Culture

Culture

Helix intertwines yoga and morning coffee

Nichole Harwood | September 20

Sometimes there is nothing better then waking up and getting a nice hot cup of coffee, and Helix Coffee and Yoga House is the new kid on the block serving up that much-needed beverage. University of New Mexico alumnus Vincent LaVolpa, owner of the now-two-month-old Helix Coffee and Yoga House originally received his Bachelor of Science degree in emergency medicine, dedicating himself as a paramedic for seven years with Albuquerque Ambulance Service, he said. After working as a paramedic, LaVolpa wasn’t sure what was next for him, but knew he always wanted to run a coffee shop, he said.

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Culture

Review: mother! a true work of artistic expression

Hector Valverde | September 20

Having gone into this film with zero knowledge or expectations, I spent the majority of the two-hour run time of “mother!” trying to piece the film’s narrative and thematic values together, for better or worse. The revelations and winding twists of Darren Aronofsky’s latest piece make it a film better experienced fresh, with no prior knowledge of the trip you’re about to take. In the most simple plot summary I can possibly give, “mother!” follows a young woman (played to a T by the ever-delivering Jennifer Lawrence) rebuilding her husband’s burned house. At the same time, her husband, played by Javier Bardem,, broods over the last remaining piece of his house, a shard of fiery glass, while trying to write his next poetic masterpiece. When a stranger meanders into their lovely pastoral home, Lawrence and Bardem’s blissful isolation takes a dark turn.

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Culture

Guest Columnist: The challenges of living in a pueblo

Guest Columnists | September 20

Editor's Note: This story can be attributed to Humans of New Mexico contributors. This is part of our new project to help connect the Daily Lobo audience to more members of our community. Between Cultures & Pueblos My name is Bryce Townsend. I am from San Felipe Pueblo and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. I’ve lived in San Felipe most of my life, and I participate in Ohkay Owingeh as well. I kind of live in both places, you can say that.

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Culture

Photo Story: The scents, sights and experiences of the State Fair

Kevin Maestas | September 20

When the New Mexico State Fair blows into town each year, I begin to yearn for the smell of smoked turkey legs while waiting to ride roller coasters and ferris wheels in the midway. After the metallic machinery whips and whirls the summer blues away, emerges the no-brainer to bury my face into powdered sugar with a side of funnel cake. The next logical step would be to let off some steam by chucking softballs at beer bottles for a quick thrill that may result in the adoption of a cheap stuffed animal. Since 1938, Expo New Mexico has housed the yearly celebration of community artisanship, agriculture, cultural traditions and churros. Not quite sure if churros have been among the state fair’s oldest traditions, but for this 20-something-year-old mesa dweller, the annual pilgrimage to southeast Albuquerque must be accompanied by aguas frescas, fair rides and fried pastries.

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Culture

Art takes over the streets with 508 Mural Fest

Nichole Harwood | September 17

Albuquerque’s artistic side is up for show with the first 508 Mural Fest is now underway, featuring the work of over 25 muralists at 12 different locations in the city. The event began Sept. 12 and is scheduled to continue through Sept. 23. Mural Fest is produced by Warehouse 508, and its title sponsor is Maddox and Co. Realtors. The festival’s turnout has been a “beautiful” reaction to local art, said JP Eaglin, director of Warehouse 508. “People are walking by everyday, loving it,” Eaglin said. “Driving by honking their horns. There's a new energy Downtown.” 508 Mural Fest is packed with activities for audiences of all ages, including a concert on Sept. 21 featuring talents such as Wild Humans and Timewreckers.

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Culture

UNM hosts Black Cultural Conference

Johnny Vizcaino | September 17

This week, for the first time in seven years, African American Student Services will be sponsoring the Black Cultural Conference at UNM. Thematically, the conference is geared toward “Mobilizing the Black Millennial Legacy.” The 2017 Black Cultural Conference will be taking place from Thursday, Sept. 21 until Saturday, Sept. 23. The conference will kick off with a networking event on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Ethnic Center foyer. Then, Friday will be filled with workshops and roundtables exploring topics such as leadership, health, positive self-image, social justice and the importance of developing an intergenerational strategy for mobilization. These sessions will take place in the SUB starting at 9 a.m.

