Tucson Weekly Mar 3, 2022

BUD BALLOT: VOTE NOW IN THE 2022 CANNABIS BOWL!

NEWS: GOP State Senator: Hang political opponents high!

SONORAN EXPLORIN’: Can you see yourself at the selfie museum?

MARCH 3 - 9, 2022 • TUCSONWEEKLY.COM • FREE

ARTS: Places of darkness, then and now

Catching a Buzz

How Meghan German ended up a barber

By Brian Smith

MUSIC: Annie Jump Cannon’s new record

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MARCH 3, 2022

MARCH 3, 2022 | VOL. 37, NO. 9

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

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STAFF

CONTENTS SONORAN EXPLORIN’

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An afternoon at the selfie museum (and a defense of vanity)

TUCSON SALVAGE

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One woman’s journey to the barber chair

CHOW

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Tucson restaurants continue experiencing the Fieri bump

ARTS & CULTURE

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ADMINISTRATION Steve T. Strickbine, Publisher Michael Hiatt, Vice President

EDITOR’S NOTE

Jaime Hood, General Manager, jaime@tucsonlocalmedia.com

A New Gutbucket Low OVER THE WEEKEND, STATE SEN. Wendy Rogers went on quite a tear at America First Political Action Conference, a gathering of white nationalists. Rogers told the crowd that she thought more of her political opponents should be hanged from a gallows, among other batshit crazy comments that Arizona Mirror editor Jim Small recounts in a story you’ll find on Page 5. It’s loathsome stuff, but while there’s some talk of censuring Rogers among Republicans in the Arizona Senate, I don’t expect they’ll do a damn thing, especially after Rogers vowed on Twitter to “personally destroy the career of any Republican who partakes in the gaslighting of me simply because of the color of my skin or opinion about war I don’t want to send our kids to die in.” The problem isn’t the cover of your skin, Wendy—it’s the wretched content of your character.

But Senate Republicans will likely just let Rogers be Rogers. As Gov. Doug Ducey said, Rogers is better than the Democrat she defeated, an Afghan war veteran who retired at the rank of colonel.

It’s honestly so damn gross.

Elsewhere in the book this week: Sonoran Explorin’ columnist Emily Dieckman visits Tucson’s selfie museum; Tucson Salvage

Tyler Vondrak, Associate Publisher, tyler@tucsonlocalmedia.com Claudine Sowards, Accounting, claudine@tucsonlocalmedia.com

columnist Brian Smith introduces us to barber Meghan German, who has quite a story to tell; The Skinny wonders why the Republicans running for U.S. Senate can’t seem to spell Tucson correctly; longtime arts writer Margaret Regan takes in a show of photos exploring our region’s darkness, both past and present, at PCC’s Bernal Gallery; Chow contributor Matt Russell looks at the impact a visit from Guy Fieri can have on a local restaurant; UA School of Journalism intern Cameron Jobson previews this year’s College of Science lecture series; managing editor Jeff Gardner gives a listen to a new album from Annie Jump Cannon; XOXO columnist Xavier Omar Otero tells you where you can hear live music this week; staff reporter Alexandra Pere checks out the makeover at Marana dispensary Botanica in Tucson Weedly; and there’s plenty more to guide you through your week, so enjoy this edition and come back for the next one.

Jim Nintzel Executive Editor Hear Nintz talk about how to have some fun in this burg at 9:30 a.m. Wednesdays during the world-famous Frank Show on 96.1, KLPX.

RANDOM SHOTS By Rand Carlson

Sheryl Kocher, Receptionist, sheryl@tucsonlocalmedia.com EDITORIAL Jim Nintzel, Executive Editor, jimn@tucsonlocalmedia.com Jeff Gardner, Managing Editor, jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com Alexandra Pere, Staff Reporter, apere@timespublications.com Nicole Feltman, Staff Reporter, nfeltman@timespublications.com Contributors: David Abbott, Rob Brezsny, Max Cannon, Rand Carlson, Tom Danehy, Emily Dieckman, Bob Grimm, Andy Mosier, Linda Ray, Margaret Regan, Will Shortz, Jen Sorensen, Clay Jones, Dan Savage PRODUCTION Courtney Oldham, Production Manager, tucsonproduction@timespublications.com Ryan Dyson, Graphic Designer, ryand@tucsonlocalmedia.com CIRCULATION Alex Carrasco, Circulation, alexc@tucsonlocalmedia.com ADVERTISING TLMSales@TucsonLocalMedia.com Gary Tackett, Account Executive, gtackett@tucsonlocalmedia.com Kristin Chester, Account Executive, kristin@tucsonlocalmedia.com Candace Murray, Account Executive, candace@tucsonlocalmedia.com NATIONAL ADVERTISING Zac Reynolds Director of National Advertising Zac@TimesPublications.com Tucson Weekly® is published every Thursday by Times Media Group at 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, Arizona. Address all editorial, business and production correspondence to: Tucson Weekly, 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, Arizona 85741. Phone: (520) 797-4384, FAX (520) 575-8891. Member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN). The Tucson Weekly® and Best of Tucson® are registered trademarks of Times Media Group. Publisher has the right to refuse any advertisement at his or her discretion.

PCC’s Bernal Gallery explores violence and cruelty in Southern Arizona

TUCSON WEEDLY

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A remodeled Botanica re-opens in Marana

Meghan German photo by Brian Smith; Wendy Rogers photo by Gage Skidmore; Emily Dieckman photo by Emily Dieckman; “In Their Shoes” photo courtesy Bernal Gallery; Annie Jump Cannon photo courtesy Annie Jump Cannon.

Copyright: The entire contents of Tucson Weekly are Copyright Times Media Group No portion may be reproduced in whole or part by any means without the express written permission of the Publisher, Tucson Weekly, 7225 N. Mona Lisa Rd., Ste. 125, Tucson, AZ 85741.

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SONORAN EXPLORIN’

INTO THE YOUNIVERSE An afternoon at the selfie museum and a defense of vanity

By Emily Dieckman tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com ONCE, WHILE VISITING A REAL, LIVE castle in Spain, where there were gorgeous gardens and art around every corner, I watched one woman find the plainest wall she could, then pose in front of it for a series of pictures with her Starbucks cup. At a castle! I don’t have a fully formed opinion about whether a castle is the place for vanity, but if I do think if you’re going to be vain there, it should at least be in front of a decadent backdrop.

Some of the rules around when it’s socially acceptable to take a selfie are clear cut, while others have blurrier borders.

In the middle of a professional meeting?

Not the time. The few minutes before the

SORENSEN

Zoom meeting starts when you’re waiting for the other people to arrive and realizing you look good in this lighting? Probably fine? A selfie museum? Definitely.

At Youniverse Tucson, you—combined with backdrops and ring lights set up specifically for personal photoshoots— are the art. Started by brothers Ian and Connor Franulovich, who also own a rage room called the Breaking Point, this selfserve studio is a place you go to feel good about how you look, and to document it.

Vanity is the whole point.

I appreciated this clear-cut purpose. No one in the museum was going to roll their eyes at me for taking a selfie in a public place. (Though, I know the decision to visit a selfie museum might exhibit its own brand of eye roll. To that, I say: The

world is full of difficulties and horrors, and sometimes there’s nothing any of us can do to stop them. If any people can find a single speck of joy in a harmless activity like taking a selfie, I hope they do.)

As a millennial woman, I’ve watched my selfie skills evolve along with their rise in popularity. With my first digital camera in middle school, I took countless crooked, poorly cropped photos of me wearing a fedora next to my dresser.

These days, on the rare occasion I go through the trouble to put on lipstick, I like to commemorate it with a selfie, simply for my personal records.

I’m also familiar with the reputation of selfies, which sometimes seem like they’ve come to represent the vapidity of a generation. Over the years, we’ve heard that selfies are a reflection of everything from eating disorders to narcissism.

I’m not a scientist or a time traveler or a selfie expert, but I get the feeling if people 30 years ago, or 500 years ago, had access to front-facing cameras, they would have been taking selfies too.

Those with the means were certainly

COURTESY PHOTO

having portraits painted of themselves, or snapped in professional studios, after all.

Now, that form of capturing a moment is more accessible.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

MARCH 3, 2022

CURRENTS

SO NOT NORMAL

Wendy Rogers said white nationalists are ‘patriots’ and called for hanging political enemies

By Jim Small Arizona Mirror A REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR fawned over the leader of a white nationalist movement on Friday and told his followers that she fantasizes about hanging her perceived enemies from gallows.

“I’ve said we need to build more gallows.

If we try some of these high-level criminals, convict them and use a newly built set of gallows, it’ll make an example of these traitors who have betrayed our country,” Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, said Feb. 25 in her speech to the white nationalist America First Political Action Conference in Florida.

Rogers told the white nationalists who were assembled in the ballroom at the Orlando World Center Marriott that they were “patriots.”

She addressed the AFPAC crowd remotely, speaking from Arizona, where she said she was busy pushing legislation. Rogers effusively praised Nick Fuentes, the event’s racist organizer, who she said had been “de-platformed everywhere” because he says things that upset “the media and the far left.”

“I truly respect Nick because he’s the most persecuted man in America,” she said to loud cheers, adding later that he was “standing up to tyranny” by creating AFPAC. Fuentes, an advocate of turning America into a nation only for white Christians, is one of the leaders of the so-called “groyper” movement—along with the founder of American Identity Movement, a white nationalist group formerly known as Identity Ervopa—and Rogers is one of its emerging icons. The groyper movement is a collection of white nationalists who seek to normalize racism and make it a part of mainstream conservative political ideology.

AFPAC opened with Fuentes soliciting a round of applause from the crowd for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The white nationalists chanted in response, “Putin!

Putin! Putin!”

In his closing speech, Fuentes said “the United States is the evil empire in the world.”

“Now, they’re going and saying, ‘Vladimir Putin is Adolf Hitler,’ as if that isn’t a good thing,” he said, before chuckling a rehearsed nervous laugh and adding, “Oops, I

shouldn’t have said that.”

