It could be argued that Build, a collaboration between the Australian branches of LEGO and Google, is a browser-based knockoff of Minecraft, but on the other hand, those people would essentially arguing that they can never be satisfied, too cynical to enjoy an amazing use of browser and web technology. Also, it's fun to build things with LEGO bricks.

Finding a new book to read after The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Grey? It might be time to go back to the basics. The Huffington Post posted a list of books compiled from the Library of Congress. It as explicitly stated that these books may not be the best reads ever, but what sets them apart is they follow the theme as being the 88 “books that shaped America.”

After perusing the list, presented in helpful chronological order, I found myself recognizing several of the titles and pinpointed things I thought I had forgotten from high school history and English classes. There is a variety of books ranging from the articles of influential minority authors and feminists to classic novels like Catch-22 and The Great Gatsby.

This is definitely a list to take a look at if you’re look for something to read. It’s not always about the next best movie adaptation or what’s hot in new book releases. Sometimes it’s about what’s been done and has passed the test of time.

Unfortunately, Louis C.K.'s new tour isn't coming to Tucson (there's a date in Phoenix at the weirdly wonderful Celebrity Theatre, so I guess that's something), but his blog post explaining why he's selling the tickets for $45 straight, with service fees and taxes included and foiling scalpers in the process is just about the most inspiring thing I've read in awhile:

Also, you'll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce. There are some other rules you may find annoying but they are meant to prevent someone who has no intention of seeing the show from buying the ticket and just flipping it for twice the price from a thousand miles away.

Some of these rules may be a pain in your ass, but please be patient. My goal here is that people coming to see my shows are able to pay a fair price and that they be paying just for a ticket. Not also paying an exhorbanant fee for the privalege of buying a ticket....

Setting up this tour has been fascinating and difficult. this ticketing service is a brand new thing and I really fucking hope it works and that there aren't any problems. If anything comes up, please be patient.

Doing things this way means I"m making less than I would have made if I did a standard tour, using the usual very excellent but expensive ticketing service. In some cities I've had to play smaller venues and do more shows. But I like doing more shows and about a year ago I reached a place where I realized I am making enough money doing comedy so the next thing that interested me is bringing your price down. Either way, I still make a whole lot more than my grandfather who taught math and raised chickens in Michigan.

Meet Bruce Gerowitz, a Tucson food vendor who has 23 years experience selling hot dogs with interesting toppings to late-night customers.

@FrankAntenori Want to wager? I'll take the under and give you three points.
— Dan Gibson (@DanGibson520) June 26, 2012

I haven't had much luck getting Republican state senators to reply to my requests via Twitter lately, but now that I'll in be in Frank Antenori's legislative district come November (along with his new prospective midtown friends on public assistance), you'd think maybe he'd at least throw me a reply.

The offer's still good, Sen. Antenori...let's come up with a wager. You've had a rough year, so this could be a fun little break from all that negativity.

Democrat Richard Carmona's campaign team is touting a new poll that shows the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate just 2 percentage points behind Congressman Jeff Flake, the GOP frontrunner. The Public Policy Polling survey showed that 43 percent of voters were supporting Flake, 41 percent were supporting Carmona and 16 percent were undecided. The Range talked with Carmona last week; previous excerpts from the interview can be found here and here.

Your experience growing up in New York City informed who you are today and you’ve spoken a little bit about that. Can you touch on that?

Being in a poor family, your parents struggling to make the rent every week, not always getting food at night, sleeping with your clothes on when it’s cold—it does sensitize you to the extraordinary challenges of lots of families in our society today. So we call that the social determinates of health today—where you live, what your parents make, the level of education, all of those ultimately determine your health outcome. So a lot of what I understand today about how these very disparate dots are connected is because I learned—I learned through living. My grandmother and my mother were very powerful people in my life, who helped me understand my place in society and that I could achieve almost anything I wanted if I worked hard. I disappointed them, as did my brothers and sisters—we dropped out of school and all of that. But ultimately, the Army saved me. I got my GED, I got my G.I. Bill, I got into college only because of an open enrollment program at a junior college. Otherwise, I couldn’t have gotten in. I had no grades to speak of, or SATs, or any of that. So somebody had the forethought to see there are young men and women out there who deserve a second chance, who have the potential, who can contribute human capital to society, vs. leaving them out there and they become liabilities to the system. To me again, as I look at the DREAM Act, as I look at some of these things, I think I had my own version of the DREAM Act. Somebody said, “We’ll give you a chance, kid. And if you pass, you can stay here. You can graduate, and you can go on to be anything you want to be.” And I did.

You said President Obama’s order to not prosecute young people was are not in the country legally was “long overdue.”

