It's actually a little bit of a challenge keeping up with all the shows coming to town that have been announced in the last few weeks (Ralph Stanley at the Rialto! Perfume Genius at Solar Culture!), so most people will have to pace themselves a bit. I can only swindle so many people into watching my children, for example. However, if you enjoy alt-country music and great songs, you should make room in your life for the Lambchop show at Club Congress on May 6th. Their new album Mr. M comes out next week, but you can stream it on NPR's site. The first single "Gone Tomorrow" can be seen in video form above and my personal favorite song of theirs, 2000's "Up With People", is below the cut.

According to a Tucson Police Department report filed Saturday, Feb. 11, Martha Vazquez was cited for shoplifting at the Dillard's in the Tucson Mall after a security guard saw her on a surveillance camera conceal a $338 Eileen Fisher jacket in a sweater she wore to the department store.

When the security guard went through her belongings, he also found a pair of $30 Kenneth Cole earrings she hadn't purchased.

Read the report for yourself right here: Martha_Vazquez_Police_Report.pdf

It appears the incident cost Vazquez her job as 4 p.m. news anchor at KVOA Channel 4. In the police report, Vazquez told the cop she understood her rights. She said didn't intend to steal the jacket and earrings at first, "but I did and I have no excuses for it." Then she admitted she could have purchased them with her credit card.

Vazquez was released, and was told she's no longer allowed back at Dillard's, as well as Tucson and Park Place malls.

Grammy-approved Best New Artist Bon Iver will be performing at the Tucson Convention Center instead of AVA on April 23. Feist opens the show. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at the TCC Box Office, Ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800-745-3000. Details here.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, The Range received a letter by the world's greatest lover himself: Don Juan DeMarco. Not only does the letter speak of his romanticism, but was also accompanied by a felt mask and dozens of colorful paper hearts that nearly spilled out all over our desk. His valentine to us:

Denying your own true feelings is like colorful hearts falling to the ground all around you. My name I Don Juan DeMarco and I can no longer hide who I truly am. I am flattered that Hollywood has tried to portray my persona, but I am the World’s Greatest Lover! Of course, I speak not of flesh and bone, for that in time will only fade away; I speak of the heart that only stays “Forever You.”

Some may say that romantics are nothing more than people immersed in a fantastic world full of illusion. But only very few men come to realize throughout time that displaying a man’s true feelings and concern for others is as masculine as one can be. This emotion has driven man to stand and fight for what is right and has kept chivalry alive to this very day! Woman cannot resist its aroma and men are drawn to its power! At night, I sneak out with my guitar, singing love songs, touching woman’s most intimate part-their soul.

My desire, you ask? It is that I may inspire woman to know and understand that they are all beautiful and deserve to be treated with kindness, fairness, and respect! I care not that other men scoff at me when dressed in my exotic apparel, for it is them I speak about, and it is with them that I have made my quarrel. In my adventures, I have made love to many woman, helped damsels in distress, thrown my cape over muddy waters so that woman could pass over, and even helped elderly ladies cross the street. If we are to live in a beautiful world, we must be true to each other. To love one another for more than just the body, but for the mind and soul as well, that we may experience love it its fullest exploding pleasure and extent. I leave you now with just a taste in your mouth of my world, and if you ever have the courage to seize the moment, to take the chance, to be a romantic at heart, and to breath life in the way it’s supposed to be, then I leave you…

THE MASK

P.S. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Ok, this is a year old, but it's still amusing. When will a Tucson club get its own coked-up Gremlin named Gizblow?

• Dr. J. Manuel "Manny" Arreguin: "America is like a very unhealthy patient. We need to treat the whole patient, not just manage problems."

Dr. J. Manuel "Manny" Arreguin sent The Range a press release announcing he was going to challenge Grijalva in the district, which stretches along the Southern Arizona Border from central Tucson to Yuma.

Arreguin joins defense contractor David Crowe—or, as he's renamed himself for the campaign, David Crowe Robles—and former state lawmaker Amanda Aguirre as candidates in the district.

Here's the press release from Arreguin:

Dr. J. Manuel “Manny” Arreguin is announcing his candidacy for the newly drawn 3rd Congressional District, running as a moderate Democrat. Committed to ending the political paralysis stifling Washington, Dr. Arreguin is dedicated to finding common sense solutions to promote job growth, to implement responsible healthcare reform and to apply effective immigration policies.

“America is like a very unhealthy patient. We need to treat the whole patient, not just manage symptoms. Congress is notorious for putting Band-Aids on gaping wounds. As a physician, I hear real problems that impact the daily lives of real people. I am trained to diagnose complex problems and carefully and intentionally come up with effective solutions."

Dr. Arreguin is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, currently at El Rio Community Health Center. A leader in the field of women’s healthcare, his current position as chief of staff-elect at Tucson Medical Center has allowed him to be involved with policies that promote and resolve healthcare issues for a diverse group of patients, especially underserved populations. Dr. Arreguin immigrated to the United States from Mexico as a boy, grew up in East Los Angeles and graduated from both UCLA Medical School and Residency Program. He has served Southern Arizona communities for 20 years.

Young the Giant doesn't necessarily make me think "indie rock band." Their music sounds like it draws from classic rock influences with a modern twist. It would be worth it to see this band on Wednesday, as frontman Sameer Gadhia's strong vocals sound even better live than on the studio recordings.

Concert tickets for Young the Giant are selling out in cities all over the country, but it looks like it's not too late for Tucson. Check out the Rialto Theatre's website for tickets.

Here's what Tucson Weekly's Eric Swedlund said about Young the Giant:

The music is grounded in their garage-band roots, but branches out to explore some different territories—power-pop, laden with sunny California melodies; post-garage swagger like the Strokes; and even throwbacks to 1980s alternative, sometimes toward the glammier end of things like the Killers, and sometimes just celebrating the sound of big, bold guitars.

Martha Vazquez stepped down from KVOA Channel 4 today.

According to sources, her resignation follows a weekend shoplifting incident at the Tucson Mall.

Vazquez was the anchor of KVOA's 4 p.m. weekday newscast and had spent nearly 26 years with the organization.

• Photo by Flickr user Flare

I don't know if the recipe for "homemade conversation hearts" on Serious Eats does something to make the resulting candy not taste like food colored enhanced chalk, but think of how impressed your Valentine's Day date will be when you pull out a Ziploc bag with somewhat oddly shaped candy hearts? Plus you can write whatever you want, just as long as it's a short enough sentiment to fit on the heart itself. My suggestion: "YOU'LL DO".

It looks like there's a tipping point, when the happy awesome things that your friends are posting starting getting to you, making you sad that your life is a colossal disappointment. That tipping point is at 354 friends:

Among the group who read updates, the study revealed that having 354 Facebook friends seemed to be the tipping point after which people were increasingly less happy with their lives.

The reason: Much of how we judge our success in life is based on how we stack up against our peers. “The problem is that Facebook gives us a limited view of our friends’ lives, and that view tends to be unrealistically positive,” says study author Dilney Goncalves, Ph.D., a marketing professor at IE Business School in Madrid. The more friends you have, he adds, the more likely you are to spend your day enviously reading about someone’s paradise vacation, new girlfriend, or job promotion.

Tough luck to the 141 "friends" I'll be disposing of (virtually) today. No more social media imposed depression for me.

[HT: ShortFormBlog]