We just discovered that there will be numerous food trucks at the Tucson Museum of Art today, Friday, March 16, through Sunday, March 18. More on that here.

The exhibit of photographs of Frida Kahlo currently hanging at the museum is seriously well worth checking out. The embroidered pieces on the lower level are breathtaking as well. I was so inspired after checking it out that I stopped by a craft store on the way home and have been embroidering my pillow cases ever since. For real.

More on the exhibit here.

Tucson's own Casey Dewey (you may know him as Dewtron) is recapping his adventures at SXSW for us:

Still alive and kicking. Just shotgunned a PBR for breakfast. Last night was a blur, but we can cut through the fog and get down to business.

Andrew W.K. - I had decided to make the Thrasher Magazine Death Match party over at the Scoot Inn (supposedly Austin’s oldest bar) my headquarters; my go-to destination to get the day rolling or to stop by and center myself with a can of Lone Star. My way station. The gods must have been smiling upon me yesterday, because as soon as I walked up I heard the opening salvos of the my official SXSW theme song - “Party Hard”. The place was packed, mohawked kids were flinging through the air, girls were taking off their shirts, dudes were making like Old Faithful and spouting beer throughout. I don’t think Mr. W.K. sleeps; he’s playing something like two shows a day as well as sitting on a dozen panels.

BOAN - I’m a sucker for female lead singer/male keyboard player duos. The Chris & Cosey formula is a flawless model, and some bands just nail it on the head, Glass Candy currently being the kings and queens of the scene. BOAN, from Houston, are checkmating for that position. Playing only a few short songs at an early set time, they had the small crowd that had gathered in the palm of their hands. It wasn’t too long after they started that a full on dance party erupted. I’m gonna work on getting them to Tucson, BOAN will go over sugary sweet over at Opti Club.

Com Truise - Like Airwolf flying through Interzone, or replacing Neo with Sonny Crockett in The Matrix, the oh-so-cleverly monikered Com Truise is a DJ that specializes in over the top synthesizer arpeggios with down and dirty murky grime. With a live drummer to boot! Another set that was a full on rager, the Beauty Bar backyard patio was a throbbing mass of dancers.. Long live the new flesh!

The Cro-Mags - I never really got into New York Hardcore, but I had to check out the Cro-Mags. They’ve been around forever, and they’re near legendary status. Buuuuuut....I left after two songs. It was an over 18 show, and to be honest, I felt like a narc. So thank you Cro-Mags, you made a lot of muscular dudes happy.

Somehow I ended up at gypsy camp with a bevy of Yacht Rock 8 Tracks. I’m not sure what happened, but I do remember playing Fleetwood Mac and The Doobie Brothers for a while before passing out. Onwards and upwards. Over and out!

A quick note for Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, who singlehandledly used her lobbying power to kill SB 1462, which would have set up a system for reporting bullying on school campuses and programs to educate administrators, teachers and students on the dangers of bullying and how to spot it.

I suppose I'm supposed to be concerned that, as you reported in a blog post, that the father of an eleven year old girl had to "had to define for her the terms “homo” and ”fag” at [their] dinner table" because of an anti-bullying video shown at the child's school. That was probably sort of awkward.

I actually had to talk to my now ten year old about those same terms, but not because of a video, but because a student at his school calls him those terms nearly every school day. Now, even though my son reported to the school's principal that this verbal abuse was happening, even though I followed up with my own concerns, the solution was to make the bully and my son sit down and work on a project together. That "peace-building" exercise didn't really hold up, and the child was later suspended for kicking one of my son's classmates in the side, and then later briefly expelled. Now, the kid is back at school (apparently his mother threatened to sue the district over the expulsion) and back calling my son a "fag". Sometimes he eases it down a bit and goes with "Harry Potter", since my son has the unfortunate luck of needing glasses.

I honestly don't know if this new anti-bullying law would help my son's situation...laws aren't always the fix for these sort of things as anyone can realize. However, I suppose I'm less concerned about the bill was endorsed by groups that seek "to redefine marriage and to force cultural acceptance and affirmation of homosexual lifestyles." I guess I would like my son to be able to think of school as a safe place, since I suppose I'm obligated to send him there everyday.

I completely agree with Ms. Herrod that time in Arizona schools "should be for reading, writing, and arithmetic", but it's been a little difficult for my own child to get his head around learning when he's nervously anticipating what might happen on the playground. Again, I guess I'm supposed to be concerned about an awkward conversation some father had with his eleven year old, but for now, I sort of have bigger fish to fry at my own house.

Oh, this should be fascinating radio. From our own Mari Herreras' Facebook page:

On Bill Buckmaster Show today, 12 Noon, KVOI AM 1030 interviewing Tucson Unified School District Superintendent John Pedicone, followed by the Reporters' Roundtable. Tune-in.

The show streams at KVOI.com or you can listen to it later at BuckmasterShow.com.

