| Cactus League tickets selling despite struggling economy
Tickets to a Chicago Cubs-Chicago White Sox Cactus League matchup were snatched up just minutes after they went on Internet sale last week, a week before they were available at the box office. And several other games are selling rapidly, said Robert Brinton, executive director of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau. Things are looking very good. Brinton, along with Valley hoteliers and other tourism leaders, met Tuesday at the Phoenician Resort to hear from White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, a day before he and fellow major league baseball owners meet in Scottsdale. The White Sox are scheduled to leap from Tucson to the Valley for spring training in 2009, the same year the Los Angeles Dodgers jump cross country to join the Cactus League. Despite Reinsdorfs humorous take on baseball as a business The employees make more than the owners, yet people love them and hate us, Reinsdorf said spring training is big business for local tourism leaders.
India's new star performer
Whether or not the Michelin Guide to Great Britain 2008, launched last week, felt it should give one of its new stars to an Asian restaurant in order to stave off possible criticism of a French bias, I am really glad that it decided to choose Quilon. Travellers to India will know that, outside private homes, posh hotels are usually the best places to find fine Indian cooking. The big hotel groups such as Taj, Oberoi and Sheraton invest heavily in training schemes for chefs and managers and latterly London has felt the benefit. Chefs at all the Michelin-starred Indian restaurants in London - Amaya, Benares, Rasoi Vineet Bhatia, Tamarind and now Quilon - have an Indian hotel background. (Given the historic British affection for Indian food, I wonder when a River Caf of Indian food - the cuisine lovingly produced by a non-indigenous chef/restaurateur - will open.) Sriram Vishwanathan Aylur, chef of Quilon, has worked for the Taj group for 20 years.
Weekend options: Science of Toons
"Animation," the new exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota, invites visitors to step into the world of their favorite cartoons. Featuring characters from the Cartoon Network, the exhibit teaches about early animation and why art and math are important parts to creating shows such as "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends." Other highlights include an animation studio, sound and stage area and cartoon museum. (Through April 27. $8.50-$11. 651-221-9444.) YEAR OF THE RAT Celebrate Chinese New Year at Midtown Global Market. The Hung Vuong Dragon Dance team will circle the market performing the traditional Chinese Dragon Dance. Guests will receive fortune cookies with special offers and New Year's envelopes with prizes that symbolize good fortune and health. (1-3 p.m. Sat. Free. Lake St.
Erratic Gunman's 'Mindless Violence'
Former graduate student Stephen Kazmierczak, 27, wounded 15 others before shooting himself after he failed to take his medication. Mr Obama described the Northern Illinois University attack as "heartbreaking" and offered his sympathies to the loved ones of the victims. Kazmierczak was armed with five handguns during Thursday's ambush attack inside a lecture hall. Two of the weapons, a pump-action Remington shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun, were purchased legally less than a week ago, authorities said. Investigators recovered 48 shell casings and six shotgun shells following the attack, campus Police Chief Donald Grady said. .
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