Cover Story
Tiger’s Rules
Tom Ziegler began his time at the Tap Room in 1952 as a customer, he said. “They were nice, and the bartenders were wonderful,” so he kept coming back between his stints working as a driver for a trucking company. In 1959, after a severe accident, Tiger left trucking behind. It wasn’t long before he…
Win Tickets for Arizona Theatre Company’s ‘Xanadu’
The Arizona Theatre Company’s next big show starts on Nov. 30, and here’s your chance to win free tickets. It’s hilarity on wheels in this hit, award-winning musical comedy for anyone who has ever wanted to feel inspired. In this smash Broadway hit, Kira, a beautiful, magical Greek muse, is sent on a quest from…
You Should Probably Buy the New Blood Orange Album Next Week
British R&B/new waveish weirdo Devonté Hynes (you might remember his records when he was going by Lightspeed Champion or when he was the frontman for Test Icicles, but then again, maybe not) has a new album out under the name Blood Orange (sure) called Cupid Deluxe (ok) and it’s great, all full of synths, minor…
Calle 13, Kamilya Jurgan, Tom Morello, Julian Assange Leak ‘Multi_Viral’
Today WikiLeaks announced a new musical collaboration between Calle 13’s Residente, Palestine vocalist Kamilya Jubran, The Nightwatchman Tom Morello and WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange. Multi_Viral is available for download and will be featured in Calle 13’s latest album XX that’s expected to release in 2014. The song is in Spanish and Arabic, but you can read all the lyrics…
Cancel Your Plans in March: Sharon Jones is Coming to Tucson
This might be weird, but one of my favorite things to do when we’re putting this issue together on Tuesday is to look at the Rialto ad and see what new shows have been announced. Sometimes I’ve already heard the news, sometimes I’ve heard rumors that someone is coming to town, but the moment of…
This Week in Social Media Disasters: World of Beer Edition
Some background: Blake Collins (disclosure: a friend, plus I officiated his wedding) wrote a one-star Yelp review of the new World of Beer location downtown. He’s not the only person to give the place a bad review (nine of the fifteen reviews are one or two stars, although, to be fair, there are four five…
Live Music at Cartel Food Truck Round Up
Happy hump day, Tucson. Tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. there will be a food truck round up and live music at Cartel Coffee Lab, 2516 North Campbell Avenue. Enjoy food from Haus of Brats, The Zany Beaver, DC Jumbie, Kadooks Kadooks! Costa Rican Fusion Food Truck Jackie’s Food Court and You Sly Dog. There will be live performances from Arthur Greenland,…
Advocates Press on, Despite Grim 2013 Outlook For Immigration Reform
By PEI LI Cronkite News WASHINGTON – Immigration overhaul advocates said they will keep fighting, despite a House Republican leader’s comment last week that there is not enough time left on this year’s legislative calendar to act on the issue. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., “is wrong – there is still time,” said Dawn…
UPDATE – Is Nicolas Cage’s Stolen Sex Pics The Real National Treasure?
A plethora of Nicolas Cage’s sex photos were reportedly stolen from his ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton’s home. The suspected party is Fulton’s former repairman Ricardo Orozco. Orozco, 39, was charged with felony burglary after he allegedly broke in Fulton’s home and snatched four computers and a box of naughty photos. Orozco pled not guilty and is currently being held…
Park(ing) Day and GABA Fall Bike Swap This Saturday
Here’s your chance to experience Park(ing) Day this Saturday, November 16th, at Exo Roast Co. and Tap & Bottle located near the intersection of North Sixth Avenue and East Seventh Street. The event will be in conjunction with the Greater Arizona Bicycling Association’s annual Fall Bike Swap at 400 North Fifth Avenue. Park(ing) Day is made…
Potential for the Crazy: Tonight’s TUSD Board Meeting
Occasional Tucson Weekly contributor David Safier wrote a great piece recently for Blog for Arizona on an agenda item for tonight’s Tucson Unified School District governing board meeting, which, yeah, starts pretty soon—the board is in executive session right now and the public meeting kicks off at 6:30 p.m. On the agenda is discussion about…
Still Mad at Tucson Pride: Show Up, Tonight’s Your Night to Get Involved
The Tucson Pride board of directors will have an open board meeting to discuss how to remedy community issues at 6 p.m. tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the Hilton Tucson East, 7600 E. Broadway Blvd. Last month, we wrote about the troubles facing Tucson’s LGBT Pride organization—board issues, financial stress and conflicts in the LGBT…
When’s the Last Time You Watched ‘Risky Business’?
