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Andy Morales Photos.

Callie McGarrigle in an image from last fall. The freshman standout learned how to catch to prepare for her high school career and it has made her the top non-pitching freshman in Southern Arizona. Andy Morales Photo.

Baseball Playoffs

DIVISION I

Second Round: Tuesday, May 1
16 Cienega at 1 Pinnacle, 4 pm

The game between Cienega (22-10) and Pinnacle (21-12) is not a typical 16 vs. 1 game. Such a matching would have been a first round game in prior years but the Bobcats have already moved past any kind of post season jitters due to the new 24-team brackets.

From a coach’s point of view, Cienega’s 6-5 victory over Valley Vista on Saturday gives them a leg up on Pinnacle. Games are much more important than practices at this stage and it’s win or go home.

The Bobcats may see ASU bound Eric Melbostad on the mound.

DIVISION II

Second Round: Tuesday, May 1
3 Sabino hosts 19 Coconino, 4 pm

Sabino (24-5) played all of their power point games against Division I and II opponents and came out of that with a 16-2 record. Coconino (18-10), on the other hand, played against nine Division III teams due to their geographic location (Flagstaff).

The travel distance alone might stall Coconino because getting to Sabino High School is no picnic, even after you get to Tucson.

4 Douglas hosts 13 Gila Ridge, 4 pm

Hard to judge Gila Ridge because they played against three California schools, Cibola four times, Kofa three times, Yuma three times and San Luis three times. Douglas had to play against ten D-III opponents.

Toss up.

9 Canyon del Oro at 8 Sunnyslope, 4 pm

CDO (22-7) missed out on a first-round bye due to their loss to Salpointe at the end of the regular season. Win that game and Sunnyslope (24-9) is traveling to CDO instead.

Sunnyslope will probably go with sophomore Calvin LeBrun on the mound. Having played the extra game will help CDO.

10 Salpointe at 7 Verrado, 4 pm

Verrado has only lost two game all year but they are only ranked seventh in power points. That says a lot about their opponents. Salpointe (22-7) has about 10 or so college players on their roster.

This should be a Lancer victory.

21 Sahuaro at 5 Liberty, 4 pm

Sahuaro (20-8) is riding high after they defeated Ironwood Ridge on Saturday while Liberty was idle.

Liberty had a very, very weak schedule thus, the problem with power points as an accurate measure, is once again called into question.

DIVISION III

First Round: Tuesday, May 1
Surprise Stadium
10 Empire vs. 23 Ganado, 7 pm

Ganado is located north of I-40 near the New Mexico border. That will lesson the sting of Empire having to travel for this game even though they are the higher seed.

Look for an Empire win, Willcox loss, and wins by Thatcher and Tombstone.

11 Willcox vs. 2 Combs, 7 pm
12 Thatcher vs. 21 Safford, EAC, 4pm
13 Tombstone vs. 20 Page, 3:30 pm

DIVISION IV

First Round: Tuesday, May 1
Tempe Diablo
2 St. David, BYE
6 Desert Christian, BYE
7 Pusch Ridge, BYE
15 Tanque Verde vs. 18 Miami, 4 pm

Tanque Verde on a roll after a very difficult start. Miami has a losing record (8-10) when it comes to power points.

Valley Union and San Manuel are evenly matched with their opponents.

19 Valley Union vs. 14 Williams, 3:30 pm
22 San Manuel vs. 11 Ashfork, 7 pm

Softball Playoffs

DIVISION I

Second Round: Tuesday, May 1
10 Buena at 7 Cibola, 4 pm

Cibola played the same teams multiple times due to travel restrictions placed on Yuma schools but they did beat Sunnyside and Buena lost to the Blue Devils.

This game can go either way.

12 Cienega at 5 Mountain Ridge, 4 pm

Cienega goes in with a freshman pitcher (Kayla Green) and junior Sarah Andrews while Mountain Ridge has senior Amanda Cole (Paradise Valley CC) and a freshman standout of their own in Kaylin Ayotte.

Cienega always seems to find a way.

22 Tucson at 6 Horizon, 4 pm

Tamara Statman is another freshman sensation. Statman’s name is very appropriate with her high batting average and commanding pitching numbers. Throw in junior Margaret Stahm and this could be along night for Tucson.

Is Tucson just happy to be in the tournament? Junior Araselly Vargas came up big for the Badgers on Saturday. Who will step up next?

