Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2013

Oct 31 - Nov 6, 2013 / Vol. 30 / No. 37

Cover Story

All Souls, All Community

Sometimes it’s hard to explain our love for Tucson to those who look at our part of the Sonoran Desert and see only a dry, gravel-lot landscape and not the city that holds our hearts so close. Perhaps if they stood outside Valarie Mariscal’s house, as I did this particular Friday night, they’d understand. From…

PACC Gets a Helping Hand

The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to allocate $401, 200 to the Pima Animal Care Center (PACC) on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The funds were allocated in order to expand the PACC’s shelter facilities and provide additional kennel capacity. The shelter has been facing rampant overcrowding due to the recent spike in the numbers…

La Luz Cancels Tour, Paypal Established to Aid Band.

Surf rock indie band La Luz was hit by a semi truck last night on their way back to Seattle from Boise’s Korah Shrine. The band members suffered injuries, their vehicle was totaled, lost all their musical equipment and forced to cancel their tour. They were scheduled to play at Club Congress on November 12th.…

Arizona Football: Patrick Stewart Wants You At Saturday’s Game

Well, not really. But that’s the message the University of Arizona’s athletic department “digital gurus” (as they’ve been dubbed via the Twitter is conveying in their latest short hype video, “A-Men: Days of Future Glory.” Highlights from the past two seasons — along with some old footage of Tedy Bruschi, the greatest player in UA…

Tracy Shedd Has a New Video

While Tracy Shedd deserted our fair city when her husband got (an admittedly) amazing job in North Carolina, the combination of the time she spent in Tucson and the fact that her new album is titled Arizona, I think means we can claim her as one of our own for at least a year or…

Is Your Kid Tough Enough For MMA?

My Facebook news feed has been full of links to various photos of muscled bound children beating each other up and crying. Apparently, parents all around the country are sending their kids to Mix Martial Arts training camps so they can be the next UFC sensation. You have check out Sebastian Montalvo’s photos of 7 year old…

How to Tell When Our Mayor Smokes Crack

The only time I was ever suspicious of a Tucson mayor was when I heard Bob Walkup pronounce mariachi. My mother and I cringed, looked each other and tried to enjoy the rest of the Mariachi Festival. But I recognized that Walkup’s butchering of the word didn’t have much do to with being on crack.…

Cartel Coffee Is Opening a Downtown Location, Prepping to Serve Pizza

Rejoice, coffee nerds: Cartel Coffee is expanding their base of operations from their sole shop at 2516 N. Campbell Road to downtown Tucson, where they’re moving into a space alongside the downtown base for Thunder Canyon Brewery. The new space, at 210 E. Broadway has actually been in service for quite some time now, since…

Pumpkin Spice Could be the Beginning of the End

Happiness is finding out that you aren’t the only misanthrope running around town thinking to yourself “What is it with all this pumpkin spice stuff.” Hailey Eber at the New York Post is my new hero, calling attention to the ridiculous love consumers seem to be having lately over anything pumpkin spice-flavored. It is fall.…

Beast of the West: A Fashion & Music Show

Here’s a beast of a different color. For all Tucson fashion fiends and music buffs- there’s an event for you at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9th at Plush Tucson, 340 East Sixth Avenue. Come enjoy an evening filled with unique styles and great tunes as a variety of local designers and musicians come together…

Chinese Sex Ed Videos

Evidently, the Chinese internet is all about a series of sex education videos that went viral addressing such crazy sex ed topics as “Where Do Babies Come From?,” “Why Are Boys Different from Girls?,” and “How Minors Can Prevent Molestation.” (Yeah that one sounds as great as rape prevention clothing.) Funded by the popular Chinese…

Fimbres, Kozachik and Uhlich Cruise to Reelection

Jim Nintzel Karin Uhlich, celebrating her victory Julian Ybarra Richard Fimbres In the City of Tucson election, all the races have been decided by wide margins, somewhat surprisingly in the case of Ward 3, as Karin Uhlich greatly expanded her margin of victory over Ben Buehler-Garcia from just over a hundred votes in 2009 to…

Chris Christie Wins in Jersey, So Prepare Yourself for His Presidential Run

L.E.MORMILE / Shutterstock.com Chris Christie No big shock, but Governor Chris Christie will win reelection by a landslide in New Jersey tonight, which means that the narrative of “this is the Republican that can win over Democrats in 2016” starts about nowish: His final margin this year remains to be seen, but news organizations immediately…