Risky Business, the 1983 film that skyrocketed Tom Cruise to stardom and made everybody rush out to purchase Ray-Ban Wayfarers, is playing at Cinemark El Con tomorrow afternoon and evening. It’s part of Cinemark’s Classic Series, a weekly series of digitally cleaned up versions of your favorite older films. This was the first film I…
Steff and The Articles EP Release Party at Plush
Steff and The Articles will be debuting their new EP Why Was It So at 9 p.m. Saturday, December 9th at Plush Tucson, 340 East Sixth Street. Special guest include up and coming local pop band Copper & Congress. This will be the first live performance for funny man Kevin William Lee and Plush bartender…
Immigration Reform Isn’t Happening This Year
Talking Points Memo confirms what we predicted in The Skinny last week: There’s not enough time left in the year for immigration reform to go anywhere in the House of Representatives. The report: Late Friday afternoon, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) leaked word to The Associated Press that there weren’t enough days on the legislative…
Winterhaven is Coming, And There Will be Changes.
It’s almost Thanksgiving so that means Christmas is here. The beloved local winter attraction Winterhaven is going to make some ethical changes to its wagon rides this year. The official website says the winterhaven wagons will be “mechanized” and the mules have been forced in to retirement. Simply put, it is time we decide whether the…
Tucson Among 35 Best Cities For Hipsters 35 and Younger
Hear that young people of Tucson? Wear those beards and mom jeans with pride. The journalist at Vocativ took the 50 most populous cities in the country and came up with the top 35 cities for folks 35 and younger. They researched which city had the most coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, music venues and cheapest…
Tucson Live Music Space to Close at the End of the Year
All ages venue Tucson Live Music Space will be closing its doors at the end of this year, with its last scheduled show taking place on Saturday, December 21st. TLMS has been hosting shows for the past 14 months in a converted house located at 125 West Ventura Street, near Grant and Oracle Roads. As…
Some Trader Joe’s Salads Could Kill You (Maybe)
Today in “this world is going to kill us all sooner rather than later” news, two types of pre-packaged salads sold at Trader Joe’s here in Arizona were apparently contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 (the extra letters must mean it’s extra dangerous). Produced from Sept. 23 and Nov. 6, 2013 by Glass Onion Catering in…
In Your Desert Garden: Volunteers Galore!
What is free in our gardens? Volunteer plants! We often get surprises of something we did not plant shooting up after our monsoon rains and cooling temperatures. They can come from previous plantings, seeds carried in by the wind and even bird droppings. We know cacti propagate readily — through ‘pups’ and seeds. One year…
AZ Illustrated Politics: City Council Election Post-Mortem, Downtown Redevelopment & Bring on the Midterms
On last night’s AZ Illustrated Politics, coming to you from AZPM’s new Studio A: City Councilman Steve Kozachik, attorney Jeff Rogers and radio-show host Miguel Ortega discussed the Democratic landslide in Tuesday’s City Council election; the ongoing efforts of the city to work with the Rio Nuevo Board; and onset of the 2014 congressional midterm…
Surprise Comedy Show at Plush Featuring Doug Stanhope and Kristine Levine
In mid-August Doug Stanhope showed up unannounced and hosted an open mic comedy show at Mr. Head’s Bar. Stanhope is coming back to Tucson for an extra special performance, but this time his manager Brian Hennigan gave the Range a heads up. Stanhope is presenting a comedy show on Friday, November 29th, at Plush Tucson, 340…
Jeff Gordon on The Sounds Of Pertussis and NASCAR
It’s not every day that I get to talk to a legendary NASCAR driver about whooping cough. Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon has teamed up with the March of Dimes’ Sounds Of Pertussis campaign to spread the word about the whooping cough epidemic. “When my wife Ingrid and I had our first child, we consulted our…
SNAP to Protest Outside a Tucson Church This Sunday
A national group that advocates on behalf of victims of sexual abuse plans to protest outside a Tucson church this Sunday at 11:15 a.m to demand the resignation of music minister Eric Holtan. The group SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is a national support network for men and women abused in…
An Interview with ‘A Teacher’ Director Hannah Fidell
A Teacher is one of the many incredible films playing at the Loft Cinema Film Fest this week, and I’ve written about it in this week’s TW issue. Out of all the festival films I previewed, this one stuck with me the longest. A Teacher stars newcomers Lindsay Burdge and Will Brittain as a teacher…
Donate a Food and Dance For Free with Sol Axé!
