The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., presents Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction, at
8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 1 and 2. Admission is $6.

Sophie Huber, 2012, Switzerland, 80 min.
A documentary about laconic, chain-smoking Harry Dean Stanton, beloved and iconic actor of more than 200 films. This captivating, beautifully composed tribute, stunningly lensed in color and in black and white, reveals, often in song, glimmers of Stanton's fascinating life. The film explores the actor's enigmatic outlook on his life, his unexploited talents as a musician, and includes candid scenes with directors David Lynch and Wim Wenders and actors Sam Shepard, Kris Kristofferson and Debbie Harry.

Alberto Ríos will appear at the UA Poetry Center, 1508 E. Helen St., at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1.

More info from a press release:

The celebratory event will include welcome remarks from University of Arizona Provost Andrew Comrie and from the office of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Ríos will read from his work, and briefly speak about some of his ambitions for the office during his term as Poet Laureate. Ríos is the author of ten books of poetry, three collections of stories, and a memoir of his life growing up along the border in Nogales. He is a Regents Professor at Arizona State University, where he has taught for over 30 years, and holds the Katharine C. Turner Endowed Chair in English. A commemorative broadside marking the occasion will be available for all those in attendance at the launch event. Copies of Ríos’ books will also be available for purchase.

You might see some boring costumes like Walter White and Miley Cyrus tonight, but maybe you might catch someone wearing the "Naked ASU Girl." 

Normally the ASU Confessions Twitter page tweets anonymous confessions and selfies of attractive frat boys and coeds, but the Halloween season has proved to be very interesting. Someone submitted a picture of this girl throwing up Sparky's horns and tail gesture while posing in front of a brave naked college girl at an ASU Halloween party (NSFW beyond this point).

Tonight from 4 to 9 p.m. there will be a Halloween party and Las Almas debut at Borderland Brewing Company, 119 E. Toole Ave. The new brew is a Belgian dark ale inspired by All Souls Day and its history. There will be live music by The Black Jackalope Ensemble and a screening of Night of The Living Dead.


If you can't make it tonight then check out the All Souls pre-party from noon to 9 p.m.

If you're not into going out tonight to celebrate Halloween, might I suggest you cozy up next to a big heaping pumpkin full of candy and check out Ghostwatch.

Ghostwatch was a BBC production that aired 'live' on October 31, 1992. It's an early prototype of reality-horror films; you can feel the influence this had on The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity series, the V/H/S series, etc. I've seen enough horror films that I'm not that easily spooked (just don't bring up Don't Look Now), but I was having multiple panic attacks when I first saw this a few years ago.

And I'm not alone on this. According to the lengthy Ghostwatch Wikipedia entry, a lot of freaked out and pissed-off viewers phoned the Beeb after it aired to voice their complaints, with many thinking that it was a real deal, despite the "Written by..." credit at the start of the program. Further controversy arose afterwards when children who had watched the program started showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. You can read a report on those cases in the British Medical Journal here. Because of all the negative hoopla, the BBC put a decade-long ban on the program.

So what's all the fuss? Ghostwatch is a mock-documentary about a haunted house. Actual BBC reporters investigate a house teeming with poltergeist activity and it's effects on the family. The reporters uncover a sinister spirit named Pipes. Things start getting hinky and before you know it apparitions start popping up in the background, lights explode, temperatures suddenly drop, disembodied voices sprinkle the proceedings and general ghostly mayhem ensues, all in a typical, proper "oh my, Jeeves" British fashion.

Check it out if you dare; you'll be in for some good, quality frights. Just keep repeating to yourself it's only a program, it's only a program, it's only a program...

Ghost Watch pt 1 from Encounters with Spirit on Vimeo.

Ghost Watch pt 2 from Encounters with Spirit on Vimeo.

Ghost Watch pt3 from Encounters with Spirit on Vimeo.

By Cronkite News Service
Originally published: Oct 31, 2013 - 5:00 am

PHOENIX — Medical education the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix just got a little more "real."

On Wednesday morning, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Dr. Stuart Flynn, dean at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and Christopher Sakezles, president of SynDaver Labs, announced an exclusive collaboration between the medical school and the Tampa, Fla.-based company.

