This weekend, (Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19 and 20), the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum offers its annual Mineral Madness show and sale.

Some of the family activities include Minerals in My Chocolate, Mineral Wheel of Fortune, Meterorites, Finding Fossils and Painting With Minerals. Children are encouraged to bring their own egg carton so they can collect free rocks or mineral specimens.The family events take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The fesitval itself runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Baldwin Education Building.

The show will also offer great bargains, with some specimens selling for 50 cents. Visit www.desertmuseum.org for more information.

A four-day exhibition and dialogue series on understanding violence will be presented at the UA Student Union Memorial Center, Tucson room, from Friday, Jan. 19, through Tuesday, Jan. 22. The free event features interactive lectures, discussion groups, children's activities and student-created videos.

From a press release:

This is an SGI (Soka Gakkai International) youth initiative which started after the shooting and deaths at Columbine and has travelled the world since. It is aimed at educating young people and adults to better identify and counteract the root causes of violence. Lectures, dialogues, youth activities and a workshop series by Tucson professors and community and youth leaders will bring expertise and awareness to develop solutions to the causes of the violence we may experience in our personal lives, families, schools, communities, and the world. Everyone is welcome to attend and add their voice to the discussions. Topics include: Bullying, body awareness/movements to release anger, setting boundaries, mastering emotions, poetry, leadership, overcoming violence in relationships, using language to create peace.

The exhibition hours are Saturday, Jan. 19, from 2 to 5 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 20, and Monday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday, Jan. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Richard Ruiz, UA Dept Head and Director of Mexican American Studies. He will present "Creating a Language of Peace and Reconciliation in the United States" at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit www.VovTucson.com.

When Patrick Dempsey isn't too busy starring in TV shows like Grey's Anatomy or blockbusters like the latest Transformers flick, he apparently enjoys leading groups of cyclists through Tucson's Armory Park neighborhood, which is exactly where he'll be on Sunday afternoon.

The event, called "Ride On, Tucson!" will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. this Sunday, and will include a 2.2-mile ride, looping through the area around the park. Tom Danielson, a professional cyclist who has placed within the top 10 at the Tour de France, and Peter Flax, editor-in-chief of Bicycling Magazine, will also host the event and lead the ride alongside Dempsey. According to the event's Facebook page, Dempsey and Danielson formulated the idea "to celebrate the great bicycling community in Tucson and Pima County."

The event will also feature live music at Armory Park from Jovert, the Tucson Magnet High School's steel drum band, and local progressive bluegrass band Determined Luddites. Attendees can also receive free event posters signed by Dempsey and Danielson.

The event is free, and bicycle mechanics will be on-hand to change flat tires and make other small repairs at no cost. Helmets are required to participate, and the event is scheduled to happen rain or shine. More information on the event can be found here.

When we talked to Janice Nargi in November, the registered nurse and mother of two sons, was starting a series of community forums on drug use, in particular heroin and its devastating effects. Nargi's experience with the drug is personal, one of her son is continuing his recovery from heroin addiction. Her experience trying to find help forhim and for her family encouraged her to create There Is No Hero in Heroin, also the title of a book she wrote on her experience.

Nargi's forums continue, tonight, Thursday, January 17, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tucson Police Station's Miracle Mile TPD Substation. The topic of the evening is a screening of Neuqua on Drugs:

A raw DVD produced by high school students after the tragic overdoses of their of their classmates! It is real, raw, honest and what ever parent, teacher and principal needs to hear. Heroin is in your town too! There is no hero in heroin, only those who overcome!

For more information on Nargi's group, call their helpline at 329-3098, or visit tinhihfoundation-com.webs.com.

More than two decades after a Judi Bari was nearly killed by a bomb placed beneath her car seat, the campaign continues to find those responsible for attacking the prominent Earth First! activist. Their gritty crusade is detailed in the Arizona premier of Who Bombed Judi Bari?, a documentary playing Friday through Sunday at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.

The film is produced by Darryl Cherney, who was next to Bari in the car that day in Oakland. Both were deeply engaged in a fight to save old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, and the bomb exploded while the pair was on musical organizing tour for three months of demonstrations called Redwood Summer.

Though they’d received endless death threats, both Bari and Cherney were arrested by the FBI and after the attack and accused of bombing themselves. They later successfully sued the federal government for civil rights violations, and were awarded $4 million. But that victory came too late for Bari, who succumbed to cancer seven years after the bombing devastated her body.

According to a press release, Who Bombed Judi Bari? “is composed of archival footage including a special Humboldt County live version of "Angel from Montgomery" performed by Bonnie Raitt; a live version of "Shady Grove" by the David Grisman Quintet performing at a tree-sit; rare footage of Woody Harrelson climbing the Golden Gate Bridge as an act of civil disobedience; a tribute to Judi Bari by California Governor Jerry Brown; and a powerful press conference held by the late, legendary environmentalist, David Brower. The movie is narrated by Judi Bari herself, captured on videotape as she told her life story through her deathbed testimony. As she weaves her tale under oath, the movie flashes back and forth to footage of the daring, action-packed, yet often humorous and musical scenes she depicts.”

Who Bombed Judi Bari? will show at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18, and at 6 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, followed by a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Jan. 20. The screenings will be accompanied by discussions with Cherney. Admission is $8 on Friday and Saturday, and $6 for the Sunday matinee. For information, go to https://www.facebook.com/tucsonfilm.

This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun: Local Rabbi Sam Cohon will celebrates the 10th anniversary of doing his Too Jewish Radio Show with Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends radio show with an old-fashioned variety show at the Fox Theatre. On hand for the program: Comedian Richard Lewis, as well as Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Congressman Ron Barber, local musicians and more.

