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Slightly more cyclists were counted in Tucson during the 2011 bike count. Find out how many more were counted and other interesting details about the count.

Tucson lacks a national reputation for bicycle friendliness. See why.

Tour of the Tucson Mountains, the companion ride to the El Tour de Tucson that has been going on for 26 years will cease to exist after this weekend. Find out why the organizers decided to pull the plug on the ride.

More kids are riding their bikes in the Menlo Park neighborhood because of David Walker. Find out what he is doing to get kids on bikes.

Meet Susan who rides her recumbent thousands of miles ever year. See just how many miles she rides. Hint: It's more than 10,000.

The City of Tucson restarted the hiring process for a Transportation Director after the first didn't yield a candidate. This time around they are focusing on alternate transportation. See what the hiring brochure says about bikes and pedestrians.

Here is six minutes of slow motion video of various objects being destroyed by fire, wrecking balls or other forms of mayhem from the Danish show Dumt & Farligt, which translates as Stupid & Dangerous in English. Doesn't it seem like America should have already had a TV show by that title? What are network executives doing with their time and energy, anyhow?

[The Atlantic]

There's part of me that rejects the very nature of the Faster Than Light/Young Mothers Kickstarter project, since it will take two musicians I really like out of the state I still live in, but I suppose it's probably better that they chase their dreams, share their music with a larger audience, try to make it big, etc.

Our names are Nate Jasensky (of Faster Than Light) and Zach Toporek (of Young Mothers). We've been playing music in Tucson and Phoenix for all of our lives, and now we've decided it's time to take a risk and try something new. Something pretty big. And we wouldn't be musicians if we didn't try to make a record out of it.

But not just any type of record.

The idea is to record and film a multimedia album on our tour from Tucson, AZ to New York City. We're moving from Arizona to New York to play music in the big city, and we're honing our craft along the way.

We plan on finding a unique, non-traditional performance space in every city we stop in and filming a performance of a new song or a new arrangement of some of our existing material. Upon our arrival in NYC, we'll be editing the audio and video, interspersing it with footage we film along the way, and creating a document of our voyage and of who we are as musicians at this pivotal point in our lives.

Their Kickstarter runs until May 21st and the promotional incentives include t-shirts, mixtapes (complete with cologne), personalized YouTube videos and other fun stuff. Check it out.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has made a major ad buy on behalf of Jesse Kelly, who is facing Democrat Ron Barber in the race to determine who finishes Gabrielle Giffords' congressional term. National Journal reports:

The National Republican Congressional Committee will begin airing TV ads in Arizona's 8th Congressional District tomorrow. The $150,000 buy will run for two weeks beginning April 27, according to a GOP source.

This marks the unofficial kickoff of the special general election to replace ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who resigned in January. GOP nominee Jesse Kelly won his party's nod a week ago, and both parties are sure to pour resources into the Republican-leaning district in advance of the special election in June.

If we had to guess, we'd say that the ad will focus on Barber's recent call for changes in the Affordable Care Act.

Our in-depth look at the candidates here.

In a strange collision of comedy and music, Gabriel Iglesias and Ozomatli will perform at Casino Del Sol's AVA Amphitheatre on May 12th. We're giving away a pair of lawn tickets to a lucky reader over at our Free Stuff page. The drawing will be held on May 4th at 5 pm. Good luck!

Ed Kilgore of The New Republic examines Mitt Romney's effort to pivot on immigration to attract Latino voters in this year's presidential race:

But as eager as Romney is to pivot, the vocal positions he took earlier in this campaign will make it very hard for him to do so. There are two lines it will be difficult for Romney to cross without inviting fresh charges of flip-flopping: his opposition to “amnesty,” which largely rules out any comprehensive immigration reform proposal that includes large-scale legalization; and his loud embrace of “self-deportation” of undocumented workers. This latter position, which seemed relatively mild in the context of GOP primaries where many voters favored forced deportation, now identifies Romney with the various state efforts inspired by Arizona’s SB 1070, which are designed to make life very difficult for illegal immigrants—and which tend to make life difficult for Hispanics generally. (Indeed, Romney has repeatedly endorsed SB 1070, calling it a national model, even as it receives a new burst of publicity as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments against it this week.)

Romney has nonetheless begun moderating his hard-line positions, with somewhat muddled results. His staff is now suggesting that Mitt’s endorsement of SB 1070 was partial, mainly based on the law’s features forcing employers to verify the documentation of workers. And there are reports that he’s no longer treating Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, one of the drafters of the Arizona law, as his principal advisor on immigration issues. Romney has also expressed interest in the idea of a “Republican version” of the DREAM Act, though he’s been hesitant to endorse Marco Rubio’s proposal to give undocumented people temporary legal status if they go to college or enter the military, presumably because that might discourage “self-deportation.”

Chloe · #709882: 5 Years Old · Hound Mix · Female

Chloe doesn’t understand why she still doesn’t have a forever family. This seasoned canine companion has been bounced around between different homes for the past year. Most recently, Chloe was given up for opening the pantry doors and getting into the trash and for helping herself to some shoes. A dog has to live a little! And with a face like that, Chloe can get away with occasional bouts of naughtiness. But Chloe is now a reformed mischief maker and is learning a variety of life skills in Canine College. With the help of her friends, Chloe has already mastered sit, heel and coming when called. This eager to please and smart girl just wants to make you happy and proud. Chloe adores children of all ages, gets along with cats and is 100% housetrained. By far, Chloe’s favorite activities are walking, walking and more walking. But she also knows how to relax at the end of the day in a furry ball at your feet. Chloe is just a magnificent, mature dog looking for a place to unwind and enjoy her golden years…and maybe even nibble an occasional shoe for cheap thrills. Could you be the one she’s been looking for all this time?

Come meet Chloe! She's currently living at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, 3450 N. Kelvin Blvd. The Humane Society is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The phone number is 327-6088.

See Chloe in video form below the cut:

This woman nearly won the grand prize on Australia's Got Talent, and I'm not sure whether that says more about Australia or those infernal "...Got Talent" shows. Still, maybe it's time for a spoons comeback. In these tough economic times, we need instruments that are more affordable, right?

[Buzzfeed]

Oh, Joe Biden. It's such a fun time when they bring you out of storage and let you talk.

Outside of his mildly dirty unintentional pun, do you think he was supposed to read "end of quote" or was that just supposed to be a note to encourage a change in inflection? Oh, the mystery!

In case you hadn't noticed, last Saturday's Club Crawl kicked off the beginning of TAMMIES season, with the first round of voting for this year's Tucson Area Music Awards happening online right now. Nominate your favorite bands and musicians, celebrating what makes Tucson a great place to see and hear music. Cast your ballot before May 30th and encourage your friends and neighbors to chime in as well.