Let it Snow
Irving Berlin's White Christmas
7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7
Loft Cinema3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
firstgiving.com/igbo/igbo-2014-presents-irving-berlins-white-christmas
Thanksgiving has passed and the Christmas season is fully upon us. What better way to kick off the holiday merriment than to watch a holiday classic while helping those in need at the same time?
The International Gay Bowling Organization is bringing Irving Berlin's White Christmas to the Loft for an interactive show aimed at getting the holiday cheer flowing. All you need is an appreciation for vintage films and Christmas carols, 10 bucks and a can of nonperishable food.
The food will be donated to the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, and the money from the event itself will go to IGBO's annual conference and tournament in May. The group, which has members around the world, promotes bowling by educating the public about the sport and creating leagues and tournaments. Its 2014 annual tournament will be held in Tucson and will have a Wild West theme.
Kevin Wheeler, co-director of IGBO, said he chose White Christmas for the fundraiser because he watched it with his mother every year as he was growing up. "It isn't Christmas without watching Irving Berlin's White Christmas," Wheeler said.
But this screening involves more than watching. "The goal is to get the audience to stand up, to sing when there are Christmas carols, to help throw snow throughout the theater," Wheeler said.
Local drag queens Tempest DuJour and Lucinda Holliday will be joining the festivities to help attendees get in the holiday spirit.
Tickets can be bought in advance online. A program also has been set up where you can purchase a ticket for yourself and a "ticket for a buddy." The ticket for a buddy will go to someone living with HIV or AIDS.
—T.T.
Party With the Playlist
KXCI 30th-Anniversary Fundraising Concert
6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6
El Con Club600 S. Alvernon Way
623-1000;kxci.org
Community radio station KXCI 91.3 FM is in the midst of a monthlong celebration of its 30th anniversary, with a variety of on-air specials and events that typify the mission and reach of the station since its startup in December 1983.
But no show is more representative of KXCI's playlist and devotion to local musicians than Friday's annual fundraising concert, featuring Tucson artists Stefan George, Kevin Pakulis and the Wayback Machine.
"Of all the (anniversary) shows, this will be the most signature KXCI event," station spokeswoman Amanda Shauger said. "The other ones are shows that other producers were already putting on, and we joined up with them. This one is a real celebration of our 30th anniversary."
Shauger said the station had an endless list of musicians who would have been fitting for this show, but the combination of George's folk guitar, the blues/rock of Pakulis and the Wayback Machine's cover jams provides the perfect blend of what has defined KXCI's sound over three decades.
"They're all kind of representative of the core heritage sound, the core performers that have had a long history with the station," Shauger said. "There could have been any of hundreds of artists."
The event is free, but because it's a fundraising show, donations will be accepted, Shauger said. The station will also receive a portion of the proceeds from food and beverage purchases at the El Con Club, located just north of the Randolph Golf Course clubhouse.
—B.P.
Bike Art
BICAS 18th Annual Art Auction
6 to 9 p.m., Friday, Dec. 6; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7
Whistle Stop Depot127 W. Fifth St.
628-7950; bicas.org
Bicycling and art may not sound like they go together, but for the past 18 years BICAS has made it so. BICAS, which stands for Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage, is a local nonprofit that provides bicycle education and recycles bike parts, and it marries those services with the arts. The center provides a place for bicyclists to receive help on how to fix their bikes and also save money by using donated, gently used parts.
The saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" rang true for the center as BICAS members realized that beauty could be created from unfixable and trashed bicycle parts. The group's "bike rescue" program grew from this realization, with people donating their broken bikes to BICAS' art department. When the group realized that people were willing to buy art made from junked bike parts, member Kim Young started the BICAS art auction, a fundraiser that helps to keep BICAS running.
This year's art auction comes as the group celebrates its 25th anniversary. More than 100 artists have donated works. The bike-inspired art ranges from painting to sculpture to jewelry.
"There's one donated piece by George Strasburger," says Tanya Rich, BICAS art coordinator, about a notable oil painting featured in the auction. "It's pretty intense, beautifully done, and evokes emotion. It's a man laying on the street and he's in a crosswalk and there is glass by his head ... it's just gorgeous."
Other notable pieces include a three-dimensional sailboat by Troy Neiman and a 5-foot-long collage by photographer Patrick Cobb that features photos of bicycles at BICAS taken over several months. Four different bands will play over the course of the two days. The event also includes food trucks and a puppet show by Elysia and Friends.
—T.T.
Egg Heads
Chicken Coop Tour
10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7
Self-guided tour of coops around Tucson
624-4821;foodconspiracy.coop
Let's face it, America's food industry has become pretty damn scary. There's really never been a better time to join forces with the local food movement. Maybe you've already taken the first few steps and you're ready to take on the challenge of starting your own chicken coop, but you're at a loss when it comes to where to start. The Food Conspiracy Co-op has designed a self-guided chicken coop tour that aims to answer all of your chicken-rearing questions and get you on your way to waking up every morning to an omelet made of only the freshest eggs.
On the tour, you'll get a chance to peer into the backyards of some of Tucson's most admirable sustainable gardeners.
"I was just out at a place where it's two neighboring homes and together they both raise wheat and barley for their chickens to eat," says Kelly Watters, education and outreach coordinator at the co-op and in charge of setting up the tour. "One of these homes also has a couple of milking goats and a solar oven set up."
Other notable stops on the tour include the homes of the director and the manager of the Watershed Management Group, which created the co-op's rainwater harvesting system. The Tucson Botanical Gardens also has a new coop that will be opening just in time for the tour, and three local elementary schools will show off their gardening programs.
"The fact that they are being done in schoolyards is a positive thing to show that it's really not that difficult," Watters says. "They have someone on staff to teach the kids how to do the work in the garden. To me, that shows how possible it really is."
The owners of 15 coops are participating in the tour. Attendees will be emailed a map with the location of each coop, along with a description of it. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased online or at the Food Conspiracy Co-op, 412 N. Fourth Ave.
—T.T.
