The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Jake, a 4-year-old, domestic, medium-hair cat.
Reference no.: 773313

Life as a lonely stray didn't callous Jake at all. In fact, surviving on the streets made Jake want a home more than anything. This tough cookie suffered from an agonizing ear mite infestation that caused him to scratch his ears into shreds. A kind family scooped up Jake and brought him to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, where Jake’s tattered ears were stitched back together. Now Jake thanks everyone with a great big hug. He'll wrap his paws around your neck and shove his head under your chin with closed eyes, a content smile and a loud purr. No one is immune to his charm! Jake is an extra special boy, because he tested positive for FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). FIV-positive cats can live normal lives both in terms of quality and duration. They just have a weaker immune system and need regular vet visits. It’s very hard for other cats to catch FIV, but Jake will need to be your only cat or live with other FIV-positive cats. If you could give him the life of indoor comforts and cozy laps that he's always wanted and deserved, please visit this absolutely amazing boy today at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. They certainly don't come sweeter than Jake!

In honor of Arizona Beer Week, and celebrating Tucson's place in Arizona's craft beer pantheon, we spoke to folks all over Tucson's craft beer spectrum from shop owners to brewers to fans just trying to spread the love.

Rebecca Safford, along with her husband Scott, owns Tap & Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave., a hybrid beer & wine bar/bottle shop. In less than a year, T&B has jumped from new storefront to one of the region's top beer bars, as voted by CraftBeer.com users. She sat down with us at Exo Coffee amidst preparations for Arizona Beer Week, which figures to be among the busiest in T&B's short history.

So, how long have you been in Tucson?

Since...2002? Sounds about right.

You've been here this long, and have always had an appreciation for beer, so what's it been like watching the craft beer scene grow up?

Well, Scott and I have been in Tucson for about the same amount of time, and we came to this town with a love for different microbreweries, and really loving beer, and coming here...there was a craft beer scene, it was very small, so it was like "well, where can we go to drink good beer?" Obviously when 1702 came around, that was huge. We live around 17th Street, so a big milestone for us was when Barrio brewery was built, it was...we waited and waited and waited and counted the days, and we were so happy to have a brewery to walk to. Then, there seemed to be a lot more places to drink downtown.

Why do you think craft beer has gained such a following in Tucson?

I think that Tucson’s always had an appreciation for the art of production and people who make things and craft things, from artisans to chefs to woodworkers. I think that our brewing community here, the people that appreciate craft beer, it’s what Tucson’s all about: Supporting local, supporting small businesses, being able to tell a story, even if it's not necessarily a local beer, about where a beer comes from. it really shows that breweries see that not just Tucson, but that our state is a place that really appreciates and loves craft beer.

So when you first opened up, I remember that you were talking to everyone, getting help from the community, like Plaza, and for a long time they were the only place you could go to get craft beer.

Yeah, and even before Safeway had a craft section, Plaza was bringing in stuff, and that's where all of us went to where we went to get everything. When we initially opened and were donig our first orders, some of the team over there helped us with our first orders, particularly with some of the distributors that only work with smaller breweries and imports; to purchase those costs a lot of money, and we weren't even open yet, so they were super nice and split some cases with us. I mean, one of my first orders, we talked through together, it was really collaborative. Now I look back, and I'm like “I had no idea what I was doing.”

I think that shows that, our community here, we don’t look at it as like, "Hey, I’m here, I’m established, I don't want any other players involved, it’s like "hey, I’m here, I can help you, how can I get involved?"

I mean, Austin from 1702 was key; we told him our idea, we talked beer, and he showed us their cooler, and he still comes by to Tap & Bottle to hang out and talk beer.

So what's it been like building relationships with the local brewers in town?

That's been one of my favorite parts, building this community with the brewers. Borderlands is just down the street and will help us with growler caps, Dragoon helped us with our initial order of growlers, and they look at us as a way to showcase new beers. I think that being able to have that relationship and talk about what goes over well here, and what people are enjoying helps everyone.

So, tell me a bit more about the local craft beer community. How do you think having a network like that provides for Tucson?

I think that it's going to make us all thrive even more. Teaching people about craft beer and what it's all about, and not mass-market beers, and really looking at it, going "What is this beer and where is it from, and who makes it?" rallies the community, and is good for everyone involved. I think that some of my favorite nights at Tap & Bottle are when I can look out over the bar and go "oh, hey the Dragoon guys are there, and there's the Sentinel Peak guys, and there's Ten Fifty-Five," and that it's not Us versus Them, it's everybody in this together. I love it.

Tap & Bottle is going to be running events all week long, from Feb. 16 through 23, including a Beer 101 brunch at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16; craft fans might also want to check out their "AZ Loves CO" night, where half of their taps will be running beers brewed by Colorado's top breweries, and half will feature local brews from the Grand Canyon State.

For more event information, check out Tap and Bottle's Facebook page, or the center spread of this week's Tucson Weekly.

It's been 25 years since De La Soul debuted their first album: 3 Feet High and Rising. The Long Island rap trio has made their entire catalog available to download for free for the next 25 hours off their website. This is their attempt to reach a younger audience and give back to their fans.

"It's about allowing our fans who have been looking and trying to get a hold of our music to have access to it," De La Soul member Posdnuos tells Rolling Stone. "It's been too long where our fans haven't had access to everything. This is our way of showing them how much we love them."

Apparently, the band has been working on a new album that's behind schedule. But Posdnuos told Rolling Stone the new album is, "coming along amazingly." Click here to sign up for their mailing list and download one or all their albums.

Saturday from 12-1pm, I'll be guest hosting Robin Hiller's State of Education radio program on KVOI, 1030 AM. You can call in at 520-790-2040.

I have two Tucson-area legislators scheduled to talk with me.

Bruce Wheeler from Legislative District 10 (Central and Eastern Tucson) will be talking about the education bills working their way through the legislature, most specifically the proposed expansion of the voucher program, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. In Tim Steller's Friday column, Wheeler is quoted saying, “There are ideologues in this state, unfortunately in high positions, who definitely are out to dismantle public education." I've heard that said in private, but this may be the only time I've heard an elected official say it for the record.

Victoria Steele from Legislative District 9 (Mid Tucson through the Foothills and Casa Adobes) will talk about her bills for Mental Health Awareness and her bill to extend the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Ratification deadline.

• Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

Let’s take a look at the group — actually the groups — behind the robocall Ed Supe John Huppenthal made advising parents to send their kids to private schools on the taxpayer dime — in other words, in support of vouchers. The whole story deserves one of those complicated diagrams with names and arrows and circles, but I’m not a diagram guy, so I’m going to try and draw the picture in words.

The short version is this: Huppenthal recorded a robocall giving parents the “great news” that they can take advantage of “alternative education choices for their children, including private school. That’s right! You may be able to send your child to private school for free!”

It’s part of a $250,000 PR push for Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) paid for by Alliance for School Choice. Its partner organization, American Federation for Children, spent $63,000 on an independent expenditure campaign to help Hupp win his 2010 election. It's no surprise the Alliance for School Choice has Hupp on speed dial.

From there the story gets more complicated, involving the Walton family which owns Walmart, Betsy DeVos who is part of the Amway fortune, and a faux-Democratic group that pours money into voucher-friendly Democrats’ campaigns. You’ve heard tell of the vast right wing conspiracy. This is the story of a small part of the vast, well funded conservative/corporate “education reform” movement which spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year to get out its pro-voucher, pro-privatization message.

Experimental filmmaker Godfrey Reggio is best known for his Qatsi trilogy. The trilogy started with 1982’s Koyaanisqatsi (Hopi for “Life Out Of Balance), and is followed by 1988’s Powaqqatsi (“Life In Transformation) and 2002’s Naqoyqatsi (“Life As War). Each film does away with conventional narration; in it’s place are slow motion and time-lapse shots of people, places and things, all set to a spellbinding score by minimalist composer Philip Glass.

He has a new film out today called Visitors. It’s opening at the Loft Cinema, and you can read my Tucson Weekly review of it here. While it’s similar to his past three films, and Glass is still responsible for a masterful score, there are some remarkable differences. It’s shot entirely in black and white, and there are only 74 shots in the picture. There are times where it’s like watching a photo suddenly spring to life. This is as slowed down as Reggio can get, and you’ll find out why in this rare interview.

I spoke to Reggio on the phone, and we discussed some of the themes of the films, the shooting process, and his unique relationship with Glass.

I noticed a bridge between Naqoyqatsi and Visitors. It’s the human relationship with technology. Do you think I’m on the right path with that?

You know, there’s a very famous saying in Latin that says “Quidquid recipitur," meaning "one receives according to their bowl or to their cup or their form." With Visitors the person who sees the film is herself/himself the storyteller, the character, the plot, anything’s possible in terms of how it can be seen. Does it have a relationship to Naqoyqatsi? I think so. All of the films are an attempt to go around the same tree as often as possible, but in a different cadence, in a different form. So, they do all relate in some way to each other.

In Visitors, everything is distinctly slowed down, in contrast to how our culture and how our lifestyle is vastly accelerated. Was that purposeful?

