Netrebko & Villazón: Libiamo ne' lieti calici (La Traviata/Verdi)

Trumpenstein Lives

This:

"What the Goldbergs and the Wills and Krauthammers of the world probably don't get is that by singling Trump out for abuse, they're almost certainly boosting his campaign. ...

Trump's followers are a gang of pissed-off nativists who are tired of being laughed at, belittled, dismissed, and told who to vote for. So it seems incredible that the Republican establishment thinks it's going to get rid of Trump by laughing at, belittling and dismissing him, and telling his voters who they should be picking.

These hysterical critics are making one of the world's most irredeemable bullies look persecuted and like a victim, a difficult feat. The desperation to get rid of him may just feed more and more into the right wing base's crazy victim complex, and in turn get Trump even more support.

...Now all of that paranoia is backing up on them. They created this monster, and it's coming for them now. Trumpenstein lives. He is loose in the town and on his way to the doctor's castle."

Trump's Night

I watched a portion of the debate last night (08/06/15) on FOX, and nodded off from the repetition of the dumb-and-dumber ideas that characterize the modern GOP. None of these guys are remotely-suited for the Presidency.

Nevertheless, from a debate perspective, Trump seemed to do OK. FOX decided to terminate his candidacy, then and there, with hostile questions, and he parried them well. No one can do over-the-top stupid better than Trump, and voters will choose the real thing over the wannabes every time.

The 48 Hour Film Project - Albuquerque, NM - Group C

I attended the screening at the Kimo Theater for: The 48 Hour Film Project - Albuquerque, New Mexico - Group C - July 31, 2015

The Required Elements for every film included:

Character: Kelly Cartier, School Administrator
Prop: a tape measure
Line: "You only live once."

Waiting for the show.

What a lively, exciting crowd! In Albuquerque these days, film is where it's at!

Crowds on the sidewalk.

Preliminaries.

Finally met Facebook friend Jason Lobo Sedillo (in the hat), sitting with his team (he was key grip on one film).

To me, "Suavecita" was the best film in Group C: a simple, strong story, told well.

"Fantastic Force" was one of the best films - strong acting, particularly by the fellow playing the police captain!

Warrior Boxing.

One of the entries in Group C focused on a woman training at this facility. I was so surprised and spooked the building showed up in the Film Screening, after I had randomly seen it the day before, I voted for the film entry as among the Top 3 entries, even though there was another entry that was probably slightly-better quality.

Representatives of the film teams discuss strangest moments of their filming.

A satisfying evening at the Kimo.

On their Facebook page they have a list of "Best of 2015" films (determined after I visited them). Two of the films I voted for are on the list:

Drum Roll Please.....
Without further ado, here is the lineup for Best of Albuquerque 2015 (alphabetically by team name):

"Fantastic Force", by A Walkie Talkies Quality Movie Films (Fantasy)

"Love/Sick", by ABA Productions (Romance)

"Fishman", by Blackout Theater (Fish Out of Water)

"Happy Birthday To Me", by Byrdman Group (Period Piece)

"Wilderness Preparedness", by Filmlioteca (Dark Comedy)

"Glitch", by Gentleman Bastards (Science Fiction)

"Suavecita", by ‪#‎IncredibleFilms‬ (Dark Comedy)

“Single Duplicity”, by Insignis Productions (Horror)

"Failure to Thrive", by Origami Case Productions (Drama)

“Fire’s Daughter”, by Reflections Films (Detective/Cop)

"Detention”, by Shaken-Not-Stirred Productions (Comedy)

"NM Jones & The Sons of Malarkey", by Siren 13 Media (Action/Adventure)

"White Elephant", by Team Bounce Chat (Film de Femme)

Always... Patsy Cline

On August 1, went to the Cell Theater to see "Always... Patsy Cline".

Older audience. Nice cabaret arrangement. Three band members, but just two performers.

Traci Lyn Thomas played Patsy Cline. Mary Ellen Cerroni played the comic relief character, fan Louise Seger.

Very good job by both actresses! That comic relief role is tricky, but it provides a necessary counterpoint to the singing.

