An enterprising 3rd grade student at Georgia O'Keeffe Elementary School named Toby designed these nifty slogan-covered dog tags to help raise money for the Ethiopia Reads charity. In a very short amount of time, the school was able to fully fund the building of a library in Addis Ababa. The brightly colored, laser-engraved accessories—which have been featured on CNN—come with dozens of positive messages and a 4- or 24-inch chain. At a mere $5, they make great stocking stuffers—plus, a portion of the proceeds go toward building more libraries. (Devin O’Leary)
Plenty of big-budget Hollywood movies have been shot here in New Mexico (Transformers, Terminator Salvation), but we've also got our own homegrown film industry filled with talented writers, directors and actors. Here's just a sample of some of the local indie efforts available on DVD.
Persephone Wilson knows a thing or two about children's clothing: She has two daughters of her very own. So the longtime South Valley resident set up her kids’ apparel business, P's Tees, right in her own neighborhood. Wilson's pint-sized artistry is displayed on everything from T-shirts to dresses and onesies, with children’s sizes ranging from newborn to 4T. Wilson’s designs include skulls, lightning bolts and light bulbs—motifs you won’t find at a regular department store.
Give the gift of relaxation with this compendium of New Mexico-made body products. Prices generally range from around $5 for a bar of soap to about $14 for lotions and the like, while a gift set can go for up to $30.
The Range Café began the same way the Alibi did—penniless in the autumn of 1992. (The Range has a month of seniority, opening on Sept. 2 to the Alibi’s Oct. 9.) After inflation, the Alibi is still basically penniless. The Range, meanwhile, has three locations worldwide. And it’s even gotten into the publishing business.
The last meeting of Albuquerque's 18th City Council started with goodbyes to Michael Cadigan and Sally Mayer. There were slight quivers in some councilors' voices as they shared not only warm and fuzzy memories but reminders of the prickly times as well.
Let us pause, briefly, to applaud Mayor Martin Chavez for his efforts on getting Albuquerque “green”—most notably, on just the idea of being “green.” We can have our quibbles on how this effort was done and what was accomplished, but let’s be clear here: We’ve moved well beyond “why.” That is no small accomplishment.
Dateline: South Korea—A would-be motorist has finally passed the written exam for a driver’s license—after her 950th attempt. Cha Sa-Soon, 68, has spent more than 5 million won ($4,200) in application fees and has taken the test on a near-daily basis since April of 2005. Until now, the vegetable seller had failed to score the minimum 60 out of 100 possible points needed to get behind the wheel for her driving test. But police officials in Jeonju, 130 miles south of Seoul, confirmed last Wednesday that Cha finally passed the test with exactly 60 points. Officials were unsure how many times Cha had failed the written exam, but local media put the estimate at 950. Now all she’s got to do is pass the physical driving test.
Legendary B-movie director and president of Troma Films Lloyd Kaufman is returning to New Mexico this weekend (Nov. 20, 21 and 22) for the sixth annual TromaDance New Mexico Film Festival. Starting this Friday night, TromaDance will unhook the leash and let three days’ worth of mind-bending, low-budget, high-trash cinema loose inside the Guild Cinema.
Admire this seemingly French new wave-inspired poster, then see the show on Friday, Nov. 20, 10 p.m.-ish, at Burt’s Tiki Lounge (313 Gold SW). The evening features performances by an eclectic, extra-X chromosome-laden cast headlined by hell-raising honky tonk heros Sin Serenade, supported by all-girl thrashers Suspended, beatbox queen Saywut?! and Ben Hawthorne (we think he’s a dude). Free, 21+. (Jessica Cassyle Carr)
Tom Frouge is the creator of ¡Globalquerque!, owner of an artist management company called Avokado Artists and partner in a music licensing company called Masterscape, Inc. (see “Sound and Sight”). He’s also one of our first victims in Song Roulette, a new column where music fans are asked to put their music libraries on shuffle, sharing and commenting on the first five tracks that happen to show up.
The Corrales Bosque Gallery (4685 Corrales Road) is celebrating 15 years of beautiful business with a new show of the work of artist Rashan Omari Jones. His incredible glass sculpture (he is a borosilicate lampworker) is inspired by the nature of the Southwest, using organic shapes and a love of molten glass. His show opens on Friday, Nov. 20, with a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and runs for three months. See corralesbosquegallery.com for directions and details.
Having just passed my first year on the backyard chicken bandwagon, I'm watching the temperatures cool off and wondering what measures I should take to winterize my chickens.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): "A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. My wish for you, Aries, is that you will have many such days in the coming weeks. In fact, I hope that you will be blessed over and over again with the hair-raising thrill of having your imagination pricked, causing it to half-blossom, half-explode. To get the most out of the fantastic possibilities, set aside any tendency you might have to be a know-it-all, and instead open up your heart's mind and your mind's heart as wide and deep as they will go.