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Culture

Student play explores the line between life and death

Ariel Lutnesky | September 17

Rodey Theatre’s doors will open Friday for Students Creating Really Awesome Productions (SCRAP) with “A Bench at the Edge,” written by Luigi Jannuzzi. Play Director Samuel Shoemaker-Trejo said the show revolves around two main characters. “‘A Bench at the Edge’ is about two individuals who meet at the literal representation of the metaphoric edge between life and death,” Shoemaker-Trejo said. “The physical space at the edge is actually an edge suspended over infinite abyss. In the back is life; in front is the abyss or death or eternity. It's kind of up for interpretation what the other side is.” Shoemaker-Trejo said that the first character, Man 1, is struggling between life and death, because he is strapped to a hospital bed and is unable to let himself die and yet, he cannot live. The second character, Man 2, who is a woman in this interpretation of the play, is struggling between life and death, as she is debating on ending her own life.

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Culture

New Mexicans celebrate medieval culture

Christian Marquez | September 17

Every year, for the last 10 years, El Rancho De Las Golondrinas undergoes a physical transformation from a working hacienda into a medieval village for the Santa Fe Renaissance Fair. Over the past weekend, the 200-acre farm was overtaken by hundreds of knights and ladies dressed in their best 16th century attire. The fairgoers were greeted by various forms of period-appropriate entertainment including their most dangerous sports such as jousting, rapier fighting and armored combat. However, for most of these sportsmen, their game lasts longer than just the weekend.

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Culture

Student group helps minorities with college

Johnny Vizcaino | September 14

For the Men of Color Initiative, there’s more to being successful in college than reading a textbook. It takes more than a one-time orientation featuring an overload of information and a goody bag to express the importance of networking and real-world community engagement. That’s what the initiative is aiming to showcase with its first-ever “Males of Color Success Networking Summit.” “When you know who you are, and you know that historical piece of your place in society, and then you have a peer coach who’s been at UNM for years who knows how to navigate the system, it makes a huge difference,” said Rodney Bowe, director of MOCI.

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Culture

Review: Goo Goo Dolls give strong performance

Ariel Lutnesky | September 13

The Goo Goo Dolls performed a concert at the Sandia Resort and Casino on Sunday, Sept. 10, and it was a wonderful time. The show’s opener, Phillip Phillips, also had quite enjoyable music and high energy, and his band was certainly talented. His performance was not particularly notable other than that. Perhaps this is a good attribute for an opener, as it calls attention to Philips’s music but does not steal the show from the main band. Still, the Goo Goo Dolls’ performance lived up to and went beyond all expectations for what a large, well-known rock band concert should be. It attended to almost all of the senses, with blinking, colorful lights, odd-smelling smoke and of course, music.

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Culture

SWFC aims to bring relevant films to students

Florence Sliger | September 10

Some may recall a time when the lower level of the SUB was occupied by a bowling alley. Fifty years ago, this bowling alley was removed and a theater installed, transforming the area into ASUNM’s Southwest Film Center. Holding true to its initial purpose, Executive Director Tori Martinez said the SWFC brings independent, foreign and documentary films to UNM, as these films are not widely shown throughout Albuquerque.

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Culture

TEDxABQ explores diverse experiences

Hannah Eisenberg | September 10

The TEDxABQ event at the Albuquerque Convention Center this weekend discussed the connections humans can draw from their different lives and experiences through mutual understanding, patience and the willingness to listen. More audience members than seats filled the auditorium to listen to 17 speakers and six performers from various backgrounds, cultures, educations, speak about important discoveries in their lives. The event began with a violinist, Phoenix Avalon, performing segments of his favorite classical pieces. He spoke of his journey to understand how he, as a classical violinist, can fit into today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society.

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Culture

Bricklight Nights highlights local artists, businesses

Nichole Harwood | September 10

Bricklight Nights is an ongoing event, running each Wednesday through Sept. 27, that showcases local artists with local food, fun and entertainment in the Bricklight District, just south of Main Campus off Central Ave. “This is a local community support event,” said Kelsey Wilson of Mothership Alumni, an Albuquerque-based artist collective. “We’re all working down here to bring attention to local artists and local businesses, especially (those) being affected by the ART construction.” Local musicians the Gershom Brothers performed alongside a musician and painters during one of the nights.

