Thursday 11
ANIMAL INSTINCTS. Tucson's summer heat can make for a pretty funky monkey.
Bears, especially the polar variety, don't have it easy--and neither do elephants.
Somehow, like the rest of us here in the Old Pueblo, zoo critters find ways of coping with the high temperatures.
Join a noontime talk today by a Reid Park Zoo educator, who will share the secrets of zoo animals as they seek shade from the summer heat.
The free lecture is part of Artbuzz, a program offering 30 minutes of noontime selected music, dance, storytelling, gallery talks and videos to enhance the enjoyment of exhibitions at the UA Museum of Art.
Artbuzz events are held on selected Thursdays throughout the summer.
Today's event is from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Thursday at the UA Museum of Art, UA Campus--southeast corner of Park Avenue and Speedway Boulevard. Visitor parking is available at the visitor parking garage on Park Avenue, just north of Speedway. For more information, call 621-7567.
SERVING UP A CLASSIC. If you're in the mood for satisfying entertainment, put this on your calendar.
Duck Soup, a Marx Brothers classic that features Zeppo Marx, kicks off Cinema La Placita film series' July lineup. Upcoming films also include The Awful Truth, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne on July 18; and The Odd Couple, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau on July 25.
Tonight's film starts at 7:30 p.m. on the large outdoor screen in the plaza at La Placita Village, downtown. The other movies also start at 7:30 p.m.
There is no admission charge for the showings but $3 contributions are encouraged. The entrance to La Placita Village is at 110 S. Church St., near the corner of Broadway. Ample parking is available at the La Placita Parking garage on Stone Avenue, just south of Broadway. For more information, email outdoormovies@hotmail.com.
TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME. Call the Men in Black--the Las Vegas 51s, named for the top-secret military installation at Groom Lake, Nevada, are here for an out-of-this-world four-game series against the Tucson Sidewinders at Tucson Electric Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way. While we can't say whether their bats have been doctored with retro-engineered Romulan technology, we do know you can alter your own state at bargain prices with yet another Thirsty Thursday, with all domestic beers and soft drinks selling for a mere buck after the first pitch. On Friday, the Famous Chicken will turn up to entertain kids and adults alike and on Saturday, the first 2,000 fans with paid admission get a glow-in-the-dark Diamondbacks baseball. On Sunday, hot dogs are just 25 cents. Games start at 7 p.m., 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets range from $4 to $8. For more information, call 434-1021.
Friday 12
GYPSY SINGS. An eight-piece band from Paris plays the styles of Eastern Europe's gypsies and Jews with themes originating in Romania, Hungary and Russia.
Tonight, Les Yeux Noir finds itself in Tucson.
Les Yeux Noir's act incorporates Jewish folklore, rhythm and spontaneity. It's a group so unique you just have to be there.
The show at Plaza Palomino, at Swan and Fort Lowell, starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17 advance and $20 at the door. For tickets and more information, call 297-9133.
TAKE A LITTLE LOOK. Get your weekend off to a big start with a look at little art.
More than 60 Tucson area contemporary artists have been invited from the ranks of Davis Dominguez Gallery, plus guest artists from throughout the community for the 10th annual All-Tucson Small Works Invitational.
Dubbed "The Biggest Little Show in Town," the exhibition features one piece by each invitee, either a small--12-inch-by-12-inch painting, 18-inch-high sculpture--or other small object d'art.
A "Who's Who" of Tucson's contemporary artists together under one roof showing off their skills at creating a single, small piece of art results in an exhibition packed full of visual delights and not a few surprises.
Definitely not a show of miniatures, Small Works is an annual review of fully developed statements by artists using a small amount of materials.
The show runs through July 27 at 154 E Sixth St. Admission is free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, please call 629-9759 or e-mail davisdominguez@mailbug.com.
Saturday 13
EAT THE RICH. The words "prix fixe" usually mean "pretty pricey."
Still, a fixed price also means many of us can afford a glimpse of the way the other half lives, or at least eats.
This month at Westward Look Resort, for example, you can sample the four-star cuisine of the Gold Room with a special three-course prix fixe dinner for $35 per person, or $50 including three wine tastings.
This special summer menu features the innovative cuisine of Chef Jason Jonilonis, a savory blending of Southwestern and European culinary styles, accented with chiles, herbs and produce from the Chef's Garden. The dinner includes choice of a first course, any of four entrees, plus dessert.
Jonilonis has prepared his innovative cuisine for James Beard Foundation's "Best Hotel Chefs in America" program. He's also participated several times in the prestigious Masters of Food and Wine in Carmel.
Gold Room honors include Mobil Travel Guide's Four-Star Award, AAA's Four Diamond Award and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.
The new prix fixe menu choices include grilled whipped brie sandwiches with mache greens, lavender honey and sun-dried apricot compote and mesquite-smoked salmon with Yukon potato galette, poblano chile herbed cheese spread and chive oil.
That's just the first course. For entrees, choose from wild mushroom ravioli filled with maytag blue cheese, spinach, sautéed mushrooms and aged balsamic emulsion on a bed of sautéed spinach; grilled New York sirloin with twice-baked potato, roasted garlic sage bordelaise and sautéed wild mushrooms; or Sonoran veal piccata with charred tomato chipotle lime buerre blanc, roasted poblano risotto and cilantro oil.
