I'm not a huge fan of revivalist roots reggae, so I wasn't personally too excited for the Giant Panda Guerrilla Dub Squad show (plus, their name makes my head hurt) at Plush tonight, but somehow I missed that Los Angeles' Orgone was opening, which is very exciting news.

Orgone has been around since 2002 or so and their sound has evolved from a more straight ahead funk tribute act to a more unique blend of afrobeat, funk, jazz and retro-soul. Regardless of whatever you'd want to label them, they're a lot of fun to listen to, especially live. The show's only $8, so take a chance. Have a great night out on a Tuesday.

From Orgone's site, here's a media player with most of their recent music to stream:

• Samantha Sais

Dr. Peter Rhee, the trauma surgeon who heads the UMC team that saved Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and other victims of the Jan. 8 rampage, has joined a national push for better background checks on gun purchases. He spoke out today with others in downtown Tucson today and argues in the Huffington Post:

After my service in the Navy, when I came back to Tucson to become Chief of Trauma at University Medical Center, I didn't expect to see much that would remind me of the combat zone. Tucson is a peaceful place, not somewhere you expect to see many gunshot wounds. But in reality we see it every day, and especially on January 8, the feeling of being in a combat zone flooded back.

All at once, we were treating eleven patients with gunshot wounds. Despite the best efforts of everyone, six innocent people died that day at the scene and no treatment could have saved those innocent people as they were killed instantly. I am proud of the work by everyone, which helped keep that number from climbing. The outcome could have been worse. But unfortunately, we need to treat people who are shot all the time, all over the United States. When I go to Europe to lecture they often ask me to speak on how to treat patients that were shot. This is because they don't have gunshot wounds in Europe, because they don't have anywhere near our level of gun violence. In Japan and Korea, they have practically no gunshot wounds at all. One fact is true, and undeniable. Where you have guns you will need well-trained trauma surgeons.

My hope is that the January 8 tragedy will teach us a lesson, so we can make sense of that ridiculous day, and so we will do everything we can to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again.

So, today I am joining other Arizonans, including several people wounded on January 8, and officials like Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and former U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini to support a new plan to fix gun background checks.

For a doctor, an ounce of prevention is always worth more than any cure. Enforcing our laws and screening for unstable people like Jared Loughner, the accused killer, would surely help. I can't see how anyone would argue against that. Innocent people die from gunshot wounds all the time, right here in our country. We have to work to decrease that, don't we?

[Huffington Post]

Just a reminder that the first-ever Southern Arizona Cocktail Competition goes down at Hotel Congress tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29.

If you have yet to delve into the world of modern-day mixology, this event is a good place to start. Some of the city's finest mixologists will be in attendance, and only drinks made from original recipes are eligible in the competition. A panel of cocktail experts will do the judging, and a rather nice prize package will be given to the winner.

Admission is free, and there will be specials on Absolut Wild Tea and Beefeater 24 cocktails. The action starts at 6 p.m.

Records show that Hill, a father of eight, has been embroiled for years in an ugly Family Court dispute with his wife (they are legally separated).

A few years ago, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Susanna Pineda awarded the wife sole custody of the minor children (that's unusual), writing, "Father has a history of exploding by verbally calling the minor children vulgar names and using intimidating gestures towards Mother and the children...Father choked Mother at one point and physically abused the family pet in front of the children."

Choking Mom? Bad enough.

But physically abusing the family pet? Damn!

Judge Pineda concluded that the custody arrangement "is reasonable given Father's mental health and anger management issues...[his] erratic and violent behavior, [and his] long history of domestic violence against Mother and the children."

The court file notes that Hill was suspended in 2006 from his job at a supermarket "because of his irrational behavior," and was hospitalized for a time for depression and possible suicidal thoughts.

After his discharge, the file continues, Hill allegedly threatened his work supervisor and his wife — the latter "fled the marital home with the minor children and all pets," and won a court order of protection.

