Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Thursday 14 SHARECROPPERS. More than 1,500 scribes nationally will join in simultaneous readings today to help fight hunger and poverty as part of Barnes and Noble bookstores' Writer Harvest. Holding down the Tucson leg of this cross-country event--with part of the proceeds from book sales going to the Share Our Strength program--will be Tucson author Demetria Martinez. A former reporter, Martinez was indicted in the '80s for allegedly aiding the Sanctuary movement in bringing Central American refugees to the United States. She was later let off the hook, but her dedication remains undiminished, and today she'll read from her haunting Mother Tongue. This free event begins at 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 5480 E. Broadway. Call 745-9822 for details. LATIN LIFT. Some of Tucson's hottest salsa bands join forces with two Cuban artists in a dance demonstration class and concert. Sandy and Teresita Perez, of the renowned Grupo Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, have traveled from their island to the Old Pueblo to teach high-spirited Son, Salsa and Casino dancing, followed by the sounds of Tucson's own Descarga and Aché Pâ Ti bands, with accompaniment by Sandy Perez's burning congas. The pair will then perform a rare set of religious and secular songs, rhythms and dances from Cuba. Admission is $5, with proceeds going to help the musicians make their way back home. The event begins at 9 p.m. at El Parador, 2744 E. Broadway. Food and drinks will be available. For information, call 797-9570. FANTASTIC PIPES. Mozart takes center stage when the Arizona Opera presents The Magic Flute, featuring internationally acclaimed bass Jerome Hines, and whimsical costumes by Peter J. Hall. Hines made his debut 50 years back in the New York opera house; Hall is a veteran of such venerable troupes as the Metropolitan Opera and The American Ballet Theater. They bring their well-earned talents together at 7:30 tonight and tomorrow, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, in the TCC Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets range from $14 to $56 and are available at the TCC box office, Dillard's and Centennial Hall. Call 791-4836 or 1-800-638-4253 for reservations and information. Friday 15 FACT OR FICTION. In a time of rapid technological advance, making up tales about it must be one nerve-wracking challenge. But the genre is going strong, and will be soundly celebrated at this weekend's TusCon 23 Science Fiction Convention. The annual gathering of sci-fi, horror and fantasy literature fans is calibrated with panel discussions, art shows, videos, open gaming and live-action role playing. Visiting luminaries include Dennis McKiernan, author of the Iron Tower trilogy, and critic and horror story ace Ed Bryant. Cost is $10 today, with registration at 2 p.m. Admission is $20 at tomorrow's 9 a.m. registration, and $15 on Sunday, with registration beginning at 10 a.m. Kids ages 6 to 12 get in for half-price. All events--including an author's party and a masquerade dance--will be at the Executive Inn, 333 W. Drachman St. Call 293-1455 for details. ALMOST GOLDEN. Hard to believe it's been so long. But the Etherton Gallery is indeed celebrating its long stint among downtown's denizens with a 15th Anniversary Exhibition, featuring a cadre of artists whose works have graced the elegant little upstairs haunt over the years. Many of their names have since become well-known: Joy Fox, James Davis, Bailey Doogan and Luis Jimenez are just a few of the artists who've gained national recognition. They'll reunite once more for this celebratory exhibit. The show continues through January 11, with an opening reception from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, November 16. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. Thursday, and 7 to 10 p.m. during Downtown Saturday Nights. Etherton Gallery is at 135 S. Sixth Ave. Call 624-7370 for information. Saturday 16 COBS O' FUN. The Hispanic Cultural Showcase of Tucson opens today's Original Corn Fest/Festival del Maíz. The celebration will include plenty of corn-related chow originating in Latin America and the Southwest, lots of corny action for the kids, and a bountiful harvest of folk dances and music, all centered around the humble cob. And topping it off will be a corn-growing contest, to be judged by UA professor George Brookbank. The free festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Himmel Park Outdoor Performance Area, 1000 N. Tucson Blvd. For information, call 888-8816. COSMOPOLITAN COWPOKES. Downtown Saturday Night showcases entertainment with cowboy themes. Western music kicks up its heels with Mark Brooks, Outlaw Black, Out of the Blue and the Lobo Rangers from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.; at the Ronstadt Transit Center. Slim and Red perform rope tricks, skits and "other hilarities to tickle your funny bone" in Arizona Alley from 7 to 10 p.m.; and the Tucson Friends of Traditional Music host an Old Time Barn Dance, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the Amory Park Center, 220 S. Fifth Ave. Call 327-1779 for more information on the dance. The Red Hot Country Showdown Review gets underway on Pennington Street from 7 to 10 p.m., and Blue Prarrie Dogs open the Tucson Musicians' Showcase at 7 p.m. at Winsett Park, 322 N. Fourth Ave. For more information on downtown happenings, call 624-9977. Sunday 17 BROWN IN