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OCT 7 - OCT 13
As we enjoy SF's October dog days, it's easy to pretend that we live south of the border — just look at the light caressing the Mission (and take a deep Andean breath as you hit the hills). Whether you dream about Chile when you're enjoying a little shut-eye, prefer your techno laced with norteño, or have Brazil in your heart, every day offers a feria urbana in our polyglot city, so make a mate of a southern state. Speaking of states, don't forget to vote in today's recall election. Dare we say, "Hasta la vista?" Get out and spread it! |
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25th anniversary Diesel time frame limited edition is now
available online. Design evolution of cult DZ7005 dot matrix time frame
series. Solid silver case, mirrored display and ostrich leg skin strap.
Only 555 individually numbered pieces available worldwide, only 100
available online. |
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This week's flavor:
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| | PFA commemorates new films by SF experimental filmmaker Ernie Gehr with the first of three programs spanning three decades of the artist's career. A major filmmaker of the post-Brakhage generation, Gehr teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute and is the featured guest at all three evenings. Whether color or black-and-white, abstract or representational, the luminous images of Gehr's short visual essays present perceptual problems that tug at the very foundations of how we see and experience — not just cinema, but the world itself. Featured works tonight include Field, Mirage, Serene Velocity, and a new film, Crystal Palace. (SS)
Note: Evenings 2 and 3 of the Cinema of Ernie Gehr take place on Tue 10.14 and Tue 10.21.
  
 What Hitchcock title did Gehr borrow for the name of a 1991 film? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to the event.
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FILM
Dog Days (2001)
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| when: | Now through Thur 10.9 |
| where: | Castro Theatre (429 Castro St, 415.621.6120) |
| price: | $8 |
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Event Info |
| | Dog Days, winner of the Grand Jury prize at the 2001 Venice Film Festival, penetrates the lives of several miserable people who become increasingly ugly as the temperatures climb during a heat wave in suburban Vienna. True to director Ulrich Seidl's documentary style — this is his first dramatic attempt — everything is exposed in brutal reality. As the characters, ranging from a divorced couple still living together to an abused teenager to an aimless hitchhiker, strip down to beat the heat, we see what is really there: sagging breasts, blubbery bellies, broken hearts, and fear. Seidl's emotional detachment from the cruelties visited upon (and inflicted by) his Everyman-type characters allows his audience to draw their own conclusions about the true nature of humanity. Though a humorous vein lies below this film's surface at times, the faint of heart should still prepare to break into an uncomfortable sweat. (AK)
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| | Get outside and down to the Embarcadero for the last week of San Francisco Jazz's free outdoor concert series. Located at the picturesque Levi's Plaza, this week offers the seasonless sounds of Brazilian jazz, with vocalist Sandy Cressman leading the amazing Homenagem Brasileira band. Mixing Cressman's understanding and expression of the Portuguese language with Rio-born Marcos Silva's soaring writing and musicianship, the ensemble creates beautiful, romantic melodies and textures out of Brazil's rich, hybrid music history — from bossa nova and samba to new-form jazz and soul. (RJH)
What films have featured Cressman's music? The first two correct answers each win a copy of her CD Homenagem Brasileira CD.
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LECTURE
Chile: A Geographical Extravaganza
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| when: | Wed 10.8 (6pm) |
| where: | Commonwealth Club (595 Market St, 2nd Fl, 415.597.6700) |
| price: | $12 |
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Event Info |
| | Chile prides itself on its form: a long, skinny strip of a country that, despite its lack of girth, offers unparalleled variety, from the beaches and arid deserts of the north to the mountains, wild forests, and broken archipelago of Patagonia — not to mention Santiago, a world-class metropolis in its own right. The lone economic success in Latin America at the moment, Chile is fond of calling itself el jaguar, but it's worth remembering that only three decades ago, Augusto Pinochet (with help from the CIA) toppled Salvador Allende's socialist government, instilling a social crisis from which the country still struggles to emerge. Tonight, travel writer Wayne Bernhardson and Chilean consul Fernando Varela speak on the country's ongoing reinvention, and what this means to tourists. (PS)
Note: The lecture is preceded by a Chilean wine reception (5:30pm).
