• JOHN DE DIOS

The 16th Annual Tucson Firefighter's Chili Cook Off seemed to go off very well again this year. El Presidio was packed with revelers and chili fans of a very wide swath of age groups. Here's a link to a break-dancing 5-year-old.

I have maybe eight cups of chili. I have no idea who won, but my vote goes to the guys at Lucky Thirteen. Although, that was after I arrived and many of the booths had already run out of their own stuff.

Here are some photos from Friday night. Enjoy.

• JOHN DE DIOS
• Jericho Santoro, 5, breakdances in front of the late-hours crowd at the 16th Annual Tucson Firefighter's Chili Cook-Off in Downtown Tucson.

Headed out tonight to check out the 16th Annual Tucson Firefighter's Chili Cook-Off in Downtown Tucson not really knowing what to expect.

The chili was ok for the most part. The guys over at the Lucky Thirteen booth, I think, had the best. But my favorite booth was the Zombie one - of course.

HOWEVER, pictured is little Jericho Santoro, 5, a breakdancing-tumbling-cartwheeling little scene stealer.

There was a low rumble among the guys at the Casa Maria soup kitchen when I arrived for my early-morning shift a few weeks back. John, a homeless guy from Seattle who helps out every morning, was the first to mention the new solar panels. As the morning went on others cracked little jokes here and there, or just kind of looked up at the small solar arrray with obvious curiosity.

The panels were made possible through private donations and a grant through Technicians for Sustainability. A post on the TFS Facebook page says the panels will help the soup kitchen save $70 a month. That might not seem like much, but for a place that depends completely on donations of cash and food to continue its mission to feed the hungry, it is.

Tucson Weekly south-central-bureau correspondent Garrett Dangerfield brings us these photos, from the military-recruiting center on Broadway Boulevard just west of Swan Road.

Check out the text at the bottom of the poster.

Tucsonans gathered Sunday morning at Fire Station One in Downtown Tucson to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The Tucson Fire and Police Departments held a memorial ceremony at the station, then marched to TPD headquarters, where there was a 21 gun salute, flag raising and a playing of taps. In case you missed the event, check out this slideshow featuring photography by Josh Morgan.

Images from last night's sold out (or at least, nearly sold out) Explosions in the Sky show at the Rialto Theatre, with Twin Sister opening:

Slideshow

Explosions in the Sky/Twin Sister, Rialto Theatre, Sept. 1

Click to View 9 slides

Take a break out of your hectic Tuesday, and relax like this squirrel. Then, check out this slideshow and make a big, cheesy smile as you eat from your bag of Cheetos (or is that just me)?

Well, I've been afraid of changes, cause I built my life around you... This week's picture of Mars, courtesy of the UA Lunar and Planetary Lab's HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, highlights the Landslides in Valles Marineris.

Valles Marineris is the largest canyon in the Solar System: if superposed on a map of the United States, it would stretch all the way from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., possibly even up to New England! So this image is just a very small portion of the system.

This observation shows us gully-like landslides (called "mass wasting") on the interior layered deposits of Valles Marineris. These include alcoves and channels, which are also visible in PSP_004396_1675. However, that image quality was very poor due to a dust storm, so a re-image can give us fine-scale shapes and sizes.

This caption is based on the original science rationale.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team (6 July 2011)

The pic makes me long for a little Stevie Nicks:

For more information about the HiRISE, click here.

In honor of the launch of the last space shuttle mission today, the Atlantic has a great photographic history of the program, from the initial designs through two tragedies to recent work on the International Space Station.

The owner of lingerie store Alice Rae talks to Samantha Cummings about the store's long history and its relationship with its customers.