“Auf Wiedersehen.” “Please pack your knives and go.”

“Your show has been canceled.”

“You are not the biggest loser.” (Um . . .)

Or, because I am addicted to “Rock of Love,” “Your tour ends here.”

But Bret . . .

Like so many reality contestants who have tried their darndest, I am cast from the wonderful serial that is the Tucson Citizen. The tribe, it seems, has spoken.

It’s sad, of course, to get kicked off the island before you’re ready. I like my tribe mates. They make me laugh and they make me think.

But enough about me. The closing of the Tucson Citizen is far beyond one writer. It’s far beyond one local daily newspaper.

Since Gannett announced its decision to sink the “for sale” sign in our lawn in January, the Scripps-owned Rocky Mountain News and Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligence have bitten the dust, and the fate of Hearst’s San Francisco Chronicle is shaky. McClatchy’s Miami Herald is on the market. And on and on. It’s old news, this domino game, with fewer and fewer papers to report that news.

It’s easy enough to see why multinational news corporations didn’t see all of this gloom and doom headed their way. Newspapers, in good old-fashioned, ink-on-paper form, have survived many challengers over the years. But while radio and television were dealt with, the Internet proved a greater opponent than the newspaper chains were able to understand. Danny Bonaduce was sent into the ring to fight Mike Tyson.

Of course, technologies aren’t animate, but it sure seems like there has been a lot of fear of the machine. Our parent companies have forgotten the old “guns don’t shoot people, people shoot people” notion, though it seems so simple: The Internet doesn’t attract people, people attract people. Readers have flocked to a medium that works for them and away from one that doesn’t, and too many news corporations distracted themselves with the print product, insisting the problem was aesthetic. Ah, to be able to use that “lipstick on a pig” analogy and sound original.

The light at the end of this absurdist tunnel, the Godot we’ve been waiting for, has been here all along. And this is where I find comfort for the many talented people I have had the pleasure of working with, as well as our counterparts at dying newspapers across the country: Good writing is always good writing, and good information is always good information. We may be displaced for a while, we may have to break up the family as we forage for work wherever we can find it, but talented journalists will always be needed to tell the stories that are our cultural currency.

A new model is needed. While I like to think there will always be a New York Times in existence (and online-only counts), daily, local news organizations need to be reimagined. And that’s exciting. We’re at a point where we’re rediscovering what it means to communicate to one another. The system is broken, and we’re at the point where replacing the engine just doesn’t make sense. Scrap it, start fresh. It just might be nice to have the vehicle locally owned again.

Still, it’s been a good ride. I never felt the corporate hand when I ventured into the community to meet the many amazing artists and musicians who live here, to interview everyone from a tough, 6-year-old Tucson Roller Derby girl-in-training (skate on, Madeline BootyFly!) to an 80-plus-year-old woman revisiting her family history. You’ve all been kind to let me share both the stories that circulate in my head and the ones I’ve found in Tucson.

For now, though, it’s time to pack my pens and go.

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Mink Stole is the Philip Seymour Hoffman of John Waters’ world. The actress has played leads (“Desperate Living”), supporting (“Pink Flamingoes”) and smaller roles (“Serial Mom”), creating compelling characters no matter what their prominence.

Even if she’d appeared only in Waters’ films, Stole would still be a cult film queen. (Maybe wearing the crown she attempted to share with Queen Carlotta in “Desperate Living”?) But in addition to the high trash of Waters, Stole has appeared in dozens of films. In an e-mail interview after shooting her latest, a women’s prison movie called “Stuck,” Stole talks about her many “mother of the gay” roles and her best buddy on the “Female Trouble” set. That film is the reason – well, today, anyway – for thinkin’ Mink: Stole will attend a special screening of the Waters classic Saturday at the Loft Cinema.

What are you doing right now? Where are you?

It’s about 7 p.m. and I just got home from Macon, Ga. I was there working on a new film by Steve Balderson called “Stuck.” It’s a black-and-white women-in-prison movie about a young woman mistakenly accused of killing her mother and sentenced to be hanged. It has all the good stuff you’d expect from a death-row film noir: the innocent one, tough-on-the-outside-cream puff-on the-inside lesbians, vicious prison guards and the religious fanatic – that’s me. We filmed all the cell block scenes on a soundstage, but used the local jail for the prison yard stuff, and a beautiful, real antebellum mansion for a dream scene. Macon is absolutely gorgeous, so pretty that (Gen. William) Sherman decided to spare it on his horrific destructive march through Georgia during the War Between the States, and we, the cast and crew, were treated with true Southern hospitality. Many of us stayed in private homes and by the time we left we all felt like we had become members of the family. I stayed with Kim and Terrell Sandefur and their 10-year-old twins, Nina and Wyatt, and I already miss them.

