Cover Story
Background Noise
Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik has what he considers a pretty common-sense proposal: If people are going to buy firearms at gun shows at the Tucson Convention Center, they ought to have to pass a background check. “We’re going to require a background check on every purchase made at gun shows that occur on city…
Tucson City Council Wants Background Checks, But Gun Show Will Probably Go On Elsewhere
http://flickr.com/photos/glasgows/ The Tucson City Council voted unanimously yesterday to advance a plan to require background checks on all gun purchases at gun shows at the Tucson Convention Center and other city-owned property. “This is good policy for Tucson,” Councilman Paul Cunningham told The Range. “I hope other jurisdictions follow suit.” Under current law, only federally…
Need to Chill Beer Fast? Alton Brown Has Your Solution
Now, there are probably easier, less-terrifying ways to chill a beer incredibly quickly, but it’s hard to ignore Alton Brown’s solution, demonstrated on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. If you’ve got a better method for rapidly chilling your beer (one that, ideally, doesn’t involve freezers), let us know. We’re all ears.
The Genomics of the Flu Bug
The UA College of Science’s spring lecture series on genomics continues tonight with Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Michael Worobey talking about “The Genesis of the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic.” The teaser from the College of Science: The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 was the most intense outbreak of disease in human history. It killed…
9Q+1: Corey Reidy
Corey Reidy plays guitar with the local rock band Church Key. He’s also a key instigator in the release of Stunning Tonto Forever, a compilation of Tucson-based acts from the early 2000s on the Stunning Tonto record label. Church Key plays with several other local bands at Plush on Friday, Feb. 8, for the album’s…
Ten-55 Brewing’s Grand Opening Celebration
Crowd at Ten-55 Grand Opening Last Saturday afternoon, I invited Borderlands Brewing brewmaster Blake Collins and his wife to come with me to the grand opening of Tucson’s newest brewery. I knew the big opening would be feature music, a food truck and, of course, some damn fine beer. What I didn’t expect was the…
“The Poetics & Politics of Hip-Hop Cultures” Offers Slam Poetry, Music, Archivists and Speakers
The U of A will be hosting a two-day Hip-Hop symposium this week to teach the community about the many faces of the culture in attempt to get rid of common stereotypes that are attributed to Hip-Hop. Organizers argue that Hip-Hop goes beyond these stereotypes and should be discussed in an academic institution: Thus, as…
Why Tucson Should Thank Coachella Every Year
I’ve lived in Tucson for a little less than two years now, and, as a music fanatic, I’ve quickly learned that the Old Pueblo’s got some pretty good chops when it comes to its music scene — although that may not be saying much since I grew up in Wyoming, where the only live music…
Eegee’s Is Testing a Sugar-Free Flavor
A sample of the sugar-free strawberry Eegee’s While flavors of the month come and go, the Eegee’s frozen fruit drink has largely stayed the same over the restaurant’s history. Nearly every version of the classic Tucson beverage has the same ingredients: sugar, water and, usually, natural fruit juices (generally, orange, FYI). However, while these drinks…
150 Shades of Shame: Oh God, What Have We Done
Tucson, I’m loving the contest we’re running with help from our friends at Fascinations (your one-stop Valentine’s Day shop!), and I’m incredibly amused by the entries we’ve been getting in. But after sharing one of the latest works with a fellow staffer here who shall go unnamed, and noting the look of despair on their…
Fall Out Boy Reunion Rumors Now Reality
Despite their best efforts to eliminate the rumors that they were going to reunite, Fall Out Boy has in fact come back together for more musical endeavors. The band announced on Monday morning that they were making a comeback with a new album titled “Save Rock and Roll.” The full album is set to be…
Congress Street Clubs Promises Tucson Another “Exclusive” Project That May Be For Members Only
I recently chatted with “JT Nightclubs,” an owner and partner in Congress Street Clubs on Facebook. When I asked JT what the status was on Voodoo Jack’s Lounge (A lounge on Congress Street near Scott Avenue that has had its grand opening postponed since late 2012) he said the recent fire at The Grill caused…
