Cover Story
2010 TAMMIES Winners!
THE BIG STUFF Band/Musician of the Year Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta (C), 33.5 percent Runners up: 2. Race You There (R), 24 percent 3. Seashell Radio (R), 22.8 percent 4. Brian Lopez (C), 19.7 percent Up-and-Coming Artist(s) of the Year Cadillac Steakhouse (C), 16.5 percent Runners up: 2. Young Mothers (C), 16.2 percent 3. Van…
Tucson Meet Yourself: Steel-Drum Player
A couple of weeks ago, Mari Herreras brought us a video interview with Tucson Meet Yourself co-founder and folklorist Big Jim Griffith. Here’s another part in that interview series, where we sit down with Tucson Meet Yourself board member and steel-drum player Richard Noel.
Rialto Dischord: Rio Nuevo Board Targets Its One Successful Enterprise
There’s more trouble in downtown Tucson for our friends at the Rialto Theatre Foundation. This time, the heat is coming from the new Rio Nuevo Board, the new gang of people who were appointed to the board by Gov. Jan Brewer and Phoenix-area GOP lawmakers. So what’s one of the board’s first actions? Targeting the…
Govinda’s “Feed the World” Day
On Monday, Sept. 27, Govinda’s will be hosting an event called Feed the World Day. From 4 to 8 p.m., the restaurant will offer a six-course vegan meal, live music, health booths, hands-on demonstrations and more. The whole event is completely free of charge. For more information, check out Govinda’s website.
Green Scheme Gets Even Weirder
This wacky GOP plot to put street people on the ballot as Green Party candidates is getting even weirder. Now Steve May, the former Republican lawmaker who recruited the homeless candidates to run as write-in candidates, has dropped out of his race. And another Green Party candidate for the Corporation Commission may have dropped out.…
The LD26 Debate Debate Continues With Melvin’s New Demands
The debate on whether the Legislative District 26 Senate candidates will debate has become like a cash cow for The Range. Every few weeks, there’s a new development, a new promise and a new complaint, but we still haven’t seen a debate. We thought the good times were coming to an end, though, when Dave…
CD8 Air War: Giffords and Kelly Roll Out New TV Ads
Both Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and GOP challenger Jesse Kelly unveiled new TV spots today. Giffords has a testimonial from Cochise County veterinarian and rancher Dr. Gary Thrasher, a Republican who is supporting the incumbent Democrat. Team Giffords notes that in July, Thrasher “presented Gabrielle with the Arizona Cattle Growers Association’s annual award for public service…
CD8: About That Conservatives For Congress Ad, Part II
We wrote last week about an ad that Conservatives for Congress used to attack Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is facing a challenge from Republican Jesse Kelly. You can read our take here. Now Factcheck.org says the ad was off-base: An attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords by a group called Conservatives for Congress hoodwinks viewers…
Tomatoes on the Moon
The gang at the UA Controlled Environment Agriculture Center have made progress on their lunar greenhouse. I wrote about their South Pole greenhouse and their lunar ambitions here. Now the UA’s Ed Stiles tells us more: The first extraterrestrials to inhabit the moon probably won’t be little green men, but they could be little green…
Coming Soon to Club Congress: Geeks Who Drink!
The Geeks Who Drink bring a weekly pub quiz night to Club Congress starting on Tuesday, Sept. 28. It’s bar trivia, but with a sharp edge and great prizes. You can find more details here.
