Cover Story
The Tucson Weekly Celebrity Showdown
Back in the day, Tucson was home to plenty of celebrities. When Hollywood was still making movies out at Old Tucson, you could the likes of John Wayne in the local watering holes. Farrah Fawcett used to own a house in the Foothills. Mobster Joe Bonanno found sleepy Tucson an excellent place to escape the…
John Pedicone: ‘The Community Needs to Get Behind This District’
It wasn’t suppose to come out today. That was made obvious during this afternoon’s press conference at Tucson Unified School District in which Superintendent John Pedicone formally announced his resignation effective June 30th. This morning, rumors began to creep forward that Pedicone was resigning, with one source close to the Weekly sharing that in part…
The GOP’s Immigration Shuffle
We’ve seen several interesting developments on the immigration-reform front in Washington this week. First, there’s the GOP’s election post-mortem that included the notion that Republicans needed to rethink their approach to immigration politics if they hope to win more of the Latino vote in the future. (There’s been considerable hemming and hawing since the report’s…
SB1432: Spawn of Satan, er, Center for Arizona Policy
In minutes, the House Committee on Appropriations is expected to may way for SB1432, that sneaky little amendment that’s going to mandate what bathrooms we can used based on our birth certificate. Here’s the press released issued by Wingspan late yesterday, followed after the jump with a letter from James Scott P. Pignatella, who gave…
Calle Tepa Open Today
As mentioned here, the mother-son team of Emma Vera and JorDan Fuller opened Calle Tepa, Mexican Street Grill today. Located at 6151 E. Broadway, Vera’s longtime and successful Mexican restaurant Guadalajara Grill is the inspiration for the Mexican street food menu. Vera owns the original grill on East Prince Road and has no ties to…
Pedicone’s Resignation Letter
March 20, 2013 Dear Faculty and Staff, After much consideration, I have submitted my resignation to the Governing Board effective June 30, 2013. This decision did not come easily, but I believe it is in the best interests of the district that I do so. The timing is right. It makes sense to allow our…
Pedicone to Resign As TUSD Superintendent
Because what Tucson’s largest school district could use right now is more chaos and instability, John Pedicone is set to resign his post as superintendent, with a press conference scheduled for 12:30. More news as it comes, but according to one source, the board’s decision not to pursue out-sourcing was the last straw for Pedicone.
Some Tucson Restaurants Nominated for Awards I Don’t Understand
The Arizona Restaurant Association is running a new food event, the Foodist Awards, with the prizes handed out at an expensive dinner on April 25th. The idea seems solid, honoring “industry players [who] embody the pursuit – the achievement – of excellence” (although that sort of phrasing does remind me a bit of the First…
Previous Session’s Promise Could Hurt Clean Elections Referendum
The referendum to reroute Clean Elections funding to education passed through the Senate Elections Committee (4-3) despite a slightly new tactic from the opposition. In addition to saying HCR 2026 is sneaky in its roundabout way of asking voters if they want to keep publicly financing campaigns, those against it say it flouts a bargain…
Michele Bachmann Attacks President Obama’s “Lavish Lifestyle”
President Obama’s not having a great week with his critics: first, he got accused of looking like Satan, and now he’s getting flak from a familiar critic, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, for leading an excessively luxurious lifestyle that weighs on the backs of America’s most hard-working, penny-thrifting citizens…or something like that. Here’s her quote from the…
2012 Had A Record Number of Deaths in Pima County, But No One Is Sure Why
The Pima County Medical Examiner released its annual report Monday, but according to a county press release, what’s striking about the report is that deaths in 2012 went up, but there was a drop in homicides and migrant deaths. So who died? There were 9,742 deaths in Pima County last year, 8,383 in 2011 and…
More Tucson Food-Themed Parodies of Popular Rap Songs, Please
From a very strange (but brilliant) Facebook thread on Tucson concert booker/DJ Dan Hernandez’s page referencing Mexican food and popular rap songs of the moment, I present this wonderful image with text by Matthew Baquet. Enjoy:
Part Two of Our Celebrity Showdown is Live!
