Cavity-filled driver of car involved in accident on I-40 last week arraigned in court with a spectacular history of bench warrants.

Motorcycle gang busts!

President Obama was giving interviews last night like Debbie did Dallas.

9/11, cancer.

The 1980's British Columbia ghost town that time forgot.

Yeti sighting in Nebraska.

George Zimmerman cannot stay out of the news.

Neil Young isn't cool with the petroleum drilling projects based around the Keystone Pipeline.

Onions were so cheap in India, even your momma couldn't cook them all.

Convicted New Delhi rapists to be sentenced tomorrow, possibly will hang.

When we worshiped craven images.

Barber who uses fire to trim hair. Pat Buchanan's hair.

Every child who attended a Santa Fe elementary school made some picture or papier-mâché version of the infamous Zozobra during their academic career. And then, if they were anything like me and my friends, they proceeded to burn at least one of these homemade depictions.

Zozobra, an often-misunderstood tradition, is as much a part of our culture as are green chile roasting and farolitos during Christmastime. For unfamiliar Burqueños or visitors to the state, Zozobra is a 50-foot-tall puppet, deemed “Old Man Gloom,” into which we cast all our troubles every autumn and watch them burn away.

However, as much as Santa Feans appreciate the tradition, very few dream of the day when Zozobra would become a thread in their lives' work. Santa Fe artist Robb Rael is an exception.

Rael organized a group show featuring satirical depictions of Zozobra. The exhibit’s opening reception happens on Sept. 6 from 5 to 8pm, and the show will run through Sept. 15. According to the Albuquerque Journal, Rael's paintings will be shown alongside the work of at least 10 other artists at his business, Get Framed Inc.

Rael’s work has long included this cultural icon. In fact, one of his designs was chosen as the official Zozobra poster in 2009. In general, his paintings tend to contain various New Mexican cultural elements and icons coupled with use of psychedelic colors and patterns. Staring at his bright, fun displays, viewers are challenged to reflect on the meanings behind them.

Though Rael has worked cooperatively with the Kiwanas Club, which hosts the burning of Zozobra, this show is independent of the annual event. While Kiwanas does display depictions of Old Man Gloom, the organization takes care to ensure that he’s not presented in religious or political contexts that may be deemed offensive. On the other hand, Rael sometimes creates to shock people, as he told the Journal.

The show, titled GLÜM – Madder Than the Old Man, will be full of color, culture and wit. Check it out at Get Framed, in the Design Center (418 Cerrillos, Suite 3, Santa Fe).

State Supreme Court orders minimum wage increase back on the November ballot.

There’s a zip line at the Fair this year—and tigers.

Way to go, N.M. organ donors!

Santa Fe’s politicians call for a meeting with Zozobra organizers, saying the event should be more family-friendly.

Slinky blows physics’ mind.

The man who made the anti-Islam film causing violent protests throughout the Middle East is a 55-year-old former criminal and Coptic Christian in California, according to the Associated Press.

Protesters storm the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

An actor from that anti-Islam film says she had no idea they were staring in a propaganda flick.

Meet the $9 recycled cardboard bike that can support a 485-pound rider.

Monica Lewinsky is writing a book, maybe.

Santa Muerte.

“Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff,” says Bob Dylan in response to accusations that he’s plagiarized some of his material.

How to: Turn your wall into a projector screen for $50.

31 rad DIY projects.

The first 1,000 digits of Pi skywritten over San Francisco.

Hobby Lobby doesn’t want the Affordable Care Act to make it cover birth control for employees.

I-25 / Paseo overhaul will be on the ballot in November.

Are you going to Zozobra tonight?

Doug Vaughan sentenced to 12 years for Ponzi scheme.

UNM considers making Lobo Village booze-free.

Ex-President Clinton at the DNC, a recap.

Wheelchair rugby players are rock stars.

Does email cause stress?

Freddie Mercury’s private cultural identity.

Prog awards honor Genesis.

Hungarian artist makes a subway stop magical.

Voyager’s getting close to the edge of the solar system.

Sun burp.

NASA’s Sunita Williams fixes the International Space Station with a toothbrush.

Jennifer Aniston’s going to be in a movie shooting in New Mexico soon.

If you happened to miss Santa Fe's Zozobra, you still have time to get your fear-burning effigy fix this year. El Kookooee, the South Valley's own 30-foot depiction of all things mal, sets ablaze this Sunday at Rio Bravo State Park (west of Isleta off Camino del Valle SW). Beginning at 6 p.m., catch performances by Sultry Kittens Belly Dancers, Bhangra Dance Group, Circulo Solar Ollin Xochipilli Aztec dancers and DJ Genius of Love. At 8 p.m., scribble down your fears, place them inside El Kookooee and watch them go up in smoke. For more info, e-mail info@elkookooee.org or visit elkookooee.org.

Zozobra burns tonight in Santa Fe.

Sunport kills prairie dogs on orders from the feds.

City Council stiffens DWCell-phoning rule.

You probably saw, but Google sped up searches.

Ex-Gov. Gary Johnson contemplates a run at the big White House.

Many black voters who cast a ballot in 2008 won't be back in November, poll says.

Rio Grande teachers high-five after the old principal splits. Students still don't have class schedules.

Ladies love flamboyant dancing.

The president rails against tax cuts for the rich ...

… then asks a Florida minister not to burn the Quran. He says the act would create a "recruitment bonanza" for al Qaida.

London Catholic church offers gay mass.

Castro criticizes communism in Cuba.

Middle-class, American, high school football star matures into a high-ranking kingpin for a Mexican drug cartel. (Growing up, he even had a wooden swing set.)

Rodney King is marrying a juror from his case.

Vitamin B slows Alzheimer's, says study.

She reads Playboy to the blind.

Why do albums come out on Tuesdays?

Blackrock City can kiss my ass. Santa Fe's been burning a giant dude to for way longer and with a lot less hippie.

Yuppers, it's Zozobra time (I want to put that in all caps because I'm so excited). Zozobra is the best day ever in Santa Fe. We all gather on a baseball field and send our gloom away by burning Zozo, or Old Man Gloom.

Side note: Someone tweets under the Old Man Gloom moniker and it's hilarious.

Anyway, Burque, I know you all want to come but driving back after the excitement of seeing a giant puppet go up in flames is a lot. So don't. I mean, come to Zozobra, but don't drive home. You can't crash at my house but you can ride the Rail Runner from the Santa Fe Depot at 11 p.m.

¡QUE VIVA!

Thursday, Sept. 9

3 p.m.

Fort Marcy Park, Santa Fe

zozobra.com

$10

Yesterday Nozlkoff and I took the #516 train to Santa Fe, and after two hours arrived in the rainy capital for the burning of Zozobra. For recent relocaters, troglodytes and people reading this from the Lesser Antilles, Zozobra is an 85 year-old Santa Fe tradition where the effigy of gloom is tortured and burned.

I’d never been, but always thought I would enjoy the strange spectacle.

It was OK.

Santa Fe natives naturally seemed more into it than the others. I fancied the part where they actually tortured and burned the puppet, but standing in a baseball field, packed in like salty little fish, sustaining a substantial contact high while listening to Beatles covers and ... waiting ... is not my idea of fun.

The important thing I did take away from this experience, however, is Step Up to Life by Elmer Murdoch, an glossy, informative booklet about the “pure spiritual milk” of Jesus. Delicious.