City Week

George W. Bush Has a Pimp Stick?

How To Get Stupid White Men Out Of Office Discussion
7 P.M. Friday, April 23
Reader's Oasis
3400 E. Speedway Blvd., #114
319-7887

It's not as if The Weekly has ever been accused of aligning with those damned political leftists. Our writers are very judicious in exploring the merits of the conservative point of view, too, sparking a fair and rational bipartisan debate.

Ha ha. Now, how about some dastardly liberal name-calling?

Stupid White Men are like Britney-style hot pants: You see them around everywhere, but smart people won't touch 'em with a 10-foot pole. They don't just come in white, either; all colors can be equally offensive when it comes to hot pants or Stupid White Men. Michael Moore (crazy liberal!) wrote his manifesto on them a few years ago, and now The League of Pissed Off Voters is taking the Stupid White Men concept a step further, in enthusiastic, election-year spirit.

How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power is the new anthology authored by the group. Chock full of inspiring essays by savvy young political activists, the book outlines examples in which people of marginalized races, genders, orientations and identities won out over Stupid White Men of all races, genders and IQs. In the words of the book's editors, we too can "kick the asses of the political P.I.M.P.s and take away their pimp sticks!"

Activist Marisol Enyart, who authored the book's essay, "Sweatshops, Hip-Hop and a Whole Lot of People for Grijalva," will represent the league as she discusses politics, activism and her contribution to the book. Oh, and listen to Sean Hannity for some nice conservative moments. Hooray for equal time!


New Art From New Media

7 to 9 P.M Thursday, April 29
Harvill Building Courtyard, UA Campus
arts.arizona.edu/mar203/projectsinvite.html

UA art students can be very creative. The young diamonds in the rough are known for pushing the envelope and questioning artistic boundaries in a way unlike their more experienced, world-weary counterparts. Now, they can be known for making their bodies into art. Bright, abstract, kaleidoscopic art.

Under the tutelage of Assistant Professor Daniel Peltz, all 203 students from the Media Arts 203 class contributed two abstract self-portraits, composed of scanned images of their own bodies. As Peltz puts it, "The first square represents how they see themselves right now, and the second what they see themselves becoming."

The two interactive artworks made by the class are a digital quilt and a digital fabric. The bright, splashy colors and gradients of the quilt squares, each quite literally a contribution from the student body, are reminiscent of the luminous, angular shapes created by childhood kaleidoscopes.

The class will display their work to the public for a mere two hours on Thursday night, during which Peltz states that "visitors will be able to step on the projected quilt and, in doing so, peel back a layer to reveal the second set of squares."

A sample photograph of the quilt squares can be viewed at arts.arizona.edu/mar203/quiltcomp1.html. As an interesting side note, the projects' protocols are available at arts.arizona.edu/mar203/ projects.html.


Eat Out for the Ladies

Dine Out For Safety
Wednesday, April 28
Restaurants across town
Details at dineoutforsafety.com

You can take a girl out for a meal any day, and she'll appreciate it. On Dine Out for Safety day, though, women all over Tucson will be grateful. Sounds like a pretty good self-esteem boost. What's so special about Dine Out For Safety? It benefits the Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault (SACASA), and the statistics cited on their Web site speak for themselves.

Think about how many female friends you have. One out of every five women will be the victim of attempted or completed sexual assault or abuse during her lifetime. It's not just the ladies, either: One in six men/boys above the age of 12 will also be a victim. An unsettling number of children are included in these numbers: One in six female rape victims is below the age of 12, and 25 percent of child sexual-abuse victims are boys.

For seven years running, SACASA's signature fund-raising event has involved local restaurants in the effort. This year, nearly 50 local restaurants are participating, as well as local celebrities and service organizations. The way it works is that when you dine at a participating restaurant on Wednesday evening, 20 percent of the proceeds will be donated to SACASA. Prices and menu offerings remain the same, of course.

For a list of the many participating restaurants, visit the program's Web site at dineoutforsafety.com.


Pretend You're at the Beach

Surf Day
10 A.M. to 7 P.M. Saturday, April 24
Buffalo Exchange
2001 E. Speedway Blvd. and 6170 E. Speedway Blvd.
795-0508 and 885-8392

If actually going into nature is not your idea of a good way to celebrate Earth Day, Buffalo Exchange is offering the next best thing: Surf Day!

They know we're in the middle of the desert, yes. They also know that you like to go to Southern California and other beach locales on vacation. If you're like most people, playing and surfing in water full of agricultural and urban runoff, trash, medical waste and yucky bacteria just isn't all that compelling.

The sometimes-sad state of our beloved beaches inspired the founding of the Surfrider Foundation, a grassroots, nonprofit organization of surfers, swimmers, bodyboarders and beach enthusiasts of all sorts working "to protect our oceans, waves and beaches through conservation, activism, research and education." The newest branch of the foundation is the Snowrider Project, supporting the stewardship of alpine and valley watersheds.

Buffalo Exchange has kindly arranged their Surf Day event so that it satisfies two key needs of Tucsonans: the desire to help protect the pretty places we play and live in, and the desire to look damned good while doing it. All proceeds from Buffalo Exchange's Dollar Day Sale benefit the Surfrider Foundation and the Snowrider Project. At long last, buying a teal tube top for $1 can qualify as helping the environment!