It’s Beginning to Taste a Lot Like Christmas

For the Past several years, my friend Amy Silverman, with the help of her co-conspirators, has organized a Phoenix storytelling event called Bar Flies. (Full disclosure: I told a story of my misspent youth last year when Bar Flies made its first Tucson visit.) The stories range from dramatic to heartbreaking to funny. And now many of them have been collected in a book, Bar Flies: True Stories From the Early Years. Since there's always a Bar Flies Christmas show, I jumped at the chance to excerpt a holiday tale for our cover story this week. State lawmaker Jennifer Longdon's story of how she accidentally ended up in a brief long-distance relationship with someone who really needed to learn to cook sweet potatoes is a classic Christmas story.

If you're a fan of these sorts of storytelling events, Bar Flies will be having a holiday party next Tuesday, Dec. 17, at the Van Buren in Phoenix. There will be lots of storytelling and, of course, books for sale.

Elsewhere in the book this week: Web editor Jamie Verwys finds out who is likely running for the District 1 seat on the Pima County Board of Supervisors now that incumbent wackadoodle Ally Miller is calling it quits next year; staff reporter Christopher Boan takes a look at the Roadrunners' hot start to their hockey season; arts writer Margaret Regan rounds up the many Nutcrackers that are headed our way; Emily Lyons of Taming of the Review takes in Arizona Theatre Company's production of Cabaret; movie critic Bob Grimm takes a dip in Dark Water; Chow writer Mark Whittaker samples the pupusas and tamales at Selena's Salvadorian Restaurant; and music contributor Mark Horn talks with 87-year-old Jimmy Carter of The Blind Boys of Alabama ahead of their upcoming show at downtown's Rialto Theatre.

— Jim Nintzel Executive Editor

Hear Nintz talk about what's happening in Tucson's entertainment scene Wednesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. during The Frank Show on KLPX, 96.1 FM. Zona Politics with Jim Nintzel airs at 4 p.m. Sunday on KXCI, 91.3 FM. He'll also talk about local politics on Arizona 360 at 8:30 this Friday, Dec. 13, on PBS 6.