Cover Story
Haboob Hootenanny!
As the Aug. 26 primary election draws near, we’re taking a look back at some of the finest moments we’ve seen on the campaign trail. Candidates for governor, Congress, attorney general and a bunch of other offices have spent millions of dollars, made dozens of bogus promises and flung buckets of mud. We’re sure that…
Listen to Lenguas Largas’ New Album ‘Come On In’ Right Now
We assume this is yesterday’s news, but Lenguas Largas released a new album with Recess Records. The Tucson band (always and forever) is currently on tour, and received some noteworthy praise from The A.V. Club. Here’s their take on Come On In: Sci-fi garage pop? Art-damaged post-punk? Dope, guns, and fucking in the streets? All…
Pierce Brosnan and Jimmy Fallon Play ‘GoldenEye 007’ on ‘The Tonight Show’
GoldenEye 007 changed how we play video games forever. The James Bond free roaming, first person shooter was the third best selling Nintendo 64 game. Pierce Brosnan, who’s on the cover, played it once — and he shot himself on the foot. Tuesday, Brosnan was a guest on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show to promoting his latest…
Here’s an Article About Chimichangas Designed to Make You Angry
Flickr user adactio via Creative Commons license In case Linda Ronstadt didn’t upset your regional pride enough yesterday, here’s a blog post over at our Portland alt-weekly cousin, the Willamette Week, which starts (sorta) as an attempt to find a distinctive food from Arizona to eat in Oregon and turns into an extending troll of…
Ed Shorts: TUSD Edition
Imagine my delight at seeing a front-page-with-a-picture, feel-good story about TUSD in today’s Star: New TUSD outreach program gives biotech students leg up. It sounds like a great program: 240 students from Pueblo and Tucson High participating in a Biotech Pipeline. Students will gather information on nearly two dozen local biotech businesses and conduct interviews…
Loft Cinema Celebrates Robin Williams’ Legacy, Proceeds to Benefit COPE
The world stills feels weird without Robin Williams in it. The beloved actor/comedian took his life last Monday at his home in Tiburon, CA. His death has increased suicide prevention and depression awareness. The Loft Cinema will celebrate Williams’ cinematic legacy this Labor Day weekend starting Friday, Aug. 30 through Monday, Sept. 1. They are…
Who Wants Tickets to See Reckless Kelly at the Rialto?
Reckless Kelly is playing the Rialto Theatre on Thursday, August 21 on their Late Night Moon tour with Cody Canada and the Departed, and Micky and The Motorcars…and we have a pair to give away for a lucky music fan. Just click over to our contest page. We’ll send the winner an email Wednesday afternoon…
Stalinist Architecture or UA Off-Campus Student Housing?
James Hudson After seeing so many readers offended by Linda Ronstadt’s recent comments (which came as a followup to an interview she did on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show) regarding Downtown Tucson’s newer “Stalinist buildings,” I was reminded of a photo I took downtown back in October of 2013. The photo was taken in the empty…
First Look at Paul Rudd as Marvel’s ‘Ant Man’
Marvel is on a roll with these superhero films. Guardians of the Galaxy has made $222,661,385. USA TODAY released the first glimpse of Paul Rudd as one of the founding Avengers members, Ant Man. I, for one, hope the film is better than the comics. I don’t think anyone can honestly point out a “good”…
Santa Cecilia Gives “Strawberry Fields” New Life in Cover, Video
Maybe you missed this latest release from Santa Cecilia. The video of their cover of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” is a beautiful take on that Beatles’ classic. From Latina: In an interview with the GRAMMY Museum, lead singer Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernández spoke about the connection between the Beatles classic and the plight of modern migrant…
Taylor Swift Debuts Video for New Single ‘Shake It Off’
Taylor Swift has a message to all you haters out there, and it’s in the form of a high production music video. Swift debuted her latest theatrical video for her new single, “Shake It Off.” The track is off her new album 1989, and it’s expect to hit everywhere you buy your music on Monday, Oct.…
Too Bad There’s No Mariachi Grinch (Your Help is Needed)
Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a Mariachi Grinch out there? Upset with all the cool mariachi fun the kids have over at Davis Bilingual Elementary. Just before the school year begins, the Grinch cames down from that shed he lives on at the very tip of Tumamoc and took an accordion, some keyboards…
Arizona’s Economic/Education Divide
There’s a great, reasonably new website in town: Bringing Up Arizona. It’s a researched-based site about education headed by Richard Gilman, a former Daily Star reporter and editor who also was a senior vice president at the New York Times and publisher of the Boston Globe. You can find a number of interesting reports on…
Charlie Sheen Uses Ice Bucket Challenge to Talk to Former ‘Two and a Half Men’ Co-Stars
We are tired of the Ice Bucket Challenge, but it’s for a good cause. Apparently, you’re supposed to waste good drinking water by dumping it on your head to raise money for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There have been a number of celebrities that made this challenge popular, but Charlie Sheen has found a way to ruin…
Whither Michelle Rhee? Whither K12 Inc.?