Late-Night Eats: Chinese Box is Open
Shrimp and broccoli is good and plentiful at Chinese Box. Chinese Box is open and serving up fast and satisfying Mandarin and Cantonese food at 4299 W. Ina Road. The place is co-owned by Peter Fung of Mandarin Grill at 8300 N. Thornydale Road. We tried the drive through and were in and out in…
PARK(ing) Day Returns
PARK(ing) Day Tucson returns on Friday, Sept. 17. According to the press release, you’d better reserve your spot by Sept. 15: Providing temporary public open space . . . one parking spot at a time. The 3rd Annual PARK(ing) Day Tucson is Sept. 17. PARK(ing) Day Tucson returns this year to the historic Downtown, Main…
NYT’s Nate Silver: Giffords Has 51% Chance of Winning CD8
Nate Silver, the statistical wizard behind fivethirtyeight.com, has completed his analysis of the U.S. House races for The New York Times. Silver gives the GOP a 2-in-3 chance of retaking the House. But he favors Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in CD8, saying she has a 51 percent chance of beating Jesse Kelly. Check out his…
Green Scheme Unconvenes?
The Arizona Republic reports that a half-dozen of the Green Scheme candidates have quit their races: Six of the 11 Green Party candidates who a federal judge ruled can stay on the general-election ballot have withdrawn from their races. It is unclear why. Details here. The best piece on the Green candidates had to be…
CD8: More Tea Leaves & National Rankings
More tea leaves in Congressional District 8, where Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is facing a challenge from Republican Jesse Kelly. Congressional District 8 didn’t make it onto the “Fix 50”—a round-up of the 50 most competitive House races in the country by Chris Cillizza of The Fix, a Washington Post blog. (Earlier this year, Cillizza’s…
Friday Roundtable: CD8, The Guv’s Race & More!
We wrap up the week in local politics on Arizona Illustrated’s Friday Roundtable.
Friday Roundtable: Jack Camper’s Bombastic Performance
Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce boss Jack Camper delivers a bombastic performance on Arizona Illustrated’s Friday Roundtable. He wants a guest worker program; he doesn’t want to deport illegal immigrants; he doesn’t want stricter enforcement of employer-sanctions laws; he’s against the city’s proposed half-cent sales tax; he wants to see the Rosemont Mine built; he…
Tonight: ‘Robots Vs Fake Robots’ at Etcetera
The latest Etcetera production starts tonight, 10:30 p.m., at Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. The David Largman Murray play, directed by Christopher Johnson, takes place in the year 6000 when robots have almost replaced humans. Tickets are $10. Call the box office at 327-4242 for reservations.
Don’t Get Any Ideas
When our local politicians don’t have illegal immigrants to kick around anymore, let’s hope they don’t take a page from Republican candidate Hans Zeiger in Washington state. Essays and articles posted by Zeiger on different conservative websites were recently taken down. He said in this article from The News Tribune that they would distract from…
Buy a Qur’an Day
According to a new page on Facebook, tomorrow is Buy a Qur’an Day. Don’t know where to get a copy of the Muslim holy book? You can go here and get one for free. Tonight is Eid, the last night of Ramadan. In honor of Pastor Jones and others who think it’s cool to burn…
What Is John Huppenthal Afraid Of? Candidate for State Schools Chief Hides From Public
David Safier at Blog for Arizona notes that Republican John Huppenthal, a state senator who running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction race, is ducking public appearances with his Democratic opponent, Penny Kotterman. Details here. Here’s another for the list: Huppenthal won’t even return phone calls from Bill Buckmaster of Arizona Illustrated.
It’s Almost Hellenic Happy Hour!
Athens on Fourth Avenue offers some very nice deals during its new Hellenic Happy Hour from 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. We stopped in Monday and have to say that it’s one of our new favorites. The food is incredible; the drinks are great; and there is something incredibly charming about that old…
Juice-Tasting and Open House Today (Friday, Sept. 10)
If you’re not busy this afternoon, consider checking out the open house and juice-tasting mentioned in this week’s Noshing Around column. It takes place from 1 to 5 p.m. today at the Main Squeeze, a new organic juice-and-smoothie bar at Marketplace at Acacia (4340 N. Campbell Ave., Suite 107). It should be mentioned that this…
TAMMIES Videos!
Miss last night’s TAMMIES? Here are some of the performances from the 2010 Tucson Area Music Awards. We’ll post more videos as we get them on this week’s Weekly Wide Web column.
