Cover Story
The Optimist Way
It’s Thursday night at Club Congress. While nattily attired downtown denizens move under a sultry summer sky to the Latin rhythms and Spanish lyrics of Salvador Duran on the patio, inside the club, new combinations of sounds are being born in a musical cauldron. Cultures aren’t clashing so much as meshing. At the weekly party…
New Pizza Place Coming Soon, Maybe
This area of town could use a good local pizza shop. This sign outside this building on West Congress Street just east of Grande Avenue says a pizza place named The Olive is opening here soon. I did my usual serious investigative work — i.e., looking in the windows — and it looks like a…
Ethnic Studies: ‘In the Business of Saving Lives’
Jeff Biggers has contributed many great pieces on the ethnic studies battle in Tucson for the Huffington Post. His latest captures another of the many mistaken and lost approaches TUSD has taken rather than celebrating a program that works: the demotion of Mexican American Studies co-founder and director Sean Arce. You can read Biggers’ work…
County Attorney Moves Forward In Death Threat Case
On May 3, UA assistant professor Roberto Rodriguez discovered a series of violent messages left on his office voice mail — death threats that made it clear the caller was interested in taking a .357 Magnum to the Mexican American Studies professor, an outspoken supporter of Tucson Unified School District’s ethnic-studies classes. In the story…
Happy Wednesday: Jam Today
Disregard Carol Channing’s nonsensical order, and please, jam today. Carol, you crazy. I love ya girl, but you’re crazy: For those of you who forgot, this is from the 1985 version of Alice in Wonderland. It’s the best (and freakiest) version ever, because it has a bunch of celebrities in it—like Sammy Davis Jr., Telly…
Heading to the South Pole…on Mars!
Thanks to our friends over at University of Arizona’s HiRISE, we have this unique glimpse from the Southern Polar region on Mars. Those cracks pictured below are channels located underneath layered deposits. Nicole Baugh from HiRISE tells us that “the regularity of these features may suggest something about the thickness of ground ice deep below…
Dissecting the Tea Party: Guess Who Really Makes Up Its Base?
David E. Campbell and Robert D. Putnam explore the secret origin of the Tea Party in today’s NYT: So what do Tea Partiers have in common? They are overwhelmingly white, but even compared to other white Republicans, they had a low regard for immigrants and blacks long before Barack Obama was president, and they still…
You Should Buy the Kaia Chesney Record
Circa 1952 by kaia chesney Local singer-songwriter Kaia Chesney’s new album, Circa 1952, is out now. If you’re not the sort of person tied to physical media, you can pick up the decidedly charming album via Bandcamp. It’s only $5, and if you enjoy folk-influenced indie pop, it’ll be money well spent.
Win Tickets to See Madi Diaz at Solar Culture Tomorrow Night!
Nashville singer-songwriter Madi Diaz is playing Solar Culture tomorrow night with Keegan DeWitt and we have a pair of last-minute-ish tickets to give away. If you like smart, melodic, female indie pop, Madi Diaz should be write up your alley, and since she and DeWitt are husband and wife are delightful people not married to…
People Don’t Care for Rick Moody’s Take on Tucson
While semi-famous literary critic Dale Peck would disagree (he led his review of The Black Veil with “Rick Moody is the worst writer of his generation”), if you’re going to criticize Rick Moody, calling him a “hack” probably isn’t the way to go. Still, if you’re a Tucsonan, reading Moody’s essay “reflect[ing]” on our city…
All of a Sudden, NASCAR Is Interesting
Although it would appear Boris Said hasn’t had a stellar career in NASCAR, the guy has a great name, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona twice, his father was an Olympic bobsledder, and he turns a post-race interview in a professional wrestling promo. Someone with a camera should just follow this guy around. That…
Do You Like Chinese Food? Do You Really Like Chinese Food?