Two insider baseball news bytes from the world of “education reform” for people who like to pay close attention to this kind of thing. First, Michelle Rhee is leaving Students First, a pro-school-privatization organization she founded. Rhee is a curious figure in the education world, someone lots of people have fallen in love with until…
Linda Ronstadt Not a Fan of Downtown These Days
If you were wondering why Linda Ronstadt doesn’t live in Tucson these days, her interview with the Arizona Republic published over the weekend might shine some light on her decision to head to San Francisco…too much of a car culture (fair) and she didn’t want her children influenced by the “kind of thinking” here: “And…
Question of the Day: Jon Justice Facebook Edition
So, radio personality and Best of Tucson winner Jon Justice posted this joke(?)/remark about the continuing drama in Ferguson, Mo. on Facebook this morning: (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’)); Post by Jon Justice. Our…
Sylvan Esso to “Play It Right” at Congress Tuesday
What’s the distance across the musical spectrum between a cappella folksingers and electro-hip-hop producers? For Durham, N.C. duo Sylvan Esso, the more relevant inquiry is exactly where and how those disparate musical traditions can converge. The story of Sylvan Esso revolves around that very intersection, and how a chance meeting turned, step-by-step, into one-off collaboration…
City to Address Streetcar Gridlock & Rider Delays Following 2nd Saturday Troubles
Nicola Freegard City of Tucson officials will be addressing new issues surrounding major traffic gridlock and Sun Link ridership delays following the first 2nd Saturdays event held in Downtown Tucson since the streetcar’s arrival. Last Saturday’s early evening event was plagued by extended motorist logjams and waits of up to an hour for potential streetcar…
FBI Finds that 8 Out of 10 Cops are Overweight
This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone, but the men and women in blue have it rough. Most of a police officer’s life is behind a desk, contrary to what you might believe or see in the movies. The Federal Bureau of Investigations have found that 8 out of 10 officers are over weight,…
Militarizing Cities, Criminalizing Schools
The photo above isn’t from the recent demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, following the killing of an unarmed African American teen. It’s over a decade old, a photo I took at a 2003 march in Portland, Oregon, protesting Bush and the Iraq war. I’d attended a number of marches and rallies in Portland before this and…
Guadalajara Fiesta Grill Fire Cause Still “Undetermined”; New Guadalajara Coming to Old TGI Fridays
TFD Following more than three weeks of investigation into the July 26th Guadalajara Fiesta Grill fire, the Tucson Fire Department is still classifying the incident as “undetermined,” though it did reveal that the origin of the fire was in the southeast corner room of the building. In response to daily inquires regarding the early morning…
Tucson Improv Movement Invites Dan and Henry to Tell Interesting Stories
Photo courtesy of Tucson Improv Movement. Dan Gibson and The Soap Box at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company. Here’s your last chance to catch the Tucson Improv Movement before they hit their new stage on Fourth Avenue in September. TIM’s Soap Box group are performing tonight at 7 p.m. at Fluxx Studio and Gallery, 414 East…
Who Wants Tickets to See Hawthorne Heights and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus?
