"Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming" - submit yr. writing

[Thanks to friend, poet, and world traveler Lorena Caputo for sending me the following call for submissions. Please respond to the email address/mailing address provided below. ]

INVITATION TO SUBMIT TO ANTHOLOGY ON GLOBAL WARMING

"Greetings and best wishes!

Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming will be a completely new kind of book about global climate change. Instead of experts talking at you, this hard-copy anthology will feature personal responses to global warming - what everyday people are feeling and thinking as well as what they are doing. Stories, essays, and poetry are welcome, from concerned citizens from all walks of life and all ages. Please go to www.facingthechange.org for more information, writing suggestions, and submission instructions (including a printable version of the full Invitation to Submit).

Submission deadline: MAY FIRST, 2008 - 5/1/08.

Please consider submitting your own writing to the project. You can also help by forwarding this invitation to anyone who may be interested - colleagues, students, friends, family, or community members. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions you might have. Your interest and assistance will be much appreciated.

The world needs your insight, strength, and concern. Join with me in Facing the Change.

Thanks, Steve"

Steven Pavlos Holmes, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar in the Environmental Humanities
21 Eldridge Rd., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 USA
steve@facingthechange.org
www.facingthechange.org

"Footprints" debuted at Barefoot Brigade show last weekend

"I step gently on the earth...You can hardly see the marks I leave behind."

"Mama, mama, look at the sky! The colors so bright at night!"

"...how i have trampled this territory."

We're onstage again this weekend to perform "Footprints", as part of the annual Dallas FringeFest in Deep Ellum. We do the piece at 4pm, and then again at 9:45pm. Come check us out if you are into seeing some experimental performance on Saturday, April 12th. The show's at the Dallas Hub Theater, which is located at 2809 Canton St.


12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, April 6, 2008

By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
msputnam@sbcglobal.net
Margaret Putnam is a Richardson-based writer who covers dance.

"I was worried there for a little while. What if no one in the Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival went weird Friday night?

I need not have worried. Footprints did the trick. Eight mannequin legs littered the floor, one leg rudely impaled with a Styrofoam cup, the rest stuffed with plastic bags.

Upside down, Lori Sundeen Soderbergh wiggled her feet. Eventually, she's was upright. The theme, or at least part of it, was to take responsibility for one's footprint that damages the Earth. But it was difficult to take seriously because of some props, such as a fish mask and a part that mocked strangulation.Next to that bit of nonsense, everything else seemed pretty straightforward from the area troupes at the dance festival."

Ruben Salazar - collaboration for Waco art exhibit in February 2008

I've always loved working with other artists in collaboration, especially when the artists involved are working in genres other than the ones I'm usually exploring. Back in January, I got to work with Waco-based visual artist RUBEN SALAZAR, who invited me to send him some of my political poems for possible use in some of his artwork. Ruben and I met via a phone call back in 2005, which kind of spooked me, because he 1) phoned after midnight and 2) he happened to know that I was about to board a train to travel to San Antonio for TeatroFest at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Disconcerting, for reals. I was polite but cautious, as Ruben listed off the names of some of our mutual friends. Turns out, Ruben was just super-friendly and maybe a bit lonely for Chicano/a artist kinship. He knows alot about Chicano/a art and has traveled a bit throughout the southwest to study, work, and network. I ended up on his email mailing list and began to figure--from the content of many of his forwards and messages--that he is an environmental activist and practitioner of what is often termed "advocacy art." He's really good at creating provocative "papel picado" ("cut paper") designs, a couple of which you can see here.































We've shared alot of musings online, and looked forward to the day that we might collaborate on some project together. He is trying to bring some "life" and "culture" to Waco, and I can tell that he often feels like he's waging a one-man campaign to do so.

Anyway, back in December (2007), Ruben announced that he was going to have a show of his work in McLennan Community College's art gallery. He invited me to submit a few pieces of my writing for his consideration, as he hoped to find inspiration for a couple new works from reading these poems. This, in turn, motivated me to pen a new piece, "Steps on the Earth", which Ruben included in a multimedia collage--as shown below--which he created specifically for his exhibit.

I took the train (yay, Amtrak!) on the afternoon of Friday, February 15th, so that I could check out his one-man show and also to perform at the reception. ((A long sidenote now ensues: Ramsey kindly dropped me off at the Amtrak station in time for my scheduled departure, but we didn't have time for him to swing by my bank ATM beforehand. No problem, I thought. I'll buy my ticket and then skip over to the ATM which was surely to be found in the rail station lobby. Problem: I had just received a replacement ATM card from my bank the day before and had neglected to test-drive it. Reason for getting a replacement card, in the first place, was because some bozo had been trying to do a heist using that bank's ATM system, so all customers were required to trash their old cards and pick up a new (safer) one. Okay, so I had just enough cash to purchase my one-way ticket to McGregor. Waco doesn't have a rail stop because the powers-that-were and the powers-that-be continue to resist having Amtrak service their city. Lame. Anyway--once I purchased my ticket, I was left with the equivalent of about $1.25 in coinage. Sad. I had no idea if my ATM card was going to work whatsover, in any machine. I had not the slightest clue if I'd be able to withdraw any money for my weekend journey, which would have me moving on to Austin from Waco--Cesar and Miguel were scheduled to pick me up in Waco, alongside the interstate, at one of the fast-food restaurants across from Baylor U. on Saturday morning. I realized that I had to fall back on my time-tested belief that things would all work out, and that my needs (food, drink, etc.) would be met without the safety net of money. In a pinch, I could also borrow from Cesar.))

Anyway, after my reading at the gallery on Friday night, Ruben passed around a basket for donations, and I was offered the total amount collected--which equaled almost exactly the amount I would have withdrawn from the ATM to cover my anticipated expenses for the weekend. The universe always provides a safety net; we only have to trust in it.
















Ruben introducing me at his art show reception--McLennan Community College in Waco.

Premiere of new work "Footprints" in Barefoot Brigade showcase this weekend

Lori, Chris, and I have been developing this new performance piece--"Footprints", about the impact of our carbon footprint on the planet--since late January. It's been an easeful process, as Lori has coordinated this project in a way that has allowed us rehearsal studio time (at the Margo Dean Ballet Studios--thanks to Margo Dean!) for jamming on our ideas in a thoughtful and deliberate manner, moving towards precision. I met Lori--as I like to honor my collaborators with a memory of our meeting--at the "Save the Trees" rally last September. She heard and appreciated my poetry performance at the mic, and expressed her desire to get together on a project at some point. Lori also came out to see my bicycle play ("She: Bike/Spoke/Love") and was totally impressed. Now, we're premiering our first collaborative effort tonight (at the Bath House Cultural Center--see details below), and I must say, I'm pretty stoked about our conceptual and performative achievements in this work. Chris Curiel (co-founder, with his wife Tamitha, of the experimental musical project SWIRVE), as usual, is a 100% pleasure to work with--he's always spot-on with his musical accent choices. (I enlisted him as musical coordinator/composer/performer in last year's "365 Days, 365 Plays" project that I produced at the Jubilee Theater of one week's worth of plays from the Suzan Lori-Parks epic cycle.)

"Footprints" is part of the Spring 2008 Barefoot Brigade program, which showcases dance/movement and performance art works being created by some of DFW's most active (and sometimes prolific) artists. My personal favorites being performed alongside our work are the dances performed by MUSCLE MEMORY DANCE THEATER and the DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATER companies. A very provocative program.

Also need to mention: "Footprints" will be performed multiple times in the Metroplex this month. Check it out next Saturday (details below) at the upcoming DALLAS FRINGE FESTIVAL, and again at the annual PRAIRIE FEST in Fort Worth towards the end of the month. Hope you can join us at one of these performances!



FOOTPRINTS
D/FW premiere performances in April

"What is our footprint on this planet? Is it time to get mad or get moving? Are we too late?"

"Footprints" is a new dance/music/poetry collaboration by choreographer Lori Sundeen Soderbergh (FW); musician/composer Chris Curiel (Dallas); and performance artist Tammy Gomez (FW).

Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival
Bath House Cultural Center in Dallas
Friday, April 4 at 8pm and Saturday, April 5 at 3pm
For more information: www.cdfw.org/programs

3rd Annual DFW Fringe Festival
hosted by Dallas Hub Theater
Saturday, April 12 at 4pm and 9:45pm
For more information: www.dallashubtheater.org

3rd Annual Fort Worth PrairieFest
Tandy Hills in Fort Worth
Saturday, April 26 -at 2:30pm and 5pm
FREE admission!
For more information: www.tandyhills.org/prairiefest contact:

Tonight, March 21st: UN TRIBUTO A MUJERES / a Tribute to Women - Rose Marine Theater & Gallery - 7:30pm

http://www. rosemarinetheater. com/

Arrive early (5:30 on) to shop at the Women's Mercado (market of handcrafted items by women - in the Gallery)

THE PROGRAM -- in the Theater -- begins at 7:30pm.




FIRST half: panel discussion on culture, literature, and art

INTERMISSION: enjoy art in the Gallery as well as the Women's Mercado

SECOND half: tributes to women w/ performances by:

ANGELIQUE (with Carla Ayala) - "The Labyrinth Ladybrainth"

TAMMY GOMEZ (accompanied by guitarist Ramsey Sprague and assisted by Breanna Herrera) - "Donde Esta Adam?", "Quetzal Dream", and "Mujeres Fuertes"

GABRIELA LOMONACO - tribute poem to her grandmother

AND
after the show: check out the art, the Women's Mercado,
and LOTERIA CARD READINGS by Tammy Gomez!


Un Tributo a Las Mujeres / A Tribute to Women
March 21, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.




This celebration of influential women in Latin American society is told through music, art and dance.




Join us for a tribute to our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters as we explore the beauty, strength and resilience of women!

Special tribute to visual artist CELIA ALVAREZ MUNOZ, who was recently honored by the CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA). Celia has created art books, installations, and other works for many exhibits, galleries, and events across the United States. She showed work in the Whitney Biennial in 1991, and has been awarded two NEA fellowships. Currently based in Arlington, Texas, we should be proud to have an artist of Celia's talent and stature in our midst.




$12 General, $7 Students / Seniors
For more information: 817.624.8333

Talent Round-Up on Saturday - audition for over a dozen production companies @ once!

[Adam Dietrich, artistic director of The Butterfly Connection--based in Fort Worth--sent along the following announcement. I don't know that auditioning artists would take very graciously to being alluded to as "cattle", but I guess the Butterfly folks were taking a stab at alliteration. I might stop by, as I am looking to recast a few roles for my play "She: Bike/Spoke/Love.]

COWTOWN CATTLECALL
Date: March 15th, 2008
Location: Rose Marine Theatre at 1440 N. Main Street in Fort Worth
Time: 10am-4pm with 5 minute appointments

Requirements: 1 Minute Monologue, 1 Minute Acapella Song, 1 Minute Dance Routine with CD Accompaniment, and 2 minutes of improvisation and auditors questions. (If talent does not sing or dance, no song or routine is required.)

Reps and talent scouts from such notable Metroplex theaters as Casa Manana, Circle Theater, Hip Pocket, Kitchen Dog, Teatro de la Rosa, and Pantagleize will be in the house, taking notes and names.

They're considering all performing artists/talent, whether Equity or Non-Equity.

Bring headshots, resumes, and the usual sell-yourself materials.

For more info, please phone 817 333 4028 or email Adam Dietrich at adamjdietrich@gmail.com.

Firehouse Gallery presents annual "eVeryDAY a Woman" art & performance showcase - Saturday, March 15th

It's almost time for the annual theatrical performance of Eve Ensler's powerful work "The Vagina Monologues" in Fort Worth.

So, how do we get ready for this?

How do we raise a little awareness to the ongoing struggle to end violence against women & girls?

How do we help raise a little $$ to stage the play and contribute to the V-Day Fund?

Well, what we do is attend and support the annual

"eVeryDAY a Woman ARTS AND PERFORMANCE SHOWCASE" !

Open to the public - free admission, but DONATIONS accepted.

When: MARCH 15 - SATURDAY

Time: 6 to 10pm

Where: Firehouse Gallery, 4147 Meadowbrook Drive (corner of Meadowbrook & Oakland Streets)

(Phone 817.534.3620 for more information.)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

...and don't miss this year's production of "The Vagina Monologues" (hilarious, poignant, and performed by all women):

March 29th -- Fort Worth Vagina Monologues -- Texas Wesleyan University, Martin Hall, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
You can find more info here.

MY FORT WORTH: three shows in the 76104 of 817 tonight

It's a virtual FXFW (fall by fort worth) in one night tonight, cuz there're three shows happening in the Fairmount neighborhood aka Hospital District aka coolest neighb in the city. I'm on a broken foot, so I'll be glad if I can get a spot on the Chat Room patio, within earshot of Birds and Batteries' early night (before midnight) set. I'd recommend this SF (San Francisco) band for the more mellow audience; head out to the Cri Crow-hosted bash at 1919 Hemphill, with headliner Prizzy Prizzy Please if you have two stable ankles, opposable thumbs, and feisty fists to raise. Then there's an underground punk show at an undisclosed (sometimes this helps preserve the spot, on the d.l.) venue, with Florida favorites This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. Whatever you do, get out and check out the bands falling by Fort Worth tonight--on their way to SXSW in Austin.

PETRA'S PECADO opens (finally) in Dallas on Thursday, March 13th

[ Omigod, the setbacks that PETRA'S PECADO ("Petra's Sin") has encountered since the Cara Mia Theatre first tried to stage this Rupert Reyes-scripted comedy late last year. First, there were problems with securing their venues, and then their lead actress fell ill and could not be immediately replaced--the director tried to yank me into it, but my schedule would not allow, sorry Rodney. The shows were cancelled and the whole production was put on hold until just now. Still more casting dilemmas arose, but lo & behold, the magical miracle of all miracles has seen to it that the SHOW WILL--FINALLY--GO ON!! If anybody deserves a "courageous stamina in the face of adversity award", it would be Rodney Garza & the whole Cara Mia Theatre gang. Y'all break a leg on Thursday! ]

Cara Mia Theatre
presents

the Dallas premiere of
the original Spanglish comedy
by Rupert Reyes

PETRA'S PECADO

(highly recommended ! )



PETRA'S PECADO (Petra’s Sin), is a unique script that beautifully blends language so that it is enjoyed by English- and Spanish-speaking audiences alike. PETRA'S PECADO is a hilarious comedy that has touched people’s hearts by reminding us of life’s everyday miracles.



For this revamped production, Guest Director Rodney Garza ("El Chuco y La Che" & "Martin"), has assembled a mini-reunion of the world premiere cast of PETRA'S PECADO. He brings award-winning actress Irene Gonzales from Austin, who played the original Petra Dominguez in the first sold-out runs in San Antonio and Austin. Ms. Gonzales was nominated for an Austin Critic’s Circle Award for her portrayal of Petra. Also joining this Dallas cast is Maria Elena Salcedo ("Las Nuevas Tamaleras") from San Antonio. Ms. Salcedo will be reprising her role as Clara Ramirez, Petra’s co-worker and feisty friend.

Garza, Gonzales, and Salcedo have worked together on various productions, including the world premiere of "Petra’s Cuento", the second installment of Reyes’ Petra’s Trilogy. Garza is elated that the schedules worked out. Says Garza, “Everytime I work with these ladies I feel like the luckiest director. They’re so natural in their roles that they make my job easier. The DFW area is in for a treat.”



Cara Mia Theatre also introduces some new talent to the DFW theatre community. The role of Lupita Montana will be shared on alternating weekends by Valeria Perdomo and Eleonor Hernandez. Also new to the cast of PETRA'S PECADO is Helen Lozano, who will be portraying the role of Petra’s cranky friend Tacha Alvarez. All three actors have taken on their parts with refreshing enthusiasm and zeal.



Returning cast members from the production that was supposed to run last winter include: Liza Marie Gonzalez as the conniving business rival Tina Tamayo; Cesar Hernandez as the high school drama teacher Rudy Diaz; Hector Bernal as the new priest in town Father Johnson; Jaime Lopez in the role of the cantankerous Chano Orozco; and Fred Cizek playing the role of Petra’s unwitting husband Rafael Dominguez.

When: March 13, 14
Where: Latino Cultural Center
2600 Live Oak St., Dallas

When: March 20 & 22
Where: Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main St., Fort Worth

**All Shows at 8 PM**

Ticket prices: Adults-$12 Students & Seniors-$10
Special Discount: 2 for 1 Thursdays

Buy tickets online for $2 off.

For more information contact: 214-946-9499 or www.caramiatheatre.com

Carl Stone, audio sampler extraordinaire, at the Cliburn Recital Hall -- one more night!

I got to hear Carl Stone's set last night, as presented by local producing outfit OTHER ARTS. It was awesome fabulous, and I was jettisoned to other worlds/words as I sat listening to Stone's electronic aural improvisations. Highly recommended.

[Thanks to producer, Herb Levy, for daring and caring to offer some great music events here in Cowtown, which probably would never be presented otherwise. Here's the promo blurb that Herb sent out via email this week. Get on this man's email list today...]

Just a quick reminder that Other Arts is presenting two concerts by live computer music pioneer, Carl Stone this weekend.