I think it’s been politicized for too long. If you remember back a couple of years ago—four, five, six, I can’t remember—President Bush and Sen. Kennedy came together on this issue. They talked about a pathway to citizenship. And they introduced legislation in Congress. And quite frankly, Sen. McCain and Congressman Flake supported it. Now it’s not politically convenient to support it. But they got on board and they said, “Let’s do this.” Congress failed. And I think whether you agreed on the specifics, I just want to talk about the concept. You had two diametrically opposed politicians on almost every issue who came together in the spirit of democracy and said, “Let’s just solve the problem.” Let’s figure out a way that they pay a fine, get on line, and they earn the right to be citizens. But if they’ve been here working—why are they here? They're here because all of us have been letting folks in to do that, so if we’re going to hold them accountable, we should be holding ourselves accountable as well. So I thought that was really democracy in practice. And for those kids who are here and find out at age 18 that they don’t have papers? Why should we deport them and separate them from their families? Let them finish school. Help them go to college. Hope that they have the next great idea to add to a diversified workforce. So I’ve learned from my own experiences in life academically and, as you know, I’ve been a doctor and I’ve been a police officer on the border for more than a quarter-century. I’ve lived these problems every single day, with undocumented folks, with the COBRA laws, taking care of people, so I understand them. I understand the culture and I understand the language. So all of that came together in my life to help me understand that this should never be political currency. We should come together and solve the problem. That’s what’s important with the immigration issue.

Hey, what the hell? The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have a tour coming up this fall, which will allow people in cities that generally have concerts (Chicago! Portland! Piittsburgh! Will experience the sweat! Of the Blues Explosion!) to enjoy the trio's relatively recently reformed take on blues riffs and yelling. But yet, Tucson is not currently on their schedule.

This, simply, is bullshit.

I don't know who to blame, but considering the band recorded its live album, Controversial Negro, at Club Congress and when I saw the band in Atlanta seemingly a million years ago, Spencer spent a significant amount of time yelling at the audience that Tucson was "number one," you'd think they could take a night out of their busy lives to rock our fair city.

Well, is Tucson no longer number one? Because seeing that there are sixteen American cities that have earned a JSBX show this fall, I don't think we can be considered any higher than number 17 these days.

It's hurtful, Mr. Spencer and company. Just hurtful.

Here's the group's new song, "Black Mold," from the album Meat And Bone, coming out Sept. 18.

Congrats to the Arizona Wildcats, who defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks 4-1 tonight to sweep the Championship Series of the College World Series to complete an incredible run to the NCAA Division 1 baseball title. This is the fourth national championship in baseball for the Wildcats, following wins by Jerry Kindall coached teams in 1976, 1980, and 1986.

UPDATE: There is a Championship Celebration planned for Tuesday.

From the Arizona Athletics website:

Arizona Athletics is inviting all fans to the official NCAA Baseball National Championship Celebration on campus this Tuesday, June 26, 2012 at McKale Memorial Center! Doors will open at 12:00 p.m. with highlights from the College World Series games shown on the video board. Admission is free to the public. The Arizona Baseball team is tentatively scheduled to arrive at McKale at 1:00 p.m. with a 30-minute program planned.

Parking will be provided free of charge in the lots south of sixth street. Parking in the garages and lots north of sixth street will be available for a nominal fee. Concessions will open for the purchase of limited food and beverage. CWS merchandise will be on hand for the sale at the University of Arizona Bookstore booth.

At Slate, Walter Dellinger splashes cold water on the idea that Arizona was the winner in today's Supreme Court decision on SB 1070:

So what does Arizona win? A temporary reprieve for one provision that will be upheld by the court only if Arizona abandons the language that requires detaining a person until their immigration status can be verified. That may be something. But not nearly as much as that which was invalidated.

More generally, the tenor of the opinion of the court is a vindication of federal authority over immigration. “Federal law makes a single sovereign responsible for maintaining a comprehensive and unified system to keep track of aliens within the Nation’s borders,” and quotes from an earlier decision that “Conflict is imminent whenever two separate remedies are brought to bear on the same activity.” It will take at least several days of analysis before one can confidently predict what today’s decision will mean for immigration laws enacted recently by other states. But there is virtually nothing in the court’s opinion that should give lawmakers in those other states any comfort whatsoever.

There's a full-on legal symposium over at SCOTUS Blog. Gabriel J. Chin and Marc L. Miller observe:

At its core, S.B. 1070 is a use of the state police power and state criminal law to enforce and punish federal immigration violators; at its core this is what a majority of the Supreme Court rejected.

In surprisingly strong terms, the Supreme Court sided with the federal government and upheld the Ninth Circuit’s preliminary injunction of Sections 3, 5 and 6 of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 law. Section 3 criminalized non-compliance with federal immigration registration laws; the Court said Arizona’s law interfered with the federal statute. Section 5 criminalized non-citizens’ working without authorization, which federal law did not criminalize. The Court said Arizona could not criminalize something that Congress had determined not to. Section 6 authorized arrests for civil immigration violations; the Court said that was a federal prerogative. (We explain the provisions of S.B. 1070 in greater detail here).

From Jan Brewer's Facebook page: