At some point in the next few weeks, when you head to the Tucson Weekly Facebook page (and we hope you join your 7,517 best friends on there, because it is awesome), you'll notice that Mark Zuckerberg and company will have imposed their Timeline will on our once quaint and largely readable Facebook spot.
Right now, we're tinkering with the layout tools to try to make our page as user-friendly as possible, but the first time I logged in to preview the Timeline-enhanced page, a story popped up on the top of the page from 2007, which isn't exactly helpful.
Apparently, each user will see a personalized version of the Weekly page, including what your friends are saying about us (hopefully nice things, but you never know), so it'll be a little bit of a challenge for us to manage the experience. There will be a few nice elements, like the ability for us to "pin" a post to the top (like a current contest or an important ongoing story), as well as a message center that will provide a new way for you to get in touch with someone here.
On the other hand, will we go back and add past pre-Facebook events (our first paper, etc.) to the Timeline? Probably not. And we're wondering: Is the giant Timeline image good for the user, or for us, since we get to show off our brand a bit?
We'll try it out together, I suppose ... since we don't have any choice.
The week on The Range
We updated the latest news on Rep. Daniel Patterson, who was served by the Pima County Sheriff's Department on Friday, March 2; announced Steve Farley's bid to serve in the new 2nd Congressional District; watched a strange campaign ad from Herman Cain, who we thought wasn't campaigning anymore; talked to Sarah Gonzales about her sixth-place finish in the Arizona Republican presidential primary; tried to figure out what the post office is thinking by closing down the Cherrybell center; grimaced at Rush Limbaugh's latest debacle; attempted to make sense of Joe Arpaio's quest to expose President Obama as a Kenyan citizen; and discussed the highlights of this week's political events with Trent Humphries and Rodd McLeod on Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable, with your host, Jim Nintzel.
We let you know that you can have food from some of Tucson's local restaurants delivered to you (assuming you live in the university area); ate our way through the cuisine of other countries at the Turkish Cultural Center; let you know that more teas from around the world are now in town; and learned a little bit about sustainable fishing, courtesy of a Portland, Ore., sushi restaurant.
We noted a daredevil whose world-record attempt went wrong; gave away tickets to Boz Scaggs and Steve Aoki; shared photos of Thierry Henry and David Beckham at the Desert Diamond Cup, and Merle Haggard at the Fox; discussed zeppelins, Mitt Romney and soccer with John Hodgman; listened to Amos Lee's show on PBS, and John Legend's Bruce Springsteen cover on Jimmy Fallon's show; let you know that O'Brother isn't a country band; wished the One Million Moms would just go away already; asked you to consider adopting our Critter of the Week; bought our tickets for Piranha 3DD; and started stocking up on sun block for when the sun decides to destroy us.
Comment of the week
"I'm gonna open a next-day mail bidness—a buck a letter. If you really, really, really CAN'T wait three to five days because that bill's gotta get there ... then someone should be able (and by that, I mean profit) to help!!!"
—TucsonWeekly.com user "GuiseppeKnows" has a solution for the Cherrybell problem ("Tucson Mail Service Going to Hell in a Hand Basket," The Range, March 2).
Best of WWW
Looking at the heavily wrinkled shirt and somewhat faded black jeans which I am currently wearing, it's clear: I'm no fashion expert. Thankfully, current Tucson Weekly intern Michelle A. Weiss actually knows quite a bit about what's going on with clothes, accessories and Tucson's boutiques and shops. Her video profile of Zoë Boutique and its owner, Lissa Marinaro, offers an interesting look at what it's like to sell cool products on a personal, local level; where she finds the items she stocks in the store; and what's happening in Tucson, fashion-wise. The video is also a good reminder to consider local merchants before heading to the mall.
