Cover Story
Battered State
If you ask Republican lawmakers, they’ll tell you the legislative session was a big success. They’ll boast that they balanced the budget in record time, brought spending in line with revenues, cut taxes, reduced the size of government and wrapped everything up in 100 days, just as Arizona’s Founding Fathers intended. But if you ask…
Cunningham Files for Ward 2; Pima Dems Bring a Little Smack To GOP
Ward 2 City Councilman Paul Cunningham filed his petitions today to run for the Ward 2 City Council seat he was appointed to after the resignation of Rodney Glassman last year. Cunningham’s filing brought a little smack talk from the Pima County Democratic Party: In the 2011 city election sweepstakes, all three Democratic council members…
Newt: The Emperor Is Wearing Clothes After All—and They Look Fabulous!
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Watching Republicans embrace and then backtrack from supporting Paul Ryan’s budget proposal has been kind of like that scene from The Shining when Jack goes into Room 237 and starts making out with that beautiful woman in the tub. Now Newt Gingrich evidently wants everyone to forget that on…
Endeavour Mission: Day 2
The Endeavour crew recaps Day 2 aboard the space shuttle, beginning with U2’s “Beautiful Day” and concluding with a weird-looking meal from pouches that float in zero gravity. Yum?
Police Dog ‘Fired’ after Biting Jogger; Car Plunges into Pool to Avoid Hitting Rabbit and More: Rynski Radio
Update with playlist and download at bottom of post Photo Ryn Gargulinski A Connecticut police dog was fired from the force and placed on 14-day quarantine after biting a jogger who simply happened to pass by. Wonder if he still gets his pension plan. That story and more are up this week on Rynski’s Shattered…
McCain Spokesperson Delivers Appropriate Response to Santorum (The Person)
Photo by Flickr user tlsmith1000 A follow up to yesterday’s post about former Senator Rick Santorum’s questioning of whether Senator John McCain understands the logistics of torture, from the Washington Post: McCain, of course, has direct experience of this process. He has even written that he did not become cooperative under “enhanced interrogation” at all,…
Padres Loss Another Close One in the 12th Inning
The Tucson Padres closed out the homestand last night with an extra-innings loss. The details from Tim Hagerty of the Padres: Albuquerque scored three times in an eventful top of the twelfth inning and beat the Tucson Padres 11-9 Tuesday. With the score tied at eight, the Isotopes had the bases loaded in the twelfth…
Tonight: Chant Fest
Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Armory Park Center, 220 S. Fifth Ave., Global Chant will be commemorating their 15th anniversary with Chant Fest. Chant Fest is a part of World Chant Day, which is a celebration created by Global Chant’s founder, UA psychologist Dr. Victor Shamas. This year, the lineup will include chanters from the…
Holy Santa Bologna
Think we have it bad? U.S. Border Patrol agents seized 385 pounds of bologna today from a pickup truck near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Evidently, it’s illegal to bring pork products over the border because this other white meat “has the potential for introducing foreign animal diseases to the U.S. pork industry.” According to the…
You Should Mark July 26th on Your Calendar
You should go ahead and start planning to be at Club Congress on July 26th to see Ben Sollee. First, he’s an amazing cellist, who does amazing and stunning things with the instrument. Secondly, if you’re a fan of the quirky, string laden pop of Andrew Bird, his new album Inclusions will be right up…
The Index of Cosby Sweaters You’ve Been Waiting For
I have no idea what prompted someone to index the patterns of sweaters worn on The Cosby Show (although the show’s appearance on Netflix Instant Watch probably helped), but now that all the immediately useful information has been cataloged, it’s time to move on to less obviously relevant concerns. Bonus blog content: the first Cosby…
Roseanne Barr Doesn’t Think Much of Television Producers
I watch far too much television, so Roseanne Barr’s essay on her experience developing her self-titled program for ABC was always going to be fascinating for me, but even for people with actual lives, her thoughts on the nature of fame might be the most interesting non-Tucson Weekly-related thing you read this week: Nothing real…
Oh, Deluded, Unelectable Rick Santorum!
