PUBLIC EDUCATION NATION from Schoolhouse Live on Vimeo.

The public face of progressive education these days is author and education historian Diane Ravitch ("The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education," "Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to Americas Public Schools"). She's one of the founders of the Network for Public Education (NPE) which has brought together educators, parents and community members around the country, using lots of hard work and very little money to get its message out. The NPE is at the forefront of the pro-public schools, anti-privatization/corporatization/"education reform" push in the country. Tucson's own Robin Hiller is NPE's Executive Director.

Saturday, NPE's first "PUBLIC Education Nation" event will be webcast live at Schoolhouselive.org starting at 9am Arizona time.

For years, reformers have talked down to students, parents and teachers. Now it's time for us talk back! Join Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody and Leonie Haimson as they take on Common Core, charters and school closures, and other threats to public education, October 11, 2014, 12-5 PM (EST), for the first ever Public Education Nation webcast, on schoolhouselive.org. Featured panelists include some of the most innovative voices in public education: Carol Burris, Brian Jones Takeima Bunche-Smith, Rose River-McCutchen, Alan Aja, Xian Barrett, Hiram Rivera, Yohuru Williams, Jeff Bryant, Gary Rubinstein, Karran Harper Royal, Wendy Lecker, Robin Hiller, Phyllis Tashlik, Greg Anrig, and in conversation with Diane Ravitch, Jitu Brown.

As you may have heard, Sean Collins, better known to all of Tucson as DJ Sean T, his '80s Retro-Lution Mondays at Club Congress moniker, passed away yesterday afternoon.

Sean suffered a heart attack in late May of this year and was currently on a what he referred to as a "new ticker list." Sean had mentioned the wait could be as long as two years. Tragically for Tucson, a higher power did not grant him that kind of timetable.

Every week, year after year, Sean selflessly poured his heart out behind the tables to make thousands of friends and complete strangers smile. That's what we should all remember Sean Collins for, and maybe carry a little of that spirit this weekend when we're out and about.

We will post details regarding services when Sean's family has made arrangements. If you have photos or memories of Sean you would like to share, please send them to Jessica Perez at [email protected]

Here are three good reasons not to vote for Republicans Michael Hicks and Debe Campos-Fleenor for the TUSD board. First, the two candidates bring a conservative mindset to a district that needs to be progressive and forward-looking. Second, neither is a strong candidate. Hicks has shown himself to be marginally qualified at best, and Campos-Fleenor hasn’t demonstrated any interest in learning about the intricacies of TUSD and public education, making her a blank slate for someone else to write on. Third, and probably most important, if both of them end up on the board, it would lead to a major shift in the 3-2 majority on close, controversial votes. Together, they would create a new majority with Mark Stegeman at its head, to the great detriment of the district. [Full disclosure: I'm a Democrat, in case there was any question about that, and I've already written about my support Adelita Grijalva and Jen Darland.]

Let’s start with the last point, the shift in the 3-2 majority if both Republicans are elected.

When partisans on both sides of the aisle look at the U.S. Senate races, they worry far less about which specific candidates are elected than about reaching the magic number of senators needed to give their party the majority. For Republicans, it’s all about picking up enough seats to reach 51. Democrats just need to hold onto 50 seats since Joe Biden can break the tie on close votes. The individual winners and losers are secondary to winning that one seat that puts your party on top.

Then there’s the U.S. Supreme Court. If the current court had one less conservative and one more liberal, crucial 5-4 decisions would have gone the other way, and the country would have taken a dramatically different direction on election financing, voter protections, health care and other issues.

Obviously, TUSD isn’t the Senate or the Supreme Court, so let's move a few links down the food chain to the Jefferson County school district, the second largest in Colorado. The district’s school board made national headlines recently when it voted to monitor instructional materials to assure they’re sufficiently patriotic.

[The board] would establish a committee to regularly review texts and course plans, starting with Advanced Placement history, to make sure materials "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights" and don't "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law."

It was a 3-2 vote made possible by a new conservative majority. And — this may be the most important part of this cautionary tale — the new conservative majority rode into office with the help of Democrats. Here’s how it happened.

• From Elite Daily

Well, it's really angel food cake soaked in tequila and then deep fried, but I'm still trying to figure out the science that somehow allows the alcohol to remain and now burn off in the hot oil

According to this Elite Daily post, no actual nasty face produced when downing a shot of tequila, since deep-fried tequila allegedly produces the same results:

"... cut the cake into small cubes and soak them in tequila. Deep fry the small bites in oil until they are golden brown. Top them off with powered sugar ..."

Our version will be topped off with a little salt, lime and chile.

• Image courtesy of Shutterstock

I try not to fault people for how they spend their time...live your life, I say. However, the idea that people would want to use their fleeting moments here on earth pretending to work in an office seems, well, totally insane:

You're stuck at an office all day, deleting all-staff emails and futzing with the office printer. But imagine if you were also part of an online group, pretending that you were in an office all day.

That's what's happening at one of the latest cult Facebook Groups, Generic Office Roleplay. Over 2,500 members from around the world fill its virtual pages with posts that mimic office-wide emails. There are passive aggressive notes about food stolen out of the fridge, mandates about office dress and office supplies, and tips for improving synergy. Think TV's The Office meets David Rees’s clip Art cartoons, My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable meets live action role play (LARP), all happening on Facebook.