Election Night at the Democratic Party

Julian Ybarra Mayor Jonathan Rothschild at the Democratic Elections in Tucson, Ariz. on November 5, 2013 Julian Ybarra People arrive at the Riverpark Inn for the Democratic city elections in Tucson, Ariz. on November 5, 2013. Julian Ybarra Steve Kozachik (RIGHT) at the Democratic city election in the Riverpark Inn in Tucson, Ariz. on November…

Deadly Force Can be Used On Border Fence Rock Throwers

In an El Paso Times report today, Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher said that despite a report recommending that Border Patrol agents stop using deadly force against rock-throwers, his agency will not end the practice. He told the Associated Press that the curbs outlined in a report from the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit…

Just When You Thought It’s OK to Clench Your Buttocks

In a KOB Eyewitness News 4 report yesterday, what started as a routine traffic stop for a man leaving a Deming, New Mexico Wal-Mart has turned into a lesson on the Constitution, as well as how to make sure you don’t look like you’re clenching your buttocks lest your anal cavity be thoroughly searched. Yikes!…

Ron Barber Among Nation’s Most Endangered Member of Congress

Roll Call puts Congressman Ron Barber on the list of the 10 most endangered members of Congress: Barber’s re-election in 2012 was surprisingly close, and the former congressional aide will once again face retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally next year. Democrats privately worry about Barber’s ability to win without presidential-year turnout — or lots…

Pinkwashing: Is Israel Using Gays To Distract From the Occupation?

Members of the UA LGBT Institute want to get the word out about pinkwashing, which they see as a tactic by Israel to deter criticism of the ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict by highlighting the country’s gay-friendly policies. The “Combating Pinkwashing” workshop is from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at Fluxx Studio and Gallery, 414…

It’s Election Day! Get Out and Vote

It’s Election Day in the city of Tucson. Voters will also be deciding whether Vail should be Pima County’s newest town and the fate of some overrides in Altar Valley School District, Catalina Foothills School District and the Sunnyside School District. Tucson is, for the second time, doing an all-mail election, but if you haven’t…

Apple To Build Manufacturing Plant in Arizona

By KTAR News Service Originally published: Nov 4, 2013 – 2:53 pm  PHOENIX — Some Apple products will soon be made in Mesa, Ariz., at the company’s newest manufacturing plant. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said the new location will employ about 700 jobs in the first year, not to mention about 1,300 construction-related jobs. “Apple…

NOBUNNY and Night of the Living Fest’s Most Unforgettable Moment

Dusty Rose NOBUNNY at Night of the Living Fest Saturday’s Night of the Living Fest brought downtown Tucson to Old Tucson. There were old people, young people, hipsters, people who use the word “hipster,” and so on. Everyone I know had a great time. Even the cops politely chatting with me in the BBQ place…

Husband Carelessly Sets Wife on Fire at Gas Station

Austin Dawkins accidental sets his wife Jessica on fire while refueling at a gas station in Austin, TX on Oct. 17. Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner Ralph Hudgens stated that the 30 year-old woman suffered second- and third-degree burns to her legs, arms, back and head. Here’s the security footage: Austin, 30, was charged…

Photos: Sugar Skull Candy to Make You Dandy

I attended my first All Souls Procession ceremony last night. My friends and I joined the thousands of Tucsonans at the parade after a full weekend of Tucson Comic-Con. It was great to reconnect with some old friends and make some new ones in the process. I can’t think of another way to end my…

Tonight: Tucson Immigration Reform Symposium

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and the American Immigration Council have teamed up to offer an immigration reform symposium, tonight, 6:30 p.m. at the Berger Performing Arts Center at the Arizona School for the Deaf and the Blind, 1200 W. Speedway. Admission is free. From symposium organizers: This will be an opportunity to compare U.S. Senate…

Photos: The Sixth Annual Tucson Comic-Con

I was at the Sixth Annual Tucson Comic-Con at the Tucson Convention Center while you were out partying and getting ready for the All Souls Procession (photos are coming) all weekend. Convention organizer said Mike Olivares said tickets were sold out and the fire marshal was called. He estimates that attendance was over six thousand…

AZ Illustrated Politics: Obamacare Roll-Out, Tucson City Election & Miller’s Ally-Gations of County Corruption

Last night on AZPM’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Former Tucson City Council member Carol West, attorney Jeff Rogers and Tucson Tea Party founder Trent Humphries joined me to talk about the troubled roll-out of Obamacare’s insurance marketplaces, the latest on the Tucson City Council election and Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller’s Ally-gations about corruption in Pima…

PCC Needs a Bette Midler Song Played and a Good Bottle of Tequila

Not that it wasn’t expected, I mean this is Arizona and our state Attorney General is Tom Horne and we’re a national joke. But of course Horne recently asked Pima Community College to explain its decision to grant in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants under the federal DACA program. From PCC today: In a letter to…

Who Wants To Win 2 Tickets to Night of the Living Fest?