A chef recently told me he got bawled out by somebody who couldn’t believe his Thai restaurant didn’t offer take-out. “She was like, ‘You don’t deliver? You don’t do take-out?’ I told her that we didn’t even have take-out containers. It’s very ethnocentric,” he said. What many Americans — myself included – are accustomed to…
Artistic Range: Gerben Mulder
“Untitiled (Ascending Butterflies)” by Gerben Mulder is on display in The Tucson Work, through Sept. 18, at the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, 265 South Church Ave.
In Case You Were Thinking of Pledging at the University of Alabama
A list of stuff I don’t understand (related to this video, partial): a) The whole fraternity and sorority thingb) Young peoplec) Alabamans [Daily What]
Enter the Labyrinth!
Wake up, drink some coffee, then head on down with the whole family to The Loft this Saturday, August 20 at 10 a.m. for a screening of Labyrinth! The flick is a part of The Loft’s Saturday Morning Cinema. Plus, it’s just a chance to see David Bowie in some funky, tight black pants. General…
No Need to See the Jeff Buckley Movie, It Seems
There are three Jeff Buckley biopics filming in the near future (including one that doesn’t have the rights to his music and stars a guy from Gossip Girl who doesn’t appear to be able to sing, of all things), but the most prominent one found someone who looks a lot like Buckley, but might be…
Planned Parenthood Arizona CEO: Why Court Ruling Is a Blow to Abortion Rights
Arizona’s abortion opponents had a good day in court last week, when the Arizona Court of Appeals lifted an injunction that blocked a 2009 law from going into effect. As a result, abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood will now have to follow the provisions of Abortion Consent Act, whose provisions had been placed on…
Some “Big Government” Readers Don’t Like to Read
Considering I’m generally judged in my job performance by how many people come to the Tucson Weekly website, it’s a positive thing when any article of ours gets mentioned by a national website. I personally might not have much use for Andrew Breitbart’s chain of websites, but clearly, a lot of people read Big Government…
Fewer Than 70 Tickets Left For Emmylou Harris at the Fox
KXCI says tickets are running out for its Sep. 23 benefit concert featuring Emmylou Harris; buy them here before you miss your chance. I grew up listening to the album she recorded with Linda Ronstadt at the Arizona Inn (“Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions”). Here’s a video of those two performing with Dolly Parton in…
Wilko Is Adding a Cocktail Bar
Wilko, the restaurant down by the UA that Rita Connelly seemed to enjoy when she reviewed it last week, is adding a cocktail bar that could be serving drinks as early as this weekend. Jonathan Zucchi, general manager for the restaurant, says the renovations that include installing the cocktail bar are almost complete. Cocktails should…
Another Reason To Drive Carefully
Adam Kurtz A new Transportation for America study ranked Tucson as the 25th most dangerous metro area for pedestrians. The city ranked far below the Phoenix area on the “Pedestrian Danger Index,” but above Los Angeles and San Diego. The four Florida metro areas studied took the top four spots; now I know where I…
Hooray for Prickly Pops!