Here’s What an Advanced Degree in Communications Can Do For You!
How not to deliver a political speech.
Rasmussen: McCain 51%, Glassman 37%
Speaking of the McCain-Glassman Senate race: Rasmussen shows Glassman is picking up support, with only 51 percent of Arizonans saying they’ll vote for McCain at this point: Republican Senator John McCain still holds a double-digit lead in his bid for reelection in Arizona. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state…
McCain vs. Glassman: So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance?
Nate Silver, who has taken his FiveThirtyEight blog over to The New York Times, calculates that Democrat Rodney Glassman has a 1.5 percent chance of beating John McCain. His take on the race here. Silver now forecasts that Democrats will hold on to 52 seats in the Senate. A House forecast is on the horizon.
Messina
Three silhouetted firefighters stand in front of a red-orange blaze, unified in an effort to tame the inferno. Two firefighters, one on each side, hold hoses aimed into the fire, creating a starburst effect. The tallest of the three stands in the middle, with hands on the shoulders of the other two. My words don’t…
Desperate Conditions
A few years back, nurse-practitioner Jennifer Trainor spent a year setting up health clinics in Haiti. Working as health-project director for an international non-governmental organization, Trainor was in the remote northwest part of the island nation, 80 miles—and a day’s journey—from the capital of Port-au-Prince. One day, some of the on-staff community health workers at…
Guest Commentary
I am 72 and have been a labor and social-justice activist all of my life. I’m old enough to also be somewhat cynical. So it is refreshing, even exhilarating, to be working against the proposed Marana dump with a bunch of extraordinary ordinary people, mostly blue-collar working women and men who are fighting for their…
No Slouches
I tend to approach laudatory anthology introductions with a smattering of skepticism. Reading Rigoberto González’s introduction praising the University of Arizona Press and its Camino del Sol series, however, I was forced to tamp down the skeptic. For one thing, The Huffington Post had just named our locals among the most innovative presses in the…
Mailbag
Shelton Needs to Take a Stand on SB 1070; The Book Barn Is Open More Often Than Downing Says; Humanists Are as Judgmental as Any Religious Person; Want Safety? Make Fourth Avenue a Pedestrian-Only Zone; If You Want to Carry a Gun, Take a Safety Course
Top Ten in Books
Antigone Books best-sellers for the week ending Sept. 3, 2010
Voting Veracity
According to Pima County Superior Court documents, the next battle in the Pima County Democratic Party’s public-records fight will take place on Friday, Sept. 24, when the court will tackle an issue related to the fact that 112 poll tapes were discovered missing after the party was finally allowed to go through the 2006 Regional…
Immigrant Issues
Machete has something that fellow action film The Expendables was sorely lacking. No, I’m not talking about naturally produced muscle fibers; I’m talking about a discernible sense of humor that meshes nicely with an utter disregard for political correctness. Oh, and nudity … it has lots of nudity. The latest from producer and co-director Robert…
The Skinny
Gov. Jan Brewer has her defining moment—and it’s a doozy! … Conservatives for Congress fire at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords … Military veterans fire at Conservatives for Congress … and more!