Last January 11, according to a court Conciliation Services report, Hill, his estranged wife, and five of their children discussed the dysfunctional situation in a controlled setting.

"All [of the children] agreed that their father is not sincere about his past behavior," the facilitator wrote. "The father said he was and did not know what he could do."

Interestingly, Hill said a few days after his scathing letter against the Latino students came to light that his wife is of Hispanic heritage.

Read the whole thing here. And remember: Republican Sen. Al Melvin of the Catalina Foothills and Oro Valley praised Klein's courage in reading this letter.

[Phoenix New Times]

Republican Ron Asta wants to know if you think he should stay in the race for Tucson mayor.

Asta, who has been hammered in the morning daily for apologizing for shoplifting a steak but not addressing a traffic accident that left an 18-year-old woman dead, has cut an ad that will air this Thursday during the news talking about the accident.

"I want to bring the issue of the traffic accident to a head," Asta says. "I want to hear from people about whether I should drop out."

Asta, a consultant to developers who served as a Democratic member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors in the 1970s, says he wants to stay in the race.

"It feels like I'm connecting with people and I want to move forward," he says.

Let Asta know what you think at [email protected].

My co-worker Andrew Ling asked for two things for his birthday via text (his messages are in green, mine in white), so I tried to be accommodating.

New Jersey's Delicate Steve is a one man show in recorded form, but it's a little difficult to tell with all that's going on each of his instrumental tracks. He's bringing a full band to open for Akron/Family at Club Congress on April 5th and we're giving away 2 tickets to see him for free.

Enter on our Free Stuff page before the contest ends at 11:59 pm on April 3rd, and we'll get in touch with the winner on April 4th.

"Butterfly":

"Wondervisions":

Skaters bring their dogs to skateparks all the time, but more often than not, they just run around the park and get in the way when you're trying to skate. I'm not saying that bringing dogs along for a session is a bad thing, I just feel like they haven't been utilized to their fullest potential. Filmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert know exactly what I'm talking about. Check out their short film "Dogboarding" for some laughs, but please, don't actually shred the streets of Tucson on your poor pup.

AT&T needs a few things from the FCC - approval of their merger with T-Mobile, permission to screw with how traffic flows through the internet tubes - so what's the only way to woo a government entity? Cupcakes!

IN this covetous town, the delicacies of the Georgetown Cupcake shop stand alone as symbols of wish fulfillment — heaping swirls of luscious confection atop rich, creamy pastry.

Therefore: Operation Cupcake. As the Federal Communications Commission debated final rules last December on how Internet service providers should manage their traffic, AT&T delivered 1,500 of these opulent desserts to the F.C.C.’s headquarters here.

Like many other big corporations, AT&T annually blankets power brokers with token holiday gifts, but the cupcake campaign was notable for its military precision. A three-page spreadsheet, stamped “AT&T Proprietary (Internal Use Only),” detailed how the desserts were to be deployed to each of the 63 commission offices: four dozen were assigned to the enforcement bureau, 10 dozen to the wireless divisions, 12 cupcakes to each of four commissioners, and 18 to the chairman, and so on.

As it turns out, AT&T had begun its $39 billion courting of T-Mobile about the same time. The resulting deal, announced a week ago, would transform the industry if approved. It would narrow the field of major wireless providers to three and vault AT&T into the No. 1 spot, ahead of Verizon; consumer advocates say the combination will lead to higher prices.

I feel better about my $150 a month bill now! Thanks for looking out for my interests, AT&T!

I might be one of ten people in town who regularly watches professional bowling on television (strangely, I don't actually bowl all that often), so I was excited to see that next week's installment of the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs would include some actual drama. In this scene, Australian two-handed bowling sensation Jason Belmonte is waiting his turn and trying to stay hydrated while a guy with Italian flag on his jersey, Brad Angelo, prepares for his shot.

What?!?!? Did you see the look on Angelo's face when he missed that shot? How dare Belmonte open a water bottle during his approach. And now, commentary from bowling expert, Walter Sobchak: