Cover Story
La Vida Bonita
If art is a mirror, a reflection of ourselves, our culture, our society … then David Tineo’s murals and paintings must be our desert universe in acrylic-paint glory. Tineo’s mujeres—our mothers, abuelas, lovers, sisters, friends. His Day of the Dead images—our ancestor’s dancing and laughing with us as we wander our city delicately biking over…
Iron Chef Tucson Competition
The 8th Annual Iron Chef Tucson will be held at 6 p.m., Saturday, June 28, at the Westin La Paloma Resort. Two area chefs will compete: Chef Michael Bujold of Desert Diamond Casino Resort and Chef John Hohn from Bob’s Steak & Chop House at the Omni Tucson National. Like the TV show of the same…
20th Annual HIV Testing Day
The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) is participating in the 20th Annual HIV Testing Day, a nationwide campaign urging people to get tested to learn if they are infected with the HIV virus. Testing will be available at the SAAF main office as well as at other locations throughout Tucson (see listing below). HIV testing…
Watch this Chinese Sperm Extractor Go
Why do it yourself when the Chinese have probably a machine that will make life easier. Two years ago, A Chinese hospital in Nanjing created this hands-free sperm extractor to help sterile male patients. There’s a massage tube that has various speeds, adjusts in height and has a screen to get the job done. Watch it…
Wingspan President Denies Organization Closing
Yesterday, the Tucson Weekly was told that Wingspan, Tucson’s 25-year-old LGBT community center and advocacy organization, was possibly closing, its executive director terminated and that employees were told yesterday that their jobs are ending July 31 due to the continued loss of grants and other funding. However, Paul Guerrero, Wingspan board of directors, denied that current Wingspan…
Latino Democratic Caucus of Pima County Chairman Calls for Huppenthal’s Resignation
In a press release issued today, Vince Rabago, chairman of an Arizona Latino Democratic Caucus of Pima County, joins the chorus demanding the immediate resignation of Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal for all those lovely blog and internet posts he’s had time to make anonymously while running our state’s glorious education system: Huppenthal…
‘Nathan For You’ To Return on July 1
Nathan For You is a reality-based comedy television series starring Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder is back. Fielder made headlines in February when he founded a non-profit, parody coffee shop called Dumb Starbucks. Sadly, the “art shop” was closed by the Los Angeles Health Department after three days of service. Here’s the preview for the second…
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Craps on The World Cup for 8 Minutes
Here’s an eight-minute video of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog pooping on soccer and its fans watching the World Cup. Triumph would induce a field day if he fared to the Rialto tomorrow morning. We can’t wait for the next video to surface.
North Korea Threatens War Over Rogen and Franco’s Kim Jong-un Film
Someone better get Dennis Rodman on the phone. The BBC has reported that a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman issued a statement regarding the upcoming action-comedy The Interview that is set to release this fall. In the film, James Franco and Seth Rogen play celebrity talk show personalities that are recruited by the CIA to…
The Muppet Movie Sing-Along
It’s not easy being green. Sing along with Kermit and the rest of the Muppets at The Loft’s Muppet Movie Sing-Along at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 28. The Loft is located at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Tickets are $8 general, $6 Loft members and children 12 and younger. Here’s an event description: Everyone can find…
The Most Important Reasons Huppenthal Is Unfit For His Job
True, there’s something sleazy about Ed Supe John Huppenthal’s internet habits. A public, elected official who writes hundreds and hundreds of anonymous comments on blog posts and articles all over the Arizona blogosphere is the kind of guy who is willing to use his office in deceptive and underhanded ways when it suits him. Regularly…
Listen to Brian Lopez’s New Tune ‘Crossfire Cries’
Yesterday, Brian Lopez promised to deliver a new track off his upcoming album Static Noise on his Facebook page. Thankfully, he delivered on that promise and posted “Crossfire Cries” on his Soundcloud page earlier today. The singer/songwriter’s response to ULTRA will drop in September, according to Lopez.