Using a MacBookPro running the software suite Max/MSP, Carl creates his music by cutting, splicing, layering, distorting, and otherwise digitally altering samples of music by popular, classical and world music artists. He's presented his work on every continent except Antarctica and these are Carl's first performances in North Texas. You won't want to miss this chance to hear him.

[ALREADY HAPPENED: IT WAS SO COOL !!!! Friday, March 7th - a program of recent short works, including pieces
from his recently released CD /Al-Noor]

TONIGHT * TONIGHT * TONIGHT
Saturday, March 8th - /Guelaguetza, /an hour-long work for digital sound and images

8:00 PM at Cliburn Recital Hall, 330 4th Street in downtown Fort Worth.
Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors; combined ticket packages
for both shows are $40, $25 for students and seniors. Tickets are
available from Bass Tickets 817 212-4280; online at www.basshall.org, or
at the door on the evening of the performances.

Book review of HECHO EN TEJAS

Wow, this anthology, HECHO EN TEJAS, was released over a year ago, yet the reviews keep a-coming. This latest assessment appeared in the Sunday magazine of the Santa Fe New Mexican this week.

Some of my upcoming public performances

Just wanted to let you know when you might be able to see/hear/read me in the next few months.

(As I have broken my foot and am in the recovery process, I'm not getting out too much beyond scheduled performance commitments.)

Thanks, as always, for your support of and interest in my work!

abrazos,
Tammy
________________________

FEBRUARY 25 - 8pm - I'll be performing a set of spoken word (and a few poems accompanied by The Shortest Distance a.k.a. Ramsey Sprague) - 1919 Hemphill, FW, TX (in conjunction with the RNC Welcoming Committee Resistance Workshop.

++++++++++

MARCH 1 - all day - I'll be facilitating the "VALUES session" at the TEXAS COMMUNITY MEDIA SUMMIT - Texas Union Building on-campus at the University of Texas at Austin - free and open to all (especially if you're into creating grassroots media) !

++++++++++

MARCH 1 - my article "For the Love of Bicycles--One Poet and Playwright's Wild Ride" is the FEATURED THEATRE ARTICLE in the debut issue of "HERE AND THERE:  A Resource for Creative Professionals Everywhere", a new online zine which launches on March 1st - Read my article here on March 1st.

The purpose of the e-zine is to support, encourage and inform artists of all kinds as they work to get where it is they want to go in life and in art.

++++++++++

MARCH 25 - all day, performances and workshop, FESTIBA arts and literature festival, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-PAN-AM at Edinburg.

++++++++++

APRIL 4-5 - the debut performance of "Footprints" a new collaboration with dancer/choreographer Lori Soderbergh and musician Chris Curiel (of SWIRVE) - as part of the 2008 BAREFOOT BRIGADE showcases - BATH HOUSE CULTURAL CENTER - at White Rock Lake, Dallas.

++++++++++

APRIL 11-12 - performance of "Footprints" as part of the 3rd Annual DFW Fringe Festival - hosted by the Dallas Hub Theater in Deep Ellum, Dallas. ( t e n t a t i v e )

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APRIL 26 - performance of "Footprints" as part of the 2008 Prairie Fest - Tandy Hills Natural Area, Fort Worth. ( t e n t a t i v e )

Early Voting ends Friday, February 29th - get out & do it

EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS AND TIMES

Vote for your favorite prospective national super-hero...

Tarrant County early voting locations for the Republican and Democratic primaries are open Feb. 19-29:

7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, Feb. 25-29

There are 32 early voting locations:

Tarrant County Elections Center, 2700 Premier St., Fort Worth. This is the main early voting site. Emergency and limited ballots are available here.

Arlington City Hall, 101 W. Abram St.

Azle Public Library, 609 Southeast Parkway

Benbrook Community Center/YMCA, 1899 Winscott Road

Bob Duncan Center, 2800 S. Center St., Arlington

Como Elementary School, 4000 Horne St., Fort Worth

Crowley Community Center, 900 E. Glendale St.

Diamond Hill/Jarvis Branch Library, 1300 N.E. 35th St., Fort Worth

Euless Public Library, 201 N. Ector Drive

Elzie Odom Recreation Center, 1601 N.E. Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington

Fire Training Center, 5501 Ron McAndrew Drive, Arlington

Grapevine Community Activities Center, 1175 Municipal Way

Griffin Subcourthouse, 3212 Miller Ave., Fort Worth

Haltom City Recreation Center, 4839 Broadway Ave.

Handley/Meadowbrook Community Center, 6201 Beaty St., Fort Worth

Hurst Recreation Center, 700 Mary Drive

Keller Town Hall, 1100 Bear Creek Parkway

Mahaney Community Center, 6800 Forest Hill Drive, Forest Hill

Mansfield Subcourthouse, 1100 E. Broad St.

Northeast Subcourthouse, 645 Grapevine Highway, Hurst

North Richland Hills Recreation Center, 6720 N.E. Loop 820

Northwest sheriff's patrol building, 6651 Lake Worth Blvd., Lake Worth

Sonny and Allegra Nance Elementary, 701 Tierra Vista Way, Fort Worth

Southlake Subcourthouse, 1400 Main St.

South Service Center, 1100 S.W. Green Oaks Blvd., Arlington

Southside Community Center, 959 E. Rosedale St., Fort Worth

Southwest Community Center, 6300 Welch Ave., Fort Worth

Southwest Subcourthouse, 6551 Granbury Road, Fort Worth

Starrett Elementary School, 2675 Fairmont Drive, Grand Prairie

Tarrant County Plaza Building, 200 N. Taylor St., Fort Worth (entrance off Burnett Street)

White Settlement Recreation Center, 8213 White Settlement Road

Worth Heights Community Center, 3551 New York Ave., Fort Worth

All-day Saturday, March 1st in Austin : TX COMMUNITY MEDIA SUMMIT

[I'll be facilitating the morning and afternoon sessions on VALUE. What are our VALUES, in terms of community media access, production, and distribution?]


Texas Community Media Summit Promo

"Help Shape The Future Of Media" ------- FREE and OPEN to ALL! Register online or on-site on Saturday.

Join us March 1 in Austin for the Texas Community Media Summit.
Community media makers, storytellers, stakeholders, activists, and advocates will come together for a one day summit to discover who we are and how we can work together to transform the Texas media landscape.
For details and to register for the summit go to www.texascommunitymedia.org

channelaustin (PACT)
Houston Media Source
Dallas iMedia Network
Texas Media Empowerment Project

Free International Films/Food tonight @ TCU !

[thanks to John Singleton of TCU's International Office for the following announcement. this sounds great! ]

*** 4 FOOD FILMS ****

TCU International / TASTE OF THE WORLD FOOD & FILM FESTIVAL

Film & food pairings:

6:00 pm

"Tampopo" and Piranha Sushi:
"Big Night" and Mellow Mushroom:

8:30 pm

"Like Water for Chocolate" and Red Cactus:
"The God of Cookery" and Sapristi!:


film reviews - by John Singleton

TAMPOPO is the story of a Japanese Noodle house. Not so funny, huh! Not until you realize that the film director is in love with Clint Eastwood, and has adapted all the cultural variations of the great Hollywood Western to this Japanese film, right down to the black cowboy hat and a damsel in distress. Every Top Ten List I’ve read includes John Ford’s The Searchers. Personally, I’d rather go with Director Juzo Itami and his search for a perfect Noodle House any day, and if you were to put “The Searchers” in a blender with “Babette’s Feast” and “Shaolin Soccer,” this is what you’d have. Tampopo is paired with Kenzo Tran’s Piranha Sushi, a unique, trendy downtown restaurant that serves both sushi and style, and will be providing plenty of both tonight for film goers. Don’t miss the 6:00 pm start time!

BIG NIGHT is a uniquely Italian-American version of the “Coming to America” dream, as two brothers struggle with the identity of their cuisine on both a real and metaphorical level, while looming over them and just down the street is an “American-style” Italian restaurant with designs on the culinary skills of one brother. This film never makes anyone’s top ten list except mine, but I swear its beautiful, its simple and it is sublime. Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini’s part is small, but I’ll watch Italian advertisements for polenta if she’s selling. Mellow Mushroom is about as Italian as I am, but when Sapristi! Chef/Owner Carlos Cavasos passed up on both Latin American and Italian cuisine in order to do Chinese for us, well I could hardly walk away from that. Anyway, I like their pizzas and I’m ordering some strange ones tonight!

