Tucson Weekly photographer C. Elliott takes us there.

• C. Elliott
• Iris Dement

Tucson Unified School Board member Mark Stegeman, who was the lone no vote when the governing board voted 4-1 to hire Ector County Independent School District's interim superintendent H.T. Sanchez. And of course with that kind of decision making, Stegeman issues a letter to his constituents, which you can read below the cut:

Tune into AZ Illustrated Politics tonight, as Arizona Capitol Times reporter Hank Stephenson and I talk about the legislative session with state Reps. Ethan Orr and Bruce Wheeler. Should be a good conversation about the highlights of the session, including the Medicaid expansion, the overhaul of election law, key budget takeaways and more.

A witness in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Michael Jackson has some curious credentials, according to CNN:

Czeisler — who serves as a sleep consultant to NASA, the CIA and the Rolling Stones — testified Thursday that the "drug-induced coma" induced by propofol leaves a patient with the same refreshed feeling of a good sleep but without the benefits that genuine sleep delivers in repairing brain cells and the body.

The CNN report suggests MJ really needed to get some shut-eye:

Michael Jackson died while preparing to set a world record for the most successful concert run, but he unknowingly set another record that led to his death.

Jackson may be the only human ever to go two months without REM — rapid eye movement — sleep, which is vital to keep the brain and body alive. The 60 nights of propofol infusions Dr. Conrad Murray said he gave Jackson to treat his insomnia is something a sleep expert says no one had ever undergone.

"The symptoms that Mr. Jackson was exhibiting were consistent with what someone might expect to see of someone suffering from total sleep deprivation over a chronic period," Dr. Charles Czeisler, a Harvard Medical School sleep expert, testified Friday at the wrongful-death trial of concert promoter AEG LIve.

The symptoms documented by e-mails among show producers and testimony from his chef, hairstylist and choreographers included his inability to do standard dances or remember words to songs he sang for decades, paranoia, talking to himself and hearing voices, and severe weight loss, Czeisler said.

"I believe that that constellation of symptoms was more probably than not induced by total sleep deprivation over a chronic period," he testified.

Dana Buckley is an award-winning photographer from New York who has always been drawn to the desert. In her new book, Living Desert, Buckley explores the beauty of the desert of the Tucson area and parts of California through her photography. She features photographs of cacti, agaves, aloe and shrubs and much more.

Most of her photos were taken up close with a macro lens or a zoom lens using a Canon 5D Mark III during the fall and winter.

“It was perfect weather,” Buckley said.

I'm a sucker for movies about music, so between Rock Around the Loft (rock films every Wednesday in July, including The Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense and Urgh! A Music War) and the One Hit Wonders series of new-to-Tucson documentaries, I'm basically assuming I'm going to spend (at least) two nights each week in a seat at the Loft.

However, the real highlight of the month will be the opportunity to see Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me, last year's documentary about one of my favorite bands of all time and one of those great band/bad luck stories you hear sometimes in the history of rock. Seriously, if you haven't heard the three albums the band released in the early 70's, they really could change your life. They're the power pop/rock band every power pop and rock band you've ever enjoyed loved (just watch the trailer and see the names singing Big Star's praises) and there's a good reason. Remember how excited everyone was about Rodriguez and the Searching for Sugarman documentary? This story's less weird in some ways, but just as tugging at the heart-strings, plus (nothing personal to Rodriguez and his fans) the music is better.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me shows at the Loft, Saturday, July 13 at 7:00 pm.

Tucson Weekly favorite Lariats are playing a free show tonight (at Tiny Town, which I think was Tanline, but either way is 2606 N. Stone) with bands I am possibly not cool enough to be aware of: Territory, Two More Dead and King Clone. Plus, the poster promises free Eegees, so that's a solid deal.

Lariats' new EP, Our Native Tongue Is Bad News, is available now, featuring "The World Is Very Big and We Are Very Small," which you should be able to stream on the player above.

You might be exhausted and tired of seeing the bright red Netflix logo on your screen of choice after feasting on Arrested Development episodes this month, but there are still other non-Bluth reasons to fire up the streaming service (other than what I usually use Netflix for, which is a very cheap babysitter).

Tucson's favorite deranged millionaire, John Hodgman has a new comedy special, RAGNAROK, which debuted on Netflix recently, which covers many of the topics you've come to count on him for his expertise:

John Hodgman, and his infamous moustache dispense their survival guide to the Mayan apocalypse or as he's deemed it "RAGNAROK". With his eccentric list of post-apocalyptic necessities, beef jerky dollars, sperm whales and mayonnaise, John Hodgman entertains the audience in the face of impending doom.

While I have not yet had the opportunity to watch this program (for some reason, streaming 67 minutes of video is not exactly how they'd like me to spend my time here), apparently there's a Watership Down reference, so I'm in.

Sure, it's a little easy to pick on Paula Deen, with her deep love of heavily-caloric cuisine and her once-secret diabetes, but this week, after a court deposition seemingly outed her as a fan of casual racism, now it's an all-out-assault on the chipper TV host/chef. The Daily Show got into the act last night, with a two part segment. In the second portion, Jessica Williams helped to discern whether Deen has "Type 1" or "Type 2" racism:

This morning, Deen was supposed to appear on the Today Show to discuss this entire fiasco, but apparently didn't feel like facing the heat:

'Paula Deen was scheduled to do an interview with us this morning, live in our studio, but we just found out, she’s a no show' - @mlauer
— TODAY (@todayshow) June 21, 2013

While she might not be able to repair her relationship with Matt Lauer now, Deen is working on some sort of damage control:

Video statement to follow shortly http://t.co/Te2yWwhPzG .
— Paula Deen (@Paula_Deen) June 21, 2013

Look how serious she is! She's going to make sure people understand that she didn't mean those things she said under oath...wait, that's probably a bad idea. Maybe blame the butter. Butter makes people do crazy things.

[UPDATE: Here's her apology video, which, and maybe this is nitpicky, has three edits?]

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Actually she removed the first apology (still viewable here) and has put up another one. She's been let go by the Food Network either way.)