Of Course, John Huppenthal Commented on TucsonWeekly.com As Well
An old photo, but still hilarious While we didn’t get the racist stupidity that Superintendent John Huppenthal pseudonymously posted on Espresso Pundit… However, we are now going to see the dark side of controlling immigration – fewer jobs for caucasions. In an improving economy, free flowing immigration creates more jobs for caucasions, not fewer. Economic…
Chromeo Is Coming to Tucson
In what my R&B-loving wife considers the best news of the year, the Rialto Theatre announced that Chromeo is playing a show here on October 10. Chromeo, a funk-loving Canadian duo, has been cranking out fun and danceable singles for a decade (including the always amusing “Needy Girl”), but they’re currently touring to promote their…
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Trailer is Full of Half-Shells and Dubstep
The second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer features more of the totally tubular characters, and Megan Fox. While you can’t have enough Fox, we get a better look at the big baddie Shredder. Unfortunately, the leader of the Foot clan has never looked so one dimensional. But that’s Michael Bay for you. We have to…
Vigil For Fallen Cyclist Tonight
Cyclist Kris Lee Chambers was struck and killed by a car on Wednesday, June 18. Gerardo Cazares ran a red light and hit the 38-year-old cyclist going westbound on Speedway Boulevard, close to Main Avenue, according to the Tucson Police Department. Bicycle Inter-Community Art & Salvage is hosting a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Chambers tonight…
Chemtrail Juice is Making Me Write This
The Havasu News started to crawl around the internets this morning, and some folks had a laugh or two. It seemed like maybe we could laugh together and then escape the usual national ridicule … until today when Wonkette picked up the story that published on Friday, and gave it the usual beautiful crazyland treatment.…
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Take a journey to Oz on Sundays through Aug. 17 at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. Show starts a 1 p.m. $7 to $10. This is an original adaptation by Richard Gremel and Leslie J. Miller with original music and lyrics by David Ragland. Directed by Leslie J. Miller Featuring Stephen Frankenfield, Amanda Gremel, Cyndi…
Best Dog Award Releases New Music Video for ‘Successful’
BEST DOG AWARD presents: “Successful” from Felt Film on Vimeo. Best Dog Award, three-piece surfy-rocky Tucson band, debuted their latest music video for their latest track “Successful” on Saturday. The song will be available for purchase of the band’s new EP titled Faith-Based Space Place. Click here with their official website to buy the EP and watch the…
Stupid American Gets Stuck in Foreign Vagina Sculpture
How did we miss this adventure in humiliation? Evidently there’s a sculpture in southern Germany that required the use of 22 firefighters to help rescue an American exchange student caught—yes, the sculpture is of a vagina. From The Guardian: On Friday afternoon, a young American in Tübingen had to be rescued by 22 firefighters after…
The Drumbeat Begins For Huppenthal To Resign
Among the first public figures to call for Ed Supe John Huppenthal to resign are conservatives. The political distancing and damage control begins. There’s Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce. As recently as a week ago, the Chamber loved Hupp. It actually created a new award to honor his support…
Best of Tucson 2014: One Week Left to Vote
We’ve had a record number of votes this year for our annual Best of Tucson poll, so hey, Tucson, pat yourself on the back. However, as the number of votes is still a number fewer than the total number of Tucsonans, there are clearly some hold-outs. So, here is your one-week-left warning for Best of…
Melvin Quits the Governor’s Race
State Sen. Al Melvin has officially quit running for governor today, saying he had been unable to collect the necessary 4,500 $5 contributions from Arizona citizens to qualify for $753,000 in public dollars via the Clean Elections program. In a statement to the press, Melvin said the decision “was difficult because I believe so passionately…
Pickles Needs a Home
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Pickles, a 2-year-old, female, pit bull mix Reference no. 779723 Pickles was in a pickle when she arrived at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona not a moment too soon. This lethargic stray was gravely ill after eating rat poison. She was weak, anemic and bleeding internally. But…
