Garcia says his involvement in the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam provided him with enough experience writing and performing his work that he now wants to do it for a living. He also wants to help…
The Pot Economy
The aerie is a place of the past now, so I am hunkered down, listening to too many sirens and dodging too many broken bottles in the bike lanes and chronically getting a neck ache from the stress and stark realities of life and foraminal spinal stenosis. It’s a grim existence, in some ways, but…
Wheat Be Gone!
If I had gluten issues, I would rejoice at the presence of Gourmet Girls Gluten-Free Bakery/Bistro. The bakery part has numerous choices: artisan breads, pizza shells, cupcakes, bread crumbs, cakes, muffins, bagels, gourmet and nongourmet cupcakes, pies, crostini and much more. Seriously: The number of choices is amazing. On one visit, the baker was filling…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m getting sick and tired of all of these dirty, stupid Mexicans running around. The first part is easy: As Mr. Dix says in David Copperfield, when asked what to do with David, “Why, bathe him.” The second part could be just as easy: Pay them to learn English. There is no damn…
Serraglio
When a body is found on the streets of Mexico—often young, and sometimes faceless from torture or mutilation—people don’t usually say much, at least not openly. But there is a phrase that’s commonly whispered behind the veil of violence that has become ubiquitous in Mexican daily life over the past five years: “En algo andaba.”…
Working-Class Heroes
Sins of the Mother is a Lifetime television movie starring Jill Scott; when it premiered in 2010, the film became the second-highest-rated original movie in the network’s history. Oh, wait, I’m sorry. This is actually a review of a different Sins of the Mother, a 2009 drama by playwright Israel Horovitz, currently being performed by…
Noshing Around
Food Conspiracy expands; Sushi food truck; Happy hours galore; Iron Chef Tucson looking for a competitor
Ramped-Up Reruns
The Chinese loved Artifact Dance Project’s Great American Dance Tour concert last year. Giant billboards splashed images of the Tucson dancers and musicians in cities across China; critics raved; audiences begged for encores. Likewise, Tucsonans liked last year’s Come Together Beatles show of music and modern dance at ZUZI! so much that they sang along…
Musical Introspection
Strong though they may be, family ties often confine us to certain roles and rules, and it’s natural to seek fresh stimuli elsewhere, but without abandoning connections to the social unit in which you developed. That’s kind of how Lockett Pundt, guitarist for the indie-rock band Deerhunter, distinguishes that group from his side project, Lotus…
The Skinny
Jesse Kelly: con-man, bullshit artist, flip-flopper?; Big money in the CD 8 race
Soundbites
An all local edition of Soundbites, featuring Sacred Machine, Young Mothers, Faster Than Light; Ryan David Green; Sleep Driver, and more.
Underlying the Overlays
The city continues to enact massive zoning changes that could wreak havoc on neighborhoods and property rights, while doing little to boost local fortunes. All this is driven by the modern streetcar, a multi-million-dollar juggernaut that has small businesses in its construction zone struggling, even as fresh cash cows for the big boys are trotted…
Top Ten in Music
1. Marilyn Manson Born Villain (Downtown) 2. Jack White Blunderbuss (Third Man/Columbia) 3. Gotye Making Mirrors (Universal Republic) 4. George Harrison Living in the Material World (DVD) (UMe) 5. Santigold Master of My Make-Believe (Atlantic) 6. Chevelle Hats Off to the Bull (Epic) 7. Norah Jones … Little Broken Hearts (Blue Note) 8. The Veer…
Media Watch
Rebecca Taylor gets a camera-person; Programming galore on Arizona Public Media
Nine Questions
Dante Rosano was born in Tucson in 1974. He makes half of his living playing trumpet and piano, and the other half installing tile. He presently plays in Taraf de Tucson, Kiss and the Tells, Loveland, the Rosano Bros. Virtual Quartet and ¡Guerrilla Tangueros! What was the first concert you ever saw? My first big…
Penny-Pinchers
After years of slashing state spending, Republican lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer have approved a budget that adds a small amount of money to education and social services, while squirreling away a large chunk of money for the uncertain future. Senate President Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, warmly applauded his chamber for approving the $8.57 billion spending…
Live
Lambchop’s first Tucson performance was a hushed and delicate affair—no surprise, considering the mellow frequency on which Kurt Wagner’s gorgeous and off-kilter songs live. Even for a band that tours infrequently, it’s a surprise that two decades and 11 albums hadn’t previously brought the Nashville band to Tucson, especially considering Wagner has collaborated with opener…
Police Dispatch
Cologne, car keys and vomit; Nasty phone calls
Worthy Theater
There’s a folk-art quality to this new collection of Rudolfo Anaya plays—a sort of rough-hewn black-or-whiteness, in which the bad guys are really bad, temptresses can really ruin the day, and harmony can be restored with the lighting of luminarias and the serving of posole. In his “Comments From the Playwright,” novelist and short story-writer…
Deadpan Laughs
Todd Barry doesn’t like looking back. He has good reason to do so; after all, he’s having the kind of career that most standup comedians would kill for. But instead, he just keeps moving forward: acting, touring, filming standup specials and even making it a point to participate in trending topics on Twitter. A recent…
Hackerspace!
You’d never know it driving past, but the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street is the epicenter of Tucson geekdom. That’s no putdown; everyone geeks out on something. And whatever that something is—be it gardening, crochet or building robots—Xerocraft Hackerspace, at 1301 S. Sixth Ave., is quickly becoming the place to do it…
Top Ten in Books
1. The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins, Scholastic ($8.99) 2. Catching Fire Suzanne Collins, Scholastic ($17.99) 3. Deadlocked Charlaine Harris, Ace ($27.95) 4. Mystery: An Alex Delaware Novel Jonathan Kellerman, Ballantine ($9.99) 5. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 George R.R. Martin, Bantam ($8.99) 6. Mockingjay Suzanne Collins, Scholastic ($17.99)…
Santigold: Master of My Make-Believe (Atlantic)
The people who might have the most trouble connecting with Santigold’s new album are her fans, especially those who spent a lot of time with her 2008 debut, Santogold. That album had an immediacy and emphasis on song structure and hooks that Master of My Make-Believe does not. This is a more-experimental effort; there’s no…
Two Concerts You Might Be Interested in Are Coming to AVA
Casino Del Sol’s AVA Amphitheater has announced two additions to its already impressive summer lineup. First up, Joe Cocker and Huey Lewis & the News on July 15th. However, the big one is a collision of pop-metal giants as England’s Def Leppard and Pittsburgh’s Poison dual-headline a show on September 12th. I watched two seasons…
Carmona Campaign: Flake Faces “Long, Hot and Miserable Summer”
Democrat Richard Carmona’s U.S. Senate campaign issues a polling memo that lays out his path to victory in November: MEMORANDUM TO: Interested parties DATE: May 9, 2012 FROM: Alexis Tameron, Campaign Manager RE: State of the U.S. Senate Race In Arizona’s hundred-year history, only 10 individuals have been elected to represent the state in the…