DIVISION II

Second Round: Tuesday, May 1
2 Canyon del Oro hosts 15 Queen Creek, 4 pm

Sammi Noland (Nebraska) is back from her head injury. That was the last thing Queen Creek wanted to hear. All-American Kayla Bonstrom (Stanford), Alexis Aguirre (Yavapai) and Sammy Nettling (Northwestern) are also college-bound.

Queen Creek does have a trio of stars of their own to battle the Dorados with pitcher Amanda Baldwin (Missouri-St. Louis), shortstop Raianna Dobbs (ASU) and Kelsey Montgomery (Indiana State).

Baldwin has 11 home runs and has collected 209 strike outs from the circle. CDO should not take this lightly.

3 Ironwood Ridge hosts 14 Sahuaro, 4 pm

Who would have guessed at the beginning of the season that one of these two powerhouses would be sent home so early? Not me.

This is a championship game taking place in the second round. Sahuaro did not take care of business early on so they now find themselves playing one of the best teams in the state. This is the game of the day.

7 Sabino hosts 10 Notre Dame, 4 pm

Tess McPherson (Texas Tech) has thrown an incredible 246 strike outs in 171 innings of work and she also leads her team with 30 RBIs and 5 home runs.

Sabino can combat that with two stars with high batting averages. Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins (.528) and freshman standout Callie McGarrigle (.511) have paced the Sabercats to a winning season.

Senior pitcher Alyssa Fletcher, junior Miranda Riesgo, senior Krystina Koepnick, senior Shelby Mendoza, sophomore Ashlen Vega and junior Shannon Shields have shown this is not a one ore two person team and that just might be the difference.

If CDO and Sabino win they will have to travel to Phoenix to play each other in the next round. Not much “cost saving” there.

DIVISION III

First Round: Wednesday, May 2
Rose Mofford
4 Benson, BYE
7 Empire, BYE
10 Safford vs. 23 Show Low, 7:30 pm
13 Willcox vs. 20 Horizon Honors, 6 pm

DIVISION IV

First Round: Wednesday, May 2
Rose Mofford
1 Pusch Ridge, BYE
2 San Manuel, BYE
7 St. David, BYE
8 Desert Christian, BYE
9 St. Augustine vs. 24 Salt River, 4 pm
11 Valley Union vs. 22 Joseph City, 4 pm
16 Tanque Verde vs. 17 Tempe Prep, 4 pm

One Hit Wonders
FINDING JOE

Part of our One Hit Wonders series, showcasing great new documentaries at special one-night-only screenings! 

Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30 p.m.
Regular admission prices

Featuring a post-film Q&A with Robert Walter, co-creator and executive director of the Joseph Campbell Foundation!

The new film exploring the world of famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell, featuring appearances by writer Deepak Chopra, philosopher Brian Johnson, skater Tony Hawk, musician Mick Fleetwood, director Catherine Hardwick and more!

“Uninhibited … Artful … An encouraging message movie about embracing positivity and courage.” – Tasha Robinson, THE ONION AV CLUB

About our guest speaker, Robert Walter:
In 1979 Robert Walter became editorial director of Joseph Campbell’s Historical Atlas of World Mythology. When Campbell died (1987), Bob, his literary executor, completed portions of his Atlas and oversaw the posthumous publication of Volume I (two books) and Volume II (three books).

In 1991, Jean Erdman Campbell and Bob created the Joseph Campbell Foundation (JCF), and he was named its executive director. He continues as executive editor of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell to guide the publication of Campbell’s oeuvre in print, audio, and video. He was appointed JCF president in 1998. He has presented papers, seminars, and/or workshops on four continents.

They are known for their very delicious and completely vegan tortillas, made from whole wheat and oil and after many years the perfect recipe has been created were one need not sacrifice taste for health.

Whole wheat tortillas made with chiltepin

Other versions include the wheat tortilla that is made with chile de arbol and chiltepin to awaken the taste buds, and a wheat tortilla made with olive oil.

Soon to be released are:

• Gluten-free tortillas
• Mesquite tortillas (made with mesquite bean flour)
• Tomato and basil tortillas

Why this matters to your health

There is the myth amongst Mexican people that healthy foods do not taste as good as authentic Mexican foods, such as the “original” tortilla made with lard.

Anyone who knows a little bit of history, especially Mexican American history, will know that there is nothing “authentic” about the main ingredients of the tortilla; white flour and lard.

It is obvious to most people why lard may be unhealthy for you considering that it is pig fat, and the domesticated pig is not an authentic New World animal but was instead brought over by the Spanish.

Less obvious is the white flour.

Wheat grain

Flour is made from wheat which is also an Old World grain that was also brought by the Spanish and has great potential for health benefits and feeding the people.

Just as corn was made unhealthy by being processed into high fructrose corn syrup, the healthy wheat was processed into white flour, and one thing that most people can agree upon is that whole wheat is much healthier than white flour.

Not only does whole wheat flour have more nutrients than white flour, it may be that the naturally brown wheat does not naturally turn the bright white color found in white bread, but instead gets that color by being bleached that makes some people sick.

Yes, that bleach as in what you whiten your clothes with, and how healthy is it to have Clorox as part of your daily diet?

This is what led to the creation of whole-wheat vegan tortillas right here in the Old Pueblo that is spreading from farmers markets to Sunflower Markets. The master chef wanted to create a healthy tortilla that her son could enjoy but without the white flour that was causing him medical problems.

The result is a healthier tortilla that all Tucsonans can benefit from.

La Tauna Tortillas

We are a small family-owned and operated tortilla factory, based out of Tucson, AZ. We are committed to providing the best vegan tortillas in the market with none of the preservatives or additives found in most tortillas. Our tortillas are so delicious it is hard to believe you are eating 100% whole wheat tortillas.

Our recipe was born out of necessity, our younger son had been sick for some years and doctors could not figure out what was wrong with him. What finally helped him out was a change in diet that included whole wheat breads only.

Because of our Mexican background we disliked the flavor store-bought tortillas had, we were used to a homemade taste. We were faced with the need to make our own 100% whole wheat tortillas. After playing around with a family recipe for white flour tortillas with shortening we came up with our delicious 100% stone ground whole wheat tortilla recipe with oil instead of shortening and absolutely NO PRESERVATIVES OR ADDITIVES.

Our tortillas are not only unique, healthy and good for you but they actually taste GREAT, which is something hard to find most of the times with whole wheat tortillas.

We are constantly trying to educate our customers in the benefits of eating whole wheat versus regular white flour. Ninety percent of our customers that visit us to buy the white flour tortillas end up loving the wheat tortillas and take them instead or start buying them later down the road. Our customers agree our tortillas are unlike any whole wheat tortillas they have tasted, so stop by and test them for yourself.

We support the Tucson Community Food Bank, local farmers markets and local health food stores, please come and visit us there.

What’s a story slam? It’s a contest where people tell real stories from their lives on a theme.  No costumes, no notes, no props, just the story.  June’s theme is “In Heat: Surviving the Summer,” and it is meant to be interpreted from a broad range of perspectives.

The first ten people to sign up will have a chance to try to tell the most compelling five-minute story.  Selected audience members will act as judges and determine which storyteller wins and gets a prize.

This uncensored all-ages show will appeal to students and elders and everyone in-between.  Everyone loves to hear a story and this is your chance to hear something juicy or to tell us something juicy.  The event is free with a $5 suggested donation at the door.  Refreshments will be available.

Ocotillo Poetry Slam is a project of Ocotillo Literary Endeavors, Inc. and Odyssey Storytelling is a project of StoryArts Group, Inc.; both parent groups are 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organizations.

For more information, contact Maya Asher, masherster@gmail.com, 480-390-1063 or Penelope Starr, Penelope@odysseystorytelling.com, 520-730-4112

WomanKraft, located at 388 S. Stone Avenue in Tucson, will hold a rummage sale June 10, 11, and 12. Hours are 8am to 4pm Friday and Saturday, and 10am to 3pm Sunday. Come by to see an eclectic collection including clothes, kitchenware, puzzles, books, movies, artwork, and even a unicycle.

The art gallery features local artists. The School of the Arts offers many classes covering a wide range of artistic media, see their latest newsletter for class schedules.

Look for the “Castle” and its colorful gate.

Despite blustery winds, exuberant carnaval revelers paraded through downtown Tucson on Saturday. 2011 marks the fourth annual carnaval event in Tucson, and it grows bigger and better each year.

There were significantly more samba bands and dancers in this year’s parade compared to other years. In addition to the parade, there were two stages of live music, plus food vendors, games and demonstrations.

If you missed Tucson’s carnaval celebration, check out this video of the parade and mark your calendar for next year!

Tucson drumming troupe Batucaxe leads the 2009 Carvaval Parade. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

You don’t have to travel to New Orleans or Rio to enjoy great dance music and colorful Carvaval costumes. The 4th Annual Tucson Carnaval will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at Armory Park. OK– this is event is on the scale of celebrations in those other cities, but it’s loads of fun.

The free, family-friendly event will have two stages of music and interactive street dancing from 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. The parade with samba drums and dancers will begin at 2 p.m., and Flam Chen will provide the grand finale performance. In addition, there will be demonstrations, workshops, and food.

Capoeira demonstration. (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

For a schedule of music and dance performances, check this link.

For a map of the parade route, check this link.

If you want to participate in the parade, check this link.

Marianne Bernsen compliments Nancy V. regarding her floorcloth

Tucson floorcloth art workshop: Everyone can be Matisse

Upcoming  2012-2013 schedule of classes – new price $130

2012
Sept. 15, 29
Oct. 13, 27
Nov. 10, 17
Dec. 1, 15

2013
Jan. 12, 26
Feb. 9, 23
Mar. 9, 23
Apr. 13, 27

I love art but am not an artist. I have immeasurable respect for people who follow their artistic passions, create beautiful things, and can draw an income in the process.

Marianne Bernsen from BernsenArts invited me to attend one of her floor cloth making classes at her new studio in the Sam Hughes neighborhood.

What is a floor cloth?
According to this website floor cloths are a part of our American heritage. Floor cloths are also known as painted canvas, oil cloths, and floor canvases. At least three U.S. presidents have had floor cloths in their inventory. Floor cloths were first produced en masse in England as a way to insulate floors against cold, windy winters. They were also used in the summer to protect the floor underneath from wear and tear when heavy rugs were put away.

I describe floor cloths as art that you can step on. I own two – one in the kitchen by the sink and one in the living room by the unused fireplace.

Marianne bills the class as “Everyone can be Matisse.” Personally, I lean more towards Andy Warhol.

Bernsen Arts’ studio is very cool. If you went on the recent Tucson architectural tour, you may have seen it in a Sam Hughes neighborhood backyard. Lots of natural light abounds and if your creative gene is dead, you can look around at the various wall hangings, jewelry, floor cloths, and faux frocks for inspiration.

Faux frocks provide inspiration.

The intimate class begins with an overall explanation of how the day will proceed. At first I thought six hours was excessive but I can definitely see, necessary.

Everyone begins with a blank 2-foot-x-2-foot canvas of which we paint over with a neutral color to close the pores and even out the canvas.

blank canvas with border

While that dries, Marianne showed us her amazing floor cloths of every imaginable design and what inspired her to do what she did. Inspiration comes from fashion, magazines, listening to audio books, and music. Then we perused design books for ideas.

I have a slight disability in my right hand and didn’t know if I could draw fine lines so as I poured through the books, my mind held to bigger designs like over-sized and hyper-arty spoons and forks, paw prints, and hearts.

On the other hand, Nancy V., a budding Matisse, opted to try an intricate Mexican tile pattern. We could not have been more different in our styles.

Before putting latex color to canvas and choosing the background color, I made pencil drawings on paper.

All this focus on new mediums made me tired and hungry. Marianne provides some nosh (snacks), beverages, and a light lunch of sandwich fixings. You can also bring snacks to share.

We paint. We talk. We laugh. We eat. We let our canvas dry. We walk outside and feel the warm sunlight. We marvel at the art and jewelry. The camaraderie builds. I don’t feel so self conscious about my primitive design or my shaky hand.

I have pretty much stayed on track with spoons and forks and hearts and paw prints, although added different faces to the spoons and red finger nails to the forks.

Paws in the Kitchen

When our design is done, polyurethane is applied to the max for durability and when that dries, the canvas is hemmed and mitered for a finished product.

This smaller size floor cloth can be used on the floor or hung on the wall.

The next floorcloth classes are Feb. 19 and Mar. 12.

The floor cloth class costs $125 which includes bringing home a finished piece of art, a light lunch, and losing oneself in the serenity of mindful craft – priceless.

Crystals at the Gem Show (Photo Credit: Pamela Powers)

If you haven’t gone to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show yet this year, you still have a week for most of the 40 shows around town.

For bargains on a mix of finished jewelry, beads, fabrics, statues, crystals, and rocks, check out the small hotels that line the Interstate 10 frontage road.

West of the freeway between Congress and 22nd Street, there are several hotels– La Quinta, Howard Johnson’s and others– that host a variety of dealers from around the world. There are vendors in the hotel rooms, in the courtyards, in the parking lots, and along the frontage road. Check out the video below for a taste of what is available at these venues.