Thursday 17
BANNED ALL OVER. In 1965, Kurt Maetzig made a film so offensive it didn't hit theaters until nearly 25 years later.
The Rabbit Is Me isn't pornographic or overtly violent. But making a film that encourages open discussion about democracy in then-communist East Germany was tantamount to treason. Once the wall fell in 1989, this little film slipped out to the west.
It's based on a novel by Manfred Bieler and follows a 19-year-old East German woman who's denied university admission because her brother is in jail for political reasons. She later falls in love with the judge who passed the harsh sentence. (Gosh, maybe the god-awful writers at Judging Amy need to check this one out for an upcoming plot scenario.)
The free screening begins at 7:30 p.m. in the UA's Modern Languages Auditorium located below Second Street near Mountain Avenue. Thank the Department of German Studies for finding this gem and showing it as part of their regular Thursday Film Series.
Friday 18
THIS IS A TEST. If this were a real dance event, we would have directed you to shell out more money than you wanted to and made you put on a fancy dress or tux.
No less real, though, are the fears of the performers at No Frills, Cheap Thrills, Come as You Are, Dance Happenin'. Encouraging an atmosphere of experimentation and risk in dance and performance art, No Frills highlights Zuzi Dance Company members in an informal performance. Artists of all levels share pieces in varying stages of development. It's a chance to watch the creative process. Be nice, now.
Two shows start at 8 p.m., tonight and tomorrow at Zuzi's Little Theater located at 738 N. Fifth Ave. Call with questions at 629-0237.
SICKER AND MORE TWISTED. How long must we put up with the Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation? According to Spike and Mike, we need the festival to offset the ultra-PC conservatism of our culture. It's an antidote -- a mecca for rude, crude and completely lewd animated short films.
The 2002 feature-length collection gives a home to films too crass to be screened anywhere else. Here are some highlights: The Happy Tree Friends, eight episodes of cute and cuddly critters that all end with a bang; 1300cc, a drug-induced bike ride through countryside twists and a moralistic plot; Pickle's Day Out, where a pickle and tomato share their opposing views of religion.
There are specials, too: discounted tickets if you come with a mullet hairstyle or a free shirt and video to those who come dressed like a hillbilly with a live pig (the theme this year is inbreeding). Your ticket comes with a barf bag and glow-in-the-dark fangs.
Run to the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., for your screening this week: tonight and Saturday at 7:15 p.m., 9:30 or midnight and Sunday through Thursday at 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. After that it runs at midnight only, Fridays and Saturdays through November 16. Tickets cost $7 and you must prove you're old enough to see these flicks (over 18). Call 795-7777 to confirm show times.
Saturday 19
MASSIVE ATTACK. More than two dozen community organizations have said, "Enough!"
The Massive Tucson Rally to End War demands that the spending of U.S. resources be directed at poverty, education and health care here at home rather than sending troops to Iraq. Now, before you get your knickers in a twist, use your head and join the Tucson Peace Action Coalition at 9:30 a.m. for a peace demonstration. (You can't be against that, can you?). Demonstrators meet in front of Old Main due east of Main Gate at University Boulevard and Park Avenue. At 10 a.m., march to DeAnza Park at the corner of Speedway Boulevard and Stone Avenue for an 11:30 a.m. Peace Rally.
Community leaders opposed to Bush's mad rush to war have a few things to say (or shout) and, of course, what's a demonstration without live music and entertainment. Questions? Call 624-4789.
YEASTY ART. How, you might be wondering, does one bridge the
gap between conceptual art and folk art, between literal food product and artistic and cultural product?
Two local artists have come up with a possible answer.
The Bread Bed is a one-night event of art and bread cooked up by Megan Valanidas and Gwyneth Scally. They've created a large-scale bed sculpture using the experimental media of bread to address concepts of domesticity and human comfort.
