City Week

GRAY, NOT BLACK AND WHITE

Friday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m.
Antigone Books
411 N. Fourth Ave.
792-3715

As regular readers of The Weekly know, the issue of gray wolves in Arizona is rife with controversy--less absolute and more complex than you think.

Enter Bobbie Holaday. The Phoenix resident never guessed what she was getting into when she attended a meeting of her wolf-dog club back in 1987. That month's speaker was a representative of the Arizona Game and Fish Department talking about how for six years they'd tried to help start a wolf recovery program.

Holaday decided the wolf needed supportive citizens' voices to combat opposition and save the animal from extinction. So she formed Preserve Arizona's Wolves--P.A.W.S. --and directed it for 11 years until wolves were returned to the Blue Range area in 1998.

It's clear what side Holaday's on. Her greatest goal is to raise public awareness about the introduction of gray wolves into rural areas of Southeastern Arizona.

Writing about the issue plopped her in the center of the quagmire in which environmentalists pitted themselves against ranchers who'd hunted the gray wolves to the brink of extinction. Holaday's book, The Return of the Mexican Gray Wolf, documents her battle to bring the wolves back to the wilds of Arizona. It's an engaging read for all concerned with the preservation of wildlife, as well as being a primer for conservation activists who are mobilizing at the grass-roots level.

Holaday reads from her opus and entertains your questions--pro or con--regarding the return of the wolves.

The reading and discussion are free.

WHISTLE APLENTY

Friday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.
Berger Performing Arts Center
1200 W. Speedway Blvd.
327-4809

Whenever I listen to Irish music, I find myself playing my favorite instrument--lips puckered, a shrill whistle emanating.

That's what jigs and reels do. They insist that you make noise. If you haven't gotten out of your seat to dance, you're listening to the wrong music.

Performing quintessential Irish music is Solas. The band gathered together in the mid-'90s. Immediately, they gravitated to traditional Celtic tunes. But just as quickly, they began to experiment, finding new ways to play old music--a flavor of the past injected into modern day. If you've heard some decidedly Irish-sounding covers of songs by Jesse Colin Young or Bob Dylan, then you've witnessed the range that is Solas.

Seamus Egan started the band after producing a solo album of his own and scoring music for two films--Brothers McMullen and Dead Man Walking. An Irish boy born in Hatboro, Pa., Egan plays flute, tenor banjo, mandolin, whistles, guitars and bodhran. His band mates include New Yorker Winifred Horan on fiddle, Kilkenny native Mick McAuley on accordions, low whistle and backing vocals. Tipperary native Deirdre Scanlan sings lead vocals and North Ireland's Eamon McElholm, just joining the band, plays guitars and keyboards and sings.

The Edge of Silence is the band's 2002 release. It includes covers of tunes by Tom Waits, Nick Drake and Bob Dylan. It also features a haunting song inspired by the events of Sept. 11, a song called "The Poison Jester's Mask." Solas performs old and new work. You'll get a sound check of upcoming tunes from their 2003 release, Another Day.

Advanced tickets cost $20 ($18 for seniors and students). Get them at Antigone Books, CD City or at www.inconcerttucson.com or by calling In Concert! Tickets at the door cost $2 more.

FURRY LOVE

Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 14, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Humane Society of Southern Arizona
3450 N. Kelvin Blvd.
327-6088

Tucson's Humane Society just happens to have 150 companion animals bathed, combed, dressed and ready for adoption.

The three-day local adopt-a-thon carries on simultaneously with those going on at PetsMart stores and animal shelters across the nation as part of the annual adoption-fest.

And it's fun. HSSA offers the Wheel of Furtune. Give it a spin to vie for free or discounted adoptions. Local experts perform animal obedience demonstrations. A pet psychic/animal communicator is on hand to talk to your far-flung, feline loved one. There's agility and K-9 dog demos, raffle prizes, live music and face painting (for the kids, not the animals). A sidewalk bazaar features books, CDs, DVDs and kids' items from Bookman's. Proceeds benefit HSSA's education and community outreach programs.

HSSA director Susan Wilson says, "So many of our four-legged friends are waiting in shelters to give unconditional love and companionship. You'll have a great chance of finding just the right pet for your home and lifestyle."

Adoptions take place both at the shelter and off-site at local PetsMart stores. Call or visit the HSSA Web site for details at www.humane-so-arizona.org.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2 p.m.
Reader's Oasis
3400 E. Speedway Blvd.
319-7887

Living la movida--life on the Mexican streets of hustlers, street urchins and corrupt politicos--can be a dangerous, yet thrilling proposition.

David Stuart has colorful tales to tell about how he survived on the mean streets of Mexico back in the '70s in his new memoir, The Guaymas Chronicles: La Mandadera.

How did the anthropologist find himself on such mean streets? He had just returned to his fiancé in Mexico after doing fieldwork in Ecuador. But once in Guaymas, he discovered she'd been unfaithful during his absence. Looking to nurse a broken heart, he turned to the streets, seeking solace in the cafés and nightspots along the waterfront. He was soon dubbed El Guero--Whitey--by the local barmen, taxi drivers and hustlers who adopted him into their tight-knit circle, helping him ride out the betrayal.

His memoir also reflects on the world of Mexico's street culture, where it could take up to two years to get access to a phone--that's after a $500 bribe. A scrawny street-tough shoeshine girl became his messenger. Lupita worked her magic, arranging business transactions, bribing customs officials, making deals for contraband. At 11, she was destined for tragedy.

The Guaymas Chronicles lays bare the soul of a city, but also the haunting lessons of survival, love and friendship.

The University of New Mexico anthropology professor reads from his newest book. Both the reading and discussion are free.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 5 p.m.
UA Learning Services Building
1521 E. First St. (at Vine Street), Room 246
626-3855

The Africana Studies department has chosen the fall months for its 2003 film series rather than sequestering it into February. Why wait for that ridiculous and arbitrary (and shortest) month of the year?

The series features 10 films exploring both African and African-American themes. Some are documentaries; others are narratives.

This week, it's the documentary, Four Little Girls. When you think about the struggle for civil rights in America, you can't ignore the gruesome bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., where, 40 years ago on Sept. 15, 1963, the KKK tossed a bomb into the church and killed four young girls. The story of these girls, and the political and historical implications of their tragic deaths, makes for a somber reflection on American and African-American history.

The screening is free as is the moderated discussion led by an Africana Studies faculty member.