We’ve read that Taffy Davenport, your woman-child role in “Female Trouble” – is your favorite of the many fabulous characters you’ve played in John Waters’ films. What is it about her that you so love?

I’ve always felt a really strong connection to Taffy, probably because as a kid most of the time I felt misunderstood and unappreciated. I’m the fifth of 10 kids – hardly an only child like Taffy was – and I deeply resented being “the problem child,” so of course I acted out, which made things worse. I’ve always felt that Taffy was just like that, just trying to be good, but nobody wanted to believe her, so she got attention however she could. And from an actor’s POV, it’s always fun to play extreme characters, so Taffy was a blast. We shopped the children’s departments of the local thrift shops for her wardrobe. It was also great to be able to film so much inside – a real change from the bitterly cold exteriors of “Pink Flamingos.”

Who of the rich cast of folks from “Female Trouble” were you most comfortable with, most likely to grab a cup of coffee with?

Probably my best friend on the set was David Lochary. We spent a lot of off-camera time together, but this was the fifth movie I’d worked on with John and most of the same cast members and crew, so we were all good friends by then. Vincent Peranio, our production designer, and Van Smith, our costume/ makeup designer, and Pat Moran, the production chief, were just like family, too. We all socialized together off set.

What has been your favorite non-John Waters film and/or role?

I really enjoyed playing Natasha Lyonne’s mom in “But I’m a Cheerleader” a few years ago, and Robin Greenspan’s mom in “Girl Play” in 2004. Both of those were “mother of the gay” roles, another of which I did in “Eating Out 2″ in 2006. My favorite role is usually the one I’m either working on at the moment or have just completed, so right now I’m totally in love with Esther, the devout death-row inmate in “Stuck,” and Evelyn the librarian in “All About Evil,” the Joshua Grannell film just wrapped in San Francisco. This was the first horror movie I’ve been in where I’ve actually been tortured, and it has an amazing cast, including Natasha Lyonne. I loved working with her again, as well as Thomas Dekker, Cassandra Peterson and Patrick Bristow. It’s really funny and really bloody. I don’t know when “All About Evil” will be released, but we expect “Stuck” to premiere at MAGA, the Macon, Ga., film festival in February 2010.

How does your filmography reflect who you are (your politics, beliefs, etc.)?

Hmmmmm. I’m a yellow-dog Democrat and a tolerant atheist. I believe in human rights (including gay marriage) and animal rights. I’ve never chosen films because of any of these beliefs, but the way I think and live have definitely had an influence on the roles I’m offered.

The only recording we’ve heard of Mink and Her Wonderful Band is “Sometimes I Wish I Had a Gun.” Are there other recordings out there? How active is the band?

When I moved from Los Angeles back to Baltimore in 2007, I had to leave my band behind, which broke my heart. I’ve put together a great group here in Baltimore, and we’ve done one concert so far, but are hoping to do more. What I’d really love is to be the house band in some supper club for a while, but I have been out of town way too much to put that together. “Gun” is the only tune that’s been released but, although I have no specific dates or plans, I will do an album as soon as I can. I’ve been very lucky to work with some wonderful musicians, and I want to record with them all.

IF YOU GO

What: actress Mink Stole screens “Female Trouble”

When: 7 p.m. Saturday

Where: Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.

Price: $8 general, $6 Loft members

Info: 795-7777, www.loftcinema.com

POLLY HIGGINS

Metromix

We’ve hit 100 degrees. Triple digits, people.

That translates to many lifestyle changes (getting up early or switching to a vampire schedule, saying adios to pants, embracing that “dewey” look), not the least of which is when we get our food.

For many of us, the thought of eating dinner when the sun is still up is simply unappetizing. Uncivilized, really. But, we’re also not New York; this is the Baked Apple, a city that does sleep, which means that most of our restaurants are shuttered by 9:30 p.m., if not earlier.

Thankfully, some kind establishments are there for you, Night Owl, and we’ve culled. This being Tucson, we’ve defined late-night dining as serving food at least until 11 p.m. In some cases that’s true seven nights a week, in others, just one or two.

For a complete listing, go to Metromix.com/Tucson.

Barrio Food & Drink, 135 S. Sixth Ave. – You don’t have to enjoy those delicious cocktail creations on an empty stomach: Barrio serves its full dinner menu until midnight Fridays and Saturdays. That means the dry-rubbed venison ($22) or mixed greens salad with fresh fruit and pistachios ($9.50), fish tacos ($14.50) or chicken breast marinated in honey-chipotle barbecue sauce ($17) with your Hemingway daiquiri or one of their many other inventive drinks.

Cup Café in Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress – Open until midnight Fridays and Saturdays, the Cup switches to its late-night menu at 11 p.m., and it’s filled with favorite starters like the heartbreaker ($9, with roasted garlic cloves, brie, artichoke hearts, apple slice and a baguette) and shrimp and melon ceviche ($6). If you’re feeling healthy, you have green options (the Nicoise salad is $12) and eight sandwiches (the popular Maximilian, $8, is a roasted-turkey melt with green chiles on a croissant).

Delectables, 533 N. Fourth Ave. – Fridays and Saturdays, eat off the regular menu until 11 p.m. Choose from nine salads ($4-$14); a number of vegetarian options, like the white bean hummus plate ($10); and the bistro plates, including prosciutto, asiago cheese melon and grapes ($12). (That last one would be perfectly paired with a red wine flight.)

Grill, 100 E. Congress St. – Grill is always open late, because it’s always open. The full menu is offered 24/7, and it’s a civilized approach to diner food with such favorites as the pesto-provolone omelet, chocolate-chip pancakes and “DB” (aka the death bomb, a spicy, fried ravioli appetizer). You’ll also find steak, salads and a full bar.

Ike’s Coffee & Tea, 3400 E. Speedway Blvd. No. 121 – Ike’s has it right: The coffee-drinking crowd includes night owls, so they serve it up seven days a week until midnight. “It” is an array of pastries, sandwiches and salads (the chopped salad, with garbanzo beans, radish and cheese is a bargain at $5.50), as well as whatever fancy coffee or tea drink you need to fight off the tireds.

Jonathan’s Cork, 6320 E. Tanque Verde Road – Wednesdays through Saturdays, the East Side fine-dining staple serves up a late-night menu from 10 until midnight. Dine inside or al fresco, on signature items – jalapeño-bacon-wrapped shrimp ($7.95), escargot ($6.95) – as well as new ones – mac and cheese with parmesan crust ($6.95), baby back ribs ($8.95), and more.

Maynards Market & Kitchen, 400 N. Toole Ave. – The stars of the late-night menu, served until midnight Thursdays through Saturdays, are the stone-baked pizzas. You get four options ($9-$10), three of them vegetarian, plus the pizza of the week. Or, order some “snacks” – fries, flatbread, grilled apple bruschetta with brie, arugula and prosciutto. “Reverse happy hour” starts at 10 p.m., with $2 off all drafts and premium wines.

Thunder Canyon Brewery, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd. in the Foothills Mall – The locally owned brewery keeps its kitchen open until 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Give us a Baja burger (with green chiles, chipotle mayo, avocado and pepper-jack cheese, for $9.29). The extensive menu also has lots of pub fare (brats, $8.99, and chicken pot pie, $8.49) and all the usual bar food you require. And then there are those brews, up to 13; those you can enjoy until midnight Fridays and Saturdays.

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

For many people (read: folks in relationships), Valentine’s Day is so much more than a Hallmark holiday. It’s a litmus test of where the relationship is and where it’s going – or not going. That restaurant you choose will speak loudly (“you don’t care,” “you care too much”) as will whatever entertainment you have planned for the night.

Don’t mess this up.

When thinking about what to do on Valentine’s Day – where to eat, where to play – it’s crucial to consider what stage a relationship is in. You wouldn’t want to, say, take a loved one of six months to eegees for dinner, nor would you want to take a first date somewhere overwhelmingly romantic.

This is no time to be ironic, to take your date to Sue’s Fish and Chips in some postmodern attempt to recognize Valentine’s Day as part of the system while still buying into that system with subpar cuisine.

We’re here to help.

First date

If you’re wackadoodle enough to plan a first date to coincide with Valentine’s Day, there may be no talking to you, but we’ll try.

