When I found out about 14 months ago that the Tucson Weekly would be hosting the annual convention of the Association of
Alternative Newsweeklies—and therefore bringing hundreds of
alternative-newspaper folks to our hot, dusty burg—I panicked a
little, I must admit.

My fear, posed as a question: How in the hell could we manage to
make Tucson look really cool and happening on a slow summer
weekend?

The fears never had anything to do with Tucson’s greatness: While
our city indeed has its problems, it also features innumerable amazing
aspects. My fears stemmed from the fact that those amazing aspects
sometimes take a little digging to find. Let’s face it: Tucson, on the
surface, can be unimpressive. Just drive down Broadway Boulevard from
Euclid Avenue to Swan Road, and tell me how it looks to the untrained
eye.

Well, the convention has come and gone, and now I know: I didn’t
have anything to worry about. Tucson’s coolness shined through quite
brightly, no problem.

I underestimated our city. I underestimated the power of amazing
musical acts like Sergio y la Orkesta, the Sand Rubies and the Grams
and Krieger Band. I underestimated the power of the beautiful Sonoran
Desert. I underestimated the friendliness of the folks at the six dive
bars we’d end up touring. I underestimated the wonderful service we’d
get from the people at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort, Maynards
Market and Kitchen, the Marshall Foundation/Main Gate Square and the
various transportation companies that helped us.

Due to Tucson’s inherent greatness (and the hard work of Laura
Horvath, Jill A’Hearn, Debra Silvestrin and countless others), we were
able to send all of these newspaper folks from around the United
States, Canada and even Australia back home with a very fine image of
Tucson.

Thanks to everyone who helped us with the convention. And
confidential to the Old Pueblo: I’ll never underestimate you again.

This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2009.

3 replies on “Our Happening Burg”

  1. Dear Jimmy,I hope someone who came for the alternative newspaper convention will feel the way you do and want to buy a second home in Tucson, preferably mine so I can get the hell out of Tucson and never come back.
    I have a beautiful decorator furnished condo at La Paloma I will sell for $90,000 less than it would have sold for two years ago. Why I ever bought a second home in Tucson I’ll never know. Will pay you $2,000 bird dog fee if you send a buyer to me. You meet a lot of people in Tucson, some of them must like Tucson and might want to buy. I am asking everyone, you know the old saying, “If you ask enough people, someone will say yes.”
    Send the prospective condo owner to me and if they buy $2,000 will be yours.

  2. So, what, you previously thought Grams & Krieger sucked or were a light weight outfit, or what? Where you been ,Bro?

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