Zac Reynolds, Director of National Advertising zac@timeslocalmedia.com
MY KINGDOM FOR A PARKING SPACE
By Tom Danehy Tucson Weekly Columnist
Last Friday night, I made the eminently foolish decision to go place a takeout order from the Guadalajara Grill on North Oracle.
I knew it would be ridiculously busy (it always is), but I wanted to say “hi” to Senora Vera, who is one of the coolest people in all of Tucson.
She owns the place, along with the original location on Prince Road. A few years back, I coached her daughter, Maya, to two state championships in the high jump. Let’s just say that when I coached her, I wasn’t demonstrating the technique myself.
I turned right from Oracle into the parking area about a block away by the Tucson Federal Credit Union. I figured
that I would have to walk, but as I drove north looking for a parking space, I was amazed that there wasn’t one open space. When I got to the end by the restaurant, I turned east onto Sahuaro Vista and there were parked cars as far as the eye could see on both sides of the narrow street.
I made the circuit a couple times and was ready to give up when a car pulled out from a space right in front of the restaurant’s doors. I pulled into the spot and felt this obscene sense of accomplishment. I looked back and saw that the guy who had been behind me was beating on his steering wheel in anger like he was William H. Macy in “Fargo.”
After placing the order and being told that it would be a half hour, I found a
spot along the wall to lean against (there weren’t any open seats in the waiting area; no parking there, either). I always have a book to read in those situations — first, so that I can learn something and second, so I don’t have to talk to people. In a stroke of Serendipity (with a capital “S”), the book I was reading was “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World” by Henry Grabar.
It sounds like the nerdiest book of all time, something that my daughter (who is a civil engineer) would be reading. Actually, she is now; I finished it and gave it to her. It is one of the most jaw-dropping books that I have read in a long time. Among the stuff that I learned (in just the first couple chapters):
In the United States, more land area is used for parking than for housing. Think about that for a while; it’s insane.
More people die every year in the United States in disputes over parking than die in the entire world from shark attacks. (We’re all going to die, but I don’t want to die in a stupid way. I would hate to drown because I used to be a lifeguard at the beach, and I’ve always
been a good swimmer. I don’t want to die from weather — lightning strike, frostbite. And I damn sure don’t want to die fighting over a parking space.)
If you teach at Cal Berkeley, you can get a free, reserved parking space on campus…if you win a Nobel Prize.
Between the years of 1950 and 1980, Los Angeles County added 850 new parking spaces…every day!
All the parking in LA County adds up to over 200 square miles.
Here in Arizona, the addition of a mandatory garage increases the cost of a new house by over 25%.
By best estimates, in America, there are six parking spaces for every single car. They’re just not where you need them to be.
Chapter by chapter, this book is a hoot and a nightmare. There is the story of the construction of a small apartment building in a small town in Southern California. After the unholy confluence of planning boards, zoning commissions and neighborhood groups
NEW KINGFISHER OWNERS TAKE GUESTS ON A ROAD TRIP
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Weekly Sta
Kingfisher has revived the great American road trip — with a worldly twist.
Their Summer Road Trip 2023 dining series continued July 17, with dishes from the deep South and Caribbean through Saturday, July 29. The menu features crabby fried green tomatoes ($14), Caribbean pepper prawns ($19) and conch ceviche ($18) for appetizers; whole roasted pig ($25), Southern-fried rabbit ($25), blackened catfish ($25) and curried oxtail ($25) for entrees, and desserts of sweet potato pie with whipped cream ($10) and guava cream cheese pastelitos ($10).
“It’s a summer road trip like families who used to drive around the United States — at least they used to,” said co-owner Jacki Kuder.
“It’s an American regional menu based on your travels. You go to the East Coast, and you get East Coast food. You go down south, and you get Cajun creole, Caribbean, Floridian, that type of cuisine. We decided to combine all East Coast and all West Coast to give us the freedom to do two international menus. We’re featuring Cyprus and France.”
Cyprus is featured Monday, July 31, to Saturday, Aug. 12, while France will take center stage Monday, Aug. 14, to Saturday, Aug. 26. The West Coast, including Hawaii and Alaska, and Southwest took place before a summer break.
Kuder co-owns the recently refreshed Kingfisher with Ted Burhans, both of whom purchased it Oct. 24. This September, the restaurant will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
JACKI KUDER AND EXECUTIVE CHEF RICHARD DE LA CRUZ JR. INVITE GUESTS TO TAKE A SUMMER ROAD TRIP. (NOELLE HARO-GOMEZ/CONTRIBUTOR)
“We have big secret plans for that,” Kuder said. “We haven’t finalized the details yet. It’s been a Tucson institution since 1993. Prior to that, it was the Iron Mask since 1968.
That was a serious Tucson institution with velvet wallpaper, a really continental old-school restaurant. I think prior to that, the building was a warehouse and tire shop.
“It’s always fun to run a restaurant in a 100-year-old building. We have some fun stuff. Our keg fridge is the original kitchen fridge from the Iron Mask. It’s this really awesome cast iron, old-school refrigerator. We like to keep little pieces of Tucson nostalgia alive.”
Recently, they replaced the artwork, as it wasn’t included in the purchase of the restaurant. Over the summer break, crews updated and painted the interior.
Kuder knows Tucson well, having moved here at age 6. Two years later, her father taught her how to cook biscuits and gravy.
“I’ve been in love with food ever since,” she said. “I’ve spent more than a decade in different kitchens around Tucson, working for Janos (James Beard Award-winning chef Janos Wilder), and (restaurateur) Bob McMahon’s restaurants.”
She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the UA, taking a break from the industry. Owning her own restaurant was a lifelong dream.
“My career has been an adventure so far, the past several years,” she said. “Janos is a Tucson icon. Everybody in the industry here has worked for him or with him.”
She’s excited to continue the tradition of the Summer Road Trip, saying it’s an “immense amount of work” for her and 11-year Kingfisher veter-
TOP RIGHT: BAKED OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER ARE TOPPED WITH SPINACH, SHALLOTS, PERNOD AND PARMESAN CHEESE ($20). (KINGFISHER/SUBMITTED)
MIDDLE RIGHT: THE KINGFISHER OYSTERS ON THE HALF SHELL ARE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO ($3 EACH). THEY ARE SERVED WITH MIGNONETTE, COCKTAIL SAUCE AND CILANTRO-LIME SAUCE. (KINGFISHER/SUBMITTED)
BOTTOM RIGHT: THE GRILLED AND CHILLED GULF SHRIMP FEATURE A HALF DOZEN TAILON GULF SHRIMP WITH COCKTAIL SAUCE AND CILANTRO-LIME SAUCE ($17). (KINGFISHER/ SUBMITTED)
BOTTOM CENTER: KINGFISHER’S TRADITIONAL, STEAMED LITTLENECK CLAMS ARE SERVED IN A GARLIC-WHITE WINE BROTH WITH FRESH HERBS, WITH A BAGUETTE FOR DIPPING ($20). (KINGFISHER/SUBMITTED)
did its worst, the builder of the modest 10-apartment building was forced to build an underground garage with 53 parking spaces in it.
Then there are the parking lot attendants in Philadelphia, who, one by one, formed a coalition of thieves that stole millions of dollars before finally getting busted. Oh, and how about the geniuses in Chicago who leased their city’s 36,000 parking meters to Morgan Stanley and a bunch of investors. The city actually lost money when the investors hiked the price of metered parking and had the nerve to bill Chicago for potential revenue lost whenever a street was closed for a street fair or a parade.
My daughter told me that the winds are blowing in the opposite direction these days. Many states and communities are doing away with minimum
parking requirements. Attempting to address the affordable housing shortage and climate concerns, California has a new law banning minimum parking requirements for new commercial or housing developments if they are within a half-mile of a major public transit stop, I highly recommend this book. It’s crazy!
When I got home, I turned on the TV. I’m finishing up the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” In one scene, Mrs. Maisel’s ex, Joel, is buying a former convent, which he and his partner will be converting into a nightclub. His partner is skeptical of the deal, but Joel extols the virtue of the place — two stories, great location, and so on. The partner says, “It’s awfully expensive,” to which Joel replies, “We’ve got parking!”
CURRENTS GARLIC FESTIVAL SHARES ITS NAMESAKE’S HISTORY
By Laura Latzko Tucson Weekly Sta
Garlic has a long history in the Santa Cruz River Valley, having been grown by Spanish colonists, the Tohono O’odham and Pascua Yaqui people, Chinese immigrants, people of African descent and Mexican farmers.
The Mission Garden will highlight the varieties found on its grounds during the Garlic Festival on Saturday, July 29. It’s returning after its 2021 debut that drew around 500 people.
The garden is an agricultural museum dedicated to preserving the last 4,000 years of agricultural history of the Tucson Basin region through the growth of heritage crops and heirloom trees.
Garden supervisor Emily Rockey said most people aren’t aware that there are different types of garlic.
“That’s why we want to have this festival,” she said.
“There’s so much diversity out there,
but all we are used to seeing is the white garlic in the grocery store. At this festival, you will be able to see different shapes and sizes of garlic and flavors. Some are purple-striped, and some are white. Some are hardneck, and some are softneck.”
The garden committees will discuss their garlic at tables set up throughout the grounds.
“We thought it would be cool to let each of our garden committees describe garlic they are growing in their garden and what recipes they would suggest,” Rockey said.
Volunteers will offer garlic tastings, in raw and roasted forms. More than 200 volunteers help the staff to maintain the garden’s 4 acres. This year, a volunteer, who works as a chef, will make garlic ice cream and soup.
Farmers who grow and harvest garlic in the area will bring their goods, and give talks and demos. These local partners include Dreamflower Garden, Breckenfeld Family Growers and the
an and executive chef Richard De La Cruz Jr. For the menu, they must prep a new menu every two weeks.
“Part of what makes the Kingfisher special is some of the menu staples,” said De La Cruz Jr., an Amphi High School graduate. Those include the Macadamia nut-crusted Hawaiian fish, with lemongrass butter sauce, Texmati rice, sauteed spinach and fried sweet potato chips ($29).
“It’s been on the menu forever,” he said.
De La Cruz, 40, has been cooking professionally for 24 years, after he graduated from the now-shuttered Art Institute of Tucson’s culinary program. He’s worked at establishments around town and in Flagstaff.
“I didn’t know anything about fish when I started here,” he said. “Now I know just about everything. No one ever leaves the Kingfisher. To get my foot in the door, I had to start on the salad station and the oyster station. That was almost 11 years ago. Now I’m
executive chef. It’s great to carry on this Summer Road Trip
Iskashitaa Refugee Network.
Varieties of garlic will be for sale and attendees can purchase garlic for eating or for growing.
At the Garlic Festival, patrons can explore the gardens and learn more about the native and desert-adapted plants grown onsite. Rockey said events such as the garlic festival can give consumers a greater knowledge of how their food is grown and harvested.
“People make these connections when they come here and have exposure to these plants. It is important for people to know where their food comes from,” Rockey said.
Garlic Festival
WHEN: 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 29
WHERE: Mission Garden, 946 W. Mission Lane, Tucson
COST: Free admission but donations accepted
INFO: 520-955-5200, missiongarden.org
By Linda Ray Tucson Weekly Columnist
“MINI MOCA”
Our Museum of Contemporary Art is on summer break through Wednesday, Aug. 30, but “Mini MOCA” is keeping alive its spirit of accessible artistic expression. Like the mini neighborhood book-exchange boxes, “Mini MOCAs” may be coming to a corner near you. Or you can make one. MOCA offers a prompt every Tuesday via its Instagram and Facebook accounts. Let the prompt inspire a creation to put in your box or drop it off at MOCA’s box. Swap your work for another of your choosing. The idea is a citywide “make one-take one” experience.
Anytime, anywhere in Tucson there’s a box or Museum of Contemporary Art, 265 S. Church Avenue, Tucson, free, moca-tucson.org
THE HOT CLUB OF TUCSON CELEBRATES DJANGO REINHARDT AND STEPHANE GRAPPELLI
Gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and French fiddler Stephane Grappelli were a duo made in hot jazz heaven. Also known as “jazz manouche,” their music was so fast and fearless as to render any mere mortal accompanist breathless. In their hands a small combo was a circus of aural delights, enough to keep listeners on the edge of their seats. Django expert Howard Alden and The Hot Club of Tucson will raise the roof in this tribute to that legendary duo.
7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, July 21, The Century Room, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, tickets start at $15, hotelcongress.com
“FANTASTIC MR. FOX”
In the 1950s, the Fox Tucson Theatre was among hundreds of movie theaters across the country that hosted The Mickey Mouse Club on Saturday mornings. The idea was such a hit, Disney made it into a TV series. The Mickey Mouse Club returns this summer with fun-filled afternoons for kids. Crafts, singalongs, birthday celebrations and music from the theater’s historic organ
TRAIL DUST TOWN “GHOST BAR”
It’s an old joke that Tucson turns into a ghost town when winter visitors leave and our own neighbors head for beaches and mountains. Trail Dust spoofs it up with a haunted party in its ghost-townlike environs. Guests are promised “spirit-ed” libations and snacks, and country tunes by Mamma Coal, on Friday and Saturday. Sunday a cello quartet plays classical music, presumably by composers no longer among the living. Tickets include two cocktails and a charcuterie snack in the haunt-ified Savoy Opera House.
8 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 21, and Saturday, July 22, Savoy Opera House, Trail Dust Town, 6541 E. Tanque Verde Road, $45, traildusttown.com
“SUMMER POOLOZA” POOL PARTIES
Tucson Parks & Rec has been hosting free pool parties around town this summer. The last two are this Thursday and next Tuesday. Kids are loving sharing the giant inflatable pool toys (including a unicorn!) with new friends. Adding to the fun are party music, party food and all the entertainment packed in a “Ready, Set, Rec” van. There’s cornhole, board games, hula hoops, giant chess, giant checkers, cards, Mexican train, dominoes, giant Jenga and giant ring toss.
5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 20, at Freedom Pool, 5000 E. 29th Street, and Tuesday, July 25, Oury Pool, 665 N. Hughes Street, free, tucsonaz.gov
NATIONAL MOTH WEEK
Happy 12th annual Moth Week! If you would like to celebrate with friends, you can include your event on the calendar at nationalmothweek.org. You can also find tips for attracting some of the 250,000 or so moth species just by turning on your porch light at night. Most moths are nocturnal, and moths are ten times more diverse than their butterfly cousins. Learn more at this workshop by naturalist Jeff Babson, an expert on everything with wings.
CELEBRATE NATIONAL MOTH WEEK AT TUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS. (EGOR KAMELEV, PEXELS-EG/SUBMITTED)
10 a.m. to noon Thursday, July 27, Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way, or via Zoom, $30, registration required, tucsonbotanical.org
set the stage for memorable family films. This Saturday’s feature is “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” based on the book by Roald Dahl and directed by Wes Anderson.
2 p.m. Saturday, July 23, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, $7.50, foxtucson.com
NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY
Celebrate cowboy traditions with a host of activities at Empire Ranch. Cow-
for $45 you can take a guided trail ride.
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 22, Empire Ranch, East Empire Ranch Road, o Highway 83, Sonoita, free admission, empireranchfoundation.org
“FIESTA BLOOM”
Ponderosa Cactus hosts a day for plant lovers, gardening enthusiasts and plantcare newbies to celebrate succulents, cacti and other greenery that thrives in our region. There will also be a selection of pottery and planters to enjoy in your home or give as gifts. Local artisans and makers will offer candles, jewelry and other creations. Food trucks will also be on hand and there will be live music and other activities throughout the day.
7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 22, Ponderosa Cactus, 3751 E. Fort Lowell Road, free, ponderosacactusaz.com
KIDZ EXPO BACK TO SCHOOL
The Arizona Bilingual Newspaper hosts a free event featuring family activities, raffles, entertainment, learning activities, information and resources for families and more. Sponsors will give away 2,000 backpacks, school supplies and other freebies. The Mexican Consulate will provide up to 3,000 free textbooks in Spanish. More than 40 sponsors and nonprofits will offer information about a range of products and services available to families in the community.
4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 27, Tucson Convention Center, Exhibition Halls A and B, 260 S. Church Avenue, tucsonconventioncenter.com, free
COWBOY JUNKIES
boy poet Gary Kirman will read cowboy poetry, musicians will play cowboy music and experts will demonstrate ranching tools, saddle-making and horse training. There will be goats, too, along with vendors, nonprofits and representatives of a horse rescue ranch. For $10 to $15 you can enjoy a chuckwagon breakfast or pulled pork sliders with sides. Docent tours of the historic ranch are offered throughout the morning, free,
The Cowboy Junkies are among those, like Gram Parsons and Jason and the Scorchers, who were alternative country before the term was coined. Also, they’re from Canada which is about as alternative as you can get from the “alt.country“ triad of Raleigh-Austin-Chicago. The “alt.” was originally a prefix in the Usenet newsgroup system that predated social media. Isn’t history fun? Honor our ancestors and enjoy watching and hearing how all those years of experience make the music tighter and the show even more memorable.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, tickets start at $30, foxtucson.com
ENJOY TUCSON’S “GHOST TOWN” SUMMER AT TRAIL DUST TOWN.(SAVOY OPERA HOUSE/SUBMITTED)
TUCSON PARKS & REC OFFERS FREE POOL PARTIES WITH FOOD, MUSIC AND GAMES. (CITY OF TUCSON/SUBMITTED)
Buy 5 shows > 15% off plus a hand painted Fox ornament
Buy 6 shows> 20% off plus a hand painted Fox ornament
Buy 7 shows > 20% off plus a $100 gift certificate
Buy 8 shows > Get 25% off
*Ticketing/Seating Limitations May Apply.
LAUGHING STOCK
MORE LAUGHS COMING TO TOWN
By Linda Ray Tucson Weekly Columnist
For most of its 35 years, Laff’s Comedy Caffe was the only place in Tucson to see live comedy. Its four weekly shows have drawn touring comedians from all over the country into its supper-club ambience. A few times a year, the Fox Tucson Theatre or the Rialto Theatre or one of the casinos might host a nationally famous comedian, but Laff’s has been Tucson’s comedy central.
Every Thursday night, aspiring local comedians can sign up for three minutes of stage time at the club’s Thursday open mic. “We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve been holding open mics consistently,” said Casey Bynum, who currently operates Laff’s. “Thursdays are not a big moneymaker. We offer it to the comedy community because we want to foster new comedians and bring up new talent on the local scene.”
Recently, though, the Laff’s open mic has been overwhelmed; Casey said he’s had to cap the signups at 50. And meanwhile at least 10 other mics have opened up around town.
At the same time, many more bigger comedy shows are coming through Tucson’s larger venues. The Fox Tucson Theatre, the Rialto Theatre and The Linda Ronstadt Music Hall all regularly stage major players on the national comedy circuit. Laff’s is thriving, but so are other venues for standup and improv comedy all over town.
What’s happening? Priscilla Fernandez has a theory. A player on Tucson’s standup and improv scenes for 20 years, Fernandez started an open mic two years ago with local comedian Mo Urban. They call it “Lady Haha,” and bill it as an open mic for women and “marginalized folx.” For example, she said Lady Haha has hosted aspiring comics over 50, neurodivergent, immigrant, people of color, folks with disabilities and their allies.
Fernandez said she believes that more people are turning up on comedy stages because they are seeing more people like themselves on in every medium. “The landscape has changed, and more women and members of marginalized communities are running open mics and comedy shows,” she said. “There’s just so much more accessible comedy, now.”
Fernandez also celebrates that some women’s comedy is getting more “blue.” There are limits, though, she said, especially related to racist and gender characterizations. “If someone says something inappropriate onstage,” she said, “it’s important to talk to them one-on-one and let them know why that’s unacceptable, then let them decide whether they want to change or . . .go.”
In 2019, Chris Quinn started a Wednesday open mic at the Screening Room after just two years going to open mics himself. “The biggest change in the comedy scene,” he said, “is the ability to get paid,” in the town’s many independent shows. “This is the direct result of the amount of open mics that Tucson has. Comics are able
to get onstage almost every night to work on jokes and perform in front of bookers.”
Quinn is also a booker. He organizes a monthly booked show at the Screening Room. About booking, he said, “I think it’s less about killing and more about not bombing. ...Having a set that brings down the show will never get you booked again.”
Casey seems to concur, but noted more specifically, “I think changes (in content) have been driven by society’s trend to being a little more critical of humor that appears mean-spirited or can be construed as an attack on someone or something.
“If you can’t be a decent person and treat others with respect and kindness,” he said, “you’ll suffer professionally, and I think that’s pretty positive for pretty much everyone.”
FIND AN OPEN MIC NEAR YOU
Wednesday
6:30 p.m. signup, 7 p.m. start. The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress Street, Chris Quinn hosts 7:30 p.m. signup, 8 p.m. start, The Rock, 136 N. Park Avenue, Corbin Michael Barker hosts
7 p.m. signup and 7:30 start, first Wednesday every month, Chica-
go Bar, 5954 E. Speedway Boulevard, mixed mic, Cory Lytle hosts the comedy, 6-minute sets
8:45 p.m. signup, 9 p.m. start, the last Wednesday every month, Mr. Heads, 513 N. Fourth Avenue, Autumn Horvat hosts
7 p.m. signup, 8 p.m. start, mixed mic, first Thursday every month, Thunder Canyon Brewery, 220 E. Broadway Boulevard
9 p.m., start, second Friday of every month, Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, Suite 39, unscrewedtheater.org, Allana Erickson-Lopez and Cynthia Barlow host all forms of comedy. Sign up a week ahead online.
Saturday
5:30 p.m. signup, 6 p.m. start, The Music Box, 6951 E. 22nd Street., Tony Bruhn and Dom DiTolla host
Sunday
7 p.m. signup, 8 p.m. start, every other Sunday, Espresso Art Café, 942 E. University Boulevard, two-item minimum, best set wins $20, runner up gets a $15 tab, Rich Gary hosts
7:30 signup, 8 p.m. start, “Comedy on the Rocks,” 7930 E. Speedway Boulevard, Joel Martin and Cati French host, 8:30 signup, 9 p.m. start, On the Rocks, 7930 E. Speedway Boulevard, Joel Martin and Cati French host
Tuesday
6:30 p.m. signup, 7 p.m. start, Bumsted’s, 1003 N. Stone Avenue, “The Bad Reputation Open Mic,” Kristine Levine hosts
Tuesday, July 18 and Aug. 1, 6 p.m. sign up, 7 p.m. show, Club Congress, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, must be present to sign up, “Lady Haha,” all forms of comedy; priority given to “marginalized folx,” Priscilla Fernandez and Mo Urban host
7 p.m. signup, 8 p.m. start, The Mint Bar, 3540 E. Grant Road, Chris Whit-
ASHLEY URQUIJO (ASH LOCA) HOLDS FORTH AT THE MINT’S OPEN MIC. (CHRIS WHITNEY/CONTRIBUTOR)
DOMINIC (DOM) DITOLLA WORKS ON A FRESH JOKE AT THE SCREENING ROOM. (HOLLY HILTON/CONTRIBUTOR)
MUSIC
LARRY & JOE: ‘MY LIFE HAS A PURPOSE’
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media Staff
Larry Bellorin and Joe Troop are asking audiences to hop on board the “Nuevo South Train” to travel across the Americas through music and storytelling.
The duo, who recently released their debut album “Nuevo South Train,” blend Bellorin’s Venezuelan heritage with Troop’s bluegrass tendencies.
Known as Larry & Joe, they’ll bring their “Latingrass” to Green Valley’s Community Performance and Art Center on Tuesday, July 25.
“Larry and I do a variety show, a multi-instrumental snapshot of the contemporary South through the lens of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music,” Troop said. “Our shows produce a gamut of emotions: laughter, tears, hooting and hollering. But our overarching message is one of joy, the pure pleasure procured by polyculturalism.”
Produced by guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter, “Nuevo South Train” features original songs and innovative interpretations of traditional folk tunes from Venezuela and the American South. Among the 12 tracks is the Llanera classic “Caballo Viejo” and bluegrass favorite “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arm.”
An original song, “Border Wall,” is sung in English and Spanish with a gospel-tinged refrain calling out for reflection.
“We want people to have a good time, to blow off some steam, to feel the same joy that the two of us experience every time we play,” Troop said.
“But we don’t shy away from the harsh realities we are facing. Larry is a migrant, an asylum seeker. And he has really been through it here in the United States. We share songs and stories that engage people and ask them to consider difficult situations. Nonetheless, our
LARRY & JOE RECENTLY RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, “NUEVO SOUTH TRAIN.” (BRETT VILENA/CONTRIBUTOR)
message is one of unity, and we make sure to show how exhilarating a world with no borders would be.”
The project was difficult for the two musicians. Bellorin was working full time in construction and sacrificed sleep to rehearse. Troop was juggling prior commitments, in and out of North Carolina, but his focus was on preparing of the recording and developing new techniques on his instruments to play this repertoire.
“Our greatest blessing was our producer, the legendary Charlie Hunter,” Troop said.
“I don’t even think he realizes how much influence he had on our music and this album, a testament to his humility. Thanks to his guidance and the work of our brilliant recording engineer Jason Richmond, we pulled it off with flying colors.”
Troop said he and Bellorin have lived parallel lives. They are both 40 and cut their teeth in their respective folk traditions 25 years ago. Troop studied banjo, fiddle and guitar while Bellorin was into harp, cuatro, bass and maracas.
“We have both lived holistically musical lives, completely immersed in folk
traditions, multi-instrumentalists, singer-songwriters and session musicians,” he said.
“In other ways, we’re very different.”
Bellorin lived in Venezuela before coming to the United States, while Troop called himself a “nomad.” He lived 14 years outside of the United States, including in Spain and Japan. In the decade preceding the pandemic, he lived in Argentina.
“Larry’s life fell apart with the crisis in his country, and he and his family were forced into migration,” Troop recalled.
“His musical dreams were shattered, and he wound up lifting cinder blocks on a construction site in North Carolina for seven years.
“I formed an ensemble in Argentina called Che Apalache, and we were starting to enjoy great success in the United States. Our second album was Grammy nominated, and right when all the buzz was at its peak, the pandemic decimated our operation.”
Troop shifted into action, using his platform to address the need for social change. In 2021, he worked as a volunteer at a shelter for asylum seeking migrants in Mexico. That December,
he was offered a residency in Durham, North Carolina, his home state.
While exploring potential collaborators, a friend told him there was a “brilliant, asylum-seeking Venezuelan migrant musician living and working construction in Raleigh.”
“When I saw the videos of Larry, I knew that we were meant for each other,” Troop said.
“I invited him to participate in my residency, sparks flew, the crowd gave us a resounding standing ovation, and Larry & Joe was born. As of January of this year, this duo has become both of our full-time jobs.”
It couldn’t be more fulfilling to Troop.
“I feel free, joyous. And I also feel like my life has a purpose,” he said.
Larry & Joe
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 25
WHERE: Community Performance & Art Center, 1250 W. Continental Road, Green Valley
Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street. 7 p.m., Saturday, July 22, hotelcongress.com, from $17.71, The sparkling Swish Manly guest hosts Retro Game Show’s “$9.95 Pyramid;” 8 p.m., Monday, July 27, hotelcongress.com, free, “The Switch Comedy Show,” comedians make jokes about topics you text in.
La ’s Comedy Ca e, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard. 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, July 21, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22, laffstucson. com, $15, $20 preferred seating. Luke Null, “The Guitar Comic” plays for the laughs.
The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress Street, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., Saturday, July 22, $10, “Lady Bits,” 8 p.m. cast: Jackie Tinsley headlines, Jen
Blanco hosts Nicolette DiMaggio, Ana Montañez, Allana Lopez, Keeley Wolf, Vera Maria; 10 p.m. cast: Magghie O’Shea headlines, Allana Lopez hosts, Sonia Rita, Amie Gabusi, Jen Blanco
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. Ninth Street. tucsonimprov.com, $7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 20, Improv 201 and “Fakespeare;” 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 21, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. “The Soapbox;” 9 p.m. “Femme Drop” Stand Up Showcase; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 22, “Tootpole” musical improv and “The Game Show Show;” 9 p.m. “Halfway to the Holidays”
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, unscrewedtheatre. org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids. 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 21, Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU); 6 p.m. Saturday, July 22, Student Showcase: Improv Basics; 7:30 p.m. NBOJU; 9 p.m. Uncensored Improv Comedy with house teams NBOJU and The Big Daddies.
5 FREE WINGS
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD HAS HIS FANS IN MIND
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media Staff
Blues singer-guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd knows how to keep it fresh.
After a year of celebrating the 25th anniversary of his album “Trouble Is…,” he’s mixing up his shows with a career retrospective.
He’ll come to the Rialto Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 26, and the Celebrity Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27.
all the way back to ‘Ledbetter Heights.’”
He said the goal is to keep it interesting for fans and himself.
“I have a pretty deep catalog at this point,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of radio singles, too. I like to keep it interesting for the fans. Some fans have seen me 25 times. We’re coming to Tucson and Phoenix. Those shows are so close together that I know people will go to both shows.”
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shepherd is a self-taught musician, inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan. He began playing guitar in earnest at age 7. Six years later, blues musician Bryan Lee invited him to play on stage. Giant Records chief Irving Azoff was so impressed by a video of the performance that he signed Shepherd to a multiple album deal.
Now 46, Shepherd said it’s been easy to stay passionate about music.
er album, which he recorded on a whim. Shepherd deliberately chose songs that he grew up listening to as a kid.
“There are bands you wouldn’t expect me to cover, too,” he said slyly.
The next two albums are filled with originals, the first of which he’s hoping will be out by November. It’s timed with the end of his current tour to set the stage for next year’s jaunt.
“I make records to go out and play live for people,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing for 30 years.”
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 26
WHERE: Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $47
INFO: rialtotheatre.com
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27
“We were playing ‘Trouble Is…’ in its entirety for the last year and a half,” said Shepherd via telephone from a South Dakota tour stop.
“It’s in my blood,” he said. “It is my passion. It’s what I love to do. I just try to come out with something unique. That’s what keeps it interesting for all of us.”
“We debuted a new set in Europe last month. This time around, I’m featuring songs from ‘The Traveler’ and we’re going
Ever prolific, Shepherd has two new albums in the can and another that’s nearly finished. He calls one a rock ‘n’ roll cov-
WHERE: Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd Street, Phoenix
COST: Tickets start at $39
INFO: celebritytheatre.com
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD PERFORMS AT THE RIALTO THEATRE ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 26. (MARK SELIGER/CONTRIBUTOR)
MARGO TIMMINS ISN’T AFRAID OF HER EMOTIONS
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Tucson Local Media Staff
Touring is hard, but for Cowboy Junkies and Margo Timmins, the effort is worth it.
“The music makes us all feel like we belong,” said Timmins, the lead singer.
The concerts have been great, she said, thanks to Cowboy Junkies’ nearly 40 years in music. They’ll bring their show to the Fox Tucson Theatre on Thursday, July 27.
“Playing together is probably more exciting than it ever was,” Timmins said.
“As musicians, we put in our 30,000 hours. We’d reached a level where we know where the other person’s going. There’s a lot more interplay than there ever was. It’s very rare that we do a ‘bad’ show. It might not be as good as last night, but it feels good.”
At the Fox Tucson Theatre, Cowboy Junkies will perform two sets. First, they’ll focus on the new album, “Such Ferocious Beauty,” with the hits following. The recent collection is a take on songwriter/guitarist Michael Timmins’ thoughts.
“Michael writes about what is going on in his life,” Timmins said about her brother. (Another brother, Peter, plays drums.) “Because we’re siblings, it’s going on in my life, too. I think it’s just a progression of life. He wrote about having kids when we were having kids. He wrote about aging. There was a period where he wrote about aging marriages and the addition of children and what happens. That’s a whole experience.
“This album is about us becoming older and us having to step up, becoming adults and taking care of our parents.”
“Such Ferocious Beauty” covers the death of the Timmins’ parents. She
teased that the next one could be about aging.
“It’s just a continuation of what’s happening to us and also, of course, the world around us,” she added.
“This album has a lot of impact of the pandemic. It’s huge on all of us. It changed the way we view ourselves and the world. During that period of time, with the whole political scene, that just got really nutty. Whether you’re for it or against it, we lost a lot. Things got confusing and there’s a lot of that in there, too. The biggest most personal thing is the death of our parents and the impact of how we view our worlds and where we’re at.”
Singing the songs in concert is cathartic for Timmins.
“I’ve never been afraid of my emotions on stage,” she said. “If I start to cry, I start to cry, if I’m singing a sad song and I’m feeling extra sad tonight. I’ve never been afraid of my emotions.
“It’s like a prayer. I’m not a religious person. I think prayer is that moment of deep contemplation and thought. That’s, to me, what a song is. It’s a moment of really embracing something and not being afraid.”
She added with a laugh, “If it went on all night, I might have a nervous
breakdown.”
Within four decades, the musicians have stuck to their guns, making music for themselves — even when they were signed to major labels.
“One of the things we fought hard to do is protect our music and do it the way we wanted to do it,” said Timmins, calling from her home two hours north of Toronto.
“I never ever wanted to listen to an album and say, ‘Ugh, why did I do that?’ I knew that was wrong. I think that’s why we still really enjoy playing music together. It’s an expression of the four of us playing and nothing else.”
Cowboy Junkies
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 27 WHERE: Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, Tucson COST: Tickets start at $20 INFO: foxtucson.com
COWBOY JUNKIES PERFORM AT THE FOX TUCSON THEATRE ON THURSDAY, JULY 27. (HEATHER POLLOCK/CONTRIBUTOR)
REEFER MADNESS: A TIMELINE OF MARIJUANA’S NOTORIETY
By Eva Halvax Tucson Weekly Columnist
Cannabis has always been an integral aspect of our political and cultural landscape.
In the 1600s, colonial farmers were encouraged to grow hemp, a kind of cannabis that contains low levels of THC. Hemp was lauded for its quick growth and durable nature, making it the prime choice for constructing ropes, paper, clothing and sails. As the hemp market flourished in the
United States, marijuana made its way to medicinal products sold in pharmacies — openly. In fact, many large U.S. pharmaceutical companies had been importing cannabis from India.
The national conversation surrounding cannabis began to shift in the early 1900s, due in part to a number of political changes. The narrative that set the foundation of the stigma against cannabis was bolstered by the Mexican
Revolution and the increase of immigrants.
The Spanish introduced cannabis to Mexico in the colonial era, but its recreational popularity resulted in an eventual ban in 1920. Historian Isaac Campos, author of “Home Grown: Marijuana and the Origins of Mexico’s War on Drugs,” agrees this was notable with its imminent legacy within American culture.
“I’ve actually found evidence that Mexicans were crossing the border into the U.S., buying cannabis in pharmacies, and taking it back to Mexico probably to sell there,” Campos said in Time Magazine. “So the smuggling was going in the other direction at that time because many states in Mexico had already prohibited it.”
Nationalism and prohibition were
mixed to create a bigoted cocktail of sensationalism; with prohibitionists dead set on the idea that drugs and alcohol were an invention of immigrants.
In 1911, a member of California’s State Board of Pharmacy fueled this paranoia, attributing immigration from India to the increasing popularity of cannabis in America, writing that a “very undesirable lot was initiating our whites into this habit.”
When it comes to cannabis reform, this is an aspect of cannabis history that cannot be ignored. While the United States was outsourcing its cannabis for its own people, the blame was shifted to those immigrating to America. But it didn’t stop there. As the Great
Depression resulted in mass poverty and unemployment, the hostility and fear toward immigrants and people of color grew. This sparked new types of pseudo-research of cannabis use that was associated with these groups.
In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was born. Its first commissioner, Harry J. Anslinger, claimed that marijuana would cause insanity, criminality and death. In 1931, cannabis was banned in 29 states.
The 1936 exploitation film, “Reefer Madness,” encompassed the frenzy surrounding cannabis that was sweeping the nation. One of many propaganda films of the time, “Reefer Madness” tells the story of young and impressionable (white) teenagers who begin a bizarre and violent downward spiral after trying marijuana for the very first time. There’s a murder. There’s also a suicide. Everyone loses their mind.
Meanwhile, Anslinger continued to publicly denounce “evil weed” and the crimes he associated with it.
By 1937, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, which criminalized cannabis in every state. Anslinger’s views on drug use aligned with most of the American public, albeit even when contradicted by scientific research. In 1944, the New York Academy of Medicine issued an extensive report that found no connection with marijuana and violent behavior, sex crimes or inducing insanity. Anslinger doubled down, claiming that the authors of the report were dangerous and strange.
Nevertheless, cannabis found its way into American countercultures, with its use becoming more and more widespread in the 1960s.
In 1970, Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act, which categorized drugs into schedules, based on their alleged medical benefits or risk of abuse. Spurred by President Richard Nixon’s war on drugs, cannabis was put
into Schedule 1, alongside heroin and LSD. In 1972, the Shafer Commission, which Nixon himself appointed to study drug abuse within the country, recommended that marijuana be removed from Schedule 1 and decriminalized.
The Shafer Commission reported that “unless present policy is redirected, we will perpetuate the same problems, tolerate the same social costs, and find ourselves as we do now, no further along the road to a more rational legal and social approach than we were in 1914.”
Nixon rejected this, but a handful of states began to loosen their penalties for cannabis-related offenses.
Yet in 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established mandatory sentencing for drug-related offenses. This led to stricter federal penalties and the eventual “three strikes and you’re out” policy, which required life sentences for anyone arrested for drugs multiple times. Drug-related arrests increased at a sickening amount, with the incarcerated population reaching 1.5 million in 2015.
The ACLU found that arrests involving marijuana contribute to more than half of all drug arrests, with Black Americans arrested at exorbitantly higher rates than white Americans, even though usage rates are similar.
Policy regarding cannabis has ebbed and flowed for years. California began its medical marijuana program in 1996 and, since then, 28 other states have followed suit. But the historical implications found within the history of cannabis illuminate the way in which systemic racism and bigotry have assumed the role of a cultural norm. The consequences of mass incarceration still run rampant. And as we reach a new era in which states begin to legalize and decriminalize marijuana, it remains illegal at a federal level; caught in the limbo of bureaucratic drug classifications and political policy.
DEALER’S CHOICE
THIS WEEK'S INDICA: Sunset Sherbet, also referred to as just “sherbet,” is an indica-dominant hybrid strain. Dreamy and mellow, Sunset Sherbet beckons an easygoing and peaceful kind of buzz. The high from Sunset Sherbet may build up slowly, but will surely not disappoint, thanks to its uplifting and relaxing kind of vibe.
THIS WEEK'S HYBRID: Dutch Treat Haze is a hybrid strain known for its potency and flavor. Its lineage includes two cannabis giants: Super Silver Haze and Dutch Treat. This strain delivers an aroma layered with lemon and earthy notes, thanks to its rich terpinolene content. Dutch Treat Haze is the perfect strain for a social setting, encouraging a happy, motivated and talkative mood.
THIS WEEK'S SATIVA: Jack Herer is classic sativa that many old school stoners know and love. Jack Herer delivers all of the classic components of a tasty sativa: energizing, citrusy, blissful and creative. Jack Herer originated in the Netherlands in the 1990s, solidifying itself as a strain that is loved and adored by many. Jack Herer is known for its clear-headed kind of high, one that leaves you motivated and ready to take on the day.
THE HIPPIES HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG
By Aari Ruben Tucson Weekly Columnist
It’s brutally hot in southern Arizona these days. We are waiting for the monsoon that have held off well past the average start date of July 4. I hope everyone has had a chance to visit the mountains, dip in a pool or at least stay out of the sun with some A/C. My solution has been to get out of Dodge when possible. In late June, I was in the Seattle area at a friend’s wedding. I visited family on the Pacific Sound and took a day trip to Vashon Island.
More recently, I spent a week in Oregon with my girlfriend and our younger kids, a couple of our parental figures came along making the trip a multigenerational excursion. Our destination was
the Oregon Country Fair, held every year since the early 1970s outside of Eugene.
The fair is a music festival with a distinctly hippie flavor: eight stages and hundreds of food and craft vendors. This year more than 10,000 staff camped out on the property for five days and welcomed 15,000 patrons daily who came to shop for crafts, eat and dance to the music and share in the experience.
My bride-to-be and her mother have been to the event many times over the years and knew what to expect. This year’s event was bigger and better than ever. As a first timer, it was a pleasant surprise to experience the planning, civility, talent and artistry. It’s something that one must experience to fully appreciate.
I have long considered myself a true green-bleeding hippie, but I’m starting to wonder if I am hippie enough. I have often spoke of how these hippie ideals cultivated in the 1960s were the truth and what is good for our planet and our fellows.
Taking care of the environment, being judicious in our use of finite natural resources, clean green energy, apprecia-
tion for things made by hand, cooperation to create a more sustainable self-sufficient existence is what they idealize. If I was going to break it down into a single word that word would be “love.”
Similar to other trade shows, the space was divided among different vendors sharing the venue. What was different was the lack of a regimented military-style division of the space into 10 by 10 squares. The property had mostly temporary wooden structures handcrafted from lumber milled onsite, each one took on the shape of the trees and the meandering path that connected one area to another.
There were stages and concert venues, some big and some small, all made in the same sustainable craftsman style. There was the most beautiful handcrafted wooden bathhouse you could imagine in hippie paradise with sauna and showers. It was fueled by a wood-burning boiler and a closed-loop system that heats the cold water into hot and loops it back around again.
All parts of the fair were a feast for the senses, bands playing, creative art and unique costume; we call it hippie bling,
the feel in your hand of handmade items that are beautiful and functional, the smells of food, incense, ash and walnut.
The artisans’ crafts were made from a broad spectrum of materials. Their traditions states that a significant majority of what the vendor sells must be made with their own hands, on site during the event. Also made on site and no-less artisanal were the food offerings, which include every cuisine you could find in a major metropolitan city.
Meals, coffee and other beverages, baked goods and flavors of every ethnicity are on hand, made from scratch and served with real silverware. The utensils were taken to central collection spots and washed for later use, rather than filling the landfill with single-use plastic cutlery. The efforts to leave no trace on the property did not end there. The waste was collected at central sites in the festival venue and in all of the surrounding campgrounds with a cluster of 55-gallon drums. They were filled and emptied daily of plastic, metal and compost, including all the paper, and the small amount
that was truly waste and destined for the landfill.
There were banks of “Honey Buckets,” or porta-potties. About 15,000 people camping 24/7 for five days plus 10,000 visitors on the fair’s three days creates a lot of human waste.
I am usually a pee-in-the-woods kind of guy but with the close proximity of one tent to the next on all sides, it was not the peace and love kind of thing to do.
The fair is held as a drug- and alcohol-free event and I didn’t see anyone drinking. However, there were people discreetly using cannabis in their campsite and at night. Many hippie vendors were taking a mental health break and expanding their minds with various hallucinogens.
This sort of intoxication can cause a person to put quite the hurting on a “Honey Bucket,” but they were pumped out daily and there were no reports of illness from the human waste or food products.
I found a few things quite remarkable about this experience. There were no serious altercations and that says a great deal about the sense of peace and community.
Compliments about crafts, people’s creative costumes, clever jokes and songs flew freely.
The talent, creativity and care put into the event are feats of commitment and
organization. I have never seen anything else like it.
When we were on the last leg home, a car ride from Phoenix, I asked my youngest daughter if she had enjoyed the festival. She has been to Tucson’s Gem and Jam, many headline shows, and smaller festivals with their 10 by 10 squares, like our Pride Festival or Tucson Meet Yourself. She is also an aspiring yogi and has a deep spirituality for a young adult headed to LA for her freshman year in college next month.
She said she had a great time, she commented on the creative talent on display, the civility, acceptance and sense of community and hard work that made it all happen.
Then she asked a simple question, one that made me think carefully of my answer.
She asked, “Why are so many from the hippie culture full of talents and ideas and values that work? How do they achieve the successes they achieve?” And, in the end, the answer is love. The hippie ideals are all about peace, acceptance of those different, admiration for others’ talents and uniqueness. By celebrating someone else’s weirdness and accepting all comers it gives each individual freedom to be themselves. Free thought and expression are the norm, and it allows humans to flourish and enjoy physical health and spiritual well-being. One love.
TUCSON AREA DISPENSARIES
BLOOM TUCSON
4695 N. Oracle Road, Suite 117
520-293-3315; bloomdispensary.com
Open: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
BOTANICA
6205 N. Travel Center Drive
520-395-0230; botanica.us
Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
DESERT BLOOM RE-LEAF CENTER
8060 E. 22nd Street, Suite 108
520-886-1760; dbloomtucson.com
Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Offering delivery
DOWNTOWN DISPENSARY
221 E. Sixth Street, Suite 105
520-838-0492; thedowntowndispensary.com
Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
D2 DISPENSARY
7139 E. 22nd Street
520-214-3232; d2dispensary.com
Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
EARTH’S HEALING
Two locations:
North: 78 W. River Road
520-253-7198
South: 2075 E. Benson Highway
520-373-5779
earthshealing.org
Open: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays
Offering delivery
GREEN MED
WELLNESS CENTER
6464 E. Tanque Verde Road
520-886-2484
greenmedwellness.com
Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
HALO CANNABIS
7710 S. Wilmot Road
520-664-2251; thegreenhalo.org
Open: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
HANA GREEN VALLEY
1732 W. Duval Commerce Point Place
520-289-8030
Open: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Open: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sundays
TUCSON SAINTS
112 S. Kolb Road
520-886-1003; medicalmarijuanaoftucson.com
Open: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
COMICS
SORENSEN
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
By Rob Brezsny. Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY HOROSCOPE 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 $1.99 per minute. 18 and over. Touchtone phone required.
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19)
Your deep psyche will soon well up with extra creativity and fertility. I hope you will eagerly tap into these gifts. You should assume that you will be more imaginative and ingenious than usual. You will have an enhanced ability to solve problems with vigor and flair. In what areas of your life would you love to gently erupt with a burst of reinvention? Which of your habits might benefit from being cheerfully disrupted? Give yourself permission to change whatever bores you.
TAURUS
(APRIL 20-MAY 20)
My teacher Paul Foster Case said the color yellow is midway between warm, exciting red and cool, calming blue. “Yellow has an equilibrating influence,” he wrote. “It stimulates the finer functions of the brain, is of assistance in developing alertness and discrimination, and helps to establish emotional balance.” According to my astrological analysis, Taurus, you should emphasize this hue in the coming days. If you call on yellow to help strengthen the qualities Case describes, you will place yourself in sweet alignment with cosmic rhythms.
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20)
Because I enjoy joking with you, I am slightly tempted right now to give you one of the following nicknames: Fidgety, Twitch, Jittery, Quivers or Shakes. But I will take a more serious tack. Let’s instead see if we can influence you to slow down, stabilize your rhythm, get really steady and secure, and stand strong in your foundational power spot. Would you consider adopting any of the following nicknames? Anchor, Unshakeable, Sturdy, Rock Solid, Staunch, Steadfast, Resolute.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22)
The sometimes overly clever author Oscar Wilde said, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.” I reject that warped view of reality and assure you it will have no bearing on your life in the coming weeks. If you formulate your prayers with care and discernment, they will lead you to rewards, not
problems. Maybe not the rewards you imagined, but still close to your hopes and helpful in the next chapter of your life story. (PS: No sloppy, lazy, careless prayers, please. Be precise and clear.)