Dance like no one’s watching from 5 to 6:15 p.m. on Sunday, November 10, at the Rhythm and Industry Performance Factory, 1013 S. Tyndall Avenue. Sole Axé is hosting a free dance event and benefit for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. One donation gets in the dance for free. Now go have the time of your…
Pedersen Prep FB Playoff Preview
It was about 10 months ago that I spent a nice winter afternoon at an east side Subway, just me, my $5 footlong, my notepad and the greatest high school football coach in Tucson history. I already had a good idea that Jeff Scurran was going to make a quick turnaround at Catalina Foothills, where…
Scientists Have Figured How Not Piss Yourself And on Everything Around You
The “wizz-kids”at Brigham Young University have been hard at work trying to find the best method to spray the porcelain. A team of four scientist have developed methods on how to avoid urinating on the wall, floor and pants all at the same time. I guess I have been doing it wrong my whole life,…
Tucson Roller Derby Hosts Arizona State Championship Games
The Arizona State Roller Derby Championships will be taking place on November 16 and 17 at the Wreckhouse, 1145 E. Valencia Road. The Furious Truckstop Waitresses (TRD), the VICE Squad (TRD), the Copper Queens (TRD), the Surly Gurlies (AZRD, Phoenix), the Bad News Beaters (AZRD, Phoenix), and the Whiskey Row-llers (NAZRD, Prescott) are going to battle…
New RoboCop Trailer is Kinda Cool
UK Yahoo Movies released the second RoboCop trailer today. The director José Padilha starts off the clip admitting how much he loved the original 1984 movie, and how the remake relates to the cult classic. I hate to judge this film before I see it, but I can’t help but already compare it to the original. I’m…
The New Classic Drops Their First Studio Album
Alternative rock Tucson band The New Classic successfully raised $5,100 using Indiegogo to produce their first album back in August. They received help from Paul Leavitt who has produced music with bands like Sense Fail, The Boy And His Machine, All Time Low and I Am Ghost. The New Classic debuted their self titled record on iTunes…
Justin Bieber Likes to Tag and Sleep With Prostitutes?
Maybe a night in jail will do Justin Bieber some good? BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat reported that the 19 year-old pop star had been charged with “defacing a building or urban monument by graffiti or other means” outside of a hotel in Brazil. Apparently, Bieber had permission from the city to tag a certain area…
Last 4 Tucson Blockbuster Video Branches to Close by Early 2014
Photo from shutterstock.com R.I.P. Blockbuster Movie rental stores like Blockbuster have been greatly affected by sites like Netflix and Red Boxes. Yesterday Dish Network announced that they are finally closing the last of their 300 video stores and disc-by-mail service, but the online streaming rental service Blockbuster Now will continue to operate. “This is not…
The Skinny
THAT IMMIGRATION PUSH A whole bunch of Arizona business leaders joined counterparts from across the nation last week to fly into Washington, D.C., to lobby members of the House of Representatives on the stalled comprehensive immigration reform legislation that passed the Senate earlier this year. We’ll soon see if the effort had an impact. House…
Soundbites
THE WEEK IN ROCK Question: How many shows can a city of a million people in the greater metro area support in one week, when it follows one of the most anticipated weeks of the year? Answer: I have no idea, but we should have a pretty good answer a week from now. In an…
Guest Commentary
The 1978 TUSD desegregation court order included the creation of TUSD’s Independent Citizens’ Committee, or ICC, which was charged with monitoring the district’s progress in complying with the court order. The ICC reported to the Governing Board for 32 years . In 2009, the court declared TUSD unitary and accepted the TUSD board-approved post-unitary status…
Nine Questions
Ari Aho Ari Aho is a native Tucsonan. He started working for The Rock in 2002, and is now a general manager. Happily married with three children, he keeps himself extra-busy with his autoglass distribution and printing companies. Joshua Levine, mailbag@tucsonweekly.com What was the first concert you attended? The Beach Boys at Reid Park. It…