The ladies at the Monsoon Kitchen really opened my eyes to true popsicle creativity. Ever since I tried their crazy and inventive frozen treats I find it impossible to drink anything without wondering if it might be better frozen. With this in mind I began my search for other frozen things to be had around…
Listen, Lebron…You Can’t Become Likable via Osmosis
I like pandas, but my extreme dislike for Lebron James overrides my affection for adorable bears. Nice try, pal, but this phase of the charm offensive fails. [GQ]
Skrillex’s Lyrics Are Dumb
I personally don’t fully understand the musical sub-genre dubstep, but the insta-fame of dude-in-a-post-hardcore-band-turned-electronic-music-producer Skrillex* is particularly confusing to me. Not that my opinion matters to him or his fans, but once someone appears as a “featured artist” on a Korn record, I sort of tune out of whatever music they’re creating. However, with the…
In Case You Were Wondering: KFMA’s Fall Ball Lineup
September 25th at Kino Sports Complex, “new rock” station KFMA (where you can hear me Wednesdays at 8:10 am!) brings you all the angsty, riff-driven hard rock you can stand at their annual Fall Ball extravaganza. I tend to prefer my music more fey and emotionally stunted in a wear-unattractive-glasses-and-spend-time-journaling sort of way, but to…
This New Dairy Queen Is Open
This new Dairy Queen is open on the corner of Silverbell Road and Speedway Boulevard. It’s sort of tucked away behind the new Taco Bell and some other buildings, but believe me, it’s there. I saw a curious Dairy Queen RV lurking around this area the other day as well. I’m not sure what’s up…
You Can Listen to the Muppet Tribute Album, If You Want
There’s a streaming preview of the new Muppet tribute album up at NPR, and it’s sort of worth listening to, especially considering that it’s free to check out. There are a few really enjoyable tracks, particularly Andrew Bird’s take on “Bein’ Green” which seems like a perfect fit for him and his whistle solo, but…
I Think I’m Drawing Japanese
Start the school year off right, and impress your friends by learning how to draw anime and manga, (the Japanese word for comics). Try your hand at these two, awesome Japanese illustration styles with a free class—the Worlds of Imagination Manga Drawing Workshop—presented by Briget Wilde on Sunday, August 21, from 2-3 p.m., at the…
Best Mildly Erroneous One-Off Joke Twitter Feed of the Day
The idea of the T-800 trying to reach out to the mother of the savior of our future post-apocalyptic world via Twitter is a funny one, but if you’re going to go the trouble of setting up a novelty feed, it might help to spell Sarah Connor’s last name correctly. Related:
Attention: Bird Nerds
For all you bird enthusiasts out there who complained, “There aren’t enough bird events in Tucson,” fret no more. Join The Wild Bird Store for the grand opening of their new location on August 20 and 21 from 9-6 p.m. And celebrate the store’s 30 year anniversary of birding business. Event highlights include a book…
Not the Title Anyone Should Want: “Britain’s Drunkest Woman”
One woman’s attempt to steal some bacon to buy more lager gets her in The Sun and an unfortunate title: A SHOPLIFTING mum downs up to 28 pints of lager in a single day, a court heard. Dawn Marsden, 31, drinks so much she should be dead, experts said. She was wrecked as she appeared…
It’s a Banksy Documentary on Pranks!
I fall into the camp of really admiring artist/provocateur Banksy, especially after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop, so I’m obviously in the target audience for The Antics Roadshow, a documentary about pranksters varying from the political motivated to the simply bored which aired on England’s Channel 4 this weekend, but I would imagine someone…
Tonight at the Gaslight: The Manhattan Dolls
If you’re dying for a little 1940s Andrews-Sisters-style crooning, see the Manhattan Dolls at the Gaslight Theatre today at 3 p.m. or 7 p.m. More from the Gaslight’s website: The Manhattan Dolls are a New York City based 1940s swing-style female vocal trio with the sound of The Andrews Sisters. Started by former USO Girl…
Hey Yellowbook, This Is Called Littering
Somebody littered in my driveway! A note to the publishers of the Yellowbook phone directory. Chucking things in people’s yards without their permission is called littering. Throwing this phone directory in my driveway is littering. Got it? Thank you.