You’d think that the fact that the candidacy of Donald Trump, about whom any number of wildly negative things can be said including just sticking to “reality show star”, was taken vastly more seriously than his would be a sign, but Rick Santorum keeps plugging away at convincing people he might actually be a legitimate…
Rizzo Homers Twice in T-Pad’s Win
Samantha Sais Anthony Rizzo homered twice as the Tucson Padres clobbered the Albuquerque Isotopes. Here are the details from the Padres’ Tim Hagerty: Anthony Rizzo hit two home runs in the first two innings Monday, leading the Tucson Padres to a 10-4 win over the Albuquerque Isotopes. The Padres have now won two of three…
Forthcoming “Tintin” Movie Might Be Brilliant Or Weird
In general, motion captured film making is still a little strange – I suppose we have Robert Zemeckis, what’s called the Uncanny Valley, and movies like A Christmas Carol to blame for that – but for me, that Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are making a 3-D Tintin movie is probably enough to get me…
Wall Street Journal: Loughner May Not Be Competent To Face Trial in Giffords Attack
The Wall Street Journal speculates that Jared Loughner may not be competent to stand trial for his shooting rampage on Jan. 8: Two federal court filings Monday in the criminal case of the man accused in the January shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others in Tucson, Ariz., strongly suggest that two health professionals…
Nogales Mayor Says He Never Said That People Want To “Lynch” Grijalva
Politico reports on a peculiar dust-up involving Congressman Raul Grijalva, Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino and Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, who hopes to challenge Grijalva in 2012: A southern Arizona border mayor is denying he ever said his residents wanted to “lynch” Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva for supporting a boycott of the state — a charge made…
Jon Stewart: “There Is a Selective Outrage Machine…at Fox”
If we can keep you from ever having to tune into Fox News, that’s a service we’re happy to provide, so here’s the Jon Stewart/Bill O’Reilly debate from earlier tonight on the O’Reilly Factor.
MoMo Go-Go
The UA Athletic Department reports: University of Arizona men’s basketball player Lamont “MoMo” Jones announced Monday that he will transfer to another school. He has not yet made a decision on which school he will attend. Jones, a 6-foot, 196-pound guard from Harlem, N.Y., averaged 9.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in…
Endeavour Mission: Day 1
NASA brings us a report from inside the Space Shuttle Endeavour as the astronauts settle into—and float around—their low-gravity surroundings.
Happy Birthday, Jonathan Richman
It’s a little difficult for me to believe, but Jonathan Richman turns 60 today. A frequent performer at Club Congress, Richman operates as a musician in a very strange place. He has some degree of fame (largely from his appearance in There’s Something About Mary) and some amount of critical acclaim, but he’s still plugging…
Reminder: It Might Be Worth Watching “The O’Reilly Factor” Tonight
Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly face off tonight on O’Reilly’s turf rehashing the Common controversy of last week, so it might worth setting the DVR to Fox News for one hour. Or just wait until tomorrow and someone (probably me) will post the video online. Your call.
