If you've picked up this week's issue before the weekend has passed you by, come see us at the Festival of Books Saturday and Sunday. Jim Nintzel will be doing a panel at some point, we'll have Max Cannon and cover story subject Adam Rex (ask either one to draw you a leprechaun ... I know one of them is quite good at it, but you'll have to guess who) signing stuff on Saturday afternoon and a wheel full of exciting prizes. Note: We cannot guarantee you will find all of the prizes exciting, but who doesn't enjoy spinning wheels! It's like a rotary surprise. I'll be there nearly the entire time and with a few exceptions, I'd really like to meet nearly all of you.
Also, on a largely different note, tickets go on sale Friday for Exile on Congress Street, sponsored by the Tucson Weekly. For a variety of reasons, there won't be a Spring Club Crawl this year, but if you enjoy music, you'll want to head downtown on April 20. Tickets are a real entertainment bargain at $12 in advance and you can see the legendary Dinosaur Jr. at the Rialto, autotuning up-and-comers Polica inside at Congress, hear Latin jams outside on the Congress patio, dance with headphones on at Playground to the Silent Disco, and see a bunch of great local bands at each venue. It really will be a great night for music. It's a different thing than Club Crawl, but unless you're just a terrible person who hates fun, you'll enjoy it just as much.
If movies are more your thing, we're part of a new event at Jasper at Campbell and Skyline. The folks at Casa Video are picking great films from their library and showing them at 7 p.m. each Monday. There are drinks available from the stellar Jasper cocktail menu and inventive snacks to enjoy while the movie plays. Check The Range for what movie's playing each week.
For what it's worth, we might make it to 9,000 Facebook fans by the time you read this, which is a largely meaningless milestone, but still encouraging to me personally that so many of you would be willing to keep up with what we're trying to do here. We haven't had to resort to gimmicks or contest-based trickery unlike some people, so it's a welcome bit of validation that we're doing something right.
Or, at least providing something for people to hate-read on the Internet. We'll take what we can get.