Let’s Listen to Thirteen Minutes of Funk
It’s Monday and I was subjected to listening to the Eagles while buying a soda this morning. The only remedy? George Clinton (with a mohawk and a purple leotard of some sort) and the Parliaments on a Chicago TV show circa 1969. [Dangerous Minds]
Meat and Mini-Bars: Mr. K’s Barbeque Opens Today
I can’t think of a better way to start a Monday than meat and mini-bars, so let’s get to it. Mr. K’s Barbeque on the corner of River Road and Stone Avenue opens today, and reports from the soft opening — which raised more than $2,200 for the Tucson Fire Foundation and the UA School…
A Travel Option if Your Family Is Tired of Fun
Are you sick of traditional amusement parks with their tolerance for diverse ideas and attempts to entertain you? You’ll have to wait until 2014, but soon you’ll be able to take your family to Kentucky to see a “full-size replica of Noah’s Ark”, a petting zoo and some other stuff. Even better? A lot of…
This Guy Really Likes His Job at Best Buy
I get the feeling that it’ll be revealed that this guy is part of some bizarre Best Buy viral media strategy, but for now, I’m going to just enjoy his video is one strange young man’s expression of how much he likes his place of employment. Related: The same guy’s ostensibly sincere cover of “Africa”…
Has Breast Cancer Got You Singing the Boobs?
Almost everyone knows someone who has experienced cancer—and once it happens to you or to someone important in your life, you realize you never really understood the magnitude of the diagnosis before. This I know now from experience, which is why I want to recommend going to Bumstead’s and IBT’s tonight (Saturday, Aug. 13) to…
I Should Be at the Gathering of the Juggalos
Buzzfeed is really doing the world a favor by covering this year’s Gathering of the Juggalos, but I still feel like I should be there. While there’s very little reason for the Tucson Weekly to pay for me to go, and I don’t even really like the music of the Insane Clown Posse and their…
TucsonWeeklyTV.com – Talking (X-Men) Comics
This week Arnie and Eric discuss X-Men Schism #1, which sets up a battle between two mega-stars of the Marvel Universe.
Idiot Boksen – The Golden Age of Comedy Television
Halfway through the latest episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm earlier this week, I had to pause and take stock. I have always loved Curb, and I’ve always thought it was one of the finest half hours of comedy on television. But this season has been different. This season is a step up, a comedy writer…
Kids in Film: Pan Left’s Youth Media Camp Showcase
Kids who participated this summer in Pan Left’s Youth Media Camp will show their work tonight at the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress, 7 p.m. It’s free, you get a chance to see a range of genres, from documentary to horror, music video and animation, and experimental science fiction. According to Pan Left, the camp…
Win Tickets to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival!
The Tucson stop of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival hits the Loft Cinema on August 17th and we have two pair of tickets to give away. Featuring three films discussing our relationship with the environment and the world around us, the traveling festival has a selection of the movies from the annual festival in…
Now We Know Where the Cat Videos Come From
I always assumed that cat videos largely came from people trying to capture the adorable things their own cats are doing, but it turns out it’s all so corporate. I’ll never look at a kitten trying to get out of a box the same ever again. [Laughing Squid]
Pounding Plow Disks Into Giant Woks
A local Tucson company is making these cool, giant woks out of repurposed plow disks. Isn’t there something in the Bible about pounding swords into plow shares, or spears and pruning hooks, or something like that? I guess this is sort of that in reverse, with more of a culinary angle. By way of full…
This Courtyard is Amazing. The Food Is, Too.
That elephant mural to the right is like twenty feet tall and was painted by local muralist Rocky Martinez. It is one of many elements in this amazing courtyard at V Fine Thai Dining on the corner of Congress Street and Stone Avenue. You can check out a bunch of pictures of the place here.…
Planned Parenthood: Court Decision Means Shutdown of Abortion Clinics
Planned Parenthood explains the practical result of yesterday’s state appellate court decision upholding a state law that requires physicians to read a state-mandated script to women seeking an abortion: Planned Parenthood has complied with the 24 hour requirement since shortly after the law was passed in 2009. Experienced, empathetic Planned Parenthood nurses have provided the…
It Would Be Nice if You Ate Some Ice Cream This Weekend
The Dairy Queen on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Sixth Street is donating all the proceeds from sales made on Saturday, Aug. 13, to an educational fund for the daughter of an employee killed last year. A flyer in the window of the store says employee Lissette Chittenden was killed in a car accident,…
TucsonWeeklyTV.com – Lollipop’s Nerd Party
Intern Celia Ampel will be leaving us to head back to Missouri soon, but before she does, she went to last week’s Nerd Party at Lollipop Culture Shop just off Fourth Avenue.