Female Disney Characters Reimagined as Icons of Deadly Sins
There’s a great deal of disagreement around my house over the influence of the Disney line of Princesses and Fairies. My wife feels that the characterizations are harmful to my daughter’s emotional development and self-esteem, and I mostly agree, but am too much of a easy mark to tell her a crying three year old…
Padres Lose, Wilco (the Dog) Balks at Bark in the Park, Canine-Free Game Tonight
I took Wilco (the Dog) out to Kino Stadium for Bark in the Park night yesterday, but she got completely freaked out by something (perhaps the PA system or the Kino Bambino?) and had the doggie version of an anxiety attack, so I wasn’t able to stay very long, despite the delightful weather. As it…
You Might Want to Give Up Convincing Anyone of Anything
I would have spent more time reading this article in Mother Jones on the nature of persuasion and ideas, but I’m in the middle of a Facebook argument about something Rush Limbaugh said today. Take, for instance, the question of whether Saddam Hussein possessed hidden weapons of mass destruction just before the US invasion of…
Phoenix Suns CEO Rick Welts: I Am Gay
The New York Times reports: Last month, in a Midtown office adorned with sports memorabilia, two longtime friends met for a private talk. David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, sipped his morning coffee, expecting to be asked for career advice. Across from him sat Rick Welts, the president and chief executive of…
Please Don’t Associate Your Terrible Song With Our Congresswoman
I’ve tried to promote projects of my own on occasion, so I’m at least somewhat sympathetic to the difficulty involved in getting media outlets to pay attention to something you’d given a lot of time and effort, but one general rule: don’t use events you have absolutely no connection to whatsoever to promote your music.…
What’s an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Do, Anyway?
Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration The Space Shuttle Endeavour is delivering an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. What does it do, exactly? You might think you learned in high school that the universe is made of atoms and molecules, protons and electrons, stars and galaxies, but…
Scenes From a Slutwalk
Josh Morgan Tucson Weekly photographer Josh Morgan was on the scene for Tucson’s slutwalk on Friday afternoon. Why a slutwalk? It’s a revolution against the idea that it’s OK to assault a woman based on her manner of dress. You can find details here. More photos after the jump. Josh Morgan Josh Morgan Josh Morgan…
Another View of the Endeavour Launch
From Twitpic user @Stefmara:
Today in Mariachi Cover Bands
This is tough: I appreciate the wild ridiculousness of Metalachi, South Carolina’s (???) Mariachi Cabos also know their way around a cover tune and might be slightly more legit. Maybe a doubleheader, local venues? “Another Brick in the Wall”: “Beat It”:
Endeavour Launches
Big cheers erupted from the standing-room-only crowd gathered at Trident Bar and Grill early this morning as Space Shuttle Endeavour launched at 5:56 a.m. The shuttle is under the command of NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. “I feel like there’s been a lot of mourning,” said Penelope Jacks, who had turned…
Endeavour on Schedule to Launch Tomorrow
All systems are go for the launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour tomorrow, although skies are a little stormy. Wired has a roundup of where you can watch from home.
The Idiot Boksen – NBC’s Unwatched Successes
Any snob will tell you critical acclaim and high ratings don’t mix. One of the most famous examples began in Fall of 2003, when two sitcoms debuted five weeks apart. The first, Two and a Half Men, debuted on CBS, and quickly became the most watched television shows of the decade despite the fact it…
A Kids’ Music Expert Previews the Dan Zanes Show
[Note from Dan Gibson: Stefan Shepherd has a day job like most of us, but on the side, he just happens to be an amateur expert in children’s music, with news outlets like NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and Sirius/XM turning to him for information. Even if you haven’t heard kids’ music since Raffi was…
This Week in Tucson Bicycling
Mike McKisson runs TucsonVelo.com, a great site covering local cycling news. Once a week, he recaps the biggest local two-wheel, pedal-powered news for The Range. The United States’ most influential bicycle advocate will be in Tucson starting Sunday to lobby city officials and motivate cyclists to make Tucson better for bicycling. Check out what he…
TucsonWeeklyTV.com – A Local Pop-Up Shop
Dragon’s Spark, a temporary store selling crafts by local artisans, products made of recycled materials, fair trade merchandise, and combinations thereof, is celebrating its grand opening tonight from 6 to 8 p.m., featuring many of the artisans with items at the store. Dragon’s Spark is located at 4280 N Oracle Road, Suite 130.
Wait, Russell Pearce Might Have Lied About the Fiesta Bowl Scandal?