We’ve got a pair of tickets for Friday’s Hope Revolution Tour with Hawthorne Heights and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus at the Rialto to give away today for the lucky nostalgic emo fan. All you have to do is go to our Free Stuff page, click a button (if you’re already signed up for our website) or…
Chuck Norris Standing Behind You (And That’s Supposed To Mean Something)
I’m confused by the NRA’s Trigger the Vote campaign and how it’s supposed to encourage gun rights supporters to vote this upcoming election. The “Top 10 Reasons” video with Chuck Norris, I’m guessing, is supposed to get me excited; get a fire burning in me to vote and make sure I vote for the gun…
Congressional Candidate Kwasman Reveals He Has Cancer
Rebekah L. Sanders of the Arizona Republic reports that state Rep. Adam Kwasman, one of three Republicans vying for the chance to take on Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick in CD1, has a blood cancer: dam Kwasman, a candidate in the 1st District, says he has a slow-growing blood cancer that was caught early, has presented…
Editor’s Note
Jim Nintzel has a little fun with the various Republican primaries in this week’s cover story, from disgraced former prosecutor Andrew Thomas’ insane “let’s just put a wall somewhere” Patton Line to Christine Jones’ song-and-dance routine celebrating Joe Arpaio. It’s an entertaining, if only-a-little-depressing-regarding-our-political-process, read. Since the governor’s race started, I had made the joke…
Marvelous Miz
This is definitely the theater event of the summer. And I’m not just saying that because there’s not a whole lot going on during Tucson’s theater-scarce summer scene. Shoot, it may be the theater event of the year. Local theater company Arizona Onstage has taken on the enormous task of mounting the epic musical melodrama, Les…
Soundbites
NON-ZERO POSSIBILITY NO ONE ELSE BUT YOU Honestly, I think the best thing you can do with your concert dollar this week is go see La Cerca at Congress for their free record release show on Friday, Aug. 15 and pick up a copy of their stellar new album Sunrise for Everyone. I know I…
Isn’t It a Wonderful Life
It’s not as if we haven’t been here before, mourning the loss of a great Tucson talent and life, but it was obvious standing in the long line waiting to enter the already crowded sanctuary of Temple Emanu-El on Sunday, Aug. 11, that Howard Salmon’s life is a legacy that goes beyond his punk rock…
Like the Weather
A sunny day can change your mind, says Andrew Gardner. It can change everything. So why think of weather as the hum-drum topic of small talk? Why deny its force? Gardner, the singer, songwriter and guitarist behind the long-running and ever-shifting La Cerca, set out to make an album that draws its inspiration from weather,…
Police Dispatch
WHO LET THE DRUNK OUT? SAN XAVIER BEAT JULY 20, 5:04 P.M. After one man perhaps partook of too much “hair of the dog,” a peaceful trailer park became a boisterous hotbed of barking—not from a neighborhood canine but from this man, now outside drunk and thrashing around as he bellowed all sorts of strange…
Media Watch
RADIO STATIONS MAKE THREE-WAY TRANSACTION FOR FOOTBALL PROGRAMMING Tucson radio sports outlets KCUB AM 1290, KFFN AM 1490/FM 104.9 and KEVT AM 1210 have undergone significant changes to their football lineups. As part of the arrangement, Cumulus-owned KCUB has dropped its long-standing affiliation with the Arizona Cardinals in favor of a deal to carry Westwood…
Best Dog Award: Faith-Based Space Place
Local rock act Best Dog Award’s second EP is a remarkably cohesive effort for a band that is overflowing with ideas. Instead of playing as messy and unfocused, Faith-Based Space Place takes a myriad of themes and textures, and weaves it all together with a grace and finesse present even in its most chaotic moments.…
Danehy
I was speaking at a high-school class when a kid asked me where I get the ideas for my columns. I first explained that, as a columnist, I am blessed to live in a state with the absolute worst legislature in the entire country—a bunch of racist, sexist, anti-education inbred crackers who are bought and…
Folklore Expansion
The folklore celebrated and revered at Tucson Meet Yourself the past 41 years can be an economic driver for the entire state, but to support that vision a few changes had to take place. Last month, the TMY board of directors agreed to those changes, namely the creation of the Southwest Folklife Alliance. Associate research…
Breakfast and Chinese and Thai, Oh My!
