Culture

Culture

Musicians perform, share insights at Mariachi bash

Skylar Griego | July 6

With ears still ringing from Independence Day fireworks, musicians everywhere are ready to jump from the national celebration to a local one: the Mariachi Spectacular de Albuquerque. The MSA concert and conference series is an event at which the next generation of mariachi musicians may not only perform, but also learn from historians, professors and renowned musicians within the genre via lectures and workshops offered over the course of four days. To add a new element to the 25th anniversary of MSA’s conference and concert series, the UNM Alumni Association and Lobo Living Room have partnered with MSA to add an educational element to the festival in the form of music education workshops and a lecture from a mariachi historian.

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Culture

American Muslims maintain daily life during fast

Kevin Haaf | July 6

Envision not eating, drinking, smoking or having sex from sunrise until sundown every day for a month. For people who observe Ramadan, doing so is an annual event. Serene Akkad, a junior International Affairs major and event coordinator for the Muslim Student Association, said the fast during Ramadan is intended to help cleanse the soul and body, to help practitioners get closer to God, and to return them to their roots. “It teaches us to always be thankful,” she said.

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Culture

Five & Why with Noah McLaurine

Nick Fjoud | June 29

Color-filled photography books have been a staple for aspiring photographers to find inspiration and motivation through their lenses for ages, though the introduction of Internet-based photography libraries such as Flikr and Instagram have started to diminish the need for photography books.

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Culture

Column: Top 5 anticipated games from E3

Nathan Reynolds | June 29

There were a lot of exciting announcements at this year’s E3. Many video games were officially announced, and now fans are left to wait in anticipation as the creators give life to their newest releases. Here are the top five most exciting announcements from the conference.

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Culture

Kid's camp to cure summer boredom

Robert Maler | June 29

Summer months are often the ones children look forward to the most. However, with public schools on break, children of working professionals and college students might find themselves stuck inside the house with nothing to do. To cure that boredom, UNM Recreational Services at Johnson Center is offering the Recreational Activities Day Camp program. Lisa Romero, a coordinator for recreational services, said the RAD Camp program began almost 20 years ago and, at the time, lasted for only a couple of weeks. Increased demand over the years has caused the program expand to cover nine weeks and support up to 30 children.

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Culture

Column: Lee to be remembered as an exceptional villain

Nathan Reynolds | June 22

After having appeared in more than 200 films, actor Christopher Lee died on June 7 at the age of 93. Lee, often cast as a villain, recently and famously portrayed the evil wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” film series. Saruman was the perfect opportunity for Lee, a longtime “Lord of the Rings” fan himself, to play a villain with some dignity and eloquence — two elements that Lee personally considered to be lacking in other villain roles such as that of Count Dracula, who Lee played for British production company Hammer. The role of Count Dracula was defining in the first half of Lee’s career: the actor played Count Dracula in seven different Hammer productions, as well as in several off-brand films, most notably Jess Franco’s “Dracula.” The films range in quality, with “The Horror of Dracula” being the best overall; but one thing that stayed consistent was Lee’s performance and dedication to the role of the titular count.

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Culture

'Escape the room' Internet games come to life

Jyllian Roach and Kevin Haaf | June 22

Imagine finding yourself locked inside an unfamiliar room. You’ve been told you only have an hour to find a way out, and once your hour is up ... you lose the game, and another team will enter to attempt their escape. Husband-and-wife team Darren and Carrie Guido have taken the popular “escape the room” internet games and brought them to life in Albuquerque.

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Culture

Studios strip stigma from pole fitness

Imani Lambert | June 22

Gymnastics on a pole, or pole fitness, is changing the way people think about pole dancing and about exercise. It isn’t stripper training, said Julia S., a junior liberal arts major and pole fitness trainer at FIT Tease. She said she is asked that question often, and dislikes the stigma surrounding the words “pole dancing.” “When you tell someone ‘I pole dance’ or ‘I am a pole dancer,’ they immediately think, ‘oh, what club do you work at?’” she said. “That’s not what it’s about.”

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Culture

Mewvies purrmote adoption

Skylar Griego | June 22

Grumpy. Nyan. Hamilton. Whether real or animated, the Internet is obsessed with cats.

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Culture

Five and Why with Joe Ragland III

Kevin Haaf | June 15

By Kevin Haaf Some say music and movies can make a society. That the shape of a culture is crafted and reflected by the celebrities who set trends. Joe Ragland III, a senior psychology major, said his five favorite artists and celebrities are all feminists.

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Culture

Musicr eview: "Born on Fire" an ideal album - if you like one specific sound

Skylar Griego | June 15

Ike Reilly’s seventh album offers many things for fans to look forward to: raspy vocals, upbeat rhythms, occasional guitar solos and a few misspelled titles. The indie rock “Born on Fire” is a record five years in the making, but it sounds more like country rock meets campfire sing-along with instruments. A truly great record is able to capture the hearts of listeners regardless of whether they are die-hard fans of a particular genre. Unfortunately for Reilly, his release falls short of that: this album can expect to be bypassed by those of the heavier rock n’ roll community.

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Culture

LGBT edition: Initiative focuses on preferred names

Skylar Griego | June 8

What’s your name? This is the question the University’s LGBTQ Resource Center is addressing with their latest goal, the preferred name initiative. The initiative is to allow transgender students to use preferred names, rather than legal names, in the academic setting, including on students’ Lobo IDs.

