Catch Hugh Cornwell (above), Marianne Dissard and Brian Lopez tonight at Club Congress as this year's WXSW festival comes to a close. Full details here. Should be legendary!

"Tamaulipas Barrel," by Jack Dykinga, is among the works on display in A Radiant Land, continuing through May 29 at Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave. The show features pastels by Lynn Taber and photographs by Jack Dykinga and Eliot Porter. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment, 624-7370.

The latest dispatch from state Rep. Steve Farley:

Howdy, Friends O'Farley…

What a day for America! After a hundred years of trying, we finally enacted real health care reform.

It's not perfect, and the main features do not go into effect for another four years, but it remains a huge accomplishment given the cynical campaign of fear and lies waged against it by the big health insurance companies and the big right-wing newsertainment industry.

We should offer huge thanks to the Democrats in Arizona's congressional delegation for casting that vote in favor of reform, especially Gabrielle Giffords, who was the target of vicious TV ads running every five minutes last Thursday through Sunday, paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fronting for the big insurance companies.

Our own home-grown tea party warriors went to work against our brave congresswoman with tactics not worthy of civil society — yelling, honking, blocking traffic, and at 2:40am after the vote, shooting out the front door of the Giffords Tucson office.

I have also been hearing from some of our tea-headed friends on their opinion of the healthcare bill. Here is a letter I received yesterday from a local tea party

There's a lot of confusion about the impact of the health-care reform package that Democrats managed to make into law this week.

One question is the impact of the legislation on the state of Arizona, which recently eliminated KidsCare and made plans to dump more than 300,000 people below the federal poverty line from state-subsidized health coverage.

Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services looks at how the GOP's budget plan could cost the state a staggering $7 billion in federal health-care dollars.

Meanwhile, U.S. Reps. Harry Mitchell, Ed Pastor, Gabrielle Giffords, and Raul Grijalva today released the following statement regarding health insurance reform and Arizona’s Medicaid costs:

"When the United States Senate passed a health insurance reform bill in December that punished Arizona for having a strong and successful Medicaid program we worked together to ensure that the special deals put in place by the Senate, like the ‘Cornhusker Kickback’ were stripped and changes were made that will help reduce Arizona’s Medicaid costs. We were successful in our efforts and the reconciliation bill passed by the House will ensure Arizona is treated fairly and equitably for its Medicaid program. The changes we fought to put in the bill will provide $2.5 billion in new Medicaid funding for Arizona.

“We came to our individual decisions to support health insurance reform in the wake of the Governor and state legislature’s move to kick close to 400,000 Arizonans, including 40,000 children, off their health insurance. The state's decision to slash Medicaid and KidsCare, which puts Arizona at risk to lose billions in federal matching funds and kill over 42,000 jobs was an important consideration in our decision to vote for health insurance reform legislation. Claims by the Governor and her legislative allies that this bill would cost $1 billion or more to Arizona are hyperbolic and completely unfounded. They are thinly veiled attempts to divert attention from their misplaced priorities and poor judgment that will keep families from receiving the health care they desperately need — a plan that will dig the state into a deeper budget hole by jeopardizing $7 billion in federal funds. These are funds that were paid by Arizona taxpayers and they should not be forfeited

Hey, girls of the Pac-10! Here's your chance to show some school spirit.

Playboy is coming to Tucson for a photo shoot.

Here's the e-mail we've just received:

You may be interested to know that Playboy magazine is coming to town in search of beautiful college women to be featured in their “Girls of the PAC 10” pictorial. Playboy publishes a “College Girls” pictorial every October, and the issue is consistently one of our most popular.

Playboy representatives and photographers will be in Tucson, casting University of Arizona students on April 5 and 6. Interested women can register for an interview via the PAC 10 link at www.playboy.com/pose, or by calling 312-401-7341.

