RAW: Tucson provides an eclectic mix of artists with a place to showcase their unique talents and originality—and to be noticed by a larger audience.

The next RAW event will take place on Thursday, Sept. 27, at Plush. Each event includes a short independent film, a musical performance, a fashion show, an art gallery, performance art, a hairstylist and a makeup artist. These artists all come together on one night to exhibit a wide variety of creativity.

“At every showcase, we book a new group of amazing local artists that are hand-selected,” said Laura Fischer, the event director for RAW. She helps pick the artists who participate by searching online, going to local events and looking through the submissions that RAW receives via its website.

This month's event will feature a variety of gifted independent artists. One will be a unique and interesting fashion designer, called Bling-Cycle, who uses all recycled materials to make original, distinct pieces for the fashion-show component.

“I know that two of the bands featured in the next showcase, The Outlaw Rebels and Karma Breakdown, are a lot of fun” says Fischer, “but they are all really amazing artists, so it's hard to pick and choose.”

There are always artists and photographers selling their original pieces, and attendees will find some accessory designers selling their wares as well.

Come support local artists and get inspired by the array of talents that will be presented at Plush on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. The tickets are $10 pre-sale, and $15 at the door.

Visit the Raw website for more information.

Although Drinking Liberally, hosted at the Shanty off Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street, has hosted several Tucson Unified School District board candidates to present their views and candidacy to that particularly Dem-friendly crowd, the first technical forum for the race took place Monday, Sept. 17 at the New Spirit Lutheran Church and hosted by the Saguaro Eastside Democrats.

If you missed this forum, uneventful mostly due to the time constraints, there are plenty of opportunities to get a better understanding of what the candidates are all about — with 12 candidates, including three incumbents, it's quite a task.

The next forum is hosted by Drinking Liberally on Wednesday, Sept. 26 at the Shanty, from 6 to 8 p.m., 401 E. 9th Street, followed by another forum on Monday, Oct. 1, at the YWCA Tucson, 525 N. Bonita Ave. (south of St. Mary's Avenue and west of I-10). This forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Voices for Education and the Metropolitan Education Commission, is 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Save TUSD's Neighborhood Schools will host a forum at El Casino Ballroom, 437 East 26th St., Thursday, Oct. 4, from 6:00-8:30 pm. And the last one planned, so far, is hosted by the Tucson Estates Community, 5900 W. Western Way Circle, Wednesday, October 10, from 6-8:30 pm.

At the first candidates forum, 11 of the candidates lined the table. Missing was Debe Campos-Fleenor. In our cover story this week, "The District Dozen," we weren't able to meet with the candidate or interview her by phone due to her recuperating from foot surgery.

When Campos-Fleenor will be available to answer questions and present her platform is unclear, but the Range was forwarded a response the candidate made to an e-mail request sent to all candidates by organizers of the Save TUSD's Neighborhood Schools' forum.

The e-mail invite:

We would like to invite you to a TUSD Board Candidate Forum and celebration of the 90th anniversary of both Ochoa and Mission View Schools in South Tucson.

This will take place on Thursday, October 4, from 6 to 7:30 pm at the El Casino Ballroom (437 East 26th St).

We plan to have at least 500 people attend.

We want to ask how you would vote on Superintendent Pedicone's plan to close schools and how you would fill the $17 million hole in the next budget.

Our group includes many students, parents, teachers, Casa Maria, many social agencies and political officials that live in and around the City of south Tucson.

Please respond as soon as possible by calling Brian Flag at (520) 624-0312 or [email protected]

Thank You

The candidate's response:

Plan on me coming provided I receive a doctor's release. Thank you

If you haven't had a chance to participate in Wingspan's Tucson Latin@ LGBTQ Pride 2012 this week, you better go to the final event tonight — Electro Cumbia at Plush, 340 E. 6th St., 8 to closing. The evening, produced by MEOWMeow Productions, includes performances by Jaime J, Lola Torch and DJ Dirty Verbs. $3 at the door.

I made yet another trip to Casa Video and rented a copy of American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein. This is a name I had heard before, but had little knowledge about the controversy surrounding it. This documentary filled those holes.

Finkelstein is seen as either the biggest asshole or the bravest intellectual to ever speak against violence. Here’s a little background history, all of which I learned from the documentary:
Both his parents are Holocaust survivors and fought in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. After having seen the atrocities people are capable of committing against each other, Finkelstein’s mother became an extreme advocate against violence. She passed along these beliefs to Finkelstein and his two siblings.

During parts of the documentary, filmmakers followed Finkelstein as he promoted his book, The Holocaust Industry, around Europe. This is where it starts to get uncomfortable. During a press conference in Berlin, Germany—the setting makes this even more uncomfortable—he called the Holocaust an “extortion racket.” He goes on to say that Jews are using the Holocaust to victimize themselves and justify their violence against the Palestinians. Yes, he went there. And this is why Finkelstein is known as a “self-hating Jew.”

