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 Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Thursday 27
SQUASHED. What's more constant than love, more reliable than friends, and a steadier irritant than the Governor? Why, it's those millions of house guests who refuse to leave. Yes, faithful readers, we're talking about members of the family Blattidae and Phyllodromidae, better known as the Damn Cockroach.
Gordon will discuss little-known tidbits about roach biology, such as where the world's 4,000 species live, their favorite chow, how they sing for their suppers and the role of roaches in the arts, not to mention the lurid details of their steamy little love lives. More than you wanna know? Perhaps. But it's always wise to be well-acquainted with your enemies, and now's the chance to rub exoskeletons with the most insidious of them. Free lecture is at 7:30 p.m. in The Heidelberg, 4606 E. Pima St. For information, call 883-3945. MYTHIC MOVEMENT. The UA Dance ensemble springs into action tonight with John Dahlstrand's Sunken Cathedral, based on the timeless myth of an island off the coast of France that was submerged due to the impiety of its inhabitants. Performances tomorrow and Saturday include Balanchine's Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. Sunken Cathedral is performed at 8 p.m. today, and 2 p.m. Saturday; Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, in the UA Gittings Dance Theater. Tickets are $8, $5 for students and seniors, available at the door or in advance from the UA Fine Arts box office. For details, call 621-1162.
Friday 28
AMERICA'S HUMORIST. "Familiarity breeds contempt--and children," said Mark Twain. But the quip hardly applies to the great man himself, as time seems only to make him a more revered American icon. Borderlands Theater taps into that legendary literary vein tonight with a single performance of Mark Twain: The Wild Humorist of the Pacific Slope, developed and acted by McAvoy Layne. This light, family-oriented outing narrates Twain's experiences, beginning with his childhood and river adventures, and continuing with his overland journeys to Nevada and San Francisco. Show time is 8 p.m. in the PCC Proscenium Theater, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $10, available at Antigone Books, Jeff's Classical Records and the PCC West Campus cashier's office. For information, call 882-7406. BACHTOBACH. St. Philip's in the Hills revives the grumpy old master with its sixth-annual J.S. Bach Marathon, featuring a diverse slate of performers, from harpsichord ace Edward Parmentier--called "a model Bach player" by Fanfare magazine--to Tempe's stunning Ensemble Versailles. A UA synthesizer orchestra also adds to this extravaganza, which will include such pieces as "Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue," "Concerto in D major" and "Sonata in D minor." Festival is 8 p.m. today, 1 p.m. tomorrow, and 11:15 a.m. Sunday at St. Philip's in the Hills, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. Lectures and some performances are free. Tickets for other performances range from $10 to $13, with discounts for children ages 12 and under. Call 299-6421 for tickets and information.
Saturday 1
RHYME AND REASON. Bards once again take center stage as the 14th-annual Tucson Poetry Festival gets underway. This year's theme is Poetry and Loss, two topics that fit nicely together, with a high-powered roster of talent including Barbara Cully, Jon Davis, Mark Doty, Carolyn Kizer, Rick Noguchi and Daisy Zamora. Marie Howe is the moderator. See the review of Zamora's recent collection in this week's Books section. Cully and Doty read from their work at 8 tonight, with discussions and readings continuing through Sunday in the Tucson Center for the Performing Arts, 408 S. Sixth Ave. Advance tickets are $5 per day, $10 for the weekend, available at Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, The Bookstop, or Antigone Books. Admission at the door is $7 per day, $13 for the weekend. For information, call 620-2045. DREAM-TIME ARTIST. Deep space and tribal sensibilities, ancient cultures and contemporary life all blend seamlessly in the music of Steve Roach, whom Pulse! magazine calls "the landscape architect of dream-time vistas." The Alternative Press describes Roach as "a nearly mythological, highly prolific figure in the electronic/ethno-ambient world." In a rare Tucson outing, the topnotch dream weaver performs a 90-minute sonic ritual in the PCC Proscenium Theatre, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets range from $8 to $14, and are available at Dillard's, Hear's Music, Antigone Books and the PCC West Campus cashier's office. For information, call 884-6986. INDIGENOUS UPSTARTS. The folks at Native Seeds/SEARCH get an early start on the planting season with their 1997 Spring Seed Day. SEARCH gardener Henry Soto sprouts the action with a planting workshop. He'll discuss traditional southwest gardening practices and crops, with tidbits on preparing garden beds, caring for your plants, harvesting and desert composting. The fun continues with a celebration featuring seeds of native crop varieties, including squash, beans and a variety of seedlings, and Native American crafts will be available for sale. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a non-profit bunch working hard to conserve native crops and seed strains that have kept bellies full in our region for centuries. The planting workshop runs from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Sylvester House Annex, 2130 N. Alvernon Way. Cost is $12, $10 for Native Seeds/SEARCH members. Pre-registration is required. Free Spring Seed Day festivities run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. For registration and other information, call 327-9123. COMBUSTIBLE. The UA Repertory Theatre presents Dragons, a musical by Sheldon Harnick. Landing in a medieval village, a good-looking knight hatches plans to deliver serious trouble to a big, cantankerous fire-breather, freeing the suffering hamlet from its 400-year scourge. Of course, he also finds a little time to rescue the comely maiden he's got a hankering for. Based on a Russian play, The Dragon is a story for all ages, replete with high-brow satire, biting wit and plenty of yuks. Performances are 2 and 8 p.m. today, and 2 p.m. tomorrow in the Marroney Theatre, located in the UA Fine Arts Complex. Tickets range from $10 to $17, and are available at the UA Fine Arts box office. Call 621-1162 for reservations and information.
Sunday 2
The brothers Clancy have been importing the land o' green to American shores for more than three decades, with songs of love, loss and the universal human condition. The lads blend traditional and popular tunes with the poetry of tragedy and ornery humor, while nephew Robbie O'Connell has been adding his song-writing and showman's skills to the family affair since 1977. Performance is at 7 p.m. in the Rincon High School auditorium, 422 N. Arcadia Ave. Tickets are $18, and available at Dillard's. For details, call 886-0962. SWEET ADDICTION. Tucson's best chefs, caterers and other foodstuff types blend their talents in A Taste Of Chocolate, a fund-raiser for Arizona Right to Choose.
Event runs from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Quality Inn Downtown, 475 N. Granada Ave. Tickets are $15 in advance, $17.50 at the door. Call 326-7111 for details. FORT REDUX. In the 19th century it was a calvary outpost far removed from what was then downtown Tucson, which consisted mostly of a smattering of merchants and a few cow turds. Today, Fort Lowell is a wonderfully grassy park, with a museum and loads of history, and its location is now considered midtown. But no matter how much geography changes in the sprawling Old Pueblo, the site still manages to retain its cottonwood-laced charm. The Tucson Parks and Recreation Department takes advantage of that timeless, shady ambiance with the Fort Lowell Arts and Crafts Fair. An army of vendors will offer their southwestern crafts, and folks can accent their visit with a romantic little stroll down Cottonwood Lane. Event runs from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fort Lowell Park, 2900 N. Craycroft Road. Free parking will be available in the Tucson Medical Center's far northwest lot. For information, call 791-4063.
Monday 3
Today, the Public Forum Institute addresses the changing governmental scene with a forum titled Social Security Reform: Putting Market Forces to Work. Congressmen Jim Kolbe kicks off the discussion, which will then address such niggling questions as "Is There a Problem with the Social Security System?" That no-brainer will subsequently be tackled by Mark Weinberger, former chief of staff for the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform; Rob Gebbardtsbauer, senior pension fellow with the American Academy of Actuaries; and Dorcas Hardy, former Social Security commissioner. The safety net will be further dissected in a series of panel discussions throughout the day, culminating in a keynote address by Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, who co-chairs the Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. Event runs from 9 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. in the Westin La Paloma, 3800 E. Sunrise Drive. Admission is free, though there is a $27 fee for lunch. For registration and other information, call 881-3588.