French Band Phoenix Announces Tour Dates with a Stop in Tucson
Phoenix, the alternative rock band from Versailles, France, has just announced a tour that will make six stops in the U.S. Lucky for us, Tucson just happens to be one of them. The tour leads up to the bands headlining slot at Coachella on April 13 and 20. It will begin in Vancouver and end…
Apparently, North Korean Retribution Against America Involves a USA For Africa Song
The below video recently came through the Intertubes by way of LiveLeak, purportedly from North Korean state-run media outlet/propaganda machine Uriminzokkiri, and it’s weird, you guys. Apparently, the video depicts a dream sequence in which a man boards a space shuttle, orbits the Earth a few times, watches as both Koreas are reunited, and plays…
Southern Arizona, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Doesn’t Think Much Of Your Driving Skills
Though, given the quality of our drivers, it doesn’t shock me. (True story: Sitting at a red light on the way home last night, a pickup truck in the lane next to me nearly pulled out into traffic, then sat in the damn intersection waiting for green, laughing at his own foolishness.) This diagram, which…
Edward James Olmos, What Were You Thinking?
First, let’s just get this out of the way. Before he was known as Admiral Adama in Battlestar Galactica folks remember Edward James Olmos for other roles. For example, do you remember this guy? If you do, maybe you understand why yesterday’s tweet by Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald was troubling: Flying back to AZ with…
Daniel Hernandez’s ‘Note to Self’ Is Worth the Watch
On January 8, 2011, the morning Gabby Giffords was shot, then-20-year-old intern Daniel Hernandez rushed to her side to apply pressure to her wound and watch over her until paramedics arrived. Credited with saving her life, he was commended for his bravery by President Obama. Now a published author and member of the Sunnyside School…
John McCain Tweets Something Racist and Unfunny, Tells Everyone to ‘Lighten Up’
John McCain, Arizona’s resident Crusty Old Senator, apparently knows how Twitter works personally, and doesn’t have an aide do it for him. How do we know this? So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space – wasn’t he just there last week? “Iran launches monkey into space” news.yahoo.com/iran-launches-… — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 4,…
150 Shades of Shame: A Small Sampling of Our Entries Thus Far
In case you missed it, last Friday marked the first day of entries for our erotic short fiction contest, “150 Shades of Shame,” (made possible by our friends at Fascinations: If it comes from Fascinations, they’re gonna love it!) and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve already got a favorite—but to name favorites right…
Postal Service Announces Headlining Tour For Spring, Early Summer
Apparently the Postal Service’s two weekends at Coachella has brought them out of their 10-year-long hiding place, as the band has just announced a 12-stop headlining tour across the West Coast and the UK. Tucson fans won’t have to go far out of their way to catch the Postal Service during this tour cycle. A…
22 Vets Kill Themselves Each Day According to VA
According to a study produced by the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. military veterans accounted for an average of 22 suicides per day during 2010. This also fits within a larger narrative, as deaths by suicide have been rising as well within the country. From the Washington Post: The VA study indicates that more than…
Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker Saves the Day (NSFW)
Following a bizarre, alleged attempted murder in Fresno, Calif., courage has a new face: framed by unkempt hair and wielding a hatchet. When “Kai” hitched a ride with 54-year-old Jett Simmons McBride, he was forced into defense-mode when McBride struck a Pacific Gas and Electric Worker with his car and proceeded to smother a woman…
Separate Proposed MMJ Restrictions Suck and Do Not Suck, Respectively
Two proposals – one that makes sense in spirit and one that doesn’t – from a Phoenix state lawmaker would change the way medical marijuana is handled here. The first bill from state Sen. Kimberly Yee, a Phoenix Republican, doesn’t suck … entirely. The proposal would require dispensaries to label medical cannabis edibles as medicine.…
‘Sound City’ Gives Behind-the-Scenes Look Into Classic Rock Records
