On the Set of Public Enemies

It all began when Andrew and I were walking down a street in Chicago last summer. We were killing time while our friends were at the hospital with their baby for a routine check-up. We were walking down this street when I noticed how odd the signs were. Definitely retro. And "Tourists Welcome"? Weird. (See above.)
The next thing I noticed were the prices at this bakery. The food looked great and for 30 cents a dozen, what a steal!
Okay, so before we both totally tripped out and asked ourselves if time travel really is possible, we realized that the upon closer inspection, things were out of order. Peak past the baked goods to see that this was really a book store.
What detail! Here's a pic of a set designer in action.
This really was a modern pharmacy on the inside...
After asking around, we discovered that we were on the set of the John Dillinger movie, Public Enemies, which opened yesterday. I guess Michael Mann has a thing for shooting on location (but see my complaint below). He wanted to shoot at the exact spot where Dillinger was actually gunned down.
Lovely period-correct art deco design....

A convincing clothing store...

...but some tiny details go "unstitched"
The alley where Dillinger was shot. That cobblestone looks convincing, but it was fake! Made of rubber or something...
The Universal Studios sticker on a semi parked nearby.

My complaint: NONE OF THIS FILM WAS SHOT IN TUCSON! WTF, MICHAEL MANN?

Everyone in Tucson knows that Dillinger was finally captured here at Hotel Congress. It's the Chicago cops who let him escape.

I've always liked Tucson cops better, anyway.

Tucson Querido's Favorite Things, Summer 2009

Andrew and Seth Appell of Old Bisbee Coffee Roasters

My best friend came to visit from Chicago last month. A great deal of Chicago/Tucson comparison ensued and it got us to talking about the broader issue of standard of living. In that spirit, I've created a list; the fruit of our conversations and recommendations to each other. This is a list of favorite things that are simple but make life better in their own special way. (Not listed in any particular order.)

1. Baby Spinach Salad. This is a surprisingly satisfying meal on it's own and takes ten minutes to throw together. Add ingredient in order listed and toss:
baby spinach
litehouse red wine olive oil vinagrette
(click here for a cupon)
crumbled feta
emerald glazed pecans

2. Aveda Skin Care. I know this sounds infomercialesque, but it's the truth: I used to have a ton of skin products under the bathroom sink just hibernating there because they didn't really work for me. I alternated between two products to do the job of one because neither suited my skin. I didn't break out a lot, but once in a while is already too much. Then, when I went to Elements in Balance to prep for my wedding, they convinced me to switch over to Aveda completely. It was expensive, but I splurged because it was my friggin' wedding I was getting ready for. It's a good thing I did because Aveda skin care is worth every penny. It's the skin on your friggin' face, you know??

3. Goog 411. My current phone is P.O.S., so I don't have internet access. But even a P.O.S. can dial 1-800-GOOG-411 instead of 411 to get the same info for free.

4. Ross. Yes, you gotta dig and you gotta be ready to walk out empty handed sometimes, but once in a while you really do find something fun to wear and well worth the money. Recently, in one hour I located, tried on and purchased four dresses (from $12-$17 each). They've become the staples of my summer wardrobe. Avoid the crowds and go on a weekday.

5. La Paloma Urgent Care. I still don't have a regular physician in Tucson, so I found myself in a pinch when I got pink eye during finals week. My neighbor recommended La Paloma. The building is clean, new, inviting. The staff was hugely efficient and there were no lines. Zero waiting! With our insurance the visit was $30. It was exactly what I needed: lightening speed medical care at the spur of the moment. (That said, I just want you to know that what actually cured the pink eye a week later were honey drops: a few drops of 50% water, 50% honey in the eyes every 4 hours fixed me up for good within just two days, my sister-in-law's recipe :)

6. Purse hooks. Plain and simple: keeps your purse off the table, chairs and ground. Makes a great gift; everyone who carries a purse should have one. I have a friend who makes them herself, ($10 each), but you can also buy them in stores and online.

7. Netflix. A sophisticated selection of movies, they ship directly to your home, it's cheap, ($14/month for two DVDs at a time, unlimited rentals), the stock has weathered the recession awesomely...what more could you ask for in DVD rentals? A tip: do NOT share a queue with another human being, ever. It's a curse I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

8. My Label Machine. Andrew bought a label machine one day, (approx. 35$) and I thought he was nuts. This is a new level in O.C.D. I thought. Now I'm in love. Labeling = knowing what you have and finding it fast. It's a simple way to save time and time is something we're always struggling to find more of....

