• Lara Shipley

Slate's photo blog, Behold, celebrates the photography of Lara Shipley:

Lara Shipley became interested in doing a project in southern Arizona after moving to Phoenix in 2010. Shipley was raised in a small Midwestern town and sees this as the source of her interest in isolated and rural areas. Once she arrived in Arizona, Shipley began investigating the borderlands, spending time getting to know the various towns and their inhabitants and making as many as two trips a month from her home in Phoenix. She finds her subjects organically, meeting people during her visits.

Shipley’s stylistic approach is to use a blend of found and manipulated scenarios; some are staged, and others are shot as she finds them. This blending of actual, real-life documentary subjects with manipulated elements becomes interesting when applied to a region generally covered in a more straightforward documentary fashion.

Shipley's website is here.

Independent journalist John Dougherty of InvestigativeMEDIA raises serious questions about whether the Granite Mountain Hotshots who died in late June should have been dispatched to battle the Yarnell Hill Fire:

Before the Granite Mountain Hotshots even approached Yarnell Hill, a substantial amount of information shows, serious problems already had engulfed the crew. The personnel-related matters call into question whether the crew met minimum hotshot qualifications.

The systemic crisis gripping an overworked crew — along with its baffling decision to leave a safe zone and move down a canyon through a treacherous, 10-foot-high thicket of unburned fuel toward a rapidly approaching wildfire — has raised fundamental questions about whether the nation’s only hotshot crew attached to a municipal fire department was a blueprint for disaster.

Dougherty exposes these problems as well:

Because he is a terrible person, former Phoenix New Times music editor/current something-or-other at Zia Jason Woodbury has been bragging on Facebook about how much he's been enjoying the new Howe Gelb record, The Coincidentalist, which the rest of us suckers have to wait until November to hear. This doesn't quite soothe my deep jealous anger, but at least we all get to hear “Vortexas" now, which features alt-country weirdo Will Oldham joining Howe.

The 2011 documentary Samsara is newly available on Netflix Instant and since you've probably already worked your way through Orange Is the New Black, you probably need something to watch.

Here's what Colin Boyd said about the film upon its release, even though Netflix loses something on IMAX front:

Rarely has a film come along that looks this good. Shot in glorious 70-millimeter, Samsara plays to its strength by presenting many things that can only be truly appreciated on such a grand scale. By and large, it’s IMAX-quality stuff. (The IMAX science movies, that is, not the cheap up-converted Hollywood flicks.) Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson don’t have a story to tell so much as an experience to share. They traveled to 25 countries over a five-year span to capture remarkable visuals, and it’s certainly a captivating show. They do not editorialize regarding the subjects they shoot, nor do they reach for a larger point of connectedness—except for the one that dawns on you as you watch: We’ve got a remarkable planet, and here’s a pretty good atlas for it.

While the whole "Drunk History" concept isn't all that new - Funny or Die has been doing these skits online since 2007 - and it might just be the slightly higher production values at work, but the recent run of episodes on Comedy Central have become must see television at the Gibson house. Winona Ryder's appearance as executed Quaker Mary Dyer was about as enjoyable as anything I can remember on TV this year, and then last night, in a synergy of my interests in 70's country music and intoxication, the segment discussing Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner was educational, emotional and hilarious. You should really be watching the show in its entirety, but here's a clip from the Parton sketch to whet your appetite.

While it'll still be awhile before Black Joe Lewis hits Club Congress on December 7, you can preview the soul/blues/R&B-stylings of his new album Electric Slave on Soundcloud now. Enjoy!

Thanks to the University of Arizona's Facebook feed, I learned today is Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu festival celebrated in India, Mauritius, Nepal and parts of Pakistan. This might be terribly useful to me as an only child, but if you do have a sibling, consider tying a rakhi (or sacred thread) on their wrist, symbolizing your love and prayers for their well-being.

Thanks, person who handles the social media at the University of Arizona for the educational moment!

[Also, I just learned that you can embed Facebook posts on webpages now and this seemed like a decent way to try it out. Double education!]

The eleventh season of Top Chef debuts on Bravo on October 2, and while there aren't any chefs currently working in Arizona on the roster, there is one chef with a (more-or-less) local connection, Ramon Bojorquez, from Rio Rico:

Ramon Bojorquez is the Sous Chef at Nine-Ten, an upscale farm to table restaurant in downtown La Jolla, California. Ramon is of Mexican descent, born in Rio Rico, Arizona, and was professionally trained at the Scottsdale Culinary School. He grew up watching his grandfather cook, and carries a considerable amount of Mexican, Spanish, and Thai influence in his cuisine. He has traveled the world, from serving as a stage in Spain to fighting Muy Thai professionally in Thailand.

Unfortunately, I can't embed the viewer (highlights are above), but the Seattle Zoo has provided the universe a delightful service by pointing a live webcam at the baby giraffe born there on August 6th. The six-foot-tall male calf has access to areas off-camera, but when he's on screen, it's a nice counter-point to the rest of the non-baby-animal world.

• From D&D Pinball's website

The next time someone tells you Tucson (and particularly the downtown area) isn't on the upswing, that things aren't improving, tell them a pinball place is opening in September.

Located at 331 E. 7th St., right off Fourth Avenue, D&D Pinball is hosting 30 machines, including the world's most popular game, The Addams Family.

From D&D's website:

D & D Pinball is the vision of Jane Decker and Gary Dillahunty to bring pinball to the Arizona pinball community, people that have not played pinball in years and to introduce pinball to a new generation that has not yet discovered the lure of the silver ball.

As it says in our title, we are truly dedicated to the Art, Sport and Preservation of Pinball. More than even playing, we love sharing the art and history of pinball and D & D Pinball is our way of promoting pinball to keep it part of the American landscape. Although pinball has been fading away little by little over the years, it is definitely doing its best to make a resurgence and we want to do our part so that as many people as possible can enjoy pinball as much as we do.

More info to come, mostly because I'm going to stalk this place waiting for it to open.