Rogers lamented that there was no longer freedom of speech, and said “we can’t even laugh at comedy any more” for fear of being banned from social media platforms. (The First Amendment protects people from being punished by the government for their speech, but it does not apply to businesses or exempt people from facing consequences for their speech.) She pined for the 1980s and 1990s, when “we could say the craziest stuff and people would just laugh and not take offense, because it was simply light-hearted.”

“Now, they deplatform and debank people like Nick Fuentes, and even President (Donald) Trump,” she said. “This is like the USSR, but worse.”

The crowd at AFPAC included prominent members of America’s white nationalist movement, among them Jared Taylor and Peter Brimelow. Taylor garnered a following as the editor of a now-defunct pseudo-academic magazine that published pieces from open racists, and he hosts an annual conference that the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a place “where racist intellectuals rub shoulders with Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.” Brimelow publishes a popular white nationalist website and has said “the U.S. is a white nation.”

One speaker at the event was Vincent James Foxx, a stalwart white nationalist who said he wanted to “criminalize” LGBTQ Americans and warned of the “Great Replacement.” That idea, popular among white supremacists, holds that white Americans are being replaced by non-white immigrants.

It has also inspired violence. Fears of immigrants undermining his vision of a white Christian Europe motivated Anders Behring Breivik’s murderous rampage in 2011 at a Norwegian youth summer camp. In the U.S., the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018 was the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in United States history. Just before it took place, the killer took to right-wing social media site Gab to say he believed that immigrants were being brought in to replace and “kill our people.” The next year in New Zealand, 51 people would be killed and 40 injured but CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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CURRENTS

CHUGGING ALONG

Collectors of garden railroad trains show off their layouts

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com G-SCALE TRAIN COLLECTORS ARE opening their gardens to the public for the 20th Rails in the Garden self-guided, self-paced driving tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and Sunday, March 6.

“This is a great, fun-filled weekend for the young and old,” says Chuck Cook with the Tucson Garden Railway Society.

G-scale trains are suitable for use indoors or out and the large size, rugged construction, and exacting detail make this scale a favorite with modelers.

The event is a fundraiser for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and the train club. In recent years, the tour generated more than $8,500 in donations for the food bank.

The Tucson Garden Railway Society is a nonprofit that promotes model railroading, preservation of railroad history and railroad safety throughout the Tucson metro area.

Cook says the organization has permanent displays at Diamond Children’s Hospital, The Tucson Children’s Museum, The Rodeo Parade Museum, Tucson Botanical Garden and The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum.

“We have a large modular layout that HOLLY HARRIS

Tucson Garden Railway Society members say John Fennema has one of the best layouts on the nonprofit’s March tour.

we take annually to The Pima County Fair and the VA Hospital for multiday displays,” Cook says.

“In addition, we have a smaller children’s layout that we take to train shows and children’s charity events throughout the year. G-scale are the largest model railroads that are available for the average people.”

During the tour, patrons see trains running in eight to 12 member layouts.

“It’s a chance for people to get out— especially during these COVID times,” he says. “About 80% of the layouts on this year’s tour are outdoor railroads.”

Previously, the nonprofit charged for the tour, but it has been free since it earned money for co-sponsoring the national convention. This way, more families with young children can head out on the tour.

The layouts are primarily in Tucson, but there are two in SaddleBrooke. For Cook, this is a dream to work with the trains.

“I’ve always been a fan of trains,” he says. “Like anything else, I put them away for a while and raised kids. I happened to see the layout at the Botanical Gardens in Tucson. I was just fascinated by the size of them and the idea that we could do it outside.”

“While I’m driving, I’m probably the only guy who comes up to a railroad crossing and hopes the gates come down so I can see the real trains.” ■

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MARCH 3, 2022

INTO THE YOUNIVERSE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

And the Franuloviches, who built all four dozen sets in the museum and opened it in September 2021, think that’s great.

“I think everybody should have access to good pictures of themselves, or their family and their friends,” Connor told me.

“It’s just a super fulfilling business.”

The basement area of Youniverse features about a dozen horror sets, including scenes from The Walking Dead, Sweeney Todd and Saw. The upstairs levels are more “Instagram Influencer.” Strings of twinkly lights hang down in an all-white space. A wall covered in license plates is right next to another covered in cloud-like cotton. Take a picture in a jungle, inside giant Barbie and Ken boxes, or next to a sign that says “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” in neon cursive.

I visited Youniverse with my mom while she was in town for the weekend, so most of our individual photos weren’t selfies in the purest sense of the word.

She got one of me in front of a yellow

backdrop that I think might work as a professional headshot. I got one of her in sunflower-bedecked bathtub and told her, “You look so cute!” She looked at it and said, “I kind of do!” It was precious to hear her sound so confident.

The ring lights at every station meant we could set up our phone timers to get photos of us together too. It’s not often we’re both dressed up and able to capture ourselves in a picture together, so these are photos I’ll treasure. There’s one of us holding giant crayons that I am honestly considering framing, and a few of us posing for fake mugshots that had us cracking up.

Viva la selfie, I say! If it’s your thing, grab a friend, grab your mom, grab your partner or, of course, just grab yourself, and spend an afternoon capturing photos. And don’t, as the neon sign will remind you when you walk in, let anyone kill your vibe. ■ Youniverse Tucson is located at 5750 E. Broadway Blvd, and tickets are $25 per person. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and the tickets have no time limit.

NOT SO NORMAL

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

not before the shooter would post a 74-page manifesto titled “The Great Replacement.”

After Foxx spoke, Rogers gushed over him on Telegram: “Vincent James run for office.”

Later in the evening, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gave a rambling, 40-minute speech in which he seemingly didn’t realize he was speaking to a crowd of white nationalists. At times, he seemed taken aback at the reaction to things he said.

“I have the reputation of being the biggest racist in the country,” he said, to robust applause. “What are you clapping for, that I am or that I’m not? Well, I’m not.”

Later, when he repeated that he was called “the biggest racist in the country” and received loud applause, he quickly added, “I have a black grandkid, I got a Mexican grandkid,” prompting some in the crowd to boo him.

At another point, Arpaio boasted about having a howitzer artillery gun while sheriff.

“Everyone said, ‘What are you using this for?’ I said, ‘To shoot people that come across the border,’” he said, eliciting raucous cheers from the crowd that left Arpaio visibly surprised.

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“Wait a minute. I didn’t mean to shoot the illegals coming across. I’m saying the illegals that are terrorists and other violent (criminals), if they’re going to start shooting at my people, I’m going to fire back,” he explained, to much fewer cheers.

“I’m not about to shoot illegals who are coming across, just for coming illegally,” he finished, to no cheers.

Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar, a Republican from Prescott, gave a brief video address, a far cry from last year, when he was the featured speaker.

Arizona Republicans were largely silent about Rogers and Arpaio speaking to the white nationalist conference. But state Sen. Paul Boyer, a Glendale Republican, blasted Rogers for pushing “race superiority” and “political violence.”

“You’re not a victim @WendyRogersAZ so quit pretending to be one. And stop using Christianity to justify race superiority and executing your political opponents,” he wrote on Twitter.

Boyer did not return a message seeking comment. ■ This article originally appeared on the Arizona Mirror, a nonprofit online news agency.

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THE SKINNY

SPELL CHECK

Why are Republican Senate candidates having such a hard time spelling “Tucson” correctly?

Jim Nintzel jnintzel@tucsonlocalmedia.com FIRST IT WAS GUNFIGHTER cosplayer Jim Lamon, who is seeking to challenge Sen. Mark Kelly in November.

Lamon, who was one of the fake electors who were plotting to overturn the 2020 election, got some ink a few weeks back when he misspelled Tucson as “Tuscon” when announcing he was opening a new office, leading to him getting tweaked on Twitter by Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller, who pointed out that “Spelling ‘Tucson’ right is the first step toward winning it.”

Lamon fixed his spelling errors and then said it was important to get back to talking about “important issues.” Then on Feb. 8, Lamon misspelled Tucson again in a subsequent tweet that was deleted before he could get dragged over the coals again.

CLAYTOONZ

But Steller wasn’t the only one giving Lamon grief. After Lamon’s first misspelling, fellow Republican Senate candidate and Thiel Capital minion Blake Masters gave Lamon a lesson in how to spell Tucson. He tweeted: “Jim, congrats on your new office. That’s T-U-C-S-O-N by the way, 2nd largest city in the state. I recommend getting that down.”

So you can guess what’s next: Team Masters showed they needed a proofreader of their own. When filing a state of organization for the race with the FEC, the campaign also misspelled Tucson as “Tuscon.” It’s even more embarrassing for Masters, who grew up in the Old Pueblo.

The Masters campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment on their blunder.

Honestly, this kind of stuff, while embarrassing, isn’t that big a deal, although it does a reveal a certain level of amateurism in these campaigns. But with the GOP now treating schoolteachers, doctors and nurses as enemies of the American people, it’s now just a race among the primary candidates (including Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson and former Arizona National Guard Adjunct Gen. Michael McGuire) to see how can be the most cruel to immigrants, most opposed to science and most determined to worship at the altar of Donald Trump. ■

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Story & photos by Brian Smith

Not Fade Away: One Woman’s Journey to the Barber Chair IT IS LIKE YOU’RE CAUGHT IN A long, narrow aquarium full of cicadas.

These cutters and their pitched clippers buzz, loop and carve out on heads.

The half-ironic cardboard barber pole standing inches inside the front glass doors says everything, but 2-year-old Dapper Barber Studio sure ain’t your grandad’s tonsorium.

The interior reveals a fetching tableau: Vin Diesel muscles around on multiple hanging flatscreens and a playlist of Latin trap and pop booms through the buzz. Gleaming, speckled black floors uphold a dozen or so cutter stations with grooming chairs and shampoo sinks, each Instagramready with free-standing ring lights, smelling vaguely of hair gel and spray antiseptics. Red-trimmed interior, black ceilings, this is more like some orderly, up-to-the-minute tattoo parlor tucked away as it is in a boring, beige-toned strip-mall area shared with a Bashas’ grocery and a Burger King. No beer or scotch offered like some high-end joints in more cosmopolitan cities, but not unlike grandad’s shops of yore, this one still adheres to some traditional working-class roots, sans the uniformed barber.

The place is busy today, nearly all stations filled with customer action, and Meghan German, the sole female employed here, edges the thick-haired head of walk-in customer Ricardo Montano.

The 30-year-old German is turned out in a dark blue T-shirt, fitted blue jeans, black denim bib, barber toolbelt and a freshly sculpted blonde-tipped pompadour fade cut. Her deceptively youthful face and unaffected expressions transmit benevolence and an unjaded air.

The serenity prayer, the forever 12-step chant of attaining grace and wisdom, begins in a tat on one of her forearms and finishes on the other; she’s not an addict, only seeks comfort in the words.

The words trail up on one side to colorful references to her nana, who recently died.

With an impressive economy of effort, German maneuvers the clipper around Ricardo’s forehead and hairline, and a face-framing aspect quickly emerges on the short high-top fade cut.

(Fade cuts, you’ll note, consist of longer hair on top, decreasing to a buzz on the back and sides. They include sharp edges, hard right angles, and even designs, like elements of a cartouche.

The cut was essentially popularized in the 1940s U.S. military, later in Grace Jones androgyny on the 1980 cover of Warm Leatherette, and by Black barbers and hip-hop stars of the 1980s.

Sports heroes, rap and pop stars drive the rebooted style now. It is the kind of head art German continues to learn, will always continue to learn. The artful work is temporary, of course, only to soon vanish as follicle bulbs push up the keratin protein.)

German talks, wry and earnest monologues, emphasizing the personally irrational places she has been able to push herself through to actually arrive at this professional chair. A central question in her life growing up in Tucson was whether a troubled teen could turn her life around before the last bell of high school. She did. But first, at Tucson’s Desert View High, German played center on the boy’s football team, the only girl. “I was a lot bigger in high school, pushing 210,” she laughs. “And no one ever gave me shit for being a girl.”

Later, she got booted from that school.

“They were just fed up with me, honestly, said ‘You need to find another school.’ I wouldn’t go. I told everyone off, and I fought a lot.” She landed at altschool PPEP Tec, a popular choice for at-risk kids, worked her ass off to graduate, essentially four years of high school crammed into one final year.

Moved in and out of her parent’s house, the first time at 17, supported herself working at Carl’s Jr. and U-Haul, while also finishing high school.

“My parents were cool with it. I just wanted to see what it was like to live on my own with work and school. It’s the little shit that comes with being an adult that was hard.” She pauses. Laughs, “The shit I wanted to do and learn. I always

do it the hard way. I have an issue with a high sense of pride and I never hid who I was.”

Meanwhile, she was always attracted to girls, knew it since elementary school, and when she came out to her parents in her early teens, “They just kind of laughed and said, ‘Yeah, we know.’” (Her relationship with her parents, she says, has always been tight and close, and she now shares a house with them and her girlfriend Briana.)

“My dad taught me how to work on cars, basic plumbing, electric, everything around the house. We lived in a mobile home and they have issues, the flooring, hot water heaters.

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NOT FADE AWAY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

He brought me up to not just be a girl, he wanted to teach me the guy stuff, got me into football and basketball.” She pauses. “Yeah, that’s my dad. If we lived in poverty, I didn’t know. We never went without. Not in the slightest.” Her dad worked in auto sales and sold beer at a swap meet, where she found work at 10 years old.

Tells a story of how her dad went blind one day playing with his granddaughter. “Turned out it was MS. No one knew he had it.” Now dad is legally blind, can’t drive, but rides his bike to Walmart where he works, “without a helmet. Worries us sick. He is pretty stubborn.”

Too, her disrespect toward authority had flipped on its head, and after several post-high school years working maintenance at UA dorm rooms she got into security. The last time I saw German before today she was wearing unflattering khaki and gray, the uniform of a

security company, working the gate of a Tucson neighborhood, and shoveling up roadkill. Before that she did her time working for the government, a corrections officer at the Wilmot state prison, which, to her, was little more than glorified babysitting. German, who is bi-racial (Mexican father, Caucasian mother), is part bro culture, part feminine sensitivity, can swing effortlessly between the two, welcome attributes to female corrections-officer work, tough yet sympathetic. Yet German longed to cut hair.

The genesis of her inspiration is both layered and vague, but she calls it a natural attraction. She drew and studied art through middle-school and high school and began practicing buzz cuts on her other sibling, older brother Chris.

Around three years ago, she ditched her 9-5 and “the security, benefits, a great company, to follow my dream.

Wanted to do what I wanted to do and work for myself. By all means, it’s not easy, especially with COVID. But I would never give it up.” She’d saved her money (“every penny”) and entered the Hollywood Barber College. Graduated

and newly licensed, she taught there before finding her own chair in a barbershop.

DRIVEN IN LARGE PART BY SOCIAL media; part guerilla hipster marketing, part rise in masculine self-care and vanity, the recent resurgence in independently owned and operated barbershops in Tucson and worldwide is big.

Forbes reports barbering one of the fastest-growing professions in the country, if not the fastest, a nearly $30-billion-ayear industry. Dapper Barber has only been here a couple years, opened just before COVID, when local barbershops saw their business cut in half. Still, business booms.

“These places seem to be popping up all over,” German says. “People are opening barbershops who don’t even cut hair, which isn’t a good thing.”

The last barbershop she worked was owned by a non-barber. “It’s hard to be around things you just don’t know. You need to know solid, legit barbers, for one. That’s how you run a barbershop, fill it with great barbers.”

Her cutting career and client following rose almost solely on the back of social media—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, even an easy booking app, the exploitations of head work. It’s a pathology of personal branding, the newish idea of Yankee conformity and selfhood. The only real difference here is it forces social interaction, a client must interact with a barber. “The right hashtag can change your business,” German says. Take out online communities and the shop’s only strength would be walk-in traffic and literal wordof-mouth, and considering we are still caught in a pandemic, that isn’t much.

She is self-employed, an independent contractor who pays weekly rent for her space. She got in at Dapper Barber because its 11 barbers are all “amazing,” including the work of its two owners.

The grandad barbershops, she says, are more about perfecting a few specific things, “they are more tailored to clipper over comb, old-school block look. We do more on the fades and literal razor work, it’s more involved.” Difference between hair stylists and barbers? “The biggest

MARCH 3, 2022

difference is barbers are licensed to shave with a straight razor. Hairdressers use styling shears, work with longer hair, and they don’t use a straight razor.”

Ricardo’s eyes are closed under her buzzing hand as she continues.

“Everybody who comes in here wants to stay fresh. Everybody wants to be clean, that nice clean fade, straight razor shaves, beard trims and straight-up haircuts, that sick design. Beards are 100% in, fades too, especially now that summer is coming. And every barber does their fades and haircuts different, they all look different.”

Here is a woman in what was, and still mostly is, traditionally, a men’s grooming enterprise. “Definitely,” she says.

“There’s one woman in every shop, we’re like a novelty.”

She claims to feel no intimidation, like her days playing boys football. “A few [male] clients are like, ‘she’s gonna cut my hair?’ Or they’ll say they prefer a guy to cut his hair, and I’m like ‘Okay.’

You know when you get that look. So you spark up the conversation, and do the work, show them. One haircut is all you need.” She pauses, adds, “I enjoy

being underestimated.”

German cuts, on average, three women a week, which flies in the face of the men’s grooming stereotypes.

“Sometimes it’s a mother of a son getting a cut and they like what I did.

Sometimes they want an undercut, or they’ll want a design they saw that I did.”

At the Hollywood college, German taught fellow Dapper barber Humberto Becerra, the 24-year-old has been cutting professionally eight months, at this chair since day one. Like German, he walked away from a secure, well-paying corrections-officer career.

The bilingual barber is a budding student of philosophy, particularly stoicism, and it shows. “I feel like America is rigged for you to be depressed,” he says between cuts. “And it’s like no matter what you do, someone will say something. I worked fast food, managed a shoe store, law enforcement. So, yeah, if I’m going to work hard it’ll be for myself. I am my own boss.”

He talks of working the prison, a level-four yard; high security for the unruly offenders, murderers, rapists.

“There were hitmen there who could put out hits. I was worried for my safety. If you’re a nice person, they will fuck with you. Everyone there is so miserable.”

His work is now split between the grooming, setting appointments, and managing social media. “Ninety percent of my social media content is hair. And probably 90% of my business is from social media.”

Like German, his commitment to barbering appears unwavering, and likely no one will ever put a hit out on him now, even for a bad haircut.

BACK AT GERMAN’S CHAIR, SHE’S talking a love of rugby, playing for Old Pueblo Lightning woman’s team, and the knee injury that forced her out. The knee now pops out in pain if she sits wrong. She’s careful after standing long hours.

She’s rare to dwell on the past, particularly after an anguished breakup with a partner of seven years. She internalized the hard truths of love and soon met Briana, whom she talks of often and glowingly. “Briana and I can makes things work after learning the hard

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 11

way. She’s literally just like me, super stubborn, super annoying, super strongwilled. It’s not that she needs me it’s that she wants me.” A moment passes, she adds, “She has to deal with a lot in return.” She’s the “glue that kept me together these last few years,” helping, for example, when COVID got the best of her income.

German spins Ricardo in the rotating chair, arranges the light and mirror, grins, says “Okay!” She lifts her phone and snaps away. “I document every head I cut, good or bad.” Ricardo is all grins and gratitude. She removes his bib, brushes him off. He stands, hands her $25 for the cut with a finster tip, and strolls out. He will return for her hands. ■ For info on Meghan German, go to linktr.ee/megthebarber.

Brian Smith’s collection of essays and stories, Tucson Salvage: Tales and Recollections of La Frontera, based on this column, is available now on Eyewear Press UK. Buy the collection in Tucson at Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.

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MARCH 3, 2022

Editor’s Note: While we are delighted to see Tucsonans once again gathering for fun events, we are also aware that variants are in widespread circulation. Please consider getting vaccinated against COVID if you haven’t yet.

Rails in the Garden. This tour is a really unique way to spend a weekend. It’s a self-guided, self-paced look at nine model train layouts set up by members of the Tucson Garden Railway Society, all throughout town. These layouts are at private residences, and most of them are outdoors, making it a great way to do some socially distanced exploring and learning. It’s free, but they do accept cash donations to support the Community Food Bank if you’re interested.

Visit tucsongrs.org for a map and a list of the nine participating addresses, so you can make your own plan of attack/plan for the tracks. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5, and Sunday, March 6. Free.

The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening With Cary Elwes. The original farm boy is coming to town! In this event at the Fox Theatre, follow Westley, Buttercup, Inigo Montoya and Prince Humperdinck along on their antics with a screening of the film. Then get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the film’s secrets in a moderated discussion with Cary Elwes, who played Westley! You will tweasure this night as Buttercup and Westley tweasured their wuv.

7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4. The Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. $32.50 to $137.50.

Exo Exhibition Tour at MOCA. What’s better than an intimate tour of a local art exhibit all about migration, transformation and survival in the Sonoran Desert? How about that intimate tour with cup of Exo coffee? were-:nenetech Forms is a group exhibition developed by LA-based artists rafa esparza and Timo Fahler during an extended residency in Tucson, and both of their exhibits are centered around the process of building with adobe bricks. The title is derived from “were,” as in the prefix to “werewolf” that indicates shapeshifting, and “nenetech” a Nahuatl term that translates to “close together.” Register for the event, sponsored by Exo, at moca-tucson. org. Noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art, 265 S. Church Ave. Free with admission: $7 adults, $4 students and seniors, free for youth and members.

Was It Worth It? A Wilderness Warrior’s Long Trail Home. Doug Peacock has a long list of titles: naturalist, author, outdoorsman, Vietnam veteran, filmmaker and inspiration for a character in Edward Abbey’s The Sundays in the Garden at Tohono Chul: Monkey Wrench Gang. Now, at 79 years old, Tucson Guitar Quartet. Guitar quartets are the widely published author’s latest work is pretty much inarguably pleasant. Who doesn’t sounding the alarm about climate change, like the sound of a guitar? Who doesn’t like while also telling stories from Peacock’s perthe sound of four expert guitarists? This group sonal life, including his struggles with PTSD has a repertoire that ranges from baroque and insomnia. Publishers Weekly called the to contemporary, with an emphasis on Latin book “a welcome and worthy addition to the American and folkloric music. Keep an ear out growing canon of environmental literature.” for music from Astor Piazzolla, Leo Brouwer, The book is out now, and this Saturday, Juan Morel Campos, Julio César Oliva, Sergio Tucson Mission Garden is hosting him for Assad and more. And, just to make things even sweeter, they’re playing in the open-air gardens of Tohono Chul, so you can soak up a book reading and discussion. 4 to 6 p.m. the tunes with a side of desert beauty. 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 6. Tohono Chul, 7366 Saturday, March 5. Tucson Mission Garden, Paseo del Norte. Free with admission: $15 GA, $13 military/student/senior, $6 kids 5 to 12. 946 W. Mission Lane. Free.

by Emily Dieckman Magically Ever-Laughter. For two nights only, enjoy this magic show for the whole family over at the Arizona Rose Theatre.

Illusionist Michael Howell is the founder of Rose Ranch Animal Rescue, and often uses these animals in his performances (then puts the proceeds toward their care). He’s been a performer since he was a kid, and loves singing, dancing, acting and juggling in addition to making magic. 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 5, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 6. Arizona Rose Theatre, 4500 N. Oracle Road. $20 adults, $12 kids 12 and under.

Miss Olivia and the Interlopers at MotoSonora Brewing Company. This local band won Best Musical Act in the 2021 Best of Tucson voting rounds, and seeing them is always a good time. They blend rock, R&B and other genres into their wonderfully Tucson, completely fun sound. And MotoSonora makes for a perfect venue. Their large patio area has tons of seating, classic twinkly lights and a great vibe for you to tap your foot and sip on delicious beer. Be there or be square! 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 5. MotoSonora Brewing Company, 1015 S. Park Ave.

Bob Downs: The Building Blocks of Civilization. The annual lecture series at the UA College of Science kicks off this week! This year’s theme is minerals, a fitting topic considering both their prevalence in Arizona and the geosciences background of the college’s relatively new dean, Carmala Garzione. Bob Downs, professor emeritus of geosciences, kicks things off with this talk about what the heck minerals even are.

Where did they come from? How have they evolved through geologic time? What do we use them for and why are they so important?

It’s a great chance to learn about this important work in a fun way. Doors at 6 p.m. Talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 3. Attend live at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., or livestream at science.arizona.edu.

Live Action Oscar Shorts at the Loft. How cool is the Loft for being part of this touring program of some of the best shorts of the year? This year’s nominees include a Danish film about life, death and karaoke; an American film about the horrors of bureaucracy; and a Polish film about a bus virgin and a sexy truck driver. The great thing about short films is that if you don’t like one, you don’t have to watch it for long. AND watching five short films gives you way more fodder for sounding cultured at the water cooler (or on the Slack channel). You can bring these babies up in rotation for weeks and keep impressing people with your worldly movie knowledge. Noon on Saturday, March 5. Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $10 GA, $8 Loft members.

MARCH 3, 2022

CHOW

COURTESY PHOTO

Inca’s Peruvian Cuisine’s Fatima Campos and Guy Fieri.

SCREEN TIME

Tucson restaurants continue experiencing the ‘Fieri bump’

By Matt Russell tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com I CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN THE FOOD NETWORK rebroadcasts a particular episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives when texts from my friends across the country start blowing up my phone.

In early 2018, against the backdrop of bright lights, cameras, and other production gadgetry that transformed Inca’s Peruvian Cuisine into a makeshift soundstage, the show’s producers selected my wife and I to share our thoughts about the dinner we were enjoying with host Guy Fieri. The episode aired several months later, commencing a series of “was that you?” inquiries that I get to this day whenever that old episode slides into prime time.

Curious to know if the restaurant experiences a boom in business tied to the re-runs, years after the episode first aired, I turned to proprietor Fatima Campos for her insights.

“We always know when that show airs because customers come in the next day and tell their servers,” said Campos, owner of Inca’s Peruvian Cuisine, 6878 E. Sunrise Drive. “We also see fans of the program across the nation come in who are on a Triple D Road Show and want to eat here,” she continued. “It was such an

honor to be part of the show; it was a pivotal moment in our business.”

Though there are many fan favorites on her menu, Campos and her crew have gotten used to a higher-volume level of production that’s required to meet the demands of those who want to eat exactly what Fieri ate.

In that episode, Fieri enjoyed the Seco de Carne, Angus beef and canary beans braised in a Peruvian sauce, and the Lomo Saltado, Angus beef marinated in Peruvian spices with tomatoes, onions, and potatoes.

“Guy loved the beans with the Seco and that’s what my servers recommend,” concluded Campos.

At Rocco’s Little Chicago, owner Rocco DiGrazia sees a similar boost whenever the network rebroadcasts the show when Fieri’s 1968 Camaro pulled into the pizzeria’s parking lot at 2707 E. Broadway Boulevard.

DiGrazia tells me that he typically gets a 10-20% bump in business whenever that episode airs.

“It’s been said that restaurants may see up to a 40% bump, but I can’t fit an additional 40% in my restaurant,” he said.

To maximize his ability to meet growing demand, DiGrazia has since installed a double-stack oven in his kitchen and will soon announce that Rocco’s will be open seven days a week.

He regularly rolls out big numbers of those dishes that Fieri took down on that show, including the Spicy Hot Sticks, his Award-Winning Chicken Wings, and the Deep-Dish Kitchen Sink Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and red onions.

Like Campos, DiGrazia also welcomes what he calls “Food Network tourists,” those loyalists who travel the country in search of Triple D destinations. As he observes, “They all come in with their spiked hair and Guy Fieri visors and want to eat what Guy ate.”

Though I don’t have much hair left to spike, I do have something new to add to my retirement list.

“I’d like to think that this episode is in permanent syndication,” said DiGrazia. “It’s a vastly popular show and definitely has legs.”

It’s nice to see these locally owned restaurants, and all the others which Fieri hit while he was in town, filling their dining rooms with each rebroadcast of these aging episodes. It’s also a reminder that I’d probably have a hard time finding a table at Inca’s the next time people ask if that was me they just saw, for three seconds, on national TV. ■ Contact Matt Russell, whose day job is CEO of Russell Public Communications, at mrussell@russellpublic.com.

Russell is also the publisher of OnTheMenuLive.com as well as the host of the Friday Weekend Watch segment on the “Buckmaster Show” on KVOI 1030 AM.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Threads of Immigration by Perla Segovia What Place Is This by Wayne Gudmundson Through Friday, March 11 Open 10 to 5 Monday to Thursday; 10 to 3 p.m. Friday Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery at Pima College West 2202 W. Anklam Road Free

COURTESY PHOTO

“In Their Shoes” by Perla Segovia

HEARTS OF DARKNESS

The latest shows at PCC’s Bernal Gallery explores violence and cruelty here in Southern Arizona

By Margaret Regan tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com THE DAY I STOPPED INTO THE Bernal Gallery at Pima College West Campus turned out to be the same day Russia began attacking the Ukraine.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported a harrowing 137 dead that first day; one of the casualties was believed to be a small child. The senseless loss of life was horrifying. And more is to come.

As it happens, the two shows at the gallery that I went to see are about violence and cruelty. The artists don’t need to go to beleaguered central Europe to denounce evil: in their works, they unveil the ugly sides of human beings right here in Arizona.

Photographer Wayne Gudmundson’s project, What Place Is This, goes far back in time. Working with historian Dieter Berninger, Gudmundson went to the locations of 21 long-ago battles and massacres in the countryside outside early Tucson. The mayhem was typically between native peoples and white European newcomers, but local tribes often fought against each other as well. The

photos he made of these places of slaughter are haunted by the long dead.

Textile artist Perla Segovia’s installations, Threads of Immigration, are up to the minute. Her work in canvas and embroidery laments the United States’ inhuman treatment of desperate migrants and refugees fleeing from violence, drought and poverty. The cages-for-kids she makes denounce the 2018 Trump policy of snatching small migrant children away from their mothers or fathers.

The work of these Tucson artists “bring a conversation about people immigrating to Southern Arizona recently and historically,” says gallery director David Andres.