In case you’re waiting to pull the trigger on Dave Grohl’s Sound City flick, let me make it easy for you: It’s well worth the money. After Thursday night’s one-time-only theater debut at The Loft Cinema among about 50 other theaters across the nation, the film went up for download on iTunes with a sticker…
Minimalism Masked as a Shameless Plug For Local Soccer
FC Tucson, the upstart soccer club that is the brains behind the ongoing onslaught of pro soccer going on right now in Tucson, is the first to admit it’s doing the best it can on a shoestring budget. That means getting creative to market and promote itself and what it’s trying to accomplish locally. This…
New Show “Girl Meets World” Gets Closer to Becoming a Reality
I grew up watching Boy Meets World: Laughing at Eric Matthew’s (Will Friedle) cocky personality, gaining inspiration and critical life lessons from Mr. Feeny’s (William Daniels) daily lectures, and watching Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his best friend Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong) struggle with growing up and his feelings for the weird girl named Topanga…
Behind Bars: AZ Dept of Corrections’ Troubling New Health-Care Provider
The Arizona Department of Corrections has announced it will change the health-care provider for all state-run prisons as of March 4. AZDC has severed its contract with private medical company Wexford Health Sources Inc. and has already lined up a deal with a new medical company, Corizon, Inc. of Brentwood, Tenn. The American Friends Service…
New PCC Chancellor Search on Hold
The Pima Community College governing board will meet Tuesday, Feb. 5 to discuss the college’s chancellor search, 7 p.m. at the PCC Community Campus, Room A109-111, 401 N. Bonita Ave. According to the college’s public information office, the search process is on hold due to concerns with one of the finalists: Dr. Brenda B. Even…
Sunday Breakfast: What’s the Best?
Jim Nintzel Cafe a la C’Art’s Arizona Omelet: How do you go wrong with Anita Street Market chorizo? More than 100 of Tucson Weekly’s discerning Facebook fans have weighed in on one of Tucson’s most vital questions: Where’s the best place to have Sunday breakfast? You can check out their thoughts here—and feel free to…
Announcing 150 Shades of Shame, the Tucson Weekly Erotic Fiction Contest
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we were recently handed $125 in gift cards from our friends at Fascinations, and encouraged to give them away to our talented and passionate readers in whatever way we saw fit. After we dismissed the original ideas (including a KY wrestling tournament), we happened upon a fantastic thought: “What if…
Reflections on Mark Hummels, Tucson and Gun Violence
Roger E. Hartley, a former UA professor of public policy, remembers attorney Mark Hummels, who died this week after being shot in Phoenix: I was offered a chance to write today in the wake of the death of my friend, Mark Hummels, after he was taken from us in the tragic shooting this week in…
When Immigration and Gay Politics Collide
Karma R. Chávez of the University of Madison will speak about the DREAMer “coming out” strategy and queer leadership in this movement in “Coming out of the Closet, Coming out of the Shadows: From DREAMers to ‘Undocuqueers’ and Beyond.” The lecture, sponsored by Wingspan and the UA Institute for LGBT Studies is 4 to 5:30…
The Hurdles To Immigration Reform
Sen. Chuck Schumer tells Talking Points Memo that there are three big hurdles to immigration reform: “First, defining metrics that demonstrate the border is secure,” he told reporters on Thursday. “Second, defining exactly what the path to citizenship looks like and how it proceeds. [Third,] reaching an agreement between business and labor on a future…
UPDATE: School Closure and Last Minute Filings with Deseg Judge
In this week’s Tucson Weekly, we have an update on the latest filings with U.S. District Court Judge David C. Bury, the federal judge expected to make a decision next month on the nearly 40-year-old desegregation lawsuit between Tucson Unified School District and plaintiffs representing Mexican-American and African-American students. UPDATE: TUSD school board member Mark…
Valley of the Moon Shakes Off Fairy Dust for a Campfire Singalong
Every first Saturday of the month there’s always a special happening at Valley of the Moon. Tomorrow, it’s a campfire singalong, Saturday, Feb. 2, from 4 to 7 p.m. Admission is free (donations welcomed): Join the magical creatures of the Valley as we sing songs, tell stories, and enjoy a warm fire on a winter…
GOP Immigration Politics: Will the Elites or the Base Win?