Hard to believe (that he might be lying about what he took from the Fiesta Bowl or that this guy is still in office, your choice), but the Arizona Republic looked further in Pearce’s somewhat adaptable story about his relationship with the free stuff express formerly available from the Fiesta Bowl committee: In 2005, Pearce…
A Political Ad Nearly as Ill-Advised as Ron Asta’s
I could be wrong, but when the script for your advertisement has the line “I’m Korean!” for a woman running a dry cleaning establishment, that could be on the border of bad-idea-land. [Mother Jones]
Gabrielle Giffords to Attend Endeavour Launch
From Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office: TUCSON — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ office today released details about her attendance at the Monday launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour, which will be commanded by her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly. Endeavor is scheduled to lift off from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39A at 8:56 a.m. EDT Monday…
Correction to “Battered State”: Antenori Didn’t Push Amendment To Strip County Workers of Merit Protections
Earlier today, I talked with Sen. Frank Antenori, who wanted to let me know that he didn’t have anything to do with an amendment to HB 2650 that would have stripped county workers outside of Maricopa County of civil-service protections if they were new hires or accepted a promotion. I reported in this week’s feature…
ZOOperstars at Kino Stadium Tonight!
Samantha Sais It was a beautiful spring evening to be at the ballpark last night, even if the Padres lost another one to Round Rock. The T-Pads are back on the field tonight and the ZOOperstars will be hand to entertain the kids. (We caught a glimpse of Harry Canary last night!) And there’s lots…
Tonight’s Live Music Recommendation: What Laura Says/Black Carl at Plush
A Tucson Weekly co-worker and I were having a discussion of how many bands from Phoenix we could actually say we liked to other day, and to be honest, we weren’t coming up with that many names. Whether that’s due to inter-city rivalry or just not seeing a lot of the city’s bands down here…
Chait: Examining Obama’s Latino Strategy
TNR’s Jonathan Chait looks at the strategy behind Obama’s immigration push this week: In the narrow analysis, Texas is a deeply Republican state. Obama lost it by a dozen points in 2008. It can’t possibly help him win in 2012. If he does win the state, which could conceivably happen only in some kind of…
The Phoenix New Times Visits Tucson’s Ethnic Studies Controversy
I haven’t been the biggest fan of Phoenix New Times writer Stephen Lemons lately for his pro-Sound Strike stance, but it’s nice that he came down to Tucson to actually try to understand the ethnic studies debate, something the people actually making the decision on a state level can’t seem to be bothered to do:…
Tucson Slutwalk: Old Pueblo Jumps on Brazen Bandwagon Protesting Toronto Cop ‘Slut’ Comment
Illustration Ryn Gargulinski Tucson is hopping on the Slutwalk bandwagon, a raucous-sounding trend that is sweeping parts of the Western world in response to an idiotic remark made by a Toronto police service officer. He said women should not dress like sluts if they want to avoid being raped. Nice. And men shouldn’t dress like…
Mercado San Agustin Opens Today
Various eateries and shops inside the new Mercado San Agustin have been opening quietly over the past several months, but this weekend is when the place and its incredible courtyard officially opens to the public. The opening celebration starts today, Friday, May 13, and continues through the weekend with brunches, live music and a chance…
Green Party Pseudo-Candidate Endorses Republican for Mayor?
