So we're the town that wants to remain Podunk, and as a consequence, we're really good at building some mighty fine inferiority complexes about our sunburned burg—one of which revolves around Tucson native Linda Ronstadt, who gave up the Down-and-Out Pueblo for the Bay Area.

And it seems we just can't forget about it—or at least my mom can't, at least this month as my family and I debated going to the Mariachi Festival to see Linda get her Mexican on. When could we ever see her at home again doing the mariachi gig? But she dissed us in The New York Timesarticle, remember?

But no, she didn't and she certainly didn't say she left Tucson because of a problem with social vampires. But judge for yourself:

In Tucson, where she grew up in a large musical family — the von Trapps with cactuses — she had hoped to give her children a life resembling her own, in which boys and girls rode ponies to the drugstore to buy a Coke. But that Tucson is long gone now. “People knew who my father was and who my grandfather was and whether they welshed on their deals,” she said. “That was very important to me. That’s very hard to establish now.”

So though she maintains a house in Tucson, she moved with the children back to her old neighborhood here in San Francisco, a place with sidewalks where she had lived during much of the ’80s. She keeps her recent Alma Award from the National Council of La Raza in the living room and her Grammys in the basement.

I doubt she can ride ponies to get Cokes in her new digs, but no matter; we're going tonight for the 2009 Espectacular Concert where Linda Ronstadt is the very special guest performer. Tickets are on sale and cost $48-$88. Go to the TCC Ticket Office. (No surcharge!) Don't forget your gritas. And enjoy the video above—the era when Linda was all about bringing Mexi back. And look—Paul Rodriguez, and that amazing time when Mexican-Americans were once on TV.

Someone recently brought it to my attention the fact that not enough Americans seem troubled by a pretty basic equation: Torture + Dick + George + A Few Others = War Crimes.

War Crimes usually leads to tribunals, trials and uproar—but perhaps not when the economy right now could use it's own happy ending.

And speaking of happy endings, how do we get away with blinders on when it comes to torture, but when it came to BJs in the White House, it led to Clinton's impeachment? Torture vs. BJs? What's the real crime? The result of each administration makes a clear point: A happy president makes for a happy country. Torture doesn't make one happy, unless of course you're Dick Cheney, which explains the smirk on his federal photo.

Unless ... let's not go there.

I had the great pleasure of working with photographer Timothy Archibald here at TW many years ago, before he went off to become a bigshot Photographer of the Year for the Phoenix New Times. He's now in the Bay Area, working in commercial photography.

He's also working on a haunting series with his son, Eli, that he calls "Echolilia." He talks about the series with photography blog 100 Eyes.

Q: Timothy, you describe “Echolilia” as a collaboration with your son, Elijah. Can you tell me more about that?

A: Around the time Elijah turn 5 we started making photographs together. I’d kind of initiate it with some direction, he’d do something that seemed unexpected…something I’d never have been able to think of…we’d look at the images together on the digital camera and try to refine them…try to improve them, try to take them in other directions. The idea of turning the creative control over to a child, while I operated the camera, allowed me to make images that seemed to have this sense of discovery to me. There was also alot going on at the time with Elijah…behavior things that we couldn’t make sense of.

More photos from "Echolilia" after the jump.

This week's cover story about the 50th Anniversary of the UA Press didn't have enough space to clue you in on a few events happening in town with authors and anniversary celebrations, too:

Mary Ellen Barnes, at left, author of The Road to Mount Lemmon: A Father, A Family and the Making of Summerhaven, will be at Antigone Books tomorrow (Friday, April 24) at 7 p.m. You can also catch her on Sunday, May 24, 2:30 p.m. at the Mount Lemmon Community Center, and Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 p.m. at the Tohono Chul Park.

Another UA Press author, John Alcock, author of When the Rains Come: A Naturalist’s Year in the Sonoran Desert, will be at Tohono Chul Park on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2 p.m.

There will be a party: Celebrate 50 Years of Excellence in Publishing—Anniversary Gala, on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m. at the Arizona Inn.

