Thursday
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Seat of the Pants
Talk about one culture absconding with another: The Seatsniffers are none other than the hottest rockabilly, rock 'n' roll and vintage country band in...uh, Belgium. That's right, this quartet (they have first names like "Luc" and "Piet") have ganked an American classic genre right out from under us, learned how to do it better than us, and then chunked it right back at our feet like a gauntlet. Kinda like, you know, when white people stole the blues and made it rockabilly and rock 'n' roll (only with a sense of improvement).
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If only the Seatsniffers didn't sound so dang good-guitars with enough rich tone to make Guitar Player weep, played with the type of searing intensity you just don't hear in the States all that much anymore. Maybe we should outsource all our music, if it's gonna come back this hot. (Jonanna Widner)
Thursday
I Thought You Said "Umpire"
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Instead, it's that other controversial term-empire-that's at issue here. If jingoism, greed and warmongering get your panties in a bunch, but you feel helpless in the face of swollen corporate power, classist dogma and politics as usual, quirky smart guy David Barsamian is offering a Cure for Apathy. The Boulder-based host of Alternative Radio has media laurels sprouting out his ears, cranks out books with Tariq Ali (Speaking of Empire and Resistance) and Noam Chomsky (Imperial Ambition), genuinely enjoys
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touring through Taos, Dixon, Santa Fe and Albuquerque and has a far less grating voice than Amy Goodman. Peace Action New Mexico hosts Barsamian as he visits Santa Fe this week and shares his strategies for developing effective community activism and movements.Also, his opinion on whether the Yankees will ever beat the Devil Rays. (Zane Fischer)
Friday-Sunday
A Drunk for Junk
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OK, $15 is a pretty penny to shell out just to gain admittance to a junk sale. But consider that not only does that wad of bones benefit two hard-working local arts organizations-the Center for Contemporary Arts and Fine Arts for Children and Teens-but that it also entitles you to wine and grub while you peruse everything hauled out from Under The Queen Size Bed. The free wine at last year's
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event was so copious that we're a bit hazy on details, but if memory serves, we stumbled home with: a ceramic vase encrusted with the face of a fanged monkey god, a picture of
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vaguely deformed sheep constructed entirely from colored wool, an antique mirror with magical powers, a pocket full of perfectly serviceable Dremel tools and accessories, a mid-century modernist chair, a baker's dozen of clay pigeons, some vintage nudie pics and what we're pretty sure are Val Kilmer's boxers (or so the mirror implied). Sure, you can hunt for art supplies and lost treasures for free all day on Saturday or Sunday, just remember that we'll have already been there and had our way with whatever you're handling. (ZF)
Sunday-Tuesday
Queen Screen
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Maybe the best thing about this year's SWGLFF (say that with a mouthful of margarita) is that it'll be the first to screen both in Albuquerque and here in Santa Fe, so we'll be able to see many of the more than 50 films and shorts. A fistful of pure spun-sugar romances of the love that dare not speak its name alternate with some alluring documentaries, including
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Gay Republicans, The Aggressives (a feisty group of lesbians who've chosen to pass as men in their rough New York neighborhood), and Ending AIDS: The Search for a Vaccine (followed by a free panel discussion). Also for the first time, Sunday will be entirely devoted to flicks by, for and about chicks, from festival standby Ruthie and Connie: Every Room in the House (with the heroines themselves in attendance) to new parodies like Straight Hike for the Butch Dyke and The D Word (because let's be realistic-who around here can really afford to dress like Bette and Tina?), winding up at Backroad Pizza for music, food and dancing. (Jennifer Lowe)
