Cover Story
Tucson Weekly – Spring 2011 Club Crawl®
Bud Light Music Stage 8 p.m.: Bold Bird 9 p.m.: Kristen Chandler 10 p.m.: Love Mound 11 p.m.: Voodoo Swing (Phoenix) Midnight: Imperial Blue Bloods KRQ Stage 8 p.m.: The Swigs 9 p.m.: Crosscut Saw 10 p.m.: Triple Double 11 p.m.: Haley Jane Midnight: Are You Experienced 92.9 The Mountain Stage 8 p.m.: Kate Becker…
Fourth Avenue Documentary Premieres Tonight
Tonight wraps up the Arizona International Film Festival and it seems somewhat poetic that a documentary about Fourth Avenue closes the festivities. The Avenue shows at the Screening Room tonight at 8 pm, and the filmmaker will be in attendance. If nothing else, it’ll be worth seeing the movie for a moment teased on the…
The City of Tucson Beats the State, For Once
Somewhat surprisingly (to me, at least), the Arizona Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court ruling against the City of Tucson’s current system of partisan, at-large elections. The Arizona Legislature passed laws requiring city elections to be ward-based and non-partisan, arguing that city elections were a concern of the state, but apparently, the Court…
The Longest Cheesesteak in the World
We’ve had two world records set in Tucson in recent times. First, Tucson’s own Shlomo and Vito’s New York Delicatessan broke the world record for the biggest matzo ball. And about two weeks ago, Albert Hall of Acacia and Frankie Santos from Frankie’s South Philly Cheesesteaks set the record for the world’s longest cheesesteak. Check…
A Great Article About Obama’s Mom
The New York Times Magazine has a long excerpt from an upcoming biography of Barack Obama’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, including an the above adorable photo, which might be proof that Obama is stealing money from the rich and burying it on an island somewhere. The president’s mother has served as any of a number…
Tonight: Eat a Great Meal, Help a Great Cause, Dine Out For Safety
A whole bunch of local restaurants, including Feast, Kingfisher and Vero Amore, are donating up to 20 percent of their profits tonight to the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault as part of Dine Out For Safety night. Get the full list, and more details, here.
Sine Die: It’s Over!
The Arizona Legislature has wrapped up for the year. Here are the statements from leaders of both parties in the Arizona House of Representatives. House Speaker Kirk Adams: It’s fitting that the centennial Legislature rose to the great challenges before us in a way that the legendary Arizona leaders who came before us would be…
If Someone Knows What Al Melvin Has Done For Jobs, Raise Your Hand
An amusing shot at Captain of Industry Al Melvin today by Blog For Arizona’s David Safier, from information gathered by a few other blogs: This same Al Melvin is Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Jobs Creation. The committee had 11 meetings scheduled. Seven meetings were called off. The four actual…
The Legislative Session: Environmental Wrap-Up
The Sierra Club’s Sandy Bahr rounds up the last of the environmental legislation that moved through the statehouse this year: Hello all! Well, at least it is finally over and even though it was a relatively short session, it seemed extremely long. It is tempting to say, “It could have been worse,” but then that…
New: 2 Cupcakes
A cupcake shop called 2 Cupcakes has opened inside Melt: A Sandwich Shop at 5056 E. Broadway Blvd. Cupcakes are currently available from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. I first heard of this outfit several months ago when I considered taking one of their cupcake-decorating classes, only to find out that they…
Today: Homerathon 2011
UA students currently studying the epic poetry of Homer are holding Homerathon, a marathon reading of all 24 books of The Iliad. Anyone who would like to read a passage is invited to show up at the event today to sign up. Other activities at Homerathon include food, music and reading of passages of The…
The Taco Bell Beef Fiasco Ends
Taco Bell has settled the suit over whatever they put in those tacos, but only after changes to their marketing and product disclosure. I find it suspicious that the company couldn’t just have a laboratory look at a taco and say, “This is beef.” This fact will not slow me down at the drive-through, but…
The Greg Mortenson Saga Continues
After Sunday’s 60 Minutes piece, Greg Mortenson might have thought the worst of the accusations regarding his book Three Cups of Tea and his financial relationship with the Central Asia Institute were behind him, but apparently author Jon Krakauer still had quite a bit of damaging information up his sleeve, releasing a 71 page mini-book…
Black Light Dinner Party: Song/Video of the Day
Black Light Dinner Party “Older Together” from dreambear on Vimeo. Black Light Dinner Party seem to be in the mold of synth-poppy/vaguely danceable acts of recent years like Passion Pit and Miike Snow, but it’s a little hard to say, because so far the band has been a little cagey with promotional information. There’s a…
How One Company Bought Most of the 1-800 Numbers
