Those good literary-minded people we like so much over at Casa Libre, need a bit of our help ... not a lot, just a little.

Executive Director Kristen Nelson made an announcement today that $2,500 is needed by Wednesday, Oct. 1 due to some the late arrival of some expected grant funds, along with some facility repairs and admin expenses:

We hate to come to you in a crunch, but we also know that you are our people. That we all make Casa Libre what it is together and now we need your help. We need help with general operating system funds, and as the local desert folks can attest, a new air conditioner. It’s really hot here, and we’re not just talking poetry and prose.
We are trying to raise $2,500 by October 1st. Can you help us bridge the gap in our funding until our grant checks arrive?

If 25 people donate $100 or 100 people donate $25, we will reach our goal!

Can you donate $100?
How about $25?
Can you share this announcement via email and/or social media?
Can you come to a Casa Libre event and throw a few extra dollars in the donation jar?
Can you buy a t-shirt or journal?

Any of these things can help. You can make a secure online donation by visiting Network for Good.

Or, you can send a check made out to Casa Libre to:

Casa Libre
228 N. 4th Ave. #2
Tucson, AZ 85705

According to an announcement on UA@Work, today, Thursday, Sept. 18 town hall is from noon to 1 p.m. in Old Main's Silver and Sage room on the building's second level. Hart will "provide an update on the UA's Never Settle strategic academic and business plan, and the plan's evolution over the past year."

During the open meeting, audience members are welcome to ask Hart questions on any topics of interest to them. Questions do not need to be submitted in advance.
...

November marks one year since the University's Never Settle plan was presented to the Arizona Board of Regents.

Hart provided a brief Never Settle update during Monday's Faculty Senate meeting.

"Never Settle is our academic plan, but it's also a business and finance plan," she said. "It's being tied directly to our financing plans. So as you get updates ... you will hear more about the financial situation in which we are working, how it fits into our aspirations, and what adjustments we may have to make because of changes in finances."

You love all things books, words and those really cool and sometimes also the odd folks who also love books and words and ... yes, you get it. Anyway, I am excited to share with you, this very moment, a cool new website called Tucsonlit—an online calendar with all the literary events going on in our own word-loving city.

If you have an event, they want to know about it, too. A nice centralized calendar to help keep us honest, love it.

Send your event to [email protected] with the following info:

Event name
Short bio
Category (i.e. lecture, performance, reading, etc.)
Time and date
Additional links

Tucson's Ronstadt Generations wants to return to the United Kingdom to tour, and they hope a successful Kickstarter campaign will help them get there.

There are four days to go, and so far the band is doing beautifully with 36 backers and $1,760 pledged toward their $2,000 goal.

On why you should provide your support:

Ronstadt Generations has gone to North Wales, England, and Ireland over the past couple of years for promotional purposes. Sharing our music and family stories, and we have started to build a following. These tours don't make much money due to their short duration and the fact that they are promotional. In the past we've gone over with just the trio ('Papa' Mike, Michael G, and Petie) and 'Bertha' the cello (yes we have to buy the cello a plane ticket). As you can imagine 4 round trip tickets to the UK can be pretty expensive and is a cost we have to come up with before we go over there and recoup any of our expenses. This year we are bringing along 'El Tucsonense', Mr Alex Flores (Tenor Sax), bringing the number of round trip tickets to 5.

Thats where you come in. We need your help to raise some funds so we can buy our plane tickets before they get too cost prohibitive (last year we spent close to $4000 on tickets for the trio). We are hoping to raise at least $2000 to help lessen the up front, out of pocket expense. Lets face it, we're musicians and it's rare that we have a spare $5000 to spend on tickets. With you're contribution ($2000), and our own contribution ($3000), we can get these tickets purchased and continue to share our music and stories with the lovely people of North Wales and the UK.

If we go on to raise more then the $2000 it will mean two things. First, you are all very generous and beautiful individuals. And second, we will have some capital to get merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, totes, etc) made to sell at our shows.

If you've ever bought bread from Don Guerra then you know why his Barrio Bread business has this rabid following of people who will instantly surround the baker and baskets of wheat goodness as soon as he unpacks his truck at the local farmers' markets.

Often I'm surprised folks don't bring the butter with them when they pay, but I digress. Look, if you love Barrio Bakery, now's your chance to pay it forward. Guerra is competing for a Chase Bank Mission Main Street grant, but he needs votes and those votes have to come through Facebook. Them's the rules. Voting ends Oct. 17.

There are only 20 $150,000 grants avaialble, and only businesses with fewer than 100 employees and meet other requirements can apply. Guerra threw his name in and now he's in the running with 322 votes—but more votes don't hurt. Let's make this happen for Barrio Bread, Tucson.

