Cover Story
Legislative Circus
This was the year Republicans finally got rid of Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano and most of those no-good GOP moderates. Were they finally able to turn Arizona into a conservative paradise? Not so much. Well, at least they brought state spending under control, and we have a budget that matches up with tax revenues, right?…
Mike Tatum Memorial
Local musician Mike Tatum passed away last weekend following complications from a liver transplant he received in December 2008. Tatum played music in Tucson and around the country for more than 50 years, delighting listeners and making friends all the while. His legacy will be celebrated with a memorial from 4 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday,…
Budget Deal This Week? (Updated)
We hear Republicans may have the framework for a budget deal in the works. It’s essentially a retread of the budget that Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed earlier this month, with added income tax cuts that would kick in a few years from now and a sales tax proposition that voters would have to approve in…
Smile, You’re on Manic Camera!
I walked into the air-conditioned bank, and within two seconds, a voice said, “Hello! Welcome to Chase!” Those poor Chase employees, serf descendants of J.P. Morgan’s money machine, now have to greet every customer who enters the bank with this corporate mantra. Adjusting from the blazing heat outside, I usually can’t even tell who’s talking…
Evidently Tampax Commercials Aren’t Just About Swimming Anymore
You know it’s a new world when Tampax introduces a new spokes”person” for its feminine hygiene products. Meet Zack and learn all about this 16-year-old through here. Evidently, Zack’s world, and the world of Tampax, changed when he woke up one day with girl parts and grew an appreciation for those born with girl parts.…
Rialto Wins! For Now.
The Rialto Foundation has won its case in court. Judge Michael Miller has ruled that the theatre’s management is not guilty of forcible detainer in the green room, administrative offices and storage spaces. It will be able to remain in its spaces until mid-August. Details to follow. Can a deal be salvaged between now and…
Taxing Debate
State Rep. Vic Williams, a Republican who represents the northwest side, and state Sen. Paula Aboud, a Democrat who represents midtown Tucson, stopped by Arizona Illustrated last night to discuss the state’s crazy budget situation. Arizona Illustrated managing editor Bill Buckmaster was kind enough to invite me to join the fun. Check it out after…
The Skinny
STIMULATING DEBATE Hey, Arizona! Have we recovered yet from being bullied by President Barack Obama and his gang of thugs? We know we were all feeling the shakedown last week after some federal bureaucrats sent out letters asking Gov. Jan Brewer if she was sure she needed all that federal stimulus money. How dare they…
City Week
The Name Game “What’s in Your Name?” 10 a.m., Saturday, July 25 Joel D. Valdez Main Library 101 N. Stone Ave. 269-8057 A rhyme: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue—but was Columbus a Sephardic Jew? The answer is yes, claims Edna San Miguel, who started Tucson’s Sephardic Anusim Heritage Center. Shortly after Columbus set…
Media Watch
IMG, Journal Partner to Create Arizona Wildcat Sports Network
Pho Sure
Of all the (Americanized) Asian cuisines, Vietnamese is probably my favorite—and somehow, I had managed to avoid Pho 88 for all these years. This was a mistake. The food and service that we sampled on both of our visits was quite enjoyable. My feelings about Pho 88 pretty much parallel my feelings about the restaurant’s…
Live
Steve Poltz
Police Dispatch
FORGOT TO STEAL THE TOOTHPASTE SOUTH CARDINAL AVENUE JUNE 27, 7:49 P.M. Three inebriated individuals were caught in an elaborate scheme to shoplift personal-hygiene items, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Employees at a Tucson Walgreens reported that a 5-foot-3-inch man had repeatedly entered the store, stolen items such as shampoo, and left—only…
Noshing Around
Eastside Nimbus Nimbus’ James Counts and Bob McMahon’s Metro Restaurants are teaming up to open a new brewpub at 6464 E. Tanque Verde Road, in the building formerly occupied by Ristorante Italia (which closed Saturday, July 18). Expect dishes that complement Nimbus’ array of beers, with a more family-friendly atmosphere than what’s found at Nimbus’…
The Lemonheads: Varshons (The End)
Even as the Lemonheads leapt from Sabbath sludge to jangly pop, alt-rocker Evan Dando always took the time to share his love of country, whether paying tribute to Gram Parsons (“Brass Buttons”) or writing the world’s first pro-homo truck-driving tune (“Big Gay Heart”). For Varshons, a covers album produced by—get this—Butthole Surfer Gibby Haynes, Dando…
T Q&A
Michael Schwartz
Acoustic Acclaim
When Bonnie Vining opened her small Rita Ranch coffee shop, Javalina’s, a few years back, she had no idea she was en route to becoming the Bill Graham of far-eastside music promotion. “I literally had no plan to offer music at Javalina’s,” she said, “until I met Arvel Bird at a Native American ceremony and…
Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino)
Bitte Orca, the newest album from Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors, is downright parasitic: It’s an album composed of often noxious components that is deftly able to worm its way into the listener’s heart. With its nonsense title, frontman David Longstreth’s vocal hiccups and complicated guitar figures oscillating from prickly to dizzying, the album is a vexing…
Danehy
Do you remember the look your mom gave you when she knew you were lying—straight to her face—when she asked you whether you had brushed your back teeth? Or the one your girl gave you when you showed up to meet her parents wearing that shirt? No, wait, how about the look your football coach…
‘Tis Most Metal
Thunder and lightning. Enter four MUSICIANS, clad in velvet and tights, and carrying AXES. The MUSICIANS, herewith known as the METAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY, begin playing their AXES loudly as LORD SIMMS sings lines of poetrie directly from the work of one WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. And the scene is set for the Metal Shakespeare Company, a Portland,…
