The situation in Egypt is changing rapidly right now (massive protests, the internet is off, a major democracy advocate is being detained, etc.), and British paper the Guardian has a great liveblog of events as they happen today, including multimedia reports from the field.

When life bites, art heals.

Tucson has an abundance of healing to do in the wake of the tragic shootings. So it only follows suit we’re getting an abundance of art.

• Art and photo Ryn Gargulinski
• Hercule the peace beetle

A colorful, captivating collage of balloons and mementos already consumes a corner at the intersection of Pima Street and Swan Road, gracing the space in front of U.S. Congresswoman’s Gabrielle Giffords’ office.

Shrines, offerings, murals, music and other public displays are the visible results of a community’s automatic outpouring of love in response to a tragedy. Tucson responded.

More healing art comes our way Saturday with A Piece of Peace for Tucson, a double-location event put together by Bohemia and Borealis Arts “to honor the victims and celebrate the survivors of the terrible events of Jan. 8, 2011,” the announcement said. The event runs from 3 to 8 p.m. at Bohemia, 2920 E. Broadway, and Borealis Arts, 6530 E. Tanque Verde Rd., suite 160.

Bohemia is planning a public shrine to accept your offerings while Borealis plans an interactive canvas where you can share your thoughts. Both galleries will have message books for the victims’ families and message boxes for Giffords.

More than 40 artists have already donated works for Bohemia’s silent auction that night, with proceeds going to the Tucson Tragedy Victims Fund, The Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Fund and the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund.

This is the new video for the third single, "Rill Rill" from hipster fave Sleigh Bells. The video's a little gross, but the song is such a nice, laid back summerish jam, so I guess that balances out.

Sleigh Bells are playing the Rialto on April 18th with English weirdo/brilliant dance act Klaxons. Tickets go on sale Saturday.

There's an open casting call for paid extras in Tucson on Tuesday, Feb. 1 (Jan. 28 in Phx). The movie "Desert Son," is shooting in Tucson in February. Yep, sounds like a Tucson movie. They need a grubby hitchhiker, tired strippers and a Mexican barber, to name a few. They are looking for many Latino extras, but they seem to have forgotten about listing "crazy Anglo whose car broke down in Tucson, so they decide to just stay and live here." Hey, we all know someone.

Good Faith Casting is holding the call. Go here to register.

If you are interested in being an extra on the film, please register to attend one of the open call auditions. Registration is free, no strings attached, real opportunity to be an extra in a film. Please only attend one of the auditions. If you can not attend either open call audition, you may email a photo with contact information to submissions@goodfaithcasting.com.

EXTRAS ROLES / FEATURED ROLES AVAILABLE
GOLDEN NUGGET PATRONS - Men and Women, All ethnicities, 21 -60's
SUPER PUERCO PATRONS - Men and Women, Hispanic, 21-70's
TRAVELERS - Men and Women, Any ethnicity, 18+
MEXICAN DRIVER - Male or female, any ethnicity, 21+
MEXICAN PEDESTRIANS - Male or female, Should be able to play Hispanic, 18 and up
TIRED STRIPPERS - Should be able to play Hispanic, 20's to 40's, must be willing to go topless and wear a g-string - additional pay for nudity
YOUNG PROSTITUTES - Female, should be able to play Hispanic, 18 or older who can portray younger
GRUBBY HITCHHIKER - Male, any ethnicity, 40 or older, grungy looking. Crazy type with long hair. Facial hair a plus
MEXICAN BARBER - Male, should be able to play Hispanic, 30 and older, real barber a plus.

According to a story published in yesterday's Arizona Republic, Judge Roslyn O. Silver, who took the place of the late U.S. District Judge John Roll, declared a judicial emergency due to a shortage of judges in the district. The overload of cases in Arizona's federal courts is a topic Roll had discussed in the past with U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords - and one he planned to talk to her about on Jan. 8.

You can read the story here. Takeaway:

Several factors have contributed to the emergency. Federal felony caseloads are at an all-time high in Arizona amid the political clamor over tougher enforcement of border immigration and drug laws. Yet partisan wrangling in the nation's capital has slowed the flow of judicial appointments to many states, not just Arizona, leaving the federal bench overwhelmed by caseloads.

Roll's death only worsened Arizona's problem, cutting the number of federal judges in the busy Tucson division from four to three and forcing redistribution of Roll's caseload of more than 900 criminal cases and various civil matters.

Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said in a statement Tuesday that he was hopeful the emergency declaration would prompt congressional action. If Congress adds more judgeships, it will fall to Arizona's delegation to make recommendations, and be up to President Barack Obama to see those seats filled.

• Brisenia Flores

Read about Gina Gonzalez, Brisenia's mother, and her testimony this week, reported in the LA Times here. However, a post yesterday on the Media Matters blog that you can read here, is a reminder that when Brisenia was murdered in 2009, the community should have reminded itself then about the dangers of violent rhetoric in national and border politics.

