The UA College of Science Lecture Series on Life in the Universe continues tonight with Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Associate Professor Anna R. Dornhaus speaking on "Complexity and Evolvability: What Makes Life So Interesting?"

Dornhaus gives a terrific lecture, so it's well worth your time to head on down to Centennial Hall on the UA campus. The talk starts at 7 p.m., but it was just about full when I attended last week's talk, so you should aim to get there early for this one. It's free and you can find more details here.

Here's a preview of what Dornhaus will be discussing:

Life is particularly fascinating in its ability to create complex and ever-changing forms out of simple building blocks. How does such complexity arise, and what are the conditions that allow never-ending evolution of new and more intricate forms of life? We now know that one of the main processes that allows this is that life consists of modules that interact with and feed back on one another. In the history of life on Earth, new levels of complexity have often arisen out of new types of such interactions, and continued evolution has been driven by life interacting with other life. We even find that man-made systems can develop a 'life' of their own when such feedback interactions among many modules occur. Life, it seems, is more about rules of interaction than special materials. We have only begun to understand the power of this algorithmic nature of life.

Here in Tucson, we hardly acknowledge Presidents' Day. That's why I was particularly surprised (and so, so delighted!) to hear this story on NPR on my drive to work.

They were talking about Brian Abrams' new book (with illustrator John Mathias) Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery and Mischief—I know. History, booze and general mischief? Our favorites!

From NPR:

Known as the president who repealed Prohibition, Franklin D. Roosevelt fancied himself the mixologist-in-chief, Abrams says, but many of his colleagues disagreed.

"A lot of his friends and colleagues said that he was an awful bartender," Abrams told NPR's David Greene on Morning Edition. "I think that he really had a fondness for the mixology culture that was born in the Prohibition years."

Abrams says Plymouth martinis were FDR's specialty: He'd toss in interesting ingredients, such as a combined garnish of olives and lemon peels. Sometimes he added a few drops of absinthe. Guests often complained he used too much vermouth.

"There was a Supreme Court justice [Samuel Rosenman] who poured his cocktails in a potted plant almost every time," Abrams says.

FDR's "deplorable invention," according to his son James Roosevelt, was the Haitian Libation, which consisted of orange juice, dark rum, an egg white and a dash of brown sugar on the rocks. Yuck.

I mean, if FDR offered me that, I'd drink it.

NPR points out that Presidents' Day is hardly a party holiday—Well, in Tucson it's barely even a holiday. So, let's start a new tradition. When you get home from work (because I know you didn't get the day off) grab a bottle of vermouth and get creative. I'll be the one with a martini wiggling to Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

It's a variation on the old joke. "An Arizona Republican walks into a Fox News studio. So, he says to the bartender newscaster..."

Mark Brnovich went on "Fox and Friends" on January 13 talking about Obama's executive action on immigration, and in the course of the interview he said,

"I know in states like Arizona it's estimated that 10 percent or more of the students in our public schools are here in the country illegally."

Big number, 10 percent. One in ten students. The Republic put the assertion to the test in one of its Fact Checks and gave it No Stars: Unsupported. Most probably our attorney general, whose job description, I'm guessing, includes being factually accurate, mixed up the immigration status of children with the status of their parents.

For Arizona, the [Pew Research Center] report estimates children with at least one undocumented immigrant parent make up 11 percent of the public-school population.

According to the Republic, the progressive Urban Institute puts the number of undocumented students in Arizona at closer to 2.2 percent. The conservative anti-immigration group, Federation for American Immigration Reform, puts it at about 5 percent. If Brnovich's number is twice what the mad dogs at FAIR say, that means he's got it really, really wrong.

But, you know, he said it on Fox News, so it's sure to become part of the legend repeated ad infinitum by the right. "On Fox News they said..." "Our attorney general said..." So it's gotta be true.

The DarkMatter workshop was a success—if success can be defined as evoking thought and emotion from participants. 

