Monthly Archives: August 2009

Randy Ford Author- I’M NOT DEAD YET, a new novel, 81st installment

      Filipinos portrayed as friendly, polite, hospitable and musical.   Amok Filipino runs amok.   Everywhere leftovers from colonialism.   Now called imperialism.   Everyone studies Rizal, the national hero, national novelist and poet, national martyr, invoking other heroes- killed Magellan?   Datu Lapulapu.   Conducted the longest revolt?   Dagohoy.   Conspired with the British?   Diego?   Murdered?   Gabriela Silang.   Self-taught Father of the Philippine revolution?   Andres Bonifacio.   Propagandist?   Marcelo H. Del Pilar.   The brains of the revolution?   Emilio Jacinto.   Wife of Andres Bonifacio, who fought beside her husband?   Gregoria de Jesus.   Greatest general of the revolution?   Antonio Luna.

      Chinese dinner at a Cantonese restaurant on Mabini Street with Nick.   Shopping emporium with stores, restaurants, and sidewalk venders.   Where you would go to buy shoes, eat sweet and sour pork, and haggle over a box of Post Corn Flakes.

      Littered with broken glass, parts of the city were flooded by snapped water mains.   The walls and roofs of many Old Spanish stone houses and churches outside the town crumbled.   Most of Manila’s buildings, designed to withstand quakes, were built of bolted timbers.   They withstood the shock better.   President Marcos proclaimed a state of emergency.

      4:21 a.m.   A Friday.   Rolled through an 800-kilometer stretch from Aparri in Cagayan to Samar in 33 seconds.   Shook bed. Ceiling went one way; floor the other way: 33 seconds seemed like forever.   Pitch darkness.   Then Fire!   Terrified, rushed out of apartment building.   Come to find out, neighbors lit candles after the quake.   Across town, on Doroteo Jose and Teordora Alonzo streets, in Santa Cruz, six-story Ruby Towers apartment building collapsed.   The building collapsed “like a house of cards.”   342 people died.   6,000 volunteers dug with their hands for over a week to extricate bodies and survivors.   Hard, dangerous work.   Red Cross…served coffee and sweets.   A yell went out each time they found a body.   More hands and more volunteers, working night and day as fast as they could through all the rubble.   Masked because of the dust and death.   125 hours after the quake a miracle: two girls pulled out alive.   Now, two years later: accusations.   No soil exploration.   No slump tests.   Poor design.   Deficient construction.   Inadequate inspection and supervision.   Today, on the 1,293-square-meter property now stands a two-story building, room for shops, an eatery, and a club.   On the building’s top floor is the Ruby Tower temple.   Most of the people who lived in Ruby Toweers were Chinese-Filipinos.

      Visit to the Ruby Towers site with Nick, who has an apartment nearby.   Town packed solid, inside, outside. Streets packed with buses, trucks, and colorful ubiquitous jeepnies.   Concrete surroundings but for the parks.   Crowded inner-city alleys leading away from main streets.   Broken sidewalks and open sewers underfoot.   Overhead, excessive power lines.   Major arteries jammed with traffic…colonial-era bridges.   Under Quiapo bridge, a market for the tourist.   Topside, the old church.   More pollution.   Smog.   Flooded during rainy season.   Miserable water pressure.   Kids draining water hydrides for their families.   Nick is saying, “They have to mainly fetch water at night and often miss school because of it.”   Duck down narrow lane to his front door.   Reminds me of my doorway.   People living on top of each other.   More crowded than London.   No courtyard.   No room for it.   Go into apartment.   It all looks familiar. T  he cement floor.   The small kitchen.   Toilet without a seat.   A few shelves with books: a desk, a sofa, a love seat.   No fan.   “It’s very hot in here during the day,” Nick says. “I have a window upstairs next to my bed.   But I keep the window closed.   My neighbors yell at each other all of the time.   I hear everything.”   I wonder how much they know about Nick.   Always fighting.   Nick explains how he is lucky, how the rent is cheap, and how his building survived the earthquake.   Lucky to have a pump.   Pays extra for the pump.   The pump a necessity because of the lack of water pressure.   Nick’s anti-imperialism, anti-war attitude really got my sympathy.   Millions of things have happened to Nick…bad things I won’t go into details about it because he still gets extremely emotional about it all.

      Randy Ford

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Kore Press & Powder Stage- COMING IN HOT, powerhouse one-woman play

Coming In Hot

       Powerhouse one-woman play, adapted from Powder, hits Tucson with award-winning actor Jeanmarie Simpson; directed by Lisa Bowden      “Coming in Hot is a stunning collection of stories told in an array of voices, each with its own unique perspective on the topic of war.   The stories would be impressive in any context, but are made even more so by the fact that they come from those long overlooked heroes—the women of the American military.   In that vein, I think you should run to see this show; not simply because you’d enjoy it, but because it’s your duty.”–Jeremy Cole, Director and Amnesty International Activist, San Francisco

      “Women soldiers are a complex subject; these explorations can only broaden the conversation and deepen our understanding.” -Peggy Bailey Doogan, painter, Tucson

Four benefit performances only

in Tucson, Arizona, Sept. 24-27, 2009
Th, Fr & Sat 7pm; Sun 2pm matinee
support social activism theater
tickets available NOW at http://www.korepress.org/powderstage.htm

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The Rogue Theatre- Sale of Vintage Goods

REMINDER
The Rogue Theatre’s
SALE OF VINTAGE GOODS
is this Saturday, August 29th
from 8:00
A.M. to 2:00 P.M
Don’t miss this chance to add to your collections and
support the renovation of the new Rogue Theatre at the same time!
Free parking is available adjacent to the theatre in a lot on Herbert Avenue, the alley just east of the building.www.TheRogueTheatre.org

 Items for sale include
American, English and European pottery and china
(Fiesta, Red Wing, Russel Wright, Franciscan, Bauer, Spode,
Wedgwood, Haviland Limoges, and lots of blue and white wares)
collectible kitchenware, aluminum, chrome, bakelite,
crystal and other glassware, sterling silver,
vintage household linens
(tablecloths, tea towels, aprons, bed-coverings and more),
children’s items, Taxco and Navajo jewelry,
art pottery and western collectibles.
Doors open promptly at 8:00 A.M. on Saturday, August 29.
The sale will end at 2:oo P.M.

The Sale of Vintage Goods will take place at the new Rogue Theatre in The Historic Y at 300 East University between 4th & 5th Avenues.

The Rogue Theatre’s mission is to create the highest quality theatre possible,
challenging, stretching, and invigorating our community.

We emphasize

LANGUAGE by placing primary value on quality language and literature;
ENSEMBLE by developing performers who seek continuous improvement and creating an academy for training ourselves and emerging theatre artists;
CHALLENGING IDEAS by presenting plays which offer complex and provocative points of view
related to important social, political, and personal issues.

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Redondo Music Theatre- present their 2009 season premiere event and fundraiser LULLABIES OF BROADWAY

      Redondo Music Theatre (RMT) is pleased to present their 2009 season premiere event and fundraiser.   “Lullabies of Broadway” opens September 12, 2009 at the TCC Music Hall.   The show starts at 7:30 pm, tickets are $30 with group discounts available.   Tickets may be purchased at the TCC Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, and at Bookmans.

      Celebrating over 20 years of performances, with over 20 headline performers singing over 20 songs, original cast members from RMT’s past seasons and the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company will reprise their roles in one night of Broadway songs.

Featured singers and musicals include:

  • Armen Dirtadian – Fiddler on the Roof: “If I Were a Rich Man”, 1979 for SALOC
  • Mary Paul – My Fair Lady: “I Could Have Danced All Night”, 1980 for SALOC
  • John Colorado – Man of La Moncha: “Little Bird, Little Bird”, 1984 for SALOC
  • Robin Roberts, William Druke – Guys and Dolls: “Guys and Dolls”, 2007 for RMT
  • David Hatunen – Cabaret: “Married”, 2008 for RMT

       This concert will feature memorable songs and music from such well-known Broadway shows as South Pacific, SeeSaw, Mack and Mabel, Annie Get Your Gun, Sound of Music, and West Side Story.

      The songs will be performed by the same local entertainers who originally headlined the songs for SALOC or Redondo Music Theatre.   This will include Elinor Sherman, Robin White, Mary Paul, Jerry Boyle, Nancy LaViola, William Druke and many more.

       A preview of the upcoming RMT season will include songs from 110 in the Shade, and Blues in the Night.

      Redondo Music Theatre (RMT) was founded in 2006 by Hal Hundley.   RMT performs from November to May every year with minimal sets and props, focusing on the music and plot.   On occasion, regional actors are brought in to headline certain performances, although local talent is supported and encouraged by Mr. Hundley.

      Mr. Hundley also founded the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company in 1976.   Over the next 8 years, Mr. Hundley produced and directed numerous Broadway musicals, including Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, King and I, Oklahoma, Mame, Cabaret, Damn Yankees, Fiddler On The Roof, and West Side Story.   Mr. Hundley left SALOC in 1984 to produce and direct at the Pike’s Peak Center in Colorado.

       TCC Box Office number is 520-791-4101. Tickets may be purchased Monday through Friday 10:30am to 5:30pm M-F and 2 hours before an event.   Cash and all major credit cards accepted: Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. Handicap accessible seating is located on the main floor of the Music Hall.

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Arizona Theatre Company- Primieres THE KIT RUNNER, based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini

      Primiere!

      THE KITE RUNNER

      Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini

      Adapted for the stage by Matthew Spangler

      Directed by David Ira Goldstein

      September 10- October 3, 2009

      arizonatheatre.org

      “Come see me, Amir, there is a way to be good again…”  A cry for help from an old friend in a distant land lies at the heart of this powerful story of friendship, betrayal and redemption, newly adapted from the international best-seller novel.  Based o n one of the most beloved books of the last decade, THE KITE RUNNER is told through the lives of two boys, Amir and Hassan, growing up in Afghanistan in the same household, but in two starkly different worlds.  When the innocence of the boys’ childhood is confronted with the brutality of prejudice and hate, Amir begins t journey of self discovery and enlightenment that will take him far from his home and the demons of his youth.  But fate, global politics and historical tragedy threaten his ability to make amends for his past.  A bracing look at the modern world.  The KITE RUNNER shows us the human face beneath the headline news.

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Arizona Daily Star Friday, August 28, 2009- BOOK EVENTS

      BOOK EVENTS  AUGUST 28, 2009

      TODAY

      Meet Kyrsten Sinema- Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.  Sinema is a Demoncratic leader in the Arizona House of Representatives and the author of UNITE AND CONQUER: HOW TO BUILD COALITIONS THAT WIN AND LAST.  7 p.m.  Aug. 28.  Free. 792-3715

     Timothy Halinan- Clue Unlimited Mystery Bookstore.  3146 E. Fort Lowell Road.  The author will sign his book BREATHING WATER.” 5-6:30 p.m.  Aug. 28.  Free.  326-8533

      Urban Yarns at the Library- Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave.  Meet fellow knitters and crocheters and discuss the latest fiber-themed books.  No instruction will be provided.  Noon-1 p.m.  Fridays.  Free. 791-4010

      SATURDAY 

      Dorothy Chapman Acuna-  Mostly Books, 6208 E. Speedway.  The author of SHORTS STORIES FROM EL BARRIO LIBRE will have a Q&A session and book signing.  2:30-3-30 p.m.  Aug. 29.  Free 571-0110

      Mary Ellen Barnes- Mostly Books, 6208 E. Speedway.  The author will sign her book THE ROAD TO MOUNT LEMMON: A FATHER, A FAMILY AND THE MAKING OF SUMMERHAVEN.  2:30-3:30 p.m. Aug. 29.  Free.  571-0110

      Teachers’ Resource Days- A Children’s House of Books, 2624 N. First Ave.  Find secondhand children’s books, science, social studies and environmental titles, theme units, chapter books.  All teachers receive a 10 percent discount.  9 a.m.- 2 p.m.  Aug. 29.  Free 822-8211

      NEXT FRIDAY

      Barbara Chana and Susan Lobo-  Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.  Book discussion and signing with co-authors of THE SWEET SMELL OF HOME: THE LIFE AND ART OF LEONARD F. CHANA.  7 p.m.  Sept 4.  Free. 792-3715

      Gerald Elias Book Signing and Violin Performance- Clues Unlimited Mystery Bookstore, 3146 E. Fort Lowell Road.  Elias will sign his mystery DEVIL’S TRILL and perform a violin solo.  3-5 p.m.  Sept. 4.  Free. 326-8533

      UPCOMING

      Meet and Greet-  Mostly Books, 6208 E. Speedway.  Kate Mathis will sign copies of her book, LIVING LIES.  Noon-1 p.m.  Sept. 5.  Free.  571-0110

      Meet and Greet- Mostly Books, 6208 E. Speedway.  Jenny “Somers will sign her book HOLY SHIT! A TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN CHANNELING GOD’S LOVE.   Sept 5.  Free.  571-0110

      Find listings online at dailystarcalendar.com

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Susan Lobo & Barbara Chana- THE SWEET SMELL OF HOME- THE LIFE AND ART OF LEONARD F. CHANA, new book release

      Celbration of the release of THE SEET SMELL OF HOME- THE LIFE AND ART OF LEONARD F. CHANA

      When:  1-4 p.m. Saturday August 29, 2009

      Where:  Tohono O’odham Nation Cultural Center & Musem, Topawa, Ariz., about 10 miles south of Sells.  (Head west on Ajo Way, which becomes Arizona 86.  Sells is about 60 miles from Tucson.)

     Et cetera:  The event will open with a performance by Rainbow and Bird Dancers.  At 1:30 p.m., Susan Lobo and Barbara Chana will discuss the book and answer questiions.  Refreshments from Desert Rain Cafe will be served and there will be music by the Desperados T.O

       Another celbration- this at 7:00 p.m. next Friday- is slated at Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave.  Lobo and Chana will be available to authorgraph books.

       Taken from the Arizona Daily Star  Friday, August 28, 2009 Section.   Also read major story about the artist and book called O’ODHAM LIFE LATE ARTIST’S WORK AND WORDS FEATURED IN NEW BOOK by Rosalie Robles Crowe

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