9. Coffee from Bisbee at www.UniqueCoffee.com. I'm drinking a cup right now. No creamer, just a wee bit of sugar. All I ever wanted was affordable, fair trade, organic, tasty coffee. Safeway doesn't carry much that satisfies said criteria. Old Bisbee Roasters offers small family farm beans and includes a background of every bean they sell on the website: how it was grown, where, what environmental protection methods were used, etc. Most coffee is about $13/pound. Free shipping if you order 2 pounds at a time.

10. Patchouli Lotion. Living in Arizona makes moisturizing a priority, so I never use perfume. Scented lotions do double duty, and this one is my favorite. My mom gave me a bottle for my birthday one year ($10). Some comments
from a professor: "What are you wearing? It's giving me a flashback!"
from the guy at the laundromat: "What is that? It's wonderful--I've gotta buy some for my wife!"
from a colleague at the office: "Smells like weed in here!"

Tucson Querido Vacation Planning

It's too bad I'm unveiling this service in the hot months, but at least it's something to keep in mind for the future: personalized vacation planning by me! That's right, we get on the phone, you tell me about what kind of Tucson adventure you're looking for and I prep the itinerary. It's a custom fit designed by your very own Tucson expert. Email me at romeroe[at]email[dot]arizona[dot]edu to get your Tucson on!

New Mexico 2009: Hatch and Santa Fe

Photo taken in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

As the weather in Tucson gets hotter, we search for cooler places to escape to within driving distance. New Mexico is right next door, and it has so much to offer, as my Spring Break New Mexican Adventure with my mom reveals.

Our first stop was Hatch, a small town known for its chile pepper harvest. We had lunch at The Pepper Pot: I ordered a famous relleno (that's a green chile relleno, as pictured below to be precise). It was delicious. The Pepper Pot is owned by a woman who moved to Hatch from Mexico to harvest chiles, and ended up cooking them instead. The place was definitely bustling, (with local politicians even) which reminds me to advise: get there early if you can because when the daily food rations run out, that's it!

By night we arrived in Santa Fe, where we stayed at the Inn on the Alameda at the suggestion of our friends. The hotel is cozy, well located and affordable. Only drawback: no mini-fridge to put leftovers in.

Once checked into our hotel we went for a stroll and had a drink at Evangelo's, a bar owned by Nick Klonis, son of Angelo Klonis, a Greek who became an American icon of WWII. The entire bar is dedicated to his memory (see image below).


The next day we had a breakfast at The French Pastry Shop. It has great ambiance, but no chocolate-filled croissants. How can you have a French pastry shop with no chocolate croissants??? Harrumph.

Being that I had to make an emergency run to the CVS, we stopped at the Devargas Shopping Center and had a coffee at Java Joe's. Their motto is "Business is great, people are terrific, life is groovey." Later on I learned that they had won Best Independent Coffee House in 2008. I can see why.

Another Santa Fe eatery worth visiting is El Farol. Luckily, it was Monday night, and on Monday nights they offer a 40% discount on dinners and bottles of wine. (Well, at least at the time they did). For a killer price, we had a bottle of Guelbenzu Azul and a slew of very impressive, original tapas: codorniz (quail), pato (duck), gambas (shrimp), queso de cabra (goat cheese). Food: a variety of complex flavors. Service: genuinely friendly and attentive. Ambiance: historic, bohemian, cosy, artsy...in a word--El Farol is sexy.

A shot from the front of El Farol.

If you gather nothing from what I've written so far, you have probably noticed that we ate our way through Santa Fe. But Santa Fe is also a fun place to go jewelry shopping. There were 50% - 75% discounts on jewelry everywhere. I passed up a pair of green turqouise earrings that I still think about to this day :( BUT, I did get some cool huayruro seed earrings made by the delightful Patricia Angermuller of Macchu Picchu Jewelry. ( In Peru, Huayruro is said to bring good luck, fame and fortune while warding off envy.)

Generally, window shopping and hanging out in the Plaza are a laid-back way to spend an afternoon in Santa Fe. My favorite store was probably Yipee Yi Yo, where I got a Virgen de Guadalupe pot holder from Embudo Fabric Design.

Burro Alley and San Francisco Street, downtown Santa Fe.

What really started my mom and I on our trip is our mutual fandom of Georgia O'Keefe. We did the audio tour of The Georgia O'Keefe Museum. The tour includes a screening of footage of O'Keefe much like this. The whole thing was educational and inspiring. I hadn't known that she had originally developed her public persona as an artist much in the shadow of her husband, and her relationship with her husband, Alfred Stiglizt. It reminds me of how Frida spent so much time in Rivera's shadow, yet today is remembered as an artist who stands entirely autonomous in terms of her indelible mark on the art world.

We also really wanted to visit O'Keefe's houses: Ghost Ranch and the house in Abiquiu, but since they are on reservations and it was a time of religious holiday, we had to save that part for next time.

Our last stop in Santa Fe was Museum Hill; go there just for the views and a coffee if nothing else! We visited The Museum of International Folk Art, which I loved (I heart folk art). They also have a noteworthy gift shop.

Yours truly on Museum Hill in front of this piece by Spanish artist Martí Anson: Martí and the Flour Factory. The piece is a scaled down replica of an original old flour mill in Mataró, Spain and constitutes a fascinating commentary on art, urban space, preservation, identity, tradition and transnationalism. It's all that and more, but in this interview with Anson, he states: “All my work is stupid because I love wasting time.” Well I love you, Martí Anson.

This is the Artist's statement as it reads at the site of the piece:

"Astonished by the controversy that was stirred up by the proposed demolition of an old flour mill in my home town, I decided to take the building to New Mexico.

I carried out the whole project with my own hands, an act of faith to save the heritage of my home town. I built a copy of the original flour mill, brick by brick, in Santa Fe. After the exhibition, the building will be handed over to the city to take place among the existing adobe structures for any function other than being an artwork."

More on New Mexico (Taos, Truth or Concequences and Elephant Butte) to come...

Country Thunder 2009

I know I haven’t blogged in a long time, but this one’s so juicy you are gonna forgive my trespasses.

I went to Country Thunder last month. That’s right! One of the largest country music festivals in the nation and possibly the redneck spring break.

It reminds me a little of tubing the Salt River. Poor Arizonans don’t have any water. It sucks for us, okay? But we’re not going to let it keep us from having crazy beach parties.

So back at Country Thunder, every other girl is wearing a bikini—and daisy dukes, a cowgirl hat and boots. Every other guy is wearing jeans and a bare, sunburned chest. And there’s no water. It’s a little ridiculous, but like I said, not having water won’t keep us from pretending that we have water. Or at least filling up the bed of a pick-up truck with it.

Thus the theme of the most legendary campsite of the entire Country Thunder campground (a veritable sea of campers and tents): Get Lai’d. Yes, the décor screamed tropical: plastic plants, inflatable parrots and monkeys, a gigantic inflatable “aloha”, flower-painted beer pong tables, leis everywhere, Budweiser streamers, tiki torches, business cards, etc.

Generally the pace of life for the four days at Camp Get Lai’d goes something like this:

Start drinking beer at ten, when you happen to wake up to the sounds of a song about a country boy who can get you where you wanna go because he knows all the back roads being blared out of box speakers hooked up to an ipod.

Slowly go about cleaning the dust out of your crevices, peeing, brushing your teeth, trying to find clean clothes. (God, that place got so freaking dusty…)

Or take a five-minute, 6$ shower in a semi after waiting in line for an hour.

Maybe have a delicious, homemade breakfast burrito.

Watch the beer cruisers go by.

When you get tired of the steady parade of horn-honking, public nudity, intoxication, home-made parasail experiments, (see above) arrests, etc. go to the stage to see a show, maybe have an awesome Cajun Catfish Sandwich. (Damn that Cajun place is good.)

Or participate in a scavenger hunt mixer that has you asking neighboring campers for 3 different tampons, two types of condoms (used is not a type), blue spoons, Oreo cookies, pancakes with syrup, dryer lint, a lime Jell-O shot, an unsharpened pencil, a 1999 penny, a Christmas item, and the list goes on…for three pages.

Go back to the camper and have a nap.

Play ladder golf, or horseshoes, or some game with bean bags and a hole in a piece of wood.

Have something grilled for dinner.

