It's a time for flag waving. It's a time for lights in the sky. It's a time for those three magical letters: BBQ.

The Fourth of July isn't the greatest holiday, because you don't get any presents. It also isn't the most boring, because there's something to do after dinner besides take a nap. Whether you spend the day with family or friends, Democrats or Republicans, Independence Day can be a blast. [Read article]

Most smokers know the importance of having a cigarette to relax after a stressful day. So if you're going to slowly kill yourself, you might as well do it right by smokin' up some sweet shisha in a proper hookah lounge.

When Roger Smiley discovered that there were no full-on hookah lounges in Tucson (apparently the now-defunct Hazy Daze didn't count), he and his wife Sarah decided we needed one. After spending a year researching and setting up shop, the Tucson natives opened Smiley's Ultimate Hookah Lounge on June 5. [Read article]

Nobody has the right to be pissed off by Michael Moore. If you've seen any of Moore's documentaries or his television series TV Nation and The Awful Truth you know his modus operandi: tongue-in-cheek hilarity and brutal imagery. First he makes light of the jokers behind corporate and right-wing America, then shocks your system with a sudden barrage of extreme poverty, violence, death and destruction. [Read article]

Wilco - A Ghost is Born

Sounds Like: A band asleep at the wheel cruising through Texas in the year 2375.

See Also: Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Loose Fur.

Like a 40-year-old with acne, the sophomore slump makes an unwelcome and misplaced return with Wilco's A Ghost is Born.

Wilco's first record, the pleasant but unremarkable A.M., appeared in 1995 and since then their releases have ranged from solid (1999's Summerteeth) to excellent (1996's Being There) to astounding (2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot). [Read article]

Pedro the Lion - Achilles Heel

Sounds Like: Pedro's not a happy man.

See Also: Elliot Smith, John Vanderslice.

Usually, Pedro the Lion, a.k.a. David Bazan, finds miserable narratives to follow through an album or song. On Achilles, he uses broader themes while writing some of his strongest songs to date, but comes away with a less complete album.

On the first track, "Bands With Managers," he cries that, "bands with managers are going places, bands with messy hair and smooth white faces." It's a simple number that sounds full in voice and instrumentation. And it's the sad observation he makes about his hopelessness as an artist that makes this powerful to listen to. This may be the standout track of the album, but the rest isn't much worse. [Read article]