Entitled "Protect me from what I want: a workshop on race, capitalism, and desire," the just-over-an-hour workshop was well-focused on these topics, never getting too tangential. The queer transgender South Asian artist duo that comprises DarkMatter, Alok Vaid-Menon and Janani Balasubramanian, continuously challenged attendees to find the link among them.

Unfortunately, the group took a little while to feel comfortable sharing their deeper mediations. Just as the discussion was starting to really get interesting, the workshop was over. The short time didn't allow for full-fledged conversations about any of the topics, but rather short bursts of insight. Both Alok and Janani seemed to be aware of this, as they repeatedly mentioned that one workshop wouldn't result in everyone becoming political and social self-actualized leader activists. To be fair, the workshop had been heavily cut from the original length Alok and Janani usually run it for, per the organizer's budget restraints, I imagine.

Writing prompts with sometimes silly questions—"Describe your ideal milkshake or smoothie, with milkshake and smoothie being loosely defined"—managed to bring about spirited discussion about desires, what we like about them, and what we would want to change, which in turn led into questions about guilt, power and privilege.

[Keep reading for what Cali Nash took away from the workshop and a Q&A with one of the minds behind DarkMatter]

Although Cafe Passe has hosted some great concerts in the last couple years, the time to see live music at the Fourth Avenue cafe is nearly over. In the past, the spot has given everyone from jazz acts to country crooners to local indie bands a place to play, but now, according to a Facebook post on Friday, Feb. 13, Cafe Passe has decided to step out of the live music game to focus on their food and drink offerings.

"We've been wearing many hats over the last number of years and i [sic] feel it's time to focus on one, nice, well fitted hat instead," the post said.

It continued by saying that Cafe Passe will go back to fulfilling the spot's original mission: "make good food and good coffee." To that point, it says to expect a new menu, with beer, wine and, of course, coffee still included. Baked goods, breakfast, brunch and lunch will be served during the updated hours, which will cut out late nights and change to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. 

The last night for live music at Cafe Passe will be on Friday, Feb. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. with Celeste Amadee performing. The post said that with all of the venues in Tucson promoting local music, the owners feel confident that the cafe no longer needs to operate in that capacity.

"There are so many awesome new venues with local music and they're doing a fantastic job," it said. "We want to do a fantastic job doing what we've set out to do 9 years ago."

To stay up to date with Cafe Passe's changes, follow the restaurant and coffee shop's Facebook page.

UPDATE: Cafe Passe will have some live music at their monthly Words on the Avenue event on the last Sunday of every month from 7 until 10 p.m.

Editor's Note: This post has been updated to reflect the new date for Celeste Amadee's performance.

There are a number of reasons to patronize any specific bar. It could be that you've been going to the same dive for years and you love the jukebox. It could be that the place has the best craft spirit selection in town. Maybe you think your bartender is cute. I don't know—that's all between you and your beverage.

Regardless, there is some snobbery that comes with the surge of craft cocktailing. Boo on that. I'd like to say right now that Kon Tiki, which has been in operation since tiki cocktails had their first wave of popularity, is not a craft cocktail bar. Who cares?

Kon Tiki is a tradition. It's of a dying breed and Tucsonans are lucky to have it stay open in all of its kitschy faux Polynesian glory. Now in its 52nd year of operation, you should celebrate its persistent existence by stopping in with a friend and grabbing a scorpion bowl.

The giant glass chalice is filled with $16 worth of boozes and such—the special blend of which is known only by Kon Tiki bartenders, according to the menu. Very Don the Beachcomber of them. It does say it includes "rums, gin, brandy and liqueurs, plus tropical fruit juices," and, from the strong alcohol taste on the first few sips, I'd guess one of the rums in question is 151. 

You can get your scorpion bowl in regular, strawberry or blue—yes, blue. The latter not being so much a specific flavor as a key to one of its secret ingredients—blue curaçao (a.k.a. curaçao that's been dyed blue).