Playboy last featured coeds from the PAC 10 in 2005. That year, two of the models went on to become Playmates, and one of them, Sara Jean Underwood, became Playmate of the Year 2007! I am sure the lovely ladies of Arizona would love to know about this incredible opportunity!

Fox News commentator Sarah Palin has put Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on notice!

Politico reports:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rolled out a list of Democratic members of Congress she intends to target for defeat this year, announcing that she'll go after lawmakers who voted for health care reform and hail from districts she and Arizona Sen. John McCain won in the 2008 presidential election. Forty-eight Democrats represent districts that voted for McCain.

“With the president signing this unwanted and ‘transformative’ government takeover of our health care system today with promises impossible to keep, let’s not get discouraged,” Palin wrote in a post on her Facebook wall, urging supporters not to “get demoralized.”

“We’re going to hold them accountable for this disastrous Obamacare vote,” she continued.

The Democratic members she listed were: Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), John Salazar (Colo.), Betsy Markey (Colo.). Allen Boyd (Fla.), Suzanne M. Kosmas (Fla.), Baron P. Hill (Ind.), Earl Pomeroy (N.D.), Charlie Wilson (Ohio), John Boccieri (Ohio), Kathy Dahlkemper (Pa.), Christopher Carney (Pa.), John M. Spratt, Jr. (S.C.), Tom Perriello (Va.), Alan B. Mollohan (W.Va.), and Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.).

“We’ll aim for these races and many others,” she wrote. “This is just the first salvo in a fight to elect people across the nation who will bring common sense to Washington.”

The UA College of Science "Mind and Brain" lecture series that's been filling up Centennial Hall continues this evening with "The Making of a Mind," presented by LouAnn Gerken, a professor of psychology.

Here's a brief description:

We're all born with a brain, but when does our brain begin to construct a model of the world — a mind? Research now suggests that infants not only absorb a remarkable amount of information about the physical and social world, they also use this information much like scientists to make guesses about the structure of that world. By creating tentative models of different aspects of the world based on very small amounts of data, infants use their developing models to predict the behavior of objects, people and the world around them.

More info on the Mind and Brain series can be found here.

The above video is from the third lecture in the series, by Anna Dornhaus, an assistant professor of

Tucson Originals holds its popular quarterly gift-certificate sale on Wednesday, March 24. You can save between 20 and 40 percent on meals at more than 40 independent, locally owned eateries by getting up early tomorrow and clicking here.

An official with InstaGift.com, the company handling the sale, says the gift certificates will go on sale between 6:45 and 7 a.m. Quantities are limited, and many restaurants sell out quickly.

Rasmussen has a new poll showing close races in this year's race for governor, as well as numbers on the sales tax election.

The survey shows that 53 percent of voters support the sales tax, while 36 percent oppose it and 11 percent are undecided. That's a lower level of support than a poll released earlier this month by supporters of the sales tax.

Here's the release from Rasmussen:

Likely Democratic candidate Terry Goddard now trails two potential Republican opponents in the latest look at Arizona’s gubernatorial contest.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds State Treasurer Dean Martin leading Goddard 43% to 38%. Just six percent (6%) favor some other candidate in this match-up, while 13% are undecided. In January, Martin led Goddard by nine points.

Political newcomer Buz Mills, who has begun introducing himself to the state through a series of TV ads, now leads Goddard 43% to 37%. Seven percent (7%) prefer another candidate in this match-up, while 13% are not sure.

But incumbent Republican Governor Jan Brewer, embroiled in the state's budget crisis, now trails Goddard 45% to 36% in her bid for reelection. Twelve percent (12%) of voters like another candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided. In January, Brewer and Goddard were in a virtual tie after the Democrat held a nine-point lead in November.

Against former state GOP Chairman John Munger, Goddard holds a 42% to 36% advantage. Thirteen percent (13%) of voters pick some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.>

Tucson's WXSW festival continues with Surfer Blood (above), Think About Life, and Turbo Fruits at Club Congress tonight. Details here. For the WXSW lineup at Plush, click here.