Cover Story
Bang the Gong
Public humiliation comes in a variety of forms, most of which are unintended, unsolicited and wholly unwelcomed. Face-planting while walking down a busy street, splitting your pants bending over to pick up that nickel you dropped or letting one rip in a crowded elevator are just a few of the ways to bring embarrassment to…
Come Eat Lunch With Us Tomorrow
On occasion, food trucks have parked themselves on the stretch of Hemisphere Loop the Weekly calls home, but tomorrow will be a truly magical convergence of mobile dining goodness and multiple trucks will be right down the street from us. So, if you’re in the general Valencia/Palo Verde/Country Club area, come by, so we can…
John Pedicone Sends TUSD Teachers a Note of Appreciation That Probably Completely Allayed Any Fears of Losing Their Jobs
On the same day a majority of the Tucson Unified School District governing board — Adelita Grijalva, Kristel Foster and Mark Stegeman — voted to RIF more than 160 teachers, librarians and support staff to help close in on the district’s $17 million deficit, teachers got a nice love note from Superintendent John Pedicone via…
Someone Made David Foster Wallace’s “This Is Water” Speech Into a Short Film
University of Arizona alumnus and heralded as the “Voice of a Generation” by far too many people to count, David Foster Wallace was one hell of a writer — to put it mildly. And while he’s well known for his massive fiction pieces, such as the posthumously-released The Pale King, or the massive, weighty tome…
Critter of the Week: Benny
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Benny, a 2-year-old, male, Retriever mixReference no. 711571 Beautiful Benny can’t wait to find a home to call his own. This sweet, mellow boy loves attention and accompanying you for walks. Delivered to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona as a stray, Benny now hopes to find himself…
Disney Dia de Los Muertos? Hell No!
It’s the blog post that cruised Tucson Facebook posts yesterday with the exclamation: Is Anything Sacred? Well, is anything sacred? According to the blog Stitch Kingdom, Walt Disney Company filed trademark application to secure Dia de Los Muertos. In Tucson where we sometimes think we hold the trademark on all things Day of the Dead,…
AFSC Poll: Arizona Voters Approve Incarceration Alternatives, Disaprove of Corrections Spending
Those folks at the American Friends Service Committee released results from a poll the organization commissioned, and according to a press release sent out today “voters in Arizona believe criminal justice policies should be cost effective, and they are open to alternative approaches as a means of reducing the state budget. They also in large…
You Should Take Your Mom Somewhere Nice This Mother’s Day
Over the next few days, we’ll be providing you folks with a few options for taking your lovely mothers out somewhere this weekend for Mother’s Day. After all, they’re the ones who allowed you to come into existence, fed, nurtured, and raised you — the least you could do is buy ’em a meal. First…
A Second Caffe Torino
Caffe Torino in the Foothills is slated to open the first week of June, to be located at 5605 E. River Road Suite #121. This is the previous location of Rick’s Café that closed back in January. This will also be the second location for the owners of Caffe Torino, the first being at 10325…
An Internet Hero Watched the Shockingly Boring ‘Teen Mom’ Porno
So, as we continue with news and updates regarding the fact that May is apparently Masturbation Month, it seems that now would be as good a time as any to mention that Teen Mom “star” Farrah Abraham took part in a “sex tape” with noted porn star James Deen — a “sex tape” that was…
Like Cooking? Want To Be On a Reality Show? Feel Like Further Crushing the Throat of What Once Was “Music Television”?