If you hear female moaning next time you dial an 1-800 number, you can thank PrimeTel Communications: For years, teenagers across the U.S. could call a toll-free hotline if they had embarrassing questions about AIDS and safe sex. Dial the same number now and you get a recording of giggling women offering to talk dirty…
Trump Demonstrates Supreme Ignorance
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy NBC’s Savannah Guthrie pwns Donald Trump on his understanding of Roe V. Wade. TPM has details: Donald Trump is 100% pro-life. Except when it comes to the basis of Roe v. Wade which made abortion legal in the United States. That he agrees…
A Good Idea: New Event at This Year’s Tucson Culinary Festival
Organizers of the Tucson Culinary Festival announced recently that this year’s event will feature chances to check out four distinct dining regions within the city. From the press release: “Dine Around Tucson” a new event this year, will take place on Friday, Oct. 28, and will feature a geographical selection of dining “trails,” giving guests…
Stephen Lemons & Sound Strike: BFFs Forever
Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times (who it might be worth mentioning is seemingly not above working for a paper that receives a significant amount of revenue from concert promoters adversely affected by the Sound Strike) really is doubling down on his pro-Sound Strike rhetoric today, going after Salon’s interview with Rialto booker Curtis…
One Year Since the Deepwater Horizon Explosion
One year ago, an explosion shook the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig, killing 11 workers and releasing 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. As far as I’m concerned, nothing better was written about the tragedy than Tom Junod’s piece in Esquire: “We’ve had to turn the TV off,” says Tracy Kleppinger,…
Hoover Punishes ABC for Canceling My Soap Opera
Thanks, Hoover. I’ve only had terrible luck with your vacuums, but I appreciate that your corporate bigwigs are trying to keep All My Children on the air:: The first advertiser to step forth and protest ABC Daytime’s decision to dispatch with both All My Children and One Life to Live, Hoover announced on Monday that…
The End Is Nigh
The Arizona Legislature is making a big push to wrap up the session—and as far as we’re concerned, the sooner the better. AZ Blue Meanie rounds up a lot of the legislative action that’s still on the agenda here. One more demonstration of how appalling this Legislature is: GOP lawmakers are saying they won’t consider…
Tucson Tea Party Denounces Backer of Dupnik Recall
We mentioned in The Skinny last week that Sam Stone, spokesman for the Pima County Republican Party, dismissed the effort to recall Sheriff Clarence Dupnik as “a stunt and nothing more.” Now Trent Humphries of the Tucson Tea Party is calling Dan Baltes, the Salt Lake City man behind the recall, a “crook”: If there…
GOP Spending Reductions Cut Back on Border Security
When is it OK to reduce the funding for border fencing and tech upgrades? When Republicans do it reduce federal spending. Talking Points Memo has details: You might expect anti-immigration groups to be in an uproar over spending cuts contained in the recent budget deal, like a $226 million cut to Border Security Fencing, Infrastructure,…
The Spirit of Bipartisanship Arises to Scold the Legislature
While an online petition might be among the least effective methods of protest, it’s still nice to see city councilman Steve Kozachik trying something to hold off the series of bills that went through the Legislature this year seeming to exist only to tell Pima County what to do. As of right now, there are…
Padres Lose Again in Extra Innings
The Tucson Padres lost another extra-inning heartbreaker at Kino Stadium last night, despite making comebacks in the ninth and 11th innings. The Padres’ Tim Hagerty has details: The Tucson Padres and Salt Lake Bees played their fourth extra inning game against each other this season on Monday, and Salt Lake won 7-5 in 12 innings.…
Benefit Concert Raises $6K, Will Be Given Time to Save Piano
The Berger Performing Arts Center raised $6,000 from about 200 spectators at its benefit concert on April 16, bringing the center that much closer to keeping a piano in its halls, says Brandon Howell, manager of the performing arts center. The money will go toward the $35,000 needed for the center to buy a piano…
“Luck” Might Convince Me to Get HBO
It won’t be around until much later this year, but the combination of Michael Mann, David Milch, Dustin Hoffman, and the stories of degenerate gamblers at the horse track is enough to sell me on any show, so I might have to cave and cough up the cash for a HBO subscription just to watch…
While We’re Talking Taxes
Earlier today, Gibson excerpted a few graphs from an AP story that shows that the wealthiest people in the United States are paying less than they used to pay in taxes. But the AP conflates that with the fact that the lower end of the economic spectrum escapes income taxes as well: There are so…
Look at Clever Drawings of Animals, Hipster Style
Dyna Moe, the artist behind the Mad Men illustrations that everyone seems to have a Facebook profile photo for awhile, has a new project, Hipster Animals. It’s exactly what it sounds like. I’m particularly a fan of the red panda/trust fund asshole.