Tomorrow’s Night of the Living Fest is going to be the most fun music and arts event of the season. If you don’t believe me, take more of my words for it here. Now you can win 2 tickets to the Fest by going to the official event page on Facebook and writing a post…

Tucson Weekly Invades The Tucson Comic-Con

Here’s your chance to meet some of your favorite Tucson Weekly cartoonists at the sixth annual Tucson Comic-Con. You can find us at the Tucson Weekly booth all weekend. There will be artists doing sketches, selling their books and giving away TW mardi gras beads. Arnie Bermudez (Fish Wrap) is making his fifth Tucson con appearance.…

Shooting at LAX: One TSA Agent Killed, Multiple Wounded

A man with a high-powered rifle opened fire at the Los Angeles International Airport at approximately 10 a.m. Friday morning. Authorities stated that one TSA agent was killed and several others were wounded. Apparently the shooter fired in multiple locations in Terminal 3 before gunned down by police. The gunman’s condition is currently unknown. Mythbusters…

Do You Have a Story to Share?

November is considered National Novel Writing Month to ambitious or seasoned authors. The goal is to have written 50,000 words in one month. This is my second attempt at the NaNoWriMo challenge, and I’m determined to finish this time. Please tell me to go home and write if you see me in public. What’s the…

Pedersen Prep Football Preview

Tucson’s most recent state champion might miss out on the playoffs this year. Ironwood Ridge won the Division II championship in 2012, and though it lost nearly every significant contributor to that title team, the Nighthawks got off to a great start this fall with a 5-1 record. But the Nighthawks (5-4) have lost three…

Dolores Huerta: There’s More to The Story Than Republican Mythology

Back in November of last year we did an interview with Gabriel Buelna on his documentary Outlawing Shakespeare, about the fight to save and destroy Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican-American studies program. In the documentary, Buelna interviews many of the local MAS players, as well as some of the other guys up in Maricopa County,…

Daisy Needs a Home

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Daisy, a 5-year-old Dachshund mixReference no. 766654 Daisy says, “Pick me!” This spunky sweetheart could sure use a good friend after her beloved owner passed away. Daisy was delivered to another shelter but wasn’t doing well, so she came to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona for a…

‘Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction’ at the Screening Room

The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., presents Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction, at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2. Admission is $6. Sophie Huber, 2012, Switzerland, 80 min.A documentary about laconic, chain-smoking Harry Dean Stanton, beloved and iconic actor of more than 200 films. This captivating, beautifully composed tribute, stunningly lensed…

Arizona Poet Laureate to Visit the Poetry Center

Alberto Ríos will appear at the UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St., at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1. More info from a press release: The celebratory event will include welcome remarks from University of Arizona Provost Andrew Comrie and from the office of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Ríos will read from his work, and…

Arizona State Girl Wears Birthday Suit to ASU Halloween Party (NSFW)

You might see some boring costumes like Walter White and Miley Cyrus tonight, but maybe you might catch someone wearing the “Naked ASU Girl.”  Normally the ASU Confessions Twitter page tweets anonymous confessions and selfies of attractive frat boys and coeds, but the Halloween season has proved to be very interesting. Someone submitted a picture of this girl throwing up…

Wanna See Something Really Scary?

If you’re not into going out tonight to celebrate Halloween, might I suggest you cozy up next to a big heaping pumpkin full of candy and check out Ghostwatch. Ghostwatch was a BBC production that aired ‘live’ on October 31, 1992. It’s an early prototype of reality-horror films; you can feel the influence this had…

UA College of Medicine Cuts Deal For Synthetic Cadaver

By Cronkite News Service Originally published: Oct 31, 2013 – 5:00 am PHOENIX — Medical education the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix just got a little more “real.” On Wednesday morning, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Dr. Stuart Flynn, dean at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and Christopher Sakezles, president of SynDaver Labs,…

Interview With an American Daredevil

Meet Gregory Carpenter, or better known as Dr. Danger. Carpenter has been a daredevil for over 20 years. He’s a man of simple pleasures, but he’s the master of pulling off the most complicated stunts with very limited resources. The doctor is a wondering risk taker that spends most of his time in Austin, Tombstone…

PHOTOS of Sexy Suicide Girls at The Rialto

After a six-year hiatus the Suicide Girls’ Blackheart Burlesque show is back on the road giving us the peep show we missed so much.  The sexy ladies were at the Rialto Theatre this past Monday, and our eagle eye photographer C.E. Elliott captured some stunning photos.