Tone: Keep it low key. Obviously it was important enough to have a date on V Day rather than be home alone, but, remember, a first date is just one date from single, and if this night is filled with pressure, s/he may not come back for seconds.

The restaurant: If you’re feeling flush and think your date is worth some dollars, Feast (4122 E Speedway Blvd., 326-9363) is a good choice. It’s a casual spot with menu items that put a modern spin on American cuisine. Though Feast normally doesn’t take reservations, it will for its special Valentine’s Day dinner.

If money’s tight, why not take this opportunity to find out how adventurous your date is, culinarily speaking? We recommend Alibaba (2545 E. Speedway Blvd. 319-2559), a Mediterranean joint with good prices. Then, when your lady or guy tries to eat the hummus with a fork instead of just scooping it up on a pita, you can make plans to ditch ‘em.

The entertainment: There’s a reason why “dinner and a movie” is a cliché: It works and it’s fun. Go first, then you’ll have something to talk about during the meal.

We suggest avoiding “He’s Just Not That Into You.” How about “Notorious,” the story of The Notorious B.I.G.? Everybody likes a biopic, and this one’s gotten good reviews.

Going out less than a month

You’re in similar territory as the first daters, but with a twist. That twist is expectations.

Tone: Playful with a side of serious. Assuming you’re past the first kiss and all that, you two are in the fun zone, still learning about each other and liking what you learn. Valentine’s is no time to force things, so make it like a normal date expect better planned and, well, a little special.

The restaurant: For you guys we’re suggesting spending more money on the entertainment (see “the entertainment”), so keep dinner simple and reasonable. Sushi is always fun, what with the sharing and all, and Tatsu Sushi (7332 N. Oracle Road, 219-6989) has a nice, relaxed atmosphere belying its strip-mall locale.

The entertainment: Experimental folkster Andrew Bird is playing at the Rialto (318 E. Congress St., 740-1000). The multi-instrumentalist is just enough under the radar to earn you some cool points and his music is – yep – playful.

More than a month,

less than six months

Can you hear Kenny Loggins singing in the background? You, dear reader, are in the danger zone. If your significant other cares about Valentine’s Day – and, odds are, s/he does – everything will be remembered from this, your first V Day together.

Tone: Serious with a side of playful. Toasts must be made, feelings expressed. And put on some nice slacks, for crying out loud.

The restaurant: Selecting a romantic spot is crucial. If you can afford it, you will never, ever, go wrong with The Ventana Room (7000 N. Resort Drive., 299-2020). Having said that, you also need at least $300 hanging around in your pocket.

Get more bang for your buck – and adoration for your thoughtfulness – by dining at Casa Vicente (375 S. Stone Ave., 884-5253). The Spanish restaurant features tapas, so here you can truly indulge in the pleasures of eating while sharing each dish. Imagine, you reach for a bite of something, brushing your lover’s hand lightly, the sweet sounds of live flamenco guitar wafting gently by . . . You’re welcome.

We’re not done. Leave a little room in your belly and sweep your sweetie away for dessert and coffee somewhere else. How indulgent is that, right? The Cup Cafe (311 E. Congress St., 798-1618) is the evergreen choice here, and for a reason: Their baker rocks the house (so many options) and the espresso drinks are good.

The entertainment: Head to the Loft Cinema (3233 E. Speedway Blvd., 795-7777) for its special V Day screening of “Moulin Rouge.” There’s even a “Lady Marmalade” singalong before the film; that’s the side of playful, no?

Six months to 11 months, 30 days

If your lover (that’s laaaaahhhver) has stuck around this long, Feb. 14 likely isn’t make-or-break for you. Having said that, keep in mind that it’s also a popular holiday for breaking up, so don’t be a total idiot.

Tone: “I’m so lucky to have you.”

The restaurant: In the stage where going out to dinner has given way to pizza eaten in front of the TV? We thought so. It’s time to get out of the sweats and rekindle things a bit. We like JaxKitchen (7286 N. Oracle Road, 219-1235) for this, a restaurant that has been open about the length of your relationship.

It’s fine dining, but the prices aren’t outrageous and the décor is urban-hip, sleek yet cozy. The wine selection is equally good.