New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait sees the GOP’s push for immigration reform as a battle between the GOP elites and the GOP base: And so, among other things, the party’s ability to make this decision stick will be a test of its ability to wrest control from the activists. One constant and somewhat unusual dynamic…
Attractive Nuisance #3: Lou Reed
File #3: Lou Reed, New York (1989, Sire) “Lou Reed is a completely depraved pervert and pathetic death dwarf and everything else you think he is On top of that he’s a liar, a wasted talent, an artist continually in flux, and a huckster selling pounds of his own flesh A panderer living off the…
The “I Dreamed A Dream” Spoof Has My Oscar Vote
Anne Hathaway might need to watch her back at her next casting call. Hathaway’s Oscar-nominated turn as downtrodden prostitute Fantine in Les Misérables prompted moviegoers everywhere to dig out their tissues (the Weekly’s Bob Grimm included), but a viral video parodying the actress’ rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” skips the heartstrings and goes straight…
This Week in Tucson Bicycling
Want to check out a fast-paced bike race? Go watch the free UA Cycling Club’s Criterium. Details here. A dedicated cyclist with Tucson roots was killed in a car crash. More details here. There appears to be an increase in bicycle theft recently. YMCA has begun warning their patrons. See the photo and why I…
Two Flowing Wells High Students Arrested For Threats Made Via Facebook
Tucson Police have arrested two Flowing Wells High School students for impersonating one student, and threatening five others, as well as making threats to harm teachers and “shoot up” Flowing Wells. According to Tucson Police, Charles Schaming, 17, and Guillermo Acorn, 16, used the Facebook photo of a student from another school to create a…
Derrick Williams and VII Grand to Bring Street Style To Tucson
Looking at the Tucson streetwear scene is kinda like looking at the downtown’s retail scene. It’s sparse. VII Grand Premium Streetwear and Sneakers, located at 178 E. Broadway, looks to change that—and with the backing of one of UA’s favorite sons, current player for the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves Derrick Williams, they’ve got a good shot.…
A Look Backstage at Gabby and Mark’s D.C. Testimony on Gun Violence
Via their new group Americans for Responsible Solutions, Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly release a video of highlights from yesterday’s testimony on gun violence.
Choke Hold: AZ Grants Air Permit for a Noxious Mine Project
The Canadian investment company Augusta Resource Inc. announced today that it has received an air quality permit from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality for a strip mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. That represents a bureaucratic victory over Pima County, which in September 2011 denied Augusta the air quality permit necessary…
Prog Rockers Coheed and Cambria Release Songs Leading Up to Record Release
Coheed and Cambria clearly doesn’t want their fans to wait any longer for songs off their new record. The prog rock quartet from New York has been slowly releasing songs as the record’s release date next Tuesday nears. The double album titled The Afterman was split into two parts with two separate release dates, with…
Daily Show Skewers GOP’s Embrace of Immigration Reform
!!!! The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Nuevo Deal www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook The Daily Show boils down the GOP’s new embrace of comprehensive immigration reform to a brew of shamelessness and political opportunity. Gotta love the…
Tom Goes to the Chair: Meditations on Violence, Bacon and ‘The Following’
After the latest massacre (the one right before Christmas), the public outcry was so intense that the guys at the NRA were actually forced to peek out from their bunker and (ahem) go on the offensive. Chief phlegm-wad Wayne LaPierre has basically been on the how-can-I-top-my-previous-stupidity tour ever since. His message is simple: Gun violence…
State Auditor General Presents Finding on County Bond Program Friday