Pedersen on Sports
Halloween has come and gone, and my children have inexplicably already forgotten about the loads of candy they hauled in last Thursday night. Their loss is my and my wife’s gain, though that means I’m on such a perpetual sugar high that there’s no way I’m able to focus on just one topic to rant…
Live
TUCSON LIVE MUSIC SPACE Sunday, Nov. 3 In rock music, there are song bands and there are sound bands. The Beatles and The Clash were song bands. They adapted their overall approach to accommodate whatever style they were attempting or experimenting with. Sound bands, like Kraftwerk or Sonic Youth, fit their compositions into their instantly…
LABMUNKZink: Almanac
There’s no doubt that Almanac is a producer’s album. It’s telling that the record’s first moments are sampled dialogue from Stanley Kubrick’s classic A Clockwork Orange, because Almanac flows effortlessly through disparate moods, like all great cinema. Although all the different vocalists that grace most of the tracks turn in compelling performances, the emphasis is…
Pick of The Week
TusCon is like Tucson Comic-Con’s chill, obscure brother; it’s the Luigi of Tucson sci-fi and fantasy culture. But wearing the lesser-known green cap isn’t a bad thing. For the past 40 years, the convention has brought fans of science fiction, fantasy and horror together with some of their favorite authors, filmmakers and artists—and this convention…
Quasi: Mole City
Quasi: Mole City It’s almost inevitable that if an artist or band is around long enough, they build up enough confidence (and material) to release a double album. If done right, you get masterpieces like the Beatles’ White Album, the Stones’ Exile on Main St. or Husker Du’s Zen Arcade. With Mole City, the Portland,…
City Week
Beauty in Every Body The Militant Baker Presents: Paint & Pasties 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9 Fluxx Studio & Gallery414 E. Ninth St. 405-4729 Get your mind out of the gutter because this event is far from being a strip show. Hosted by the Militant Baker and a band of volunteers who refer to themselves…
Howe Gelb: The Coincidentalist
On his latest album of avant-twang and alternative folk-rock, the Giant Sand leader and Tucson music-scene godfather sings in an almost spoken drawl, by turns gruff and sweet, that may be familiar to longtime fans. But here it’s mixed up close, like an intimate, whispered confidence, as if Gelb were spinning old stories in the…
T Q & A
Dan Horner Dan Horner is the founder of New Ground Events, which presents the Science, Spirit and Health Symposium: Understanding the Science of Energy Medicine on Friday, Nov. 8 through Sunday, Nov. 10. The event takes place at Pima Community College Center for the Arts Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Horner will introduce a…
Buying in Bisbee
Bisbee is known for a lot of things around Arizona. Quirky bars and artsy characters abound in the tiny, touristy, 19th-century mining town nestled in the hills an easy glance north of the Land of Cartels. Character, both human and inanimate, flows freely through every hilly, bendy, curvy street, and there is an intangible air…
The Familiar ‘Fantasticks’
Fantasy often becomes fate. More often, perhaps, we need to make fate a fantasy, a story that helps us make the inevitable tolerable. Pretties it up a bit. We are heroic in our ordinariness, and love does indeed conquer all. This weekend, Arizona Repertory Theatre concludes its run of an utterly charming production of The…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: I’m a pocha immigration attorney. I have so many questions for you I’m thinking I should just hire you as a consultant. Why do Mexicans seem to want me to lie to them and steal their money, and tell them they can become residents even when it’s hopeless? Why can’t Mexicans answer yes…
Dancing Gladiators
A quick scan of the bios of the 10 performers in Diavolo Dance Theater reveals that dance is hardly all they’ve done. Ezra Masse-Mahar has been a competitive diver, Shauna Martinez a cheerleading champ. Chisa Yamaguchi was a belly dancer and Garret Wolf an elite gymnast, and Chisa Yamaguchi has been both belly dancer and…
Agents of Change