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Culture

"IT" remake offers worthy retelling of classic horror

Hector Valverde | September 10

You’ve undoubtedly seen or heard of the 1990 ABC adaptation of Steven King’s novel, “IT.” Despite the miniseries’ undeniable cheesiness, Tim Curry singlehandedly drilled the terrifying Pennywise the Dancing Clown, or IT, into the horror hall of fame. Andy Muschietti’s 2017 “IT” delivers on that promise of horror, with a little extra thrown in too. The faithful adaptation follows a group of preteens investigating the disappearance of their town’s children while being terrorized by a diabolical clown. Where the 1990 adaptation stumbled when Curry was off screen, the horror element of Muschietti’s “IT” felt like an additional boon. To be honest, the trailers have spoiled about two-thirds of the film’s scary moments.

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Culture

Josh Kun shines light on Latin influences on America's music

Timber Mabes | September 10

The University of New Mexico’s Musicology Colloquium Series kicked off its program last week with a presentation from award-winning author and USC Professor Josh Kun in Popejoy’s Keller Hall. During his speech, the 2016 MacArthur Fellow introduced his upcoming project to the public for the first time. Kun has researched with the collaborative art group, the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time: Latin American and Latino Art in LA, for two years to create a concert series and collection of art exhibits which highlight Latin American influence on the music of Los Angeles, California.

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Culture

Rickmobile stops in New Mexico during 5,000-mile road trip

Audrin Baghaie | September 8

Adult Swim’s animated comedy series Rick and Morty made an appearance at the University of New Mexico and again at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe last week. Now that Adult Swim has rolled out the show’s third season, it’s catering further with the Rickmobile — a van shaped as Rick Sanchez, the show’s main character — and selling merchandise across the United States. When the Rickmobile stopped by the UNM SUB and Meow Wolf, New Mexico’s fanbase responded accordingly. Enthusiasts had the opportunity to snag promotional gear ranging from psychedelic apparel, featuring the titular characters, to Meeseeks toy boxes.

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News

Red Rally showcases school spirit before NMSU game

Aaron Cowan | September 7

If you missed Zozobra or Burning Man, then you’re in luck. The University of New Mexico has a similar tradition during its 12th annual Red Rally Bonfire and Pep Rally, hosted by ASUNM’s Lobo Spirit Committee. This year’s rally begins at 8 p.m. Thursday on Johnson Field and will feature UNM’s Spirit Squad, Marching Band, members of the UNM football team and, of course, a 25-foot tall Aggie effigy to be burned to prep before the NMSU-UNM game.

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Culture

ABQ Museum of Art and History celebrates 50 years

Nichole Harwood | September 7

A glimpse into the art world on will only cost a quarter on Sept. 7. The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History will be offering a one-day admission fee of 25 cents, the museum’s regular admission price in 1967, as part of the museum’s 50th anniversary celebration, complete with cake and a speech by Museum Director Cathy Wright. Thursday’s Retro Admission Day kicks off a month-long commemoration of the museum’s birthday.

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Culture

Fall Sports Issue: Column — Greatest sports movies of all time

Robert Maler | September 4

Sports has often served as a way of bringing people together who otherwise may not have anything in common with each other—but discussing where things in sports rank all-time is almost a sure-fire way to tear it all down.  Here is a list of where some of the more notable sports movies rank, according to the Daily Lobo sports editor that may be fun to pick apart. The categories focus on the “big three” American sports and other popular sports genres in film. Some otherwise fine films were not considered for the list if it was determined that they fell into romantic comedy status or relied too much on nostalgia, for example “Jerry Maguire” and “Field of Dreams." Baseball: Editor Pick: A tie right off the bat (pun intended). “The Natural” (1984) and “Major League” (1989). Many people consider Robert Redford’s portrayal of Roy Hobbs his finest acting role.

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Culture

Photo Story: Zozobra illuminates Santa Fe in decades-old tradition

Celia Raney and Celia_Raney | September 4

Stuffed with worries and fears, the burning of Old Man Gloom lets participants in the annual event watch their worries go up in smoke. Santa Fe celebrated the 93rd annual burning of Zozobra Sept 1. Last year, more than 55,000 people attended the event, and this year’s crowd seemed to rival that record-breaking number.