In the wake of the Tucson shootings earlier this month, there was a lot of talk about hateful rhetoric and violent imagery in American politics, and there was a lot of pushback when it emerged that the gunman in that case, Loughner, didn't follow mainstream politics, just some extreme crackpot theories on the Internet. But what happened to Brisenia Flores is different. She lost her life because a couple of unhinged crackpots absorbed all that "lock and load" blather in our atmosphere and actually did something about it. We should not be shocked. But we do need to figure out how to make sure that never again will the life of innocent girl end because of this political madness.

And just as we will never forget Christina Green, America needs to always remember Brisenia Flores.

Another report here in The Daily Beast reminds us that not enough attention has been given to Brisenia's death and the ideology and hate responsible for this other 9-year-old's murder:

Latinos are still waiting for similar outrage over the deaths of Brisenia Flores and her dad. “A prevalent impression by those in the Hispanic community concerned with the Shawna Forde case is that, despite the fact that an innocent child was murdered, public condemnation of this senseless act has not been forthcoming,” Salvador Ongaro, a Phoenix lawyer and member of Los Abogados, Arizona’s Hispanic bar association, said in an email to The Daily Beast.

Last year, a Uganda newspaper published a list of "Uganda’s Top Homos" complete with photos and a note to "hang them". David Kato, David Kato, the advocacy officer for the rights group Sexual Minorities Uganda, had his photo published in the paper and took the publisher to court with two others, winning a permanent injunction barring further exposes of the sort. Unfortunately, the paper succeeded in its mission, with Kato found beaten to death in his home yesterday.

While this is a terrible event on its own, the question remains whether three American evangelicals who went to the country to speak at anti-homosexuality conference in 2009 or the powerful Washington DC Christian political group "The Family" who had an existing connection to a Uganda legislator, David Bahati, who proposed a law that would punish homosexuality with death.

This Ugandan story seems to fade in and out of American news consciousness, but without any particular action from Americans with the sort of power to do something about it or those Americans who encouraged the hate in that country being called to account.

It's too late for David Kato, but it's not for countless others in Uganda. Hopefully his death will be the last, but it doesn't seem that way right now.

While I spent an obscene amount of time playing both games on really early Apple computers in my third grade classroom (Corbett Elementary, where you at?), I'm not entirely sure Facebook versions that likely will ask the player to post tons of "requests" on their wall and pay to actually enjoy the game is exactly the comeback for the Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego that I hoped for. Then again, considering I've had a week-long flirtation with dozens of games on Facebook, I'll definitely see if I can save my friends from dreaded dysentery.

Possibly of interest: Minneapolis City-Pages delves into the history of the Oregon Trail.

[Hollywood Reporter]

I have minimal ability to be critical of anything that comes from the world of the Muppets, so my pre-endorsement of the documentary Being Elmo playing this week at Sundance is probably somewhat useless. But still, can someone at the Loft or somewhere else in this town bring this film to town? I imagine there has to be at least a theater full of Tucsonans who want to see a documentary on Kevin Clash, the puppeteer for Elmo, and how he ended up having the job of Sesame Street Muppet Captain, right?

Being Elmo from Being Elmo on Vimeo.

Lucky Sundance attendees. They got to see the movie and get caught up in a storm of adorableness. I'll just have to settle for Fraggle Rock reruns on some cable channel I wasn't aware I had until just now.

[Being Elmo]

ABC News:

What can make the difference between receiving a potentially lifesaving surgery or not?

For Vietnam veteran Ronald Flanagan, Ceridian Cobra Services determined it's 2 cents.

Flanagan has multiple myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow, which he has been fighting since September 2008. He now needs a third stem cell transplant surgery but had lost his health coverage over a 2 cent error.

Ceridian Cobra Services, an insurance benefits administrator, dropped Ron Flanagan after his wife, Frances Flanagan, said she mistakenly substituted a 7 for a 9 when she paid their monthly health insurance premium of $328.69 online.

"If I only had just hit the 9 instead of the 7," Frances Flanagan told ABC News' Denver affiliate, KMGH-TV. "Everybody we talk to is very surprised that 2 cents is enough to do this."

And as of today, what 2 cents was able to undo, ABC News was able to help redo. When ABC News called Ceridian to comment on the story the company delivered unexpected news.

"We've reviewed the situation thoroughly," said Bart Valdez, Chief Commercial Officer for Ceridian. "And we're pleased to say...Mr. Flannigan's insurance coverage was reinstated."

When asked whether he would offer Flannigan an apology, Valdez said, "For what specifically? ... We followed the normal procedures that were in complete compliance with the law and with regulations."

Doctors at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, where Ron Flanagan was undergoing treatment, had a stem cell donor at the ready and had told Flanagan they needed to complete the transplant before the end of February, that was before he lost his insurance. As of today Flanagan is trying to get back on the transplant list.