“That conversation starts over 300 years ago,” when Spanish soldiers and padres arrived.

Gudmundson, a retired professor at Minnesota State University, and an artist with photos in in MOMA New York and at the Center for Creative Photography, shot a picture for each location; Berninger, wrote a text for each photo.

The pair traveled from Baboquivari to the San Pedro, examining sites from 1698 to 1882 and within a 60-mile radius of Tucson. It’s unsettling to learn about the bad things that happened at beloved places—Arivaca, Tubac, Madera Canyon

and on and on. There’s even a double murder on Convent Street.

The earliest rampage story that Gudmundson and Berninger collected took place by the San Pedro River, near Fairbank, now a ghost town. It was 1698, in a place called Gaybanipitea. A band of about 80 Sobaipuri-O’odham were attacked by five native groups, including the Apache. The locals were helped by allies, but five of the Sobaipuri-O’odham people died. Oddly, some of the white newcomers, including Father Kino, witnessed the melee.

Scholars suspect that attackers in raids like these were looking for food or goods and possibly captives, Berninger writes.

And the emergence of the newcomers disrupted native cultures, spread dangerous illnesses and sometimes left the natives bereft of food and water.

A more deadly fight took place nearly 200 years later at Baboquivari, the peak sacred to the Tohono O’odham. Settlers were trying to poach on O’odham land, and the precious water in the creek at the base of the mountain. In 1841, Mexican authorities sent 600 soldiers to end the dispute. Forty O’odham people died on their own on ancestral land.

The infamous massacre of 1871 at Camp Grant of took the lives of 144 Apache, most of them women and children. The brutal attack came after this Apache band had agreed with U.S. authorities to live peacefully and to raid no more, Nevertheless, a gang from town— whites, Hispanics, Tohono O’odham— came when the menfolk were away hunting, and butchered the wives and children of their enemies, lying mutilated in beautiful Aravaipa canyon. The deaths on that day are just seven more than the first day’s toll on the Ukraine.

Given the horrors of What Place Is

This, Segovia’s humane artworks are a relief—at first. The more you look, the more sorrows you see.

As a textile artist, Segovia creates all kinds of cloth works. When she meets a migrant she asks if the traveler has a snapshot of home to share. If they do, she pulls out her sewing machine and makes a quick embroidery sketch of the person’s loved ones from home.

The drawings are charming, made with embroidered canvas, thread and silk cords, and simple thread faces and smiles. But the pictures also remind the migrants (and us) of the home and family that have been lost.

And the rapidly sewn pictures often reflect the migrants’ urgent flight from the danger of their country of birth. There is even a homemade suitcase, ready to flee with the migrants’ sparse clothing.

Segovia has arranged the cloth portraits in a circle she calls “In Their Shoes.”

In fact, she knows what it’s like to move to a different country, having migrated to the U.S. with her family from Peru when she was 10 years old. She honors migrants with a variety of works, but her cages for kids are the most searing.

As Segovia notes, some 5,000 migrant children were torn away from their parents in 2018, under Trump’s Zero Tolerance law. Some of the kids were babies at the breast; others were teens.

The government failed to provide appropriate food, clothing and toiletries like soap and toothbrushes. World outrage helped put an end to it, but it was difficult to find many of the children because the administration and the Border Patrol failed to keep useful records. (Teens are still incarcerated in detention centers, and migrant children have died in the government’s care.)

Segovia honors the suffering of the missing children and their parents. She made two cages out of chain-link fences.

Darling tiny shoes that she sewed are all around the floor. Outside the cages, the artist has added the toiletries that the kids should have had all along.

In a final piece, the artist created a golden doorway. It’s named “Gateway of Courage.” In this imaginary scenario, mother and child are holding hands and walking into the promised land. ■

MARCH 3, 2022

ARTS & CULTURE

LAYERS OF LEARNING

UA science lecture series puts minerals under a microscope

By Cameron Jobson tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA College of Science is hosting its 17th annual lecture series, exploring the significance of minerals in mankind and our daily lives.

Over the next five weeks, distinguished UA faculty members will present on a variety of topics, from their cosmic origins to their function in smartphones.

Each year, the series is centered around a unique theme that attracts a couple thousand people to Centennial Hall. Southern Arizona has a large community that is interested in the sciences, and with the recent Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, this year’s topic is expected to bring in crowds.

“This year’s topic plays very hand-inhand with the mineral show,” Scott Coleman, the college’s marketing and communications director said. “So anyone that is interested can come on by and learn a few things.”

The lectures are free to the public and open to everyone. But if attending in-person doesn’t work, the college will be livestreaming the presentations on their YouTube channel, with closed captioned Spanish subtitles available.

The college is constantly looking to engage more viewers and highlight diverse topics in science.

“It’s a great opportunity for the college to

have some outreach,” Coleman said. “And hopefully visitors will learn and enjoy the presentations.”

Carmie Garzione, the new dean of the college, played a big role in choosing this year’s topic. She is an esteemed earth scientist, and earned her doctorate in geosciences from the University of Arizona.

She thought minerals would be a great fit to make her first year memorable.

Bob Downs will kick off the series on March 3, as he talks about the vital role of minerals in our daily lives. He will summarize a timeline of minerals, starting from their origin and working his way through their evolution on the geologic time scale.

A week later on March 10, Mauricio Ibañez-Mejia will tackle the question that has been researched for centuries: How old is the earth? He will explore how minerals can act as time capsules that are rich in history and can be dated to reconstruct the chronology of our planet. They are storytellers that give insight into terrestrial and cosmic evolution.

Ananya Mallik will follow up on March 17, discussing how gems provide even more understanding into the planet’s inner layers and the history. Aside from the natural beauty of gems, diamonds, and rubies, they can also be studied in depth to understand the evolution of earth and the formation of landforms.

On March 31, Isabel Barton will center her presentation on Arizona, bringing local

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 15

interest to minerals. She will talk about the abundance of copper, along with other critical minerals that have been found in Arizona.

Metals and minerals are the backbone of technology and are needed to support the constant advancements. Copper is used in wiring electronics and batteries, creating a high demand.

To wrap up the lecture series, Raina Maier will touch on the future of mining on April 7. She will underline the importance of “mining in a greener future,” explaining environmentally friendly approaches that are more sustainable and manageable in the long run.

Our dependence on metals and minerals is essentially inevitable. With the latest TVs, phone updates and expanding roads, JEFF GARDNER the demand is always growing. Mining min- Minerals at the UA’s new Alfie Norville erals provides the resources that make our Gem & Mineral Museum downtown. computers, cars, roads, furniture, electronics and even toothpaste. They play a huge role Coleman hopes that the five lectures will in our daily lives and are responsible for resonate with Southern Arizonans. Along power growth and energy generation. with a small committee in the college, the “When people first think of minerals, five faculty members created a complete their mind goes to pretty gems and rubies,” story line throughout the presentations. As Coleman said. “But minerals are more than experts in their field, they will display both just pretty things to look at. They are the the history and the future of minerals. ■ foundational part of civilization.”

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MARCH 3, 2022

MUSIC

Annie Jump Cannon “Flourishing Apart” album release show w/ Tiny Bird and The Sinks Club Congress 7 p.m. Friday, March 4 311 E. Congress Street

By Xavier Omar Otero tucsoneditor@tucsonlocalmedia.com

$10 / 16+

SPLIT SCENES

COURTESY PHOTO

Annie Jump Cannon examine relationships from every angle on new album

By Jeff Gardner jeff@tucsonlocalmedia.com A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE TWO years since Tucson rock group Annie Jump Cannon last performed, especially for a band so aligned with youthful energy and anger. Aside from the pandemic and all its upending of the music industry, the trio signed to national label No Sleep Records, shuffled some members, and recorded a new album. Fans of the local punk and indie scene can hear the new album performed live on the same day it releases when Annie Jump Cannon takes the stage at downtown’s Club Congress on Friday, March 4.

The new album, Flourishing Apart, expands nearly everything from their debut album, 2020’s Worst Day Ever. Not only are the instrumentals and production stronger, the album revolves around a more robust concept. But perhaps most important, the songs cover broader styles.

While Flourishing Apart still has a solid foundation in punk and emo —fitting snugly within the No Sleep roster —the album also has more relaxed and acoustic songs.

“The diversity comes from my writing process, because I don’t try to fit into a style when I write songs,” said vocalist and guitarist Rory Membrila. “It’s just

however it ends up sounding. And I think with the last song, which is acoustic, I was listening to a lot of older stuff like Ella Fitzgerald and songs from the ’50s, so I pulled a lot of inspiration from that.”

The album orbits a lost relationship from the opening line: “you can call and we can talk.” The first track begins as a sparse acoustic song, but more powerful guitar strokes and layered vocals gradually add energy before the whole thing takes off on the line “I can’t protect you when I’m the one who needs protecting.” Though Membrila says most of the album is “love and breakup songs,” there are plenty of humorous and inwardly pointed lines, like “I don’t ever want to have a baby, because then I’ll have to stop being a baby.”

Further into the tracklist, the themes reach into various types of relationships.

There are also references to the general unease of the past few years, including mention of the Bighorn Fire that burnt thousands of acres around Tucson in summer 2020. Membrila says the album’s songs were written over multiple years, with some of them “a long time coming.”

However, thanks to a fairly consistent musical tone, these lyrics still manage to feel connected to a central concept.

“It’s about a pretty specific relationship.

But it’s funny, because the line I pulled ‘flourishing apart’ from wasn’t about a

relationship with a significant other,” Membrila said. “I had originally written it about my siblings. But so many of the songs are love songs or breakup songs mostly about a specific someone. But other songs are about relationships in general or the relationship with myself.”

A clear standout is “Moth,” a subdued pop song that works as a kind of palate cleanser in the middle of the album.

Muted guitars and tight drums work well to accompany the imagery of lovers as a moth and light. The song also features some of Membrila’s best vocal work on the album, jumping between high and low registers with ease.

Annie Jump Cannon, which takes their name from an 1800s astronomer, recorded Flourishing Apart in New Jersey in October 2020. The album features Membrila on vocals and guitar, their brother Logan on bass, and Jake Cowen on drums. The band was between lead guitarists for the recording session, so that duty was split up.