Top Ten in Movies
Casa Video’s top rentals for the week ending Sept. 5, 2010
Social Insecurity
The little box, with the number 14, is located near the bottom of the yellow voter-registration form, and it asks for the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number. That might look innocent enough to people registering to vote before November’s general election—but looks can be deceiving. Last year, researchers at Carnegie Mellon…
An Inner Struggle
Some films are slow because they’re put together wrong, or there simply isn’t enough to sustain 100 minutes of screen time. Other movies are designed to be slow, because they’re methodical and concerned with the details. The American is the second kind of movie—although at the conclusion, a mistaken case can be made that it’s…
Top Ten in Music
Zia Records top sales for the week ending Sept. 5, 2010
Energetic Views
Sonoita’s gentle hills stretch across the horizon like a rumpled green quilt, dipping into little draws and rising onto furrowed ridges. It is the kind of backdrop that can inspire grand notions. And a few dark ones as well. Consider the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative. In 2008, the Willcox-based organization put in motion its…
Now Showing at Home
Se7en (Blu-ray) WARNER MOVIE A SPECIAL FEATURES A- BLU-RAY GEEK FACTOR 9 (OUT OF 10) If you were to ask me which movies have had the best transfers at this moment in the evolution of Blu-ray, this one would be in my top five. Any worries that this film might be too dark for a…
Nine Questions
John de Roo
Media Watch
KOLD unveils HD studio; Howell gives fitness mag a second shot; Mountain charity event raises $223K
Lucky #13
Anyone with even the smallest interest in football knows the Zendejas name. This is a family of kickers, those players whose sole job it is to kick the pigskin between the goalposts—often with the game on the line. The family has produced some of the best kickers in both college and professional football. Alex Jr.…
Live
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS RIALTO THEATRE Wednesday, Sept. 1 You may as well know I still miss D’arcy. It probably goes without saying that I miss James Iha, too; everyone does. Mostly, though, I miss my cat. Pumpkin died a week before The Smashing Pumpkins’ Rialto show, nearly 15 years after we spent our first evening…
Weekly Wide Web
DIY Concert Film; The week on the Range; Comment of the week; Best of WWW
Noshing Around
New Peruvian Bistro; The Main Squeeze; Best Tour Ever?; Save-a-Cat Sunday; Tequila Festival
S. Carey: All We Grow (Jagjaguwar)
All We Grow, the solo debut from Bon Iver drummer S. (Sean) Carey, doesn’t stray far from Bon Iver territory—a Wisconsin-bred sort of neo-minimalism that revels in spare, crisp instrumentation. Carey’s songs don’t echo with that same haunted isolation of Bon Iver debut For Emma, Forever Ago, but they’re still rainy-day sounds for lonely souls.…
Police Dispatch
POLITICALLY REACTIVE NORTH LA CAÑADA DRIVE AUG. 18, 7:17 A.M. A controversial politician was subjected to some harsh yet odd name-calling on her own campaign signs, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. A deputy was dispatched to the corner of La Cañada Drive and Overton Road in response to a vandalism call. The…
That Vibe
Petter Ericson Stakee is in the midst of a love affair with America. The 29-year-old guitarist, vocalist and frontman for the rock quintet Alberta Cross was born in Sweden and raised in London, which is where he and British bassist Terry Wolfers founded the band. Since they decamped to Brooklyn, N.Y., three years ago, Stakee…
Ige*timer: Ice Cold Pop (everestrecords)
The otherworldly scraping, chiming, bellowing, whistling and underwater groaning of the 17-minute “New Orleans” might seem abrasive or annoying to some less-patient listeners. But that age-old complaint “it’s not music” will find no purchase here. There’s no denying that these dense and dark avant-garde improvisations by this Berlin-based duo are music, and some pretty amazing…
Races to Watch
The primary is behind us, and Labor Day weekend has come and gone. Now is the time, we’re told, that the average voter starts to tune in. To help out Mr. and Ms. Average Voter, we’ve assembled a list of Southern Arizona’s most interesting races for state and federal office. They’re not all competitive, but…
Soundbites
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT Although I’m writing this before it happened, thanks to everyone who attended the Tucson Weekly’s Tucson Area Music Awards ceremony and concert at the Rialto Theatre. The food was delicious; the bands were great; and no one in this town is more deserving of a spot in the Tucson Music Hall…
Interpol: Interpol (Matador)
For a band that’s brought a post-punk cognitive dissonance to DVD-piracy warnings and terrorism watch lists the world over, Interpol sure isn’t surprising anyone these days. By their fourth record, we’ve learned everything there is to learn about the band. They’re purveyors of a bass line that hops through songs like the bouncing ball over…
Using Film to Inspire Activism
Want to help make your community more environmentally friendly? Well, you may want to consider attending the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, hosted by the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, where you can gain knowledge on taking action. Thanks to the efforts of an educational nonprofit organization called the South Yuba River Citizens League,…
¡Ask a Mexican!