Wait, Donald Trump Might Not Be Entirely Politically Consistent?
It’s possible that mentioning Donald Trump’s strangely quixotic flirtation with a run against Barack Obama only empowers the semi-professional businessman/fully professional loudmouth, but it’s still a good thing that the Atlantic Monthly is trying to call him on some of the nonsense that comes out his mouth by comparing the new Trump to the old…
I Should Probably Reconsider My Choice of Careers
Robot journalists are making technological advances, at least in the world of sports writing, which probably doesn’t bode well for my career as a blogger. While I’d like to think there’s a specific human touch to posting photos of otters hugging or wistful recollections of soon-deceased soap operas, but sooner or later, they’ll figure out…
Don’t Forget: Today Is Tax Day
If you haven’t gotten around to filing your taxes and decided to blow off working on your return this weekend to actually have fun, today’s the day you need to actually get the slide rule out and compute your offering to our federal and state governments. The Cherrybell post office, as is tradition, will be…
The Rialto’s Curtis McCrary Takes on the Sound Strike in Salon
Nice to see a mainstream (well, as much in the mainstream as Salon is, I guess) news outlet allow the anti-1070-but-also-anti-boycott side of the story be told: And you think this boycott is happening specifically in Arizona not just because of the publicity around the state, but for financial reasons as well? As a talent-buyer…
“Three Cups of Tea”: Feel Good Fabrication?
While it does appear that Greg Mortenson has done some amazing work Afghanistan and Pakistan, when you’re making up stories to sell a book and raise money, that’s definitely not a good thing. Or when as the Bozeman Daily Chronicle says, some of the schools aren’t being used and maybe some don’t even exist and…
Can’t Nobody Hold Al Melvin Down
While I’m generally not too excited to link to this city’s daily newspaper, when Al Melvin gets an outlet for his disjointed angry rantings, that’s always a good time. Turns out while I think the Weekly still occupies the top spot on his media enemies list, it’s encouraging to see that the Star is going…
Rum, Romanism and Remodeling
Tedski has given Rum, Romanism and Rebellion a whole new look. Be sure to stop by and check the new place out.
The Pie Party’s Coming!
Here’s how the annual Pie Party—taking place this year on Sunday, May 1—goes down: Endless pie comes from all corners of Tucson to the Dunbar School (325 W. Second St.) and is laid out on very long tables. Judges convene and sample pies for several hours before the doors are thrown open so a million…
Tucson Padres Lose Another Extra-Inning Game
It was another tough extra-inning loss for the Tucson Padres as they continue their first-ever homestand at Kino Stadium. From the Padres’ Tim Hagerty: The Tucson Padres and Salt Lake Bees played their third extra inning game against each other in the past week, and Salt Lake has now won all three. The Padres’ late…
Follow the Hashtag: #ClubCrawl
As if you could forget: Club Crawl is tonight! Follow #ClubCrawl on Twitter for the latest updates, gossip and misadventures.