Leave room for dessert: Baked Alaska and crème brulee are among the choices.
The prix fixe dinner also can include selected wine tastings expertly paired to each dish ordered.
Both the prix fixe menu and the full Gold Room menu are available nightly from 5:30 to 10 p.m. The Gold Room and its outdoor terrace offer expansive views of the Tucson valley. For reservations, call 297-1151 ext. 413.
DRIFT DOWN DREAM STREET. Organizers of a new show at the Center for Creative Photography have put together the "magnum opus of one of the 20th century's greatest photojournalists."
Dream Street brings together 195 photographs from W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Photographs, Smith's epic, unfinished essay of Pittsburgh. This is the first time these photographs--which Smith considered the finest of his career--have been exhibited together.
The exhibition joins the two largest and most important public holdings of prints from the project, housed at Carnegie Museum of Art and at the Center for Creative Photography, home to the largest and most complete collection of Smith's work, the W. Eugene Smith Archive. Dream Street yields a provocative and illuminating perspective on Smith's creative process, and an invaluable portrait of Pittsburgh at the pinnacle of its industrial might.
Smith began the project in 1955, having just resigned his high profile but stormy post at Life magazine. He was commissioned to spend three weeks in Pittsburgh and produce 100 photos for a book commemorating the city's bicentennial, Pittsburgh: Story of an American City, by noted journalist and author Stefan Lorant. Instead, Smith stayed a year, compiling nearly 17,000 photographs for what would be the most ambitious photographic essay of his life--his intended magnum opus.
Throughout his career, Smith was famous for his powerful images and photo essays, and for his difficult personality. His photo essays gained iconic status, yet his obsessive demands for artistic control--along with the demands he placed on himself--earned him the reputation of a maverick. It was a reputation Smith cherished. He said, "I can't stand these damn shows on museum walls with neat little frames, where you look at the images as if they were pieces of art. I want them to be pieces of living."
The exhibition opens today and runs through Sept. 29 at 1030 N. Olive Road, in the fine arts complex at the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Speedway Boulevard. The exhibition is free. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 621-7968 or visit www.creativephotography.org.
Sunday 14
GET IN A JAM. "Fans of meaty funk/jazz improvization will flip for the band's songwriting prowess and open-ended jams."
So says www.jambase.com of Virginia-based jamband, Rebus, a group often compared to Phish for its infectious jam brand.
The roots-founded groove quartet that has been creating music since 1998 is making its first Tucson stop tonight.
Get yourself in a jam at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. The show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 advance or $8 at the door. Tickets are available at Antigone Books, CD City, Club Congress and online at www.frontrowticketcenter.com. Charge tickets by phone at 866-468-8499. For more information, call 297-9133.
Monday 15
FOURTH AVE. ART. Sam Casados has been around some and he's incorporated his experiences in his art.
Casados's multi-faceted works will be featured in a show that opens today at a shop on Fourth Avenue.
The presentation will include painting, airbrush, metal work and ceramics. Casados is a recent addition to Tucson. Having spent most of his life in the Southwest, his art reflects both his western roots and the influence of his native Apache heritage.
However, some years of living on the East Coast has added the influence of the sea to his work.
Check out his interesting work in the Sonora Norte room at Piney Hollow, 427 N. Fourth Ave. For more information, call 791-9102.
Tuesday 16
WHITE AND WHAT-NOTS. In 2001, Jim White made appearances on the TV shows of David Letterman and Conan O'Brien.
Hear White's dark, gospel-inflected Southern Gothic musings in a performance he calls "Jim White (alone with machines)."
Tonight's show at Club Congress also promises music from local legend Al Perry and his frequent collaborator Loren Dircks.
The action cranks up at 9 p.m. at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. Admission is $8. For more information, call 622-8848.
HEY, SHUTTERBUGS. Photo fans won't want to miss the current exhibition at Etherton Downtown Gallery.
Summer Selections: Photographs includes photographs by Christopher Burkett, Kate Breakey, Bill Wittliff and Michael O'Neil.
The show runs through Aug. 31 at Etherton, 135 S. Sixth Ave. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 624-7370.
Wednesday 17
COME SLITHER. Matt Goode has been studying rattlers for the past five years.
Not just any rattlesnake, either. His specialty is the tiger rattlesnake, and he's been learning all about their habits.
Goode will share what he's come up with today during a lecture called The Secret Life of the Tiger Rattlesnake.
A slide show chronicles the research he's been doing on the species. He'll talk about how they live their secretive lives, what they eat, how they interact with humans, what effects humans have on them and where they spend their time.
As a special treat for snake enthusiasts, Goode will bring along a few tiger rattlers to check out up close and personal.
Goode's talk will take place at the Western National Parks Association store in Oro Valley. The Western National Parks Association is a nonprofit organization that supports national parks. Today's event is one in a series sponsored by the store, which sells books, posters and native artwork and crafts.
The event, which starts at noon, is free. The store is located at 12880 N. Vistoso Village Drive, off Rancho Vistoso and Innovation Park Drive in Oro Valley. Rancho Vistoso is the light north of Tangerine on Oracle Road. Seating is limited. For reservations, call 622-6014.