The entertainment: Do something active. Head to Club Congress (311 E. Congress St., 622-8848), where they promise to embrace love at this year’s V Day festivities. With Obama in office, we’re pretty sure we’re supposed to stop being cynical, and what’s more straightforward sexy than a burlesque show? Switchblade Parade performs, walking that dangerous line between titillating and giving it away.

More than a year

Don’t be lazy. You know you can be, which is why you shouldn’t be.

Tone: Amorous.

The restaurant: You’ve eaten at so many restaurants together already, it’s getting a bit tough to be creative. So, you need some place that’s new. And what says amore more than Italian?

Luna Bella (2990 N. Swan Road, 325-3895) and Amereno’s Little Italy (2933 E. Grant Road, 721-1210) opened in 2008 and both are excellent. Luna Bella shoots to the head of the class because it’s from Steve Schultz, he of the acclaimed Red Sky Cafe, and its cuisine is focused and decidedly un-Americanized.

The entertainment: Get a room, people. (See our sexy gifts story, page 24)

POLLY HIGGINS

Metromix.com

The next time you consider spitting, think about it. Really think about it. Because it may just end up back on you.

That’s exactly what happened to Elisa Jimenez. A contestant on the fourth season of “Project Runway,” the UA grad used her saliva to mark fabric, and now she can’t get it off.

“Thirteen years as a (designer), and I’m known as the girl who spits on clothes,” Jimenez says, incredulously, during a phone interview.

But Jimenez is no reality show casualty. While she may be sewing next to Christian “fierce” Siriano for eternity in digital form, her three-dimensional life is far more textured. She entered “Project Runway” an already established designer who counted Sarah Jessica Parker among her clients; and Jimenez, who splits her time between New York and Santa Fe, N.M., has continued with high-profile work that recently included “High School Musical 3.”

Clothing – spit-marked or no – doesn’t always tell her stories, however. A restless artist who speaks through drawings and marionettes as well, Jimenez shouts it out loud Friday at MOCA in a show she’s calling “Pop, Play & Pleasure-Able Purchase.” It’s an evening Jimenez cannot summarize in one sentence – or even several – though it will cull all of her interests in a way that a performance hasn’t, she says, since 2003.

There will be a fashion show, after which the local models will strip (they’ll have sheaths underneath) – “a shedding of skin,” Jimenez notes – and toss the clothes into a bundle that attendees can pick through and purchase. The idea, she says, is “you can be that beautiful person I just was on the runway.”

Four of Jimenez’s marionettes will be traveling with her – “they’re very excited” – to be part of the performance. One is just 3 inches tall, another about 7 feet. “I have a couple of broken marionettes and I told them, ‘You should come. Just because you’re broken doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be seen.’ So it’s very tongue and cheek.”

Jimenez calls this trifecta of fashion, drawings and marionettes the Hunger World, which dates to the early ’90s when she lived in Tucson.

“The Hunger World came to me as my life’s work in grad school,” she says, adding that her MFA from UA is in combined media. “In my 20s, it was all about hunger . . . emotional hunger, intellectual hunger.”

Expect various narratives to play out during the performance, though they’ll be snippets, Jimenez says. “I definitely do play with that idea that the whole story isn’t given, but everyone will leave full.”

You might leave with a Jimenez clothing item, too. Her partner, Moe Nadel, will be there as well, selling custom bags made of recycled materials.

“Moe has a standard price range, but I’ll have things that are $50, $100, $200. . . . Hopefully everyone can walk away with something,” Jimenez says. “It would be lovely if I could install everything in a temporary way and then by the end it’s empty.”

It’s a fun approach to building a bridge between commerce and art: No neatly folded Gap sweaters here. And after the perfection that is New York Fashion Week, where Jimenez showed an eco-friendly line called Urban Nomad, the fashions at MOCA will be “a mix of the finished and the unfinished. . . . That’s where I’m at right now. I’m very pleased with what I’m doing,” she says.

Also sewn in to “Pop, Play & Pleasure-Able Purchase” are in-jokes for Jimenez, because as much as she wants us to play, she enjoys her trickster side, too. For instance, some of the clothing for the MOCA event is made from scraps left over from “High School Musical 3.”

“I love that it’s like this quiet subversion,” she says.

And if spit was used in the creation process, well, just think of that as play, too.

IF YOU GO

What: Elisa Jimenez & The Hunger World – “Pop, Play & Pleasur-Able Purchase”

When: 6 p.m. Friday

Where: MOCA on The Plaza, 149 N. Stone Ave.