Tucson Padres Lose Home Opener
From the Padres: R H ESalt Lake 7 11 2Tucson 6 12 3 WP: Browning (1-0)LP: Flores (0-2)S: Kohn (1) Fans in Tucson saw emotional opening ceremonies, a lively crowd and a close game Friday, as the Salt Lake Bees beat the Tucson Padres 7-6. Pregame events included first pitches from local heroes involved in…
The Food Truck Diaries, Volume 12: Eat-a-Burger
Dude was mowing on that burger. Witness a success story between buns, a tale of turning a food truck into a brick-and-mortar restaurant with hard work and a metric ton of serious spatula skills. Food truck Eat-a-Burger opened its doors more than a year ago in an old car lot near the corner of Speedway…
[The Return of] Idiot Boksen – The Latest Salvos from HBO and AMC
A few years ago, AMC decided to follow HBO’s format, aspiring to become the best place on cable television for critically-acclaimed hour-long dramas. Mad Men was a perfect first foray. It was stylish and sophisticated, yet broad enough to appeal to culture at large. Mad Men is, in effect, AMC’s version of The Sopranos: a…
Friday! Superchunk! Cat Videos!
I would have probably posted this anyhow, just because I’m a long time fan of Chapel Hill band Superchunk, but throw in a violent, evil cat and it’s not like I had any choice. The embed code was calling me.
Terje Sorgjerd Makes Pretty Movies
The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo. You might have seen Terje Sorgjerd’s time lapse Aurora Borealis film passed around the internet recently, but his newest short film from atop Spain’s highest mountain might be just as beautiful, even if it does make me feel like I’m living inside a Windham Hill album. From his…
Get Vital, Rapid, Fascinating Club Crawl Updates on Your Phone
Visit the Club Crawl web site Tomorrow night is the Spring 2011 Club Crawl with acts all over Congress and Fourth Avenue and our current issue has plenty of information about the bands and venues, but what about breaking Club Crawl news? How will you know which beer line is shortest? What special guests jumped…
Your Strange Nicolas Cage Anecdote for the Week
From May’s issue of GQ: I was down there for Mardi Gras; Cage was probably down there to buy human skulls. I arrived early for my dinner at Stella! (an excellent restaurant whose only crime against taste is that exclamation point), so I decided to wait for my friends at the fine bar. There were…
UA Announces Downtown Housing Developments for Students
The UA is working with private developers Jim Campbell and Peach Properties to build student housing downtown. This is a big deal and, if all goes according to plan, a win for downtown Tucson’s revitalization efforts. The UA press release: The UA is moving forward with two proposals that could provide housing for approximately 1,200…
Kyl Spokesman: Not-Intended-To-Be-A-Factual-Statement Comment “In Retrospect, Made No Sense”
After a week of well-deserved ridicule, Sen. Jon Kyl’s spokesman releases a statement to the Arizona Republic about the absurd notion that his wild misstatement about Planned Parenthood was “not intended to be a factual statement”: “Senator Kyl misspoke when he incorrectly cited a statistic on the Senate floor last week regarding Planned Parenthood,” Patmintra…
Art Can Be Cool Sometimes
Spike Jonze films Los Angeles dancer Lil Buck improvising to Yo Yo Ma’s performance of Mikhail Fokine’s “The Dying Swan”, and the world is for a second a better, more beautiful place. [HT: Daily What]
Who Needs Steve Earle? Weird Al Is Coming!
While it’s still unfortunate that Steve Earle decided to stick with the Sound Strike, the Rialto’s announcement that Weird Al Yankovic is coming to town on June 11th almost makes up for the pain. Tickets go on sale a week from today, and if we’re lucky, maybe Tucsonan Don Pardo will stop by to recreate…
Who Says Soccer Fans Hate America?
