Culture

Culture

Review: Local Haunted Houses provide scares and value

Aaron Cowan | October 23

If Halloween is your time of year, then you will not be disappointed by the ample entertainment opportunities that await you at haunted houses in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico. The city is fortunate to have several high-quality horror-themed attractions that are all within 40-minutes driving distance of the University of New Mexico campus. Dragon’s House of Horrors First on this reporter’s list was Dragon’s House of Horrors, at the State Fair Grounds, which boasted the title of “the world’s longest walk-through horror house.”

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Culture

Review: "An American in Paris," exciting and eclectic performance

Aaron Cowan | October 23

Fans of romantic Broadway musicals are sure to fall in love with “An American in Paris” and the time-tested melodies of George and Ira Gershwin, which played at Popejoy Hall Oct. 17 through 22. This recent retelling of the 1951 film received a 2015 Tony Award and a slew of other critical honors. “An American in Paris” was adapted to the stage by director Christopher Wheeldon, based off a book by Craig Lucas. The cheery, song-and-dance-laden performance is centered around a fictional U.S. army lieutenant, Jerry Mulligan, originally played by Robert Fairchild, who decides to stay in Paris after World War II to pursue his artistic ambitions.

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News

Birth of Bahá’u’lláh ceremony unites many parts of Albuquerque community

Rebecca Brusseau | October 23

On Oct. 22, members of the Bahá’í faith celebrated in Crowne Plaza Hotel in central Albuquerque event, symbolically remembering the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of Bahá’í. This event represents a very spiritual watershed moment in history believed by this faith. In the early 19th century, Siyyid Ali-Muhammad was born into the Persian family believed to have been descendants of the prophet Muhammad. This child grew up to be known as Bahá’u’lláh, a religious founder and leader of the Bahá’í faith.

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Culture

Review: Santa Fe Comic-Con offers chance to nerd out

Timber Mabes | October 22

When thinking of Santa Fe, I picture old historic buildings once housing cowboys and ranch families or ancient cathedrals filled with candles and murals of Catholic saints. What I don’t picture is a giant, working Dalek from “Doctor Who,” or Ciel from “Black Butler.” On Saturday morning, crowds of people piled into the Buffalo Thunder Casino in Santa Fe, but they didn’t come for the gambling — they were there for the Santa Fe Comic-Con. The large ballrooms of the casino were crowded with nerds, geeks and poindexters alike — myself included. I was dressed in a shoddy Kylo Ren costume that was made from dresses and a coat from Goodwill. The look was complete with boots, a hood and a leather belt. I felt scared to show off my work to others, but I was also incredibly proud of my sad sewing skills.

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Culture

Skydivers push thrills to the limit

Sherri Barth | October 22

Think jumping from an airplane sounds exciting? Skydiving enthusiasts have found a different launchpad that takes their flight to new heights and exhilarating freefalls. “You get that stomach-in-your-heart feeling” from jumping off a hot air balloon, according to skydiver Jake Cordova of Skydive New Mexico. Parachuting from a hot air balloon was first introduced as a means of safety, when in 1785 Jena-Pierre Blanchard tested this method of skydiving using a dog. Blanchard would soon have no choice but to put himself in a parachute and jump out of his own hot air balloon when it ruptured in 1793, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Skydivers have been getting a thrill from jumping, then parachuting from a hot air balloon at altitudes that can equal that of jumping out of airplanes. Cordova said jumping off a hot air balloon, or static jumps, is similar to base jumping.

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News

Sex Week 2017 will host a range of events

Rebecca Brusseau | October 22

Monday kicks off Sex Week, a weeklong series of events held by the Student Alliance for Reproductive Justice. Sex Week has been an annual event at UNM over the past few school years. Although it has caused controversy in the past, it returns to campus, offering lectures and other on-campus events that help educate students about topics ranging from consent to more intimate subjects such as the use of sex toys. SARJ hopes that educating students about these controversial subjects will lead to a decrease in sexual violence, unwanted pregnancies and abusive relationships.

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News

"LaPo Goes Local" aims to educate about homegrown ingredients

Colton Newman | October 19

Steak Night or Luau Night are usually part of legacy events held at La Posada dining hall each semester. But Wednesday night, LaPo shook things up by hosting “La Po Goes Local.” Instead of eating inside as they usually would, students were able to sit outside the dining hall at long rows of tables covered in fall decorations. Roughly two hundred University of New Mexico students cycled through the food line where they could choose from Frito pie, calabacitas, fresh grilled corn, pulled pork and the very popular green chile burgers. LaPo staff served the food, spoke with attendees and grilled green chile burgers, with the help of volunteers primarily made up of UNM fraternities.