Were it not for the massive brand cache that MTV still carries (somehow) I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if they decided to re-brand in some way that called to light the fact that most of their programming is reality/pop-culture, with token lip-service to music a few times a year. Regardless, given Tucson’s growing recognition as…
British Biography Series Re-imagines Historical Figures as Contemporary Folk
Historical reimaginings are always a fun way to compare modern society to historical society (look at basically any Baz Luhrmann travesty where period pieces are shoved into a contemporary box or given modern flavors, for example), and this experiment by the folks behind British biography series “Secret Life of…” looks at historical Brits through a…
Queens of the Stone Age’s New Music Video is Creepy as Hell
“I Appear Missing” is the first release off of Queens of the Stone Age’s forthcoming release Like Clockwork, set to be released June 6 — and I’m pumped, if only because Dave Grohl returned to lay down the drums for this album, which is cool in its own right. Bigger to me, though, is that…
There are Tumblrs for Everything: Introducing ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Butts’
I love novelty Tumblrs. Actresses Without Teeth is/was spectacular (especially because it helped contribute to my not-too-shabby score last time I went pub quizzing), Fearless Editor Dan Gibson has a few he’s sitting on ’til they blow up (including one dedicated to All My Children, weirdly enough) and I keep hoping that the one dedicated…
Timing of Wingspan’s Community Letter is, Well, Interesting
Just when you’re wondering what’s going on, you receive a community letter ‘splaining it all or making everything seem positively positive. The letter is from Wingspan and it went out through the Internets yesterday. The community calls coming into Weekly World Central have to do with the firing of popular staff members, and the departure…
Today in Weird Hip-Hop News: Jay Electronica Breaks Up a Marriage Between Two Wealthy Brits, and Murs Rides a Stripper Pole
So, if you really dig hip-hop, you might be familiar with Jay Electronica (also known as Jay ElecHanukkah, or Jay ElecYarmulke, or Jay ElectRamadaan Muhammad Asalaamica RasoulAllah Subhanahu wa ta’ala — if you’re taking stock in his verse from “Exhibit C”) — either because he exploded your mind with “Eternal Sunshine,” “Exhibit A” and/or “Exhibit…
Suspect Nabbed in 37-Year-Old Cold Case
20-year-old Donna Smith was found dead in her apartment in March of 1976. On May 2, the man suspected of murdering her, 66-year-old Bruce McCullough was found and arrested by Tucson Police in San Diego. McCullough, who was 28 at the time of Smith’s murder, was Smith’s live-in-boyfriend who disappeared shortly after Smith’s death. He…
PCC Students March Wednesday to Demand Board Resignations
On Wednesday, May 8, 5:15 p.m., Pima Community College students and community supporters will march from Rincon/University high school at Swan Road and Fifth Street to the PCC governing board meeting at the PCC District headquarters at 4905 E. Broadway Blvd. According to savepimapride.org, a petition will be presented asking for the resignations of board…
Tyler, the Creator and Odd Future Visit Isaiah Toothtaker’s ‘Staring Without Caring’ For Some Ink
Rapper and ALL-CAPS TWITTER USER Tyler, the Creator recently rolled through Tucson’s Rialto Theatre as part of a tour with fellow Odd Future collective member Earl Sweatshirt and other members of the Odd Future crew. His notes from the tour? IN N OUT IS FUCKING BUTT WEAK THIS SHIT IS NASTY — Tyler, The Creator…
Arizona Athletics Unveils New Football Uniforms
The University of Arizona football team will be rocking new threads this season, and it almost seems as if they’re going the same route as similarly-Nike-sponsored PAC-12 rivals, the Univeristy of Oregon Ducks, with uniforms that seem slightly…gimmicky. Brian Pedersen, the resident sports guy around here, had similar thoughts (though he appears to have wished…
Apparently There’s a ‘Parks and Rec’ Porn Parody Now
In honor of the fact that May is Masturbation Month, we give you something that was found a week or so ago and didn’t share for reasons such as “it is so damn weird” and “it’s porn related” — then, we remembered that this is the same publication that ran fiction featuring its writers in…
May is Masturbation Month, So Everybody Get Busy
I do remember when former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders was fired for her statements on masturbation and a need for it to be in sexual education. She was and continues to be an advocate for drug legalization, but it was her comments in 1994 at a United Nations conference on AIDS that forced the…
What’s Your Purple in Your Desert Potted Garden?
Marylee, Potted Desert Gardener Potted Purples in the Desert It is interesting to see how people prefer their colors together when combining flowers in a pot. I have a purple pot at home and plant purple flowers in it each season. This year, I combined red purples with blue purples and I am deciding what…
Celebrate Children’s Day on Cinco de Mayo
I realize that many folks of a certain age are going to be spending May 5 drinking Mexican beers of varying qualities and enjoying tacos of varying deliciousness. However, for those who’d like to expose their kids to a different cultural celebration, I’d like to recommend you head over to Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson.…
RichRod, You’ve Got Some Catching Up To Do
The first year under coach Rich Rodriguez was a mild success for the University of Arizona football team, which made a bowl game, received some national attention and is getting people to start paying attention to the Wildcats again. Sadly, this hasn’t translated into massive Twitter fame for RichRod. Proving that there is just no…
Hotel Congress Becomes a Haven For Star Wars Fans Tomorrow
It may not be Take Your Daughter to Work Day, but it should probably be fun all the same. Geeks of Tucson, we’re going to be busy tomorrow. Not only is tomorrow Comic Book Day, to be celebrated by shops all around town, but it’s May 4th, alternately spelled May Fourth…as in, “May the Fourth…
Want to See the Million Dollar Quartet?