Go here, pronto.

The Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance does a great job in promoting Southern Arizona: The rich history, the bounty of the farms and ranches, the diverse landscapes and, ultimately, the story of this land. The industrious non-profit has assembled a terrific tourism map that highlights everything from bird watching to various military posts, as well as an digital calendar of fun heritage events in the area. Their Heritage Foods Program is dedicated to preserving native crops and promoting the homegrown wineries. And Executive Director Vanessa Bechtol continues the challenging work of persuading D.C. lawmakers to formally designate the area as a National Heritage Area. You can learn more about the group's hard work here.

Once a year, the Heritage Alliance brings people together to taste the flavors of Baja AZ at a Harvest Dinner. This year's dinner will be in the historic environs of Maynards Market & Kitchen, where Maynards chef Jared Scott will whip up a four-course meal highlighting local ingredients State Rep. Demion Clinco will be the keynote speaker and (full disclosure) I'll be master of ceremonies. Plus: a silent auction, live music and—if last year was any indication—plenty of Southern Arizona wines and beers to sample.

It's all from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $75 before Oct. 12. Get yours here.

• Via CollabCubed
• Nick Georgiou's paper sculptures are on Madison Avenue

Culture Blog CollabCubed takes note of Tucson artist Nick Georgiou's paper sculptures in the window of NYC's Hermes:

Barney’s had a series of rotating photos by Bruce Weber titled L.A. Stories; another store whose name escapes me was setting up neon signage along with what seemed to be an outdoor runway, but the windows that stopped me in my tracks were those of Hermès. The mannequin heads were these spectacular sculptures which at first glance looked like blocks of painted wood, but as I got closer I realized that they were actually books. Books! Rolled, fanned, stacked, bent, not only were the mannequin heads stunning (possibly the most fabulous part of the general fabulosity), but the backdrops as well were intricate tableaus created using the edges of books, painted in colors and stripes, in some cases just as multicolor striped motif backdrop while in others 2-dimensional mythical gods. I went in to ask who the artist was and should have recognized the name right away, having posted NYC-born and based artist Nick Georgiou’s work before. Seeing them in person, however, is even more impressive. Kudos to whoever thought to give the job to Georgiou, and of course kudos to the artist himself for making an impressive splash on Upper Mad, specifically at the corner of 62nd Street.

• Image courtesy of shutterstock.com

Hey, I always thought our teachers, like all those "government workers," are underworked and overpaid (said the retired high school English teacher, sarcastically). So imagine my surprise when I learned that U.S. teachers spend more time in the classroom than teachers in other developed countries.

The average teaching time for elementary school teachers is 782 hours per year. The U.S. tops the list at 1,131 hours (We're number 1! We're number 1!). You have to go 20 stops down the list before you hit the countries with the highest scores on international tests. Japan's teachers spend about 660 hours teaching each year, Korea's teachers about 640 and Finland's teachers about 620.

In middle and high school, U.S. teachers also top the international list of hours taught per year, and they're also required to spend more time at school.

I don't have much context for what's happening in the trailer for Aagadu, the Telagu film showing at Oracle View on Monday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m., but here's what I do know:

1. It stars Mahesh Babu, a spokesman for Thums Up soda (slogan: "Taste the Thunder!", the most desirable man in India, and most recently, the star of 1: Nenokkadine as a rock star with schizophrenia.

2. Lots of people get kicked in the face. LOTS.

3. They don't skimp on the costume changes during the dance scene.

4. I think Babu might say something about "what to do, what not to do?" at the end of the trailer. That could be a clue.

5. This movie looks amazing.

Tickets for the Tucson screening of Aagadu are $11 for adults, $9 for kids under 12 at the door. Hit the ATM beforehand, tickets are cash only for this event.

It's an unusual strategy for someone running for state office. Keep a low profile. Stay out of sight. Duck calls from the media. But that seems to be the campaign Republican Diane Douglas is waging in her bid for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Candidates in down-ballot races usually do whatever they can to attract some attention, get a little press. Since the primary, Douglas has gone in the other direction. Democrat David Garcia, meanwhile, is working hard to increase voter awareness of his candidacy.

According to an article in the Capitol Times, Douglas has been a no-show for three debates since she beat John Huppenthal in the primary.

For example, 256 school business managers and school employees showed up to hear a debate between Garcia and Douglas on Sept. 10 in Mesa at the bi-monthly meeting of the Arizona Association of School Business Officials. The group lobbies the Legislature and has traditionally has a working relationship with the schools chief.

The event turned into Garcia giving his views and then answering questions from [Chuck] Essigs.

A fourth debate may be canceled because she hasn't responded.

Douglas hasn't done media interviews or updated her website since the primary. She doesn't return phone calls.