State Auditor General’s Office presents finding of its recent audit of Pima County’s bond program tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 1, 1:30 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors hearing room, 130 W. Congress, first floor. From county press release: The presentation will be open to the public. It is possible a quorum of the Pima County Board…
Mondo Morricone: Spaghetti Western Triple Feature at The Loft Feb. 2
I must confess, I’m a bit of a movie soundtrack geek. The first album I ever bought with my own hard-earned allowance was the A View to a Kill soundtrack, the James Bond movie with Duran Duran performing the theme song. I was a junior Duranie, I had to have it. Beyond the theme song…
Out in the Desert Winners
The Out in the Desert LGBT film festival is over and here are the 2013 Crystal Cactus Award winners. Congratulations filmmakers, and of course, Out in the Desert: Out in the Desert 2013 Festival Director’s Choice AwardFallen Comrade Out in the Desert 2013 Program Director’s Choice AwardSlant Best Youth Related FilmSteam is Steam Best Documentary…
Catch Sundance Fave “The Spectacular Now” at the Loft Tonight
Thanks to the relentless Loft Cinema crew, Tucson gets a little taste of the Sundance Film Festival every year. Tonight, the Loft screens one of the best-received films at Sundance this year. The Spectacular Now, starring The Descendents’ Shailene Woodley and newcomer Miles Teller, generated a lot of buzz at the festival for filling an…
Legal Schmegal
December was supposed to be it, at least according to U.S. District Court Judge David S. Bury. That was back in September when Bury responded to a request for a deadline extension by all parties involved in the Tucson Unified School District’s almost 40-year-old desegregation lawsuit – TUSD, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the…
Top Ten in Cinema
1. End of Watch 2. Taken 2 3. Frankenweenie 4. To Rome With Love 5. The Paperboy 6. Dredd 7. House at the End of the Street 8. Hit and Run 9. The Imposter 10. The Possession
Bubbling Up
It came as little surprise to Myles Stone that Tucson had a largely untapped market for craft brewed beer. But it was a surprise that demand for his fledgling Borderlands Brewing Co.’s beers would so quickly outpace supply. “There hasn’t been a day we haven’t been sold out since we opened,” Stone said. Stone, along…
Sandwich Satisfaction
Sausage Shop Meat Market & Deli 1015 W. Prince Road, Suite 141 888-1701 (no website) Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pluses: Delicious sandwiches; house-made sausages; huge selection; quick service Minuses: No parking; limited seating; packed between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. weekdays Every job has…
Taking on the Teabillies, Pt. 2
Allow me to repeat myself, at the risk of repeating myself. Two weeks ago, I wrote about a Teabilly lawmaker’s attempt to repeal the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act by bringing it to voters again in 2014. He introduced a resolution in the Legislature that would force you to pay for a multimillion-dollar do-over, even though…
Bad Habitat
In an era when life splashes spontaneously across YouTube, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission is still grappling with dot-matrix. Consider that the commission does not stockpile digital videos of its monthly meetings, where sweeping management decisions about Arizona’s wildlife are pondered. That means folks who can’t ditch work to attend these Phoenix parleys—or watch…
Noshing Around
Ala Buzz Café opens in Oro Valley … Ten 55 Brewing holds its grand opening this week … Espresso Art opens Castalian Spring … Lodge on the Desert offers a five-course cheese and wine tasting Feb. 21
Top Ten in Music
1. Bad Religion, True North 2. A$AP Rocky, Long.Live.A$AP 3. End of Watch (DVD) 4. Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid: M.A.A.D City 5. Toro y Moi, Anything in Return 6. Helloween, Straight Out of Hell 7. T.I., Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head 8. Dropkick Murphys, Signed and Sealed in Blood 9. The Lumineers, The Lumineers…
Soundbites
Portland Cello Project brings Beck’s newest music to life … Dwight Yoakam comes to the Fox, but you’ll need to scalp the tickets to see ’em … Daniel Johnston makes up his postponed date Feb. 2 … and more!