If you’re going by Facebook “likes”, Jon McLane was seven times more likely to be mayor than Ron Asta (he’s up to 12 likes!), but he’s bowing out of a race he wasn’t actually likely to be eligible for. Even better, he’s joining the campaign of Republican/anti-tax zealot Shaun McClusky and not of his fellow…
Music and Booze for a Good Cause Saturday
Photo by user Jamiesrabbits, Flickr James from local band Caliche con Carne is from Alabama, and after the band’s previously scheduled show at the Red Room this Saturday, he’s heading to help his family rebuild following the recent tornado caused devastation. The Red Room is hoping to send him off with money to donate to…
McCain: Torture Didn’t Lead to Bin Laden
We pointed out on The Range last week and in The Skinny this week that Sen. John McCain was pushing back against the right-wing meme that torture helped lead to Osama bin Laden’s Pakistani hide-out. McCain emphasized his point in an op-ed in today’s Washington Post: Former attorney general Michael Mukasey recently claimed that “the…
Frosty Jake’s Opens Saturday
Lament no longer, fellow fans of frozen custard! After many months of teasing us with an “Opening Soon” sign, the new Frosty Jake’s at 3102 E. Grant Road opens this weekend. Will it be worth the wait? All signs are pointing to yes at this point, especially after my education this afternoon regarding the shop’s…
Get Ready to Really Hate Goldman Sachs
Matt Taibbi is turning out important, dynamic journalism at Rolling Stone month after month lately, and his new article brings up the same question that some of his recent work on the financial meltdown did: Why are these people not going to jail? But Goldman, as the Levin report makes clear, remains an ascendant company…
Goodbye, Productivity! Angry Birds Comes to Chrome
Yes, you’ll have to download Google’s Chrome browser if you haven’t already, but the way things are going you’re probably be required to have Google Everything sooner or later, so why not just submit now, play some Angry Birds while pretending to be working, and just relax. It’s Thursday, the day I call Friday-Xtra. Plus,…
It’s Buck-Beer Night! Go See the Padres!
Samantha Sais A 10th-inning rally fell short last night as the Tucson Padres lost another close game. But they’re back on the field tonight—and fans can enjoy $1 Budweiser beer from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (First pitch is 7 p.m., but the beer stands are opening early tonight, so enjoy a happy hour and…
Beatrice Nielsen of UHS Wins Congressional Art Contest
Beatrice Nielsen of University High School and her winning entry, “Stools We mentioned in this week’s Skinny that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ office hosted a reception for the winners of the Congressional Art Contest at Tohono Chul Park last weekend. The Range would like to extend congratulations to Beatrice Nielsen of University High School, whose ink-and-watercolor…
Common’s Poem About Government Overthrow (Just Kidding)
See for yourself: Common’s appearance at the White House last night. In other news, Sarah Palin moves on to something about boots and business.
Endeavour Scheduled to Launch Monday
Mark Kelly and the rest of the Endeavour crew are back in Florida preparing for a scheduled launch on Monday, May 16 at 5:56 a.m. Arizona time. From NASA: The six astronauts for space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission to the International Space Station now are at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for their prelaunch…
From Brazil to Pima
Aurora Gonçalves-Shaner has been dancing since she was 4 years old. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Gonçalves-Shaner’s artist mother always dreamed of being a dancer, but her family could never afford lessons. When she had children, she enrolled her two daughters into ballet classes. Gonçalves-Shaner’s older sister eventually quit—but she stuck with it. Unfortunately, when…
Live
Los Lobos is an American band. They are grown-ups. They know how to rock. And by the way, they can sing a ranchera that’ll make you weep. Everything else is just so much dust on the low rider. Friday night, after a spectacular set by Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta, Tucson fans embraced Los Lobos…
City Week
Border Action Network’s second annual spring fundraiser; Cinema Atomico: The Cold War goes to the movies!; I Dream in Widescreen 2011; Spring Circus: FUNdraiser for the Procession of Little Angels
Bless You!