Tucson has had its share of small publishing houses pop up over the years, with the kind of mixed results you’d expect from grass-roots startups. Kore Press was one of those startups, a local outfit hoping to get some undiscovered authors published in an effort to enrich the reading community. But there was a twist:…
Editor’s Note
I tend to be the type of person who is always thinking of some sort of bold idea, but the catch is that a lot of them are terrible (Note to our online comment section trolls: here’s a free opening for you this week). My wife has to hear most of these harebrained schemes on…
The Films of the Fest
The Loft Cinema is unleashing its fourth annual Loft Film Fest this week, and the amount of amazing, quality films this year is staggering. More than 40 international and independent films will be showcased from Nov. 7 through Nov. 11. Many of the films will be presented along with director, writer and producer Q&A’s, and…
Danehy
While going over some old emails recently, I came across a particularly heated one I received in response to a column I had written. (What are the odds of that happening, right?) I got quite a kick out of reading it again. Back in 2009, after an incredibly brief honeymoon period for the newly elected…
True TV
Webseries Roundup Cleaners Crackle.com Emmanuelle Chriqui and Emily Osment star as mismatched partners (Veronica’s a square! Roxy’s a party girl!) specializing in contract killing and other less-than-legal activities—until they’re screwed over by their boss (Gina Gershon) and end up as targets themselves. Cleaners overstuffs fast edits, tough girls, snarky dialogue, pounding music and gratuitous gunplay…
Downing
My 80-year-old mother recently had her 12-year-old Honda Accord stolen during the night from the street outside her midtown condo. Her bedroom is at the front of her place, and she thinks she may have heard the car beep a couple of times as it was, according to the police, expertly lifted. The car’s time…
Now Showing at Home
Burning Love: Season 1 The ultimate Bachelor takedown and one of the best web series ever: Burning Love, wherein firefighter Mark (Ken Marino) sifts through a throng of desperate single women in order to find that one special lady to hand his hose. (Paramount) Dexter: The Final Season On Oct. 31, the first (and best)…
Media Watch
KWBA NAMES VESPA AS 9 PM ANCHOR Local CW affiliate KWBA TV 58 has a new anchor for its scarcely watched 9 p.m. newscast. Maggie Vespa has landed the gig. Vespa will also handle general reporting duties on KGUN primetime newscasts. Most of the KWBA newscast recycles stories from sister outlet KGUN, and for most…
Hands-On Deliciousness
For decades, Zemam’s has been in the same spot on Broadway Boulevard, serving up highly praised, authentic Ethiopian food out of a small, 50-seat restaurant—and in a market that sees serious restaurant turnover, year after year, that’s no small feat. With the new Zemam’s, Too! (yes, the exclamation point is in the sign, though I’ll…
Wide Margins
The Democratic slate easily won reelection in this week’s Tucson City Council election. In fact, the most intriguing development at the Democrats’ jubilant victory lap of an event might have been the choice of Sonoran hot dogs from BK’s rather than El Guero Canelo. Although three to four thousand votes remained to be counted, incumbent…
Noshing Around
Olives and More Arizona’s Queen Creek Olive Mill (the place Chris Bianco gets his oil) is opening an Oils & Olives store at La Encantada, 2905 E. Skyline Drive, on Friday, Nov. 15. The store will carry extra-virgin olive oils, olives, tapenades, vinegars, pasta sauces, dried pastas, Italian pottery and gift items, and a line…
Poverty Pass
From the 2011 U.S. Census figures, Tucson came in with the eighth highest poverty rate in large metropolitan areas, and now a study in partnership with the UA and the city of Tucson wants to provide some answers and direction that policy-makers can use. UA sociology professor Lane Kenworthy with the UA College of Social…
Short but Sweet Songwriting
In sound and attitude, La Luz draw inspiration from older tunes, the early rock, surf and girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. The result is what the band’s label, Hardly Art, calls “surf noir,” built from four-part harmonies, the catchiness of doo-wop, the jangle of early garage and the edgy reverb of surf-rock guitar.…
