Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday Thursday 12 DIVINE INTERVENTION. The Divine Healing Center hosts a free cosmic peace celebration, one small cog in the big unity wheel wherein serene folk the world over energize and heal, among other activities. "We hold this celebration every year on December 12 to bring peace and healing into the consciousness of humanity, Mother Earth and all life," says gathering spokesgal Pari Mahinpey. "We are unifying globally to celebrate our unity and oneness, and to join our heart energies with the heart energies of people around the planet." So ditch that nasty cup of Joe and head out to the global unity gig, which runs from noon to 1 p.m., with local action continuing from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., all at the Divine Healing Center, 380 E. Fort Lowell Road, suite 205. Both events are free. For information, call 882-9631. Friday 13 SPATS ACT. While mishaps, misfortunes and mistaken identities comprise the lovely essence of modern life, they slam one family in spades in the San Pedro Actors Troupe's production of The Importance of Being Uncle Roscoe. Oscar Wilde might have a cow, but what the hey. Written by Pat Cook and directed by Winnell Burt, Uncle Roscoe is set in the make-believe burg of Quincy, Nebraska, during the week before Christmas. Carl Kendall's family awaits Roscoe with slight apprehension, considering they haven't seen the old coot for nigh on 10 years. But their nervous vigilance is disrupted when Dexter and his pal Kenny pop into the scene, on the lam from the local boys in blue. Multitudinous twists and turns ensue, with shenanigans galore, all under the Kendall's well-meaning tutelage. Performances are 7:30 tonight and 2 and 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, at the SPATS Playhouse on American Avenue, just west of Hildreth's Market in Oracle, located 45 minutes northeast of Tucson. Take Oracle Road north, turning east on Highway 77. Tickets are $8 for evening performances, $5 for the matinee, and may be reserved by calling (520) 896-2660. CANYON CHORUS. The Friends of Sabino Canyon and the Forest Service host the second annual Music in the Canyon holiday festival. There will be plenty of food and drink, with music provided by the Tucson Flute Club's Large Ensemble, Tucson Boys Chorus, Utterback Middle School Jazz Band, Old Pueblo Madrigal Singers and Walden, a wind quintet. Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association members will also be strolling about at various locations, and even Santa and Smokey Bear are slated for appearances. The free celebration runs from 5 to 9 p.m., starting in the Sabino Canyon parking lot, 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road. Luminaria-lit pathways will then lead visitors to the historic Lowell House for the musical performances. For details, call 749-8700. SEAMY GREETINGS. Bob Girth, proud proprietor of Babylon Tucson, the city's oldest and finest cybercafe, is gearing up for a multi-ethnic, pan-religious holiday (lovingly known as a the Eurocentrically Imposed Midwinter Festival). And this year Big Bob has something in store for all: Santas stuffed with green corn tamales roasting over a yule-log fire, elves belting "Oy to the World" and "Mazel Tov Y'all," and even a nifty little web page for St. Nick--at www.kringle.com. This full-length comedy play with original music evolved from a Sweatlodge mindmeld, mastermined by Nick Seivert, Dave Sullivan, Elliot Glicksman and Fish Karma. Deck the Halls With a Babylon Tucson Holiday--The Cool Yule takes the stage at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through January 5, at the Serendipity Playhouse, 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road. Tickets are $11 for adults, $9 for students, seniors and active military, and $6 for kids under age 12. There will also be a $1 discount with a can of food for the Tucson Community Food Bank. For information, call 751-4445. Saturday 14 A DARKER WAY. Valerie Galloway shows her recent photographic pieces, described as "a melancholic opera, juxtaposing beauty with symbols connoting pain and fear, creating a disturbing dichotomy." Just the ticket for relief from cloying holiday cheer, no doubt. In her works a row of legs appear, floating on a bed of red velvet, a man uses a saw in preparation for potential disaster, and themes of desire, anger, isolation and moody eroticism run rampant. The show continues through February 6, with an opening reception from 7 to 9 tonight, at Elizabeth Cherry Contemporary Art, 1421 E. Broadway. For information, call 903-0577. RAVISHING RODENT. The award-winning Childsplay theater troupe continues a charming holiday tradition with their production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Adapted from the book by Margery Williams, it tells the story of a stuffed bunny that becomes the real McCoy through a young boy's love. Performances are 2 o'clock today, and 2 and 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. Tickets are $12.25 for adults, $9.25 for students, children and seniors, and available by calling 1-800-583-7831. VOCAL TIDINGS. Desert Voices, Arizona's premiere gay and lesbian chorus, hits the yule full force will such classics as "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," "White Christmas," "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," and traditional Tohono O'odham holiday music. They'll also debut a new work, "The White Buffalo," based on a Native American tale. Performance is at 8 p.m. at the PCC West Campus Proscenium Theater, 2202 W. Anklam Road. Tickets are $12 for reserved seats, $10 for seniors and students, $15 for box seats, and are available at Antigone Books, Tucson Trunk and the PCC West Campus box office. Call 791-9662 for information. Sunday 15 LATIN LUSHLIFE. Mary Lou Williams' pastels and watercolors are known for their vibrant, rich colors, and for tapping a panoply of Latin themes. Her La Gran Guadalajara series in particular captures south of the border idioms, reveling in that sprawling city's complex culture. The longtime Tucson artist's work will be accompanied with pieces by Jeff Schwartz through December 22, with a reception today from 2 to 5 p.m. at M. Revak and Co., 1440 N. Stone Ave. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Call 624-3445 for details. SWADDLING TRADITION. 'Tis the season for mangers, and in that spirit St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic sponsors its annual Nacimiento Tour. No matter the language, nativity scenes are universal, and this self-guided journey highlights the best in homes throughout town, anchored by a live tableau at Centro Cultural de las Americas, 40 W. Broadway, accompanied by the Merilac Auxiliary's holiday gift boutique. "There will be nine sites, and displays range from historical to modern, from miniature to life-sized," says clinic spokeswoman Mary Jimenez. "We've been doing this for eight years, and now we have lots of people calling us about it." All proceeds benefit the clinic. Event runs from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets and maps are $6 for adults, free for kids age 12 and under, available at the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic, El Charro Restaurant Gift Shop, El Charro Restaurant East, Leilani's Sheer Creations Beauty Shop, Our Mother of Sorrows Parish and St. Ambrose Church. For information, call 628-7871. BORDERLINE OPULENCE. Glimpse the glamorous side of Nogales as the Transcultural Border Alliance of Women hosts the annual Christmas Mansion Tour in Sonora. "These visits take you right into folk's contemporary homes," says alliance spokeswoman Anita Phillips, "and are meant to reverse the discrimination towards the wealthy in Mexico, the attitude that they all attained what they have through the drug trade." The tour begins with breakfast at the Cow Palace in Amado, and proceeds by bus across the border. Mexican families will open their doors to visitors, with refreshments at each stop, culminating in music and a raffle at the last mansion. Proceeds benefit the alliance's various charity and scholarship programs. "It's basically a full-day party," Phillips says. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants meet at the Cow Palace, located approximately 45 minutes south of Tucson on I-10, exit 48. Tickets are $60, payable by check only, and available at AAA offices on Oracle Road in Tucson and Green Valley. For information, call 1-520-342-0123. Monday 16 DEAD RINGERS. The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde National Park are both enchanting and a little weird. What puzzles most researchers is just why the area in southwestern Colorado was abruptly abandoned by its ancient citizenry. Jim Parks, a staffer with the UA Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, takes on that enigma with his lecture, Tree Rings, Architecture and Society: Recent Investigations in Mesa Verde National Park. Since 1992, the UA lab has worked with the National Park Service to examine beams from Mesa Verde dwellings, and Parks will shed light on the latest findings. Lecture is at 7:30 p.m. in the UMC DuVal Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. GET RHYTHM. The one known only as Fantuzzi presents a ritual performance workshop, complete with drumming, dancing, yoga, vocalization and chanting. According to Jess Johnson, who speaks for Fantuzzi, "We use the performing arts as a tool for invoking sacred space, we become instruments of the divine on a shamanic journey." And there ya go. Workshop runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Casbah, 628 N. Fourth Ave. Admission is $30. For information, call 792-9910. Tuesday 17 CITY OF LIGHTS. Lush lawns, towering trees and enough yuletide circuitry to throw TEP into a tizzy. That's Winterhaven, a little midtown oasis suffering serious desert--and utility bill--denial. Still, while it may be a hotbed of conspicuous energy consumption, it's our hotbed, and each year hundreds of Tucsonans tour a light display rivaling Las Vegas on a big night. See sleigh-bound Santas flanked by odd little folk in flamboyant attire, 100-watt Rudolphs traversing shake shingle tundras and well-lit Grinches tumbling off the holiday wagon. Adding to the surreal seasonal frolic is Sun Tran, now offering shuttle services to the Winterhaven neighborhood, located north of Fort Lowell Road and east of Country Club Road. Shuttles will leave continuously from the northeast corner of El Con Mall's parking lot between 6 and 9 p.m. daily through December 27, excluding Christmas day. Fare is $1 for adults, 50-cents or two cans of food for children, with donations earmarked for the Tucson Community Food Bank. For more Sun Tran information, call 792-9222. WEE WORKS. View stunning little paintings and sculpture by more than 30 local leading artists in Collection '96 Part II: The Winter Collection. Well-known names represented include Bruce McGrew, Joy Fox, Alfred Quiroz, Nancy Tokar Miller and Jim Waid, among others. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Exhibit runs through January 11 at the Davis Dominguez Gallery, 6812 N. Oracle Road. Call 297-1427 for information. Wednesday 18 ASIAN RHAPSODY. Older than the hills, many Indian instruments have made brief splashes on the American scene over the years, most notably with the Fab Four's spiritual trek to that fabled land back in the '60s. Today those ancient tools of melody return, when Border's Books and Music presents Stefin Gordon playing the tampura, a four-stringed instrument. Peter Fine strokes the sitar, a popular 18-stringed solo instrument, and Don Reeve tackles the Bansuri Indian bamboo flute. Matt Finstrom accompanies on the tabla drums. The free performance is at 8 p.m. at Border's, 4235 N. Oracle Road. Call 292-1331 for information. 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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