Very purposeful. Indeed. It was done deliberately for that reason. We’re on speed in rush hour, as it were, running our future. As a result of that, the stiller a person can be, or attuned as senses can be - if you look at a normal theatrical film the average cut is anywhere from three to six seconds, so there’s not much time to dwell, because the images are telling you a story. In this case, the story is to behold, and in that sense the longer it’s on, the more there is to behold. It’s like if you went to see a sunset, you don’t look at it for three seconds and disappear. What the meaning of the sunset is, is probably the sunset has no meaning but it can be immensely meaningful. In that sense, slowing things down can be at once unnerving, confrontational, and difficult given the speed. Everything is in a nanosecond at this moment.

I read that some in of the shots, particularly the children, that they were filmed while playing video games and watching television. Was that also intentional?

Oh yes, definitely. The film, it has no words, it’s like a speechless narrative because the people on the screen are looking directly at you. I didn’t want those people acting in any way, so what you see on the screen is nothing more than their ordinary activity. The second the TV comes on, or video games or any kind of screen for that matter, it’s like a tractor beam, it holds our attention. While they knew they were being filmed, as soon as that TV went on, they went inside the TV. These are images from the outside in, being drawn by a screen that’s not present except at the end of the film. So yes, screens are very important, and nobody was told “can you make this face?” It was simply having to shoot an awful lot in order to capture those moments when people have these kinds of expressions or stares. All of that was unacted and non-self conscious.

I assume that some of the footage, such as the abandoned amusement park and ruined buildings, was in New Orleans?

Yes indeed. I wanted to go down there - I’m from New Orleans - and I wanted to go down after the hurricane, but I couldn’t get the backing for the kind of project I wanted. Those locations, having sat there for five years, no longer look like the result of a massive hurricane or flood. They look more like Pompeii or the ruins of modernity. In that sense I couldn’t have a set built better for the point of view for this film.

Did Visitors stem from wanting to capture post-Katrina New Orleans?

No, Visitors started in 2002 actually. I was finishing up Naqoyqatsi, and this idea of slow, very slow, of black and white, of something in another dimension - other worldly - came to me. I don’t don’t know how it came to, let’s just say it was an intuition. Then, taking years to find the money, of course those intuitions mature, and become more reflective because if I’m thinking about them, they’re thinking about me everyday, I’m really focused on it. There were seven years in prep and then a over three year period for the shooting, editing, and musical score.

• Photo courtesy of Center for Biological Diversity / Design by Lori Lieber. Artwork by Roger Peet. © 2012.

In the spirit of love and commercial giveaways, the Weekly is getting a big box of condoms to share with our faithful Rangers. We are giving away one dozen limited edition endangered-species condoms. Your hippie daddy wishes he had these Jimmys.

These condoms are like exclusive San Diego Comic-Con Doctor Who toys, but they are worth more out of the packaging.

We haven't had a condom giveaway since 2010, so who knows when you will have the opportunity to do this again. You can win one by following us on Twitter and send an email to [email protected] with your twitter handle in the subject line.

Good luck, consciousness lovers.

• NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

One of The Range's favorite spacecrafts is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which carries the UA's HiRISE camera high above the surface of Mars. One of HiRISE's latest photos of an impact crater is getting a lot of attention this month. Here's Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait at Slate:

Bang! That is one of the newest craters on Mars: It’s about 30 meters (100 feet) across, and formed by the explosive impact of an asteroid no more than four years ago. We know that because it wasn’t there in an image of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft in July 2010, but it was in one taken in May 2012.

Plait goes on to explain how a recent experiment here in the Arizona desert gives us some idea of how big the meteorite was:

World Sword Swallower's Day is Saturday, February 22. You might know a sword swallower or want to be one yourself, so here's a video that will help make your dreams come true. Seriously — unless you're a professional sword guzzler — don't try any of the tricks you see on this video. Our lawyers can't handle the extra caseload.

• Photo courtesy of Generation Cool and Maker House
• 20 contestants. 10 arcade cabinets. 5 minute rounds. 1 winner to rule them all!

Maker House and Generation Cool are teaming up to bring an exciting Arcade Showdown from 5 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Maker House mansion, 283 N. Stone Ave. 20 contestants will battle it out on 10 separate gaming cabinets. The winner will take home an arcade machine, and runner-ups will get gift certificates and schwag. This event feels like the the sequel to a campy post-'80s indie film starring Fred Savage.

Maker House will teach you how to be the poor man's Neo and show you how to hack your Wii console at 5 p.m. There will also be a Gamer Swap Meet:

Swap video games, card games, board games, miniatures, comic books, or anything else game related! Swappers can get a 6×6 foot table space for $5, table not included. Space is limited and is first come, first served.

Click here to sign up for vendor space.