Tea Party Going Sour?
It appears that voters are experiencing some buyer’s remorse with the Tea Party Congress. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling notes that John Boehner is now as unpopular as Nancy Pelosi: I think most national pundits continue to be missing the boat on how possible it is that Democrats will retake control of the House…
This Week in Tucson Bicycling
Sam Abate attends a benefit concert in June. The father of a cyclist injured in a hit-and-run crash in May sends an update about his son’s progress. See how Sam is going here. Have a great bike-related photo? Submit it to the Tucson Velo photo contest for a chance to win some great prizes. Enter…
Lurid Stories of Famous Game Show Hosts
I suspect that none of the stories on the new-ish Tumblr site Chuck Woolery Took Me From Behind are factual, and they’re a little disconcerting to read, but gosh, I applaud the ingenuity of the bold soul who conceptualized this brilliant site. My agent sent me on a general meeting with the casting department at…
Well, This Sucks: The Bled Break Up
Tucson’s own The Bled have decided that they’re calling it quits after a farewell tour in November. You might remember that Josh Skibar and James Muñoz from the band were part of the Inglorious Budsters, profiled in our February 10th issue, but in the band accomplished quite a bit in their ten years, moving from…
Will Trade Eggplant for Thai Cooking Lessons
Ajahn Sarayut: Abbot, master meditation teacher and expert eggplant epicurean. My eggplant patch has been off the hook this year and my poor family has been subjected to a nonstop barrage of Italian-style eggplant, grilled eggplant, baked eggplant. I had to mix it up. I knew where to go. Well, I didn’t know exactly where…
Now You Can Really Like Us
If you couldn’t get quite enough of your favorite Tucson Weekly writers, you can now “like” some of us on Facebook individually. Now, while you will have to push a button that says “like” and for at least a few seconds before you go and hit the delete button, your friends will see that you…
The Food Truck Diaries, Volume 21: Mexico City Kitchen
Hebert Perez makes good food. You should try it. Wedged between a carwash and a window-tinting shop just east of the intersection of Grant and Country Club roads is where Mexico City Kitchen is found. It serves some of the more gourmet and unique street food I’ve had the pleasure of sampling, and the guy…
Legislator On Trial For Domestic Violence Receives “Friend of the Family” Award
Arizona Democratic Party chairman Andrei Cherny tweeted a not-so-subtle jab yesterday at the Arizona Family Project’s “Friend of the Family” awards for including Scott Bundgaard, who reportedly physically fought with his girlfriend on the side of a Phoenix highway in February. He is set to be tried Monday on domestic violence charges. The organization claims…
What Could Be Worse Than Getting Pulled Over By a Cop Riding One of These?
This officer tells me that Target donated a small fleet of these to the Tucson Police Department. He said they go about 30 miles on a charge. A few friends and I got a good laugh speculating how funny it would be to get pulled over by one of these. Then we watched a guy…
I Guess This Is Helpful
While I suppose it is a useful hint to turn your passed-out friends on their sides so they don’t choke on their own vomit, it might be even more helpful to suggest to those same friends that there’s a space somewhere between “drunk” and “on the verge of death” that might be better to occupy.…
911 To Accept Texts, Videos and Photos
The FCC chairman announced a plan yesterday to update the 911 emergency response system. The five-step plan, called Next Generation 911, would allow the system to receive text messages, voice calls, videos, photos and automatic location information. More from an FCC press release: What Is NG911 and Why Do We Need It? · NG911 supports…
Expand, Please: UA President Search Problem
When we first interviewed former U.S. Senator and Regent Dennis DeConcini about the Arizona Board of Regents’ search process for the UA’s next president, he said the process would be a little different compared to past searches — the committee representation would be “smaller”: Based on DeConcini’s past experience with searches, he says the final…
I Want You To Have a Really Good Steak This Weekend
I want you and your friends and family to have a good steak this weekend. I want it to be from a grass-fed cow. I want it to be fresh, well-marbled with streaks of fat and as delicious as possible. This is why I am telling you about one of the greatest things I’ve discovered…
Bring Knives to TUSD Board Meetings, Leave Civil Disobedience at Home
How often do you think before you leave to go to a TUSD governing board meeting, “Hey, I better bring my knife, cause you never know if there’s going to be a potluck or turkey dinner?” Probably not that often, unless you’re a guy named John White, who has spoken at previous school board meetings,…
Arizona: Prison Inc.