If you remember our Celebrity Showdown cover story from last week, you might recall that we pitted 32 of Tucson’s most beloved celebrities up against each other in a single elimination tournament to determine the most famous person connected to our fair Pueblo. You may also remember that we split the first round of voting…
The Essence of Bon Iver in the Best Tumblr Ever Created
I’m not necessarily afraid to admit that I’m a huge Bon Iver fan, but sometimes I wonder if it’s more of a guilty pleasure. Lead singer Justin Vernon’s falsetto crooning makes for rather pretty-sounding music, the kind of stuff you’d want to listen to on a lazy Sunday as you sit in the antique chaise…
SXSW Diaries: The Final Night — Tucson Rules!
A few thoughts on the last full day of SXSW, Saturday, March 16, a couple of days removed. *Someone at SXSW has a real sense of humor; they booked New Orleans bounce star Big Freedia at twelve noon on an upper stage of the Convention Center, backed up with free Bloody Mary’s. Big Freedia is…
PCC’s Miles Ends Interim Chancellor Stint April 12
Letter that went out today to all Pima Community College employees: Dear colleagues: After much thought and prayer I have decided to leave the Interim Chancellor’s position earlier than originally anticipated, which was June 30, 2013. My final day as Interim Chancellor will be Friday, April 12, 2013. I have selected this date to allow…
T Q&A: Patricia Schwabe
Patricia Schwabe was raised in Monterrey, Mexico and moved to the states to finish college in the early ‘90s. Schwabe, owner of both Tooley’s Café in the Lost Barrio and Peach Properties, Inc., opened a restaurant, Penca, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. The restaurant is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and offers authentic Mexican dishes…
SB 1432: Because If Our Toilets Aren’t Sacred, What Is?
They just don’t have anything better to do, do they? Our dear legislature is up to it again, Tucson, with some crazy-ass laws being introduced that have nothing to do with education and the economy. No, now they are interested in making sure that the public bathroom you use matches the sex you were assigned…
Forthcoming Tucson Concert Synergy: Dinosaur Jr. Cover Phoenix
I’m not sure how this came about, but college-rock legends Dinosaur Jr. (playing Exile on Congress Street Apr. 20) have “remixed” (or so they say, it sounds more like a cover to me) the new Phoenix (playing AVA Apr. 9) single, “Entertainment”. Apparently, Phoenix’s Thomas Mars is a fan, so there you go. As strange…
Chipotle Pulls Sponsorship From Utah Scout-A-Rama Event
In a move that’s sure to fuel fires similar to that of the Chick-Fil-A protests of 2012, Chipotle Mexican Restaurants have decided to pull their sponsorship of a Utah Scout-A-Rama event after admitting that their support of the event ran counter to company policy. Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold, by way of ThinkProgress, who asked Chipotle…
Wolf Larsen Opens Festival En El Barrio This Sunday
Continuing on with bringing you the bands of Festival en el Barrio, Wolf Larsen will be kicking it off this Sunday. When you think of a music festival, you may think of an outdoor music event with lots of loud music, drinks, and dancing. Larsen, however, , transforms noisy venues into tranquil environments with her…
‘Motel America’ Project Shows Another Side of Orlando Life
Nadia Shira Cohen/Paulo Siqueira “Motel America” Some are sad, some are beautiful, get yourself to The New York Times’ LENS to check out the amazing images from Nadia Shira Cohen and Paulo Siqueira’s project Motel America. From the write-up: A young man stands in a swimming pool, eyes covered, shoulders hunched, his head slightly bowed.…
Brewer’s Medicaid Expansion Set For Legislative Hearing Tomorrow
After spending months building up public support, Gov. Jan Brewer unveiled her draft legislation to extend Medicaid coverage to Arizonans below 133 percent of the federal poverty line last week. The first hearing for the proposal is set for a House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, March 20. Brewer has been pushing the expansion of the…
Enjoy This Spectacular Tucson Craigslist Post for a Car
The ad is two weeks old, so you might not want to get too excited over the prospect of picking up this “collectors 1982 Toyota Celica GT liftback” for the low price of $1400, but at very least, we can enjoy the effort these two ladies put into trying to sell this fine vehicle with…
Hungry? Come Down to Weekly Wide Central For Grilled Meat!