Price: $5 MOCA members, $10 general

Info: 624-5019

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Metal is one genre where the artists address the Big Issues – war, the environment, the nature of man – and generally don’t sound preachy, one-dimensional, trite. That could be because a band like Testament, which plays the Rialto on Friday, has its priorities straight.

“We knew we wanted the drums to be a bigger drum sound. And a real drum sound,” singer Chuck Billy says of his band’s newest album, “The Formation of Damnation” (Nuclear Blast). “We wanted the guitars to be bigger than they had in the past.”

Enough layers of guitars, pounding drums and Billy’s commanding growl and anything can sound serious. Demure recordings, aren’t exactly something associated with this San Francisco band with roots to the early 1980s, but the fivepiece had a little extra fire this time around. The lineup is as close to original as Testament’s had in years, with drummer Paul Bostaph (Forbidden, Slayer) the only relative newbie, and his Testament history dates to the early 1990s.

The songwriting core remained Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson, the frontman says from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., hours before Testament’s opening set on the Metal Masters tour with Judas Priest, Motörhead and Heaven & Hell.

“We knew we had Alex (Skolnick) and Greg (Christian) on the record and we wanted to do it right,” Billy says. “We went back to our old style (of writing), when those guys were in the band. It has the old feeling and sense of the other albums” with Skolnick and Christian.

“The Formation of Damnation” could certainly stand alongside early Metallica, to which Testament has often been compared, and it’s a sound the group sees no need to move beyond. Testament isn’t looking for the huge radio hit or a catchy chorus; on “Damnation,” the five do what they do, punishing metal with no inherent mission of crossing over to metal-lite fans a la an “Enter Sandman.” A reader of Nostradamus’ prophecies, Billy and Co. investigate familiar tropes of metal – “false leader crowned, a world of mass destruction,” Billy sings on the title track – with plenty of room for contemporary interpretations.

“(M)etal music is the only kind of music that challenges those subjects like good versus evil,” Billy says, then he tears through the tracks. “The Evil Has Landed” was inspired by 9/11, “Henchmen Ride” by a California motorcyle gang.

“There aren’t any happy songs,” Billy says, laughing. “We don’t write too many of those cliché heavy-metal songs that we did in the early days. . . . They don’t mean as much because they’re not real. They don’t affect you.”

IF YOU GO

What: Testament in concert with Sacred Reich

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.

Price: $23

Info: 740-1000, rialtotheatre.com

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

King Buzzo is puzzled. An apocalypse is upon us, but we’re not doing anything about it.

“The album is dead,” he declares, a Nietzsche for the music industry. “Maybe not right away. We may be able to make one more.”

The Melvins frontman and guitarist, calling from New Haven, Conn., sees an end to the system as we know it.

Records are dead, he explains, because no one will be able to afford to make them. Aesthetics will not win a battle against economics, and as consumers download songs, not albums, albums don’t make money.

“Bands are given money by people who are speculating you will sell records. . . . It will all change,” Buzz says. “Why hasn’t anybody thought of this?”

The well-coiffed Buzz, however, says “it’s all good.” And he’s not just a positive thinker: He’s prepared either way. The King estimates he has some 200 songs on the shelf, ready to put in whatever pipeline. Plus, he and Melvins co-founder Dale Crover know how to tour.

A U.S. summer tour that started June 16 in San Francisco sees the group in Tucson on Tuesday. The fall tour for the Melvins’ July CD “Nude with Boots” (Ipecac) assures the dual-drummer four-piece few days off until the gig ends in early October.

The band seems to have only amped up its road schedule in recent years, and that’s after more than two decades of delivering heavy, sludge-y rock – both deconstructing it and building it back up again.

“Nude with Boots” finds the Melvins plenty accessible, balancing less linear moments with huge riffs and the odd arena-rock nod. With some 30 full-length records and EPs, depending upon how you count them, the prolific Buzz just keeps writing, keeping things interesting for himself, he says, by being fearless. That, and having good taste.

“Be able to distinguish what you think is good with what is crap. . . . Usually my instincts tell me when something is good.”

Another important component is just saying no to those drugs.

“It’s a one-way ticket to nowhere,” he says. “All the stuff your parents told you is right.”

The next release from the Melvins might just be a vinyl box set of the band’s recordings on Ipecac, a relationship that dates to 1999.