Police Dispatch
A woman goes urban camping on the UA campus … UAPD breaks up a fight over fleecing a phone
On the Firing Line
When Pam Simon retired from Gabby Giffords’ District 8 congressional office in the summer of 2012, she shared a rare distinction: She was one of the few congressional aides who have ever taken a bullet in the line of duty. Simon was among the 19 people shot on Jan. 8, 2011, when a deranged gunman…
Nine Questions
Josh Cicci was born in Derby, Conn., but he’s called Southern Arizona home for 20 years. He has worked with kids in an educational or behavioral health capacity his entire adult life. He’s also a cartoonist and illustrator, writing and drawing Prickly Pair, a monthly comic appearing in the Tubac Villager. See more artwork at…
Ask a Mexican!
The Mexican explains his insistence on italics, why Univision and Telemundo look so much better than their competitors, and regional differences in Mexico.
City Week
Graffiti exhibitions … the Tucson Sculpture Festival rolls into Whistle Stop Depot … a discussion of immigration “policing” … the tale of the legendary Wrecking Crew
Live
It’s 2013, and no rock act or sub-genre has come along to define the era the way Nirvana did in the ’90s, and, arguably, the Strokes in the 2000s. If any underground style will prove to be commercially and culturally relevant, at this point it looks like the 1960s garage-rock/psychedelic revival is the main contender,…
Guest Commentary
An amazing thing happened in 2004: The sun set on the federal assault weapons ban. I never thought any gun law would be allowed to expire. But wait, it gets better. Prior to that, in 1987, faced with an ever-increasing violent crime rate, the state of Florida passed a new type of concealed carry permit.…
Going Back to Their Roots
Sit in on the Desert Rose Band’s acoustic concert Saturday, Feb. 2 at the Fox Tucson Theatre.
Various Artists: Twin Cities Funk & Soul: Lost R&B Grooves from Minneapolis/St. Paul 1964-1979 (Secret Stash)
Like seemingly every American city of any significant size, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul had a thriving soul and funk scene in the 1960s and ’70s. In their case it would be P.P.: pre-Prince. In fact, one of these acts, The Lewis Connection, at one point featured a very young Prince Rogers…
The Skinny
McCain talks immigration reform … the legislature stews over sewage … Tucson City Council incumbents have filed to run again
T Q&A
The co-founder of the Ironwood Tree Experience has dedicated her life to preserving the Sonoran Desert and to helping teenagers. She started the program with her husband, Eric Dhruv, in 2005 as a way for teenagers to enjoy nature. Ironwood Tree Experience has many events for teens who want to experience the desert, including a…
Family Man
Freezing Hands with The Resonars, Shark Pants, and Discos 9 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 2 Poblano Hot Sauce Factory(for location info, check the Freezing Hands Facebook page) Admission is free For Travis Spillers, change is good. From his days playing guitar with seminal punk-rockers Los Federales, and co-fronting pioneering garage-rockers the Knockout Pills, he’s kept moving…
Media Watch
The Star suddenly has Senior Editors aplenty … Lee Enterprises execs are flush with bonuses … Herman Cain’s show starts up on KVOI … and Arizona Illustrated gets revamped.