Public hearings on four private, for-profit prisons continue tonight. The Arizona Department of Corrections is moving forward on four facilities. Corrections Corporations of America wants to build two prisons in Eloy; GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) wants to build a prison in Goodyear; LaSalle/Southwest Corrections wants to build a facility in Winslow; Management and Training Corporation…
Thanks, But No Thanks: Romero Returns Stegeman’s Campaign Contribution
The Range learned yesterday that City Councilwoman Regina Romero returned a campaign contribution of more than $400 to her reelection campaign from Mark Stegeman, president of the Tucson Unified School District governing board. Romero faced criticism from Mexican American Studies advocates who questioned the contribution and told the councilwoman that if she supported Mexican American…
The Bo-Keys: Got to Get Back! (Electraphonic)
Hearing the classic soul and funk grooves on the second album by this group of Memphis soul veterans is a revelatory experience. The Bo-Keys are not unlike a Buena Vista Social Club for the Stax/Volt soul sound. Band members have done time with such legends as B.B. King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Otis Redding, Al…
Eddie Vedder: Ukulele Songs (Monkey Wrench)
In Water on the Road, Brendan Canty’s documentary of Eddie Vedder’s solo theater shows in Washington, D.C., Vedder explains the challenge he gave himself with the ukulele. It’s such a happy little instrument, Vedder says, that he had to see if he could get a sad sound out of it. Ukulele Songs, a collection Vedder’s…
Cake, Tucson-Style
Carmen Harrison knows a lot about cake. The veteran baker has been making cakes since she was in high school. She’s even been to pastry school. Today, the busy, stay-at-home mother of two finds the time to work her magic in the kitchen at night. “I don’t do it professionally, but I have a passion…
Guest Commentary
Much has been said about recently proposed changes to Pima Community College’s admissions policy, and it is time that the record is set straight. (See “Admissions Obstacles,” Currents, Aug. 4.) It should be noted that in changing admissions standards, PCC would be brought into compliance with state law. Arizona Revised Statute 15-1805.01 currently states that…
City Week
Celebrating the last days of summer; Remembering Elvis; A chimp’s life; Adopt a dog!
Transfer Out
Enrollment in the Tucson Unified School District is down by more than 7,300 students—or 12 percent—since 2005, when the district educated about 60,000 students. Even worse for TUSD, the district is facing future enrollment decreases as well. Thus, as students return to classrooms next week, TUSD officials are soon expected to take a detailed look…
TQ&A
While it is still summer, now is one of the best times to think about planting trees. “Rain is the best possible water source for any plant,” says Trees for Tucson program coordinator Rani Olson. The Tucson Clean and Beautiful program, through a Tucson Electric Power grant, provides trees to Tucson area homeowners for $8…
Night of Taboos
Jailbait, Deirdre O’Connor’s play about two 15-year-old girls who think they are grown up enough for sex, is a bit of a tease, not unlike the teasing—or, rather, blatant lies—the girls deliver to attract a couple of 30-something men in a bar in Boston. Etcetera, the late-night group associated with Live Theatre Workshop, has tackled…
The Skinny
The Pima County Democratic Party takes aim at a Democrat in the Tucson City Council race … If you supported Obama on the East Coast in 2008, you might be a supporter of City Council candidate Joe Flores today … Nancy Young Wright considers a run for the Board of Supes … and more!