From last night’s Portland Timbers home opener at JELD-WEN Field (former home of the AAA baseball Portland Beavers, now the Tucson Padres):
Your “Atlas Shrugged” Film Followup
You might remember that we discussed the first volume of the Atlas Shrugged film trilogy a while ago, mostly focusing on the fact that the director appeared on several episodes on the original 90210. Well, it’s Rand time at the El Con theater! Be forewarned, the liberal media is already sharpening their razor wit to…
This Weekend With the Tucson Padres
Want to win a luxury suite for tomorrow night’s game (including fireworks)? Head over to the Tucson Padres Facebook page and guess tonight’s attendance, and if you’re closest you’ll win a luxury suite for 20 guests ($450 value). Even if you don’t end up winning, there are lots of reasons to get out the ballpark…
The Tax Man Cometh: Fear Not, With Tips to File With Flair
Photo Ryn Gargulinski Big tax refunds can be yours with creative filing. Taxes don’t have to be torture if you use a few tactics to make them creative — while getting a big, fat refund, to boot. We can take our lesson from today’s schools, which are now into promoting concepts like creative spelling. Kids…
The Wings of Freedom Tour
In honor of WWII vets, the Collings Foundation’s “Wings of Freedom Tour” is bringing three rare bomber and fighter aircraft to the Marana Regional Airport, 11700 W. Avra Valley Rd., from April 15 to 18 as part of a 110-city nationwide tour. The three planes the Collings Foundation will be showcasing are the Boeing B-17…
Augment This!
This is another step in our effort to cyborg us all. We now offer a beta test version of our Club Crawl app, which can be accessed by downloading the Layar app (the augmented reality engine) through your Android, iPhone, Symbian or Bada (???) phone. Sorry, Blackberries. For the time being, you need to download…
BREAKING: Sharon Lin Once Again Vows To Not Retire To Tucson, Blames Sheriff
Sharon Lin, of parts unknown, has once again warned Range readers that she will not be retiring to Tucson. We’ve previously covered Lin’s many threats to not move to Tucson here: Tucson real-estate agents beware: Sharon Lin is not going to buy a house in Tucson. The retired schoolteacher has made it clear, in a…
Critter of the Week [Dog Edition]: Logan
Logan, a three-year-old chow mix, is a teacher’s pet, and not the annoying kind you remember from elementary school. From discarded to highly regarded, Logan is a Canine College super star waiting to impress you with his impeccable manners and magnetic charm! This motivated and eager-to-please pup is a natural at obedience training. In just…
And Now For Something Very Different: “Strongman” Screens at the Loft
Documentary filmmaker Zachary Levi has made a unique film—both in subject matter and format. Strongman tells the story of Stanley Pleskun, aka Stanless Steel, a professional strongman who is “the only person in the world who can bend a penny with his fingers.” The film took 10 years to make and uses a very rare…
The Greatest Work of Art to Ever Originate From Tucson Returns
Hey Dude, filmed on the property of the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch near Tucson, Arizona, will (finally) be released on DVD July 19th. And only $13.99 as a pre-order on Amazon!
This Album is Great and You Should Buy It
There are days when you just have to step up to the plate and make a good decision. Today is one of those days. Opinions about music are often worthless, the most subjective sort of assessment, so take this for what it’s worth, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no better package of music…
RIP, “All My Children”
Terrible TV news…at least for me, a guy who spent a few years freelancing and watching daytime television with my wife. Erica, Kendall, Bianca, Jack, J.R., and most importantly, David Hayward: I’ll miss you all when the 41 year long run of All My Children ends in September. This also ends my dream of becoming…
Super Bummer: Steve Earle Cancels Rialto Concert
Presented without comment, Steve Earle’s statement on canceling (or “postponing”) his scheduled July 4th show at the Rialto: It is with decidedly mixed feelings and a fair amount of regret that I have decided to postpone our concert that was to be have been at the Rialto in Tucson on July 4th. I am doing…
The Star Recognizes How Amazing Club Crawl Will Be
Thanks, Arizona Daily Star! The musical free-for-all that is Club Crawl has become Very Important. For the first time, 500 VIP passes will be sold at $20 apiece in advance to crawlers who want to kick it up a notch Saturday when 80-plus acts play on 29 stages at what organizers call Tucson’s largest music…
You Can’t Keep Track of the Superheroes Without a Scorecard
I have some affection for comic book superheroes, as any slightly unpopular kid in my age group probably does, but on occasion, I get confused by the sheer number of people in weird outfits with amazing powers. Thankfully, someone gathered the heroes both famous and obscure on to one infographic. I’m particularly interested in learning…
Tucson Weekly TV: A. the Disappointed Intern/Mayoral Candidate
Why didn’t you email our high school intern, A. Greene, about her candidacy at atheinternformayor@gmail.com? You hurt her feelings, and that’s not right.