Think about it. Throughout history, bread has been highly symbolic. It
was the body of Christ, it was the unleavened food of the Hebrews in flight, its theft meant death by guillotine in the French Revolution. In Western
tradition, bread is the ultimate symbol of nourishment. And the bed is the ultimate symbol of shelter: it's the location of birth, death, sleep,
sickness, sex and dreams. As an art piece, Valanidas and Scally use whimsical humor to explore both the joys and dangers of bed and bread.
From 7 to 9 p.m., stop by the only fitting venue for a project such as this--The Small Planet Bakery at 411 N. Seventh Ave. (by the railroad tracks, one block east of the Stone Avenue underpass and south of Sixth Street). Live music and refreshments will be provided. (Toast and jam, perhaps?) The show is sponsored by Small Planet Bakery with help from their neighbors at BICAS. Call 791-7463 for details.
THE BASICS. There are paintings. There are stories.
In conjunction with the Arizona State Museum's exhibit featuring American Indian paintings, artist Geronima Montoya visits with kids to share stories and, you guessed it, paintings.
The San Juan Pueblo artist and her sons Paul and Robert offer a personalized view of the exhibit. A Master Art Class and a Master Creative Writing Class (with poet Sherwin Bitsui of ArtsReach) are geared for kids between the ages of 8 and 16 and their adult guardian. Everyone gets to add a creative mark to the museum's gigantic sidewalk mural. Plus there's a game of finding corn images in the exhibit and a session on using a mano y metate to grind corn.
It's free and takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the museum, located northeast of the UA's Main Gate at Park Avenue and University Boulevard. On Friday at 7:30 p.m., the Montoya's share stories of their lives and art through a slide lecture held at CESL auditorium, just east of the museum. Reception, book signing and exhibition viewing follow. Admission is $5 for ASM members, $8 adults, free to students. Call 626-2973 for more information on both events.
WHO'S WHO OF CONSERVATION. Many people who are working to preserve the natural heritage of the Sky Islands borderlands ecoregion converge today at a conference to focus on protection and restoration of land and wildlife.
Sky Islands 2002: Restoring Connections features more than 30 presentations by private citizens, scientists, government agencies and land protection organizations. Issues include the importance of private lands as wildlife movement linkages, finding solutions to the wildlands fire question and the creation of an ecoregional Wildlands Network.
"The intent of the conference is to celebrate the tremendous biological diversity and globally significant ecology of the Sky Islands region," says Kim Vacariu, wildlands project southwest representative. "It's about networks."
The full day of presentations at the Radisson Hotel City Center, Broadway Boulevard and Granada Avenue, is followed by a banquet featuring conservation awards and keynote by conservationist, activist and author Dave Foreman. It's followed outdoors at La Placita by Aldo Leopold: The Good Life, a presentation by Richard Bodner, and a concert by the Dana Lyons Band.
The conference is free and open to the public and there's an admission charge for the evening events. For a complete agenda, see skyislandalliance.org or call 884-0875.
Sunday 20
ONLY IN TUCSON. Here comes Spaghetti Western: Italian Wine Celebration. There's Italian and Southwestern food. There's bocce ball and horseshoes. (When's the last time you played those?) There's horseback riding and dancing to a Texas swing band. All as an excuse to taste, savor and learn about Italian wines.
It's starts at 2 p.m. and goes until 5 p.m. at the stables at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort located at 5601 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. Cost is $55 per person. Don't forget to call for reservations at 529-3500.
LOST AND FOUND. Thousands of innocent children are fleeing the violence of Sudan's internal conflict. They walk hundreds of miles on foot (imagine your kids doing this) through the hostile East African desert. They die of starvation, thirst or attack by wild animals. Miraculously, many survive and end up in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya--no great reward.
There they form "family" groups-- mostly boys--with older children protecting younger ones. It's here they've been dubbed "The Lost Boys of Sudan" by relief workers, ironically based on Peter Pan's lost boys who clung together to escape a hostile adult world. The lucky ones come to our country and are dispersed throughout communities, attempting to adjust to American culture.