Dear Readers: ¡VIVA MÉXICO, CABRONES! Happy 200th cumpleaños to America’s favorite country, to the land of pretty señoritas and eternal economic crises, to the world’s greatest, drunkest bola de hijos de la chingada! Celebrate this 16th; drive safe; and, guys: Remember to wear a helmet before going into battle with a gabacha, if you coger…
City Week
A Grassroots Thing; Una Experiencia Española; The Street of Dreams; Bard Under the Stars
T Q&A
Elizabeth Albert
A First Step
One of the first productions of Tucson’s new theater season is a world premiere. How impressive is that? The Winding Road Theater Ensemble has opened its second season with Armor, an original piece by local playwright Toni Press-Coffman. It’s a risky business to produce new plays—but most theater in Tucson is not all about business.…
A Leisurely Stroll
For fans of the Comedy Playhouse, a trip down The Dover Road is well worth taking. The company again draws on its pool of enthusiastic amateur performers to produce this charming 1921 play about two couples “running away,” and it’s by far the most successful production the Playhouse has mounted since opening its doors this…
The Year in Local Music
May 2009 The Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association presents the 24th annual Tucson Folk Festival, featuring more than 100 acts, including dozens of local performers and national headliners Todd Snider and Eric Andersen. Eight years after their first album was released, a reunited Fourkiller Flats release their second full-length, Treasure and Trash. The Tucson Community Food…
From Desert Rock to Gypsy
Howe Gelb is talking about the forthcoming Giant Sand album, but what he’s saying could also describe his general artistic approach over a storied career in Tucson music. “This new record is a blend of the absurd reasoning of dreams and the cold, hard logic of being awake,” he says. Called by some the godfather…
Now 100 Percent Original
This is how hard we fell for Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta: TAMMIES voters overwhelmingly chose them as Band of the Year, even though they hadn’t played in town for about four months before the TAMMIES ceremony on Sept. 8. We got swept up in the lavish retro sound and the intense, irresistible Latin-dance beats…
Deliciously Easy
One of the hottest groups in Tucson this year—at least according to Tucson Weekly readers—is an avant-punk rock band that was formed as a lark barely a year ago by three members of other groups, and one previously untested female lead singer who has since become something of an outrageous icon. Cadillac Steakhouse was named…
Working Through Things
Folk singer/songwriter/guitarist Leila Lopez’s second album, Fault Lines—voted the 2010 TAMMIES Best New Release—is a dark and powerful dozen. From the first chords of opener “Pick Your Prize” to the sweet solemnity of the last song, “Low Level Flight,” Fault Lines depicts the 29-year-old Tucson native both expressing emotions and showing off her musical chops.…
TPD: Serial Burglar on the Prowl in UA Area
The Tucson Police Department reports that a serial burglar is on the prowl in the UA area: The Tucson Police Department has been investigating a series of six burglaries in the last 30 days that has been confined to residential area surrounding the University of Arizona. The targeted area has been from Speedway Boulevard to…
Danehy
OK, the primary elections are over, and we’ve passed Labor Day (it’s disconcerting how those two have been reversed), and it’s now on to the general election. We Democrats are probably facing anywhere between a severe beating and a serious whuppin’ come November. That sort of thing happens on a semi-regular basis, but while we…
Welcome to the Craziness
I just returned from a two-week vacation. I hear I missed some impressive storms here in the Old Pueblo. And I understand that Gov. Jan Brewer had a meltdown of sorts. Did I miss anything else while I was gone? Frankly, I needed the break, considering that the summer slowness is in the past, and…
