• Reid Park Zoo

DJ the mandrill, a 21-year resident of the Reid Park Zoo, born there in August of 1991, has died. He was euthanized by zoo staff yesterday, after they determined that it was "clear he would no longer have a reasonable quality of life." Despite numerous health issues over the years, DJ's lifespan actually exceeded that of the average mandrill—a testament both to his hardiness and the work of the Reid Park staffers.

In honor of DJ's passing, we've decided to include the timeless Sarah McLachlan song "Angel" in today's post in his memory. May you be as colorful in the hereafter as you were on earth, DJ.

Read the Reid Park Zoo release announcing DJ's death below the jump.

One of my favorite day trips with the family is to Apple Annie’s Orchard in Willcox. The sad part is that all of the great things were only available for a short window, generally through the summer, but that looks like that is going to change.

Come this spring, all those pies, preserves, and other tasty goods will be available year round! Apple Annie's has purchased what used to be Stout’s Cider Mill, located just off of exit 340 in Willcox, and will be renovating it to become Apple Annie’s Country Store. Pies and jelly and doughnuts…Oh my!

Check out Apple Annie's website here.

If you've got feelings about Tucson Unified School District's deseg plan, known as the Unitary Status Plan, know that you're not alone: Ward 1 City Councilwoman Regina Romero has all sorts of feelings about them, which she made clear in a release sent out this evening, and she urges you to take your feelings and opinions to the forums being held this week by TUSD. We've got the full letter for you after the jump, but here's a short-form of her views, point by point:

School Closures:
- Romero seems to oppose the closures of Manzo Elementary, Menlo Park Elementary and Brichta Elementary, noting that they would consolidate schools with "exceptionally high Latino populations" into Tully Elementary, "further exacerbating district segregation."
- Romero says that any potential closures must take into account the fact that "nearly 85% of students in Wards 1 & 5 are eligible for free and reduced lunch," noting that these wards have the highest populations of adults without a high school diploma.

Bilingual Education:
- Romero believes that bilingual education must be reinstated for English learners, saying that "studies have demonstrated that bilingual education is far more effective than English immersion, and separating students based on native language has serious implications for equitable student support and services."

Mexican American Studies:
- Romero thinks that MAS needs to be reinstated, call it "one of the most highly acclaimed programs nation-wide with respect to closing the achievement gap for Latino students" and saying that it is "critical to moving towards a more equitable and effective district for all."

This week's forums are taking place tonight, at Tucson Magnet High School; tomorrow, Nov. 27, at El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, 101 W. Irvington Road; and Wednesday, Nov. 28 at Palo Verde High School, 1302 S. Avenida Vega. All of them are from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Check out the full letter below the jump.

Here's something terrifying to consider in the wake of Thanksgiving weekend: Apparently 40 percent of Americans never exercise.

From the New York Times:

About 40 percent of Americans report that they never exercise, a figure that has remained steady for decades. They will not even do the easy stuff. In studies of moderate exercise to help prevent diabetes, for example, investigators had to go to great lengths just to keep subjects in a walking program.

Now, with more recent studies using accelerometers that measure actual movement rather than relying on self-reports, the data are even more dismal. Only 3.5 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 59 do the minimum amount of physical activity recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services: 150 minutes a week of moderate activity. Among those over age 60, the percentage is even lower: 2.5 percent. “It is stunning,” said Panteleimon Ekkekakis, an exercise researcher at Iowa State University.

The story goes on to consider research from Ekkekakis and the University of Georgia's Rod Dishman in which it is noticed that people find the most memorable parts of a workout to be the peak of intensity and the end of the workout, and that people are more likely to maintain regimens that end with positive rewards (a calming cool-down period, for instance), but I can't stop staring at the 3.5 percent of people who get the minimum amount of physical activity.

I'm no specimen of great health myself, but taking this number in conjunction with studies that project that the current generation of children is to be the first with shorter lifespans than their parents freaks me the hell out, even though I don't have kids (that I'm aware of). It's almost enough for me to buy one of those sports accelerometers just to shame myself see how much I'm actually moving around.

Andrew W.K., noted rocker and extoller of the virtues of partying hard, made an interesting claim on his website last week—namely, that the U.S. State Department invited him to Bahrain in an effort to "promote partying and positive power."

In response to the surprising (to say the least) announcement, W.K. had this to say on his website:

"This is a tremendous invitation. I'm very thankful to the Department of State for giving me the opportunity to visit a place I've never been before. And I feel very privileged and humbled by the chance to represent the United States of America and show the good people of Bahrain the power of positive partying. I can hardly wait for this adventure!"