“I played some lead on the album, but I don’t consider myself someone who can shred on guitar,” Membrila said. “So it was really good to have Chris Freeman from Hot Mulligan co-produce the album, because we worked together on leads and played some of them… Getting signed was a game-changer for us.”

Flourishing Apart releases on the same day as the Hotel Congress show. Also on the roster that night are fellow Tucson rockers The Sinks and Flagstaff band Tiny Bird.

“There’s just been a lot of maturing since our first album, both in our music and ourselves. And honestly, there’s been plenty of maturing since Flourishing Apart and now,” Membrila said. “I don’t even know what the next album is going to be about, because it used to be so easy to write angsty or self-deprecating songs, but honestly I’m doing pretty good right now.” ■

MARK YOUR CALENDARS… THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Virtuoso pianist and vocalist Jon Batiste has spent his career “bringing music back to where it started, with the people.” Born into a legendary Louisiana musical family, his pedigree may have predestined his path. He’s a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, where he founded Stay Human, a jazz, soul, R&B ensemble. Drawing inspiration from the belief that human interaction during a live musical performance can uplift humanity, the ensemble gained notoriety by leading impromptu street performances, which Batiste calls “love riots,” in New York City subways as a reaction to the “plug in, tune out” nature of modern society. Since then, his collaborations with a growing list of luminaries—from Wynton Marsalis to Prince—have garnered him the title of “crown prince of jazz.” Distilling the tumult of the times through his art, in early 2021, Batiste released his fifth solo studio album, We Are (2021), to critical acclaim. Arizona Arts Live and Tucson Jazz Festival present Jon Batiste. At Centennial Hall… Asking for piano lessons at age 2, then French horn and trumpet, before taking interest in her father’s battered Martin acoustic guitar at age 10, Janis Ian was a child prodigy.

Success came early, as did controversy.

On an episode of BBC’s Songwriters’ Circle (2011), Ian stated that she wrote “Society’s Child” when she was 13, published it at 14, hit the Billboard Hot 100 at 15 and was a has-been by 16. Released into a climate of social unrest that marked the Civil Rights Movement, “Society’s Child” rocked the nation. Her ode to a white woman who brings home

MARCH 3, 2022

a Black boyfriend (a subject very much taboo in 1966) proved problematic, as America was ill-prepared for a white teenager calling out swathes of society for its racism and hypocrisy. The song was banned from numerous radio playlists, an Atlanta radio station was burned to the ground, and a writer at the Boston Herald was fired for writing about it. In a press release, Ian reflects, “My parents never punished me for telling the truth, no matter how awful it was. I was only punished for lying.”

To which the Associated Press opined, “That honesty, its eloquence and depth, may be her chief legacy to contemporary music.” On the heels of releasing The Light at the End of the Line (2022), her 23rd studio album, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian has announced that this will be her last concert tour. Celebrating Our Years Together. At Rialto Theater… “Trap Queen.” Tek Savvy is a Denver-based trap/dubstep DJ/audio engineer. With a deep focus on hip-hop, her brand is

TUCSONWEEKLY.COM 17

intense, high-energy party music that summits to a heavy drop. Sharing a taste of “Trappuccino,” Tek Savvy will have the room twerking and headbanging. At The Rock…

FRIDAY, MARCH 4 In a rare interview (published in The New York Times), following the release of his 39 studio album Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), Bob Dylan reveals to historian Douglas Brinkley the mysteries of his songwriting process.

“The songs seem to know themselves and they know that I can sing them, vocally and rhythmically. They write themselves and count on me to sing them.” When asked what role improvisation plays in his performances, Dylan answers, “None at all. There’s no way you can change the nature of a song once you’ve invented it. You basically play the same thing time after time in the most perfect way you can.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

PHOTO BY PETER CUNNINGHAM

Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian performs at the Rialto Theatre on Thursday, March 3.

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XOXO

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In the song “I Contain Multitudes,” Dylan sings, “I sleep with life and death in the same bed.” When queried about mortality, he zooms out taking a larger field of view. “I think about the death of the human race. The long strange trip of the naked ape.” Dylan points out, “... everybody’s life is so transient. Every human being, no matter how strong or mighty, is frail when it comes to death.”

Elder statesman of American music Bob Dylan draws from a lifetime of work. At Tucson Music Hall… Exploring the diverse universe of sound that emanates from the underground, Loud Village presents Electric Feels Indie Rock + Indie Dance Party. At Rialto Theater… Performing songs that will either leave you flailing awkwardly on the dance floor, crying bittersweet tears, or in a mosh pit with a bloody nose. Annie Jump Cannon celebrate the release of their new album. At Club Con-

gress… A night of red dirt and Texas rock awaits. The Cole Trains and The Wight Lighters. At The Rock… One zealot says of Tucson’s The Bird Lords, “It’s like smellin’ the biscuits.” At Saint Charles Tavern… Zona Libre deliver a piquant mezcla de salsa, merengue, and bachata. At Brother John’s Beer Bourbon & BBQ… SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Metalachi started humbly. “We used to do funerals,” frontman Vega De La Rockha told TW. It was in fulfilling a request for Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” that the zygote attached to the uterine wall. The crowd response was extraordinary. Playing any Los Angeles club that would have them, they began to incorporate leopard print, Alice Cooper-esque dripping eyeliner, leather motorcycle jackets, tight AF mariachi pants and a touch of Dia de los Muertos into their look. Not to mention, more exposed flesh than is permissible by

law. Bam. The glorious deformity that is Metalachi was born. But beyond the theatricality, equal to Kiss and Gwar, these blue-agave tequila swilling banditos have mad musical chops that only come from performing Vicente Fernandez songs at backyard quinceañeras for long years. You get the picture. “The world’s first and only heavy metal mariachi band” do unholy things to metal classics. Metalachi. Bring your holy water aspergillum. With Spice Pistols.

“Five hot, nasty bitches in their 40s and 50s with big bellies” playing Spice Girls covers the way the Sex Pistols might have. At Hotel Congress Plaza…

One Giant Leap Showcase, an all-ages extravaganza, finds the Noah Martin Band, Woke Up New, Coppernicus, Demon Tongue, Alliance, Orchadia, Verry Cherry and The Sintrics taking great strides. At 191 Toole… Jazz pianist Jonathan Hines Quartet. Late Night.

At The Century Room… In a lucha libre tag team match not to be missed, Golden Boots and The Exbats grapple for the win. At Che’s Lounge (patio)… The

lovely and fabulous, Miss Olivia and the Interlopers. At MotoSonora Brewing Company… The Tucson Symphony Orchestra present a program featuring the works of Mozart and Prokofiev. At Berger Performing Arts Center…

SUNDAY, MARCH 6 Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s grandmother gifted him his first toy guitar at age 3, purchased with S&H Green Stamps.

At 7, the whiz kid got serious about playing—lifting riffs note by note off cassettes—after meeting Stevie Ray Vaughn. Later, a video of his first performance at The Revel Arts Festival so impressed Giant Records executives that they signed Shepherd to a multi-album deal. He was 13. Now 44, Shepherd’s career has been a “Long Time Running,” but not free from controversy. Following the murder of George Floyd, as a wave of unrest precipitated cultural reckoning, the Blues

MARCH 3, 2022

COURTESY PHOTO

Bisbee punk group The Exbats are performing at Che’s Lounge on Saturday, March 5.

Foundation revoked Shepherd’s 2021 nomination for Best Blues/Rock Artist.

The decision was made over imagery of the Confederate flag emblazoned on Shepherd’s The Dukes of Hazzard car replica. In an interview, Sheppard told Rolling Stone, “Years ago I put that car in permanent storage and some time ago, I made the decision to permanently cover the flag because it was completely against my values and offensive to the African American community which created the music I love so much…” The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band motor into town with their ninth studio album, The Traveler, in tow. At Rialto Theater… Fleeing from the 9-to-5 grind, having spent the last dozen years living out of a van or a backpack, Canadian folk troubadour Scott Cook has toured almost incessantly across Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States, distilling his adventures into straight-talking prose. In a statement Cook adds, “So whenever I can, I take a few days to get off to the woods and be quiet for a while. That’s where my art came from, and it withers without regular contact with that soil.” All the hard miles notwithstanding, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.

Scott Cook. At Monterey Court…

MONDAY, MARCH 7 From being raised by a 15-year-old mother in a North Carolina trailer park to living in a well-manicured home in Beverly Hills, buzzworthy Gen Z rapper Cordae Amari Dunston is far removed from being “Broke As Fuck.” In an interview with XXL, Dunston reflects, “You’ll never hear me rap about missing a meal. We may have not had cable or WiFi, but our lights weren’t ever cut off.

We never got evicted. [Mom] just made it happen.” Two albums (and just as many Grammy nominations) into his career, Dunston tells British GQ, “I still work on my pen every day.” Featuring collabs with Stevie Wonder, Eminem and Gunna, his bassline-heavy sophomore release From a Bird’s Eye View (2022) is “really taking everything to whole ’nother level,” Dunston enthuses.

Wary of herd mentality, Dunston is a freethinker. “People get their morals— what they believe is right or wrong— from whatever is popular opinion on social media.” Sidestepping the echo chamber, Dunston proclaims, “It’s the polar opposite of what an artist is meant to be, we’re meant to be free and as spontaneous as possible.” Cordae is no longer The Lost Boy. At Rialto Theater…

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XOXO

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Propelled by Ella Williams “burning comet of a voice,” Squirrel Flower (William’s nom de guerre) has been tapped as an “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone. Buoyed by her steadfast vision, William’s sophomore album, Planet (2021), is a “love letter to disaster in every form imaginable.” Indie folk rocker Squirrel Flower. At Hotel Congress Plaza…

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 A Maid of Constant Sorrow, Judy Collins impressive musical career began at 13 as a piano prodigy. But the hard luck tales spun by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger seduced her away from a life as a concert pianist. Her path pointed to a lifelong love affair with the guitar, folk music and the pursuit of emotional truths. But the road to success has been

riddled with anguish. “I’ve had major illnesses, I’ve had tuberculosis, I’ve had polio, I’ve had mono. I’ve been a recovering alcoholic for 44 years now.”

She told People, “I went straight from cigarettes into an eating disorder.” Yet, time and again, Collins has overcome adversity. After having spent the past six decades interpreting works by iconic songwriters—Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Stephen Sondheim and others—at the grand old age of 82, legendary folkie Judy Collins sets a new milestone. Making use of the downtime during the pandemic, Collins sat down at the piano and turned her trove of poems into song. The end product is Spellbound (2022), her first-ever collection of entirely original compositions.

An Evening With Judy Collins. At Fox Tucson Theatre… After appearing on various talk shows performing Whitney Houston’s “I Believe in You and Me,” at age 6, Joanna Noëlle Levesque (aka JoJo) was offered a record deal. Her mother turned it down. In 2003, after signing with Blackground Records,

JoJo’s debut single “Leave (Get Out)” was certified gold. She was 12 years old.

Chart topping pop/R&B singer/actress JoJo brings Trying Not to Think About It (2021), her latest EP. At Rialto Theater… Set in picaresque vignettes, Saskatchewan multi-instrumentalist Andy Shauf pens songs that explore universal truths. What he calls “a glimpse into the window of how chaotic things were.”

Andy Shauf travels beyond The Neon Skyline. At 191 Toole… Bluegrass Jamboree features Freddy Parish Trio and Cadillac Mountain. At The Gaslight Music Hall (Oro Valley)…

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 From London’s West End, this highly polished tribute band pays homage to a ’70s Swedish disco-pop phenomenon. Faithfully recreating the look and sound, ABBA Mania travels through time. At Rialto Theater…

THURSDAY, MARCH 10 Since their formation at the University of North Texas in 2000—where Mike Eli and James Young were dorm roommates their freshman year—the

.com

Eli Young Band has landed 14 singles on the Billboard charts, including four No. 1 hits. “Love Talking,” their brand new single, finds the song’s protagonist professing his love. Unlike most country songs, this one isn’t an alcohol-fueled confession. Nope. This guy has “never been more sober” and simply “can’t blame a liquor buzz” for being head over heels. Go figure. Eli Young Band bring Always The Love Songs (2022), their latest EP. At Rialto Theater… On their latest single—a reimagined/remixed cover of George Michael’s “Father Figure”—Marta DeLeon and crew deviate from their usual poppy-punky snarling wistfulness to deliver an infectious 4-on-the-floor dance groove. Weekend Lovers offer something fresh. At Hotel Congress Plaza… Reawakening nostalgic memories of old-school dirty punk, this SoCal three-piece powerhouse offer a unique take on reggae rock. The Resinators.

At Chicago Bar… Until next week, XOXO…

MARCH 3, 2022

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MARIJUANA MAKEOVER A remodeled Botanica opens in Marana

By Alexandra Pere apere@tucsonlocalmedia.com BOTANICA MARIJUANA dispensary reopened Thursday, Feb. 24, after a 10-month interior design renovation. It was well worth the wait.

With the new renovation, display cases line the walls with gold frames and unique purple tiling. The tiling focuses your eye on rotating joint holders and green flower samples.

Throughout the store are smoothed wooden displays with curved accents

that allow customers to touch products.

Botanica co-owner Bryan Hill said he’s been wanting to update the store for a long time. He said he wanted to bring people closer to cannabis, allowing customers to touch products and interact with them.

“I think what we’re trying to do is be able to serve people quickly if they want to be quick, and slowly if they want to take their time,” Hill said.

Hill sized up three types of cannabis customers. The first is “self-checkout”

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA PERE

A renovated Botanica experience.

customers, who know exactly what they want and don’t need help. The second are regular customers who want information about new products in the store. The third bunch are the new cannabis customers that need support and education.

Hill says this renovation will cater to

all three customers.

Sales associates patrol the floor to help customers with education and product selection, but self-checkout customers can scan QR codes on the wooden display cases to place an order for a product themselves on their CONTINUED ON PAGE 23

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phone. The QR codes link directly to the product category the customer scans the code from.

One Botanica customer, Carla, traveled from Casa Grande to see the renovation on Thursday morning.

“They always have awesome deals, the staff is super friendly and very fast,” Carla said. “The inside place here, now that I’ve seen it, it is amazing. When they were redoing it in here before, it was kinda crowded and it was a long wait.”

Carla watched as she was notified her order was ready for pickup from the cashier counter by a functional art piece placed on the waiting area wall. A majority of the wall is covered with white cards that flip to reveal the customer’s name when their order is ready for pickup. Hill said they wanted to entertain people while they waited for their order.

“Every now and then it’ll wipe with a cute little saying or something like

that,” Hill said.

To accommodate customers who are concerned about COVID, Botanica also offers a new feature: a pickup order window. If customers are looking to order from their vast menu but feel uncomfortable going inside, customers can order online and pick it up at the window on the right side of the building.

“We’re not going to have a second store,” Hill said. “This is the only one and we wanted it to be very Tucson, very unreproducible, it only exists here. You couldn’t take this and make this work in California.” ■ Visit botanica.us to shop online or reserve time for a shopping tour with one of the sales associates. Customers can also go in person without an appointment at 6205 N. Travel Center Dr.

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want them to think you’re “one of the good ones,” i.e., one of the monogamous ones, while they couldn’t care less. But even if they do care and would prefer to see you monogamously married again, they will embrace your new relationship if you make it clear you will accept nothing less from them.

SAVAGE LOVE PARADISE FOUND

By Dan Savage, mail@savagelove.net

I’m a 34-year-old straight cis male. About 18 months ago I met a lovely human that I’m crazy about. When we started dating, she said she needed us to be poly and I agreed. It was a first for both of us! I’d always been interested—my parents are queer and have been poly my whole life— so it wasn’t a new concept to me. Early on, we went on some random dates, made out with some other people, but took it slow because we wanted to build a foundation of trust and love first. Now we’re there. She recently started dating a close friend of ours. In theory, I’m good with it. I adore him and he cares about us as a couple.

There’s lots of communication happening in all directions. We’ve even tossed around the idea of some threesomes or foursomes.

I can’t wait for the day when I am truly stoked for this, and we can all play and love on each other. But I don’t want to “overcome the jealousy” or “deal with it.”

I want being poly to be something that makes life amazing! But I am still being restricted by silly feelings put in my head via some nefarious patriarchal capitalist hack. Any advice for moving on as quickly as possible into a polyamorous paradise?

I want to feel a queerer and a little less mainstream!

—Seeking Polyamorous Effortless Wonders

And it’s important to distinguish between different kinds of jealousy. There’s the healthy kind of jealousy (someone is being neglected or taken for granted, and their feelings and needs to be considered), there’s the unhealthy kind of jealousy (someone is controlling and manipulative, which is a red flag for abuse), and then there’s sexy and energizing kind of jealousy (seeing your partner through another’s eyes and recognizing—or being reminded—of your partner’s desirability).

Instead of trying to expunge all feelings of jealousy from your emotional repertoire before opening your relationship (which no one does before entering into closed relationships), you need to ask yourself what kind of jealousy you’re feeling at a particular moment. If it’s the healthy kind, ask for you what you need; if it’s the unhealthy kind, get your ass into therapy; if it’s the sexy and energizing kind, enjoy the ride.

And finally…

It’s good that you’re taking your time, because rushing things is a good way to fuck this up. But paradoxically, SPEW, if you wait until you’re no longer experiencing any jealousy—or no longer have conflicted feelings about this—you’ll never get there.

No relationship—closed, open, or poly—is a paradise. Ideally a relationship brings more joy into your life than pain. (Unwanted pain; wanted pain is its own kind of joy.) But misunderstandings, disagreements, and hurt feelings are a part of every romantic partnership. And the longer that partnership goes on, the likelier the people in it—couple, throuple, or quad— are going to face the kind of relationship-extinction-level event that requires contrition, forgiveness, and aggressive memory-holing to survive.

As for jealousy…

My husband has been with his boyfriend for five years; there are times when I see them together and I am not just happy for them, SPEW, but made happy by them. (I’m straining to avoid the term “compersion” here, or “the other c-word,” as it’s known at our house.) But there are times when I feel jealous… and if I’m still experiencing jealousy after 20+ years in an open relationship… and still feeling experiencing jealousy after 30+ years being pretty fucking queer… I don’t think jealousy is something you need to completely overcome before opening your relationship or that that being “queerer” cures.

I’m a 36-year-old cis gay man who came out a decade ago and found widespread acceptance from friends and family, but I fear my unique situation now might change that. Last summer, my husband died unexpectedly, leaving me widowed and trying to pick up the pieces. I couldn’t sleep much for a while and went online to chat. I wound up meeting this great guy who lives across the country. He’s a sexy leather daddy, and I’ve traveled to stay with him on two occasions and had some of the hottest sex I’ve ever had.

Plus, I really like him! He’s funny, smart, deep. Here’s my dilemma: He’s married to another man, and I also have feelings for the husband. I plan to move there soon to see where this goes and start the next chapter of my life. (I will be getting my own apartment, at least at first.) It’s still early, but I feel like I could fall in love with both these men. How do I pursue this and start over somewhere new while making this all understandable to the straights in my life? Is there a way to explain this to my mom and the rest of my family without freaking them out? I know it shouldn’t matter, and I’ll follow my heart either way, but I’d hate to lose this close connection

with my family if they get weirded out by my dating life.

No More Mr. Heteronormative I’m so sorry for your loss, NMMH, and I’m so glad you were able to find the support you needed online—and it’s nice to be reminded that people don’t just go online to share conspiracy theories and post revenge porn. People find connection online, they find support, and sometimes they find new love in the form of a sexy leather daddy.

As for what to tell your family about your relationship…

For now, NMMH, nothing. Just like you’re getting your own apartment after you move because you want to wait and see where this relationship goes before moving in with these guys, you’re going to want to see where this relationship goes before you tell your family about these guys. This isn’t about hiding things from your family, NHHM, but about waiting to roll out your new relationship if and/or when it gets serious. You most likely didn’t introduce mom to your late husband after your second date; similarly, there’s no need to introduce mom to these guys after seeing them on only two occasions.