TOWN. You might known him from countless stints on A Prairie Home Companion, or from his May benefit concert for ailing local guitar visionary Rainer. Now Greg Brown brings his "down-to-earth family songs to growing up to original poetic blues" back to town for one performance only. None less than Garrison Keillor calls Brown's music "in a class by itself." No doubt a small army of Norwegian farmers would agree, and you probably will too, at tonight's 8 o'clock concert in the Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Tickets are $14 and $12, with a $2 discount for TKMA, TFTM and KXCI members, available at Hear's Music, Loco Music, Antigone Books, Rainbow Moods, or by calling 327-4809. ORIENT EXPRESS. These are the kind of guys who wouldn't be worried about asking for directions, simply because they don't have to. Neither will you after attending today's orientation class, hosted by the Tucson Orienteering Club. Members promise a high-powered, full-color map, and an unfailing expertise in showing you the ins and outs of traversing our nearby desert hillsides. The class runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Take Tanque Verde Road east to Redington Road. Continue seven miles past the pavement's end, and follow the orange and white signs. Cost is $5 for an individual and $7 for a team. Call 298-8290 for information. NORSE CHORDS. The local chapter of the Norsemen's Federation hosts an afternoon of Norwegian music and art, featuring Tucson Symphony director George Hanson, and artist Ellen Skotheim. Hanson demonstrates his speaking and musical skills with his Glimpse of Peer Gynt Through Edward Grieg's Music lecture, while Skotheim displays watercolors in her Norwegian Landscapes series, revealing a deeply personal view of that chilly land far beyond the prairies of Minnesota. The program begins at 2 p.m. in the UA Campus Christian Center, 715 N. Park Ave. For information, call 623-7575 or 887-6343. Monday 18 PUEBLO POTTERY. The Tafoya-Lonewolf family of New Mexico's Santa Clara Pueblo has long been on the cutting edge of contemporary American Indian pottery. Today, Rosemary Apple Blossum Lonewolf presents a free slide lecture on her family's work, sponsored by the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. Rosemary Lonewolf blends traditional techniques with her personal icons and contemporary designs, and, in a current series of architectural tiles, transforms her small-scale pots into large-scale public art pieces. She'll discuss that often painstaking process beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the UMC DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. Free parking is available. For information, call 327-7235. SORE OOZERS. Poor Mandrake High is haunted by a strange creature that disrupts the student body and spoils plans for the gala prom-night dance. What can it be? Carrie with a cane? Find out for yourself when teens of the Bianco Theatre Company present their musical comedy spoof, The High School That Dripped Gooseflesh, with performances at 6 and 8 p.m. tonight, and 10 a.m. Saturday, November 23, at the Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and kids. Call 290-9108 for reservations. Tuesday 19 TAKE ROOT. Tucsonan Shea Solomyn recently visited a natural farm in Japan inspired by that country's aging agricultural legend, Mafanobea Fukowa. Tonight she'll grace the Old Pueblo with slides and a lecture about her experiences there. "They call it 'do-nothing farming' in Japan," Solymyn says of the natural farm, where city dwellers come to plant and meditate. "But that's probably because the Japanese are such hard workers, and they likely consider our type of organic farming to be pretty easy." Find out about easy agronomy at 7:30 p.m. in Porter Hall at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Admission is free. Call 670-9158 for details. Wednesday 20 MUSE MEISTER. James Tate received both the Pulitzer Prize and the William Carlos Williams Award for his 1991 Selected Poems, and his first volume of poetry, The Lost Pilot, landed the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award back in 1967. Tate's ensuing literary roster now includes more than 10 books. Tonight you can sample a bit of his work when he reads at 8 p.m. in the UA Modern Languages Building auditorium as part of the Poetry Center's ongoing lecture series. Admission is free. For information, call 621-4121. LESS FATUOUS. Jeffrey is a gay actor and waiter who vows celibacy after too many philosophical bouts with safe sex. Now he's determined to find an alternative's alternative. Sex-lite? Sex-helper? I-can't-believe-it's-not-sex? Such consumerist homilies play poorly in the Big Apple, however, and just when he becomes happy with simply contemplating his chaste navel, he meets the dude of his dreams--who just so happens to suffer from HIV. What ensues is a romantic comedy in which the quest for love and really cool clothes reaches a wistful convergence, in a performance The New York Times calls "wildly funny...just the kind of play Oscar Wilde might have written had he lived in 1990s Manhattan." The Upstairs Theatre Company performs Paul Rudnick's Jeffrey at 8 p.m. today through Sunday, with a 2 o'clock Sunday matinee, at the Tucson Center for the Performing Arts, 408 S. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $9, $5 for students. Call 791-2263 for details. 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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