SynDaver Labs creates synthetic cadavers - hence the company name — that will provide indispensable learning opportunities to UA medical students.

"It (the synthetic cadaver) has a heart that beats and blood flows. It has a liver that can make bile, so you can imagine, procedural-wise, this is profound," Flynn explained.

SynDaver Labs also created the world's most sophisticated synthetic human tissues and body parts, which means medical schools and laboratories can reduce or eliminate live animals, cadavers and human patients in clinical training and surgical simulation.

"Now our students learn how to start an IV on something that very much emulates a human arm, for instance, but they get to practice over and over again, which you and I wouldn't like as a patient," said Flynn.

Meet Gregory Carpenter, or better known as Dr. Danger.

Carpenter has been a daredevil for over 20 years. He’s a man of simple pleasures, but he’s the master of pulling off the most complicated stunts with very limited resources. The doctor is a wondering risk taker that spends most of his time in Austin, Tombstone and Tucson. You might have caught Danger lighting himself on fire and driving his car off a ramp into other cars on the new History Channel reality show “American Daredevils,” or the Buffet Bar. Danger tells me that the premiere racked up 1.6 million views. You can catch the semi-local thrill seeker on the show on Tuesdays at History Channel at 7 p.m.

Henry Barajas: What's your favorite stunt?

Dr. Danger: I am the BLOW UP KING. My favorite stunt is the Suicide Car Explosion. When you get into that car with the 20 gallons of gas on it and three pounds of explosives you really don't know what will happen when it blows. "If your heart had stopped, the explosion would start it!." It takes 'Faith' and 'Whiskey.'

HB: Who's your favorite daredevil?

DD: It may be cliche' but Evel Knevel is the man who really stepped out and into History as the kind of daredevil entertainer that I strive to be. He, I'm sure, as is the case with most of us daredevils today, is the reason we are doing what we do today.

HB: What are you afraid of?

DD: It's not ending up on the 'dead list' that scares me. What scares me is to be laying there dead in front of a few thousand people because I screwed it up. That would be so embarrassing.

After a six-year hiatus the Suicide Girls' Blackheart Burlesque show is back on the road giving us the peep show we missed so much.  The sexy ladies were at the Rialto Theatre this past Monday, and our eagle eye photographer C.E. Elliott captured some stunning photos.

BREAKING NEWS: Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst is developing a drama about his life with The CW network.  Are you ready for a new show by the man that directed Douchebag and The Long Shot? What a coincidence because both of those titles are really good ways to describe how one might feel about Durst and his career. 

The Noise, created by Durst, chronicles the rise of a young artist in the 1990s who escapes a tumultuous home life and forms a wildly popular band with a unique sound. Durst, of course, hit it big with his rap metal band Limp Bizkit, which formed in 1994 and went on to superstardom with hits like "Nookie," "Break Stuff" and their cover of George Michael's "Faith."

As we here the Weekly wind down our Wednesday and get ready for tonight's Tucson Weekly App launch party at Sky Bar (You're coming to that, right? There will be drink specials and shot glasses! You can meet your favorite Weekly staffers and also me!), we think it's time to relax to the soothing sounds of a marching band covering the Beatles.

The Pride of Arizona (which, for many years, was the only reason to stay through halftime for most UA football games) held their annual UA Band Day event on October 26, welcoming high school marching bands from around the state to come to Arizona Stadium and perform their shows in a competition setting. While many of those marching bands had killer shows (special shoutout to the Rincon-University High School Marching Band, which shared top honors this year with Tempe's Corona Del Sol Marching Band), the main event is the full show from the Pride, and this year's show didn't disappoint.

"The Beatles Strike Back," a sequel to an earlier Beatles show back in 1995, does a great job of faithfully interpreting the music of the Fab Four. The video runs fairly long at 14 minutes, so if you're strapped for time, the show starts properly at 2:20; my personal favorite part, half of the Abbey Road Medley through to "The End," begins at 9:05.

And no, they didn't include "Her Majesty," which I would've lost my mind over in joy.

Great job, Pride.