Music Journalism as Microcosm
Jason Gross’ 2006 Best Music Scribing Awards, posted on RockCritics.com, is a thorough run-down of events in the world of music journalism in 2006, as well as a wider look at newsmedia as a whole. Is it ironic that I’m posting this on a blog? Yes, Virginia, it is.
Another Week, Another ‘Weekly’
As Jimmy would say, if he were here instead of on his piña colada-swilling big gay vacation, there’s a fresh issue of the ‘Weekly’ just posted online. Click into it in the right-hand column (if you’re on the blog’s home page) or via the menu above. We’ll be glad you did.
Speaking of Constitutional Guarantees…
State Sen. Karen Johnson has introduced legislation to keep Arizona courts from making decisions on cases involving “the acknowledgement of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty or government.” “I want my government to have a faith-based perspective,” the Mesa Republican is quoted as saying. I’d like my legislators to have a reality-based perspective,…
There is No Constitutional Guarantee of Habeas Corpus
In case you were wondering. Anyway, that’s Alberto Gonzalez’s take. Seriously, shouldn’t he just resign after making this claim? I mean, not because it’s so completely unAmerican, but because it’s such total fucking bullshit. O, and evil. It’s incredibly evil. Here’s Gonzalez being so weasely that he just about starts feeding on small mammals. “There…
Fillin’ in for Jim
While Jimmy’s on his self-described “big gay vacation” I’ll post a few entries here to fill up the otherwise depressingly empty space. OK, I’m not sure why this isn’t making a bigger splash in the MSM (I hate that term so I thought I’d use it. It’s like aversion therapy) but according to this GQ…
The Blog Goes on Vacation
Greetings from the beautiful Caribbean! Yes, the most frequent blogger (MFB) has left Tucson for a big gay vacation. Why are we taking the time to blog this? Well, since this blog is part of a business, two words: tax writeoff. Ha! We kid, because the drinks are cheap here in San Juan, Puerto Rico,…
An ‘Other’ iTunes alternative
For all ye music fans out there who would rather download music from a more independent source, here’s news for you: Other Music (a NYC independent music store) will open a digital music store sometime in February. CMJ reports that the file sizes will be bigger’n’better than the venerable iTunes, and might offer other services…
Some Late-Breaking Events
Here is a selection of events that were received too late for inclusion in our print issue. Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. Catalina Foothills High School 4300 E. Sunrise Drive In Tune With Tucson. Viviana Cumplido, principal flute of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, will perform in a…
Healthcare Crisis for the Rest of Us
This is one of the better articles about healthcare or lack of healthcare, even if you don’t have healthcare from our friends at the Boise Weekly.
Movies Opening and Not Opening This Week
As Jimmy noted in his Editor’s Note, this week I reviewed a movie that is not, in fact, opening in Tucson. I also was unable to review a film that is opening, because the studios placed it after the paper had gone to press. However, that film, Little Children, was one of the best films…
The ‘Star’ Goes Freakin’ Insane
This, from today’s Thorns and Flowers: A FLOWER to the reader who, at Wednesday’s Star meeting for nonprofits to learn how to get their news in the paper, suggested giving a thorn to those who fail to use or misuse their car’s blinkers. Um … how unoriginal can you get? Just to see, I Googled…
McCarthyism 101
Right-wing activists claim the UA is subjecting students to unfettered liberalism
Rhythm & Views
Seeing as there is no more tired current music trend than emo, it’s a pleasure to report that the second album by the clever young Long Island band The Sleeping is facilitating the evolution of the genre by digging into rock roots of the 1970s and ’80s–specifically, hard-rock riffage, new-wavey keyboard figures, catchy melodies and…
Media Watch
Tucson Radio Approaches HD In Different Ways
Rhythm & Views
Nearly every song title on Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? sounds like it came straight out of a William S. Burroughs novel: “We Were Born the Mutants Again With Leafling,” “Labyrinthian Pomp,” etc. This kind of dreamlike abstraction is nothing new for Of Montreal; their last album, The Sunlandic Twins, had titles like “Forecast…
Police Dispatch
Money Bags Cortaro Farms Road and Interstate 10, Dec. 26, 7:29 a.m. A man rifling through garbage so he could dispense a little justice found a bag full of counterfeit money, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report stated. The reportee said he had rented a Dumpster to hold refuse from a new property he had…
Top Ten in Music
Hear’s Music top sales for the week
T Q&A
Tucson Q&A with Steven Vasoli
Rhythm & Views
It’s 7 a.m. Monday morning, and I am driving down Broadway Boulevard. The snow from the night before has not yet melted, and the sun is just beginning to rise behind the clouds. The opening notes of Wincing the Night Away hum around the interior of my frozen car, and I can’t think of a…
Pick of the Week
Kids Rock On
Virtual Reality
Three excellent plays all deal with perception in entertaining ways
Danehy
If you’re a true, thinking liberal, you should oppose a guest-worker program
City Week
Our top picks of what to do and where to do it for the week.
Hispanic Classics
A renowned Mexican conductor visits to conduct the underappreciated Catalina Chamber Orchestra
O’Sullivan
This so-called ‘winter vomiting disease’ may just save humanity
Keep Driving, Please
Ignore the remake and rent the original if you want to see ‘The Hitcher’
A Bad Trip
The inane ‘Lamp Post Motel’ is best left unvisited
Guest Commentary
Tucson needs to accept that it profits from– and is threatened by–war, death and misery
Now Showing at Home
“24: Season Six Premiere and Season Five,” “Infamous,” and “The Science of Sleep”
Fresh Palettes
Paula Wittner’s fairy-tale memory paintings join other artists’ impressive works at Etherton
Sending Regrets
A note from the editor.
No Objectionable Content
If you have a functioning human heart, then you’ll love ‘Sweet Land’
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week
Mailbag
Howls of outrage and squeals of delight from our astonished fans.
Indie Watch
What’s happening in the world of independent film in Tucson.
Joe Goes Downtown
Ascolese’s has a lot of room to improve–but the food can’t be beat
The Skinny
SCRAMBLEWATCH ’07: DASH FOR CASH EDITION Ward 2 Democratic candidate Rodney Glassman tells us he’s already set to file for matching funds from the city for his City Council run. Glassman, who hopes to replace retiring Councilwoman Carol West, has to turn in a minimum of 200 contributions of at least $10 to qualify for…
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Noshing Around
New: Ziggi’s Restaurant Formerly Nothing but Noodles, Ziggi’s debuts with a new name and an expanded menu of dishes made fresh on the premises, including pizza, panini, salads, chili and soup. For a complete menu, check out the Web site. Ziggi’s is open at 2500 N. Silverbell Road (624-0020) and 3225 N. Swan Road (322-7042).…
Drive Through
Some Tucson neighborhood representatives say their streets illegally double as truck routes
And the Rest Is History
One day not long ago, Marianne Dissard sang an impromptu song at Club Congress…
The Meaning of ‘Discovery’
An appellate court ruling involving DNA has set some sex offenders free
High Water Mark
Tucson’s Lagoon hopes its new album makes waves
Dreams and Duds
Dapper miners with their eyes on Rosemont Valley get thumped by Pima County
Soundbites
THE OVERLY FAMILIAR Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, who is now 68 years old, is not only alive and well; he’s performing in town this week. Lightfoot, whose career began in the ’60s as a songwriter for acts such as Peter, Paul and Mary and Marty Robbins, went on to become a dominating presence on the…
The Range
A recap of last week’s news
Nine Questions
Bill Mackey
The Worst Seat in the Place
Tom Danehy leads a tour of Tucson’s most terrible places to sit
Live
Porsches on the Autobahn, Golden Boots, Music Video, at Plush, Friday, Jan. 19