"THE GOD OF COOKERY" is the funniest movie I’ve ever seen!” Liz Branch and Dr. Carrie Currie both told me that before I ever saw Stephen Chow’s hilarious film. Ok, I know I sound like a broken record, but the point can’t be over done…Chow knows exactly what you expect from Hong Kong cinema, and he gives it you with both barrels, but... in 100 years they will say of Chow: “He clearly understood the expected stereotypes and used them both to fill his theaters but also to give the audience a deeper appreciation of their origins.” In the God of Cookery, an abominable, defrocked chef must battle all the demons of material gain, then their loss, in order to find his way back to culinary glory. Sapristi! remains one of the hottest and hippest, all-the-while keeping the southside’s finest happy with an atmosphere that is half crème de New York and half Eurotrash…but not-to-be overlooked is what emerges nightly from that amazing kitchen and the minds of Carlos and Brandon.

LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE is the staple of Latin American Food films, and for good reason. Beyond a good retelling of Laura Esquivel’s opus, the film tries religiously to honor the role of food—primary to the novel—in the film. In Spanish, “Como Agua Para Chocolate” is slang for a woman who is “beautifully-inspired” and waiting for her love. The film rarely loses that sense of fire throughout, but is there anyone who hasn’t seen it? The film is destined for the kind of classic status that “The Wizard of Oz” has, and though you think I exaggerate, trust me that virtually everyone I’ve known across the planet has seen that film. Red Cactus will be providing an array of hand-foods or “entremeses,” and before you simply say, “what, fast food,” slow down. I, dubiously dubbed by my friends as El Rey de los Tacos (following Amy Culbertson’s article), absolutely swear by their simple, unpretentious and delicious stuff.


film country restaurant time space

1. Tampopo Japan Piranha Sushi 6:00 pm SRH #2
2. Big Night US/Italy Mellow Mushroom 6:00 pm srh #4
3. Like Water For chocolate Mexico RED CACTUS 8:30 pm SRh #2
4. The god of cookery China Sapristi 8:30 pm SRH #4

Directions: I-30 exit to University and take University South. When you pass through the light at juncture with W. Cantey you are close. Now there are only streets off University on your left. Take the second street past W. Cantey, which is W. Bowie . The huge building on your left is the Sid Richardson Complex, shaped as a huge hour glass with an opening in the center. In the second half of the structure, on a level lower than the street but closest to W. Bowie , you will find glass doors that open and immediately to your left are lecture halls 2 and 4. After 5 you may park on campus in spots that are not posted as reserved and/or are not listed as handicapped.

Friday, February 15th: Ruben Salazar art show opening party

Ruben, a comrade since 2005, is based in Waco, and we somehow managed to sidestep each other when we both lived in Austin in the 1990s. We also have more than a few mutual friends and he feels sometimes the way I do living in Fort Worth. Fish out of water. He invited me, back in 2007, to consider collaborating with him for a future art exhibit. Ruben specializes in papel picado (cut paper) design, but has done alot of different things in visual art over the years. He's worked with the folks at the Peace House in Crawford, Texas, and used to teach ballet folklorico in the past. I'm pleased that he has elected to include my brand-new poema, "Steps on the Earth", for one of his installation pieces at this new, environmentally-themed show in Waco. I'll be traveling down there on Friday (woo-hoo Amtrak!) to perform at the exhibit reception party. Exciting!


[please click on image to see larger version]

raulrsalinas has passed to the other side. qepd.

so, i've started a new blog which will be an aggregate of messages and tribute testimonials about raul which are now vastly circulating on the web, via other blogs and emails, etc.
photo credit: Jana Birchum

you can find this at raulrsalinas.blogspot.com.

AUSTIN-based documentary project needs stories on E. Austin public schools

[my friend and comadre, Andrea Melendez, is at the helm of this documentary project. she received funding from the Austin Film Society, and award-winning cinematographer Lee Daniel has been working w/ her to some extent. help this friend, if you're in Austin or know any folks in E. Austin who might have a story to share. thanks! ]

DOCUMENTARY SEEKS EDUCATORS/COMMUNITY TO SHARE THEIR STORY

*********** PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY *****************

PRESS RELEASE

The Blueprint Schools Documentary Project
Producer/Co-Director: Andrea Melendez
contactus@blueprintschools.com
www.blueprintschools.com
512-366-7255


The Blueprint Schools Documentary Project seeks teachers, parents, administrators, students, educators and community members for documentary/research project on school reform in East Austin

The Blueprint Schools Documentary Project (BSDP) aims to document and illustrate the process by which inner-city communities, educators and artists have worked together, tirelessly to break the mold of the failing inner-city school. This documentary asks the question: "What does it take to provide a challenging education to inner-city youth, to provide an education that will prepare them for college and to establish a true community of trust between communities, educators and families?"

We are looking for people that are willing to share their story with the project, for historical purposes, for archival purposes and to begin a dialogue on the in-depth reality of what is going on in our schools and communities. Participants will have the option to be interviewed on camera or off-camera. Off-camera interview participants’ identity will be protected.

If you are a teacher, community member, student, educator or parent of one the following schools currently or previously and have a story to share, please contact us:

Blackshear Elementary, Harris Elementary, Oak Springs Elementary, Sims Elementary, Dobie middle school, Pearce middle school, Reagan high school and Johnston high school.

Tuesday poetry events for your pleasure - 3 readings

The Writer's Garret
a non-profit literary arts organization based in Dallas
presents

Gabor G. Gyukics
in a
Reading and Discussion
at
Upstairs at Paperbacks Plus
6115 La Vista Dr., Dallas TX 75214




Tuesday, February 12th - tonight
7 pm Discussion
8 pm Reading

GABOR GYUKICS will read his own poetry and also lead a discussion of the work of ATILLA JOZSEF, regarded by many as Hungary's greatest 20th century poet, who wrote in intense emotional tones that swung between despair and hope about both the personal & the societal, uncompromisingly, with vivid, often startlingly surreal imagery, or with stark confessional realism. He invigorated old poetic forms with a new freedom, orchestrating his poems with fresh rhythmic patterns that seemed simultaneously modern and timelessly familiar.

GABOR G. GYUKICS was born in Budapest, and divides his time between the US & Hungary. He has published five books of original poetry & five books of translations of Hungarian poetry to English including Swimming in the Ground: Contemporary Hungarian Poetry with Michael Castro. He received the first Fust Milan translator's prize from the Hungarian Academy of Science in 1999.

FREE, but donations will be happily accepted!
Call 214-828-1715 or email gen@writersgarret.org for more info.

----------------

2nd Tuesday Poetry Series
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
1309 Gendy St., in the Arts District
7 to 8 p.m.

SECOND TUESDAY POETRY SERIES
Featuring Anthony Douglas and A.J. Houston
Of the Fort Worth Slam Team

Suitable for a General Audience - FREE admission and open to the public

ANTHONY DOUGLAS was born in Shreveport in 1965, and grew up in Fort Worth where he was graduated from Polytechnic High School in '83. In 1987, after a stint in the Army, Anthony was paralyzed in a drive-by shooting. He emerged from a difficult recovery motivated to work with at risk-kids; inspiring them to express themselves through the written word. He has worked for MHMR  and other agencies, and is currently teaching at the Fort Worth Can Academy.

Anthony started writing at Tarrant County College with encouragement from his English professor, Violet O'Valle. He received his degree from Texas Wesleyan University in 1999. In  1996 Anthony was the subject of a two-page feature in the Star Telegram. At that time, he was involved with the Zawadi writers, a group of community activists started by Greg Johnson, the late Fred Fowler, D.C. Cornish and Sonja Babers.

Also in that same year, he was invited to join the SawGrass Poetry Performance Troupe as one of its original members. In 200l he co-founded Fort Worth the Slam Team with poet/ entrepreneur Mike Guinn. Anthony is currently working on his second book, Memories of Duct Tape. His first book, Dismembered Rainbow by was published by Temba House Press in 2004.  His chapbooks include Scattered Snapshots, Expressions in Verse, and Kaleidoscope in the Dark, which he co-authored with Mike Guinn.  His poems have appeared in university journals. including Aries and The Script,

He ranked 19th in  an international spoken work competition in 2004 in Greenville, S.C., placed in several national competitions as a member of the Fort Worth Slam Team. Anthony says: "Writing is the most significant thing in life today for all of humanity. I believe that writing saves lives; that it has, and it always will."

A.J. HOUSTON, a five- time member of the Fort Worth Poetry Slam Team, grew up in Dallas where he was encouraged by his mother to spend extra time on reading and math after school. This taught him discipline, the love of words and performance, and put him at the head of the class.

On his own, and with the Slam Team, he has performed at schools, churches, recreation centers, colleges and libraries, and has participated in slam events throughout the U.S. He has produced three CDs, Love Seasons, The Awakening, Verse 1, and published five chapbooks, including Just Flow, Sunday Shoes, Counting Petals, Anchored in Prose, and Refrigerate After Opening. He lives in Fort Worth and has five children, ages eight through twenty-five. He is the founder of the production company, Not Just Alphabets,
________________________

Special Valentine's Program
at the Embargo
210 8th Street in downtown Fort Worth
8:30 p.m.

