Giant Sand's Howe Gelb is conversing with filmmaker and author Bill Carter on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m., at MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), 149 N. Stone Ave. The godfather of alt country--or Tucson soul, if you really want to be correct--will talk about his creative process as a songwriter.

The evening is free to MOCA members, and $5 for nonmembers. For more info on this and other MOCA events, go to www.moca-tucson.org.

The new issue of the Weekly is here, hittin' the streets and takin' up residence online. Feel free to comment on the lucious contents here.

This just in, from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas.

When I recently watched Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias on Arizona Illustrated, I thought the hope of preventing cement mining in Davidson Canyon was dead. But perhaps not ... most out there familar with Board of Supervisors meetings know that the best way to make a difference is to pack the hearing room:

Note that while this is not directly about the Rosemont Mine, it could cumulatively affect the area. As you may have heard, danger is near for this area from California Portland Cement's proposed Quarry just south of the County owned Bar V Ranch. On July 29, 2008, Pima County issued Cal Portland a Floodplain Use Permit. The Empire Fagan Coalition would like to ask for your support in contacting the Pima County Board of Supervisors to ask them to revoke this prematurely issued Floodplain Use Permit, especially now that Davidson Canyon has just been granted a designation as an Arizona Outstanding Water. If this quarry mine is approved and built, it could make it easier for the Rosemont Mine to come in as well. Please support the Empire Fagan Coalition by writing a letter AND attending the Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday.

There is another opinion out there evidently: Pima County can still fight for Davidson Canyon. The county approved the floodplain use permit for AZ/Cal Portland Cement, but the company failed to request the required 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Evidently, this is needed needed before a flood permit can be issued.

Empire Fagan folks hope people come out to support them at the Pima County Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 9 a.m. Supervisor Ray Carroll is placing on the agenda the revocation of Pima County's flood control permit (issued without Board of Supervisors' approval). The board meets in the hearing room at the Pima County Administration Building, 130 W. Congress St., 1st Floor.

To see the Arizona Illustrated interview with Richard Elias, click on "more."

The morning daily recently reported that Pima County is in the midst of developing a conduct policy to define appropriate off-duty behaviors forall county employees. The policy was inspired by complaints that flooded the county about Legal Defender Isabel Garcia's involvement in a July 10 protest of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's book-signing at a Barnes and Noble in Tucson.

The complaints (fueled by listeners of local right-wing talk radio) focused on Garcia picking up the head of an Arpaio piñata and carrying it over her shoulder. Yet, in a report from Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, Garcia told the county she picked up the head and walked to the sidewalk to move protestors further form the store entrance in order to prevent further escalation--not insight violence.

While Garcia was cleared of any wrongdoing by Huckelberry, his office moved forward to create a policy for all county employees. Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Elias and Supervisor Ray Carroll made it clear that they aren’t 100 percent behind the policy proposal.

But if you’re a county employee wondering what you can and can’t do that could irk the public or the county administration, Garcia may have proven that irking those in charge of your budget can eventually pay off.

Meanwhile ... it was reported in The New York Times on Thursday, Dec. 4, that Garcia was awarded one of five 2008 Lannan Cultural Freedom Awards, which comes with a $150,000 cash award . The Lannon Foundation honors individuals working on behalf of communities struggling to uphold and defend their right to cultural freedom and diversity.

Garcia was recognized for her border activism and work with Derechos Humanos.

See, sometimes speaking your mind (and not worrying about what your boss will think) can pay off.

(Full disclosure: Mari Herreras is married to a Pima County public-defense attorney, but he does not know Garcia or work in her office.)

We're looking for native Tucsonans who were born close to Feb. 22-26 in 1984, 1959, 1934 and 1909.

Yep, like our assistant editor, I am on the hunt for some folks to feature in our upcoming anniversary issue. I've sent out e-mails and Facebook pleas--and now I'm turning to you, dear blog readers. (My grandfather was born in 1909, and I wish I could interview him for this piece, but he is at Holy Hope off Oracle, and was born in July.)

But some of you out there may have a grandfather born in 1909 and in February ... and perhaps a few others out there have friends or family born in February in 1934, 1959, and 1984. Or maybe yourself were.