So, is Kon Tiki's scorpion bowl the best rum-based cocktail I've had in Tucson in terms of flavor? No. Is it the kind of place you could discuss why some distillers spell it "rhum" versus "rum"? Nope. Is it really fun to stare your drinking buddy in the eyes awkwardly as you sip through an absurdly long straw in a den-like tropical setting? Yes.

The beauty of Kon Tiki as a bar is the experience and the giant (and shockingly cheap) menu will ensure you experience plenty. Plus, by the bottom of the bowl, it actually starts to taste pretty good. You can try one for yourself at the bar, located at 4625 East Broadway Boulevard.

Man, have there been a lot of stories about Douglas firing Board of Education employees and Ducey reinstating them! It's a rock-'em, sock-'em, Republican-on-Republican cage fight with constitutional overtones. What's not to love if you're in the media?

I want to make a few observations about Diane Douglas. We pretty much know what to expect from Ducey, but unless you were looking hard for information about Douglas during the campaign, or unless you're one of those right wing supporters she talked to while she shut everybody else out, you probably don't know much about where she's coming from. My sense is, she's a lot like Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, though a bit smarter, with some Ted Cruz thrown in.

So, a few observations about Douglas.

1. Douglas believes what she says. Douglas isn't a politician, she's an ideologue, a true believer. Her measure of what she should say and do isn't what's doable or what will help her work with others in government. It's whether it's right or wrong, based on her ideology and overall belief system. And when it comes to education, she believes Common Core is wrong, along with the high stakes tests which accompany the Core.

2. Douglas doesn't consider herself part of the Republican establishment. Douglas doesn't want to fit in with other Republicans unless she happens to agree with them. She's not a party loyalist who has a vested interest in Ducey's success. That's one reason so many Republicans broke ranks and supported David Garcia over Douglas—former Republican Superintendents of Education Lisa Graham Keegan and Jaime Molera, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and others. They were afraid Douglas would do exactly what she's done over the past few days, and they preferred the idea of having a progressive educator like Garcia, someone who they knew would be reasonable and sensible even if they didn't agree with him, over a loose cannon like Douglas. Ducey endorsed Douglas—what else could he do?—but I'm betting in his heart of hearts, he wasn't happy with his choice.

3. Douglas will say whatever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants to. This is another reason why the Republican establishment is afraid of Douglas. She's willing to go all Ted Cruz on anyone she's mad at. Some of the things she said the past few days filled me with glee, like when she called out Ducey for refusing to meet with her and said he's in bed with the charter school operators and wants nothing more than bad student test scores that will move more students into charter schools—not to mention criticizing him for not pushing the legislature to pay schools what it owes them. Ducey, et al, are fine with taking statements like that from the likes of me, from Democratic legislators and even the odd Republican legislator. But from the Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction? That spells nothing but trouble.

There is bad blood between Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey.

As discussed yesterday, Ducey overturned two dismissals Douglas made in the state Board of Education, to which Douglas replied with a press release titled, "Arizona Superintendent of Public Schools Diane Douglas Did Not See Doug Ducey’s Name on the Ballot for State Superintendent." Ducey and the director of the board said Douglas' move was unlawful because board members do not work for her. 

The board had a special meeting today where they were supposed to get legal advice, and Douglas was able to participate in that meeting because she is a member of the 11-member board that oversees school policy outside the realm of the state superintendent of schools. 

This morning, Douglas held a press conference in Phoenix where she said legislation is needed to clarify who's role it is to make these type of decisions:

“I do not wish to spend vital tax dollars in a dispute over who is responsible for the various operations of the Board of Education. Those resources are better spent on classroom instruction. Statute has their staff reporting to the Department of Education, and specifically to the Superintendent. This ambiguity has created an unnecessary conflict between three public bodies that are all dedicated to serving children.