The good folks at Serial Grillers appear to have put us on a fairly regular schedule, as they’re back outside of our offices at 3280 E. Hemisphere Loop from now ’til 2 p.m., gracing our lives with the scent of grilled meats, veggies, and cheese sandwiches. I’ll say this much for the guys at the…
Poetry/Word Love from Casa Libre on Thursday
Thursday, for a $5 suggested donation, you’re in for some outstanding poetry and word love from the good folks at Casa Libre. Imogene Binnie will read from her new novel, Nevada, and will be joined by Sarah Gonzales, Rocket and T.C. Tolbert. This gets going at 7 p.m. and Casa Libre is at 228 N.…
“Thumbs and Ammo” Might Be the Encouragement You Need Today
I can’t imagine “Thumbs and Ammo” sticks around for long (novelty blogs tend to burst into whatever passes for prominence online, then fade away quickly as the joke gets old), but if you’re a fan of film and encouragement, take a moment to peruse the photoshopped images of people giving the thumbs-up signal instead of…
Your Evangelical Guide to the Film “ABCs of Death”
The Christian film review site (although the term “review” is somewhat generous) Movieguide is often good for a laugh, not necessarily because they carefully index nearly every American film for profanity, nudity, humanist or socialist worldviews, or the stink of Darwinist thinking, but because their obsessive cataloging can lead to some unintentional (I assume) comedy.…
Alex Trebek to Retire From ‘Jeopardy!’ in 2016
…and if Ken Jennings doesn’t replace him, you’ll be able to hear my cries of impotent rage from here to eternity. According to the New York Post, Alex Trebek’s contract to host Jeopardy! ends in 2016, and he appears to have made the decision to retire when it ends. The rumored top pick? The Today…
The Effort to Recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Appears to Be Broke
The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts posted this update on the effort to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio earlier today, writing that activist group Respect Arizona has run out of money less than two weeks after boasting that they had raised more than 120,000 signatures in their recall effort. From azcentral.com: Lilia Alvarez, campaign manager…
Dewey Does Austin: Gargling Whiskey ‘Til the End
My last couple of days in Austin were spent between nursing my cursed ear, checking out some things off the beaten path, and of course checking out bands. I won’t let my ear troubles get the best of me. I’ve been poppin’ ibuprofen every few hours for my earache, along with gargling copious amounts of…
DuVal Picks Up More Support as Carmona Declines To Run for AZ Gov Seat
Jim Nintzel Democrat Fred DuVal was pressing the fllesh at Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild State of the City speech last month. Democrat Richard Carmona, who narrowly lost a U.S. Senate race to Republican Jeff Flake last year, told reporter Brahm Resnick yesterday that he won’t be running for governor next year. The announcement is a…
The Fascinating Profile of One of Arizona’s Greatest Athletes, Anthony Robles
We give Arizona State University a lot of crap over here — partially because of fierce independence Tucson exhibits against our neighbors in the Valley of the Sun, partially because of the huge in-state college rivalry that attracts national sponsors, and partially because ASU fans get grumpy when we make fun of their school. But…
Rebirth Brass Band to Headline Festival en el Barrio
Rebirth Brass Band is among the headliners for this year’s Festival en el Barrio, which is just around the corner this Sunday. The New Orleans nine-piece formed 30 years ago, and, with their last 10 records, have made a name for themselves, expanding from the streets of their hometown to venues all over the world.…
Wake Up, Sheeple: ‘Luke’s Change’ Questions Whether Or Not the Death Star’s Destruction Was An Inside Job
I’m not one to subscribe to the crackpot theories of conspiracy fanatics of any particular political bent — I prefer to come up with my own crackpot theories, thankyouverymuch — but this one seems to have struck a particular chord with me: a theory raising the question as to whether or not the destruction of…
Tonight, Foster a Pet with the Humane Society of Southern Arizona
Photo from Flickr Creative Commons by Marcin Kargol Interested in having a pet around but can’t commit full time? Want to help save the lives of innocent creatures in desperate need of a safe environment? Look no further. The Foster Care Program at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona helps to save thousands of animals…
Desert Potted Garden Tidbit — Shoulder Season Flowers
Marylee, Potted Desert Gardener Dianthus Close-up Last week I talked about using shoulder season flowers for your post-freeze winter pots. Dianthus is a great full-sun flowering plant as it is truly a perennial and can handle our extreme seasons in the desert. It will flower best in the cooler seasons but will be green in…
Portland’s Ape Machine Swings Into Town
Ape Machine is one of those groups that arrive every so often to remind us how rock should be played: with shaggy, organic vitality rather than clean, digital corner-cutting. Ape Machine’s name—add a “T” for “tape machine”—symbolizes heavy music’s analog roots in reel-to-reel. The band’s tectonic-shifting attack, most recently captured in 2011 album War to…
[UPDATED] Road Trip! Arizona To Play Belmont In Salt Lake City
I’ve saved you all the trouble, folks: it’s a 770-mile drive from McKale Center to the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, where Arizona faces Belmont Thursday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats (25-7) earned a No. 6 seed in the West Region, while Belmont (26-6) earned a No. 11 seed…
Attorney Martinez to Lead Appeal of Tashima Ruling
Tucson attorney Richard Martinez first filed a lawsuit on behalf of 11 Tucson Unified School District teachers in October 2010 in an effort to reverse anti-Mexican-American studies law HB 2281 and on Friday, March 6 he learned U.S. District Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima didn’t think most of Martinez’s arguments met “the high threshold needed…
SXSW Diaries: Cuuuuuumbia!