“It’s fun, but – as far as making money – it doesn’t,” Buzzo says of vinyl reissues. Which might be the most fitting final three-dimensional output the band could offer.

IF YOU GO

What: The Melvins in concert; Big Business open

When: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Plush, 340 E. Sixth St.

Price: $13

Info: 798-1298, ticketweb.com

The buddy movie has gotten stoned. The popularity of male bonding via pot is nothing new, but lately popular culture seems to have gotten quite a contact high from the combination of comedy and cannabis.

To audible cheers from the newsroom of High Times magazine, those happy sponsors of the annual Stony Awards, pot-sploitation films have again seen a rise. Judd Apatow’s ganga gang is certainly at the center of the smoke storm, what with the baked boys of “Knocked Up” and more recent “Pineapple Express,” which opened No. 2 at the box office last weekend. Then there are Harold and Kumar, whose adventures with the crazy weed have taken them to White Castle and Guantanamo Bay. Tenacious D puffed it up rock-style in “The Pick of Destiny.” Cheech and Chong, they built this city, and they’ve reunited; their “Light Up America” tour launches Sept. 12.

Maybe we’ve realized that it’s a bummer to smoke alone, that characters like Floyd (Brad Pitt) in “True Romance” are just kind of depressing. Even fun-lovin’ Snoop Dogg, his eyes perma-glazed whether in an interview or his TV show “Father Hood,” seems like he spends too many solo nights in the basement with his bong.

Dudes (so infrequently the ladies) lighting up together, now that’s comic gold. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong trailblazed a good formula, two likable guys who smoke pot, get into wacky misadventures, then smoke some more. The “Harold & Kumar” movies and “Pineapple Express” don’t mess much with tradition, though to different ends.

I love the exploitation film. Its heart is good, filled with the potential to critique social imbalances while employing people often kicked a bit outside the system. Of course, that’s a perfect definition, and it’s so infrequent that we consult our dictionaries.

“Harold & Kumar” – adventures tasty and traumatic – is B-movie with purpose. Sure there’s plenty of silly, thin humor – we’d all be better off without diarrhea jokes – but the films are also filled with criticisms of race relations in the U.S. The two end up at Guantanamo Bay in part because airline passengers mistake Kumar’s bong for a bomb (those two words really do sound the same), but also because their brown skin arouses suspicions that they’re terrorists. (Indian-American Kumar is played by Kal Penn, Korean-American Harold by John Cho.) Unfortunately, it’s not such an outlandish premise.

Pot does drive the plot, but the bumps in the road, the seeds in the stash, highlight racial profiling and the prevalence of stereotyping even in these P.C. times.

And then there’s “Pineapple Express.” As an exploitation film, it’s one-note, dragging a sleepy notion that potheads are funny across 105 minutes of my life. No larger issues are explored, only why Seth Rogen continues to be cast in leading roles despite thinking acting means screaming all of his lines.

Perhaps a lesson in the dangers of smoking and writing, the script must be covered in pot ash. It switches tone about every 20 minutes, not sure if it’s an action or comedy film and unable to blend the two. Stoners should take offense if only because it sets back pothead representation about seven decades, back to the didactic days of “Reefer Madness.” “P.E.” reads like a morality tale: pot kills, man.

But no worries. “P.E.” won’t quite murder the stoner buddy subgenre. It pulled $23.2 million its first weekend, so we probably won’t sober up too soon.

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Higgins

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

The Beatles sang that they got by with a little help from their friends, but, for that to happen, you have to have those friends in the first place.

KXCI (91.3-FM) community radio is, apparently, really good at maintaining friendships. The next several days sees three separate benefits for the station that include performances by Kevin Pakulis, Greyhound Soul and the 17th Street Band.

“Without KXCI supporting local music Greyhound Soul would not be on the radio in Tucson,” Greyhound Soul bassist Duane Hollis writes in an e-mail interview. “KXCI has supported Greyhound Soul since our first record – ‘Freaks’ – back in ’96.”

Pakulis will share the stage Saturday with Greyhound Soul, one of his favorite bands, and, like Hollis, is glad to help out a station that has given him so much.

“First and foremost, we love to play, so it’s not like a big sacrifice,” says Pakulis, who may start his set with the acoustic songs he and his bassist wrote for this year’s “Kevin Pakulis and Larry Lee Lerma.” “It’s always been a priority of mine to help out along those lines. I wouldn’t have gotten nearly the exposure I’ve gotten if it hadn’t been for KXCI. It’s a jungle out there.” Pakulis’ band also includes drummer Ralph Gilmore and keyboardist Duncan Stitt.