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THEATRE
Shut Eye
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| when: | Wed 10.8 - Fri 10.10 (8pm) & Sat 10.11 (2 & 8pm) |
| where: | Project Artaud Theater (450 Florida St, 415.626.4370) |
| price: | $20 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | Philadelphia's acclaimed absurdists the Pig Iron Theatre Company burn into the Bay with their smart and unpredictable juxtapositions of aggressively physical choreography and reflexive, poetic musings. This collection of vignettes was their last collaboration with the late director Joseph Chaikin, who founded the groundbreaking Open Theatre in New York in 1963 to attack the fourth wall with the hammering force that would make all good Dadaists spank fish. Pig Iron's controlled chaos induces the kind of active somnambulism that propels our imagination, both in waking life and with eyes wide shut. (JJ)
Note: These are the only five performances of their West Coast debut.
What's the strangest place you've ever caught a little shut-eye? Our 10 favorite answers each win a pair of tickets to the performance.
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| | To update your look you could always go buy another trucker cap at Hot Topic. Or, here's a better idea: visit Feria Urbana, where you'll find the work of a who's who of local fashion designers and artists. Each month, this "urban fair" unfolds into a marketplace of chic and unique urban style — everything from clothing and jewelry to home accessories and visual art is for sale, all at very reasonable prices. Some of the best local DJ talent comes to spin, and the Canvas offers up a tasty selection of drinks and food to make this a shopping party just as much as a shopping experience. Every month is different; here it comes again. (NN)
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FILM
SFMOMA Seventh Art Series: Videodrome (1983)
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| when: | Thur 10.9 (7pm) |
| where: | SFMOMA (151 3rd St, 415.357.4130) |
| price: | $15 |
| links: |
SFMOMA |
| | SFMOMA introduced the Seventh Art film series to "explore the boundaries of cinema's formal conventions while addressing the ever blurring borders between fiction and reality, dreamscape and life." Held on the second Thursday of each month, the screenings have been accompanied by discussions with filmmakers, curators, and critics. This month's offering, David Cronenberg's Videodrome, features James Woods as Max, the head of an X-rated cable television station who becomes obsessed with the satellite snuff program sharing the same title as the film. Once Max starts suffering from the loss of temporal recognition and an inability to distinguish fantasy from reality, he realizes the Videodrome transmissions are more than harmless entertainment. The film also features singer Deborah Harry as Max's girlfriend. (EC)
What three '80s blockbusters were offered to Cronenberg to direct only to be turned down? The first correct answer wins a pair of tickets to this event.
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| | Even if your ear-to-the-ground hasn't yet picked up vibrations from the boisterous roster of MCs, beatmakers, and JDs that make up the Quannum collective, with one listen it's impossible to be unaffected by their triumphant, soulful energy. To celebrate the release of Lyrics Born's debut album, Later That Day, the whole Quannum crew is getting together. Based on Lyrics Born's previous appearances, advance snippets that have been made privy to the public, and the evening's lineup of performers (including Joyo Velarde, DJ D Sharp, Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, and still more stars from the Quannum crew) it's a solid bet that this is a top-shelf sampling of the deep groove scene, and a party with style to spare. (NC)
Under what name did Lyrics Born record for the very first Solesides 12-inch? The first two correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the event.
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| | It's hard to resist the indie pop charm of married duo Mates of State. The couple — Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel — easily overcome their lack of guitar and bass by emphasizing exuberant vocal interplay and harmonies, irresistibly buoyant melodies, chunky organ playing, and abrupt time changes. Formed in 1997 while both were attending the University of Kansas, the former San Francisco residents moved to Connecticut late last year to begin work on their just-released third full-length, Team Boo. Recorded near Austin, Texas, at Willie Nelson's Pedernales studio, it is the duo's most varied work to date. (TP)
What is the misleading title of Mates of State's first album? The third correct answer wins a pair of tickets to the show.
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| | You can't avoid the sense of genuine nostalgia when listening to My Morning Jacket's front man Jim James. With a haunting voice married to truthful and poetic lyrics, the band evokes images of lonely open roads and clear starry skies. Influences including Mercury Rev, the Flaming Lips, Ryan Adams, and the legendary Neil Young are all rolled up into one big tumbleweed of restorative music. Tonight the Louisville-born five-piece fatten up Slim's with songs from their brand new album, It Still Moves. Strong keyboards and sweet instrumental jams contribute to a powerful live show. (KK)
What would a morning jacket look like? Our favorite answer wins a pair of tickets to the show.
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| | No stranger to odd dualities, Ramón Amezcua spent the late '80s working as a mild-mannered orthodontist by day and spinning techno records under his nickname DJ Bostich by night. As a stalwart innovator in the Tijuana-based Nortec Collective, Bostich has achieved a modicum of fame north of the border by bringing a homebrew mixture of house and traditional Mexican music to the dancefloor. Sure, mixing up sampled norteño guitar, percussion, and accordion with electronic music might initially sound like a headache waiting to happen, but Bostich's ability to craft these juxtapositions is tried and tested. (NC)
Who wrote the song from which Bostich took his name? The first four correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the show.
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FILM
Office Space (1999)
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| when: | Fri 10.10 & Sat 10.11 (midnight) |
| where: | Clay Theatre (2261 Fillmore St, 415.267.4893) |
| price: | $5 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | If you've ever caught yourself counting pieces of "flair," coveting a co-worker's stapler, or contemplating beating the toner out of a fax machine, chances are you're a devotee of Office Space, Mike Judge's 1999 white-collar comedy of errors. In the words of Homer Simpson, "it's funny because it's true" — from the annoying tics of Lumbergh, the coffee-swilling boss, to the suburban landscape populated by casual dining restaurants and Saturn-driving, gangsta-rap-listening tech lackies. Sometimes work sucks, and Office Space explores every last nook and cranny of the the suckitude. So if you could just check it out at tonight's midnight showing, that would be great. (SK)
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ART
SF Open Studios
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| when: | Sat 10.11 & Sun 10.12 (11am-6pm) |
| where: | San Francisco Open Studios (934 Brannan St, 415.861.9838) |
| price: |  FREE |
| links: |
SF Open Studios |
| | Fall is in the air, and you can celebrate it with the annual return of SF Open Studios, now in its 28th year. Beginning today and running each weekend throughout the month, the nonprofit collective Artspan coordinates the event, collecting locations of galleries, studios, and even garages from artists wanting to showcase their work for the public. Each weekend focuses on a different collection of neighborhoods, and Artspan's map outlines the variety of viewing locations open for the afternoon. A unique and casual way to interact with the local art community, SF Open Studios attracts both emerging and well-known artists alike. (RJH)
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FILM
Metreon 3rd Annual Festival of Anime
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| when: | Sat 10.11 (10am-11pm) |
| where: | Metreon (101 4th St, 415.369.6000) |
| price: | $15 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | Believe it or not, Sony Metreon has been showcasing some of the most interesting local film festivals in the Bay Area, and this Saturday's Third Annual Festival of Anime is no exception. This year's festival features screenings from Bandai Entertainment (Cowboy Bebop and s-CRY-ed), a Gundam model-building contest, and Jagun Fighters game demos. Other highlights include a Chronicle Books-sponsored presentation by Academy Award-winning artist Doug Chiang (Robota) and the debut of Witch Hunter Robin, which fans experience in "4-D Rumble Seats!" Anime never looked — and, apparently, felt — so good. (NN)
What are "mecha" in anime? The first three correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the festival.
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| | When it's done right, a particularly intimate magic results from the songwriter-in-bedroom vs four-track struggle. Kelley Stoltz does it right. His penchant for capturing fresh ideas on tape has led to some of the most interesting local solo releases of the last few years. He pressed only 200 vinyl copies of the latest, Antique Glow, and hand-painted each cover. And when the needle hits the wax, the record itself proves to be even more artful. Informed by the lo-fi tape mastery of Nick Drake, Robert Pollard, and Elliott Smith, the collection vacillates between beautifully delicate and brilliantly rambunctious. (NC)
Based on the photo essay on Stoltz' website, if he were a Saturday Night Live character, who would he be? The first two correct answers win a pair of tickets to the show.
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| | After a year of opening for Interpol and touring on their own through Europe and the US, Calla return with like-minded NYC shoegazers Longwave to give San Francisco a double dose of feedback-laden, atmospheric melodies. Calla's latest album, Televise, like their live set, combines softly whispered tales of lost love and darkly pretty, seven-minute instrumental rambles heavy on the distortion. Longwave — who spent much of 2002 on the road with the Strokes but have earned frequent comparisons to early U2, the Doves, and Echo and the Bunnymen — headline. (EC)
In the case of the calla lily, what is the linguistic origin of the word "calla"? The first five correct answers each win a copy of Longwave's Strangest Things CD; the first two also receive a pair of tickets to the show.
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| | There could hardly be a better soundtrack to autumn's melancholic beginnings than Turin Brakes, the young English duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian. They rack up comparisons with similarly pensive, folk-pop Brits like Coldplay and Travis, but Turin Brakes' songcraft exists on a slightly more literate plane, more akin to left-of-the-dial cult faves like Gomez or Jeff Buckley. Chiming guitars, country twang, and a particularly British quirkiness combine to create a sentimental swell that's part security blanket, part guilty pleasure. (NC)
What is the title of Turin Brakes' first EP? The first two correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the show.
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DJ
Realistic 1983
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| when: | Sun 10.12 (10pm) |
| where: | Milk (1840 Haight St, 415.387.6455) |
| price: | $10 |
| links: |
Milk |
| | Where were you in 1983? Maybe this will jog your memory: Return of the Jedi, Flashdance, and Trading Places owned the box office, while The A-Team and Fraggle Rock were blowing up the boob tube. Apple released its Lisa computer, and the US invaded Grenada. New Order created dance music history with their best-selling single "Blue Monday," Run DMC released their debut single, "It's Like That" (with "Sucker MCs" on the b-side) and groups like ESG and A Certain Ratio were mixing up punk and funk on opposite sides of the pond, as electro and bass were bubbling up from Miami and Detroit. Tonight, Stones Throw's Peanut Butter Wolf and Sweet Steve pay respect to 20 years of DJ culture with a night of vintage beats, all uncorked at precisely the right time. (PS)
Tell us a memory from 1983. Our 10 favorite answers each win a pair of tickets to the party.
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| | The remains of Noah's Ark are sometimes said to be buried in the far Southeastern corner of Turkey. It's a fitting tale for the region, itself suggestive of exile, hardship, and deliverance. The Kurds of Southeastern Turkey and Northern Iraq, persecuted for decades by those nations' respective regimes, are still looking for deliverance from their travails. Director Kevin McKiernan began this film in 1991, at the end of the first Gulf War, and for the next eight years documented the Turkish government's military offensive, the efforts of Kurdish guerillas in Iraq, and the hardships of an immigrant family in Santa Barbara, CA. The film, an official entry of Slamdance 2000, is even more timely today. (PS)
Note: Good Kurds, Bad Kurds also plays on Sun 10.12 (2, 4, 7:15 & 9:15pm).
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| | For the vast community of listeners outside the avant-jazz set, Brad Mehldau's fame probably in large part stems from his affinity for blasting through Radiohead and Beatles covers at the piano. But take caution: his interpretation of pop tunes is more like a gateway drug to the musical unknown. One minute you're hooked by his ferocious take on "Paranoid Android," the next you're caught in a whirlwind of brilliantly deconstructed modern jazz. Equally informed by Beethoven, Charles Mingus, and Cheap Trick, Mehldau just may be one of the most relevant (and amazingly accessible) voices in contemporary jazz. (NC)
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THEATRE
From Tel Aviv to Ramallah
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| when: | Now through Sun 10.19 (Thur-Sun: 8pm) |
| where: | Gallery Spanganga (3376 19th St, 415.821.1102) |
| price: | $10 advance / $15 |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | A high-energy powerhouse, vocal percussionist Yuri Lane portrays a group of characters on both sides of the military fence between Israel and Palestine, rapping a a nonstop, poignant, and often funny verbal quilt of conversation, song, and sound effects beneath gritty black-and-white photo projections. Yuri's one-man show, based on his visits to friends in both countries in 1999, captures the dreams and desires of Amir and Khalid, and the political and military realities that shape their destinies. This is a fast, furious, and sometimes jaw-dropping testament to peace, exposing very personal conflicts of two countries that most of us still know little about. (JJ)
In what country was Yuri Lane born? The first three correct answers each win a pair of tickets to the Thur 10.9 show.