Some notes worth noting this week: • We’ve received a number of interesting responses to last week’s announcement that we’re looking for a medical-marijuana critic. Most of those responses have been complimentary, with only one negative bit of feedback, from someone who also had this to say about the Tucson Weekly: “The mag you represent…
T Q&A
UA junior May Mgbolu is one of 40 students from throughout the country retracing the route of the 1961 Freedom Riders. Mgbolu, whose parents emigrated from Nigeria, grew up in Tucson and first heard about the project as an intern with the Tucson YWCA. We spoke to her before the trip, which began on May…
Danehy
To Your Excellency, the Most Rev. Gerald Kicanis, Bishop of Archdiocese of Tucson: I have a question for God, but I thought I’d run it by you first. I have to be careful how I word it, because I don’t want God to think I’m trying to strike a deal with Him. When I was…
Holy Ghost!: Holy Ghost! (DFA)
As someone who, at the age of 13, spent a lot of time locked in my room performing elaborately choreographed renditions of Erasure deep cuts like “Weight of the World” and “Cry So Easy,” I’m probably the target audience for the Holy Ghost! debut album. Oddly enough, Holy Ghost! opens with “Do It Again,” a…
The Bard vs. the Head
The Invisible Theatre caps its 40th anniversary season with Premiere! by Dale Wasserman. Premiere! is a play about theater people, and the premiere at its heart is their holy grail: an undiscovered work by William Shakespeare. While some celebrate the tragic poetry of this new masterpiece, others are forced to admit that it’s less than…
Serraglio
I first met Carlos Robles Elías when I traveled to his ranch in northern Sonora a few years ago with a group of Arizona conservationists to seek evidence of large, spotted, feline carnivores. Somehow, some way, a few rare jaguars and ocelots seemed to be finding their way into the United States from source populations…
Now Showing at Home
Daydream Nation (Blu-ray); The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (Blu-ray); From Dusk Till Dawn (Blu-ray)
Brother and Barriers
Among the theaters that have a Tucson address, the Borderlands Theater has a very specific identity, holding a unique place in our unique community. Its productions include mostly contemporary and even new plays which address border issues—certainly involving geographical borders, but also issues which draw lines between individuals, cultures, genders and identities. We can always…
Mailbag
Will the Padres succeed? It’s looking doubtful; County has responsibility to uphold promises made regarding insurance benefits; People don’t want to fund education these days because education these days sucks; A comment from a reader at TucsonWeekly.com; Correction
Architecture in Helsinki: Moment Bends (Downtown/V2)
What happened here? It’s the question asked by the detective at the crime scene, and regarding this Australian outfit’s latest effort, it’s also the beginning of the conversation. Asking the question does not insinuate castigation, though any admiration is likely to be mixed. It’s easy to hazard a guess why this high-charged group has stylistically…
Bring People Together
The phone rang one day last fall at the office of Art.if.Act Dance Project, one of Tucson’s newest dance troupes. The caller, arts promoter Larry Lang, had a surprising question: Would Art.if.Act be interested in touring China? The answer was yes, emphatically. “It’s unbelievable that we’ve gotten this invitation,” says Claire Hancock, Art.if.Act’s co-artistic director…
Leak Litigation
Call it déjà vu all over again. Back in 2006, Donald Rollings and his family sued the city of Tucson for more than $3 million. The Rollings alleged that century-old water mains were leaking throughout the even-older Barrio Viejo neighborhood south of downtown, and destroying historic adobe properties from the ground up. The city fought…
Meat Puppets: Lollipop (Megaforce)
Only a few brother duos in pop-music history can claim to have developed an extremely unique singing style. Alongside such pioneers as the Everlys and the Louvins we can place Curt and Cris Kirkwood, of the brilliant and famously nonconformist band Meat Puppets. The pair’s trademark close harmonies—casual twang, verging on phlegmatic—may be an acquired…
Ranch Dip
Modern Western ranch life isn’t a subject I thought I’d be moved by—until I read this small, out-of-nowhere essay collection, Amy Hale Auker’s Rightful Place. It’s an eloquent yet hard-bitten book that completely changed this city slicker’s attitude toward Texas cowboy life, despite the fact that I’ve read and reviewed many similar literary efforts; now…
Media Watch
Tucson native and new ‘Today’ host Guthrie credits UA with career guidance; Lee backpedals on bond-selling plan
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I can’t help thinking of Mexico as a Tea Party paradise. Mexican taxes are very low. There are few regulations, and environmentalists, socialists and liberals are few and far between. There is no Obamacare, and Mexico is the home of Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, a tribute to Mexican crony capitalism. Apparently,…
Top Ten in Books
Mostly Books’ best-sellers for the week ending May 6, 2011
The Skinny
Sen. Jon Kyl sees his approval numbers tumble in Arizona … Sen. John McCain is the second-least popular senator in America … Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is the most popular politician in Arizona …and so much more!