La Vida Verde
Jessie Shinn has come up with the best way to recycle notebook paper: Turn it into a work of art. In the Viviendo Verde (Living Green) show at Raices Taller 222, Shinn has succeeded in turning trash into a thing of beauty. She’s made three wonderfully abstracted landscape drawings on notebook paper. You can dimly…
Pioneering Work
By the time Quincy Tahoma graduated from the Santa Fe Indian School in 1940, he was already a well-known artist. He’d been invited to paint at the national Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco. He’d been praised for his “unerring brush and powerful sense of design” in a published review. And after he left high…
Media Watch
RIP, Fred Imus; The Star needlessly changes policies; A new head for the UA School of Journalism
Top Ten in Books
1. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin Erik Larson, Crown ($20.80, sale) 2. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1 George R.R. Martin, Bantam ($8.99) 3. The Help Kathryn Stockett, Berkley ($16) 4. The Passage: A Novel Justin Cronin, Ballantine ($16) 5.…
Soundbites
Farewell, Esme; Benefits galore; Two nights for blues fans; and more!
Pissed-Off Primates
Quite a few movie franchises have gotten “reboots” in recent years, with varying degrees of success. While films like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Superman Returns didn’t necessarily go over big with the public, Star Trek and Batman Begins breathed new life into entertainment juggernauts. Rise of the Planet of the Apes does for…
Editor’s Note
Some updates and FYIs this week: • As I type this, arts editor Margaret Regan and calendar girl Linda Ray (Linda came up with that title, so don’t blame me) are working hard on next week’s Fall Arts Preview. On Aug. 18, expect a startlingly comprehensive list of Tucson arts goings-on between now and the…
Ask a Mexican!
Here is my problem: I was raised in a typical gabacho family. My siblings and I all enjoy a typical gabacho relationship. We are close as cats. I phoned my brother the year before last, and was gratified to learn that he was still alive. That call went so well that I may phone him…
Mississippi in the ’60s
The Help is a work of fiction, though it strikes a very real note about racial inequalities in the Deep South at the dawn of the Civil Rights Era. Given the major sacrifices that so many people made to raise awareness of the plight of blacks in the age of segregation, the story told here…
Top Ten in Music
1. Foster the People Torches (Columbia) 2. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (DVD) Warner 3. Kottonmouth Kings Sunrise Sessions (Suburban Noize) 4. Tech N9ne All 6’s and 7’s (Strange) 5. Wiz Khalifa Rolling Papers (Rostrum/Atlantic) 6. Rio (DVD) 20th Century Fox 7. Adele 21 (Columbia) 8. Nekromantix What Happens in Hell, Stays in Hell (Hellcat/Epitaph) 9. Incubus…
The Breakup
What is believed to be the only student-run Native American magazine in the country will no longer be part of the UA’s American Indian Studies Department. About six months after Red Ink magazine published its 20th anniversary issue, its managing editor received a notice on Tuesday, Aug. 2, that the department will no longer sponsor…
Now Showing at Home
Your Highness (Blu-ray); Boyz n the Hood (Blu-ray); The Big Lebowski (Blu-ray); Paul (Blu-ray)
Nine Questions
Born in Arizona and raised in Louisiana, Carrie Kay moved back to Tucson after “freezing her culo off” in Colorado and itching to get “back to her Mexican mutt roots.” She played guitar in the bubblegum punk trio B.L.T.’s, rapped in hip-hop duo 520, and was a dancer for the industrial Irish goth band The…
Freedom’s Ring
Even as it settles into new campus digs, the UA’s Freedom Center is raising fresh concerns about its well-heeled, right-wing benefactors. Semantics could be part of the problem; in recent years, conservatives have merchandised the term “freedom” for everything from pep rallies to fried potatoes. So it’s hardly surprising that this simple word would, in…
Treats With a Twist
A successful restaurant is really all about food, service and setting—and thankfully, the folks at Wilko have a keen sense of what it takes to succeed in this highly competitive business. They are, after all, the team behind both The B Line and Time Market, two of this town’s most innovative eateries. Offerings at this…
Danehy
Having given the president a much-deserved word-processor-lashing last week, it’s now time to pick him up and dust him off. A good coach doesn’t just yell at a kid for doing something stupid and leave it at that. (I generally laugh at a kid for doing something stupid, which is part of the reason why…
Police Dispatch
Someone’s in the kitchen; Really tee’d off
Noshing Around
O’Hungry’s makes way for The Lab; Find the Buddhas; Salsa and tequila for a good cause; Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink!