Family

To Grandmother's House We Go

Here's my grandmother's house (prior to about 1970) on Gutierrez Road in Bernalillo. It's so different than the stripped-down house I remember as a kid! Bric-a-brac now!

In the 1970's she moved to a trailer on Santo Domingo Road. Was it here?

Or was it here? I can't remember! Different trailer now....

As A Kid Visiting Bernalillo, I Was Always, Always Drawn To The Railroad

East Avenida Bernalillo at the railroad. They now have a Roadrunner train stop in Bernalillo, so there's passenger traffic in and out of town that didn't exist when I was young.

I LOVE the power and majesty of trains! I've been drawn to them since I was a toddler.

This train is heading south, at Los Ranchos Rd. and the railroad, in the North Valley.

East Avenida Bernalillo at the railroad. Looking south.

This stretch of track ran past my grandmother's house, including a very small house I lived in at the age of three, and so it features very prominently in my life. The trains were everything. The signals look different now than when I was a kid - they've been replaced. Still, this place was once the center of my Universe.

I sometimes still dream about the trains here. I remember once dreaming about standing on the tracks. A friendly Santa Fe passenger train stopped, chatted, picked me up, and dropped me into a hatch on its top. "That's a very interesting dream," my father said. Continuing with a Freudian analysis, he said: "That means you want to return to the womb." "Womb? I don't know where that is," I replied. My father explained, and I decided he must be nuts.

I remember another dream, where I was hiding in a Stonehenge-like ring of Coldspot refrigerators in the center of my grandmother's kitchen, and an angry passenger train was circling round and round in the kitchen trying to gain entry. I was safe, but barely so.

East Avenida Bernalillo at the railroad. Looking north.

Lucero Avenue crossing of the railroad, looking west. This place scared me when I was a kid. There were no signals then, and my father told a story of seeing a car stall here as it came up the embankment. A train came along, hit the car, and killed the occupant. Always worried about our car stalling here. That's what cars do when crossing railroads - they stall.

Lucero Avenue crossing of the railroad, looking north.

Lucero Avenue crossing of the railroad, looking south. Be sure to look both ways. Don't stall!

This trestle just north of Sandia Pueblo has been here, like, forever.

Southbound on Highway 313 (formerly Highway 85), towards Albuquerque. The embankment is so tall here, and intimidating!

I remember traveling with my father along this stretch of road, northbound, in the opposite direction. It was early - 5:30 a.m. - before sunrise. There was a crisis of some sort, and my sister and I were being taken to Gramita's house in Bernalillo (I think my mom had gone into labor). We were keeping pace with a northbound train, and I could look up from our car and see the train engineer's face in his cab's window.

Coming into view of Sandia Pueblo.

Sandia Pueblo. Been here for many hundreds of years (although it did come close to extinction in the 18th Century for a variety of reasons). Doing well today!

Burial Of Aunt Senaida Valdez Aragon In Placitas

Prior to leaving Bernalillo for Placitas, the priest officiating at the service made a point of stressing that even though our vehicles were part of a funeral procession, we still had to stop at red traffic lights. Nevertheless, when a traffic light at the I-25 on-ramp turned red, I brazenly drove through anyway. A friend of Ernie's, Henry Jaramillo, took me aside at the cemetery and said, "You can't do that, man! They'll get you! You're from out-of-state too, and they really like catching someone like that!" Henry delivers food to school-lunch programs in Bernalillo and points north. It occurred to me later, looking at some not-so-good films at the 48-hour Film Festival at the Kimo, that it would be better to make a film about him and his delivery run.

In the shadow of the Sandia Mountains.

Funeral Service For Aunt Senaida Valdez Aragon

Our Lady of Sorrows (OLOS) in Bernalillo, NM (July 30, 2015).

Arthur The Pig

Here is Arthur, whose duties include keeping nervous customers happy and minding the large piles of fallen hair, at Doggie Den Grooming, on Montgomery Blvd. NE, in Albuquerque.

The Wheels Museum - Albuquerque

I love this place! Located in the Albuquerque Rail Yards.