We do not want current staff, and the two who are limbo, to continue to experience stress as a result of dual roles between the Board and the Department. I look forward to working with Governor Ducey. I am confident that by working with the Governor and with the legislature, we can fix this with simple legislation not litigation. The legislation would clarify the Board has its own staff and responsibility for its own expenditures and operations.

The sooner such legislation is passed, the sooner staff caught in the middle can return to normal operations, and this unnecessary conflict can be resolved without further cost to the taxpayer. Our focus needs to be on educating children, not continuing disputes over poorly written laws."

This might be entirely self-indulgent, but let me have a moment. I wrote a lot this week about Valentine's dinners and such, but, thanks in large part to "Parks and Recreation," the day before V-Day is a day for ladies to celebrate the other ladies in their lives. It's Galentine's Day, friends.

This year, I want to take some time to celebrate all of the fantastic, radical, creative and driven women who have made the past two and a half months in this town a complete inspiration.

There's my editor, Mari Herreras, who sticks up for us when the haters hate and lets me have the freedom to pursue whatever weird idea comes to my head.

There's my co-worker, Maria Taracena, who has an unbelievable knack for telling other people's stories and isn't afraid to travel to far away and sometimes dangerous places to get those stories. A fortune cookie told her she'd win a Pulitzer and I'm not one to tell cookies that they're wrong. 

There's Liane Hernandez who runs YWCA's cafe, but is also just a badass on her own accord and is interested in everything from local food sourcing to mass imprisonment issues in the U.S. Someone told me this afternoon that one of the reasons she stays in Tucson is because of people like Liane.

There's Barbara Eiswerth who takes hundreds of thousands of pounds of food that would be thrown away and redistributes it to refugees in need. She's also committed to educating pretty much anyone who crosses her path with enthusiasm and passion. 

There's Linda Ray who has made a name for herself in music criticism—one of the most male-dominated industries I can think of. Despite the field often dismissing female voices, she has a strong one that manages still to be gracious. Her piece on Vox Urbana is a must-read this week.

There's Rebecca Safford who runs Tap & Bottle with her husband while taking care of a newborn and makes sure women's voices in the beer industry are heard, especially through events like her Women in Craft Beer panel next week.

There's the girl that saw me waiting for a table at Miss Saigon alone and offered to have dinner with me. Her name is Jessy and we're friends now thanks to her offer.

I haven't even scratched the surface on every great lady I've met in this town and I can't wait to meet more.

Disclaimer: If you're reading this and feel a surge of men's rights anger bubbling in your gut, know that I've also met a fair amount of cool dudes in this town. You're being validated now and you're also more than welcome to create Manintine's Day where you and all your bros can celebrate each other. That's great. Communities should be supportive of each other. The best way I've heard the difference between the two put is from another of my personal heroes, Allison Karow:

"Think of society as a big ladder with the people who control the resources, labor, money, politics, etc. (people with power) at the top and people with no power at the bottom. People with some power are in the middle. Men are higher up on this ladder than women (see government and income as examples in first world societies, women's health issues in third world societies). When a group that is higher on the ladder tells a group that is lower on the ladder to go away, that is called segregation. When a group that is lower on the ladder tells a group that is above them to go away, that is called 'organizing.' When and ONLY when a group has the initiative to organize can they gain power by helping each other."

Arizona Health Director Will Humble has announced that he is stepping down March 3, and that he already notified Gov. Doug Ducey of his plans.

Earlier this year, Ducey said he wanted to keep Humble as head of the state Health Services, but Humble has decided to move on. He'd been worked for the agency since 1992 and has been director for six years. 

His reasons for leaving aren't clear. According to The Associated Press, Humble said he "plans to catch his breath for a while," but that he'll probably be involved in public health some time in the future. 

During his time in office, Humble seemed to always be at the center of medical marijuana disputes. Last year, he was involved in two lawsuits—one led to forcing Humble to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions in the state's Medical Marijuana Act. 

Medical Marijuana folks, are you happy to see this guy leave?