Carl Hanni Keith Streng from the Split Squad and The Fleshtones, rocking the picnic table at the Gingerman Pub. More snapshots of the Festival, this time from Friday, March 15. *One of the great joys of SXSW is the occasional availability of free food, generally at one of the day parties. Today’s free banquet was…
American-Born Baseball Player Sergio Romo Was Stopped On His Way To the Ballpark
This story is a bit on the old side, but Yahoo! Sports took a look at Arizona’s role as one of Major League Baseball’s two Spring Training hubs (not to mention that it’s been the site of games in the international World Baseball Classic), hosting baseball players from around the world, during a time when…
Arizona’s Jessica Cox, the World’s First Armless Pilot, Is Currently Crowdfunding Documentary
In 1983, Sierra Vista’s Jessica Cox was born without arms. Now, she’s a motivational speaker, martial arts black belt, certified as the first armless person to hold a pilot’s license and subject of a forthcoming documentary about her life. From indiegogo.com: Inspirational in tone, RIGHTFOOTED is a documentary about Jessica Cox’s amazing life and work…
On Feb. 26, Arce Entered Diversion, Two of Three DV Charges Dropped
The Range has confirmed through Tucson City Prosecutor M.J. Recini that on Feb. 26, 2013, two of the three original domestic violence charges against Sean Arce were dropped and that the former Mexican-American studies program director agreed to plea into a diversion program for the third domestic violence charge: Domestic Violence Disorderly Conduct. When the…
Looking For Green Beer On St. Patrick’s Day?
Bars all over Tucson celebrate St. Patrick’s day with Irish music, corned beef and cabbage, Irish Car Bomb specials and of course, green beer. If you’re wondering where to find green beer this Sunday here’s a list of places. I was also able to find out what kind of beer would be dyed green at…
SXSW Diaries: Daptone Records Burns Down Austin
Friday, March 15, Austin: Being pressed for time, and working on a borrowed computer, instead of diving to deeply into Thursday’s Festival wrap-up, here are a few snapshots. *If there’s a truly quintessential SXSW band, it would have to be the Waco Bros. I’ve seen these guys every SXSW I’ve been to back into the…
Deluxe Version of Phoenix’s New Album to Have 71 Bonus Tracks
Phoenix announced Wednesday on their Twitter page that the deluxe version of their newest album, Bankrupt!, will offer 71 “demos and sketches.” “The Bankrupt Diaries”: SEVENTY-ONE (71) demos & sketches from the bankrupt sessions! pre-order with the Deluxe album smarturl.it/Bankrupt— Phoenix (@wearephoenix) March 13, 2013 According to Pitchfork, this edition will feature an entire extra…
Dewey Does Austin: Dewtron Meets the Protomen
Like Capt. Willard lost in the jungle, I’m in the thick of it now. Time is of the essence, and due to a developing earache my patience is nil. I saw a lot of bands, and most of them were crap. But the ones of note are: The Protomen (TN) – For fans of dirt…
Metal Thieves Beware: You’ve Got a Task Force After You
Did you know Pima County has a Metal Watch Task Force? Yeah, I didn’t either, until I got an email from the Metro Pima Alliance urging me to show my support for proposed legislation that would toughen this state’s laws against metal theft. Beyond, you know, the simple fact that theft is against the law.…
Undocumented Immigrants March For Justice In Tucson
Undocumented immigrants around the nation are organizing marches demanding a stop to deportation and asking for immigration reform inclusive of all 11 million undocumented people in the U.S. Raul Alcaraz Ochoa, organizer of the local march, said the Tucson community will also request that Tucson Police Department use the loopholes they have available to not…
Have You Voted in the Tucson Weekly Celebrity Showdown Yet?