Fred Durst Developing Drama Based on His Life With The CW

BREAKING NEWS: Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst is developing a drama about his life with The CW network.  Are you ready for a new show by the man that directed Douchebag and The Long Shot? What a coincidence because both of those titles are really good ways to describe how one might feel about…

Mailbag

THIS GUY SENDS LETTERS IN ALL THE TIME, SO WE MIGHT AS WELL RUN ONE (AS IS) I am not scared of all the witches, zombies, and assorted goblins wandering about on Halloween. What really scares me is the meat industry. This is the industry that: Mutilates, cages, and butchers billions of cows, pigs and…

Noshing Around

Fire in the Hole The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 479 annual Chili Cook Off runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1, at El Presidio Park, 160 W. Alameda St. Firefighters from across Pima County will mix up their versions of chili, ranging from veggie to superhot. The event features more…

Police Dispatch

LIVING THE (BLUE) DREAM NORTH CAMINO DEL GRILLO OCT. 1, 7:41 P.M. A heavily tattooed man wearing a tank top and gym shorts started dancing in the street at a foothills intersection after smoking some high-grade pot, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. Deputies responded to a call about the man, who also…

Not Your Typical Tucson Festival

Tucson has a number of musical festivals, including a number right around this time of year, but with an entertainment lineup of visual artists, vendors, various activities in addition to rock, hip hop and DJ acts in numbers hovering well over 30, the inaugural Night of the Living Fest could be the must-see, must-attend event…

Pedersen on Sports

There’s a common misconception that Tucson doesn’t have seasons. False. We experience seasonal changes like the rest of the world. They’re just not the standard cookie-cutter quadrants of spring, summer, fall and winter. For instance, while most of the U.S. is going through winter in January and March, Tucsonans are instead dealing with tourist season.…

Soundbites

START SOMEWHERE Well, this is it, people — the weekend we’ve all been waiting for. In case you’re Tommy (i.e., deaf, dumb and blind), this is Day of the Dead weekend, which brings with it not only the world-famous All Souls Procession, which takes place on Sunday, Nov. 3, but lots of satellite events as…

Celtic Pipers and Whiskey Lovers

The bagpipe (or a’pìob mhór if you happen to speak Scottish Gaelic) was initially used by early Celtic nations as a weapon of war — the pipers marching into battle on the front lines and often taking the first shots. The skirl of the bagpipe can be menacing, but today the sound generally instills a…

Calling All Souls

Listen up, Tucson: A Tribe Called Red are coming. Participants in this year’s annual All Souls Procession celebrating the Day of the Dead on Sunday, Nov. 3, will have something remarkable awaiting them at the end of the parade route, across from Mercado San Agustín: a post-procession performance by the Ottawa, Canada-based First Nations DJ…

City Week

Pow! Sixth Annual Tucson Comic-Con Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2 and 3 Tucson Convention Center 260 S. Church Ave. $8 day passes; $10 for weekend;free for children 10 and younger The Tucson Comic-Con is a comic book show. It’s rare in these days of rapid con growth. San Diego Comic-Con International has been consumed by…

Nine Questions

Multi-instrumentalist Colin Sams, 28, returned to Tucson several years ago from Arkansas. He was the singer/songwriter/guitarist for The Vases, but has branched out recently with two new bands: Wild Violence (for whom he drums), and as the guitarist for Waving at Strangers, who begin recording their debut EP this week. What was the first concert…

T Q & A

Amphitheater High School grad Danny Wolverton has been a part of various forms of the vibrant local performance scene for more than a decade. Now living mostly in Los Angeles, the 29-year-old Wolverton—who goes by the stage name SpecialHead—has developed a multiplatform portfolio that includes street performance, magic, music and acts of levitation. His booking…

Live

Far Corners appeared out of nowhere (actually, Las Cruces, New Mexico, but let’s not digress) sounding as though they were genetically engineered to contain all my favorite musical elements. Screeching and droning like a rusted subway? Electric guitar and bass alternately scraping and squalling? Tambourine as lead instrument? Check, check, and check. This threesome was…

Memories of Memphis

Whoa! This thing takes a turn. And then it takes another one. Katori Hall’s strange little play about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final night on Earth is beckoning from downtown’s Temple of Music and Art. The Mountaintop is a joint production of Arizona Theatre Company and the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul, Minn.…

