Tucson Weekly: Cheap Thrills (June 19

Cheap Thrills FLUFF-FEST: Bring out your house pets for the Humane Society of Tucson's second-annual Pet Fiesta. If last year's festival is any clue--a hermit crab named Speedy ruled--this gathering should be a hoot. You and your animal pal can compete in categories such as best-dressed pet, most unusual pet, owner/pet look-alike and pet King and Queen, topped by the Pet Parade, with all proceeds going to benefit those big-hearted folks of the Human Society. Prizes will be donated by the merchants of Plaza Palomino.
Event runs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19, in the Plaza Palomino, 2970 N. Swan Road. Entry fees are $3 per animal per class; Pet Parade entry is $5 per animal. Call 795-1177 for entry requirements.
HIGH FALUTIN': With the real Independence Day just around the corner, it's only fitting that those dedicated sky-gazers of the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON, should gear up for another public gathering to discuss intergalactic orneriness.
The meeting promises a veritable smorgasbord of all things otherworldly, this time with a focus on those eerie Phoenix lights. And it's a safe bet they ain't talking mild-mannered street lamps.
Speakers on the topic will include author and researcher William Hamilton III, Arizona Skywatch Director Tom King, and Village Labs President Jim Dilettosa
Next comes a discussion of odd sightings in Tasmania, spearheaded by researcher Wendelle C. Stevens of the UFO Pluto Archives.
And according to MUFON State Director Wilma June Scherrer, the speakers are no more obscure than their ethereal topics. "You've seen them on Strange Universe and other TV shows," she says. "Now come hear them in person."
Free meeting runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 21, in the Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road. For details, call 326-0078.

UPTIGHT ONSCREEN. The intriguing VideoTENSIONS series, under the theme "Landscaping the Year 2000," rolls on with a presentation by Cleveland artist Austin Allen.
In honor of Juneteenth, Allen will screen and discuss his feature-length video documentary, Claiming Open Spaces. Allen's work explores the way African-American culture clashes with the design of modern American cities. The piece is both a critical examination of the design and histories of American urban space and "a celebration of leisure, recreation and resistance."
Sponsored by the UA Department of Media Arts, Landscaping the Year 2000 is an ongoing investigation of our environment "as a slate upon which culture, habitation and labor is written and may be read." In other words, it's a piercing look at the landscape around us, one that may appear at first innocuous, but which inherently shapes the trappings of our lives. At the same time, that interior and exterior scenery is constantly on the move. The series attempts to consider such space both in actual, geographic terms, and also metaphorically, drawing on the past and future "for diversity and new thought."
Claiming Open Spaces screens at 7:30 p.m. in the UA Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Building (AME 202), located on the northeast corner of Mountain Avenue and Speedway Boulevard. Admission is free. For information, call 621-7352.

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