The Fiery Furnaces: I’m Going Away (Thrill Jockey)
The Friedbergers—the arch, Tenenbaums-esque brother-and-sister duo—are back with a very good seventh album. If you’ve ever been on the fence about the band’s experimental excess, but enjoyed their more-cohesive moments, you’ll be pleased by I’m Going Away. It’s a listener-friendly album that doesn’t stretch the limits of credulity like Blueberry Boat’s abstractions or the spoken-word…
O’Sullivan
My last column, regarding Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant (July 9), seems to have offended some people. I regret this most sincerely, and I wish those individuals clearer thinking capacities in the future. Of course, those people can also take solace by keeping in mind that there are still plenty of other heinous celebrities to…
Soundbites
THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, SYLVIA In honor of Arizona State Sen. Sylvia Allen, who recently affirmed for us all that the Earth is 6,000 years old, I’m taking a cue from another story in which I’m guessing she believes: the story of Noah’s Ark. I figure if I pair up some of the shows happening…
Nine Questions
Fen Ikner
Guest Commentary
At a yard sale, I bought several boxes containing nearly a half-century’s worth of American Heritage magazines, that richly illustrated compendium of the nation’s history through good times and bad, with special attention paid to the droughts, downturns and disasters that tried the souls of our forebears. I paid $10 for more than 600 magazines.…
Top Ten in Music
Toxic Ranch Records top sales for the week
Awards, Contests, Etc.
Two updates: • The list of Tucson Area Music Awards (aka TAMMIES) finalists is here! You can find it on Page 45, and online at TAMMIES.com. As a result, the final round of TAMMIES voting is either underway, or close to it, depending on when you read this. So, what do you do now? It’s…
The Lama and the Disciple
Unmistaken Child is one of the strangest romance films I’ve ever seen. It tells, in documentary form, the story of Tenzin Zopa, a disciple of Geshe Lama Konchog. Geshe was a leading figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and when he passed away at the age of 84, Tenzin, described as his “heart disciple,” was overwhelmed with…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: The mainstream media is making big noise about Sonia Sotomayor likely being the first Latina Supreme Court justice, and hinting that all Latinos should be proud. But Puerto Rican ain’t Mexican! The Supreme Court won’t have a shade of brown until a Mexican is among Roberts and Scalia. What does the Mexican think…
Tenuous Transition
After watching Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, I’m worried that a franchise that was building up some significant steam could be heading for a disaster of Matrix proportions. While the movie doesn’t commit an atrocity on the level of, say, the rave scene in Matrix Reloaded, it is quite dull—and this far into the…
Now Showing at Home
Coraline: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (Blu-Ray), Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5 (Blu-Ray and Standard), 12 Monkeys (Blu-Ray), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/Curse of the Golden Flower/House of Flying Daggers (Blu-Ray)
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week
Big Time in the Desert
I suspect that few of the veterans of the media event that was the 2005 Minuteman Project will read this slim study of the political theory behind the post-Sept. 11 “border vigilante” movement. It’s not that it presents members of the Minutemen and similar groups in a wholly negative light; actually, many of the voices…
Drastic Decreases
When Cynthia Garcia became Wingspan’s board president three years ago, Tucson’s growing LGBT community center was one of Tucson’s brightest nonprofit success stories. The agency was bursting out of its 6,000-square-foot building at 425 E. Seventh St., with more than 20 staff members working on a combination of grant and non-grant-funded projects. Wingspan was considered…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books best-sellers for the week
Care Comparison
Comparison-shopping for furniture is one thing, but comparison-shopping for hospital care is quite another. Location, physician preference and other factors generally take precedence for most people over amenities and statistics. Despite that, the people behind Hospital Compare, a Web site of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov), seek to make potential patients…
A Midsummer Night’s … Benefit
Whether you’re the president of a Shakespeare club (a quick Internet search proves they do, indeed, exist), a caffeine addict or just out to support a local cause, the Midsummer Night’s Dream party at the Black Rose Caffe is something worth checking out this Friday night. The party, which may also be deemed a “benefit,”…
Lotus on the Line
Traffic streams past as the Rev. Mulcogi Seng adjusts a big yellow sign outside of the Lotus in the Sun natural healing center in downtown Nogales, Ariz. Occasionally, passers-by lean out their windows to gawk at the aging hippie and his shop of medicinal herbs, which both seem incongruous to this bustling hub of international…
Underbelly of the City
Back in Korea, David Choong Lee had an idealized view of the United States. He thought America was an idyllic place, with “no crime, no drugs, no poverty, no homelessness, no unhappiness,” says Brooke Grucella, who brought a Lee installation to the UA’s Joseph Gross Gallery. “But in San Francisco, these notions were obliterated.” Lee…
Pole Dancing
It turns out pole-dancing can improve your fitness when applied properly. (Be careful checking the link if you’re reading this at work. It’s all fun and games until the boss catches you ogling pole-dancing pics on company time.) If you like what you see at the Web site, consider sipping a little wine and watching…
