Cover Story
Get Out of Town!
Our sixth-annual list of people, things and entities that should just GO!
Just in Time for Christmas …
… it’s a whole new Weekly! Local Heroes, our New Year’s Guide and all the regular Weekly goodness are online and ready for your perusal. Feel free to comment on its contents here. Oh, and happy holidays!
Charo says “Feliz Navidad” With Pee Wee
Festivus at the Loft last night was a family affair (we don’t have any bad sweaters, but we are big Gremlins fans), and this great clip of Charro singing on Pee Wee’s Christmas Special was outstanding. I dedicate this to my editor, who became a Charo convert after seeing her on vacation cruises.
Let It Snow (at the Loft)!
After checking out the airing of grievances at the Loft’s annual Festivus celebrations, I wandered upstairs to see Let the Right One In, a way-cool Swedish vampire flick. DiGiovanna is right when he says: “While Let the Right One In has a few jump-out-of-your-seat moments, its horror is more in the realm of the slow…
Bankers Pocket Billions From Bail-Out
I read a story like this and have to wonder: Why is it so bad if people like this pay more in federal income taxes? Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits last year, an Associated Press analysis reveals. The rewards came even…
The Skinny
SO MUCH FOR THAT IDEA So it looks like we won’t get a bonus congressional race to cover in ’09. Prez-elect Barack Obama has tapped Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar for secretary of the interior rather than our homeboy, Congressman Raúl Grijalva. That means we don’t have every pol with delusions of grandeur in a mad…
Rhythm & Views
They say if you hate the weather in San Francisco, wait 30 minutes, and it’ll change. On Of Montreal’s Skeletal Lamping, it’s often less than 30 seconds before a melody sheds its skin and shimmies into a whole new sonic trip. This Athens, Ga.-based ensemble, anchored by songwriter/vocalist Kevin Barnes, has been a critical darling…
Media Watch
KOLD Lays off 11, and KVOA Lets Two Go As Budget Woes Continue
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week
T Q&A
Tucson Q&A with Molly Ankney
A ‘Pastorela’ and a ‘Pageant’
One fine holiday show pokes fun at current events, while another fine holiday show pokes fun at holiday shows
Police Dispatch
Who Is the Nut? East Grace Lane, Sahuarita, Nov. 19, 1 a.m. A man reporting his ex-fiancée’s crazy behavior was accused of crazy behavior in return, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Deputies arrived at the man’s residence to see the floor covered with torn-up paper. The reportee said he had arrived home…
Enemies and Neighbors
‘Shadows at Dawn’ documents the Camp Grant massacre–an event all of us should know more about
Pick of the Week
Holiday Flamenco
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Danehy
Tucson’s statue of Pancho Villa needs to get out of town!
City Week
Our top picks of what to do and where to do it for the week.
Noshing Around
New: Old Peking Old Peking, at 2522 E. Speedway Blvd., reopened two weeks ago with new owners. The menu features Cantonese-style fare with specialties like tea-flavored shrimp, roast duck and roast pork. There is no liquor license yet, but you can hear a live pianist on weekends. Old Peking is open daily from 11 a.m.;…
Messina
A local group seeks to promote the true meaning of Christmas–and spirituality
The Good and the Gooey
There’s much to like about ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ but the corny, semi-sexist romance plot disappoints
Magical Environment
ZUZI! looks to gardens for ‘Solstice’ inspiration
Guest Commentary
Is Mother Earth about to get rid of us–or can we save ourselves by living sustainably?
A Bit Too ‘Still’
Keanu bores and the human race annoys in this frustrating remake
Pizza With Pep
Marco’s has moved toward the front of the chain-pie line
Reasons to Smile
A note from the editor.
Now Showing at Home
“Metalocalypse: Season II–Black Fire Upon Us,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Wanted: 2-Disc Special Edition,” and “Ghost Town”
Mailbag
Howls of outrage and squeals of delight from our astonished fans.
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
¡Ask a Mexican!
A Christmas shopping list for your favorite Mexicans.
Deck the Decks
Our Jewish music critic goes through his stocking full of Christmas albums
Soundbites
SILENT NIGHTS ‘Tis the season for … well, not a whole lot of music, that’s for sure. This week and the one that follows are generally the driest live-music weeks of the year, which bodes well for the few shows that are actually happening–a music junkie’s gotta get a fix somewhere, right? Luckily, a bunch…
No More No Kill
The Hermitage Cat Shelter sits at the center of feuds and mismanagement claims
Nine Questions
Shawn Foree
Borrowing Trouble
UA economics prof Gerald Swanson warns that more rough times lie ahead
Live
Death Cab for Cutie, Cold War Kids, The Airborne Toxic Event, TCC Exhibition Hall, Saturday, Dec. 13
Red-Tagged
Is a gay bar being unfairly targeted with noise complaints?
Rhythm & Views
Of late, Dylan has magnified his thievery, and now, on the latest album in his ongoing bootleg series, the curtain has been pulled back. Part of the exhilaration of Dylan’s recent work, especially his most recent trio of releases (Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times), has been pinpointing the phrases and…
Hatchet and Scalpel
As the city prepares to make more painful budget cuts, the city manager says the rainy-day fund is off-limits
Rhythm & Views
Circus, Britney Spears’ sixth studio album, is a supremely satisfying dance record, stylistically cut from the same cloth as last year’s (also excellent) Blackout. Both are jammed with top-tier, glossy electro-pop songs. There are some missteps: The inclusion of “Radar” (previously released on Blackout) is a puzzler–it’s a good track, but it’s not included-on-two-consecutive-albums good.…