Broadway in Tucson is bringing the story of the amazing Sun Studios to Tucson with Million Dollar Quartet, the story of Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash coming together to perform one day in 1956. We have tickets for the show Tuesday, May 7 at the TCC Music Hall. All you…
Rap Group Honor Roll Gang To Perform at Club Congress Tonight
Looking for a fresh start in a new town, rapper Johnny Redd moved to Tucson a year and a half ago from his hometown, Chicago. He moved to the Old Pueblo to be a film student at the Art Institute of Tucson, but quickly found himself invested in a solo music project. Not long after…
Everybody Hates Jeff: Flake’s Poll Numbers Are Miserable For a Freshman Senator
Oh, Jeff Flake. Things just keep looking bad for you. According to Behavior Research Center’s Rocky Mountain Poll, first-term Senator Jeff Flake’s polling numbers are doing rather poorly, which is rare for a freshman in Congress, as first-timers typically enjoy a honeymoon period with their constituents during their first term. In Senator Flake’s case, however,…
Tucson High School Art Program In the Running For A $50,000 Prize In Vans Custom Culture Contest
vans.com TMHS’s entries into the Vans Custom Culture Contest Tucson Magnet High School’s art programs are in line for a $50,000 prize — but they’ll need your help to get there. Tucson High students are participants in the Vans Custom Culture contest, which sends out four pairs of shoes to various high schools around the…
This Week in Tucson Bicycling
When the Warren Avenue underpass reopens following the streetcar construction, bicycles will be banned. Find out why bicyclists will have to get off their bikes and walk. Sunday’s Cyclovia Tucson had more participants than any of the previous ones. Find out how many people came and when the next one will be. New rankings by…
Chuck George Reveals He Suffers From Depression
This story was originally published at Inside Tucson Business, a sister paper of Tucson Weekly. He may be considered Tucson’s most popular TV personality but KOLD News 13’s Chief Meteorologist Chuck George suffers from the mood disorder of depression. And that’s why he has been off the air on a leave of absence for the…
Free Comic Book Day Events Across Tucson
Nothing against our friends over at Heroes and Villains, but our Free Comic Book Day pick in this issue’s City Week section unfortunately overlooked many of the other great shops around town. So to correct that injustice, we’re taking a look at the events that other comic book shops around town are running for Free…
Want to Get a Taste of Diablo Burger?
Diablo Burger opens up on Congress this Saturday, serving the burgers that made them famous in Flagstaff and also kicking off a very exciting run of openings on that corner. The fine people of this new addition to downtown have been kind enough to let us giveaway a table for four at their preview dinner,…
Brooklyn Pizzeria’s Daily Special Board Actually Pretty Damn Special
Vinnie’s Pizzeria, all the way out in Brooklyn, New York, has one of the best daily special boards that I’ve yet come across, replete with clever puns, great artwork, and some of the most intriguing, out-there pizza combinations that I’ve seen in recent memory (yes, even more intriguing than No Anchovies’ gourmet combinations, which can…
Red Baraat Among Cool UApresents Shows This Season
UApresents announced its 2013-2014 season on Tuesday night and there’s a lot of stuff to like (Chris Thile from Nickel Creek on February 8! A run of shows at Club Congress by jazz pianist Jonathan Batiste in November! The rescheduled Lang Lang show on October 22! Other stuff I’m not really sophisticated enough to be…
You Can’t Say That on Guy Atchley’s Newscast, Lady
[NOTE: Journal Broadcasting filed a takedown notice with YouTube, so this particular video has been removed. Totally within their rights, but still sort of lame, in my opinion. Anyhow, they somehow let a woman calling her attackers “dumb motherfuckers” slip through on-air. That was basically it.] Thankfully, this slip-up by a woman who has the…
Joshua Levine Was Right: Neutral Milk Hotel Announces Reunion Tour, Haters Can Suck It
Following Jeff Mangum’s Rialto show in March, Neutral Milk Hotel has announced that they’re bringing the band back together for a reunion tour. So far, no Tucson dates have been confirmed, though considering how vehement NMH fans are about defending their band’s honor, they may want to consider playing here—if only because there appear to…
How To Milk Uniform News, Arizona Football Edition
I’m a gear junkie, no denying this. I love the ever-changing landscape of caps, lids, tops, pants and all other accessories associated with the uniforms that professional, college, even high school — have you SEEN the sweet threads Cienega High School’s football program sports? — so learning that the University of Arizona was going to…
Nine Questions
Victor Castañeda is the lead singer and guitarist for A.M. Eyes, a local punk band. Catch them at the Rialto Theatre on May 12 as one of six bands in the “Tucson’s Best” showcase. Their first EP, Quarter Life Crisis, was released in January 2012 and can be purchased on iTunes. What was the first…
Editor’s Note
I’m not sure why I didn’t mention this last week, but thanks to all of you who came out to Exile on Congress Street on April 20. That event was a bit of an experiment, considering streetcar construction has made closing streets downtown somewhat impossible, but I was impressed by the turnout for Poliça, Dinosaur…
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records’ (Speedway) top sales for the week ending April 29, 2013
Ask a Mexican!
