It appears that the tortilla biz is a bit of a racket, judging from this press release from Arizona Department of Weights & Measures:

Arizona consumers may be disappointed after reviewing the latest inspection results of packaged tortillas conducted this month by the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures. State Investigators found nearly 20 % of the locations inspected failed their audit due to short weight violations and packages containing fewer tortillas than advertised.

In all, over 8,473 packages of tortillas of various varieties were audited statewide from October 2nd through October 15, 2013. Investigators visited 36 retail businesses all over Arizona ranging from grocery stores, specialty grocery, big box locations and membership businesses. Inspections incorporated verifying the net weight of the tortillas as compared to what was advertised, and counting individual tortillas to verify the count as advertised on the product label.

Of the 36 locations inspected, 7 stores were cited for short weight product violations which resulted in the entire stock being removed from the sales floor and civil penalties levied in the amount of $4,000. The vast majority of assessed violations were issued primarily to out of state tortilla manufactures and a few local supermarkets who packed their own in-house tortillas.

Over 80 different brands of tortilla products in all shapes and sizes were audited such as: Mission, Guerrero, Carlita’s, La Canasta, Alejandros and Dos Ranchitos to name a few.

“We are discouraged by these results knowing that the manufacturers and retail stores are clearly not maintaining strong adherence to federal and state packaging regulations,” stated Kevin Tyne, Director of the Department of Weights and Measures, “the goal for every manufacturer should be to meet or exceed the stated weight on their product.”

A list of the retail store locations and packaged tortilla products found in violation:

Problem: Bare spot in your desert landscape, travel often, desire to have a strong focal point in your Arizona desert home.
Solution: An architectural plant, very low water and that works perfectly in a large pot.

The Giant Hesperaloe with its bold form serves you well as a dramatic focal point and accent plant in the desert landscape. With its stiff six foot long deep-lime green leaves, curly white fibers run along its edges and add to its character. This hardy Chihuahuan Desert native handles full and reflected sun making it a natural fit for a sun —drenched yard (i.e. Hot) while remaining a low worry addition. The plant will shoot up a 12-15 foot stalk of creamy white lily-like flowers in the summer. Although neither plant is part of the yucca family, the Giant Hesperaloe (Herperaloe funifera) is related to the common Hesperaloe, the Red Yucca,.

Because of the open nature of the clumping leaf structure and the fact that the leaves are very stiff, when potted the Giant will not be a high tipping risk in our desert winds. I recommend that you use a pot that will be proportionate to the size of the plant. The one pictured above is in a 32” pot (diameter.) Fill the entire pot with cactus soil as it needs excellent drainage. Be sure the pot has a good hole — 2” would be great! Or several 1” holes would suffice. The only maintenance required is to cut the dead stalk at its baseafter it is done flowering.

Plant the “Giant” so that the base of the plant is only 3-4 inches from the top of the pot so that the pot serves as a pedestal for the plant. You can also ‘dress’ the top of the soil with rock. I like using 4-5 inch straight sided rock with sharp edges and angles as I feel it complements the strong lines of the plant.

If you only have 20 minutes in your desert potted garden this week —
~Water your potted cactus deeply with a water soluble fertilizer at half strength (of the recommended directions on the fertilizer container.)

If you would like to receive Monthly Potted Garden tips - sign up for the Potted Desert Newsletter.

Marylee is the founder and former owner of Tucson’s The Contained Gardener. With more than 15 years of successfully designing and growing potted gardens in the desert’s challenging and oftentimes harsh climate, Marylee has become known as the Desert’s Potted Garden Expert. Marylee is available for local and digital consultations and you can always email her with your questions and comments. Follow The Potted Desert on Facebook!

If you watch the ABC Disney show Once Upon A Time, then you already know the Disney princess Mulan is bisexual.

From Huffington Post:

New ground was broken this week when a member of Disney's iconic Princess franchise was queered and it was revealed that Mulan is bisexual.

The hit Disney-ABC series "Once Upon A Time" functions under the premise that classic icons from various fairy tales have been transported to a "real world" town and have lost all memories of their former lives due to a powerful curse.

On this past Sunday's episode, Mulan quietly revealed her unrequited love for "Sleeping Beauty" princess Aurora in a heartbreaking scene that can be viewed above. During the show's previous season, Mulan also developed feelings for Prince Phillip.

The folks who fought the city of Tucson for access to public records as part of an effort to prevent the sale of the El Rio Golf Court to Grand Canyon University are having a community forum on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Woods Library, 3455 N. First Ave., just south of Prince.

From a letter that went out today from forum organizers:

Dear Friends:

Our purpose is to share with the community what we have found (so far) with our lawsuit, public records request, to hear from others who have had similar issues with the City, and to try to forge a united way forward in order to protect the public interest in the face of a large and powerfully deceitful bureaucracy and political structure that conducts business behind closed Executive Sessions, and through shadowy public/private partnerships like T.R.E.O. and the Downtown Partnership. We have invited representatives to speak from groups such as the West University Neighborhood Association, the Neighborhood Infill Coalition, Broadway Corridor, and others.

...

While the Tucson Weekly is still holding on to its semi-official tenative endorsement of Al Melvin for the Republican nomination in the 2014 guberatorial race, Christine Jones is racing up our GOP candidate power poll based on the above video, where the former GoDaddy attorney seems to misunderstand nearly everything about Arizona politics and geography in one fell swoop.