“MAS=KKK in a different color”: Another Treasure Trove Of Huppenthal/Falcon9 Comments
David Morales has compiled comments Huppenthal made on the Three Sonorans blog using the Falcon9 alias. Can these comments possibly be worse than what we’ve already seen? Take a look. These are direct quotes, so I’ve left in any misspellings. “Che Guvera is not to be afraid of, he is to be despised and his…
Debra Bloomfield and Ansel Adams at Etherton Gallery
Wilderness, 02076-7-07 (2007) pigment print © Debra Bloomfield Wild America, featuring photography from Ansel Adams and Debra Bloomfield, continues through Aug. 30 at Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave. Check out an opening reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 21. Bloomfield will be on hand to sign her new book and Carl Hanni,…
Monsoon: Time to Celebrate and Pray for Rain
If you’re paying attention to our desert, then you know that monsoon season is almost upon us. The cicadas are providing that deafening hum and the saguaro fruits are starting to ripen. This is my favorite time of the year. First, we in perpetual drought now, so any drop of rain is to be celebrated.…
Take Your Dog To Work Day is Our New Favorite Holiday
Today is Bring Your Dog to Work Day, and we wish we knew sooner. Granted, I personally don’t own a dog. But my friends and colleagues do, and I would love to spend my Friday playing their pets while on the clock. According to Take Your Dog, the holiday was started in 1999 to highlight how great companions…
Tucson Shooting Victim’s Mom Joins Other Survivors in ‘Not One More’ Pledge
WASHINGTON – More than three years after her 9-year-old daughter was shot and killed, Roxanna Green’s heart breaks all over again when she sees another shooting on the news. “When we laid her to rest, my heart broke,” Green said of her daughter, Christina-Taylor, one of six people killed in the Tucson shooting that wounded…
KGUN 9 News Covers The Huppenthal/Thucydides/Falcon9 Story
Ed Supe John Huppenthal’s anonymous commenting and sock puppetry made Tucson’s 10 o’clock news Thursday night on KGUN 9, as you can see after the jump. Blog for Arizona’s Bob Lord and I were included in the story, but our words took a back seat to Huppenthal’s. How could the two of us compete with…
New TV Ads in the GOP Governor’s Race
Republican gubernatorial candidates Scott Smith and Christine Jones have released new campaign ads this week. Smith’s ad highlights his work in the private sector and as mayor of Mesa, along with his promise to improve the state’s economy if he becomes governor. Jones’ ad includes her promise to secure the border, her opposition to Common…
Mentos Suit Meets Tub of Cola
Well, this is a cool (albeit sticky) mess: A man wearing a suit of Mentos is dropped into a big vat of diet soda to give people a “little taste of what’s happening on EpicMealEmpire (starts July 26 on FYI),” according to Harley Morenstein. Guess you’ll have to watch the show to find if he…
Paul McCartney Tweets Some Tucson Throwback Thursday Love
Sir Paul McCartney hasn’t forgotten about Tucson, you guys. In honor of Throwback Thursday, the legendary Beatles member tweeted a photo of himself cutting into his Birthday cake backstage at the Tucson Convention Center. McCartney says this picture was taken on June 18, 1976 during the “Wings Over America” tour. Taken on June 18th in Tucson…
Get to Know Some Potential TUSD School Board Candidates
OK, remember the Tucson Unified School District governing board election is kinda around the corner (Nov. 4, 2014), but the most important detail remains that there are 10 potential candidates and if any of them are taking this business of getting into this racket they best be getting signatures for their petitions—filing period for those…
Cinema Showdown: Corny Collins Vs. Connie Corleone Edition
Alright everybody, it’s MASHED POTATO TIME! That’s right folks, prepare to do the Mashed Potato, The Twist, The Roach and The Bug tonight when the Loft Cinema presents John Waters’ Hairspray, his 1988 ode to 1950s Baltimore. This was the film that took Waters out of the gutter and into the warm, fuzzy embrace of…
TIA Superfund Site Documents Moved to Valencia Library
According to Pima County Library, the Valencia branch at 202 W. Valencia Road is the new home for all repository information, technical reports and reference materials about the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) and the 1, 4 dioxane issue from the Tucson International Airport Superfund site. The materials were previously at the El Pueblo branch library.…
Tucsonan Christine Brecht on New Season of Big Brother