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Culture

LGBT edition: Pride parades represent more than just fun

Imani Lambert | June 8

Despite the large numbers that attend pride parades, the history behind them doesn’t seem to be well-understood by the general populace. Curtison Badonie, a senior biology major, said ‘pride’ means having acceptance of who an individual is, no matter what. Pride focuses on LGBTQ community representation through art and other forms of expression, regardless of how society treats them. Badonie said he learned more about activists who were underrepresented than prominent figures such as Harvey Milk.

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Culture

LGBT edition: 10 amazing movies to watch for Pride 2015

Nathan Reynolds | June 8

In honor of Pride 2015, here is a list of some of the most incredible, but often forgotten, LGBT films in history.

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Culture

Creativity festival showcases local art

Skylar Griego | June 1

On Saturday, Civic Plaza Presents hosted a ‘creativity festival’ titled Creative 505, a showcase at which Albuquerque locals and tourists alike experienced local culture at Civic Plaza. Creative 505 was a collaborative, family-friendly event among local organizations and businesses to showcase Albuquerque’s film, theater, art, music, tech and other communities. The event provided a variety of entertainment options, including live music and other performances, interactive informational booths, vendors, food trucks, face painting and chalk art. There were also more formal options, such as business demonstrations and installations.

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Culture

Exchange system looks to empower through books

Kevin Haaf | June 1

Motivated by a desire to help people enrich their lives through literacy and education, local organization Zombie Bar Krawl is launching a free exchange library system called 1000 Paper Brainz. Chelsea McBride, founder of 1000 Paper Brainz, said the name was originally an idea for an art project based on the Japanese novel “A Thousand Paper Cranes,” which is founded on the legend suggesting that if one folds 1,000 origami cranes, he or she will be granted a wish. “I’m an avid book reader and lover. I’m always trying to think of ways to convince everybody to read,” she said. “I took the idea to my Albuquerque Bar Krawl Krew (the local chapter of Zombie Bar Krawl), and they loved it.”

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Culture

Review: French film similar to Helen Keller story

Nathan Reynolds | June 1

Feeling, hearing, speaking: the often intense, sometimes intimate relationship between the senses and interpersonal communication. These are the elements that make “Marie’s Story,” the new film by Jean-Pierre Améris, a unique variation on the common subject of communication. “Marie’s Story” centers on a French monastery — a school for the deaf — and a nun named Soeur Marguerette, played by Isabelle Carré. Her sole mission is to teach Marie, a young, blind and deaf girl portrayed by Ariana Rivoire, how to communicate and eventually find pleasure in a world outside her own perception. The story is similar to that of Helen Keller, which has been dramatized as “The Miracle Worker” in English several times. The concept is well-trod, and it feels that way in the film. The two primary characters go through little development. Marguerette starts out as a woman with something missing from her life and trying to fill the void with teaching Marie. She then discovers a newness and excitement about the world through her own eyes in the process.

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Culture

Review: 'Fury Road' does action right

Nathan Reynolds | May 26

In “Mad Max: Fury Road,” the latest addition to the groundbreaking post-apocalyptic film series directed by George Miller, Mad Max describes himself as “a man reduced to a single instant.” “Mad Max: Fury Road” is very much a film obsessed with the instant: particularly frantic instants of fire, twisting metal, and endless sand. Miller has taken the Mad Max concept and not only expanded on the world of the story, but pushed the elements that made the earlier movies popular as far as he could. The plot of “Fury Road” revolves around Max, played by Tom Hardy, and Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa as they attempt to steal the wives and war rig of the tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe, played by Hugh Keays Byrne, who also played the villain in the original Mad Max. Immortan Joe, not too happy about theft of his wives, sets out after the heroes with a whole party of white-painted warriors on an array of deadly vehicular monstrosities. The breakneck narrative of “Fury Road” takes place almost entirely in, on and around these constructions — particularly the war rig, a giant semi equipped with armored hatchbacks and machine guns.

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Culture

Food Fridays promote use of Civic Plaza

Skylar Griego | May 26

As summer approaches, homebound local students may be wondering what to do with their newfound free time. One option to consider is ABQ Food Fridays, a weekly event held from May through August, created by Civic Plaza Presents. ABQ Food Fridays is a social gathering held from 4 to 8 p.m. at Civic Plaza where people can eat, drink and experience the week’s music and events for Friday night fun. Damian Lopez-Gaston, director of event services at the Albuquerque Convention Center, said Food Fridays is a pop-up happy hour food-and-beer event designed to get people to start thinking about Civic Plaza in a slightly different way. Last fall, Civic Plaza was awarded one of four place-making grants by Southwest Airlines, Lopez-Gaston said. The purpose of the grant is to make an underused area more important to the city it’s in, he said.

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Culture

Service animals treat invisible disabilities

Imani Lambert | May 26

Service animals are typically trained dogs that assist people who are blind or have a physical disability. However, a new type of service animal has emerged in recent years. Emotional Support Animals are prescribed by a mental health professional for a person who has a mental health diagnosis, according to the National Service Animal Registry. That animal’s presence helps to minimize the symptoms of a person’s diagnosis both at home and in public. Registering a pet as an ESA is a simple process: the pet owner must have a mental health diagnosis, and the animal must be leash trained, follow simple commands and be non-aggressive toward people, according to nsarco.com. If those qualifications are met, the licensure process can be completed online for about $65.