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I recently received a press release about the new PBS LearningMedia® service, claimed to help increase student achievement. I wondered what subjects are available in this free database and visited the site. It's pretty amazing. Check it out here.

You can search a wide variety of subjects—including arts, math, science, social studies—and by grade from Pre-K to 13-plus. Lessons are all over the map—a jingle about the 50 states, a microscopic view of the 24 human chromosomes, capturing renewable energy, learning about cheese melting, asking if pigs can be pets and old standbys like learning about acute triangles and amendments to the Constitution.

There will be an information fair about PBS LearningMedia® for educators on Tuesday, June 19, at Sunnyside High School. Call 621-1500 or email [email protected] for info. Register at http://fairforeducators.net.

More info from the press release below the cut:

I had mixed feelings about The Newsroom, which premieres this Sunday night on HBO. It's on HBO, so I feel like I have to give it a shot, but I also invested far too much of my life into Aaron Sorkin's last look into the world of television, the sanctimonious and not at all funny Studio 60, which is more notable these days for being the show people thought would be more successful than 30 Rock. However, the guy can do great work including The Social Network, Moneyball and how I remember Sports Night to be, so it seems like there's some promise.

While The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum uses her review of the first episode as a referendum of sorts on Sorkin's work as a whole, her brutal takedown sort of makes me think I should skip the show altogether:

“The Newsroom” sounded more promising, journalism being a natural habitat for blowhards. But so far the series lacks the squirmy vigor of “Studio 60,” particularly since Sorkin saps the drama with an odd structural choice. Rather than invent fictional crises, he’s set the show in “the recent past,” so that the plot is literally old news: the BP oil spill, the Tea Party, the Arizona immigration law. That sounds like an innovative concept, but it turns the characters into back-seat drivers, telling us how the news should have been delivered. (Instead of “Broadcast News,” it’s like a sanctimonious “Zelig.”) Naturally, McAvoy slices through crises by “speaking truth to stupid,” in McHale’s words. But he also seizes credit for “breaking stories”—like the political shenanigans of the Koch brothers—that were broken by actual journalists, all of them working in print or online. In the fourth episode, the show injects a real-life tragedy into the mix, pouring a pop ballad over the montage, just the way “E.R.” used to do whenever a busload of massacred toddlers came crashing through the door.

Frozen custard and big, meaty, fast-food style hamburgers? Tucson loves 'em. This has been proven by the unequivocal success of both Culver's locations that opened in recent years and the steady stream of customers found at Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers at 3725 W. Orange Grove Road, in Marana.

Freddy's is now readying to open another location, this one on the corner of Broadway and Kolb. Sarah Selmon, the public-relations director for the chain-restaurant, says the location is expected to open in early November.

The part of me that believes there's a health apocalypse on the horizon cringes a bit at this news. The part of me that thinks thinks said apocalypse is unavoidable and hence should be witnessed with a 3,000-calorie milkshake in hand completely celebrates it. There's more on the restaurant over here.

• Photograph by Keith Perfetti

Tucson came out in skivvies, celebrating the summer almost in the full monty. Thank goodness it wasn't raining.

• Keith Perfetti

Thanks to Arizona Theatre Company for pointing out this YouTube clip from the LG Wolf Company showing the groundbreaking and some of the construction of the Temple of Music and Art in 1927. Be sure to turn the sound off however, since it's it's the sound of the film spooling which gets really irritating after a minute or so.

I was playing some records outside on the Hotel Congress patio on Saturday with Dave, so I got a glimpse of the Underwear Party action happening inside. It was a bit surprising to me how many people were ready to get down to their underwear — men and women, across the size spectrum — which might be a sign that this town is filled with 800 or so secret exhibitionists or possibly that, despite the fact that we generally give up on the summer here as far as events and entertainment go, people still actually want to have fun, even as the temperatures cross into the range of the unpleasant.

I don't know exactly how Kitty Katt McKinley finds the energy for this stuff, but he's back at it on Friday with a Yacht Rock party at La Cocina. The promo video is spectacular and based on the turnout Saturday at Congress, everyone you know will likely be there anyway, so make your plans accordingly.

Congressman Raul Grijalva stopped by Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable to talk about President Barack Obama's new immigration policy and Pima County Democratic Party chairman Jeff Rogers, Tucson Tea Party founder Trent Humphries and former state lawmaker Pete Hershberger talk about immigration politics, Ron Barber's victory over Republican Jesse Kelly, the upcoming congressional races in Southern Arizona and downtown's Rio Nuevo board.

For some reason, Dave Slutes, entertainment director of Hotel Congress, is allowing me to spin records (and also whatever the digital equivalent of that is, click files?) this Saturday night on the hotel's patio, so if you'd like to hear the strange collision of my musical tastes (Early hip-hop! Early 80's new wave! 60's soul! Australian dance-pop! Songs about trucking!) over largeish speakers while drinking the beverage of your choice, stop on by. Things should kick off around 9ish, be sure to say hello if you're around.

In all the post-election analysis of Democrat Ron Barber's 7-percentage-point victory over Republican Jesse Kelly, one important factor has been overlooked: The Calexico Bump.

Calexico has done concerts for Gabby Giffords in 2008 and 2010—and in both races. Giffords came out on top. They performed at a get-out-the-vote rally and concert for Barber last Saturday, June 9.

On Election Night, Barber said he couldn't pinpoint how much of an impact the Calexico concert had on the final outcome.

"I don’t know," said Barber. "I love Joey Burns and I love Calexico. They may have given me a bump, but I love their music regardless. … And you have to figure in Sergio Mendoza and all those guys. So who knows? That could have been the election right there."

Via text message, Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod put the Calexico bump at 2 percentage points.

While 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer has a predictably terrible time at Chicago's house of hot dogs and obscenity, Weiner's Circle, thankfully he has a friend to bring along as back up.