The term of choice for its practitioners is BLARPing—business live action role-play.

Yes, it's suppose to be an acted out version of satire, I guess, but still YOU'RE SPENDING ACTUAL TIME PRETENDING TO BE IN AN OFFICE.

It can be almost therapeutic. David Baker, who is the "facilities manager" at Stackswell online, and at one of the biggest buildings in Dubai in real life, goes so far as to make the analogy to combat vets who play Call of Duty to deal with post-traumatic stress. “Odd but it seems to work,” he says. “For me it’s an escape,” says Baker, who often checks the page while at work even during conference calls. “You get to be creative in your replies rather than ‘yes of course we are actioning, thank you for taking the time to inform us’ stuff.”

“It’s the opportunity to respond the way you would love to at meetings in real life. Instead of flipping out at work, they write about it on (Generic Office Roleplay). Super effective,” says Thomas, an “executive leadership team” in Melbourne (who didn’t want his last name used.) Thomas spends about 15 to 20 minutes a day posting and reading the page, time he considers mental health breaks. “There are some funny people out there and they are tired, frustrated, and caught from, by and in corporate. This is a genuine escape and an opportunity to empathize with people from around the world,” he adds.

A feud has broken out, and many of the original members are rebelling, lashing out, and leaving the group. It’s been taken over by the people who they were making fun of, who they say, are ruining the fun. A new CEO, David Frew, a real-life lawyer, has replaced Oscar.

And the adults are continuing with their office world—IRL and on Facebook.

Prom Body recently showed the weird world where the band's from via Vice's Noisey. And yes, eegee's and Sonoran hot dogs star, as well as the boys giving some love to Topaz.

From Noisey:

Prom Body hails from the 520 Funhouse, a castle of cactus on the southern butt of Arizona. Sandwiched between the Mexican border and the republican hellscape that is Phoenix, Tucson has developed it’s own unique way of life. Let us be your attaché to the sun baked freakery that is Tucson culture.

• eegee's, the swap meet, the Sonoran hot dog and more ...

In this week's issue, we profile the two Pima Community College governing board candidates for District 1: Mark Hanna and Michael Duran.

Now it's time for you to ask the questions in preparation for two public forum planned this month:

• Community Board Room (C-105) at the PCC District office, 4905 E. Broadway Blvd. on Tuesday, Oct.14, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., moderated by Tucson Weekly staff writer Mari Herreras and Aztec Press editor Andrew Paxton. The forum will be streamed live at www.pima.edu.

• Northwest Campus, Room G 105, 7600 N. Shannon Road on Monday, Oct. 20, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. moderated by Jeremiah Palicka, student leader in the PCC-Northwest Campus Student Government Association and Yvonne Venalonso, Student Life Team member and former student leader at PCC-Northwest, in collaboration with PCC Adult Education’s Student Leadership Council, League of Women Voters and Expect More Arizona.

Members of the community and PCC employees may submit questions in advance of the forums by sending an email with “PCC candidate question” in the subject line to PCC Government Relations Advanced Analyst Michael Peel, [email protected]. Peel may also be reached at 206-4844

For further information on the candidates, visit www.markhanna.com andd ww.duranforpcc.com.

The new season of Key & Peele has brought a lot of joy into my life, but this sketch, which captures the absurdity of what the character Urkel did to Family Matters, might be the funniest thing to appear on TV this year. I'll never forget you, Reginald VelJohnson.

While it hurts my soul a bit to suggest any activity Friday night that isn't the Chromeo show at the Rialto, if 80's-inspired R&B isn't your thing, the inside/outside combo of free shows at Congress is a great option for the music-loving Tucsonan.

Inside the club starting at 9 p.m., you can enjoy a tripleheader of local bands with party-rock act Electric Blankets headlining. Also on the bill, Horse Black and White Lhite.

Outside, there's music starting at 5:30 p.m. with Tom Walbank and Roman Barten-Sherman doing their Friday night residency blues thing. Then a special treat, steel guitar wizard Jon Rauhouse brings his band to the patio starting at 7 p.m. Rauhouse has played with a bunch of alt-country luminaries including Neko Case, the Waco Brothers and, as seen above, the Calexico guys. As good as anyone says this guy is, he's actually a little bit better, so if you enjoy country music at all (or just people who are incredibly talented), you should be there for this free concert.

More info on all this stuff at Hotel Congress' page.

• oneinchpunch / Shutterstock.com

I'm a big fan of the payouts from consumer class action lawsuits. Naked Juice wasn't entirely juice? Thanks for the $8! Rice Krispies wasn't exactly the most nutritious breakfast? I'll take $11 to repair my damaged trust in cereal. Now, Red Bull is the latest company that's paying out a settlement to make up for the fact that people are kind of dumb and believed that the tagline "Red Bull Gives You Wings" implied that you'd be a better athlete or have the ability to fly if they drank the world's most popular energy drink. So, as part of a $13 million payout, anyone who bought a Red Bull in the last ten years (and believed there was some benefit to the product) can apply for either $10 cash or $15 in Red Bull products.

The catch is that this payout is partially determined by how many people apply, and since you don't need really any proof that you actually bought anything (other than electronically signing an affidavit), there will probably be a lot of people trying to get something for nothing.

Still, worth a shot, right? The website is only sporadically working at the moment, but you have until March 2, 2015 to try to get in on the action. Good luck.