I just need four people (which I can treat for coffee during our interview). It's all I seem to talk about, and as a result, if it weren't for the holidays, my loved ones would probably avoid me if they could.

Help me out there, and e-mail me at [email protected].

Geeez, all that bad news about layoffs and bailouts and Brewer taking the reins. Lucky for you TWinkies a certain editor gave me the keys to this little ride. He may have been a bit high on the hollandaise sauce is all I can figure. Before I begin let's get something clear, spell-sheck is for wimps. This is the "texting" generation, spell-check is soooo 1990s. With that said, let's roll.

Men that have held the highest office in the land have always been the inspiration of artists. Whether through feats of good or evil these mighty men have led painters and illustrators to express themselves by pushing their little colored pencils and brushes around and making, uh, art. If you didn't see any, you can certainly imagine what imagery Little-King George inspired. Nothing better sums up the Bush presidency than the graphic piece (of poo) promoted by madeyouthink.org. Madeyouthink invited supporters of their idea to download, print, and distribute these little Bush flags. Participators were to return with digital images of their work for posting on the site.

Presidente Obama, on the other hand having done little other than get elected, has inspired master works worthy of saints and mythical gods. Maybe it was the extra-lengthy campaign period or the disastrous Bush presidency, something compelled artists to create quite a few notable endeavors. Of my personal favorites was the work of artist Dan Lacey. You may have heard of Lacey, he's known as the "Painter of Pancakes", mostly because he paints famous people with pancakes on their head. He's done 'em all too, Bush, Putin, Hillary, Palin. But when it came to Mr. Obama, Lacey decided on this approach.

The symbolism is rich. Obama rides home his message of hope and progress, mounted nude on a hugely-horned unicorn. Anyone else rather not see our president represented as shirtless beefcake?

Just for a bit o' balance, these are other notables. First a piece by Afro-futurist Corinne Stevie. Lovin' the First Lady's outfit in this one. Thank the gods for not giving us another First Lady with a schoolmarm-ish fashion sense.

Totally digging the street style (yes, it's okay to call it "street") and dig the First Lady standing in front of Mr. Obama. The hand-holding, the microphone, the lime-green tie, great stuff!

Then there's this touching oil painting by Katelyn Sack. This one's just cute.

Yet another fave of mine is a poster design by Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma, known as The Date Farmers. The Coachela, California, based duo was

commissioned by Upper Playground to design this poster to be distributed in Texas prior to its primary election this past March. Obama looks pissed on this rendition, but perhaps it's the Mexican-revolutionary style that appeals to me.

What was your favorite piece of Obama inspired art or design? Let's see some links!

In our 25th anniversary issue, the Weekly will profile several couples who found each other through our personals. We know you're out there, so don't be shy.

If you met your husband, wife or partner through the Weekly personals, let us know. Or if you had a meaningful encounter through the "I Saw You" section, we want to hear from you, too.

Contact Irene Messina at [email protected].

Jim Nintzel will be doing a recap of sorts on all the ballot initiative spending in next week's issue.

However, seeing as I don't much care for bigotry, I thought I'd take this space to highlight all of the giving to Prop 102, which made government-recognized gay marriage really illegal by amending the Arizona Constitution to say that only one man and one woman could get hitched.

Just short of $7.8 million was raised by Prop 102 supporters. Wanna have a look-see at all the donors? You can find the reports here.

The Tucson Citizen has finally written a fairly good story about the layoffs there.

The CliffsNotes from Mark B. Evans' piece: "Fewer than 12" Tucson employes will get laid off. Two Citizen staffers are gone, while one took a buyout. The rest of the layoffs--"single digits" will come from Tucson Newspapers (the merged business operation of the Arizona Daily Star and the Citizen), and Tucson Newspapers prez Mike Jameson said not all of the layoff-ees will be told until Monday.

All, in all, considering some of the slash-and-burns going on across the country, the Tucson Newspapers layoffs were rather light. That's something to be thankful for this holiday season--though it's no consolation to the "Fewer than 12" employees who are now ex-employees.