SPECIAL VALENTINE'S POETRY AT THE EMBARGO

For Mature Audiences - FREE admission and open to the public

"A Special Valentine Poetry Showcase" with an open mic hosted by  with the Fort Worth Slam Team, features LaLove Robinson, "Austin's Most Divalicious Poet." Music provided by D.J., Francis J., and live music by Mo Brown and Company.

Embargo host Mike Guinn promises "Candlelight, soft music, and some of the most sensuous poetry ever written."

The Fort Worth Slam Team is the highest profile and most active performance poetry entity in the Metroplex, sponsoring ongoing contests, features and open mics, as well as special events. Slam Team members have distinguished themselves with performances of great power. For more information, go to www.mikeguinn.com

The Embargo sponsors a slam competition on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, and open mics on 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays.

Public performances in 2008 - so far i've done this.

I've been trying to make a minute to get my 2008 forthcoming gigs/shows/etc. calendar up on here, but have been distracted by the actual off-line work that this schedule of work has me committed to complete.

I've already done two public performances this year. The first was at the January 3rd "Open Mic, Open Minds" show at 1919 Hemphill. The frigid temps had us all bundled in blankets, sipping hot chocolate and tea, as we listened to the performers. I headlined for a 25-minute set, accompanied on some new pieces by Ramsey Sprague, playing guitar or clarinet. This is a new collaboration, to work with Ramsey (aka "The Shortest Distance"), and we'd actually spent a total of only 5 hours or so working up our set in the two days before the show. Still, we did pretty good for a first outing together, and the folks there seemed appreciative enough. I sold a couple of books, and got a modest guarantee, which I promptly shared with Ramsey.

The next gig was a last-minute sweat-and-inspiration effort to make good on an invitation from Lori Thomson, she of the Firehouse Gallery. Lori had asked me, on the night of the "Buzzworms in the Backyard" art exhibit, if I wanted to present or perform something in her "That's Not Art" show to be held at the F6 Gallery in Arlington--a warehouse space outfitted for art-making and -exhibiting by cohorts Kevin Thornton and Cameron Thompson, et al.

Saturday, January 26th
That’s Not Art - exhibit/reception
F6 Gallery, Arlington

What I ended up presenting was my M.P.S. prototype. M.P.S., or Mediated Peep Show is an interactive intervention performance box which consisted mostly of me being the peeped-at artist in a large cardboard box with cut-out peepholes. I sat and did the M.P.S. for about 30 minutes on Saturday, January 26th, wielding a handheld Sony audiocassette recorder which captured the comments and responses to questions I whispered to my viewers through the peepholes. It was a provocative study of: the lure of peepshows; the vulnerability of the peeper as well as the peeped-at; and the expectation of titillation and engagement despite being disconnected strangers. It was a little scary for me, in terms of my questions and spoken commentary being improvised on the spot as well as in the matter of making myself an object of gratification for people whose intentions and motivations were largely unknown. It was, of course, obvious to me which of the peepers were friends and acquaintances, and in those cases, the play was delightful and non-threatening. In other moments, however, it seemed that the peeper was aggressive and demanding--several folks pushed at the peepholes, pressed heavily against the cardboard box, and in one case, when I dabbled too long in theoretical conversation, the peeper slapped at the box and hastily stepped away. I would like to present M.P.S. again, in various and different environments, to see what kinds of responses and interactions might transpire.

Photos come soon.

Texas Community Media Summit - Austin - Saturday, March 1st

Texas Community Media Summit
Saturday, March 1, 2008
10am-6pm
Texas Union Building
on the campus of UT-Austin
Austin, Texas

FREE and open to media producers in the public/grassroots realm. (bloggers, newsprint & web journalists, vloggers, public access tv and radio producers, performance artists)

++++++++++++++++++++++

For more information and to register online (asap, please), visit the Texas Community Media Summit website .

++++++++++++++++++++++

from Summit co-coordinator Stefan Wray of (Public Access Community Television) PACT-Austin:

"...the entire idea started last summer when we heard a report from Charles Benton about the Community Media Summit in Chicago. We're modeling off that. Chicago had a head start in that there was already a good network or directory of local community groups and organizations. We're a bit handicapped in that regard; there's not a good database for Texas community media. So really, one of the first things and main reasons for the summit is to start a conversation, to begin to get people involved in different community media to be able to recognize who we are all and to start figuring out ways that we can work together. We see this as the beginning of something."

some of the participating orgs and media outlets:

Dallas iMedia Network
Alliance for Community Media
The Benton Foundation
Texas Media Empowerment Project
Southwest Alternate Media Project
Department of Radio-TV-Film, UT-Austin
KNON-FM - Dallas
KPFT-FM - Houston
PACT-Austin
MIchael Verdi (San Antonio-based vlogger and co-author of the first book on videoblogging: Secrets Of Videoblogging)


Questions that will be posed for discussion:

1. How do we leverage our community media resources to expand and enhance our presence in the Texas media landscape?

2. How are we moving from traditional one-way media distribution and consumption to interactive media?

3. How do we transform our traditional funding strategies?

4. What are our community needs and how do we better meet them?
________________________________________

I'll be facilitating one of the break-out sessions--the one on VALUE--so I hope to see you there!
Fort Worth-Dallas represent! Houston represent! San Antonio represent! RGV represent! El Paso represent! Panhandle represent!

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. Thanks.

Love-themed art parties this weekend

I'm sorry that I didn't mention the ARTS FIFTH AVENUE love-in "Heart Art Exhibit" earlier, but I went and it was pretty chill, good energy, lots of creating people on the spot. Live acoustic music from various singer-songwriters took place in the main studio, while food/bevs, art-making tables, and crafty d.i.y. women displayed their makin's for sale or trade. Part of the proceeds were pegged for the sustenance fund for Arts Fifth, which really needs some love this year. (By the way, Paige Hendricks Public Relations, Inc. (PHPR) will be consulting with Gracey Tune & the Arts Fifth Avenue folks about re-branding (new logo, website masthead).)

The same sort of sell-a-bration is happening tomorrow at the east-side sister space, THE FIREHOUSE ART GALLERY, at the corner of Meadowbrook and Oakland.

Hearts On Fire!
Sunday February 10th, 4 - 8pm
Community Event - All Are Welcome!
Benefiting the Firehouse Art and Education Program and the New Arts Form series performance

Sweets from the Sweets Bake Sale
Love Song Karaoke Contest - $100 cash prize!
Fun!draising Raffle - Theater tickets, Weekend Getaways at area hotels, Dining excursions, Dallas Zoo, & much more!

Today is a good day for free film screenings in the 817

Of course, there's the big SPIKE LEE retrospective that's been happening on the campus of UTA (Arlington) all week, which culminates in a keynote lecture which he is due to present this evening (Saturday). Check for ticket availability, film screening times, and more here. Looks like all the film screenings are FREE, but you gotta pay to see & hear the man himself.

Then, there's the REEL Religion film festival "of religious significance" (huh?), here in FW. Apparently, this festival was created as a partnership between a coupla churches (University Christian and Broadway Baptist), as well as two department/offices at TCU. No matter what spin they're putting on this festival, I still think it's pretty cool that these folks are presenting a total of 18 films (some of 'em pretty cool selections) for FREE and open to the public. Screenings at the University Christian Church, a stone's throw from the TCU campus.

Film selections & screening times &dates:

Friday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.

The History Boys
Amazing Grace
Good Night, and Good Luck
Waitress
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Charlotte’s Web


Saturday, Feb. 9, 9:30 a.m.

Paper Clips
Bruce Almighty
Street Fight
Husbands and Wives
Being John Malkovich
Pocahontas


Saturday, Feb. 9, 1:30 p.m.

Freedom Writers
Dead Man Walking
The Lives of Others
The Painted Veil
Vanilla Sky
The Prince of Egypt

Theater Workshop--on military counter-recruitment -TODAY@7pm

*** INTERACTIVE THEATER WORKSHOP on Tuesday, Feb. 5th, 7pm, at 1919 Hemphill ***

PEACEFUL VOCATIONS, your friendly military COUNTER-recruitment volunteer organization

presents
our first interactive theater workshop
on Tuesday, February 5th
@ 7pm at 1919 Hemphill in Fort Worth.

The workshop--free and open to interested participants--is part of a new initiative to create new and high-impact theater pieces which will be presented to students at schools in the FWISD and beyond.

Tuesday's workshop will begin with a screening of BEFORE YOU ENLIST (dvd documentary, 15 min.), followed by a discussion. Afterwards, a break-out session for participants to brainstorm and create original new skits and theater strategies for counter-recruitment will take place.

These new works will be shared with the group-at-large, and decisions may be made about further coordination of this theater project.

All useful and relevant ideas will be welcomed and considered.
_____________

Join us at:

1919 Hemphill
1919 Hemphill St.
Fort Worth, TX 76110

fmi:

PEACEFUL VOCATIONS website

PEACEFUL VOCATIONS myspace

1919 HEMPHILL website

NY Latino Film Festival 2008 - call for submissions

It's now time to dust off that original video footage and start editing it, cuz the NY Latino Film Festival 2008 is now calling for films for the annual festival--happening in July this year.

OFFICIAL DEADLINE: MARCH 14th, 2008
LATE DEADLINE: APRIL 11th, 2008

NYILFF will consider films made by, featuring, about and/or for the Latino community. The festival will consider all forms: feature narrative, short films, documentary and experimental shorts. All projects must have been completed by no earlier than 2006. Projects in a language other English must have English subtitles. Films cannot have been broadcast (television or Internet) or distributed commercially in the U.S. prior to the festival. Exceptions are made for short films and documentaries. All genres are welcome. There's also a YOUTH film category.

New York International Latino Film Festival:
Our Culture. Our Stories. Our Movies. Our Way!
www.NYLATINOFILM.com

map of an online excursion

1. My friend, Ruben P. Salazar (not to be confused with Ruben Salazar, the journalist who was murdered by the L.A. Sheriff's Department on August 29th, 1970) is about to open a solo art exhibit in Waco, and has asked me to collaborate with him on a few of his visual works. I have submitted a few original poems with environmental themes, per his request. This morning, I finished a draft of a new poem, entitled "Steps on the Earth", which alludes to carbon footprinting.

2. The first draft of "Steps on the Earth" includes my slapdash use of the word "fractious," so I decide to look it up in an online dictionary to see if I misused it or not. I decide to keep the word in my poem, but tweaked the line it's in.

3. I notice, while googling "fractious," that there's an independent publisher called FRACTIOUS PRESS, so I decide to investigate who or what this press is about. I click on the NEWS link and become intrigued by the mention of something called BOOKSLUT, which turns out to be an online lit magazine. I meander over to their BOOKSLUT BLOG and devour many of the recent postings, enjoying myself immensely.

4. In a sidebar to the blog, I see that HOA NGUYEN has been interviewed by BOOKSLUT, so their stock value hits the ceiling. I really like Hoa, who--together with her husband and critic/writer Dale Smith--edits the SKANKY POSSUM, a literary journal and press. They live in Austin, so I get to occasionally see Hoa when I'm down there; I think she came up to Dallas in 2007 to read for a WordSpace event, but I was busy and had to miss her. Of course, I chow down on the interview and feel happy for her recent literary accomplishments, and suddenly long to visit her. (She is also one of about 5 or so editor/publishers who have, over the last 10 years, asked to see some of my work for possible publication. Why have I been holding back, holding out? In 2008, I will follow through...)

5. I now decide to soon send a greeting to Hoa, along with a few of my poems. We will see what goes after that. But, for now, it's time to sleep. It's 5:44 a.m.

Point of this exercise: to show that online browsing--even as I meander and indulge--ultimately gets me back on task, focusing on my literary (and otherwise) goals.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, nor have I been...

...sucked up by that unidentified hovering aircraft that folks have been spotting over Stephenville recently.

No sir, it's just that I have been so uber-busy trying to keep up with this new year which has plastered itself all over me like ambitious presidential candidates kissing on unsuspecting babies (who don't even vote!). I am already behind, if you can believe that.

It's a galloping stallion of a year--I feel it, we (my friends and comrades) feel it. It's true, this set of 365 days is the whopper out of the ocean that we only dreamed of glimpsing. And it's ours for real...

Define-a-Thon - January 18th @ the DMA

Dictionary Geek Steve Kleinedler

Kleinedler, senior editor for American Heritage Dictionary, will be hosting/emceeing a Define-a-Thon at the Late Night Birthday Celebration of the DMA (Dallas Museum of Arts) on Friday, January 18th. I'm thinking about checking it out myself, and perhaps signing up to play. Sounds like nerdy good fun for word freaks. That includes me, of course. More details follow.

Define-a-Thon
Friday, January 18, 7:00 & 9:30 p.m.

Seventeen Seventeen Restaurant
Dallas Museum of Art

from the DMA website:
"On your mark . . . get set . . . DEFINE! When it comes to word-based competition, the ante has been upped. The American Heritage Dictionary Define-a-Thon is a test of vocabulary strength that takes participants beyond the spelling bee. Why? Because knowing how to spell a word doesn’t necessarily mean that you know how to use the word. In fact, the judges are more than happy to define them for you. This fast-paced game separates the vocabulary masters from novices. The host gives each contestant a definition, followed by four possible answer words. The contestant must choose the word that fits the definition. As the competition progresses, the degree of difficulty increases until only two players are left. These two players enter the final round with new rules and higher stakes.

American Heritage Dictionary Senior Editor Steve Kleinedler will host the game. Quick-witted and with a strong command of the English language, Kleinedler was recently profiled in a New York Times article about “the rise of young, hip lexicographers.” And he has a phonetic vowel chart tattooed on his back! He will share insights on how words are selected for the dictionary and what new words have just been added.

Think you have a good vocabulary? Test your skills in this war of words. Not feeling up to the competition? Come cheer on local logophiles and learn a few new words in this spirited and exciting game. For more details and registration information, visit DallasMuseumofArt.org/ALL. Winners will receive great prizes!"

"If you would like to be a contestant in the Define-a-Thon, please indicate this when ordering your tickets. Six spots for each competition will be drawn in advance on Monday, January 14. Arts & Letters Live staff will contact those selected by January 15. If you are not contacted in advance but would still like to participate, eight spots per competition will be available at the door on the evening of the event on a first-come, first-served basis. A sign-up sheet will be posted near the entrance to Seventeen Seventeen Restaurant one hour before each event begins (6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.).

Grand prize winners receive:

1 hardcover edition of the American Heritage Dictionary
1 $75 membership to the Museum
2 tickets to the Arts & Letters Live program of your choice in the 2008 season (subject to availability)."

I'm doing a reading/performance @ 1919 Hemphill on Thursday, January 3rd

I'll be the featured poet at the January 3rd episode in this ongoing monthly series.

Check me out from 9:30-10pm.

Poem #352 of 365

The lessons have found me unprepared,
as a student without a manual,
and I am skidding as best I know,
learning how to maneuver mayhem.

I have lost so many kin, and
have attended more funerals
than weddings, yet the way and means
to handle the pain is something
that befuddles, eludes me still.

So when I walked over to the New Books section,
at my workplace tonight,
it took me by surprise when I laid my eyes
on a relevant new book:

Grieving for Dummies, the title read,
and I thought to myself--how insulting to me!
I would not care to share this
with a mourning family member, as if I thought her dumb.

But I thumbed through the pages and
found advice that could help us,
one and all,
and felt less a dummy than a smarty,
though sad as sad can be.

(Grieving for Dummies was written by a guy with a Ph.D in bereavement counseling, so it ain't no joke.)

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #351 of 365

that cookie tasted awful,
like refrigerator--
but then, i smell like carport
and my cat smells like coal mine.

then to the parked car,
neglected and undisinfected.

i sniff and tell:
the backseat, of oranges and brake fluid,
and the floorboard, of moldy vanilla.

i have a sharp nose,
its sense of smell
propels me to the kitchen
to see what now
i’ve burned.

blackened skillets,
streams of smoke,

i hold them out the window,
see the vapor get took.
and the backyard takes
one great whiff.

you bet i can cook,
you bet i can burn,
when i feel it in
all of my senses.

well done.

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #350 of 365

I pay ten dollars
once a week
to speak with
a man from
another nation.

He is quick to
smile, and bless
my day. He speaks
of lands with color
I cannot see.

We travel together,
show our worlds
and world perspectives
in the few minutes
I've paid for this.

His skin is sometimes
burnished brown,
with accent thick
as my strong morning
coffee, but stirred in
with sweet caramel
of kindness.

One man recited couplets
of Shakespeare, one
told me not to worry
about Darfur, and today's
man told me that every
single day is a beautiful day.

I arrive at new thinking,
new conclusions, but the
same destination, when I
ride with them. They are
my immigrant international
taxi drivers and they are
my Sunday morning teachers.

For the lessons, I tip them well.

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #349 of 365

The six dollar
Bombay Sapphire
gin and tonic
stirred my muse
6 times.

With a fine point
red ink Sharpie.

For those of you
who are readers, not writers,
that is the equivalent
of 6 orgasms
on a hard wooden chair.

In an Irish pub.
In public.
Precisely,
well-written.


copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Now that the Wreck, Black Dog, & Metrognome are gone where do artists ART?