Oddly enough, the more I watched the documentary, the more I began to see him as an advocate against violence, not a self-hating Jew. Finkelstein is trying to defend what his mother taught him as a child: violence is never justified. He may have taken her message to an extreme. A lot of people think he should not use the Holocaust in his anti-violence crusade. However, he does have a point. Does every nation that is oppressed by another have the right to turn around and oppress their neighbor? I don't think so and Finkelstein doesn't think so. But his point of view has certainly put a neon-colored target on his forehead. Those who oppose him want his head, bad.

Aside from the controversy, this was an amazing documentary. It captured what Finkelstein is like backstage, before speaking in front of thousands of people, most of whom probably want to kill him and piss on the remains. Whether you’re into debates or not or whether you agree or disagree with him, it doesn’t hurt to rent a copy of this and get a little more knowledge on who he is and why the hell he’s causing such a ruckus.

Do beer and chocolate go together? If it's a delicious pint of Borderlands Brewing Company's Noche Dulce Porter, with its sweet perfume of vanilla, and the chocolate of local company Monkey Flower Chocolates, you bet your sweet ass they do. From the Borderlands Brewery Facebook page:

Two words: Chocolate & Beer. That's right, we're getting hedonistic with our bad selves tomorrow night. The wonderful and amazing Marji from Monkey Flower Chocolates will be at the brewery debuting the perfect chocolate pairings for our Noche Dulce Vanilla Porter and Santa Rita Amber. So, we cordially invite you to come down and get a taste of some Tucson collaboration.

I have no idea what a Monkey Flower is, but I do not care. This event sounds awesome, and it takes place from 4 to 7 p.m., today, Wednesday, Sept. 19. The brewery is located at 119 E. Toole Ave. Get some.

And when I say "drag" I'm not talking about race cars people.

The Food, Art and Drag Show at Dinnerware Artspace from 5 to 9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20, combines food by some of Tucson's favorite food trucks; art by Nikki Welch, Smith Barney and Neil Collins; and a live drag show hosted by Rosada Delano and Vivika D'Angelo. Canned goods for the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation will also be collected at the event.

Dinnerware Artspace is located at 425 W. Sixth St. Don't forget to bring some singles (or fivers) to tip the performers.

There's more on the event over here.

If that video hasn't convinced you to check out Tab Benoit tonight at the Rialto Theatre, there's very little hope for you as a blues fan. Benoit, whose song "Shelter Me" is the theme for the Discovery Channel show "Sons of Guns", is more than just a great bluesman — he's also the founder of "The Voice of the Wetlands," an advocacy group raising awareness to protect the Louisiana wetlands. Fun times.

The all-ages show begins tonight at 7 p.m., and costs $19. If you're interested in hearing a bit more from Benoit, check out the concert preview page from our live music calendar.

The Summer 2012 Olympics ended more than a month ago. But, recently I read an article about one of the survivors of the attack on the Israeli team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich on CNN. His name is Shaul Ladany, and he expressed great disappointment at the fact that the IOC president Jacques Rogge refused to include a minute of silence in honor of the Israeli team members who were killed in '72, at this year's opening ceremony. After all, it had been 40 years since the killings.

After I read the article, I got an urge to go to Casa Video and rent One Day in September, the 1999 Academy Award winner for best documentary. The film narrates eveything that went down before, during and after members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by a Palestinian terrorist group. It's definitely shocking and sad to see how the story unfolds.

It shows real footage from the time and interviews with survivors, family members of those who were killed, and an exclusive interview with Jamal Al Gashey, who is, allegedly, the sole survivor of the Palestinian terrorist group. His face is blurred out, of course. To this day he is believed to be in hiding somewhere in North Africa. It is ridiculous that this guy still roams the streets.

This was a sad pick but definitely worth the trip to Casa, and I highly recommend it.

Casa Video's documentary section is almost endless. Last time I was there, I spent close to an hour reading the synopses on the back of a ridiculous amount of DVD's. Time flies when there are too many damn good options.

I ended up choosing 8: The Mormon Proposition. In spirit of the upcoming presidential elections, and considering Mitt Romney has not shown any support to the LGBT community, I thought this documentary would enlighten me as to why.

In short: the documentary brings to light documents, recordings and interviews dealing with the Mormon Church and its involvement with funding Prop 8 and blocking anything that would benefit the LGBT community. I mean, these people went out of their way — as far as spending mega millions — to stomp and spit on even a thought of equality for the LGBT community.

The Mormon Church is not alone in this fight, of course. But it was very interesting to learn about them specifically. Also, what about polygamy?

Watch the trailer. And, here's a critic's response to the doc. Make a trip to Casa, grab a bag of their free popcorn and rent a copy.

Last month, more than 300 people were killed and 3000 more injured in a series of earthquakes in the mountains of Western Iran, affecting Iranians as well as people within Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Tonight, Iransara Tucson is holding a fundraiser in conjunction with St. Mark's Presbyterian Church of Tucson to raise money to assist in relief efforts for those affected by the magnitude 6.4 earthquake and its aftershocks.

The tax-deductible event begins at 6 p.m. this evening at St. Mark's, 3809 E. 3rd Street. The suggested minimum donation is $10.

See the press release after the jump.

For more on Iransara Tucson, visit their website.