For more info on other local events, go here.

The University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections is also hosting an exhibit celebrating the 50th Anniversary through May 29, 2009. Five decades of UA Press titles are displayed, including a sample of George Webb’s handwritten manuscript of the Press’ first book, A Pima Remembers. It remains in print today.

Another fun UA Press fact: With almost 250,000 copies in print, English Words from Latin and Greek Elements is the Press’ best-selling book of all time and remains the standard for instruction in classical etymology.

From Holly Schaffer at the UA Press:

Since 2007, University of Arizona Press books have garnered 71 award citations, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Juan Felipe Herrera’s "Half of the World in Light," the National Council on Public History Book Award for Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh’s "Massacre at Camp Grant," and the PROSE Award (American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence) for Eugene Hunn’s "A Zapotec Natural History."

In 2007, University of Arizona Press books garnered 40 award citations, including the American Book Award for Ernestine Hayes’ "Blonde Indian," and the Southwest Books of the Year “Top Pick” for Richard Shelton’s "Crossing the Yard."

University of Arizona Press books are covered in more than 1,000 reviews and articles in top scholarly journals and major metropolitan newspapers.

On Twitter? So is the Press. Get their tweets at AZpress.

This Friday, the Earth Day celebration continues at the UA Farmers' Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Main Gate Square on University Boulevard between Park and Euclid avenues. Bring a T-shirt, and folks at the Campus Health booth will make a tote bag out of it for you for free. Then use your bag for shopping at the rest of the vendor booths.

Depending on the season and availability, you can often find locally grown apples, cabbage, oranges, grapefruit, lemons, garlic, herbs, kale, eggplants, chiles, melons, cucumbers, and more, more, more. There are also folks selling doggie biscuts, hummus and dolmas, delish banana bread, nuts, eggs, plants and soaps.

Don't forget that old T-shirt, to get sewn into a tote bag for ya, for free!

This mother's-day-breakfast-tray cake is among the winners in the baked-food competition at the Pima County Fair, which continues through Sunday, April 26.

The HiRISE team at the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab regularly posts new images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Today's releases include this shot of possible olivine-rich terrain. Photo by NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

In "No Sale" this week, I mention that the Senate Appropriations Committee was scheduled to hear budget bills tomorrow. Since press time, that hearing has been canceled because GOP leadership is still trying to round up enough votes within the caucus for their budget proposal.

Tedski reports that the mysterious mailer smearing Kelle Maslyn in the ongoing election for Marana Town Council has been traced back to National Republican Committeman Bruce Ash.

The mailer, sent by People for An Independent Marana, accuses Maslyn of taking too many campaign contributions from people outside Marana. Ash lives, as Tedski points out, in Tucson Country Club, far from the Marana town limits. Between the hypocrisy of the piece and the likelihood that Ash violated campaign finance regs to hide his identity for as long as possible, we can only say: What a sleazy maneuver. You're really going to turn the GOP's image around with that kind of stunt, Bruce. Can't wait to hear your next nauseating, self-righteous lecture on the radio.

The real aim here: Maslyn is bright, young Democrat and Ash is determined to smother her in the political crib.

Medill School of Journalism students put together a Web site for American journalist Roxana Saberi (photo by Eustacio Humphrey of ZUMA Press), arrested in February and recently convicted of spying in Iran. Saberi is 31, and is a freelance journalist with dual citizenship; she's worked for NPR and the BBC. Saberi is expected to start a hunger strike tomorrow.

The Medill connection? She holds her first master's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University, with her second master’s degree in International Relations from Cambridge University. She is currently working on yet another master's degree in Iranian studies and international relations. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that in 2008, Iran was the sixth-leading jailer of journalists.

To help release her, Medill students are asking folks to Officials in Iran need to know your concern for Roxana Saberi and your desire to return her home, and while she is in Iran to have a fair appeals process.

Write to:
His Excellency Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
622 Third Ave.
New York, NY 1007
e-mail: [email protected]