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22)
Leo theologian Bernard McGinn defines mysticism as “the consciousness of the immediate presence of God.” In other words, people having a mystic experience are filled with a visceral sensation of the divine intelligence. It's not just an idea or concept; it's a deeply felt communion infused with intimate tenderness. You Leos will be more likely than usual to have such contact in the coming weeks — if you want it. If you don't want it, or don't believe it's real, or don't think it's possible, well, then, you can of course resist it. But why not give it a whirl? There’s nothing to lose, and it could be fun.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22)
Here's a parable for you. Once upon a time, there was a woman who could read the future in the night sky. She regarded the planets and stars as her divine informants. On one moonless evening, she took a walk down a dirt road near her home. It was so dark she could barely see two feet ahead of her. Oops! She should have brought a flashlight. Lost in wonder, she gazed up at the heavenly bodies, watching and listening for revelations they might have for her. Then one of the lights, the planet Saturn, whispered, “Stop and look down, friend.” The woman turned her eyes from the sky to the ground just in time to find she was two strides away from stepping into a deep, muddy hole. What’s the moral of the tale? Here are some possibilities. 1. Sometimes the heights provide useful information about the depths. 2. Soaring visions may help you tune in to practical details. 3. To become aware of important facts you’ve overlooked in your daily rhythm, consult your higher mind.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22)
A Libran writer I know received many rejection notices when he launched his
career. I was amazed at how undaunted he was. In fact, he was the opposite of undaunted. He taped copies of his rejection notices to his bedroom wall. Seeing the evidence of his failures motivated him. It drove him to improve his writing and churn out even more articles. It fueled his search for a wider array of publications that might host his work. During the fourth year of this approach, luck and fate turned in his favor. Within the next eight months, 12 of his pieces appeared in print. My muses tell me, Libra, that you need to hear this story right now.
SCORPIO
(OCT. 23-NOV. 21)
The cartoon character Bart Simpson is one of the stars of “The Simpsons” animated TV show. According to him, “Life is a paradox. You're damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” While that principle may sometimes be true, I believe you will be exempt from it in the coming weeks. In fact, I suspect you will be as free as it’s possible for a human to be of grueling contradictions, frustrating oppositions, clashing truths, and paralyzing contraries. There’s a good chance you will also outwit and avoid annoying incongruities and silly arguments. Congratulations in advance, Scorpio! Take full advantage of this phase of simple clarity.
SAGITTARIUS
(NOV. 22-DEC. 21)
The dragon has appeared in the myths and legends of many cultures. Europe, China and Mesoamerica are just a few places where the fire-breathing flying reptiles have fascinated the human imagination. In some traditions, they are dangerous and predatory. In China, though, they have been harbingers of good fortune and symbols of great power. Emperors claimed the dragon as their special emblem. In assigning the dragon to be your soul creature, Sagittarius, I am drawing from Chinese lore. What would you like to accomplish that would benefit from you having access to fierce, dynamic, indomitable energy? Call on the dragon for help and power.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19)
“There is a world of people who will love
you for who you are,” writes author Cheryl Strayed. “A whole, vibrant, fucked-up, happy, conflicted, joyous, and depressed mass of people.” In the coming months, one of your prime tasks is to specialize in communing with these folks. Make it your intention to surround yourself more and more with interesting, imperfect, ever-changing life-lovers who appreciate you for exactly who you are — and who inspire you to grow more and more into the full idiosyncratic glory of your authentic self.
AQUARIUS
(JAN. 20-FEB. 18)
What psychic or prophet is most popular with a-list celebrities? I can assure you it’s not me. Few of my millions of readers are world-famous. What about the planet’s most scientifically accurate astrologer? Who might that be? It ain’t me. I don’t regard astrology as a science, and I mistrust those who say it is. In my view, astrology is a mythopoetic language and psychospiritual system that nurtures our souls and helps liberate us from our conditioning. We shouldn’t try to get “scientifically accurate” information from it. Now I encourage you to do what I just did, Aquarius. Have fun telling people who you are not, what you don’t believe in, and which goals you aren’t interested in pursuing.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20)
To come up with your astrological reports, I study the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in relation to your sign. That's the technical part of the work, the framework within which I unleash my intuition and imagination. To augment this work, I meditate and pray, asking higher powers to guide me in providing useful information for you. I often consult books written by my favorite astrology writers. (Currently reading Steven Forrest’s “The Elements Series.”) I also ask my deep mind to slip me info that might not be accounted for by traditional factors. How about you, Pisces? How do you do the work that you love and care about? Now is a good time to take inventory and make necessary adjustments.
Trace of smoke 5 McEntire known as “The Queen of Country”
Like aged cheddar
Length x width, for a rectangle
Major monitor maker
Flooring installer
Enclosures for shark watchers
Engaged in some risky behavior 20 “Eww, I didn’t need to know that”
The “R” of I.R.L.
Nonnegotiable salary limit
Microphone jack, for one
Sit-___ (some protests) 28 “Thar ___ blows!”
Messy, semiliquid substance 65 Analyze, as ore
Droops 67 See 56-Across
29 Poetic contraction that omits a “v” 30 Measure of time, in music 32 Alternative to a station wagon, in brief 33 Cook for too long, say 35 Chunk floating in the Arctic Ocean 36 “I’m appalled!”
41 “Whose ___ Is It Anyway?” (longrunning improv show)
“A good time had by all” 2 Tick off
42 Alphabetically first group in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 43 Curtain hanger 44 Watch over, as a fire
Agcy. for drivers
Veer suddenly 47 Flaky fish
48 Be honored before burial 52 Portuguese or Spanish
Por tuguese or Spanish
French word that sounds like an English pronoun 56 With 67-Across, in a sudden and completely apparent way ... or a punny description of this puzzle’s circled letters
Dolphin’s home 4 LaBelle known as “The Godmother of Soul”
55 French word that sounds like an English pronoun
Half-diameters 6 Pref ix with system
Droops 67 See 56-Across
30 Le er a er alpha
Mis-enter a passcode, say
Assemble, as a book
56 With 67-Across, in a sudden and completely apparent way ... or a punny description of this puzzle’s circled le ers
Jerr y’s par tner in ice cream
62 Enclosures for shark watchers
63 The “R” of I.R.L.
Bespectacled car toon aardvark
64 Messy, semiliquid substance 65 Analyze, as ore
-founded
25 “Awkwafina Is ___ From Queens” (Comedy Central series)
“A good time ___ had by all”
Tick o
George Eliot or Mark Twain
“Duh!,” in modern slang
Dolphin’s home 4 LaBelle known as “The Godmother of Soul” 5 Half-diameters 6 Prefix with system 7 Jerry’s partner in ice cream 8 Bespectacled cartoon aardvark