Floundering Frankenstein

Etcetera, the late-night series at Live Theatre Workshop, has developed a reputation for fearless programming. Audiences and critics alike have cheered Etcetera’s staging of experimental, offbeat and ambitious works for more than 10 years, the highlight of which was probably Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the thrilling rock musical that knocked innumerable socks off a…

Deadly Desert

On the day that Mireya Guerra Casiano stepped into Arizona, the temperature hit 104 degrees. Guerra had the misfortune to attempt her epic journey al norte this past June, a month that set new records for hellish desert heat. June is always the hottest month in these parts, but this year the desert cauldron reached…

Editor’s Note

Last week was pretty much the worst. I had high hopes for the end of October, honestly. My wife’s birthday turned into a week-long extravaganza of events including the quite-excellent magic show on the third floor of the Hotel Congress and Prince-tribute-act Purple Reign at Desert Diamond Casino. Training for my small section of the…

Fun With the Faux-Elderly

The dawning of cinema had the likes of Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin risking their lives with daring stunt work while making moviegoers crack up. Here in the modern film era, we have the immortal, the deranged, and the considerably less refined Johnny Knoxville. Knoxville has tried to parlay his Jackass fame into an acting…

Danehy

Tonight is Halloween. Time to crack open those bags of individually wrapped candy bars that you bought when the Halloween displays first went up in the stores in mid-August. Back then, you hoped that purchasing the candy might have some sort of butterfly effect and hasten the end of the 100-degree temperatures. And sure enough,…

The Hang-Older

Get it—Last Vegas? It’s retirees in Las Vegas: The Hang-older. No two ways about it, this is pretty much a new spin on The Hangover, even though the second and third installments of that series did a fine job of ruining the concept on their own. In fairness, Last Vegas doesn’t ruin anything, if you…

Safier

Meet Craig Barrett. He’s the closest Arizona comes to having its own member of the Billionaire Boys’ Club, that group of high-tech wizards, hedge fund gurus and other ridiculously wealthy people who think, because they’ve figured out how to make billions and know 50 ways to tell their underlings to “Produce or get out,” they…

True TV

Investigation Discovery (ID) is a cable channel devoted to round-the-clock “news” shows depicting lurid and true murder-rape/rape-murder/endless kidnapping-variation cases in a standard template of soft-focus reenactments featuring pretty actors, accompanied by alternately serious and quippy narration, juxtaposed with not-so-pretty real victims and experts rattling off just enough “facts” and “stats” to almost damper the sexy…

Media Watch

WILD COUNTRY WILL HAVE LOCAL VOICE When it comes to setting the standard for trying to fool listeners into believing voice-tracked talent from other markets is really local DJs, Clear Channel is unmatched in the industry. In Tucson, the company has more radio stations than it has on-air talent based in the Old Pueblo, but…

Border Battle

As next week’s city of Tucson election nears, the Tucson Police Department’s enforcement of SB 1070 is once again in the headlines. SB 1070, the controversial immigration law passed in 2010, had numerous provisions that were tossed by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. But one provision that was left standing (although some justices suggested…

The Skinny

THE END IS NIGH One of the sleepiest election cycles in recent memory is coming to an end next week as city voters decide the Ward 3 race between incumbent Democrat Karin Uhlich and GOP challenger Ben Buehler-Garcia, and the Ward 5 race between incumbent Democrat Richard Fimbres and GOP challenger Mike Polak. It’s the…

Now Showing at Home

Clear History Larry David plays a guy who’s pretty, pretty, pretty much the same as Curb Your Enthusiasm’s “Larry David,” only hairier: A marketing exec who fights with his boss (Jon Hamm) and quits an electric-car company right before it makes millions. (HBO) Girl Most Likely After flopping on Broadway, a luckless-in-love New York playwright…

Guest Commentary

When SB 1070 was first adopted, it was an embarrassment to the state. In order to set ourselves apart from its effects, and to preserve the relationships we were developing across the border, the Tucson Mayor and City Council voted unanimously to oppose it. Now SB 1070 has become a threat to the cohesion of…

Takeout, Tasty Enough

Chinese … er, Asian food takeout is usually relegated to three situations within my life: last-ditch option for a quick lunch around my food option-deprived workplace; occasional bi-annual craving for the stuff; or the inebriated need for spicy deep-fried classic deep fried meat and rice and soy sauce combo. So, generally I don’t make takeout…


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