Russell Simmons, who has provided the world with a fair amount of entertainment in the past (I still miss Def Poetry Jam, not that anyone asked), has a new YouTube channel, All Def Digital, ostensibly designed to showcase comedy...I think? So far, there's a show highlighting the antics of the hiphop collective Odd Future, a preview for a faux-documentary-style show about the world's only black hacky-sack player (called, of course, "Blackie Sack," sigh), some underwhelming poetry videos, parodies of popular rap tracks, and some comedy sketches.

The question is probably whether some of these sketches really could as comedy, after the above video, "Harriet Tubman Sex Tape," was uploaded and later removed, for almost exactly the reasons you would expect. The skit, which if you don't feel like subjecting yourself to it, has Harriet Tubman using sex with slave-owners as a blackmail-based tool to free slaves, upset the NAACP and most of humanity rather quickly and Simmons removed the video from his channel leaving the rest of the internet to pick up the slack hosting it. Also, there was some sort of half-apology.

Again, hard to imagine that something called "Harriet Tubman Sex Tape" would be upsetting to anyone, but you never know these days.

The Polyphonic Spree, who are coming to test the capacity limits of the Club Congress stage on August 26, released a video this week for "You Don't Know Me" from their new album Yes, It's True. It's a charming song with a somewhat less charming video, especially when there's a kid limo driver. Then a taxidermied dog on roller-skates? What the heck is that all about? Stop putting these ugly things in my brain, Polyphonic Spree!

Maybe in Tucson, getting the Pima County Sheriff's Department or the Tucson Police Department to change its policies calling Border Patrol/ICE when stopping undocumented folks will take lawsuits and a city council with some guts—not just laying under Border Patrol vehicles to call attention to detention and separating families.

Let's look at Monday's decision by the New Orleans Parish Sheriff's Department. The New York Times reported that after a "lawsuit filed in federal court in 2011 by two men who had spent months in Orleans Parish Prison on expired detention requests. One of them, Mario Cacho, was held for more than 160 days after having finished a three-week sentence for disturbing the peace."

Read the entire story here, but here's part of the story that explains the change in the sheriff's department policy and a decree from the New Orleans City Council:

Under the policy in New Orleans, the sheriff’s office will decline all ICE detention requests except when a person is being held on certain specific felony charges. The sheriff will also require federal immigration agents to notify a detainee’s lawyer before any interview concerning an ICE investigation. The policy bars the agents from entering certain parts of the jail without a criminal warrant or court order.

While the federal consent decree orders the creation of a system to manage detainers, the New Orleans City Council, citing budgetary and constitutional concerns, passed a resolution in May urging Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman of Orleans Parish not to honor detainers at all. At the time, the sheriff said he was re-examining his policy.

The new policy went into effect last month, but it was also a part of the settlement of the lawsuit in federal court, making it binding in a way that some of the other ordinances around the country are not.

For six years now, the Arizona Underground Film Festival has been bringing spectacular genre films to Tucson. They've also brought a wide array of film-makers, actors, and other behind-the-scenes types to town, and it's one of the more personal and comfortable festivals I've attended. If you've ever wanted to cozy up to some of the most innovative people working in the Cult, Experimental, Horror and other off-kilter genres, I suggest you seek this festival out. This year the fun is taking place from September 13 - 21.

They've just released their second wave of films, and it's looking good! You can check those out here. They announced their first wave of films last week, and those are right here. Two documentaries on Harry Dean Stanton AND Divine?! Color me impressed.

The full lineup will be announced on August 23, and you can buy festival tickets starting that day as well. All information can be found at the Arizona Underground Film Festival website.

School has started and families are starting to get into that after-school groove, but it's hard to give up those city summer excursions with the kiddos. At least that's what I'm experiencing right now, even though my kiddo is happy to be lugging a heavy backpack around all day. (What he sees in this school business, I'll never know.)

But rejoice, dear Tucson families, I've stumbled on something cool to do before that rush, rush, rush about town starts and we won't be able to take a deep breath until Thanksgiving: Twilight Thursdays at Tucson Botanical Gardens. Think of it as your end of summer celebration because you and the kids can boogie down in the middle of the gardens with Tucson's Cordials and take in some art by Tucson artist C.J. Shane. Can't think of anything better.

Tonight, Thursday, Aug. 15, from 5 to 8 p.m., adults $9, children $5, and there's a cash bar, food and ice cream. For members adults $5 and children $3. Next month (third Thursday) is music by Mustang Corners and an art show by 85712, a group show by artists living and working in this Tucson zip code.

Most of the press releases we receive are useless. (Sorry, folks out there in PR land!) So here's hoping this one saying that Tucson's Santa Rita Landscaping is giving away a $10,000 landscape package to a local nonprofit is more than just a way to get more likes on the company's Facebook page.

Nominations start today. Get cracking:

Tucson landscaping company, Santa Rita Landscaping, is giving away a $10,000 landscape package to a local non-profit organization. Nomination of deserving non-profit organizations starts August 14.