Tuesday 4
REGIONAL REALISM. For more than a century, Uncle Sam's minions have manipulated Central America through deviousness and downright force. But those troubled lands, from Nicaragua and El Salvador to Mexico, have nonetheless continued to rail against their heavy-handed Yankee neighbors, with varying degrees of success. To celebrate that ongoing struggle, the Tucson Ecumenical Council Legal Assistance, Derechos Humanos, and the Arizona Border Rights Coalition present an evening of song, dance and verse, with funds benefiting immigrant and refugee rights. Daisy Zamora, former Nicaraguan vice-minister of culture and one of Latin America's most vaunted poets, will read from her work, and local favorites Bwiya Toli will perform canto nuevo and indigenous Latin American music. Event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 602 N. Wilmot Road. Admission at the door is $12, $7 for low-income folks, and $2 for students. Advance tickets are $10, available at the TECLA office, 631 S. Sixth Ave. Call 623-5739 for information. MORTAL JOURNEY. The Central Arts Collective takes on the big hereafter with its new exhibit, Death: A Round Trip Ticket. The show was conceived more than a year ago, when Erica Swadley and Pat Dolan attended a healing circle for a dying friend. That experience sparked a gathering of works by more than 200 artists exploring the human experience of death and loss. Thirteen of them constructed shrines for Stations of the Heart, which includes three-dimensional installations and wall pieces, while six ceramists made funeral urns, and Swadley and Dolan combined their skills in painting a coffin. Jewelers, writers and poets round out this profound spectacle, which promises to transform the gallery into "a sanctuary...a place to honor individual experiences of loss and death." Exhibit runs through March at the Central Arts Collective, 188 E. Broadway. A special wake will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 8; and writers will read and discuss their collaborative effort, The Book Of Ours, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13. Regular gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and Downtown Saturday Nights. For details, call 623-5883.
Wednesday 5
HOWL. Over time they've been the subjects of legend, the villains of lore, and the targets of many a rancher's buckshot. But through it all, the majestic wolf has maintained its grip on existence, albeit by some very slim margins. Around the nation, a cadre of folks are now united to return the wild canine to its native haunts, which include our own region. Tonight, the Preserve Arizona's Wolves group (P.A.W.S) meets to discuss its latest strategies, victories and defeats. Free event is 7 p.m. in the First United Methodist Church, 915 E. Fourth St. Call 682-7589 for information. AND HOWE. "Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there," begins poet Marie Howe's What the Living Do. "And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up. "Waiting for the plumber I still haven't called," she continues. "This is the everyday we spoke of. It's winter again: the sky's a deep headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through." And thus Howe, author of two poetry collections, The Good Thief and What the Living Do, again transforms the routine into a revelation of understanding. A writing teacher at New York University and Sarah Lawrence College, she brings her unique vision to town tonight as part of the UA Poetry Center's Spring Reading Series. Her free reading is at 8 p.m. in the UA Modern Languages Building auditorium. An informal reception follows. For details, call 321-7760. City Week includes events selected by Calendar Editor Mari Wadsworth. Event information is accurate as of press time. The Weekly recommends calling event organizers to check for last-minute changes in location, time, price, etc.
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But there are bipeds among us who've undertaken the onerous task
of dissecting both the manners and mores of our six-legged companions,
among them roach aficionado and author David George Gordon. And
today he'll shed a little light on the bug with a multi-media
program titled The Compleat Cockroach: A Comprehensive Guide
to the Most Despised (and Least Understood) Creature on Earth,
sponsored by the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute.
A combination cooking contest and massive taste-test, this event
has had locals licking their lips for 14 years, with entrants
going for the glory in such sumptuous categories as cakes and
tortes, cheesecakes, cookies, moles and meringue. So hike up your
bloomers, abandon your diets and enjoy one of God's greatest gifts
to humankind emanating from the humble cacao nut.
SOCIAL INSECURITY. Feeling a bit anxious about the future
of our country's financial safety net? You know, the one that
takes a healthy bite from your paycheck day after day, year after
year? Unfortunately, your fears are well-founded, as the giant
population chunk known as baby-boomers moves from hard work to
soft foods.