So, this happened:

And, of course, when you get two figures of such magnitude in one photo posted on Facebook, big feelings are bound to arise. Here are five of the numerous comments left below the image:

An email went out to all Pima Community College faculty and staff today at 2:23 p.m. from Interim Chancellor Zelema Harris:

From: Pima Community College, Office of the Chancellor
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 2:23 PM
To: #Pima-All
Cc: #Board; [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Message from the Interim Chancellor

Colleagues,

I began serving as Pima’s Interim Chancellor on April 15 and it already it has become clear that we are rapidly moving toward addressing the two greatest challenges confronting the College: our status with the Higher Learning Commission and the search for a permanent Chancellor.

My top priority as Interim Chancellor is to work with Provost Migler to make sure we are prepared to meet a number of rapidly approaching deadlines with regard to the HLC. As I noted in my April 17 message to you, the first of those deadlines is the filing of a monitoring report no later than Aug. 1, 2013. To help us meet our goals, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Karen Solomon and Dr. Cecilia López will visit the College on May 2-3.

Dr. Solomon is the Higher Learning Commission staff liaison for PCC. Dr. López, a former HLC associate director, currently is Associate Vice Chancellor for Accreditation and Assessment for the City Colleges of Chicago. They will be here to offer accurate information, unique perspectives and solid advice as the College creates a strategic plan to address areas in need of improvement. We’ll keep you posted as soon as more information becomes available.

Concerning the search for a permanent Chancellor, the College plans to announce a series of candidate forums by the end of the week. These forums are an excellent opportunity for Pima’s students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the community, to meet the four individuals who have applied to be the College’s next Chancellor. I strongly encourage each of you to take time out from your busy schedules and attend.

On a related matter, please let me take this opportunity to clarify any misconceptions that may have arisen over my role as Interim Chancellor of the College and the duration of my service.

First, let me state that I came out of retirement because I believe PCC is a fundamentally strong institution. I wouldn’t be here if I thought PCC was a lost cause, or was fundamentally flawed.

My confidence in PCC has been justified in the short time that I have served as Interim Chancellor, and I am very optimistic that PCC will be taken off probation. PCC has the talent, the experience and the drive to get the job done. Fortunately, in Provost Migler and his staff, the College has a team which can take the lead in a process that will be challenging but ultimately successful. Vice Provost Mary Ann Martinez Sanchez, PCC’s liaison to the HLC, will play a critical role in this effort.

I am here to get the College off to a good start. I am not here to keep the Chancellor’s chair warm until a permanent successor is chosen. I have a job to do and I fully intend to do it. My contract clearly states that my last day at PCC will be June 30, with the possibility of an extension through August 23, 2013. It is not my intention to stay beyond that date.

When the time comes for me to return home, I will do so with the certainty that the College is well on its way toward regaining the full confidence of the Higher Learning Commission and the public.

Zelema Harris,
Interim Chancellor, Pima Community College

The Fifth Annual Agave Fest is happening Friday, May 3 at Hotel Congress.

Over 40 tequilas, mezcals, sotols, and baconoras will be on hand for tasting as well as an agave cocktail throw-down contest by some of Tucson’s best bartenders (mixologists, if you are a hipster). Cocktails from the likes of Aaron Defeo of Casino Del Sol,
 Luke Anale of Penca,
 Cameron Fisher of Hotel Congress, 
Kwon of 47 Scott,
 Andrew Record of Playground,
 Ally Baron of La Cocina, 
Jon Herrara of Elliot’s on Congress 
and Danel Cole of Sky Bar will be fighting for the votes.

Tickets are $35 in advance, and that’s a bargain for what you get: Tastes of over 40 different agave spirits, taco and salsa bar from the Cup Café, souvenir Patron shot glass, cocktails from awesome bartenders, and the chance to vote for the best cocktail of the night.

Go here for all the details and to get tickets.

The State Bar of Arizona is celebrating the nationally recognized Law Day by offering community members in Tucson and Phoenix free legal clinics where they can get questions answered about a number of topics.

The clinics are expected to draw in more people this year, the second time they're being held, and will include bilingual classes to better serve the Spanish-speaking community in Arizona. This year’s topics—immigration; divorce; child support and paternity issues; bankruptcy and foreclosure issues; landlord and tenant issues; and probate and guardianship issues—were selected based on consumer demand.

That demand was measured by hotline phone calls that came in throughout the year. Alberto Rodriguez, of the communications department of State Bar Arizona, said the Spanish classes allow the State Bar Arizona to be inclusive of all community members. All immigration sessions will be bilingual as well as a few of the family law clinics in heavily Hispanic populated areas in Phoenix.

Rodriguez said he expects the immigration sessions to have a big turnout because of all the coverage the topic has been getting in the media. The clinics will hopefully also teach attendees at the immigration sessions to not fall for fraudulent attorneys who claim to have training which they don’t.