This week: Spanish pride! … and a reader submits his own advice!
Circles and Conversations
David Longwell is a quiet man who begins each day with meditation and drawing. But his luscious abstract paintings at the Temple Gallery are anything but still. Longwell attacks his canvases with brushes and palette knives, dashing off energetic arcs and swoops of thick white paint. Beneath this storm of curving action, he goes for…
Early Entry
Democrat Fred DuVal made his formal entrance into the 2014 governor’s race last week. A native Arizonan who grew up in Tucson, DuVal served in Bruce Babbitt’s gubernatorial administration in the 1980s and in the Clinton White House in the 1990s. In 2002, he made an unsuccessful run for Congress from a Northern Arizona district…
The Numbers Game
When the MMJ program launched in Arizona, there was a lot of cock blocking and stalling and excuses from the governor’s office and other chambers of government across the state. It took more than two years to get a dispensary, and so far just 17 have been cleared to open. But viewed from where I…
Sawyer-esque in the Sediment
In rural America, most boys have a place of their own—a clearing deep in the woods, a long-lost trail, some disused shack on the back acres of someone else’s property. Before young love or organized sports become a big thing, kids will just hop on their bikes and go until they find that perfect spot…
Saying Goodbye to Sahuarita
There was a time when Jim Stahle felt his stint as Sahuarita town manager was running short. Then 10-plus years went by. “In this business, you can’t help but assume you’re going to have to move on someday,” said Stahle, who became town manger in June 2001 after two years as Sahuarita’s planning director. “I…
The Skinny
Sen. Jeff Flake’s approval numbers take a dive after he votes against expanding background checks to gun shows … Gov. Jan Brewer continues her push for Medicaid expansion … Lawmakers are now working three days a week … and so much more!
Hyper and Sloppy
Michael Bay’s latest, Pain & Gain, has all of that Michael Bay crap that makes him one of my least favorite directors. Actually, that’s an understatement … I basically think Michael Bay is a satanic cinematic force, with most of his films sustaining an artistic level I shall equate to a sickened elephant farting in…
Police Dispatch
A dad who might deserve detention … a drunken student claims to be from a little town on the Arizona panhandle.
Top Ten in Cinema
1. Django Unchained 2. The Impossible 3. Gangster Squad 4. Promised Land 5. A Haunted House 6. Hyde Park on Hudson 7. Pawn 8. John Dies at the End 9. Happy People: A Year in the Taiga 10. Hemingway and Gellhorn
Media Watch
Winter radio ratings … and the Star shelves Oddities.
Noshing Around
A load of new liquor licenses … Chad’s closes while Diablo Burger looms near … Falora goes local … and more!