Of course, the idea of sending someone like Andrew W.K. to the Middle East sounds kind of, well, insane. I mean, this is a guy whose first album makes it appear as if he was smashed in the face with a brick—and whose most recent album is entitled Close Calls With Brick Walls. So a number of media outlets were understandably skeptical, reaching out to the U.S. State Department for confirmation. Their response, as recorded by Washington D.C. blog, DCist:

Andrew W.K. will not be visiting Bahrain in any official diplomatic capacity, DCist has learned. A State Department spokesperson says that while the singer and evangelist of partying was invited by the U.S. Embassy in Manama, the department, after considering W.K.'s wild oeuvre, cancelled the trip.

W.K. was also never designated a "cultural ambassador," the spokesperson says, though embassies around the world routinely invite artistic and cultural figures to make appearances. But such events are subject to oversight, and W.K.'s offer of showing the Persian Gulf island nation the "power of positive partying," did not pass muster.

"The embassy determined that was probably not a best choice and didn't meet our standards," the spokesperson says.

So, there's that. I'm disappointed, honestly—not as disappointed as future Weekly boss Dan Gibson, who apparently owns an autographed copy of I Get Wet on vinyl, but still disappointed.

Sometimes I miss the good old days of television, when my TV stars were only in the news for bad reasons when they flipped a car (sorry to see Boss go, Kelsey Grammer) or for a group-wide contract holdout, a la Friends or the people on CSI that nobody cared about.

No longer. Now, being on an extremely high-rated and successful show just isn't enough for some stars, particularly those on Two and a Half Men. First it was Charlie Sheen and his "winning" strategy of bashing the show's creator, somehow thinking it wouldn't get him canned from his cushy $2 million-an-episode gig.

Now we have Angus T. Jones, the actor who plays the 'half' man, Jake, the son of Jon Cryer's character and whose character is in the Army on the show and hardly has to make any appearances in order to collect his $350K paychecks. But even with such an easy deal, he's decided to bite the hand that feeds him, or more aptly, take a steaming dump on it, in the below video, which is supposed to be a "testimonial" in support of some religious thing called the Forerunner Chronicles.

Entertainment Web site TVLine cued up the rant to the specific place where Jones refers to the badness of TV and how "deceptive the enemy is."

So, over/under on how soon Jones' "Jake" character gets pushed in front of a train in France, like Sheen's did? Or he could just get devoured by Miley Cyrus' teeth the next time she guest-stars.

The replacement for current Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle has been announced, and his name might be familiar to Weekly readers: Dan Gibson, former web producer for Tucson Weekly and Weekly sister paper Inside Tucson Business.

Dan Gibson, former web producer at Territorial Newspapers, will take over as editor of the Tucson Weekly on Jan. 1, publisher Tom Lee announced on Monday (Nov. 26).

“Dan’s background in alternative newsweeklies and how they relate to website development and social media makes him the logical choice for the position,” Lee said.

Gibson will join the staff immediately after resigning his most recent position as digital content director at Clear Channel Radio in Tucson. He will work with editor Jimmy Boegle, who is leaving the position to launch a website in Palm Springs.

Gibson was the web producer for the Weekly and sister paper Inside Tucson Business from October 2010 to August 2012, doubling the Weekly’s daily web traffic during his time in the position. This year, while he oversaw the publication’s digital content, the Weekly won both a Local Media Association Best Web Initiatives award and a second place prize from the Arizona Newspaper Association for Best Newspaper Website. Earlier this year, he was named an Association of Alternative Newsmedia Next Generation Scholarship winner.

Sure, they didn't completely tear apart Pittsburgh's Heinz Field for one of the largest special effects sequences in The Dark Knight Rises (though as a bitter Arizona Cardinals fan, I wouldn't have been that upset,) but it appears that the film's special effects team actually used practical special effects in the scene where a Gotham football field collapses.

Check out the video below from MSN for a look at the movie magic.

I'm not sure what it says about me that the most nagging, unrealistic thing about that shot to me is that it has Hines Ward returning a kickoff for a touchdown.

Last week was an eventful one for the folks at Maine's WVII and WFVX: Two anchors at the Maine TV stations resigned together on the air.

At the end of the 6 p.m. newscast, Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio thanked viewers and said that departing together was the best alternative because of some “recent developments.”

Consiglio told the Bangor Daily News that he quit because “I just wanted to know that I was doing the best job I could and was being honest and ethical as a journalist, and I thought there were times when I wasn’t able to do that.”

Halloween and Thanksgiving have now become sweet memories. If you have not already started, it is time to think of your pots as your holiday decor. Pots at your front door and you key view points around your home, can be dressed up to enhance your holiday spirit!

• Red Cyclamen