No, seriously. Paul McCartney performed twice on the Grammys last night and the youth of this world have no idea who he is and posted so on Twitter last night, causing "who is Paul McCartney" to be a trending topic.

But this really was a thing that happened — you can check out Buzzfeed for proof.

Interestingly enough, "Who is Paul McCartney" is still trending, only now it's among a group of people who no longer want to share a world with those unaware of who Sir Paul is.

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection is hosting a free screening of the documentary Bag It on Saturday, February 18th from 10 to 1:45am at the Loft Cinema. Since the City of Tucson has had some discussion about banning plastic bags or trying to find a way to reduce the number used in the city via a tax, this might be an interesting opportunity to think about what we're carrying our stuff in. Plus, it's free.

From the press release:

This gripping, funny, and intelligent film follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he navigates our plastic world. Jeb is an average American who decides to take a closer look at our cultural love affair with plastics. Jeb’s journey in this documentary film starts with simple questions: Are plastic bags really necessary? What are plastic bags made from? What happens to plastic bags after they are discarded? What he learns is quite shocking and eventually leads to a more thorough investigation of disposable plastics in general.

This film event will feature a Call-to-Action for participants to encourage our community leaders to legislate the consumption of fewer disposable bags. That the City of Tucson is discussing the possibility of such a forward-thinking measure presents a great opportunity for this community to combat a major environmental problem.

For more information about the event, please email [email protected] or join in the discussion online at http://facebook.com/bagittucson.

As part of our extensive Arizona Presidential Preference Primary coverage, we've offered Republican and Green candidates on the ballot the opportunity to speak directly to the voter, unedited. Today, Republican Charles Skelley discusses his proposal for a campaign excise fee, partially in the third person:

THE US NEEDS AN "EXCISE" FEE ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE PRIMARY SEASON — TO FUND A NON-PARTISAN POLITICAL COLLEGE

Tucson AZ, Republican Presidential candidate Charles Skelley (co-founder of Worlds Masterminds) says it is not "fair" that raising and spending huge sums of money at a frenzied pace produces the winner in far too many US Presidential Primary elections. Typically less than 0.0001% of US citizens receive and spend these frenzied Presidential political campaign contributions. Most citizens understand that the US campaign financing system is broken and needs to be reformed.

One of my favorite new Tucson food bloggers is Foodie the Kid, better known as 13-year-old Miles Chandler. He's knocked out more restaurant reviews in a few short months than most local food bloggers do in a year, and his writing is direct and fun to read. He's also apprenticed at food truck Planet of the Crepes and does his best to attend every foodie event he can.

Keep it up Chandler. We need all the good food writing we can get in this town. Check out his blog over here.

An uninspired internet search has not determined if Frost Gelato's attempt to set the world record for the most expensive sorbet will be legit. I did discover that a place in Thailand called Mezzaluna has already made a sorbet with Cristal, but maybe Cristal is cheaper in Thailand. From a press release put out by Frost Gelato last Friday:

Frost a Gelato Shoppe announces a groundbreaking Valentines Day Promotion. In an attempt to set a Guinness World Record, and in conjunction with Valentines Day, Frost will serve what they believe to be the most expensive sorbet ever sold to the public.

According to Frost owner Doug Woelfle, “We will be making a sorbet created from strawberries and the very expensive Cristal Champagne. We want to offer couples a special way to show their valentines that they care.” Woelfle adds, “A four ounce serving of our special sorbet will cost $25, and will come with two strawberries dipped in rich, Italian chocolate.”

If the most expensive sorbet in the world requires only a bottle of Cristal to create, then sorbet-makers are clearly not trying hard enough. As far as publicity stunts this gets a C+. That is all.

State Sen. Paula Aboud is set to announce plans to run for the new Congressional District 2 this year.

Aboud, who has reached her term limit in the Arizona Senate, tells The Range she will make a formal announcement on Monday, Feb. 13.

Aboud joins Democrat Matt Heinz, a state representative and physician, in seeking the seat.

Congressional District 2, created in the recent redistricting process, covers much of the same territory as Congressional District 8, where Democrat Ron Barber and five Republicans are now running for the chance to complete the term of Gabrielle Giffords, who resigned from Congress last month.

But the new CD2 does not include GOP-heavy districts in SaddleBrooke, Oro Valley and Marana, which means the Republican voter-registration edge in CD8 has essentially been eliminated in the new district.

Barber, the longtime district director for Giffords who announced his plans to run for CD8 on Thursday, Feb. 9, has not closed the door on seeking the CD2 seat later this year, although he'll have to make a decision before nominating petitions are due at the end of May.

Other Democrats believed to be mulling a run for the new CD2 include state Rep. Steve Farley and Nan Stockholm Walden, a lawyer and former Congressional Hill staffer who now owns pecan groves near Sahuarita.

Republicans in the race for the CD8/CD2 include state Sen. Frank Antenori, 2010 CD8 nominee Jesse Kelly, marketing businessman and sports broadcaster Dave Sitton, former Air Force fighter pilot Martha McSally and political newcomer John Lervold.

While the idea of non-alcoholic champagne is offensive to me, it's nice to have a diverse number of options regarding Valentine's Day. I should be able to serve my romantic dining duties and get smothered hash browns.

No news yet on whether any Tucson locations will participating, but I'll keep you updated.

Crazy news today, as her publicist announced that Whitney Houston is dead at the age of 48. No real details yet, but Houston has largely been an enigma in recent years, falling far from her heights as one of the world's biggest recording artists (she sold over 55 million albums in her career). I still remember hearing her music nearly everywhere in 1987 and 1988 when her album Whitney came out. By that time, I wasn't going to the roller rink anymore and I was trying to reshape my musical taste into something cooler than the oldies my parents listened to, but I still probably sang along to "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" whenever I heard it, even if I drew tributes to Husker Du and the Replacements on my school notebooks. Those songs were just absurdly hooky, even if they're wildly dated now, and Whitney managed to bring the big soulful sound of gospel to lightweight pop.

It's really a shame that her odd behavior, issues with substance abuse and a particularly embarrassing stint as a reality TV star will likely overshadow what an immense talent she was, both on record and as an actress.

• Zachary Vito
• Noam Chomsky, a renowned activist and philosopher, speaks in front of a packed crowd at UA's Centennial Hall. Chomsky lamented the state of the educational system.

The American education system is under attack. That’s according to Dr. Noam Chomsky, who told a packed house at Centennial Hall Wednesday evening that American education has been intentionally designed to create a passive, apathetic public riddled with debt.

Chomsky’s lecture provoked some timely questions, particularly in considering who and what education is for. Chomsky argued, quite convincingly, that the educational system is moving us away from valuing the greater common good, and toward support of the corporate state.

The bigger question he posed centers around what this means for our collective national future, as public education becomes more rigid and less affordable.