Fox News: Connecting Unrelated Incidents Since 1996
In the interest of being “fair and balanced”, Fox did call the White House for a comment, however, for some reason, they haven’t heard back. [Daily What]
Finally, an Imaginary Tournament to Determine the Best Outkast Song
I’m not going to lie: my 19 year old self that listened to nothing but Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik every single night for a few months is crushed that 34 year old Dan didn’t think of this first, but thank you Rembert Browne for facing 68 Outkast tracks (or tracks with both Outkast members on it) against each…
Time to Heal
The Healing Gathering on Sunday, April 17, is completely focused on helping Tucsonans—and is completely free of charge. Co-created by Jomo Williams and John Westenhiser, the event is meant to help Tucsonans find ways to heal after the tragedy of Jan. 8. “I’ve never lived in a place where something like (January’s shooting) happened,” said…
Out of Somalia
Somalia is located on the Horn of Africa, a bit of land that juts out into the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. This prime location was a vital part in the spice-trade routes between Europe and India in the late-15th and early-16th centuries. Both Italy and Britain once held the country as a…
Hey, Music-Lovers: Al Perry Wants You!
Let’s face it: Club Crawl® can often turn into a crowded melee, with the music overshadowed by the party atmosphere. That’s why I’ve teamed up with the good folks at the Screening Room, at Sixth Avenue and Congress Street, to offer a sensible alternative, geared toward the connoisseur of the finest in local sounds. First…
Noshing Around
Dinner at Bobo’s; Sabino Artisan Chocolates; Food for Fines; Killer Quesadillas; Coming Soon: Eat-a-Burger
Police Dispatch
Drinking-and-driving lesson; Passed out with his ass out
City Week
“Up ‘Til Dawn” letter-writing event; Benefit concert: “We’re Losing Our Piano—Help”; The Ugly Kids present: Tigerblood.; Button Wagon
Rowdy Energy
Jessi Darlin is glad rock ‘n’ roll can still shock people. Nearly every review of her band Those Darlins’ new album, Screws Get Loose, zeroes in on a line from “Be Your Bro,” a song about the trouble girls face while trying to just be one of the guys. “I just wanna be your brother,…
Weekly Wide Web
Mayoral Candidates Slow on Social Media; The week on The Range; Comment of the week; Best of WWW; and more!
Manic Tuesday
You ever have one of those days when Murphy’s Law sneaks up and bites you in the ass? As far as I am concerned, our Tuesday deadline day this week was one of those days. First, the assistant editor called in sick, sort of. Make no mistake: She’s under the weather. By “sort of,” I…
T Q&A
Jonathan Peck moved to Tucson from Chicago 14 months ago to work as the new president and CEO of the Tucson Urban League. One goal is to implement I Am Empowered, a campaign by the National Urban League that addresses education, employment, housing, health and specific local issues regarding immigration and criminal justice. The Urban…
Soundbites
Learning to crawl; Fair-ly cheap; Celebrate record stores!; Get your Largas on; On the bandwagon
Danehy
It’s not very often that a man gets to drive his adult son to school, so the day started off kinda strangely and then went from there. The day before, Alexander had his tonsils removed. A lot of doctors these days recommend that they be left in, perchance to fight infection. But Alexander’s tonsils had…
Information!
