It wouldn't appear they have a Facebook or web page yet, but I'm predicting big things for Baltimore's newest tribute act, The Ginger Blossoms, who have their first gig on Friday, November 14 at the Golden West Cafe.

The Ginger Blossoms- Baltimore MD's only all redheaded Gin Blossoms tribute band will be playing their first concert ever on November 14th with friends Needle Points and Teen Men.

The group might be selling itself short already, as some quick Googling would make it appear that there isn't another "all redheaded Gin Blossoms tribute band" anywhere (there are few non-redheaded tribute bands, although they all could use some lessons in SEO), but the real question is, why Baltimore? Shouldn't the epicenter of Gin Blossoms fandom be right here in Arizona?

We'll try to keep up with The Ginger Blossoms and alert you when/if they make it to Tucson (FINGERS CROSSED).

Turns out, comedian Hari Kondabolu has the whole controversy over the name of Washington D.C.'s professional (well, mostly) football team fixed with a four-minute Upworthy video. That's wasn't how I predicted a solution would emerge, but hey, I'll take it.

Kondabolu performs at the Gallagher Theatre tonight at 6:30 p.m., presented by the Common Ground Alliance. And it's free? Seriously. You should go.

Journalists can be a little predictable and odds are, if you're running for a political office, at some point one of us will ask you what the last book you read was. Now, at this point, because most candidates have handlers and press advisors and a bunch of people they pay to help them not screw up debates and interviews, this question shouldn't be a surprise.

However, in last night's debate between Rep. Michael Grimm or his (depressingly bad) Democratic opponent Domenic Recchia, neither candidate could actually answer this softball of a question.

Thanks, Long Island, for making Arizona seem better by comparison for a bit. Always appreciated.

If this particular race sounds familiar, you might remember the (deserved) savaging these two candidates got from Jon Stewart:

It's almost Halloween, so thankfully, the list-making folks at Britain's FACT magazine have assembled an amazing collection of the "100 Greatest Horror Soundtracks," with selections from "Flesh for Frankenstein" to Goblin's legendary score for "Suspiria." Even better, you can stream the playlist via Youtube (or selections on Spotify).

Democrat Terry Goddard, who is facing Republican Michele Reagan in the race for Secretary of State, sent the Weekly the following opinion piece:

The 60 Plus Association describes itself as a “non-partisan seniors advocacy group,” but like anything involving Dark Money, what they say is far from true.

The 60 Plus Association, in fact, is a Koch Brothers-backed front group that floods our airwaves with political ads paid for with anonymous corporate cash designed to distort our elections and deceive voters.

But it also has another purpose: to advocate for the privatization of Social Security.

60 Plus is a major player in the fight for Social Security Privatization. That proposal was the brainchild of hedge fund managers who would profit from privatization and who write big checks to political organizations, not seniors who rely on Social Security.

The focus of my campaign for Secretary of State has been stopping Dark Money. I have made it clear from the first day of my campaign that I am running to stop the anonymous corporate cash flooding into Arizona, one of the biggest threats to our democracy.

So I can’t say I was particularly surprised when a Dark Money group attacked me. But the fact that 60 Plus chose me as a target tells you a lot about the twisted world of Dark Money.

As your Attorney General, I worked tirelessly with AARP to protect Arizona's seniors from fraud. I started the volunteer Fraud Fighters and Seniors Strike Back programs. One major source of fraud comes from fake charities that exist only to scam seniors.

This is also a book signing for Rodriguez, whose book was recently published, and culminates research he started with Gonzales on his investigation on the origins and migrations of the Mexican people in the Four Corners region of the U.S. by following the corn and the people associated with that crop and stories from the elders he interviewed along the way.

Listen to a podcast interview with Rodriguez from Amanda Shauger at KXCI.

We recently interviewed Rodriguez about his book, and intended our interview to be part of a Currents feature in last week's issue, but our decision to focus on marriage equality forced us to change course for the week. Here's part of our interview with the author, journalist and UA associate professor.

Rodriguez was one of only a few active UA academics involved with championing Mexican-American studies at Tucson Unified School District—supporting students at protests and speaking out at many governing board meetings and other public hearings. He was arrested with local high school and college students the day the anti-Mexican-American studies legislation was signed into law when outgoing state Attorney General Tom Horne paid a visit to Tucson. He also experienced a fair share of criticism from MAS critics and far-right attacks, including a threat on this life.

What is the time frame of your work on this book?
It was the mid-1990s. That was when the process began in the literal sense, a research project on maps I was given that showed that the Aztecs reached into the Four Corners of the United States. I had no knowledge of the maps and had never heard of them. I was just given them as proof that Mexican people were native to the Southwest. I wasn’t a scholar then, but even with the little I knew, I knew that this little piece of paper does not constitute proof. So I embarked on a research project.

You found more maps, right?
Yes ... from 1847. That’s what triggered this research. At the time Patrisia and I were colleagues and married when we embarked on this project together. It was exiting and exhilarating. We went everywhere on this topic ... and at some point we saw some of the oldest maps that showed Salt Lake as the point of origin of Mexican Indians. Everyone made the assumption that we were looking for Aztlan. We knew the story but we weren’t sure if that was what was supposed to be depicted. We knew that there has to be memory there and that people would be able to tell us stories. We began to do interviews with elders, many of them are dead now.

I know many people will say, 'Why do you always talking about corn?' Your academic nickname, Dr. Cintli, is Dr. Corn.
When we did the interviews, I realized forget the maps. If you want to know where we come from, follow the corn. At that point it became obvious to me. I think some people were disappoint we didn’t find Aztlan. But we literally did follow the corn and saw how it changed the continent and it was corn that led to what we call civilization. Massive cities.

How did this research related to your own personal story?
I grew up knowing that society saw me as inferior, but I got a different message from my father and my mother — mostly my dad telling me stories, anciet stories, that didn't reinforce the idea that we crossed this ocean to get here. "Don’t worry about that or what they say, we didn't cross the ocean. We are from here

Part of your research was also during the state's attacks on TUSD and MAS, right?
I would say it was coincidental that when I went to do my PhD, it was 2003-2007, and in 2006, Horne began hsi campaign, his war was about indigenous knowledge. Kids were being taught in lakech and pacnhe be — and that was precisely my work. The teachers taught lots of things, but some of what was being taught in the classroom was also from my own materials and column Patrisia and I did.

In your classroom at the UA, you say you teach beyond in lakech and panche be?
I expanded to what I call the seven maiz based values. Really there’s no story like it on this continent — the story of the maize. It is not a counter story. It existed for 7,000 years and it doesn't revolve around Greeks and Roman. The maiz stories is important and it is humble. It's not a claim to land, this isn't about Aztlan, but a claim to our humanity. We are part of a big story — a bigger story. I always looked at SB 1070 as a way to attack brown people, and that was a law to deport the body. HB 2281 was to deport the mind and spirit. My book is a way to help understand that we are from here and we are also fully human.

[Editor's note: Obviously, our blogger David Safier isn't a big fan of Ethan Orr and has made that point pretty well known on the Range heading up to the election. Orr supporter Demitri Downing asked to explain why he's voting for Orr in response, so here's his take on LD9.]

A scorpion asks a duck to carry him over a river.

The duck is afraid of being stung during the trip, but the scorpion argues that if it stings the duck, both would sink and drown. The duck agrees and begins carrying the scorpion, but midway across the river, the scorpion does indeed sting the duck, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its unchangeable nature.

Moral of the story: some animals — political parties among them - cannot change their nature. But people, voters, free thinking people, don’t have to follow the party’s sometimes destructive and always self-serving path.

It's remarkable what Jimmy Fallon gets his guests to do and this time, it's Daniel Radcliffe demonstrating his ability to speed-rap, skillfully taking on Blackalicious' "Alphabet Aerobics."

The original, for comparison.

MSNBC's Chris Hayes' report on the history of Tucson's Sanctuary movement and the current work at Southside Presbyterian is a great portrait of our community.

With Election Day less than a week away, Politico puts the Congressional District 2 race between Democratic incumbent Congressman Ron Barber and GOP challenger Martha McSally at the top of its list of the "five most suspenseful House races in the 2014 homestretch":

For most of the year, Barber has maintained a steady lead over McSally, successfully portraying himself as a moderate figure in a swing district. McSally has waged what’s been widely seen as a lackluster campaign, spending more time talking about her personal history than her policy positions.

But operatives from both sides believe McSally is closing the gap thanks to an infusion of cash from Republican groups who view her as a rising star and future party leader. Over the last month, Republicans have outspent Democrats on the TV airwaves $1.75 million to $1.25 million.

Worth keeping on eye on: What role former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Barber’s former boss, plays in the final week of the contest. The former congresswoman, who along with Barber survived the Jan. 2011 Tucson massacre, has been airing TV commercials voicing her support for Barber, who succeeded her in Congress.

Meanwhile, a GOP-leaning polling outfit we're not familiar with, Red Racing Horses, has released a poll in the race that shows Barber with a 2 percentage-point lead: