http://newspapertree.com/calendar Newspaper Tree - Calendar en-us Hikes in Franklin Mountains State Park What: Guided ranger hikes. When: 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19-20, Oct. 3-4, Oct. 17-18, Nov. 7-8 Where: Meet at entrance to the Tom Mays Area, Franklin Mountain State Park Leader: FMSP staff. Reservations required: 566-6441. Bring: sun protection, water Cost: Park entrance fee ($4 per adult) Summary: Hikes vary in destination and length. Call for details. Newspaper Tree Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:43:04 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3340-hikes-in-franklin-mountains-state-park http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3340-hikes-in-franklin-mountains-state-park La Vie de la Bohème! East side, West side, all around the town! The Lancers Club-West (Coronado Tower 6006 N. Mesa 11th Floor El Paso, TX 79912 Voice (915) 584-4421 Fax (915) 581-0305) Wednesday--November 4, 2009 at 7 pm Sunday--November 8, 2009 at 5 pm Wednesday--November 11, 2009 at 7 pm The Lancers Club-East (3135 Trawood El Paso, TX 79936 Voice (915) 855-7477) Friday--November 6, 2009 at 7 pm Saturday--November 7, 2009 at 2 pm Saturday--November 7, 2009 at 7 pm A theatrical and dining experience not to be missed. Join El Paso Opera and Puccini’s group of Bohemians as they present this magical love story of Mimi and Rodolfo in a “revolutionary, interactive theatrical experience”. The New York Times hails Mr. Grabarkewitz’ la Bohème as “the Best in New York!, Compelling”, and “Inspired direction!”, (The New Yorker). Now it is here and presented in restaurants all around the town, including a fantastic meal prepared by some of El Paso’s finest chefs. DON’T MISS OUT! This Bohème will be the theatrical event of the season. Newspaper Tree Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:15:23 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4133-la-vie-de-la-boheme http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4133-la-vie-de-la-boheme CINEMATINEE, November, 2009 A unique blend of movies, past and present, often with an emphasis on life in the west - which could mean the new west, the old west, or anything in between- and ‘movies that missed us’- films that are notable but never had a lot of publicity- the CineMatinee series is designed to show area residents that film is a form of art as well as entertainment! At least one film a month for this series has a ‘New Mexico Connection’, drawing from the vast pool of movies made in the state (nearly 500) or perhaps featuring a star/story from New Mexico talent…film festival quality movies in an old adobe theatre! Unless otherwise noted, screening time is 1.30 PM, and admission is $4 for everyone except film society members who are admitted for $1. The theatre is located one-half block south of the Mesilla Plaza. For more information, please call 524-8287, and leave a message. Nov 7- New Mexico Filmmaker’s Showcase (2009, FREE ADMISSION) Join us as we host the state of New Mexico Film Office’s annual visit to Las Cruces, when we present the winning short films of the 2009 NM Filmmaker’s Showcase, a competition that was held earlier this year in Albuquerque. Films to be shown may include: Preschool’s a Bit** by Christopher Boone, Abraham Lincoln: The One Sided Story by Jessie Weahkee: A Shmal World by Michelle Friedline & Laureen Ricks, In the Wake by Craig Strong , Price of the American Dream II (Lean Like a Gangster) by Michael Amundsen, The Sitter by Kim Liphardt, and Vancouver by Bryan Konefsky. More details and total running time to follow at a later date. Nov 14- Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, 100 minutes, not rated) -In conjunction with the Branigan Cultural Center and in anticipation of their new Abraham Lincoln exhibit which opens Nov 20, the MVFS is pleased to screen this classic film, which stars Henry Fonda. Young Mr. Lincoln is one of John Ford's most perfectly non-Western realized works, an effortless jelling of his bawdy sense of humor, his patriotism, his mythical sense of history and his gorgeous, cinematic poetry. Henry Fonda gives a terrific, canny performance (with a prosthetic nose and chin) as Lincoln, stuck at a crossroads between practicing politics and law. Very often he spends long moments just watching or pondering, and his face subtly reveals great roiling ideas. The bulk of the film concerns his first case, very roughly based on fact, defending a couple of farmers accused of manslaughter. Lincoln is a perpetually larger-than-life figure, and it would have been easy for Ford (or any filmmaker) to fall into a trap, treating him with too much reverence. But screenwriter Lamar Trotti and Ford place Lincoln in a strange place between all other men; he's a mediator that knows how to treat those less fortunate and less educated, as well as those who occupy positions of power. He's just as at home spending time with the gentle, loving family of the accused as he is in the raucous courtroom (where people show up drunk, take naps and generally wait for the lynching to begin). In essence, this Lincoln helped bring humanity to a wild, unruly nation, and Ford has done him justice in this beautiful, funny, entertaining film. Nov 21- Pieces of April (2003, 80 minutes, rated PG-13) In "Pieces of April," the directorial debut of the gifted novelist and screenwriter Peter Hedges, a young woman who has never quite fit in with her family -- she's the April of the title, played by Katie Holmes -- coaxes them out of their comfy suburban environs to have Thanksgiving dinner at her small, cheerful dump of a flat in Manhattan. April's relationship has always been particularly prickly with her mother, Joy (Patricia Clarkson); certain that they won't be able to stomach April's cooking, the family loads up on doughnuts for their drive down to the city, and Joy remarks that she doesn't have a single pleasant memory of April's childhood or adolescence. Joy is also dying of cancer, which is part of the reason April is making this heroic cooking effort in the first place. But "Pieces of April,” isn’t one of those dreaded "cancer mom" movies. For one thing, as Joy's character is played by Clarkson, a canny, versatile actress who's finally having her moment in the spotlight, she's hardly a delicately deflating victim. You can believe that she was just barely lovable when she was well; her too-sharp observations and lacerating words cut and sting, and we flinch from them even as we sympathize with her for what she's facing. "Pieces of April" isn't a movie about cancer, but a movie about community as family -- about the makeshift families that we come up with out of necessity when the ones we were born into don't quite fit the bill. Holmes gives April just the right amount of trickster vulnerability: She's one of those adorable punk orphans with sooty, silent-movie-star eyes, a dark fringe of bangs and inky, chipped nail varnish, and you don't doubt for a minute that she put her family through hell. But Holmes plays April as a once-spoiled kid who somehow senses that it's now time to grow up. She has a new boyfriend who's clearly devoted to her and even though she never comes right out with it, we see that it troubles her that she's about to lose her mother. There's something pathetic and funny about the way she attempts to mash potatoes -- she doesn't realize you're supposed to cook them first, and she looks a bit bewildered as she goes at them with the masher, perplexed that she can't simply will them into shape. Nov 28- White Sands (1992, 100 minutes, rated R, made in New Mexico) If you like intrigue, if you've ever wondered whether the conspiracy theories are true, White Sands will be a film you'll want to see. A solid suspense thriller with a great ensemble cast, the film features the protagonist, Willem Dafoe, as New Mexico deputy Sheriff, who has to investigate a body found way out in the high desert. The crime scene has a couple of interesting artifacts, including $500,000 cash, and Dafoe becomes involved to the extent of impersonating the victim in order to follow the money. Just how he decides to do that involves a hilarious autopsy scene with M. Emmet Walsh (Christmas in the Clouds) as the coroner. "Does this look like a radish? Are they in season?" he quips. The subsequent investigation finds Dafoe square in the middle of an international arms deal with mysterious characters materializing right and left. Among them are the dreaded alphabet agencies, CIA and FBI, and of course the Military Industrial Complex. The film benefits from a taut story by Daniel Pyne with developments coming thick and fast. The viewer is put in together with Dafoe's viewpoint, so some will be offended that they don't have the omniscient position given by some other mystery directors where they are ahead of the protagonist. Director Roger Donaldson did a superb job with the complexities and keeping the story moving forward without plodding. In the process he came out with a great looking film with the stark beauty of the New Mexico as a backdrop for the tale. It also has enough humor to balance the darkness of the story. Casting features a well done performance by Samuel L. Jackson as well as solid work by Mickey Rourke and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. , all of who are uniformly excellent as is the soundtrack by Patrick O'Hearn. Newspaper Tree Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:45:50 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4150-cinematinee-november-2009-new-mexico-filmaker-s-showcase http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4150-cinematinee-november-2009-new-mexico-filmaker-s-showcase Nov. 6-12- The Burning Plain- Dir: Guillermo Arriaga, 2009, (USA), English/Spanish w/ subtitles, 106 min. Guillermo Arriaga, one of the most innovative screenwriters working today (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and Babel) makes his feature directorial debut with The Burning Plain, which was filmed mostly in and around Las Cruces. Charlize Theron portrays Sylvia, a damaged restaurant manager available to any man who shows interest. Her world will shift when someone from her buried past shows up in need of the support the detached Sylvia may be incapable of providing. Gina (Kim Basinger), a New Mexico mother of four and cancer survivor whose passionate affair with a married man has tragic consequences that will bond Gina's teenage daughter Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence) and the man’s son Santiago. Finally, an earnest young girl witnesses her crop duster father go down in a plane crash, setting off a chain of events that will, by the film's midpoint, startlingly unite the first two scenarios. The second half of the film not only maintains the initial momentum but actually builds and deepens as the story threads fully unfold is as much a testament to Arriaga's precise, well-calibrated direction as it is to his richly absorbing script. Gary Goldstein, The Los Angeles Times Newspaper Tree Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:50:05 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4155-mesilla-valley-film-society-at-the-fountain-theater http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4155-mesilla-valley-film-society-at-the-fountain-theater Rio Bosque Wetlands Park Bird Tour What: Walking tour When: 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 Where: Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, Mission Valley Leader: John Sproul, 747-8663 or jsproul@utep.edu Bring: binoculars, water. Recommended: sunscreen, insect repellant Length: 2 mile round trip; 2 1/2 hours Cost: None Summary: This walking tour will introduce participants to resident and migratory birds found in the river valley in mid-autumn. We'll discuss the avifauna of Rio Bosque, where some 225 bird species have been recorded to date, and how restoration of native ecosystems at the park has influenced bird populations. This will be an easy walk over level terrain suitable for all ages and levels of outdoor experience. The meeting place is a bridge crossing Riverside Canal. To get there, take Americas Ave. (Loop 375) to Pan American Drive, turn left onto Pan American and travel 1.5 miles to the bridge. Please be prompt. Newspaper Tree Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:20:49 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3388-rio-bosque-wetlands-park-tour http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3388-rio-bosque-wetlands-park-tour . McKittrick Ridge Overnight Backpack What: McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains, 120 miles from El Paso When: Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 7-8 Where: Meet at 6 a.m. in the parking lot of Cielo Vista Church, Montana and Lee Trevino; or at 8:30 a.m. at McKittrick Canyon Visitors Center. Leader: Carol Brown, El Paso Ridge Walkers, 630-1424, cashbrown811@wildblue.net Bring: Lots of water, tent, sleeping bag, food, etc. Length: About 15 miles (round trip). The hike is easy to Pratt Lodge, moderate to The Grotto and difficult the rest of the way. Cost: park entry fee Website: www.elpasoridgewalkers.com Summary: Hike McKittrick Canyon to view the sensational display of fall colors. As you hike down the trail, towering canyon walls open up to reveal the secrets of a hidden riparian oasis. You will soon discover why McKittrick Canyon has often been described as the "most beautiful spot in Texas." Mcittrick Ridge Camp has established tent sites in a forest of trees. Newspaper Tree Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:21:42 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3389-mckittrick-tidge-overnight-backpack http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3389-mckittrick-tidge-overnight-backpack Kilbourne Hole Volcanic Crater What: Hike and special presentation at Kilbourne Hold Volcanic Crater When: 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7 Where: UTEP Geological Sciences building, at University Avenue and Wiggins. Leader: Eric Kappus, palygorskite@hotmail.com. No reservations are required. Bring: Plenty of water, a hat, sunscreen, hiking shoes, bag for collecting Length: Leave UTEP at 8am, return by 1pm. Short hike at the volcano, ~1 mile. Cost: Free, but carpooling contributions are appreciated. Summary: The group will leave at 8am, carpooling to Kilbourne Hole Volcanic Crater, a young volcano west of El Paso. The group will take a short hike to observe nature at Kilbourne Hole, including Geology, Ecology, Botany, Animal Behavior, and much more!! Meet on University Ave. and Wiggins at the UTEP Geological Sciences building. Newspaper Tree Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:22:07 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3390-kilbourne-hole-volcanic-crater http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3390-kilbourne-hole-volcanic-crater The Film Salon at Trinity-First continues its Orson Welles series with the 1948 film noir The Lady from Shanghai, at 7:30pm, Saturday, November 7. Throughout his life, Orson Welles had trouble with money. Despite periods of great success in his early career, he never seemed to have enough cash for all his elaborate radio, theatre and film projects. In 1946, Welles was again short on funds - this time to finish his stage production of Around The World in Eighty Days – and turned to Columbia Pictures with a deal. Columbia would front him some quick cash for his stage work, Welles would write, direct, produce and star in a film for free. Made quickly in late 1946 and early 1947, the studio would delay release of the film for more than a year as it trimmed Welles’ work to a manageable length (a recurring pattern in Welles’ life). The Lady from Shanghai was based on the pulp novel If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King and in Welles’ hands, became a twisting tale of insurance scams, adultery, frame-ups and murder. Welles cast his then-wife Rita Hayworth in the title role and created another of the cinema’s iconic femme fatales (notoriously cutting her trademark long red hair and dyeing what remained blond). The film’s famous finale in a Chinatown house of mirrors is a perfectly refracted analog of the convoluted plot, and Welles’ own fragmenting artistic approach as a film magician. We'll conclude Welles' odyssey as a filmmaker with a screening of his late studio picture, the masterful border noir Touch of Evil, on Saturday, December 5. The Film Salon at Trinity-First meets the first Saturday of every month at 7:30pm in the Resler Hall Chapel (use the Montanan Avenue entrance). A nursery is provided with two days advanced reservations. All screenings are Free. 915-533-2674. For more on the history and programs of The Film Salon, logon it our website at www.filmsalon.org. See you at the Movies, Newspaper Tree Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:53:58 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4202-the-film-salon-at-trinity-first-presents-the-lady-from-shanghai http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4202-the-film-salon-at-trinity-first-presents-the-lady-from-shanghai TUMBLEWORDS PROJECT SCHEDULE Where: Memorial Park Public Library 3200 Copper Avenue (915) 566-1034 Cost: Free, but donations accepted for the presenter When: All events are Saturday afternoons from 12:45 to 2:45 Except for Nov 14 reading 3:30 pm at East Side Barnes & Noble. and the Oct 31 10: 00 am workshop at the downtown library Contact: Donna Snyder at 328-5484 or tumblewordsproject@yahoo.com Nov 7 Jaime Rivera Zyme One: The Inspiration Behind the Music Zyme One is an independent artist based out of El Paso Texas and is part of a collective called Fuya Radio which presents a podcast of old school and underground hip-hop and performs as a group as well. Zyme One began to express himself through graffiti art and writing poetry at the age of fifteen and later after graduating from high school turned the words into raps with the help of his friend Dj. Metronix. Zyme One credits his mom who at an early age exposed him to musical composers like José Alfredo Jiménez, Cuco Sánchez and José José. Recently Zyme One has released his second album Quadraphonics which is an ode to the music of the past. Newspaper Tree Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:04:11 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4235-tumblewords-project-presents-zyme-one-the-inspiration-behind-the-music http://newspapertree.com/calendar/4235-tumblewords-project-presents-zyme-one-the-inspiration-behind-the-music CELEBRATION OF OUR MOUNTAINS — The 16th annual Celebration of Our Mountains is a six-week-long festival of events Sept. 19 through Nov. 8 to encourage appreciation of the El Paso region’s environment. For information on upcoming hikes, field trips, driving tours, nature walks, bicycle rides and other activities, go to celebrationofourmountains.org. This week’s events listed below. Newspaper Tree Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:19:33 -0600 http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3727-celebration-of-our-mountains http://newspapertree.com/calendar/3727-celebration-of-our-mountains