Three benefits in a week is not a sign of trouble for the station but more of a coincidence, says Randy Peterson, KXCI’s development director and acting general manager. The station, about to celebrate 25 years in December, isn’t flush, but will soon adopt a board-approved five-year plan, he says.

“It’s always tight,” Peterson says. “We’re able to fund our needs . . . and occasionally our wants.”

Those wants have included a recording studio at KXCI, just south of downtown on Fourth Avenue, which has hosted Greyhound Soul, Howe Gelb, John Coinman, Lisa Otey and many others since its completion.

The station’s budget, Peterson says, is about $700,000 annually, or just over $1,900 per day. Membership as well as the generosity of those members has increased over the years, he says. Such assistance from less high-profile friends, plus financial support from local businesses, has seen KXCI implement a new broadcast system in the past two years.

“We’re the first local station to go digital,” Peterson says, adding that future holds the possibility of three or four online multicasts.

The folks in the trenches are the volunteer DJs. Only two programs – the political “Democracy Now!” (12:30 p.m. weekdays) and the LGBT-minded “This Way Out” (4:30 p.m. Sundays) – are syndicated, Peterson notes, in an effort to keep things local.

“We think the best community radio is done by the community.”

The mix of roots, surf, blues, rock – and, of course, “Locals Only” – is as eclectic as the personnel, a group of locals that anyone can be a part of by taking the free adult DJ classes offered by KXCI. The next training sessions will likely be toward the end of September, Peterson says.

The upcoming benefits embrace this sense of open programming without playlists, with rock/ Americana from Greyhound Soul and Kevin Pakulis Saturday, blues from the 17th Street Band Tuesday and electronica from L.A.’s Bitter:Sweet Wednesday.

IF YOU GO

Three upcoming benefits for KXCI are as diverse as their playlists. To contact KXCI: 623-1000, kxci.org.

If you like rock:

What: Kevin Pakulis Band, Greyhound Soul

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.

Price: $10

Info: 740-1000, rialtotheatre.com

If you like blues:

What: 17th Street Band

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Barrio Brewing, 800 E. 16th St.

Price: $5

Info: 791-BREW, barriobrewing.com

If you like electronica:

What: Bitter:Sweet, plus KXCI DJs Trinidad, Falcotronik and Corbin Dooley

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

Price: $10

Info: 622-8848, ticketweb.com

POLLY HIGGINS

phiggins@tucsoncitizen.com

Photographer Bernice Kolko captured images of the famous and the overlooked. It’s easy to get drawn into the world of the art stars she shot and socialized with in Mexico City circa 1950 – Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Jose Luis Cuevas – but her documentation of the less illustrious is equally compelling.

Richard Kolko prefers his Polish-born grandmother’s photos of everyday people, which, he says, he finds dignified and iconic.

“When I look at these faces, I feel like I know these people,” he says.

Kolko is exhibiting some 30 photographs by his late grandmother at Espresso Art. Images range from a portrait of Kahlo to works from some of her “faces” series, including Faces of Mexico and Faces of Ethiopia.

The photographs, Phoenix-based Kolko says, have been in rotation on his own walls for decades. Friday he was surrounded by them at the Armory Park home of local painter Richard Jarvis, who is matting and framing the works for the show.

Kolko was just 6 years old when his grandmother died, but he recalls a vivacious woman who loved to talk about art. Though she lived in Mexico City, she would often visit her family in the United States.

“I remember her,” he says, “looking down at her camera and smiling.”

“I’m interested in the life I capture with my camera because salvation lies in life and love,” Bernice Kolko is quoted as saying in an obituary that ran Dec. 24, 1970, in The News (Mexico City). “My professional responsibility is in expressing, creating life and exploring the impossible. I know the world in which I live is filled with contradictions and unhappy discord between human beings trying to survive with love and dignity. Photography reveals a faithful document of life as it is.”

The exhibit runs through Sept. 12.

IF YOU GO

What: Bernice Kolko exhibit

When: opening reception 6 p.m. Friday; runs 6:30 a.m.-midnight daily through Sept. 12

Where: Espresso Art, 942 E. University Blvd.

Price: free

Info: 624-4126