If your answer to the question in the headline was “no,” then you need to get your priorities in order, friend. For those that missed this week’s cover story, we’ve matched up 32 of Tucson’s most famous folks and set them against each other in an effort to find out who you, the Tucson Weekly…
Record High Temperatures for Tucson
This just in: It’s hot. Today marks the second day in a row that Tucson has broken record high temperatures. At 1 p.m. today it was 89 degrees, breaking the old record of 87 degrees that was reached in 2007, according to The Daily Star. Yesterday, the highest temperature reached was 89 degrees. This broke…
SXSW Diaries: Carl Hanni’s Day One Experience
Day 1 of SXSW 2013 was Wednesday, 3/13 for this scribe. After a delightful drive out in the Cadillac w/Jeb Schoonover and Chris Black (who is playing shows this week), and several great meals, we arrived around noonish on Wednesday to perfect weather. I really only had a chance to see a handful of shows…
Lessons Learned From the Folding of the ‘Boston Phoenix’
Today, the Boston Phoenix, an alternative weekly that has been in operation since 1966, announced today that they’d be folding up shop. The announcement has triggered a number of responses and lamentations, but the one that’s struck the deepest chord so far today has been this account by former Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle, at…
The Man Who Gave Up Food
Vice Magazine’s UK arm recently published a fascinating Q&A interview with a man who has come up with a fairly revolutionary way to live without actually, uh, eating anything. Rob Rhinehart is a 24-year-old software programmer from San Francisco who apparently feels that food was just too damn inefficient, and took it upon himself to…
Celebrate Pi Day By Having Your Mind Twisted, Crushed and Compacted by Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Pi’
Today is March 14—you know, 3/14—making today National Pi Day. As you might remember from those algebra classes you took at some point in the past, pi is an irrational number that’s most easily defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference to it diameter—and since a circle’s circumference is always juuuust a bit more…
Dewey Does Austin: Vegans, Barbecue and Bird Placement
I will never say no to free BBQ. A free, hot lunch is always a special treat and will insure I’m out of bed and in the serving line at the proper time. This was at a Tumblr/Red Bull sponsored meet ‘n’ greet with some industry types and a DJ going nuts with the reggaeton.…
The Loft Debuts a New Farmers’ Market
A new farmers’ market is opening at a one of Tucson’s local loves, The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. On Saturdays, the market will take over the new outdoors patio area to the east of the main building. Hours are 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Local food farmers and gardeners will be featured including…
SXSW Postcards: Greetings from Austin, Texas
Jim Nintzel Bajafondo on the Radio Day Stage at Austin Convention Center Yesterday was just another day at SXSW: Started off around noon at the Stages on Sixth, a day party sponsored by Paste magazine and HGTV. Brooklyn’s The Lone Bellow did a cool alt-Americana thing, only slightly delayed when the Paste guy introducing the…
City Week
Rollin’ with the (Junior) Devils; a grand slam for charity; a celebration of Mexican film; and Southern Arizona celebrates the anniversary of the first train to roll into the Grand Canyon State
Danehy
On Jan. 15, 1919, an unseasonable warm-up caused carbon dioxide to accumulate inside a giant storage tank full of molasses in Boston’s North End neighborhood. The tank exploded, sending a 15-foot-high wall of molasses roaring down the street at more than 35 miles per hour, which is, ironically, much faster than molasses in January. Twenty-one…
The Skinny
The battle over firearm background checks marches on. And on.