“We want to make sure that we’re answering the immigrants’ questions in a safe environment,” Rodriguez said. “So really it’s just a way for them to get informed on how to take care of their immigration status, apply for immigration and do it the right way.”

The law clinics are each 50 minute sessions and begin with an information overview followed by a question and answer section and if it’s still necessary attorneys will sit one-on-one with the community member to help.

The event is Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the State Bar Arizona Southern Regional Office, 270 N. Church Ave. Ste. 100. All clinics are free.

For more information about Tucson's five sessions visit:
http://www.azbar.org/legalhelpandeducation/lawday/lawdaytucson

• Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Former Phoenix New Times music editor/current Zia something/excellent guy Jason Woodbury has collected a selection of songs recorded in Arizona between 1951-1971 for the music blog Aquarium Drunkard. It's a great listen, with tracks by the Al Casey Combo, Wanda Jackson, and Duane Eddy, it's free and you should grab it while its still available.

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona introduces Mario, an 11-year-old Siamese cat.
(Reference no. 747416)

Mischievous Mario can always put a smile on your face. This big comical kitty is packed with personality and attitude. As a special guest in staff offices at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, Mario insists on being the center of attention and will steal your seat and give you a stare down whenever the opportunity arises. Surrendered when a family member suffered from allergies, Mario is now hoping to find a cozy place to retire in style. This sassy Siamese would do best in a stable home with older children or all adults. He loves accompanying his favorite people around the house but prefers affection on his own terms. If you could be the special person to make Mario’s golden years bright, please ask to visit him at the main shelter of the HSSA, 3450 N. Kelvin Blvd. One look in those blue eyes and you’ll be smitten!

Kevin Burke is known far and wide in Irish music circles as a quintessential Sligo fiddler.

He was born in London 62 years ago, but his parents were Irish immigrants from Sligo, and it’s the rhythms of that Atlantic-washed county in the West of Ireland that shape his playing.

“Many great fiddlers come from Sligo,” he said, last week from his home in Portland, Oregon, and they have a distinctive sound.

“If you travel north to south in the West of Ireland, you’ll find the music brisker and faster in the North,” he said, “and slower in the South.”

The famed fiddler Martin Hayes, just for instance, who hails from Clare in the Southwest, “takes long, swooping strokes. It’s quite ornamented.”

Sligo is smack in between North and South, and its fiddlers marry southern Hayes-style ornamentation with northern-style briskness, Burke said — himself included.

Tucsonans can tease out the stylistic influences in Burke’s playing when he gives a concert at Plaza Palomino this Thursday night with John Carty. A master of banjo, flute and fiddle, Carty is another English-born child of Sligo immigrants. The two musicians will likely each do a solo set and then play together, Burke said.

Both men are instrumentalists, and — unusually for an Irish band — they’re not accompanied by a singer.

A more formal announcement is set for Bentley's on Speedway today at 2 pm, but because we live in the 21st century, Fred DuVal is using YouTube to kick off his attempt to win the governor's seat in 2014. Unless Chad Campbell throws his hat in the ring, as it stands, it looks like DuVal, a member of the Board of Regents, one time Congressional candidate, and connected to Bruce Babbitt and Bill Clinton, will cruise through the Democratic primary to face someone from the crowded Republican field.

• Courtesy of Pima County Sheriff's Department

After spending all day processing this as best as I could, I now feel confident in telling you that this is the weirdest story of a robbery I've seen in quite some time.

According to a release from the Pima County Sheriff's Department, a woman was robbed at the Bank of America drive-through ATM near Thornydale Road and Linda Vista Boulevard by a man wielding a knife and wearing a demon-esque mask.

Detectives from the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division ... learned from the victim that earlier that night, she had deposited her paycheck and also wanted to withdraw some money from the drive-through ATM.
While she was still seated in her car, a male individual wearing a Halloween mask appeared. The suspect said something to the victim, but she was not able to understand as she only speaks Spanish. She also described the suspect held a knife that was possibly a larger folding knife.

The woman then pulled her arm into her car and drove away. As she drove, she looked back to see that the robber was trying to use the ATM (which likely resulted in his shining visage being displayed as prominently as it is above). According to the release, her account (and her money) were unharmed.

The Sheriff's Department is still searching for the man. Surveillance footage makes it appear as if the suspected robber was a male wearing dark clothing, with light skin, dark hair and a green demon mask with purple horns.

He should stick out in a crowd.

If you happen to have any information, PCSD asks that you call 911 or 88-CRIME with your tips.

In a way, I can't blame these poor folks who were tricked so handily by the Jimmy Kimmel Live! folks, because let's face it: there are an absolute shit-ton of bands at Coachella each year. Of the bands listed on this big-ass poster, I recognized roughly a third of the names on there — and less than a third of those were the guys listed in small type.

Thus, I can't blame the hipsters featured in this video for the fact that they fell for band names like "The Chelsea Clintons" — but I will fault them for still using phrases like "for sure," because I'm judgemental about the way people speak despite my insistence in using "word" as an affirmative.