Roadside café meets modern diner meets Thai kitchen. Result? Interesting. The Breakfast Club & Café is not your normal neighborhood diner. The quirky little eatery, located on Miracle Mile just off I-10, has sort of a split personality that comes together in interesting ways. Although not quite as distinguishable as say the two sides of…
Guess Who Endorsed Who?
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Salsa Showdown
Taste buds will get a workout this Saturday, Aug. 16, at the annual Salsa and Tequila Challenge. Held at La Encantada Shopping Center at 6 p.m., the competition brings chefs and mixologists together from more than 35 local establishments to battle it out in culinary and spirit-ed arenas. Last year’s best traditional salsa winner, El…
Wrapped Up in Plastic
It was 1990 when Laura Palmer—dead and wrapped in plastic—first washed up on shore at the Packard Mill. The state of American hour-long TV shows was as follows: Dynasty had gone off the air a year before, and Dallas had one year left. Those two shows were the high watermark of dramatic, episodic programming. In…
Kickoff Season 20
Cocktails and karaoke with the guys from Reveille Men’s Chorus? Yes, please. On Sunday, Aug. 17, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Red Room at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., chorus members want Tucson to help them celebrate their 20th season. But this isn’t just a celebration—if you or friends or family have…
Live
Antemasque with Le Butcherettes, The Rock, Friday, August 8 Joshua Levine The first thing that grabs your attention while witnessing Le Butcherettes perform is singer/guitarist/keyboardist Teri Gender Bender’s eyes. She could sing be singing heartfelt and love struck gentle balladry and the white hot intensity emanating from those big eyes could bore a whole right…
It’s Magic, You Know
We don’t see a lot of ice in the Old Pueblo, but magically, some will appear this Saturday, Aug. 16. We’re talking actual magic with master magician Kenrick “Ice” McDonald. And he won’t bring us that frozen cold stuff, but instead Illusion, Captivation and Enchantment—all at the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m not Mexican, but my son-in-law is. He is intelligent, bright, enthusiastic and pleasant to spend time with. He came here, illegally, at the age of 18 with his aunts. He and my daughter are married, have a three-and-a-half-year-old son, and have gone through the entire process of filing papers and paying fees…
The Skinny
Girl Power In governor’s race, Brewer endorses Smith, while Palin endorses Ducey It was a big week for endorsements in the the Aug. 26 Republican primary for governor: Former Mesa mayor Scott Smith landed the support of Gov. Jan Brewer, while Arizona Treasurer and primary frontrunner Doug Ducey countered with the endorsement of none other…
Nine on The Line
Mary Steiger, a graduate of the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, is co-owner of Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro. The restaurant serves up delicious gluten-free offerings for their guests who can indulge themselves with no fear of cross-contamination while enjoying foods they never imagined they would be eating again. In addition to the breakfast, lunch and weekend…
Primer
Hawthorne Heights WHO ARE THEY? Hawthorne Heights began life as the Dayton, Ohio-based emo-pop group A Day in the Life in 2001. After some line-up shuffling and a name change, the quintet had signed with 2000’s emo powerhouse Victory Records, who released Hawthorne Heights’ debut album in 2004. In hindsight, the band’s career reads as…
Nine Questions
I first discovered the squirrely, singer-songwriter known as Clay Dudash when he opened a show at Topaz Tucson in the winter of 2013. Dudash has released an EP titled “Keep Your Company” at the beginning of 2014. You can download his album at ClayDudashMusic.bandcamp.com and follow him on Twitter @ClayDudashMusic. What was the first concert…
Noshing Around
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Take a Listen to a New Release from Billy Sedlmayr (And Prepare to Celebrate)
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Earth’s Healing Sets a Precedence
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