String Spectacular
As the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music commemorate its 65th season, one of its flagship programs has also withstood the test of time by encouraging passion for the arts in a small corner of the Southwest. The 20th annual Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, which begins Sunday, March 17, has made full use of international…
Noshing Around
McMahon’s Steakhouse unveils a new happy hour; Voodoo Jack’s becomes Vudu Lounge; Penca opens downtown while Brio closes near Tucson Mall; and Agua Linda hosts an Easter egg hunt
Run Boy Run: So Sang the Whippoorwill (Self-Released)
It’s been an exciting year already for this young, bluegrass-oriented quintet, whose members are split between the Phoenix and Tucson areas. The group has appeared on the popular radio show A Prairie Home Companion twice and counts its host, Garrison Keillor, among its fans. Now comes the release of the band’s refreshing and satisfying new…
T Q&A
For all its breathtaking beauty and historic influence, the Bolshoi Ballet has been in the news lately mostly for its internal politics. In a man-bites-dog drama, a principal dancer may have arranged to throw battery acid in the face of the company’s artistic director, Sergei Filin. The theater was to reopen in the fall of…
Unpredictable and Energetic
Audacity with Nü Sensae, Lenguas Largas and Boo Boo Kiss 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 20 Topaz Tundra, 657 W. St. Mary’s Road, Unit C1A $5; all ages topaz-tundra.com The melodies that color Audacity’s brashly energetic garage punk are like bright patches stitched onto a worn denim jacket. The band’s music is defiantly homemade and unique,…
Tales of Tinctures
I work out a lot. I’m a bit of a fitness buff who took a year off recently to study exercise science in college—real college, not a set of personal-training books I ordered on the Internet. So I’m a fitness buff and a bona fide, qualified fitness expert … but I smoke. It’s not cigarettes,…
Couples Therapy
The Sunshine Boys Presented by Arizona Theatre Company 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, and Friday, March 15; 4 and 8 p.m., Saturday, March 16; 2 p.m., Sunday, March 17; 2 and 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 20; 2 and 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 21; 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 22; 2 and 8 p.m., Saturday, March 23…
Serraglio
Spring is here. Last week, for the first time in months, I saw lizards in the yard. Voracious big-headed ants emerged from their bunker under the shed and began denuding nearby vegetation. And Jim Nintzel has written his annual legislative roundup, a forensic examination of the train wreck of democracy, Arizona style. I know a…
Ask a Mexican!
The Mexican ponders Chicanos running for office, and wonders why Mexicans trip over themselves for Lindsey Lohan.
Women on a Sex Strike
Lysistrata Presented by Beowulf Alley Theatre 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 2:30 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, March 24 11 S. Sixth Ave. $20 general; $18 seniors, teachers and military; $8 students Runs one hour and 25 minutes, with one intermission 882-0555; www.beowulfalley.org I’d describe Aristophanes’ Lysistrata as a crowd pleaser—not a term one would usually…
Separation Stress
When the Tucson Weekly broke the story on U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s arrest of immigrant rights activist Raul Alcaráz Ochoa on Sunday, Feb. 17, it took just hours for the story to go national, putting Tucson once again at the epicenter of the immigration debate. The detaining and deporting of undocumented immigrants has often…
Border Art and Song
Cesar Lorenti Castillo has more works than any of the other 14 artists in the Endurance/Resistencia art show at the Raices Taller gallery. He’s showing eight watercolors and drawings, so many they take up a whole wall in the gallery. And he made them all in Tucson in just the last month. Before that, until…
Borderland Blowout
The video is damning: Vast stretches of Southern Arizona’s public lands are shown ravaged by miles of renegade roads. According to the Sierra Club and the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, the culprits include hundreds of Border Patrol agents working the Arizona-Mexico line. To conservationists, the story behind Too Many Tracks is one of needless…
Disturbing the Dead
A Long Day at the End of the World By Brent Hendricks Farrar, Straus and Giroux $14; 280 pages So what can you get if you confront a Harvard Law graduate-turned poet with the real-life desecration of his father’s dead body? Material, lord knows. Boatloads of material for writing. In the case of this memoir,…
Soundbites
Our music crew ships out to Austin for SXSW; everyone in Tucson is a little Irish for St. Patrick’s Day; The Hillwilliams rock Che’s Lounge; and more!