Get dusted off, put on a jacket and watch a stoned Alan Jackson deliver a flawless performance.

Almost get into an altercation at the porta-potties culminating in a screaming match with some blond woman who you would not fight with because she is bigger than you.

Go back to Camp Lai’d after the show for a beer pong tournament followed by a live performance by The Larson Parks Band playing out of a blue pick-up truck.

Pass out somewhere at 5:00 a.m. Wake up with huge hickies on your neck right next to the hickie your girlfriend/boyfriend left before you came out here. Oops.

Lose your boots. Ask around for your boots the next day.

Realize your favorite beer was stolen. Blame someone else for leaving it in plain sight of mischievous drunkards. Go back to drinking PBR.

Yes, the infamous redneck stereotype of strict exclusion of anyone “different” made me nervous before I got there as well. I have some country “cred” of my own, being the daughter of an Iowa farm girl and, having started riding when I was young, having a horse and spending a college summer in Estes Park taking people on horseback rides through the Rockies six days a week, I wasn’t exactly a stranger to the cowgirl boots and the hat, but I felt I was on a polar opposite from most ideology that “country” stands for. What I realized is that we may have been conditioned to assume that polarity. “Liberals” should not make rigid assumptions about what it means to be “country”, “redneck” or whatever you want to call it. Equally, “conservatives” should resist knee jerk reactions against liberals. I see us managing the same symbols and key words, but not everyone ascribes to those symbols and key words in the same manner. In fact, I wrote an op-ed piece about it in The Arizona Daily Star.

On a final note, I'd like to mention something about "country culture" that I really appreciate. As the tee shirt below espouses, a common theme in country music is not having much materially, but making the most of it. (I personally relate to the Alan Jackson song, "Little Bitty": our home, dog and car are tiny. I also despise large portions.) In today's version of capitalism with so much pressure to participate in a culture of branding and consumption, making the most of a little and DIY pride are a point of resistance.

21st Annual Arizona Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace

Ah yes, the Ren Fest: a way to get drunk and stare at cleavage under the more intellectual pretext of historical appreciation. Not to mention, sell shit. What does this weird blue guy have to do with the Renaissance?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming our Ren fest. It was very entertaining (structure your day around the stages--don't miss Adam Crack the Whip Master), the weather was almost perfect, and the setting definitely beautiful: good ingredients for a satisfying mini-vacation. About two hours from Tucson (if you take the scenic route), the drive gives you a sense of geographical separation and the festival itself gives you a sense of temporal separation. I'm talking crazy time travel, biatches!
The Artisan Marketplace part is a bit of an excuse to sell people more stuff they don't need, but where else can an honest women satisfy her desire for centauroerotica? Personally, the centaur loving doesn't do it for me, but I bought some really well-crafted fragrant candles and a great "body souffle" produced by small-scale local artisans at a reasonable price.
The thing I love about Ren Fests is that the workers and entertainers are great, but the public is also SO into it. Just sprawling out on the grass and people-watching for a spell is great fun. Check out this Renaissance mother and baby. (It makes my uterus hurt.)
One last thing, but very important! The food is mostly crap: know it. However, the giant turkey legs are pretty okay. The chocolate covered strawberries are a must!

Free Secret German Film Series at the UA

This is Andrew. He has a German last name that means "oat bush" in English.

"Secret" screening of a different German film every other Thursday night at 7:30pm, free of charge. Here are the upcoming dates:

Feb. 19th

March 5

March 26

April 9

April 23

I cannot openly advertise these films due to copyright law. But if you contact me I will email you the titles.

For a map and directions: http://iiewww.ccit.arizona.edu/uamap/staticLarge/70.html

The Integrated Learning Center is just west of the main library. It is underground. When you get to the bottom of the stairs, past the lounge with the big picture windows, take a left and go all the way down to the end of the hall. There will be double doors to your left and just inside the doors you will find room 140.

Lunafest Short Film Festival--March 3

LUNAFEST, an evening of film shorts that celebrate women
(all films are by, for, about women).  It's also a great
benefit for the UA Women’s Studies Department,
Women's Studies Advisory Council (WOSAC), and
the Breast Cancer Fund.  Here is the info for this year:

LUNAFEST
Tuesday, March 3rd, 7-9:30pm
The Loft Cinemas
$5 Student/$10 Community Member