Off the Streets
Guadalupe Cora looks around her studio apartment wide-eyed as she explains how she feels to have a bed to sleep on, a soft carpet to walk on and a refrigerator filled with food. Cora, who has lived in her new home for just more than a week, is the first placement for 51 Homes, a…
A Sponsored Message
Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock is a big-idea guy. Super Size Me asked what would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for a month. The answer was shocking, the impact of the film significant: McDonald’s listened, wisely adopting a somewhat healthier menu; in fact, the Golden Arches became one of the 10 healthiest fast-food restaurants…
Doctors’ Orders
The widespread use of electronic medical record-keeping is coming. “The next generation of physicians doesn’t even worry about the use (of electronic medical records),” observes Steve Nash, of the Pima County Medical Society. “They can’t believe it isn’t the norm now.” On the other hand, Nash says that when it comes to older doctors, “A…
Anomalies Welcome
Alternately described as dream pop, dark ambient and shoegaze, the hypnotic alternative rock of Blind Divine conjures a heady atmosphere in which baroque structures, sonic textures, melancholic vocals and personal lyrics combine to evoke webs of emotional connections. “It’s almost like a landscape in your head,” says singer Paula Catherine Valencia, addressing the goal of…
Police Dispatch
One man’s art …; Impersonating the undocumented
Madea-Free Fun
I’m still suffering from a serious cinematic hangover after the latest Tyler Perry movie, and when I saw the trailer for Jumping the Broom, I thought it was going to be another Perry monstrosity. Before heading out to see Broom, I checked the Internet Movie Database and discovered that Perry had nothing to do with…
Soundbites
23 songs, one cranky computer; Lucky 13th; Second Saturdays turns 1; Getting together; On the bandwagon
Weekly Wide Web
An Alternative to Pandora; The week on The Range; Comment of the week; Best of WWW; and more!
Top Ten in Music
Toxic Ranch Records’ top sales for the week ending May 6, 2011
Noshing Around
CeeDee on TV; Brushfire 2.0; Tuscan in Tucson; Tucson Culinary Festival Details; Pizza Plus #1—Plus Suds
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week ending May 8, 2011
Nine Questions
Tom Moore has lived in Tucson for eight years, arriving from Austin via Seattle. Moore left a film-production career to become a high school social-studies teacher in downtown Tucson. He is anxiously awaiting the impending summer vacation and playing guitar in local folk-rock group The Possibles. Catch The Possibles when they play next Thursday, May…
Communal Experience
Tucson is turning into a more metropolitan city every day, with posh new restaurants opening throughout downtown, and a growing diversity in the type of cuisine available. Now comes Café Desta, a welcome spot in the Barrio Viejo/Armory Park area—which suffers from a dearth of restaurants of any type. Just the second Ethiopian restaurant to…
At Least the Arizona Legislature Didn’t Outlaw Sex
This week’s cover story by Jim Nintzel looks at this year’s legislative session and surprising probably no one, the news isn’t all that good. However, let’s give Pearce, Adams, and crew some credit: they didn’t outlaw sex entirely, like they might have in Florida: A person may not: (a) Knowingly engage in any sexual conduct…
Unique Eggs Benedict: Izzi’s Cafe
I’ve been hearing good things about the unique eggs Benedict being served at this new place called Izzi’s Café up in Oro Valley, yet I haven’t be able to get up there to eat yet. But I spoke with owner Alex Izzard this morning, and the stories are true. His newish breakfast-and-lunch joint up at…