Out of the House
A bill that would put a stop to city-run gun buybacks passed through the House on a 36-23 vote on Thursday, March 7, but not without attempts to exclude Pima County from the ban and accusations of gun fetishes. HB 2455, sponsored by Rep. Brenda Barton, R-Payson, prohibits the government from destroying a firearm unless…
Pedersen On Sports
As I was growing up in the nurturing (sarcasm intended) bosom of New Jersey in the late 1980s and early 1990s, my family was one of the fortunate few to have a home computer. Thus, we were also among the first to be exposed to the wonders of what then was still a fledgling and…
Top Ten in Books
1. Deadly Stakes: A Novel J.A. Jance ($25.99) 2. Buddhist Boot Camp Timber Hawkeye ($12.99) 3. Beautiful Darkness Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl ($9.99) 4. Paper Towns John Green ($9.99) 5. Life of Pi Yann Martel ($15.95) 6. Beautiful Creatures Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl ($9.99) 7. Flight Behavior: A Novel Barbara Kingsolver ($23.19, sale)…
Live
The District Tavern hosts some of the most interesting shows for local and touring bands these days. At worst polarizing, and revelatory nearly every time, I always leave feeling really angry, and that makes me extremely satisfied. Shit Ton is an exceptionally accomplished local instrumental trio. I will now check my musical preferences at the…
MacArthur Misstep
Earlier this month, John Wilpers died at the age of 93. Wilpers was not hounded by TMZ on a daily basis and he probably wasn’t the center of attention in his hometown for the past 65 years, but he played a key role in American history. At the end of World War II, Wilpers stopped…
Nine Questions
Buzz Jackson has been the afternoon host and program director at country format KIIM FM 99.5 for almost 12 years. His show airs from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Jackson worked for a country station in Florida for six years before moving to Tucson and has been a radio show host for 25…
Franco, the Miscast
I like James Franco more often than not. Loved him as a stoner … loved him as a hiker with an unfortunately small knife getting his arm stuck behind a boulder … even liked him opposite a motion-capture chimp. As much as I often like him, he is all wrong for the central character of…
Top Ten in Music
1. Jimi Hendrix People, Hell & Angels 2. How to Destroy Angels Welcome Oblivion 3. Soilwork The Living Infinite 4. Atoms for Peace Amok 5. Kendrick Lamarr Good Kid: M.A.A.D. City 6. Rihanna Unapologetic 7. Mumford & Sons Babel 8. A$ap Rocky Long Live A$ap 9. Boz Scaggs Memphis 10. Bruno Mars Unorthodox Jukebox
Top Ten in Cinema
1. Argo 2. Wreck-It Ralph 3. Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 4. The Intouchables 5. Red Dawn 6. Anna Karenina 7. The Bay 8. The Master 9. Chasing Mavericks 10. Skyfall
Wavves: Afraid of Heights (Mom + Pop)
The music of Wavves has been defined by a certain anarchic force over their short career. Afraid of Heights, their fourth, has that same demonic energy but channeled in a much more controlled and crisp manner. Take lead single “Sail to the Sun,” which has the band sounding more like fellow beach-poppers the Drums than…
Editor’s Note
So, if you’re one of the thousands of people who pick up a copy of the Weekly at Circle K each week, next week you’ll have to go elsewhere. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me or anyone else around here, the convenience store chain has kicked us out of their stores, seemingly to…
Police Dispatch
Singing helped a drunk student beat a breathalyzer, though a blood test cut her evening short; a drunken sorority girl has trouble remembering…everything.
True TV
You Should Watch It Bates Motel Monday, March 18 (A&E) Series Debut: A modern-day “prequel” to the 1960 classic Psycho? A&E has entertained worse ideas for series, including sequel reality shows following the further adventures of Gene Simmons’ and Criss Angel’s respective hairpieces. Bates Motel tells the story of how a teenage Norman Bates (Freddie…
Weekly Wide Web
We’ve got plenty of opinions coming to us from readers and commenters on TucsonWeekly.com and the Tucson Weekly Facebook page regarding the story of KVOA anchor Allison Alexander and Tucson Fire Department Public Information Officer Barrett Baker (“What Was the Fire Department PIO Doing in a Car With a KVOA Anchor?”, The Range, March 7)…
Odd Location, French Flavors
Le Rendez-Vous 3844 E. Fort Lowell Road 323-7373; rendezvoustucson.com Open Tuesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. Pluses: Excellent food; great wine list Minuses: Pricey; service on the restaurant’s fancier side was dismissive I’ve driven by Le Rendez-Vous on Fort Lowell Road hundreds of times. I’ve mentioned…
FIDLAR: FIDLAR (Mom + Pop)
It opens with “Cheap Beer” and closes with “Cocaine,” so you get it, right? Both serviceable, the former thrashes about in unadulterated, snotty glee with a big, brazenly dumb chorus (“I drink/ Cheap beer/ So what?/ Fuck you”). The latter also prides itself on youthful provocations (cocaine for breakfast!), but is ably matched by an…
Lawmakers Are Taking a Stance on Tucson’s Mail
Remember when we told you that Tucson mail was going to hell in hand basket? Well, Arizona lawmakers are trying to get Congress to do something about it. House Concurrent Memorial 2007 urges Congress to protest the closure of Cherrybell Mail Processing Center in Tucson, which serves 1.8 million people.Memorials allow state legislatures to make…