CBS Television Christine Brecht, Big Brother contestant I honestly had forgotten that Big Brother was still a show, but hey, the 16th season kicks off on Wednesday, June 25 and Tucsonan Christine Brecht, a 23-year-old Starbucks shift supervisor who enjoys Settlers of Catan, will be one of the contestants trying to win the $500,000 prize…
Huppenthal’s Sock-Puppet-Gate Goes National
“Sock-puppet-gate.” You read it here first (at least I think you did, since I just made it up). It’s getting increasing attention around the state, and it’s starting to go national. This morning, it’s the lead story on Talking Points Memo. Not getting nearly enough coverage, however, is the sock puppet aspect of the comments.…
A Midsummer Night’s Tease
Normally, the words “Shakespeare” and “sexy” wouldn’t be found in the same sentence. But local burlesque troupe Don’t Blink Burlesque made it happen. They describe their upcoming take on the Bard of Avon’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream as “The Sexy Story Shakespeare Meant to Tell.” They also claim “your favorite performers will tease you…
VICE Squad vs. Copper Queens
You might think that the term “the enforcers in blue” refers to police officers, but in Tucson there’s a whole different definition. The enforcers in blue are also known as Tucson Roller Derby home team VICE Squad. When the whistle blows at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 21, they will face home team Copper Queens at…
SPLASH!
Therapy often involves talking, talking and more talking. But for those who are struggling to express themselves after surviving trauma, or while experiencing depression, dementia and health disabilities, art therapy is a way to start the healing process. It’s been shown to help people achieve insight, reduce stress and improve interpersonal skills and is used…
Poll Dancing
A new poll shows Congressman Ron Barber with an 8 percentage point lead over likely Republican challenger Martha McSally in this year’s highly competitive Congressional District 2 race. The survey, conducted by Normington, Petts and Associates and funded by the Democratic-leaning House Majority PAC, showed that Barber had the support of 45 percent of voters,…
Slow Shish Kebabs
One of the most important things to do when trying new foods, whether they’re from your own culture or a different one, is to keep an open mind. You can’t take just one bite and immediately write it off because it’s different, or because you’re unused to the flavors, textures, composition of the dish. I…
Soundbites
HARBOR FOR MY SOUL I’m not the best person to discuss the Access Tucson situation, with the community media organization facing a really uncertain future between city budget cuts, the race for downtown real estate and other pressures, but last week, Wavelab’s Craig Schumacher proposed an interesting idea to make Access’ Broadway location a multimedia…
Nine Questions
Kalyn J. Stalinski is a Michigan native, a former bike messenger in Philadelphia, and now a bartender at Flycatcher. Stalinski has been a drummer and played with Broken Spoke, and fancies himself as a romantic. He says he likes long walks on the beach, mountain biking and dogs. What was the first concert you attended?…
The Skinny
ORR AGAINST THE WORLD State Rep. Ethan Orr survived a near-political-death experience last week. Attorney Jeff Rogers filed a legal action on Tuesday, June 10, alleging that Orr had fallen short of the required 361 signatures for a variety of technical reasons. But after the Pima County Recorder’s Office reviewed the challenged signatures and determined…
Party Time, Excellent
They’ve got it going on up there in Oro Valley. It’s an excellent adventure brought to us by the very young Great American Playhouse, which is developing a sturdy presence with their brand of goofy comedy, which encourages audiences to participate with not just applause but boos and hisses, if such might be appropriate. Creating…
The Skinny
ORR AGAINST THE WORLD State Rep. Ethan Orr survived a near-political-death experience last week. Attorney Jeff Rogers filed a legal action on Tuesday, June 10, alleging that Orr had fallen short of the required 361 signatures for a variety of technical reasons. But after the Pima County Recorder’s Office reviewed the challenged signatures and determined…
Live
Over the course of the last year, Shovel has gone from great to amazing. All of the hallmarks that rendered the Phoenix based twosome notable and notably awesome when I first saw them live last summer remain intact, but the serrated edges are now slightly polished, the ramshackle furor has been honed into a furious…
“For the Ladies, About the Ladies”