We'll fill you in on the details as we get closer to the March 2 show, but here's the press release:

The “Too Jewish Radio Show with Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends” will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a live radio variety show broadcast from the Fox Theatre on March 2, 2013 featuring comedian Richard Lewis, Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends, Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Congressman Ron Barber, the Avanim Rock Band, local band Boreas, and a variety of other talented contributors.

Since its Tucson debut August 4, 2002, “Too Jewish” has aired every Sunday morning in Southern Arizona, and has featured such prominent guests as legendary singer and recording artist Neil Sedaka, actor Ed Asner, musician Kinky Friedman, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, comedian Lily Tomlin, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and many more. It is a lively and fast-paced show that features music, arts, culture and comedy and that makes Judaism accessible, interesting, and fun for listeners of all ages.

After a long, arduous process, we finally have our finalists for the GIF contest.

All told, we ended up with six viable candidates for the crown of Tucson's Best GIF, but after input from the good folks at Lindy's on Fourth, we've cut the list in half.

You candidates are:

St. Augustine Cathedral, 11 p.m., by Andrew Ling

• Andrew Ling

December Sunset, by DeanK

• DeanK

Matt Scott Tastes the Rainbow, by mikij

• mikij

Click here to vote for your favorite.

We'll be closing voting at the end of Wednesday, and announcing the final winner Thursday.

You know what makes me happy? Anything made by Hayao Miyazaki (and a few other things). Get to the Hayao Miyazaki: A Studio Ghibli Retrospective at The Loft this month:

All through the month of January, The Loft Cinema is proud to present a nationally-touring retrospective series celebrating the work of legendary, Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, featuring newly struck 35mm prints of the director’s feature films from Japan’s famed Studio Ghibli animation house. Don’t miss your chance to see such Miyazaki favorites as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and more on the big screen in this smash-hit collection that has wowed audiences across the country — and now it’s here at The Loft! Most films in the series will be presented in both subtitled and English dubbed versions.

Presented by GKIDS.

Individual Films: $8.00 general admission • $6.00 Loft members & children 12 and under.
Series Passes: $55 general admission • $40 members & children 12 and under.

Gabe Zimmerman, the late constituent's services director for former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was killed during the shooting tragedy of Jan. 8, 2011, loved the outdoors. When we interviewed his father Ross last year for our Jan. 8 one-year anniversary issue, he talked about Gabe's love of hiking, saying that his son had hiked dozens of trails in the ranges that surround Tucson.

"He thought it was normal to do things like trot across the Grand Canyon with his dad," Ross told us during the interview.

That love of hiking and the outdoors is why Gabe's extended family created Beyond Tucson, an annual event to encourage Tucson folks to get outdoors. For this year's events, go here.

Beyond kicks off Saturday, Jan. 5, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Children's Museum and Armory Park. From their press release:

“BEYOND - Together We Move,” hosted in partnership with the Children’s Museum and Armory Park Senior Center, will take place will take place Saturday, January 5th from 12 pm to 4 pm at Armory Park and the Children’s Museum.

Admission is free for the day at the Children’s Museum and the Armory Park Senior Community Center will host an Anniversary Open House. A range of healthy, body-moving activities will take place both inside their facilities and outside, encompassing the block. Sample of activities are: Wee Move Fit, Yoga, Tai-Chi, Ballroom Dancing, Bocce, Shuffleboard, Jumping Castles, Rock Climbing.

Main Stage:
Congressman Barber will speak at 1 pm.
Mayor Rothschild will speak at 2:45 pm.
Uzo Dance Method will teach Beyonce’s “Move Your Body” Flash Workout 1:15 pm
Community Dance-fest: Jazzercise at 12:15 pm; Zumba at 2:00 pm, Line Dancing at 3:30 pm

Children’s Museum Stage:
Stories that Soar performances at 12:30 pm and again at 3:00 pm
Twist-its Double Dutch Group at 1:15 pm
Children Carrying Sound Samba Club at 2:00 pm

Park:
12 pm: Livable Streets Alliance and El Grupo will lead Kidical Mass, a family friendly bicycle ride.
2 pm: Scoville History Tour of surrounding neighborhood
3 pm: Meet Me at Maynards Run/Walk with Mayor Rothschild (T.E.A.M. Tucson health initiative)
12 — 4 pm: Health Fair by Tucson Medical Center and Community Partnership Southern Arizona

Other activities include:
· ~Bens Bells “Kindness Coin Treasure Hunt” around the park and museum.

· ~Community Renewal & TUSD students neighborhood service project.

· ~Ironwood Tree Forest’s “Urban Nature Walk” for teens and their families.

· ~Activate Tucson’s “Health and Fitness Scavenger Hunt” of downtown Tucson.

· ~Self - guided “Public Art Tour” of surrounding neighborhoods by WAMO Arts Group

· ~Obstacle Course and team building activities by Cross Fit Kids and Grow to be Fit

BEYOND is an annual community-wide outdoor event that occurs the first Saturday of every year to commemorate the anniversary of January 8 tragedy. The event was initiated by members of Gabe Zimmerman’s family and is dedicated to improving the health and well being of our community by providing opportunities for people to come together, get outside and be physically active on this day.

• Jim Nintzel

The largest disco ball in North American history was under construction this afternoon at Hotel Congress in advance of the big Studio 54 New Year's Eve party tonight.

That sounds like fun, as do the big downtown dance parties at the Rialto Theatre and Playground; Paula Poundstone's set at the Fox Theatre; and the Loft Cinema's screening of The Poseidon Adventure, which is timed to start so that everyone in the theater can celebrate the new year at the same time as the doomed passengers aboard the ship do.

You can find the Weekly's roundup of New Year's Eve stuff right here.