According to potter Mel Jacobson, truth and trust outweigh curriculum when teaching a student art. At 70, Jacobson is one of the country's most famous potters. He studied art in Japan, taught art in public schools for many years and still found time to write a few books.
Hollywood just isn't what it used to be. Fortunately, with film-editing software and digital video cameras, a new breed of filmmakers is rising up armed with ideas far riskier than anything Hollywood would ever dream of. Enter Kids on Coffee, an acting, producing and directing trio hailing from New Mexico with a passion for making films a bit on the bizarre side.
Lying in a hospital room gave Allie Shaw plenty of time to think. While alone in the dark, waiting for her next procedure, she was inspired to change her life. Shaw, a restaurant manager, decided to start a music magazine that would cover local and national bands.
Alan Clements is in on some kind of cosmic joke. He calls his one-man show an existential comedy. "I must participate in the harm of other creatures for my existence, and that's the existential comedy," he said. Funny. But really, he promised, Friday's show at the KiMo Theater will be funny.
In a town where everyone wants to be an MC, I am hard pressed to find noteworthy hip-hop in Albuquerque. Much to my surprise, I was at Ned's Downtown - not known for great hip-hop acts - and saw a show that made me stop in my tracks. They are called Weathered Hands, and they are good.
Space bugs are boring. In "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes," the objective is to explore - deep, gravelly voice here - the decaying planet of Aether, a world ravaged by civil war between the forces of light and dark. This means the character runs around intricately designed environments, some brightly lit with greens and browns, others darkly bathed in black and purple, and shoots at different kinds of bug monsters who have presumably nothing better to do than sit in waiting for heavily armored space marines.
Most people would use picket signs to protest the World Trade Organization. A couple of guys who call themselves the Yes Men, had a different plan. They set up a faux WTO Web site, and when people started believing it was the real thing, the Yes Men went along with it.
by Rami Mallis Daily Lobo Rapper BeKay is torn between two worlds. He's got the skill of an underground MC but wants to be mainstream. The Future of Hip Hop is Now, the second album by the white rapper, bursts out of the streets of Brooklyn with 16 furious tracks filled with attitude and genuine skill.
by Emily Meyer Daily Lobo Musician Jacob Michael Decimus merges his Haitian roots with Western flavor on his debut album Love is a Mystery. The UNM student moved to New Mexico in 1999. He said because he hasn't been in the United States for long, he didn't want to deal with the hassle of a record label.
Other people's trash is Found Magazine's treasure. Davy Rothbart, creator of the magazine, shared his treasure trove of other people's lost notes, writings and letters Wednesday night at the Guild to an audience of about 130. Rothbart came to the stage, beer in hand, bling-bling around his neck and opened a green briefcase full of lost papers - papers that would entertain the audience for an hour and a half.
Andru Bemis has spent the last year or so on a train. He's not making a political statement or engaging in a semi-masochistic form of performance art - it's just cheaper to tour that way. "I used to strap my guitar to my back and tour on my motorcycle, but when it got cold, that got old real fast," he said.
In 2001, RuPaul stepped out of the spotlight. The country's iconic drag queen saw the conservative turn society was taking and decided it was time for a break. "Rather than trying to fight all that, I thought I had better sit this one out," he said.
by Sarah Fayad Daily Lobo It may be the annual faculty dance show, but UNM students will be the ones performing an array of ensembles. "Dancer Dancing Dance" runs in Rodey Theatre Friday to Sunday. It will feature the talents of UNM dance students as they perform pieces by European choreographer Esther Balfe.
It makes sense Celeste Fremon would be the godmother of two children whose parents were former gang members. The freelance journalist has dedicated the last 14 years of her life to the gangs of East Los Angeles, chronicling the trials and tribulations of Father Greg Boyle in the book G-Dog and the Homeboys.
Who is Christopher Chance? Anyone he wants to be, anyone at all. But the lead character of Human Target is more than just a master impersonator. Chris becomes his clients - in face, personality and body language - in order to attract the bad guys. It makes for a hell of an identity crisis.
Don Garcia is thrilled to have his plays performed at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. For the first time, the center is aiding in the Words Afire festival. This is the second year Garcia has participated in the festival. "It's great for people like myself who really didn't know if they had it in them to write stories," he said.
Eminem finally fell into the trap. Usually reliable as an innovator and inventor in hip-hop, the rapper has essentially remade one of his previous albums. This would be a detriment if he hadn't done such a good job of it. Each of his other three Dr. Dre-produced discs was distinctly individual representations of one of Eminem's multiple personas.
by John Bear Daily Lobo So you've been bad, really bad? If so, head down to Tricklock Performance Space to catch "A Couple of Good Copy Editors," written by Sabrielle Sky. The story concerns a couple of copy editors who arrive at work late one night to discover two of their coworkers bloodied and dead on the floor.
Hip-hop fans, pour out a little liquor for the original baby's daddy. Ol' Dirty Bastard, one of the most insane figures in hip-hop, collapsed inside a Manhattan recording studio on Saturday. He was pronounced dead shortly after at the age of 35. A founding member of the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, O.
It's the relationship we all wish had worked out. That's how Matt Pennington, the writer behind "The Love Bunny," describes the subject matter of his anti-musical. "It's about the semester I spent drinking with my guitarist," he said. "I'm not taking the heat for this one by myself.
Solutions by The State News
