TOMBSTONE – Larry Widen believes ghosts and spirits have unfinished business in the human world. In what’s considered one of Arizona’s most-haunted towns, where ghosts lurk on practically every corner, his Ghost City Tours combine the Wild West history of Tombstone with stories of spirits who still linger.

“This town is one of the top 10 most-haunted cities simply because so many people lost their lives here in such a short period of time,” Widen said of Tombstone, founded in 1877. “There were lots of suicides, lots of gunfights, lots of people cheating each other in business deals because once the money started rolling again, friends weren’t friends anymore.”

Ghost tours in Tombstone and Flagstaff have seen an uptick in business during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many businesses closed because of social distancing requirements and a lack of customers. Ghost tours were safer, outdoor options.

Widen is a senior tour guide for the national tourism company’s Tombstone location. At night, he takes customers fascinated by the paranormal on a walking tour around town to some haunted locations, including Big Nose Kate’s Saloon and the infamous Bird Cage Theatre.

Tombstone is best known for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and it saw many less-notorious clashes among cowboys, prospectors and thieves before the silver mines played out.

But when the pandemic hit, Tombstone, quite literally, turned into a ghost town.

Have you ever been at a big family gathering and someone, usually that weird uncle, walks up to you and before they can say anything it hits you: stinky breath.

Bad breath can ruin a party so this holiday season, don't let that weird uncle be you! There are certain holiday foods that, although delicious, are detrimental to your breath.

Dr. Harold Katz, developer of the TheraBreath line of oral products and known as “America’s Bad Breath Doctor” says there are certain holiday foods to avoid – if you don’t want to be avoided.

“Some of the most popular holiday foods can really stink up your mouth, which is especially lethal at a loud gathering when you have to lean in close to have conversations,” says Dr. Katz, who is also a dentist and bacteriologist.  Bad breath bacteria react immediately to changes in the oral environment and unfortunately many Holiday foods provide the fuel which they convert into volatile Sulfur compounds, including Hydrogen Sulfide (the rotten egg smell).

Some festive foods to avoid (or at least eat/drink in moderation):

Alcohol: Chemically, it’s a dehydrating agent – and dry mouth is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Furthermore, many old-fashioned mouthwash formulas contain high concentrations of alcohol which may exacerbate your dry mouth. Look for alcohol-free oxygenating oral products instead.

Ham: Ham is not only high in protein, but the way it’s prepared (salted, cured, smoked) also leads to dry mouth.

Garlic and onions: Already loaded with smelly sulfur compounds. Duh!

Wine and cheese: This classic party snack packs a double bad-breath wallop: the wine is dehydrating, and the cheese is rich in proteins, easily converted into sour milk odors.

Cranberry sauce: If it’s loaded with sugar, as most canned cranberry sauces are, it’s going to be no better for your teeth (and your breath) than a slice of cake.

Dr. Katz says since holidays are a time of close personal contact with large groups of people, it would be prudent for people to at least know which foods cause the worst bad breath. So don't be that person, stick to the peppermint desserts and carry some gum! 

Have you ever wondered about the facts and figures of the Tucson Meet Yourself festival? It takes a lot of people, a lot of time and a lot of food to put on one of Tucson's most loved events:

Interesting Factoids and Figures about TMY:

• Local officials estimate that there will be 120,000 people in total attendance
  
• There will be 100 performance acts
  
• 56 food vendors
  
• 100 folk artists
  
• 80 community agencies
  
• 750 volunteers
  
• $3.5 million in total economic impact expected
  
• 5,280 pounds of food waste to be composted
  
• 20,000 pounds of total waste was produced last year
  
• 50 percent landfill diversion rate at last year’s festival
  
• The event costs about $330,000 to put on
  
• 27 organizations sponsor the event to make it free to the public
  
• Last year a single booth made $10,000 over the course of three days
  
• $133,000 were withdrawn from nearby ATMs last year
  

So, pull out your cash early, recycle your trash and try to see as many performers as possible! For more information on the festival as a whole, click here.

Get a load of this: the Screening Room will get extra kinky this October with Dan Savage’s HUMP!, a home-made-porn film festival. The festival features short porno flicks, five minutes or less, all made by people who aren’t porn stars but get to be one for the weekend.