How do I get into Club Crawl®—and how do I avoid lines? There are two main entrances into Club Crawl®. The east entrance is at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Congress Street, and the west entrance is at Sixth Avenue and Congress Street. Our last two Club Crawl® events have been our biggest ever,…
Top Ten in Music
The 17th Street Guitar and World Music Store’s top sales for the week ending April 8, 2011
Serraglio
In the beginning, the usual official reassurances were highlighted in virtually every story on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear nightmare, faithfully reported by woefully anemic corporate journalists, without question or challenge. “The radiation is not currently a threat to public health. There is no immediate threat to public safety.” As one of the world’s largest nuclear power…
Dancing While Wet
A river ran through Tucson, once. The Santa Cruz flowed north right through town. Tall cottonwoods grew on its banks, and ducks splashed in its waters. For a couple of generations now, the riverbed has been dry most of the time. The trees are dead, and the wildlife has vanished. Choreographer Kimi Eisele laments the…
Nine Questions
Ivy Ross is an experimental folk-rock singer-songwriter who has been living in Tucson for the last four months. Ross will perform at 9:30 p.m., Sunday, April 17, at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St. Her new seven-song album, Seed Card, comes as a digital download—the code for which is printed on an actual wildflowers-seed card. What…
Mailbag
A loving letter from a big fan; Our water future is rather tenuous; The ability to protest on the UA mall must be supported; Danehy helped make the mock wall a success; A comment from a reader at TucsonWeekly.com
Dine ‘n’ Dance
We are now starting to see more and more action downtown—largely thanks to the restaurant sector. One of the first things you will notice this Saturday is a newly renovated rooftop beer garden at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Congress Street; on the night of Club Crawl®, that garden will serve as an extension…
Live
Saturday evening was a cold, damp night—but music fans opted to support hardworking friends by getting their bundled bodies to Plush despite the unseasonable weather. Local trio Overcast Off is self-described as playing “electric folk.” The opening number had singer Keith Cooper wringing out his angst, declaring, “You’re the one I want to be with,”…
Guest Commentary
Voting has always been considered a cornerstone of our democratic processes. It is how we keep our government officials in line, hiring or firing them as we see fit. As voters, we must always look closely at government officials who endeavor to change the process by which we hire and fire them. Democratic Tucson City…
Broadway Steps
“Ballroom. Reinvented.” That’s the tagline for Burn the Floor, the dance extravaganza scheduled to alight at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall next week. The traveling production, brought to town by Broadway in Tucson, has 20 high-octane dancers who do every conceivable popular dance style, from waltz to foxtrot to mamba and swing. “Everybody goes…
Yelle: Safari Disco Club (Downtown/Cooperative USA/V2)
Unless you’re fluent in French, you’ll miss the details of Yelle’s lyrics—but the nature of this Gallic dance-pop trio’s second album is obvious: pure fun. From the percussive electro of the title track to the remedial house beats of “Comme Un Enfant” to the ’80s Madonna vibe of “Que Veux-Tu,” it ain’t nothing but a…
Fighting Over Mary Jane
Back in November, by the slimmest of margins, voters legalized marijuana for medical use. Five months later, fallout from that election persists. That fallout includes what are viewed as restrictions on free speech by folks such as retired librarian Michelle Graye. Armed with legal help from the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, she’s pushing…
Honoring a Legacy
Martha Graham was a towering figure of 20th-century modern dance, an innovator who helped invent the art form. She choreographed no fewer than 181 works, including the likes of Appalachian Spring. But Graham has been dead since 1991, and ever since, her followers have wrestled with how best to honor her legacy. A protracted court…
Vivian Girls: Share the Joy (Polyvinyl)
Share the Joy is the cleanest-sounding Vivian Girls release yet. The Ronettes-in-a-thunderstorm furor of those first two records is now more Ronettes-in-your-living-room. In the album’s opening moments, on “The Other Girls,” we get a small burst of percussive noise before the song settles into a jangly ballad. The guitars are spectral, but twinkly. Even during…
The Skinny
Make more than $3,600 a year? You’re no longer eligible to sign up for Arizona’s health-insurance plan … Sen. Jon Kyl lies about Planned Parenthood on the Senate floor … Even Republicans think the recall of Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is b.s. … and more!
Dishing at the Diner
Let me introduce Fronting the Order, now onstage at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, by sharing two things that you notice before the show even begins. First is the charming, ’50s-era diner setting, created by Charlie Middagh and the show’s director, Sheldon Metz. While far from photorealistic, it perfectly hits all the details of that vintage…
Loch Lomond: Little Me Will Start a Storm (Tender Loving Empire)
Portland, Ore.’s Loch Lomond is responsible for one of my all-time-favorite live-music moments: On stage at Plush in 2006, toward the end of their set (and toward the end of an especially haunting song), singer Ritchie Young and his fellow musicians whipped out those tube-like toy noisemakers that, when lassoed around, make a high-pitched whistling…
Imminent Eviction?