Top Ten in Books
1. The Lost Daughter: A Memoir Mary Williams ($26.95) 2. Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power Rachel Maddow ($15) 3. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared Jonas Jonasson ($15.99) 4. The Dark Lemony Snicket ($16.99) 5. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson ($15) 6. The Best…
Popular for a Reason
Blue Willow 2616 N. Campbell Ave. 327-7577; bluewillowtucson.com Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday Pluses: Delicious food, beautiful patio, laid-back ambiance Minuses: Gets crowded for breakfast, service can be slow at times When I was assigned this review, I realized that in the two-plus…
The Raw and the Cooked
The Sin Eater & Other Stories By Elizabeth Frankie Rollins Queen’s Ferry Press $14.95; 150 pages As a veteran fantasy reader, I relish an unexpectedly superb story collection. The sumptuous moments I spent savoring tales told in, for example, Kelly Link’s Magic for Beginners, Cory Doctorow’s Overclocked and Cody Goodfellow’s Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars…
Slow Grower
An Evening With Yo La Tengo 8 p.m., Monday, May 6 Rialto Theatre318 E. Congress St. $17 advance; $20 day of; all ages 740-1000;rialtotheatre.com For many audiophiles and critics, Yo La Tengo symbolizes the very apex of ’90s-era, Matador Records-style indie rock. Indeed, the Hoboken, N.J., trio’s 1997 I Can Hear the Heart Beating as…
Kurt Vile: Wakin on a Pretty Daze (Matador)
It may seem crazy to compare Kurt Vile’s newest album to Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, but they’re more alike than you think. Like Timberlake on his latest, Vile is in full-blown epic mode on Wakin on a Pretty Daze, turning in two 10-minute songs (the title track and closing song) and five more that…
Eclectic Energies
David Bromberg Quintet in concert at the 28th annual Tucson Folk Festival, with more than 120 other artists Bromberg plays at 9 p.m., Saturday, May 4, on the Plaza Stage in El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St. The festival runs from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.…
Devendra Banhart: Mala (Nonesuch)
No less weird than ever, Devendra Banhart is nonetheless an entirely different type of weird on his latest album, with a haircut, a New York City address and an art-school cosmopolitan sound that’s miles away from his early folk music. Sometimes poppy, sometimes sounding like the mellower end of Yo La Tengo, Banhart has moved…
Danehy
It is, through happenstance and circumstance (a nice way of referring to at least two of the Seven Deadly Sins), that I have arrived at a point in my life where I am in the worst physical shape that I’ve ever been in. It’s 100 percent my fault that I’m here, which means that I…
The Electric Blankets: Vehicles (Self-Released)
Initially, it seemed as if the Electric Blankets were a vanity project and a party band designed to alleviate the ultra-seriousness of their members’ parent groups, the Provocative Whites and the Ghost of 505. They fashioned themselves as a guaranteed good time, like Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs. Two years and one single later,…
Messina
You might catch a glimpse of him on a Saturday morning at Armory Park. Or maybe you’ll spot him on a Sunday afternoon at El Presidio Park. Don’t bother to rub your eyes. You will be seeing clearly—a man wearing a wolf mask and cap, dressed in dark clothes. Known as “Monzon,” this masked crusader…
City Week
This week, we urge you to pick up free comic books … drink a fair amount of agave-based beverages … take in the music of Cinco de Mayo … and enjoy live readings of prose and poetry.
Guest Commentary
(Editor’s note: The management of Desert Diamond Casinos asked for an opportunity to reply to the March 28 “Pedersen on Sports” column. This commentary, submitted by Wendell Hicks of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, serves as their counterpoint. While the opinions of our columnists may not necessarily reflect that of the Weekly, its staff or…
T Q&A
Francine Gachupin is an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona. She helped edit Health and Social Issues of Native American Women (Greenwood Publishing, 2012), the first book that compiles research specifically about the health of Native American women. The book details challenges that Native American women face with health…
Mailbag
Readers respond to our story on the Mexican Gray Wolf, and a correction.
Golf Goofiness
The Fox on the Fairway Presented by Invisible Theatre 7:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m., Sunday, through May 12 Invisible Theatre1400 N. First Ave. $28 Runs one hour and 45 minutes, with one intermission 882-9721; invisibletheatre.com I tell you, those folks at the Invisible Theatre have no fear. Far…
Reform or Retread?
No one was pining for perfection when the Senate’s so-called “Gang of Eight” released its ambitious stab at immigration reform on April 18. The gang included Arizona senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, who respectively played up the measure’s ambitious reform goals—from widening pathways for citizenship to easing America’s draconian deportation crusade—and its largely redundant…
True TV
You Should Watch It Parks & Recreation Thursday, May 2 (NBC) Season Finale: Yes, already—NBC has to get Parks & Recreation out of the way so the network can waste the rest of this month’s Thursdays saying goodbye to and eulogizing The Office, not to mention premiering/burning off Anne Heche’s doomed Save Me sitcom. At…
Deliciously Villainous
Richard III Presented by the Rogue Theatre 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday; 2 p.m., Sunday, through Sunday, May 12. Additional matinee at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 11. Music begins 15 minutes before showtime. Discussion with cast and director follows all performances. 300 E. University Blvd., in the Historic YWCA $20 for Thursday performances; $30 for…
Soundbites
We look ahead to KFMA Day … We indulge Dan Gibson’s love of R&B … and more!
Live
When finding his own voice meant turning his back on country music – at least a bit – the blues and soul that rushed in to fill the void became the foundation for Justin Townes Earle’s artistic growth. Touring in the downtime after Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, Earle thrives…
Protesting Disaster
Right outside the gates of the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind, Juliana Apfel sits holding a list of demands written in marker on a long piece of cardboard so that anyone passing by the Speedway Boulevard school understands why they’ve protested on and off the past two weeks. “I’m the voice of the…