The self-proclaimed filmmakers and stars shoot their movies to show the audience what they think is sexy, wild or wacky. The films showcase a veritable pornocopia of different body sizes, shapes, ages, colors, sexualities, genders, kinks, and fetishes.

"It’s hard to believe HUMP! has been going strong for 13 years,” Savage says of the festival. “We are always amazed at the variety of films we receive each year. Choosing the films that ultimately make it in the festival is a huge challenge. Audiences will be watching things that take them outside their comfort zones. Some of it is hilarious. Some of it is romantic. Some of it is totally raunchy.” 

So if you feel like experiencing over a dozen new and adventurous homemade movies with a bunch of strangers in a dark room, get on over to The Screening Room. All-in-all, HUMP! is a celebration of sexual freedom and inclusion.

See the HUMP! Film Fest Oct. 11 - 13. The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. $20. humpfilmfest.com

It usually isn’t until after the yoga stretch that we find ourselves gleaming with fresh sweat, and if we are glowing, it’s a glow of accomplishment. If you want to be glowing the whole time, Yoga Oasis on Campbell is offering a “Yo- Glow” class this Saturday, September 8th at 7:30 p.m.

According to Wellnessliving, combination classes are one of the hottest trends in the yoga world right now. Have you noticed the amount of beer and yoga classes around town? Or maybe dogs and yoga? Goats even? This is one of three upcoming, hour-long vinyasa style yoga sessions in which yogis can stretch in glowing body paint or accessorize with glowing bracelets.

Yoga Oasis is glowing all out with a black light lit ambiance, and is even providing bracelets and body paint with admission. Their website advises to come early for the body paint ($10 in advance, $12 day at the door). BYOM (Bring your own mat)

What is Eller College of Management up to these days? Figuring out if you are wearing that Justin Bieber t-shirt because you are a legitimate Belieber or because you are being ironic. Trucker hats, are they really cool? PBR, is it actually good? Or is it all in the name of irony?

New research by Assistant Professor of Marketing at Eller, Caleb Warren and his research partner Gina Mohr, Associate Professor of Marketing at Colorado State University, indicates that consuming brands ironically is a way to secretly signal our identity and beliefs to those that know us.

The researchers define this phenomenon as ironic consumption. The term includes using a brand or adopting a behavior as an attempt to signal identity, trait or belief opposite from their perceived conventional meaning of the product, according to a UA press release.

"Throughout history, consumers have re-appropriated products to make a statement," Warren said in the press release. "For example, trucker hats were at one time low-status products and originally came into fashion through rural workers. They've since been revalued by young urban consumers."

Ironic consumption allows for an in-group and and out-group. Those who get it, and those who don't.

Another way that ironic consumption is used is to signal status. Researchers use the example of Bruno Mars eating at a Waffle House. It wouldn't be ironic if the star ate at a mid-level restaurant, but the contrast of an extremely rich celebrity and the humble walls of a Waffle House are where the irony comes in.

Warren and Mohr also found that ironic consumption can offend some audiences, for example those who like Justin Bieber might be offended at a hard rocker wearing Bieber's shirt in a way that makes fun of him or his fans.

Those that are wearing a Bieber shirt ironically, however, probably like the idea of offending his fans. It's all part of the irony.

Ironic consumption can also safeguard those who might actually like the subject of their consumption, researchers found.

"Consuming something ironically is also a security measure," Warren said in the press release. "No one wants to be mocked for watching, say, Jersey Shore. But if you so do with a behavior that suggests you're watching ironically, you won't suffer any stigma related to the product."

So, to those hard rockers out there in Bieber shirts, is it too late now to say sorry?

Why is this relevant to professors of marketing you ask? Ironic consumption can often lead to a new and desired brand identity. According to the press release, Pabst Blue Ribbon is an example of a product with an uncool legacy and known to be not the best product, that through ironic consumption has become the chosen brew of many-a-hipster.

The newest ironic consumption trend? Remember when big white ugly sneakers used to be just for dads? Think again. 

Chris LaBoda is on a mission to find a piece of family history. Last April, a telescope was sold from his parent's estate in Tucson. This particular telescope is is special: LaBoda's father built it by hand in the '60s.

Telescope is about 5' long, white with spotting scope on the side and wood tripod. Came in a nice wood box with green felt where the telescope came in contacted the wood ...

My father, who was a mechanical engineer, built it and polished the lenses by hand back in the 60’s. We used to set it up in the backyard during the summer to look at stars.