Live
The Alternate Routes, a terrific rock band from Connecticut, played its Tucson debut last weekend, moving to the top of a bill that got juggled after Scattered Trees canceled at the last minute. Up-and-coming Tucson band A House, A Home was added, and the cover charge was removed. After the dust had cleared, it was…
Weekly Wide Web
Adventures in Fox News PR; The week on The Range; and more!
Doom With Depth
Maybe it’s inevitable that drummer Coady Willis and bassist Jared Warren have become more famous for their “other” job than for playing with their brutal stoner/sludge-rock project, Big Business. When you’re recruited to join a legendary outfit like Seattle-area grunge progenitors the Melvins, it’s bound to overshadow whatever else you do. Willis and Warren were…
Panda Bear: Tomboy (Paw Tracks)
Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) has cited sources as disparate as Nirvana, Frank Sinatra and J Dilla as inspiration for Tomboy, his beguiling fourth solo outing away from Animal Collective. Clearly, the electronic haze and ethereal coos that constitute Tomboy suggest that the devil is in the details. However, “Tomboy” surges on raw Nintendo beats…
On the Run
On March 14, 2008, Martha Flores, a 46-year-old mother of two, was found dead. She had been brutally murdered. The main suspect was never arrested, even though the Tucson Police Department had him under guard at a local hospital following the murder. He was allowed to walk away—and he promptly disappeared. DNA evidence eventually linked…
Top Ten in Movies
1. Limitless Relativity 2. Rio 20th Century Fox 3. Rango Paramount 4. Source Code Summit 5. The Lincoln Lawyer Lionsgate 6. Arthur Warner 7. Soul Surfer Sony 8. Insidious Sony 9. Take Me Home Tonight Relativity 10. Ironclad ARC
Gargulinski
Arizonans like their guns—or so the reputation goes. It’s a reputation backed up by incidents like Tucson’s recent road-rage altercation that left a man fatally shot in a Jack in the Box parking lot, and January’s tragic mass shooting. The gun-happy reputation is enhanced even further with tales of border shootings, home invasions and armed…
Over the Lines
Most of the 70-plus citizens who spoke at a four-hour meeting of the Independent Redistricting Commission last Saturday, Aug. 6, expressed concerns about keeping communities of interest together in new congressional and legislative districts, or about creating more competition between the two parties. But state Rep. Terri Proud used her time to launch a blistering…
Should We Be Afraid of Michele Bachmann?
There’s been a lot of talk about Michele Bachmann’s photo on the cover of this week’s Newsweek, whether she’s being set up to look crazy or daft, however, the real conversation should probably be surrounding Ryan Lizza’s feature on the congresswoman in next week’s New Yorker. Talking about whether she looks crazy confuses the real…
The Food Truck Diaries, Volume 20: El Ta’Comiendo
I am aloft on a cloud of carne asada smoke right now, moved to my core by all of the incredible little taco trucks popping up along South 12th Avenue. It’s a roadside diner’s paradise out there among the tire shops, 99-cent stores and strip malls, and I, for one, am taking advantage of it.…