And in my experience—in my own highly personal and highly relevant experience—it’s often easier for the families of gay men to accept that we’re open or poly than it is for the families of straight people. Our families have some practice letting go of expectations and prejudices. And while it’s possible your family’s made it clear their acceptance was conditioned upon you marrying and settling down and behaving “heteronormatively,” it’s also possible you’re projecting. You

My husband used to go strip clubs with friends before we were married, and I’ve heard stories about how strippers would be all over him—especially if there weren’t any women in his small group. I want to go to one with him. But I have exactly zero interest in being touched by strangers, strippers or not. I also don’t want anyone touching my husband. I just want to watch. Is there some way to signal that?

Do they only come over to you if they see you tip? I’m going to tip, btw, but on the way out so no one thinks I want extra attention.

Curious About These Clubs Husband Visited Please don’t go to a strip club.

Strippers make money selling private dances—in many strip clubs, strippers pay the club to dance. And when strippers aren’t up on the stage, they’re walking the aisles, and approaching men who might be interested in buying a private dance. Very few strippers are gonna plop themselves down on someone’s lap (that’s what they’re selling; they’re not giving that shit away for free), but it’s not uncommon for strippers to place a hand on someone’s shoulder or lower back, lean in, and chat up a potential customer.

I wouldn’t describe that sort of incidental contract as being “all over” someone, but it definitely counts as “touching.”

So, CATCHV, if seeing your husband touched by a stripper would upset you, or if being touched by a stripped would upset you, going to a strip club with or without your husband is a very bad idea.

Go to a burlesque show instead.

For the Record: Fuck Greg Abbot for what he’s doing to trans kids and their families in Texas, fuck every last Republican in Florida for what they’re doing to LGBT kids in schools, and fuck Vladimir Putin for what he’s doing to innocent men, women, and children in Ukraine. questions@savagelove.net Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage.

Columns, podcasts, books, merch and more at www.savage.love!

MARCH 3, 2022

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

By Rob Brezsny. Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY HOROSCOPE 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 $1.99 per minute. 18 and over. Touchtone phone required.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I not only bow to the inevitable,” wrote Aries author Thornton Wilder. “I am fortified by it.”

Wow. That was a brazen declaration. Did he sincerely mean it? He declared that he grew stronger through surrender, that he derived energy by willingly giving in to the epic trends of his destiny. I don’t think that’s always true for everyone. But I suspect it will be a useful perspective for you in the coming weeks, Aries.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Vive la différence! Hooray for how we are not alike!

I am all in favor of cultural diversity, neurodiversity, spiritual diversity and physical diversity. Are you? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to celebrate the bounties and blessings that come your way because of the holy gift of endless variety. The immediate future will also be a perfect phase to be extra appreciative that your companions and allies are not the same as you. I encourage you to tell them why you love how different they are. Now here’s poet Anna Akhmatova to weave it together: “I breathe the moonlight, and you breathe the sunlight, but we live together in the same love.”

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini singer-songwriter Bob Dylan said, “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.” I think that will be a key theme for you in the coming weeks. Dylan described the type of hero I hope you aspire to be. Be alert! You are on the cusp of an invigorating liberation. To ensure you proceed with maximum grace, take on the increased responsibility that justifies and fortifies your additional freedom.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “I’d rather be seduced than comforted,” wrote author Judith Rossner. What about you, Cancerian? Do you prefer being enticed, invited, drawn out of your shell, and led into interesting temptation? Or are you more inclined to thrive when you’re nurtured, soothed, supported, and encouraged to relax and cultivate peace? I’m not saying one is better than the other, but I urge you to favor the first in the coming weeks: being enticed, invited, drawn out of your shell and led into interesting temptation.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A woman from Cornwall, UK, named Karen Harris was adopted as a little girl. At age 18, she began trying to track down her biological parents. Thirty-four years later, she was finally reunited with her father. The turning point: He appeared on the “Suggested Friends” feature on her Facebook page. I propose we make Karen Harris your inspirational role

model. Now is a favorable time to find what you lost a while ago; to re-link with a good resource that disappeared from your life; to reclaim a connection that could be meaningful to you again.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa told us, “Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss, or tranquility.” Instead, he said that meditation is how we “expose and undo our neurotic games, our self-deceptions, our hidden fears and hopes.” Excuse me, Mr. Trungpa, but I don’t allow anyone, not even a holy guy like you, to dictate what meditation is and isn’t. Many other spiritual mentors I’ve enjoyed learning from say that meditation can also be a discipline to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss and tranquility. And I suspect that’s what Virgo meditators should emphasize in the coming weeks. You people are in a phase when you can cultivate extraordinary encounters with that all fun stuff. If you’re not a meditator, now would be a good time to try it out. I recommend the books Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield and How to Meditate by Pema Chödrön.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Comedian Fred Allen observed, “It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.” That’s an unromantic thing to say, isn’t it? Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s very romantic, even enchanting, to exult in how our allies help us make our dreams come true—and how we help them make their dreams come true. In my astrological opinion, the coming weeks will be an excellent time to focus on the synergies and symbioses that empower you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood!” declare many self-help gurus. “It’s never too early to start channeling the wise elder who is already forming within you,” declare I. Oddly enough, both of these guiding principles will be useful for you to meditate on during the coming weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you’re in an unusually good position to resurrect childlike wonder and curiosity. You’re also poised to draw stellar advice from the Future You who has learned many secrets that the Current You doesn’t know yet.

Bonus: Your Inner Child and your Inner Elder could collaborate to create a marvelous breakthrough or two.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “A myriad of modest delights constitute happiness,”

wrote poet Charles Baudelaire. That will be a reliable formula for you in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. You may not harvest any glorious outbreaks of bliss, but you will be regularly visited by small enchantments, generous details, and useful tweaks.

I hope you won’t miss or ignore some of these nurturing blessings because you’re fixated on the hope of making big leaps. Be grateful for modest delights.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I found out some fun facts about renowned Capricorn poet Robert Duncan (1919–1988), who was a bohemian socialist and trailblazing gay activist. He was adopted by Theosophical parents who chose him because of his astrological make-up. They interpreted Robert’s dreams when he was a child. Later in life, he had an affair with actor Robert De Niro’s father, also named Robert, who was a famous abstract expressionist painter. Anyway, Capricorn, this is the kind of quirky and fascinating information I hope you’ll be on the lookout for. It’s time to seek high entertainment as you expedite your learning; to change your fate for the better as you gather interesting clues; to be voraciously curious as you attract stimulating influences that inspire you to be innovative.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “I always strive, when I can, to spread sweetness and light,” said P. G. Wodehouse. “There have been several complaints about it.” I know what he means. During my own crusade to express crafty, discerning forms of optimism, I have enraged many people. They

Comics

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don’t like to be reminded that thousands of things go right every day. They would rather stew in their disgruntlement and cynicism, delusionally imagining that a dire perspective is the most intelligent and realistic stance. If you’re one of those types, Aquarius, I have bad news for you: The coming weeks will bring you invitations and opportunities to cultivate a more positive outlook. I don’t mean that you should ignore problems or stop trying to fix what needs correction. Simply notice everything that’s working well and providing you with what you need. For inspiration, read my essay: tinyurl.com/HighestGlory PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pastor and activist Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842– 1933) said, “All great discoveries are made by people whose feelings run ahead of their thinking.” The approach worked well for him. In 1892, he discovered and exposed monumental corruption in the New York City government. His actions led to significant reforms of the local police and political organizations. In my astrological opinion, you should incorporate his view as you craft the next chapter of your life story. You may not yet have been able to fully conceive of your future prospects and labors of love, but your feelings can lead you to them.

Homework: See if you can forgive yourself for a wrong turn you haven’t been able to forgive yourself for.

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Edited by Will Shortz ACROSS What hearts and ships may do 5 German physicist after whom a unit of magnetism is named 10 Round houses?

14 “Hmm, OK” 15 Surprise ending, of sorts 16 “I’m starting right now!”

17 Question after a digression 19 Lip 20 Nonkosher lunch order 21 Villain in the DC Universe 22 It can be a show-stopper 24 Foofaraw 25 O.R. staffers 26 “I’m with ___” (2016 campaign slogan) 27 Easy mark 28 Alaskan peak 30 Who wrote “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” 32 1970s-’80s Renaults 34 Like a stamp pad 35 Classic John Donne line 38 So-so 40 Republican politico Michael 41 Garden produce named for an Italian city 44 Driller’s blowout 48 Grazed 49 Suffer 50 Escort’s offering 51 Chopper 52 Young celebrity socialite 1

54 Something to break at a

casino?

55 Be off guard 56 Blacken on a grill 57 Go on horseback à la Lady Godiva 60 “Forever, ___” (1996 humor book) 61 Immobile 62 Wasatch Mountains resort town 63 Tanners’ supplies 64 Upstanding fellows 65 Dennis the Menace, e.g.

DOWN

Storied mariner Princess in a Wagner opera 3 “Principia” author, 1687 4 London district famous for its botanic garden 5 Picasso antiwar masterpiece 6 Preceder of ski or midi 7 Arenas typically have many of them 8 Finish, with “up” 9 “Fantasia” was the first commercial film shown in it 10 It’s measured in feet, not inches 11 Action after a change of mind 12 Rodomontade 13 How mountain roads rise 18 Setting for the 2009 film “Precious” 23 Drop the ball 26 Locale of Wiesbaden, Germany 29 Pearl City greeting 1

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Red and rosé, for two 33 Adams behind a camera 35 1965 Shirley Ellis hit full of wordplay, with “The” 36 Certain amenities for first-class passengers 37 Michelle Obama vis-àvis Princeton 38 Cooked slowly in a closed pot 39 Cause for many people to scratch 42 Gob 43 Something well-placed?

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30 Cornmeal dish 31

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45 Take care of 46 Glorifies 47

What two sets of dots within double lines indicate, in musical scores

50 Head off 53 Some long-term plans,

in brief

54 It’s perfect 58 Like Bach’s Partita for

Violin No. 3

59 Fist-bump

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TUCSONWEEKLY.COM

MARCH 3, 2022