“We appreciate the good work of the numerous Southern Arizona non-profit organizations and want to do our part to give back to our community,” said Garrett Ham, Santa Rita Landscaping co-owner. “We are excited to be able to offer a landscaping giveaway that will create a beautiful, functional outdoor space for the clients and staff members of a deserving non-profit.

Nominations will be accepted from August 14 through September 12. To nominate a charity, please visit the Santa Rita Landscaping Facebook Page at facebook.com/srlandscaping, like the page, and submit your nomination.

Facebook fans will be able to vote for the winning non-profit from September 18 through October 31. The winner, selected by Facebook fans and a Santa Rita Landscaping selection committee, will be announced on Santa Rita Landscaping’s Facebook page on November 12.

As incredible as it is that First Lady Michelle Obama is behind the production of a hip-hop album (even if it is one designed to promote her campaign to fight childhood obesity), apparently some people find it even more incredible that Mrs. Obama is doing more than just standing behind her husband and waving—a job that, apparently, only a white woman can handle properly.

From TucsonWeekly.com commenter Dottie (emphasis ours):

HOW CAN ANYONE BE SURPRISED, ALL HE EVER WANTED WAS A MOTOWN CONTRACT, AND HIS LOSER WIFE RAPS, AMERICA IS GOING INTO THE TOILET. THERE'S A FIRST LADY FOR YOU, WHAT A PATHETIC COUPLE THERE IS NO HOPE FOR AMERICA, ALL IS LOST. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT. WE NEED A WHITE FIRST LADY, ANYONE WILL DO, IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS, IMPEACH, EVICT, THERE MUST BE A SINKING SHIP WITH THEIR NAMES ON IT SOMEWHERE, WHAT A LAUGHING STOCK WE ARE. I REMEMBER WHEN AMERICA WAS GREAT, ALAS NOT NOW, RAP THIS

With Dottie's racist screed insightful comment in mind, we've decided to put together an unordered list of the white women who, presumably, could do a better job at being a wife, mother and national figure than Michelle Obama, according to our commenter's strict guidelines in mind:

- Ke$ha
- Amanda Bynes
- That woman who was sexting Anthony Weiner
- Jan Brewer
- Honey Boo Boo's mom
- Any and all of the white "Real Housewives"
- Pretty much anyone who has ever been on a reality show, for that matter (as long as they're white, of course, so basicially all of the contestants on The Bachelor)
- The Olsen twins, in a marriage that would simultaneously legalize polygamy throughout the nation because that's how his powers as President work, probably
- Courtney Love circa 1994
- Hillary Clinton
- Hilary Swank
- Any ladies featured in Swank Magazine ("ladies" being a loose descriptor)
- Flo, from the Progressive commercials
- Anna Nicole Smith, circa her TrimSpa days
- Nancy Grace

Obviously, this isn't a complete list of the women who could surely do a superior job of being the First Lady of the United States (again, according to Dottie's stringent requirements), but we're trying our best. If you have any suggestions that we will, at some point, forward on to our Commander-in-Chief — that is, if he's not too busy trying to get a guest spot on Charles Bradley's next album.

However, I'll admit some of my entertainment dollars go to Hulu Plus and Netflix, and last month my road-weary laptop and I have re-embraced regular TV-watching tradition with two shows: Orange is the New Black (the ending of which, frankly, blew my mind) and The Bridge, an FX-produced show airing Wednesday nights.

The Arizona Republic reported today that a Pima County judge ruled yesterday afternoon that Phoenix and Tucson can retain control of their elections for mayor and city council.

The law, passed in 2012, would have required local governments to move city council and mayoral elections to even-numbered years to go with statewide elections for president and governor beginning in 2014.

Still the question remains: Why does it take a judge to remind Republicans about those old conservative values? From the Republic:

Judge James Marner determined that the law interferes with a matter of purely local concern: Phoenix and Tucson’s authority to determine how to conduct elections. He wrote that the state cannot require cities to conduct elections in a way that violates their charter, a legal document that establishes local governments.

The injunction does not apply to any of the state’s other 89 cities and towns the law could impact, according to Ken Strobeck, executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. He said the decision does, however, make it unlikely that the state will go to court or pass another law to force other cities with similar charters to comply.

But the ruling was a victory for Phoenix and Tucson leaders who feared the shift would have extended the terms of some elected officials, such as Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, by several months or even a year.

Cities and towns across Arizona have objected to the law, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2012, and cite a long list of potential consequences, including that local elections would become fiercely partisan or draw little attention at the bottom of a more crowded ballot.

“As mayor, I didn’t sign up to have local decisions made by legislators not elected by the people of Phoenix,” Stanton said after the ruling. “Cities need to stand up for local control.”

Sure, it's only one joke, blending Smiths lyrics with panels from Peanuts comics, but it's a pretty good joke.