[a local painter who goes by the name of Semone (www.myspace.com/ssemone) sent along this invitation to an art show happening inside the Bar 9 Lounge tonight at 6pm - downtown FW]



[thanks to Gloria aka "glo (D-Tx)" for the following anuncio about a doc film screening tomorrow in the Bar of Soap laundromat, Fair Park area of Dallas, Friday, December 14th.]

Laura Tabor's documentary DFW PUNK will screen Friday at the laundromat area at the Bar Of Soap @ 10PM.
Bring a small chair if you like.

FREE TO KILL AGAIN goes on at 11:30 in the front window.




The address for Bar of Soap: www.barofsoap.net

3615 Parry Ave
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 823-6617

Poem #345 of 365

do you see what i see?
people in endless shopping spree

do you see what i see?
for cutting down tree is only time outside the city

do you see what i see?
some workplace parties are scenes for enmity

do you see what i see?
wives desire a lexus and husbands hdtv

do you see what i see?
advertising sets the bar for what is hard to really be

do you see what i see?
that we can be at war as we make merry glee

do you see what i see?
orphans can get a free toy but no one gives a family

do you see what i see?
we act so rich, but still so many are in poverty

do you see what i see?
the u.s. tries so hard, smile and sing in harmony


(in a moment of despair & disgust for rampant mass consumerism in wartime)

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #344 of 365

It was a surprise
to me, too, but a
for different reason.

Three envelopes landed
in your lap from Chicago,
blew open your future
and blasted a snow globe
of dancing light upon
your plans to study art.

Money is possible,
and it is coming.

Three tears, one from
each eye, and another from
my heart of eternal sadness,
stirred as I felt the surprise.

I've known you now for less
than five years, but have
become sister and listener,
mentor and friend to
offer new roots for
the potential i saw
blossom in you.

So, tonight when you softly
shared the scholarship news,
and the world turned faster
with change, I felt a letting
go, and not just of
one-two-three tears.

I'm sending you on your way
to your dream, and am so
thrilled i've had some part
in your early life, the fort
worth phase, and cannot
wait for you to become
the woman you've
sketched out on the
drawing board
in your mind.

I've glimpsed her in you,
that potentiated art-chick,
the one who'll be learning
the answers to all those
questions you've been
directing my way.

Find your answers
when you find yourself,
my friend, and then
please paint them onto the world,
your canvas spectacular
of a million confident strokes
in bold vermilion oils.

(adelante and good luck to Andrea G, who heads off to the Institute of Art in Chicago in less than a month!)

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Record a message for loved ones behind bars--CALLS FROM HOME project--tomorrow, December 11th

I produced a community radio program called "Mandatory Prison Talk" in 1998-99 in Austin, and it was such an eye-opener. What I found, during that experience, is that community radio can be an easy way to connect the outside community with people locked up in jails, prisons, and other penal institutions of confinement. I received a few letters from prisoners who got to hear my show, and they were so appreciative of my dedicating time to disseminate info on the prison-industrial complex, prisoner abuse, and other topics not readily offered in the mainstream media.

KPFT (90.1 FM) in Houston features a Friday night program--run by Ray Hill since 1980--called simply THE PRISON SHOW. During the last hour of this 2-hour program, friends and family members can call in messages, love letters, and words of encouragement which prisoners within broadcast range can hear.

CALLS FROM HOME, a special project of the Thousand Kites organization, has the same intent as the KPFT show--except that
CALLS FROM HOME has the potential for nationwide impact and broadcast.

More info below, from the folks at Thousand Kites:



Dear Friend,

The Thousand Kites Team would like to ask for your support for a special radio project called Calls from Home. Calls from Home is a simple project. We open our recording studio's toll-free number from 2-10pm (Central Time) on Tuesday, December 11th and record calls from prisoner families and supporters from across the country.

We then broadcast the program on over 120 radio stations across the country and bring hundreds of voices (people singing songs, reading poems, and speaking from the heart) to hundreds of thousands of prisoners. We need your help in spreading the word and making the program as strong as possible. Here is how you can help us.

- Call in to the show on Dec. 11th from 2-10pm central time. Call toll free at 888-396-1208 and the Thousand Kites team will be there to take your call. We usually just say "Caller, you're on the air, who would you like to send a message to tonight?"

- If you want to call right now, you can leave a message on the answering machine at 877-518-0606.

- Spread the word to other people. Please pass this on and ask other folks to get involved. You can learn more at www.thousandkites.org

- After the show is recorded we put it up for free downloads. Download it and get it played our your local community radio station, play a section at a meeting, get it played at a church, class, or even in a prison and hold a discussion about incarceration in the United States.

Finally, help us spread the word on My Space. Please re-post this to your friends.

Peace,
Thousand Kites Team

email: thousandkitesproject@gmail.com
phone: 606.633.0108
www.thousandkites.org

Poem #343 of 365

Be your own hero,
feel like a champ,
layer up in wool and cotton
and pedal to work
after dark on a cool cold night.

Thrash the front wheel
in a single track mind
picking out the surest
way to get you there
less bumpy but fast.

Turn up the music
that beats a good pulse
to help you make
quick circles with your
feet and smile with
song and shivering.

Feel the warm air
between layers and
be thankful for sheep
and wool and wicking
ways on winter streets.

Leave that metal machine
behind, sitting in the driveway,
as you coast fuel-free
across the bridge spanning
the Trinity which sparkles
like a sheet of icy gems.

Squeeze out inertia through
your pores, keep the energy
of spirit in your chest and
hear your stunning laughter
blaze indelibly against
the blackness of the night.

Surge in triumph,
sweat like you mean it,
and ride ride ride
to cross all the starting lines
of your dreamy life
like the hero you
were meant to be.

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #342 of 365

in the metro tunnel
with gabriela

she rubs the lamp
while i click my heels

and the amused gentlemen
in the sports jacket
holding a broken flashlight
smiles gently as he watches

and the soot-smeared
face of the now-orphaned
child lights up as we smile
in her direction and reach for her hand

in the metro tunnel
with gabriela

she has remembered the radio
and i distribute the bread

and the shaken wife
whose blonde husband
is lost, asks to sit with
us and we quietly oblige

and the hungry teacher
with the frostbitten toes
thanks me for bread as
i put my gloves on his feet

in the metro tunnel
with gabriela

we have not rehearsed
for this moment,
we have instincts that
we trust in one another

the tunnel fills with warmth
and the voices begin to
hum with happier notes,
tenderness is shown

and i know we have brought
comfort without plan, and it
is the least we can do, our lives
have prepared us for this

in the metro tunnel
with gabriela

the light in our eyes
illuminates reality, but shines faith
in the future, bracing with hope
that uplifts the weak

in the metro tunnel
with gabriela

the sirens sound, but all i can
hear is the thump and
continuity of brave strong hearts,
loving in the darkness.

Poem #341 of 365

i can tell that things in your head
are coming to a head,
and i feel for you, believe me,
i am lighting a metaphorical
candle on your behalf,
slashing together wood for a raft
so you can float, escape the moat,
and have new & wider doors
open to your stride and
friendly posture
despite what pain and
sorrow it may cost you.

keep up the writing, channel your
inner tremors through some words,
it can really help.

welcome on-board, compa-bard!

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Buzzworms in the Backyard -- art exhibit opening at FW Community Arts Center on Saturday, December 8th

I have been invited to present a performance at this opening reception tomorrow, taking place in the back gallery @ the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

Sound Culture presents

"Greed, Caution"
a performance ritual lament

w/ ramsey sprague, angelique, gabriela lomonaco, tammy gomez

featuring the photographic art of shannon atkinson

(7pm presentation)


open to all / no admission charged / rahr brews in the house -- OPENING IS FROM 6pm to 9pm!!


Please, nuestra buena gente, help spread the word about this serious issue, even if you cannot attend tomorrow.

=====



buzzworm n : a quaint, western euphemism for a rattlesnake 2 : an insistent, noisy vibration 3 : a warning sign 4 : a metaphor for a natural gas drilling rig.

Opening Reception:
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Fort Worth Community Art Center (Back Gallery)
1300 Gendy Street Fort Worth, Texas 76107


background
In 2006, Fort Worth, Texas, became the first large city in the nation to allow drilling for natural gas in densely-populated areas - as close as 200’ from dwellings. While relatively few may be enriched by this unprecedented event, many others are concerned about the negative impact and far-reaching implications of industrial drilling in their communities.

With drilling either underway or planned for nearly every neighborhood, issues such as safety, air and water quality, property values, destruction of natural habitat, and threats to neighborhood integrity are very real. Gas drilling companies are waging an all-out advertising campaign to win public support. Many residents remain skeptical and ill-at-ease. Many feel powerless and resigned.

