Cheap Thrills

KINCAID'S CALL: At age 19, writer Nanci Kincaid married a football coach, raised two daughters, and finally headed to college where she earned an MFA degree.

She didn't have to travel far to research her novel on college football, appropriately titled Balls: her husband is UA head football coach Dick Tomey. Tonight, Kincaid reads from her work in an appearance sponsored by the UA Poetry Center.

Publishers Weekly calls Kincaid "a master at revealing personality through dialogue."

And fellow writer Willie Morris describes Balls as "sad, funny, honest -- and one of the best novels ever written about college football. But this sumptuous roman à clef is about more than that: love, marriage, sex, race and corruption, all set in a vivid milieu where Saturday is the holy day."

The free reading is at 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 8, in the UA Modern Languages Auditorium, east of the Student Union on the main mall. For information, call 321-7760.

JUNK BONDING: Get your hands on goods you won't find in any mall at the Pima County Parks and Recreation-hosted antique fair. Items up for grabs at this celebration of the past include jewelry, furniture and china, along with "collectibles, bric-a-brac and more!"

The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, September 5, at the Lew Sorensen Tanque Verde Center, 11100 E. Tanque Verde Road. Admission is free. Call 740-2680 for information.

UNCOMMON SENSE: Are members of The Common Sense Movement a band of conservative, Clinton-hating wackos, or do they have a legitimate point? Find out when they present the forum Human Rights, Human Wrongs, a seminar addressing the "Albright-Clinton Doctrine," which they say means that the United States no longer respects the sovereignty of foreign countries or international treaties, if those countries violate human rights.

Carried to the extreme, the movement says, "We'll have to bomb all countries of the world -- including our own -- into the Stone Age."

The free forum runs from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, September 4, in the Tucson/Pima Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. For details, call 791-4010.

AVENUE OF FUN: According to the folks running Fourth Avenue, there's more than one way to beat the heat. In fact, they offer a variety of strategies this weekend at their Rendezvous on the Avenue.

This welcome-back party for students includes a musical lineup featuring The Cobras, Willis, Quartal Equinox, DJ Starskee Suave and Buttafly, and Raven's Omen.

There will also be a big, hot sale, with merchants all along the street putting their finest goods on the block. And then comes the granddaddy of cool downs, the dunk tank. Other carnival activities include a duck shoot (of the immortal plastic variety), balloon toss and apple bobbing.

The rendezvous begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, September 4, on Fourth Avenue between University Boulevard and Ninth Street. Admission is free. For details, call 624-5004.