The war on Arizona-based pornography is on, as Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is threatening to prosecute adult filmmakers fleeing the condom laws of Los Angeles, and the Arizona Family Council (an organization seemingly comprised of lawyers of the LDS faith) is sending out press releases applauding his imaginary effort:

Arizona Family Council is aware of the pornographic film industry’s interest to move to Arizona from California and has been working in the community, informing media, and educating lawmakers about the detriment this industry is to a community. The pornographic film industry will bring with it prostitution, drugs, and other serious criminal activity.

Arizona already has laws in place that make the pornographic film industry illegal in our state.

We were very pleased to hear the strong statement Maricopa County Attorney, Bill Montgomery, issued against the pornographic film industry moving to Arizona.

“Under Arizona law, anyone paid to appear in a pornographic movie may be guilty of the crime of prostitution, which carries mandatory jail time as well as the possibility of other penalties…Accordingly, Arizona law precludes the establishment of a “pornography industry” to any degree such as that present in California.” (Full statement found at www.maricopacountyattorney.org/newsroom)

The existing Arizona laws and the commitment to the enforcement of these laws will be a powerful deterrent to the pornographic film industry moving to Arizona.

Arizona Family Council will continue to educate and empower citizens and families in this effort to keep our communities safe.

Now, of course, there haven't actually been any pornography-based arrests in Maricopa County under Montgomery's reign so the warning seems a little hollow (especially considering there was a relatively prominent story about pornography involving an ASU student and a Scottsdale pornographer in 2010, so it's not like they're working underground), but Montgomery and his ilk apparently don't think Arizona could use over $5 billion (and that's a 1999 estimate!) in economic impact.

Sorry, unemployed semi-attractive people who have flexible moral standards. Back to the unemployment line.

Caveman fall into the category of the more library-friendly indie rock acts like Bon Iver, who work in more subtle, hushed tones, so if you generally enjoy music played by bearded guys in collared shirts or miss when the Shins weren't quite so noisy, you'll probably like the Brooklyn-based (of course) band quite a bit.

I realize that description doesn't really make it seem like I like the band's music, but I actually do. It's not really exciting stuff, although the up-front drum sound does separate them from bands like Fleet Foxes that generally put me to sleep, but their music is generally quite beautiful and charming. Listen/watch their video for "Easy Water" above and check out the band at Club Congress on April 28th. Tickets are $5 in advance.

There's a free wine tasting this Friday, March 16, at Sanders Galleries at 6420 N. Campbelll Ave. Jon Rogers from Wines Without the Mystery says it will feature French wines and some rather amazing cheese, which will make for a lovely evening of sipping and snacking in the gallery's beautiful courtyard.

The event takes place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. There's more on the gallery over yonder.

It's always a delight to see Arizona in the national news for all the wrong reasons. This time, Talking Points Memo looks at the controversy surrounding HB 2625, which would allow employers to choose to not cover contraception with their health care plans:

At the national level, the Arizona bill isn’t doing its party’s candidates any favors, either. Rep. Jeff Flake, a frontrunner for the GOP Senate nomination, opposed the Obama administration’s coverage rule but has since backed off taking action against it. He was attacked for his position by a Senate candidate on the Democratic side, Don Bivens, who ran an ad asking, “In the GOP war on women, whose side if Jeff Flake on?” Flake was part of House leadership that moved away from the Blunt Amendment. He told Politico earlier this month, “I think the Senate already took action and we’ve got a lot else on our plate.” On his state’s own measure to mimic Blunt, HB 2625, Flake’s office told TPM he “hasn’t had a chance to review the bill yet.”

Richard Carmona, the leading Democratic candidate for Senate in Arizona, says the bill is nonsensical. “I put my surgeon general’s hat on,” said Carmona, who served in that position under President George W. Bush, and “I would say, ‘this is bad for public health.’”

Thanks to the Arizona Daily Star (it burns to even type that) for posting the surveillance footage of Martha Vazquez's afternoon shopping trip to the Tucson Mall on February 11th.

Below the cut, two additional clips:

Daniel Scordato’s pizza restaurant Pizzeria Vivace at 4280 N. Campbell Road is changing names to Scordato Pizzeria.

Justin Scordato, general manager of the eatery, says the change is expected to happen in the next several months once issues with the signage and other details are worked out. He said the menu will largely stay the same, although he anticipates adding a few items.

“Daniel wants to make a separation between Vivace and the pizzeria,” said Justin Scordato, referring to Vivace, the nearby restaurant also owned by Daniel Scordato.

He also mentioned that people have been asking if the restaurants are a spin-offs of Gusto Osteria - the restaurant at 7119 E. Tanque Verde Road that uses recipes written by Daniel’s brother Joe Scordato - which has to be somewhat annoying being that Vivace and Pizzeria Vivace have been there for years and Gusto Osteria just opened.

"A part of it is that we want to keep the family name intact,” Justin Scordato said.

There’s more information on what will soon be called Scordato Pizzeria over here.