Culture
Bookstore cultivates interest in alternative literature
Marcella Ortega | November 21The bookstore Libreria La Semilla doesn't operate under a hierarchy.
Culture
Culture
Barista sculpts animal bones, compost into art
Marcella Ortega | November 16Painting shells and bones didn't cut it for artist Michele Basta. "It wasn't fully satisfying," she said. "I needed to do something else."
Culture
Image of flute-playing sex symbol gets the shaft in modern tourist times
Mike Smith | November 16Judging from the things for sale in almost all New Mexico gift shops and tourist traps, the entire state is tan and turquoise, prefers its red chile coated in weatherproofing shellac, and is absolutely crawling with bandanna-wearing coyotes and flute-playing Rastafarians.
Culture
Final Fantasy XII is PlayStation 2's final attempt, but it's worth all 50 hours of play
Rhian Hibner | November 16There's a certain thrill one gets when playing a Final Fantasy game that is strangely lacking in all other role-playing games.
Culture
Complicated 'Babel' a directorial failure
Rhian Hibner | November 15"Babel" would have been more interesting if it had come out in 1994. Unfortunately, even then, it still would have had "Pulp Fiction" to go up against, and it would have lost badly. "Babel," like "Pulp Fiction," has a story that is broken up into three parts, and much like that film, it is broken up in time as well as space.
Culture
Rockin' anthropomorphic alien cats still bring anime, vocabulary to eager kids
Daniel V. Garcia | November 15As a child of the '80s, after-school animation was always hit or miss. This was before the ubiquity of cable and channels such as Cartoon Network, so kids across the nation had very few options. "Tom and Jerry" reruns and similar fare had aired regularly for so many years that I managed to memorize lots of dialogue. Even today, I can still sing the theme song of "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids," a talent I recently put on display for an inebriated audience at a student ghetto party.
Culture
Broadway classic still delivers
Marcella Ortega | November 15The power of extravagance should never be underestimated. "Phantom of the Opera," the longest running show in Broadway history, has come to Popejoy Hall and brought with it lavish scenery, costumes and a splendid assortment of sophisticated clichÇs such as "Curse you" and "So be it."
Culture
Dead rappers' timeless music should be left to rest in peace
Damian Garde | November 14Dead rappers need to stay dead. Sure, Tupac totally killed it on "Who Do You Believe In," and Notorious BIG tore up "Juicy," but, as many of you may know, those men are dead.
Culture
'Shortbus' not short on sex romps, emotion
Damon Scott | November 14At the screening of John Cameron Mitchell's feature film, "Shortbus," the owner of the Guild Cinema asked if it was too cool in the theater.
Culture
Band takes cracks at politics, government
Marcella Ortega | November 14One has to wonder where a band gets a name like Leftover Crack. "I made it up," said lead singer Scott Sturgeon. "It's an oxymoron. It was funny once - once upon a time."
Culture
The Lobo threesome
Daniel V. Garcia | November 14Starlight Mints Drowaton Available Now Aspartame-free, Drowaton is 100 percent sugar bliss. In all likelihood, if you played it concurrently with "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" - the original, not the horrid remake - its scenes would magically fall in sync with the music. Four-four time ...
Culture
And the award goes to...
Damian Garde and Marcella Ortega | November 9Well, it's all over. The freshly slung mud is beginning to cake, and the resigned losers have only their private wealth to retreat to - maybe next time, Allen McCulloch.
Culture
Cafe offers authentic Middle Eastern dishes, delightful mint tea
Shandea Williams | November 9You might not be able to say it, but your taste buds won't care. It is hard to pronounce its dishes, but the Petra CafÇ and Restaurant offers delicious Greek, Arabic and Middle Eastern food at cheap prices.
Culture
Middle-of-nowhere cabin really a hotel of murder
Mike Smith | November 9A successful Taos businessman rode a good horse, carried hundreds of dollars in his pockets and traveled using mules to carry his belongings. His last name was Edwards, a man whose first name was lost in history.
Culture
Dia de los Muertos parade takes stand against violence
Marcella Ortega | November 7The dead took a walk through the South Valley on Sunday. Marching and riding in floats covered in colorful tissue-paper marigolds, people took to the streets dressed as the deceased as part of the Dia de los Muertos Marigold Parade and Celebration.
Culture
Tis the season to see overhyped Hollywood flicks
Joe Buffaloe | November 7It's that time of year again - Oscar season.
Culture
Aliens, government breed genetic mutants in suspected underground lair
Mike Smith | November 2Dulce is almost in the center of the northern edge of the state, on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. Dulce is a small town, yet it looms large in the minds of conspiracy theorists worldwide, who believe it's the home of an underground government base - Earth's primary site for alien-human collaboration.
Culture
Words afire: 21 plays in 21 days
Rachel Green | November 2Move over, Denver. Step aside, Phoenix. Albuquerque is set to host the largest theater festival in the Southwest.
Culture
Mentally stimulating games died when focus on superb graphics was born
Rhian Hibner | November 2The video game industry has gotten to the point where any bipedal monkey with a vague amount of programming skill thinks it's a game developer.
Culture
Day of the Dead brought to life at folk art shop
Marcella Ortega | November 1Between midterms and the same ridiculous hype-building toward Halloween, I decided I would save my celebrating for the day after - D°a de los Muertos.