Christianity and Clinical Psychology
Freud’s Last Session Presented by Arizona Theatre Company 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, and Friday, Feb. 1; 4 and 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 2; 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4; 2 and 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 6, and Thursday, Feb. 7; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8; 2 and 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 9 Temple of Music…
Toro y Moi: Anything in Return (Carpark)
Though the current crop of indie R&B deconstructionists have put out several great albums—Frank Ocean’s channel ORANGE, Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dreams and the Weeknd’s Trilogy are the deservingly oft-cited examples—they’re also records that you can’t help but feel a little bummed out by. There’s a millennial sobriety and existential drift at their heart. It’s music for…
Weekly Wide Web
We’ve made a habit of looking at a few of the bills proposed by the state legislature this session on The Range, Tucson Weekly’s roughly-hourly update, but one keeps sticking with me: HB 2467. H.B. 2467, for the uninitiated (slash, those who don’t read The Range for whatever reason), is aimed at reintroducing the idea…
An American Tragedy
August: Osage County Presented by Winding Road Theater Ensemble 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, Feb. 10 Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. $20 general; $17 students, seniors, military and theater artists Runs about three hours, with two intermissions 401-3626; windingroadtheater.org Call it a slow burn. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning…
Arbouretum: Coming Out of the Fog (Thrill Jockey)
Led by founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitar player Dave Heumann, Baltimore’s Arbouretum has often been described as folk rock, soul-blues, etc. These are easy terms to throw around, but they don’t really convey what the band actually sounds like. The band’s newest album, Coming Out of the Fog does indeed fit the above descriptions, with…
Danehy
Jan. 21 was a great day for Cleo Robinson, as it was for a lot of African-Americans. (It probably should have been a great day for all Americans, but we’re not quite there yet.) After all, a black president—having been re-elected by a majority of American voters—was being inaugurated on Martin Luther King Day. That’s…
Ricocheting Colors
Peter Young: Capitalist Masterpieces Noon to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, through March 31 MOCA Tucson, 265 S. Church Ave. $8; free to all the first Sunday of the month, including this Sunday, Feb. 3. Always free to members and to kids 16 and younger, veterans, active military and public safety officers. 624-5019; www.moca-tucson.org Extra:…
Tales of West Texas
Twitching Heart By Matt Méndez Floricanto Press $17.95, 170 pages Matt Méndez’s story collection, Twitching Heart, is an impressive and engaging debut from an author with much promise. Blending gritty reality with a touch of the strange and surreal at times, these interconnected stories are intimately tied to place, specifically, El Paso, Texas, as they…
Top Ten in Books
1. Flight Behavior: A NovelBarbara Kingsolver, $28.99 2. Anna KareninaLeo Tolstoy, $12.95 3. The HobbitJ.R.R. Tolkien, $8.99 4. In Sunlight and in ShadowMark Helprin, $28 5. Life of PiYann Martel, $15.95 6. Les MisérablesVictor Hugo, $6.95 7. The Round HouseLouise Erdrich, $27.99 8. The Light Between Oceans: A NovelM. L. Stedman, $25 9. The Fault…
Suits and Disguises, Yes; Acting Skill, No
Jason Statham does a couple of things well. Neither of them are acting, but there’s a place in the movies for guys who look believable doing their own stunts and fights, driving their own cars and wearing finely tailored suits. Statham is usually in the deep end of the pool with a bank safe chained…
Editor’s Note
Taking over a job like the editorship here at the Weekly can be a peculiar adventure, as I’ve mentioned in this space before. Once I got the gig, people were asking what I was planning on changing, assuming that I would move quickly to re-cast the Weekly based on my own whims and preferences. There’s…
Laugh-out Disappointment
I didn’t like Movie 43, a new-millennium attempt at something akin to Kentucky Fried Movie, all that much. Many critics across our great nation dislike this film. I guess I have to join the fray and say this movie doesn’t work as a whole. But I won’t be trashing it because it crosses many lines,…
Downing
Shoddy. Schlocky. Crappy. Mickey Mouse. Ticky tack. Cracker box. These are some of the many derogatory adjectives my father used to describe the many badly made things that afflicted him throughout his life. So characteristic of him was this type of complaint that I could hear him pronouncing each word, deliberately, with bottomless disgust, as…
Now Showing at Home
Peter Pan is kind of a jerk … Rodriguez is out of hiding … and Seven Psychopaths is a must-watch
Big Launch For “Online Zine by Radical Women and Queer People of Color”
It’s been just a little over a month since malintZINE hit the internets. In 40 days it’s already garnered more than 14,500 views. By the time you read this, it could easily be close to 16,000. That’s how fast it’s taken off. The blog describes itself as a “an online zine by radical women and…