A technicality kept Therese Perreault’s arts organization from being evicted from the historic C.O. Brown House, located at 40 W. Broadway Blvd. Perreault received the eviction notice from her landlord for the last three years, El Centro Cultural de las Americas. Perreault, director of Community Storytelling Arts and Arts Marketplace, says she first received a…
More ‘Want’ Wanted
The grandson of Mexican immigrants and a hard-core downtown Los Angeleno, Daniel Olivas toils as a lawyer by day, and endeavors as a writer by night. He’s not a canny academic hoping to secure tenure by penning tales about the invisible lives of people pushed to society’s margins. Still, Olivas is part of an elite,…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I grant you a magic wand; now, tell me: How do we right the wrongs of Sam Houston and Manifest Destiny? Do we correct his legacy, call out the crimes and recognize the victims? Or should the land be given back? What is it, my fellow American? U.S Citizen Dear Gabacho: A chicken…
Media Watch
Frank attacks Johnjay after thedirty.com reports
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books’ best-sellers for the week ending April 8, 2011
Frog Fight
Cheers went up in March when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to secure critical habitat for the threatened Chiricahua leopard frog. But there are a few groans, too, most notably among Southern Arizona ranchers who’d probably prefer a sharp stick in the eye to federal biologists poking around their properties. Though the…
After the Assassination
The American Film Company is a new outfit that promotes itself as making only historically accurate films. For as long as there have been movies, they’ve been historically inaccurate, in large part because the truth should never stand in the way of a good story. This collection of filmmakers, however, believes that the stories we…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week ending April 10, 2011
Tax Myths
David Cay Johnston is a columnist for tax.com and teaches at Syracuse University. He has also been called the “de facto chief tax enforcement officer of the United States” because his reporting in The New York Times shut down many tax dodges and schemes—just two of them valued by Congress at $260 billion. Johnston received…
Medieval Mess
There was no movie I was looking more forward to this month than Your Highness. David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) directs James Franco, Natalie Portman, Justin Theroux and Danny McBride in a foul-mouthed, medieval-times period piece? And McBride co-wrote the script? Sign me up! So it’s with great sadness that I tell you that, while…
Feeling Something
Whether she’s singing gospel, blues, R&B or high-octane rock ‘n’ roll, Lady Dottie says she has to feel it in her soul. “It seems like I got another body inside when I’m singing—and I feel like other people can feel like I am feeling,” she says. “I hope I am communicating the joy and pain…
Flat Unfair
David Cay Johnston proves that the notion that half of all Americans skip out on paying taxes is a load of hogwash. Even if some citizens don’t owe anything in federal income taxes, they pay sales taxes, gas taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes and plenty of other taxes—and for low- and middle-income Americans who…
Now Showing at Home
Taxi Driver (Blu-ray); Little Fockers (Blu-ray); A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Blu-ray)
Visitors Revealed
The Hotel Congress Outdoor Stage will feature two of Phoenix’s hottest new rock acts. Snake! Snake! Snakes!, with their lush guitar arrangements and dramatic vocals, have drawn comparisons to Arcade Fire, Joy Division and Interpol. Their self-titled debut EP was produced by Bob Hoag, who is best known for working with The Format; with SSS,…
So Long, Derrick Williams
Kind of bad news for Arizona basketball fans, but when someone’s projected to be one of the top picks in the NBA draft, it’s a little difficult to convince them to stick around because college is awesome. You know what is also awesome? Giant stacks of money.
Critter(s) of the Week [Dog Edition]: Zorra and Lucky
Update: Zorra and Lucky have been adopted! But don’t fret; there are many more animals at the HSSAZ that would love a home. Get ready for double the cuteness with Zorra, a 12-year-old Queensland Heeler mix, and Lucky, a 6 year-old Dachshund mix. What’s better than giving a second chance to the world’s best dog?…
One Tucsonan’s Junk Is Another’s Art Project: Check It Out at Bookmans GreenFest Saturday
Art and photo Ryn Gargulinski Harry Belafonte makes a great mewling cat. Barbara Mandrell would be proud to know her eyeball ended on the edge of a dragon collage. Jack Benny would be equally tickled to see that his whole head made it onto the dragon’s face. And Harry Belafonte would probably belt out a…