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Culture

Review: Explore the frights of ABQ's Old Town

Hector Valverde | October 18

Albuquerque’s Old Town is a site of rich historical significance dating back to the city’s inception in the early 18th century. Beautiful plazas, churches and shops riddle the area, making it a tourist magnet. Despite this beauty there’s a sinister undercurrent bubbling beneath the jovial surface of Old Town. The Mexican-American War and the American Civil War both touched the town, leaving its people and businesses with pervasive scars — and possibly ghosts.

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Movies

"Happy Death Day" is worth a watch

Hector Valverde | October 15

“Happy Death Day” is the latest entry in Blumhouse Productions’ huge catalogue of horror (and occasionally other genre) films. It’s one of six this year, actually, and thankfully better than most horror films in recent memory. The gimmicks in the plot of “Happy Death Day” help it stand out as more than just another horror movie. The premise of the film is sweet and simple: a college student, Tree, keeps waking up to the same day. This sudden reincarnation, however, comes with the price of being hunted down and killed by a mysterious masked murderer.

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Culture

Photo Story: Expo New Mexico displays traditional Chinese handicrafts

Autumn King and Jenny Liang | October 15

Making lanterns is a well-practiced tradition in Chinese culture. Lanterns are made to signify and commemorate the Chinese New Year. These pieces of art started from humble beginnings with basic shapes and materials. In the modern day, artists and curators have elevated this practice by creating magnificent structures of many shapes and sizes. A company called Tianyu Arts & Culture, Inc. has brought their display of elaborate and memorable Chinese lanterns to Albuquerque, but it doesn’t stop there.

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Culture

Art Review: Student uses photography to connect with her past

Hannah Eisenberg | October 15

When trying to move on from painful experiences, it can be tempting to imagine that old memories can simply burn, fall away into a harmless ash that leaves nothing more than a temporary residue on our minds. This is not how memories work though. Rather, they simmer through us. Our thoughts, patterns, actions, beliefs, our cultures and our histories exist not in an entirely progressive vacuum but in our connection to what was and who we have been. It is this idea of the durability of memory, of living an authentic history, that UNM Master of Fine Arts candidate and photographer Fatemeh Baigmoradi explores in her thesis show, “It’s Hard to Kill.” From late September to early October, “It’s Hard to Kill” was housed in the College of Fine Arts downtown gallery.

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News

Largest ballooning event in the world offers unique experience

Ludella Awad | October 11

Hundreds of balloons took over the Albuquerque sky this Saturday at Balloon Fiesta Park as part of the 46th International Balloon Fiesta. Albuquerque’s first Balloon Fiesta took place on April 8, 1972 at the Coronado Center with 13 balloons. Albuquerque native Jim Madden attended the first fiesta and has been enjoying the event ever since. Over time, he was on chase crews, “riding with some of the wildest people you could imagine, especially one fellow from England, and he decided he could land anywhere he wanted. You weren’t allowed to land on the reservations or go over the zoo. Those places he wanted to do,” Madden said.

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Music

A Tribute to Tom Petty, an American Rock Icon

Jonathan Baca | October 10

Last week, the world lost an American rock icon, someone who helped shape rock music for 40 years. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Tom Petty died in the early morning of Oct. 2 of cardiac arrest in Santa Monica, California. His death was sudden and came as a heartbreaking shock to his millions of fans around the world. He was only 66. Petty’s career was prolific, impressive and far-reaching, and as an icon he was larger than life. His unusual, nasally singing voice made him instantly recognizable, and his ability to write enduring and beloved songs made him one of the biggest rock stars of the last 50 years. In 2002 his accomplishments were officially recognized when he was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

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News

Lobo reporter catches a lift for the festival

Aaron Cowan | October 10

Once again the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has arrived, painting our city with colorful hot air balloons. Pilots from across the country and globe gathered on Saturday, Oct. 7 in the grass fields behind the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum to kick off this nine-day event with a Mass Ascension, in which hundreds of balloonists take to the air in two separate waves starting at 7 a.m. The only thing better than seeing this event up close on the field might be the opportunity to actually ride in one of the balloons. And this reporter got that chance, as part of the passenger group that flew with pilot Pat Harwell of Shreveport, Louisiana — he is a veteran pilot with over 3,000 hours of flight experience.