Pure X uses a little “Starlight” to set the mood. The Austin band’s third album opens with the soft echo of single guitar notes, gently clinking wind chimes and easy-going harmonies. The serene and seductive tune opens the door to the world of Angel, a record that sounds calm and meditative but pulsates with a…
Noshing Around
CHEF’S SUMMER SERIES Chef Carlos Calderon of North Italia, 2995 E. Skyline Drive, has created three unique menus for a summer series of dinners, with each loaded with seasonally inspired Italian dishes. The first dinner takes place at 6:30 p.m. on June 25 and features a prosciutto and melon salad, an eggplant cavatelli, and a braised…
Now Showing at Home
300: Rise of an Empire The next chapter of the shirtless Frank Miller saga hits the sea, as Greek general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) takes on Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), Artemesia (Eva Green) and the whole damn Persian navy. Faaa-bulous! (Warner Bros.) Cleaners: Season 1 You could watch it all for free on Crackle.com, or own the…
Football Forecast
All spring and summer long, I seem to be getting the same questions from Wildcat fans, “How is the football team going to do?” I always give them the same answer, “If they can find a quarterback and a defensåive line then they can win nine or 10.” While most have Arizona pegged for fourth…
Kicking Back Cachaça
While the World Cup rages on in Brazil, there’s a fairly good chance that you, as an American, have little interest (the awesome fans of FC Tucson notwithstanding). But even if you don’t care about the showcase for both the Best Soccer and Worst Haircuts in the World (France is a fair standout for both,…
Police Dispatch
HE THOUGHT THE SIGN SAID “KKK” Green Valley May 7, 6:50 p.m. A fiercely racist, xenophobic man—lacking the most basic ethno-cultural knowledge—made a massive scene at a KFC restaurant over a couple missing chicken legs, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the fried-chicken joint after a call about a…
Daring in Digital
Film is dead. Not cinema or the movies, but actually shooting the end product on endless spools of celluloid has been buried for good. This is hardly a surprise development; digital video has been making inroads since Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace. But if a $4 million budget and an unknown director can…
Now on Shelves
The Deportation of Wopper Barraza Maceo Montoya University of New Mexico Press $19.95; 224 pages; fiction It’s more than just Wopper whose life gets upended by deportation in this affecting new novel about the immigrant experience. As The Deportation of Wopper Barraza opens, Roberto Barraza (“Wopper” since a childhood incident involving a bag of hamburgers)…
Danehy
Perhaps it’s because I’m writing this on a Friday the 13th that coincides with a full moon (which won’t happen again until 2049), but I’m sorta’ feeling semi-generous about soccer. I know, I’m gushing. (I suppose I could have written this to coincide with the opening day of the World Cup, but I had to…
Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: Why do some Mexicans expect us to learn Spanish instead of them learning English? (NOTE: I did say SOME, not most or all!) I’m offended whenever I am ASSAULTED by listening to anything in Spanish on phone menus or see it on forms that I have to fill out. It’s even worse to…
Found Footage Fatigue
Oh, for the love of God, will these found-footage horror movies ever stop? Dammit … I am getting sick to death of these things! The found footage scary movie gimmick stopped being novel after about 14 minutes of The Blair Witch Project. There have been some good ones, including Cloverfield and the recently released vampire…
Primer
WHO ARE THEY Dog Fashion Disco began recording at the tail end of the 1990s, forging a visceral style rooted in both the thinking man’s alternative metal of Tool, the questionable provocation of Marilyn Manson and the musical eclecticism of Mr. Bungle. The Balitmore, Maryland-based act saw numerous lineup changes in the first era its…
Oh! Oklahoma!
“And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Genesis, 1:29 When the insurgents from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria…
UA Cutting the Funding Cord on AZPM
Arizona Public Media General Manager Jack Gibson dropped a bombshell on employees of the organization in an all-staff meeting Thursday. The UA has plans to dramatically cut funding to AZPM by fiscal year 2019 and will slash their contributions significantly year-to-year until that date. According to an internal memo sent by Gibson, AZPM “received an…