The documentary, The Lost Boys of Sudan, screens at 5 p.m. and includes a potluck dinner and discussion with some of the refugees who now reside in Tucson. It takes place at St. Francis in the Foothills Church at 4625 E. River Road. Call 299-9063 for details.
SNAP SNAP. Forget Sears as your holiday portrait venue this year. Instead, bring the kids, the pets, creative props, sports equipment, a personal talisman or anything else to make your holiday photos stand out.
Focus on MOCA! Get the Picture?! is a one-day snapshot benefit for the Museum of Contemporary Art. Tucson's best photographers are on hand to shoot your family in black and white. Prints will be ready in time for the holidays.
Half-hour sittings are available today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Come early for free make-up and hair-styling prior to your shoot. Photographers include Dan Budnik, Tim Fuller, Steven Meckler, Chris Mooney, Daniel Snyder and Ronn Spencer. Hair and make-up are provided by Spirit Salon. Film processing is offered by Jones Photo. All services are being donated for the benefit.
Cost for museum members is $75 and $100 for non-members. You'll get one very creative and unique print depending on what--or who--you pose with. Non-member fee includes an annual individual membership to MOCA.
It all takes place at the HazMat Gallery at 191 E. Toole Ave. For details, call 624-5019.
Monday 21
WHAT DO WE DO WITH OUR ANCESTORS? Archaeologist Allen Dart, of Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, presents a slide show about the dilemma of what to do when discovering human remains while digging at a site. It's an occupational dilemma. Some researchers think all materials left behind by ancient peoples--including human remains--are fair game for scientific study. Some say no, including many native peoples, who believe grave sites shouldn't be destroyed in the process of digging.
Allen Dart has worked closely with Native Americans in the Southwest for years. He explores the disparate views on how to treat ancestors in the archaeological arena at 7:30 p.m. as part of the monthly meeting of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. The presentation is held in the Duval Auditorium at the University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. It's free and open to the public. Call 798-1201 for information.
Tuesday 22
HARVEST MOON. If you've ever eaten at the tony Janos Restaurant, you've been eating food grown from seeds produced or researched right here in Tucson.
To express his appreciation to the organization that provides the seeds that make the plants that go into his cuisine, Janos Wilder says thanks to Native Seeds/SEARCH. Established 20 years ago, the organization has toiled to conserve traditional crops of the desert Southwest and the vital role these seeds play in native cultures.
The sixth annual Arizona Harvest Dinner takes place at the restaurant at 3770 E. Sunrise Drive at Westin La Paloma Resort and benefits and celebrates many years of native seed conservation. It kicks off with a six-course dinner under Janos' expert hand. Each course features the flavor, texture and temperatures of traditional Southwestern foods. From the desert to the sea to south of the border, you'll find something to munch on.
Dinner costs $150 per person and includes wine, tax and gratuity. Seating is limited so call for reservations at 615-6100. For information about Native Seeds/SEARCH and the goals for the next 20 years, call 622-5561 or visit them at nativeseeds.org or stop by at 526 N. Fourth Ave.
Wednesday 23
PROSEY POETRY. The University of Arizona's Poetry Center makes an exception during its Fall Poetry Series to include a sprinkling of prose writers. Hey, it's OK to shake up the genres.
This week Richard Russo offers insight into the creative process. He's an alumnus of the UA's Creative Writing Program and author of many books, including his newest, Empire Fall--it just won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Russo has taught at the University of Southern Illinois, the Iowa Writer's Workshop and Colby College. In addition to writing fiction, Russo has created screenplays including Nobody's Fool and Twilight. He's currently compiling a short story collection and working on a new novel in coastal Maine where he lives.
Russo shares a few words and reads from his work at 8 p.m. at the UA Modern Languages Auditorium located off Second Street near Mountain Avenue. For information on the free reading, call 626-3765.