Things I learned from the video, shot at some sort of fundraiser for Arpaio at Phoenix's Standup Live (so maybe these are jokes...please tell me these are supposed to be jokes):

1. Christine Jones is willing to show up at a fundraiser for Joe Arpaio.

2. Christine Jones believes everyone in Arizona loves Joe Arpaio.

3. When Christine Jones is referring to things "that Sheriff Joe does that nobody knows about," she's meaning positive things like "put[ting] out water so people won't die coming across the Rio Grande," and not treating prisoners like subhumans or breaking civil rights laws. (FYI, I'm pretty sure he's not putting water out for immigrants anywhere, ever.)

4. Christine Jones believes the Rio Grande is in Arizona. (It's not.)

5. Christine Jones believes that 50 percent of Arpaio's "force" is Hispanic. (Turns out it's 24 percent.)

6. Christine Jones believes Arpaio "acts with integrity and honesty."

7. She thinks it's a good idea to sing a song from Wicked in a public place, even though she doesn't really know the lyrics and there's barely a connection to the point she's seemingly trying to make.

Not every public appearance is going to be of this caliber, surely, but Christine Jones, you're someone we're going to keep our eyes on, because if you keep this up, you could push Cap'n Melvin from the top of our endorsement list.

DJ Hurricane will live on forever in my mind, if only for one line in the Beastie Boys' track, "Shake Your Rump":

"Hurricane, you got clout/Other DJs, he'll put your head out"

A close second in my heart, his brief, but essential appearance in the video for "Sabotage":

DJ Hurricane, who stood behind the Beastie Boys for years and has a musical career of his own right, is playing Playground tonight as part of the Flowing Wells Class of '93 reunion.

On a side note, if you're going to have a class reunion, it's probably super helpful to have Kade from HUB/Playground in your class, so you can have a badass party with a legendary (at least in my mind) DJ. My class reunion next year will probably be some crappy knock-off of a prom. Woo hoo.

The Caballeros have been nice enough, however, to invite everyone along, so you neither have to be 38 nor a graduate of that particular high school to attend. I have no idea what Hurricane will be playing, but for $5, it's totally worth finding out.

Tomorrow night is the monthly midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. It's an experience that is never the same twice. At least for me.

The stories told by my family members have always seemed a hell of a lot different from those I heard from my friends. My favorites were always the ones my mom would tell of her time with Rocky Horror. She'd joined the crew at the Loft, and was on board primarily as Janet, though she loves to talk about the time she played Frankenfurter. My best memories from being little typically involve dancing the Time Warp with my mom and sister, or putting on bright red lipstick while lip synching in the mirror.

Hearing these stories were always fun, but always seemed like a different world completely to me. I'd honestly forgotten all abut it until one Friday in July, my best friend Kelia told me to come with her to the Loft that Saturday night for Rocky Horror. I had no idea it was still going on. And when I told my mom I was going, she managed to look horrified and sentimental at the same time. (Having gone, I now understand why. No one knows what happens at Rocky better than my mom.)

Slobby Rob and Phoenix clothing company We Are Ruthless are debuting a fresh limited jersey line noon tomorrow, Oct. 19 at VII Grand Premium Streetwear & Sneakers, 178 E. Broadway Blvd.


"The jersey are a homage to the 70s and 80s pullover MLB jerseys, and those have always been my favorite," Slobby Rob said. "Hustle is just plain and simple, always keep it moving, push hard and make money," Rob added, " 'good hustle' is a huge compliment in baseball, so it really fits."


Enjoy free jumbo hot dogs, drinks and other ballpark snacks.  There will be limited edtion WAR/SLOBBY stickers, baseball cards and other surprise giveaways. All jerseys are limited to 9 pieces in each colorway. It's strictly first come, first served.

Check out the merchandise and the great shots of the beautiful Shantaye McMorrow (model) by Andrew Emery Brown. Click here to RSVP on the Facebook.

From the Willcox Range News on Bisbee residents remember Nowhere Man and Whiskey Girl:

Marianne Summerville opened St. John’s Presbyterian Church to offer people who knew the couple the opportunity to silently share their thoughts and offer their prayers to the couple who were so deeply in love with their music and each other.

“They played once a month at our services,” added Summerville. “We will miss them.”

People began filing into the Grand Saloon around 6 p.m., and it was evident from the red eyes and distraught faces that the couple had impacted many lives in their seven or so years in Bisbee.

Joseph Brand met Amy and Derrick in Tucson during a performance at Plush.

“After hearing them, I bought one of their albums and immediately became a fan,” said Brand. “When I moved here 10 years ago, I was surprised to find they had moved here, too.”

Kate Drew-Wilkinson felt that losing the couple created “a crater, like the Lavender Pit,” in Bisbee life.

“We are all thoroughly dazed at the news. They played everywhere,” added Drew-Wilkinson.

Brand noted, “No one ever had anything bad to say about them. They were good people. She had so much talent and played with wistful abandon. Things seemed to come naturally for her.”

Amber Wakeman, owner of Framed in Bisbee, was gathering photos people had of the couple to make a collage to pass on to the Ross’s family members.

“We’re trying to locate the family and let them know how much Amy and Derrick were loved,” commented Wakeman. “We feel a vacuum in our lives now.”

Tonight on AZ Illustrated Politics: A forum with the candidates for the Ward 5 City Council candidates, Democratic incumbent Richard Fimbres and his Republican challenger, Mike Polak. The candidates talked about how the city treats businesses both big and small, the future of Broadway Boulevard between downtown and Country Club Road, background checks at gun shows, whether the city should have sued the state over the constitutionality of SB 1070 and more. Tune in at 6:30 p.m. on PBS 6 or check back here later for an online edition.