Because billions of dollars are at stake, the powerful energy extraction industry, aided by political interests, are trying to control the debate. However, as drilling operations move deeper into residential neighborhoods and parks, many people are turning their apathy into activism.

In the grand tradition of political protest art, and participatory democracy, FWCanDo (Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance), is hosting this art exhibit as an opportunity for artists to publicly express their concerns about these important issues. It also encourages them, and the community, to take a closer look at the facts concerning gas drilling in Fort Worth..

Artists, from Goya to Picasso to Keith Haring, to Anonymous have played a crucial role in bringing awareness and expression to the injustices of their times.

http://www.fwcando.org

Chicano Luncheon TODAY! 12 noon - 1pm

[Thanks to Renny Rosas for the following anuncio. These biweekly luncheons are an awesome networking opportunity!
My friend, Rick Leal, a producer for FW Community Cable Television, also told me that guest speaker Fajardo is here from Mexico City presenting his latest work--a documentary that he shot & produced about Russia in the 21st Century. He will screen part of the film at the luncheon. He is also interested in producing a film about the Chicano/Mexicano community here in North Texas.]

The Chicano Luncheon meets this
Thursday Dec. 6, 2007
Noon to 1:p.m.
La Trinidad United Methodist Church
1300 Gould Ave. (at Northside Dr.)
Fort Worth TX 76106

Our guest speaker: Raul Fajardo - Professor of Journalism, School of Performing Arts, Radio & TV
Photo Journalist & Documentary Producer

Please attend this informative meeting.
Everyone is invited.
($6 gets you a cheese enchilada plate and a slice of cake and iced tea.)
Gracias.

--
CIAO!
Renny Rosas
The Chicano Luncheon
817.924.8181 ofc
chicanoluncheon@gmail.com

Poem #340 of 365

i am drinking shiraz, white shiraz, late into the morning,
celebrating my rise, my shine,
my finally finishing the Final Report
to my funders at NALAC, who
bankrolled my play this year.

18 pages of narrative to describe
the results of the project, and a budget besides.
all the money is gone, well-spent, and well-deserved.

now i'm on to the saturday gig, and moving fast,
with a photo shoot yesterday with Shannon and Angelique,
and Ramsey practicing a song, and me slimming into my
dance skin clothes, as i bike to work everyday.

those who now sleep are dreaming their wishes.
and then there are people, like us,
up late at night,
fishing for dreams.

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #339 of 365

Ryan the rescuer
fixed up my tire,
brought me a tube
from his old pick-up truck.

This is the story of
a Texas romance,
a tale that portends
the dovetail of a man
and a girl, a perfect
north texas courtship.

But this is only a favor,
a one-time howdy-doo help,
and the girl is grateful
and the boy feels useful
and as they part in the sunset
of so many beginnings,
they separate to different roads,
she on a gravel two-lane way,
and he on a bypassed heart path.

Such missed and sidestepped love.

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #336 of 365

Whizzing around my house is that flying thing
which you might call a bird.

But inside that bird, with its cardboard beak
and construction paper wings,
is another thing,
itself a flying creature
of smaller bulk,
and perhaps even that thing
is a facsimile of something
that it cannot ever be, and what lies within
is something smaller yet,
with wings of its own
that flap in darkness
and perhaps in light,
and it, that thing on the inside
of the inside
of that fake flying bird
in my house, is what i want
to identify
for what it could be:

The greatest creature of love,
or maybe
the strangest creature of evil,
or perhaps it is both at once.

When it stops gliding over our heads,
when it makes a choice to land,
then we shall all know and recognize.

I trust that it is a good thing,
an honest animal,
which merely plays strange
under a sheath of paper and twine.

It is only teasing to be cute,
and hopes soon
to share in an amicable bond,
here in my parlor of laughter and passion.

I succeed at removing masks
from preening creatures,
who long to finally show
their true faces of love, of goodwill.

We will stare at length into
each other's blinking,
unadorned eyes,
as the windows open,
and there is a moment to spring free.


copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Poem #335 of 365

i pull out the clipboard to which
i've fastened the quite lengthy
roll call of concepts to be developed
on the acreage of tract housing
in the cobwebs of your mind...

but what did you meme?

the vulnerability of desire PLUS
the schism between manual labor and desk thinking IN LIGHT OF
the campaign to hand wash with woolite BECAUSE
you need media storage when the memory fails.

breakfast before poetry FORESHADOWS
risk assessment in the dungarees AND YOUR
impulse to propagate in exclusivity DESPITE
my arguments that you must allow comments on your blog IMMEDIATELY.

(and i sincerely meme that.)

copyright 2007 tammy melody gomez

Greening X-mas

A great little article came to my attention via Christine Granados, who spotted a photo of my friend Donna Hoffman in last Sunday's New York Times (style section). Sure enough, Donna or "Ms. Demeanor", as she sometimes referred to herself when we were on the air doing KO.OP Radio stuff together in Austin, was interviewed for the article about folks who are divesting from the hyper-commercialism of christmas.

My mom gave me a cute little live tree last December--a Norfolk Island Pine--and I've actually kept it alive for a whole year now. It stays indoors year-round and I'll probably hang the same 3-4 holiday ornaments on it as I did last December. One christmas, my live-in boyfriend made a blatant commentary on how I threw my clothes on chairs instead of hanging them up or putting them away. I arrived home from work one evening to find a short stubby tree brandishing miniature holiday lights. Upon closer inspection, I found that James had taken one of my garment-laden chairs and merely thrown a string of lights around that. Hah, I got back at him by decorating a free discarded (y'know how some folks'll throw out their x-mas trees BEFORE the 25th) tree with his dirty tube socks.

One of my best xmas-es was the year, 1996 or so--when I took off for Mexico City on x-mas eve, but flaked out at the border. I returned to Austin, but told no one that I was back in the states. I wrote, meditated, strung fresh popcorn for the birds to eat, attended a jazz/poetry x-mas eve concert, and got drunk at the x-mas night karaoke at the Hole in the Wall down on the drag. I guess, for me, the better approach is to relax standards, be willing to embark on new (and different) traditions of celebration, and to detach from expectations.

Anyway, here's the link to that NY Times article: "JOLLY AND GREEN, WITH AN AGENDA."

*********

And, if you do feel like shopping this weekend, I recommend stopping by this year's version of:

the Annual Alternative Holiday Bazaar,
Sat./Sun., December 1st and 2nd,
at the First Jefferson Unitarian Church, 1959 Sandy Lane,
in East Fort Worth.

Homemade edibles, handcrafted gifts, and fair trade imports are all available--for reasonable prices, I might add.

World AIDS Day - December 1st

Emanuel Xavier, from New York City, is a performance poet and queer activist/educator whom I met in Austin several years ago. He reposted the following poem on his bloga (yes, we Latino/Chicanos have decided that blogs are female) recently, and I thought to share it now with you--as a way to commemorate World AIDS Day 2007.

AFTER THE BALL

I search for laughter
down an empty Christopher Street
remembering innocent smiles
with every used condom
every vial
of crack
never looking back

but all the sisters are dying
all the legends are dead
our sanctuary closed
always living on the edge

Children floating by
on the Hudson
love is the message
still lingering
in their vacant eyes

Winds call out my name
but I will not listen
I will stay behind

© 1997 by Emanuel Xavier for Pier Queen Productions.
Taken from the poetry collection, Pier Queen.

(photo credit - by Greg Wharton)

I find it very interesting--and definitely disappointing--that many folks here in N. Texas aren't aware that December First is World AIDS Day. In Austin, the conceptual/performance artist Sally Jacques created the tradition of organizing "Body Count", a sobering and amazing interactive ritual that involved hundreds of people. The public was invited to lie on their backs, along the Great Walk (wide sidewalk leading to the front steps of the State Capitol), with flashlights directed below their faces. It was an eerily beautiful sight, but it was also mournful because these lit-up faces were suggestive of the numbers of people who have died from AIDS.

from the AVERT website:

"According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is not just about raising money, but also about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done."
____________

A few days ago, I was at the FWCAC (Fort Worth Community Arts Center), and Marla Owen--business manager--shared with me some information about an upcoming, month-long "arts intervention" that is scheduled to happen from:

May 10 - June 8, 2008
titled MORE LIFE: THE ART & SCIENCE OF AIDS.

From the save-the-date postcard:

"During the upcoming More Life Festival, more than 20
arts and science organizations will focus their energies
and talents on programs that increase the awareness
and knowledge of AIDS in our community."

I'm considering how I myself--along with some possible collaborators--might get involved with this month-long festival next May. (And you can get more info too by visiting the MORE LIFE website.)

I'll close off by sharing some lyrics from a Michael Franti/Spearhead song I've been listening to lately:

"...and how am I going to live my life if I'm positive, is it gonna be a negative? how am I going to live my life?"



live well/be safe!