The telescope was sold by a family member and a real estate agent without the consent of LaBoda, who is offering a $100 reward to anyone who finds it. If you see or hear anything pertaining to the telescope, reach out to LaBoda on Facebook and help him out.

Whiskey lovers, Good Oak Bar (316 E. Congress St.) is calling your name this Thursday, Sept. 29.

If you want an education experience all about whiskey, get excited because Charlie Garrison of Garrison Brothers Distillery in Texas is hosting a seminar at the bar from 3-4 p.m. You'll want to RSVP for the event and it'll cost you $10.

The party really begins at the 6 p.m. with Garrison and Tucson's Stephen Paul from Hamilton Distillery, both of whom will be hanging out during the event to talk about their original whiskeys.

What more can you ask for? Good Oak promises bourbon-friendly food (including barbecue burgers!) on the menu, plus country and blues vinyl all night long.

There's an event for all the fruit fanatics out there and it's coming to you this Saturday, Sept. 24. The Annual Pomegranate Festival will be coming to Tucson's Mission Gardens, 946 W. Mission Ln., for the second year in row from 9-11 a.m. 

Brought on by the Friends of Tucson's Birthplace in conjunction with the Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture, the festival is a free, all ages event. Festival goers can enjoy the wide variety of pomegranates with other fruit enthusiasts as well as music, tastings and presentations from Jesus Garcia, Nina Sajovec and Alfredo Gonzalez.

You don't want to be caught off guard of your fruit knowledge at this homage to pomegranates.

Here are few fruit facts to know before going to the Pomegranate Festival:

- Pomegranates are in season from September to February in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the fruit is in season from March to May.

- The pomegranate originated from the Mediterranean area. Today, it is cultivated all over the world including California and Arizona.

- In ancient Greece, the pomegranate was regarded as "the fruit of the dead."   

Click here for more information on the festival.

Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller’s embattled communications staffer, Timothy DesJarlais, quit his job on Friday, June 3.

In case you're counting, that makes at least 11 staff members that Miller has burned through since taking office three-and-a-half years ago.

DesJarlais, 19, had been in the media spotlight every since a strange news website, the Arizona Daily Herald, emerged in mid-May. The Herald was purportedly the work of editor Jim Falken, who does not exist, except as an alias that DesJarlias has used in online gaming and various odd projects, such as the development of a fantasy nation called the Independent Republic of Dido Place, named for the street on which DesJarlais lives with his parents.

Despite the links between DesJarlais and Jim Falken, DesJarlais has denied being behind the Arizona Daily Herald and initially pointed the finger at another Republican activist, John Dalton. After Miller leveled accusations at Dalton, however, Dalton told the press that he didn’t know anything about the entire bizarre affair, but he would like someone to get to the bottom of it so he could take legal action against whoever was pretending to be him. And then another sketchy email arrived in the email boxes of various members of the media and political activists, claiming to be from another John Dalton who took the blame for the entire affair—except no one seems to be able to locate this second John Dalton, which suggests that he also does not exist. Or at least that what is suggests to us—Miller and her allies say that that the emergence of a second John Dalton who exists only as someone who sends emails clears DesJarlais of all charges.

Nonetheless, Miller has stood behind DesJarlais, suggesting the media should be ashamed of following the story and besmirching her staffer’s good name. Miller and DesJarlais went as far as to file reports with the FBI alleging identity theft.

If all this seems absurdly complicated—well, it is, so if you want the details, you should check our coverage here, here and here.

In the meantime, we’re waiting to see if the FBI has any interest in investigating this nonsense. And Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson has asked County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry to look into what’s going on. Huckelberry has asked Sheriff Chris Nanos to check in with the FBI to find out if an investigation is underway. Huckelberry is holding off on any other action until the county is able to fulfill a massive public-records request from the Tucson Sentinel that might get to the bottom of whether DesJarlais was moonlighting as Jim Falken, intrepid reporter for the Arizona Daily Herald—and, more importantly, whether Miller had any knowledge of that project.
Huckelberry said those records could “shed some light as to any county equipment being used on premises or owned by the county—computer systems or phones or anything else, or employees doing similar actions while being paid by the public.”

We hear that Miller’s office is now reviewing thousands of pages related to that record request, so it might be awhile before we get to the bottom of this. Stay tuned!