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Movies

Review: Blade Runner sequel lives up to the original

Hector Valverde | October 8

When a sequel to “Blade Runner” was announced, I was extremely skeptical. A perfectly self-contained film like this did not warrant a sequel, especially when older properties have tended to fail when applied with our modern sensibilities. A cautiously optimistic glimmer of hope arose when Denis Villeneuve, the director of “Prisoners,” “Sicario” and “Arrival” was helmed to direct. Thankfully, “Blade Runner 2049” works as well as a standalone as it does a sequel. No viewings of Ridley Scott’s classic in its many different cuts are required to appreciate “2049,” and the impacts you’d get from watching the original are tastefully slim, anyways.

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Culture

Photo Story: First Mass Ascension of the Balloon Fiesta attracts thousands

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | October 8

Thousands of people gathered to watch the first Mass Ascension of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta on Oct. 7. Excited but sleepy-eyed children, families, friends, lovers and the balloons’ pilots and crews dispersed across the park in the early morning silence. The quiet didn't last long — the sky soon began to light up with the occasional burst of light from the propane fire under a balloon as it drifted up, up and away. Pilots and their crews woke up hours before the sun rose to drive their balloons to the field and start filling them with hot air before lighting them up for all to see. The first wave of balloons starts on the north end of the field, and the launch moves south in rows, doubling back to the north and starting the pattern all over again until all of the balloons are in the air.

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Culture

UNM offers new course centered on anime

Nichole Harwood | October 8

For the first time ever, UNM is offering an eight-week course titled “The Fantastical World of Japanese Anime.” The course will be meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. to explore the rich and colorful world of anime and its connection to Western civilization. “We know anime is really interesting to a lot of students in the UNM community, and we had the good fortune of locating a dynamic instructor, Nona Carter, who has expertise in this area,” said UNM’s Foreign Languages & Literatures Department Chair Dr. Pamela Cheek. “So we were able to put together this second-half course, thinking it would be a fabulous way for students to learn about the intersections of Japanese and American culture around anime.”

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News

Local businesses help to fund Balloon Fiesta

Nichole Harwood | October 8

As Albuquerque comes together to enjoy the International Balloon Fiesta’s festivities, business owners do their best to contribute to their community. Griffin & Associates, a business that got its start in Albuquerque, is one of the event sponsors and currently employs multiple Univesity of New Mexico alumni and provides internships to students. “As a leading communications company, Griffin & Associates is committed to providing the highest level of personalized service to our clients,” said Joanie Griffin, CEO and founder of Griffin & Associates. “We focus on crafting unique marketing approaches to advance the awareness of our clients’ products and services. Griffin & Associates is dedicated to proactive leadership, devising creative media-based solutions to marketing opportunities and consistently assessing the needs and objectives of our clients.”

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Movies

Review: Carell's performance shines in "Battle of the Sexes"

Hector Valverde | October 4

Starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes” is based on the real-life tennis rivalry between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Shot on 35mm film, the movie perfectly captures the 1970s vibe. More than that, it aptly captures King’s struggle against the misogyny of the early 1970s and her fight for workplace equality between the sexes, on the court and elsewhere. The film’s plot rests firmly on its characters’ shoulders. Carell’s performance as Riggs is as entertaining as “The Office’s” Michael Scott, yet as psychologically complex as “Foxcatcher’s” John du Pont. I was fascinated by the strange balance between Riggs’ gambling addiction, chauvinistic showmanship and genuine love for the sport. The added factor of a deteriorating home life had me fully invested in the character, and I wish Carell had gotten a bit more screen time to explore such a complicated man’s life.

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Culture

Photo Story: Harvest Festival celebrates Spanish history

April Torres | October 4

The 45th Annual Harvest Festival took place at El Rancho de las Golondrinas Sept. 30 through Oct. 1. Las Golondrinas is considered a living museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It maintains examples and activities which illustrate life in the period of Spanish rule in the Southwest during the the 18th and 19th centuries. The land was purchased in the 1930s by Leonora Curtin, who is famous for creating Santa Fe’s Native Market. The museum opened its doors to visitors in 1972. Images and text by April Torres April Torres is a staff photographer for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at photo@dailylobo.com.