Culture

Pretty In Ink

Film teaches students to preserve predators

Top predators hold a key to life itself. Can people and predators coexist? Can we afford not to? These are some of the questions posed in the 2009 film, “Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators,” the first of many films presented monthly by the UNM Chapter of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.

Art project stops the moving picture

Taking pictures of movies is sometimes frowned upon in the art world, said UNM senior George Richardson. But Richardson said he photographed intense moments on the silver screen for his latest art show, “Come With Me,” which is up at John Sommers Gallery through Friday.

Artist's Avenue--Johan Bengtsson

Johan Bengtsson is the bassist for Swedish band The Sounds. The group released their third album, Crossing the Rubicon, in June.

Fashion Q&A

Up, up and away

October must be here — hot air balloons are filling the blue sky over Albuquerque. Most people will take a minute or two to admire the colorful floating globes, but few stop long enough to consider how much work goes into every flight. Every balloon has a pilot and a chase crew of about five to six people who eagerly wake up around 3 a.m.

Showcase blends world dance styles

“Farfesha” is Arabic for “laugh joyfully,” said Michelle Morrison, founder and owner of Farfesha Belly Dance. This weekend, Farfesha is hosting a show at the Filling Station to celebrate the differences and similarities in Eastern and Western styles of dancing. “For me, belly dance was kind of a gateway dance, where once I kind of got into it, things like samba, and Bhangra and Bollywood were all the sudden a lot easier,” Morrison said.

DJ's 'mushroom jazz' brings down the house

Listening to Mark Farina is like taking the melody train all over the city of sound. Farina said his style fuses house beats with hip-hop and acid jazz — and he calls it “mushroom jazz.” “Acid Jazz started as a kind of English style of funk and hip-hop type of thing in the early 90s and was popular in San Francisco in the mid 90s,” Farina said.

Corrales farm cultivates tradition

Harvest-time visitors can get lost and find their inner children at Wagner’s Farmland Experience in Corrales.

Students find release in swing dancing

UNM junior Kevin Clark started dancing four years ago, thanks to his girlfriend at the time. Now he dances across the nation and is an active advocate for the growing dance scene at UNM. Swing dance is rooted in a sense of community, Clark said. “Swing is about making it a dance between two people rather than two people dancing while holding hands,” he said. Clark said he realized community was the focal point of this dance at his first out-of-state dance event in San Diego. “Sometimes you get jaded to your own dance community, just like any family,” he said.

Looking for meaning in the NM landscape

Roi Kuper is an Israeli landscape photographer and UNM’s first artist in residence. He has worked in England, France, Spain and Scotland.  “Whenever I go somewhere to photograph landscapes, it’s not that I’m looking for an interesting landscape to photograph,” Kuper said. “I already know there is something interesting at the particular area, and I go there to find more interesting things within the landscape.” Kuper will give a lecture today at 5:30 p.m.

Colin’s Collegiate Cooking

Deep dish, thin crust, New York, Chicago or California — whatever form you pick, I’m guessing you love pizza like I do.

Keyboardist fuses styles in thrilling live shows

Mark Mallman, famed for his exciting live shows, plays a keyboard that might as well be an electric guitar.

Zombies attack during epic quest for Twinkie

“Zombieland,” directed by Ruben Fleischer, has all the great makings of a zombie film: zombies, survivors killing the zombies with shotguns and cars, and more zombies to take their fallen comrades’ places. The flick succeeds in character development, top-notch visual effects and zombie-based dark humor, so it’s forgivable that the movie lacks a strong story and tries too hard to be quirky. Fleischer immediately immerses the viewer in the zombie-filled world, starting the film with rapid shots of zombies chasing down and devouring humans in a fountain of blood and entrails.

Bright Ideas

As guest of honor at Albuquerque’s 10th Annual Solar Fiesta last weekend, the sun made a strong enough appearance to power a solar oven over 20 feet tall. New Mexico is exposed to about 7.5 kilowatts of solar energy per square meter every day, according to a 2004 report from the Center for Electric and Hydrogen Technologies and Systems, and it looks like Albuquerqueans are getting serious about harnessing that power. Hundreds of people flocked to the fiesta on Sept.

Plays put unique spin on traditional ‘Dracula’ tale

Dracula swoops into UNM this weekend as a harbinger of the Halloween season. “The Land Beyond the Forest: Dracula and Swoop,” produced by the UNM Theatre Department in conjunction with the Tricklock Theater Company, features the original adventure of everyone’s favorite vampire and a new tale set over the skies of Manhattan.

UNMH gallery benefits artists, uplifts patients

Hospitals usually aren’t known for high-class art, but cardiologist John Abrams is trying to change that. For about 20 years, the UNM Hospital has provided space in its hallways on four floors for artists to show their work, Abrams said. The hospital recently named the gallery after Abrams to honor his dedication to the gallery, which has exhibited more than 100 shows.

Artist's Avenue

Tony Mark, who lives in Santa Fe, produced the film “Georgia O’Keeffe,” which debuted Sept. 19 on Lifetime Television.

Religion across the board

A game where Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Kali and an unnamed Muslim figure battle against one another might be considered anti-religious, but Ben Radford, creator of “Playing Gods,” disagrees.

World music showcased at local festival

— Indian Ocean plays a mélange of familiar classical, western and Indian folk music that creates its own genre. The band plays Saturday at Globalquerque in Mayor Plaza at 10:20 p.m.