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FESTIVAL: Funk
San Francisco Funk Fest
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| when: | Wed 10.8 - Sat 10.25 |
| where: | Various locations (415.771.7577) |
| price: | Various |
| links: |
Event Info |
| | What with SF's fog-born funks, we could all use a bit of funk in our lives. You know, the good kind of funk, that hybrid of R&B, rock, and jazz that fathered both disco and hip hop. Lucky for us, the third annual San Francisco Funk Festival is starting this week and should fill the city with some of the best forms of funk during the next three weeks. In fact, this one-of-a-kind gathering is the only true festival devoted entirely to funk. This year's notable performers include Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, Grandmaster Flash, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Mandrill, and DJ Greyboy, plus a slew of local selectors giving it up for the low end. (JC)
To which Dino de Laurentiis film did Hancock and the Headhunters provide the soundtrack? The first two correct answers each win a pair of tickets to an SF Funk Fest event.
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| CD REVIEW: UNKLE, Never, Never, Land |
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Mo' Wax/Island
Released September 2003
$25.99 (Other Music)
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The latest incarnation of the ever-evolving UNKLE project consists of Richard File, James Lavelle, and, in the tradition of 1998's Psyence Fiction, a host of big-name collaborators. Never, Never, Land features Jarvis Cocker, Josh Homme, Brian Eno, Ian Brown, and Massive Attack's 3D in a clear departure from former UNKLE member DJ Shadow's dark and emotive compositions. Lavelle and Files' monthly residency at London's Fabric has proven to be a major influence for this new sound. Gone are the artfully constructed downtempo jazz breaks in favor of |
big-room synth basslines, piercing snares, and a 30,000 watt soundsystem in mind with tracks such as "Panic Attack" and "Safe in Mind." However, one of the album's best moments, "In a State," with its blend of synths, guitars, and Richard File's vocals, is decidedly dark and danceable, yet comparatively restrained. Some tracks may seem too overt at first, but this record's subtleties expand with each listen, while still satisfying fans of the UNKLE soundsystem's menacing dancefloor presence. (CJN)
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| SCRIBBLES & BITS: Arthur Magazine |
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Once upon a time, music magazines were considered wildly influential, even revolutionary, in how they brought underground culture and left-of-center journalism to the eager masses. Then PR and payola became the name of the game, leaving us with the sad spectacle of next-big-thing-pushing rags cluttering newsstands everywhere. LA's Arthur reminds us that things could be different — their covers feature Sun Ra and Iggy and the Stooges, but they're neither an obscurantist's tome nor a retro throwback, and their non-music features, like an interview with Weather Underground filmmaker Sam Green, or an excerpt from Erin Cosgrove's novel The Baader-Meinhof Affair, manage to "take it to the bridge" between pop culture and politics. Best of all, Arthur is free, available in indie book and record stores — or via PDF, right online. (PS)
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| STREAMS: dublab |
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dublab hatches harebrained schemes on a daily basis. Did you ever wonder who put all those wild craters in the moon? It was the Labrats. How about velcro shoes? Yes that was also the rascally troublemakers at dublab. They did not invent the telephone or steam locomotive, but who really cares about such boring things. The Labrats masterminded Twister, unicycles, Space Invaders, Fun Dip, giant red dogs, 3-D movies, laser rays, butterscotch, roller coasters, and jack-o-lanterns. dublab is the home of progress. Listen and bring your ears into the future. (Frosty)
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| CREDITS |
| Header Design: |
| Maradona | Jay Brockman | | |
| Staff: |
| Baile funk | Philip Sherburne | | Pisco sour | Sascha Lewis | | Coca tea | Mark Mangan | | Lowrider | Peter D Stepek | | |
ABOUT US
flavorpill SF is a free weekly mailer covering music, arts, and cultural events in San Francisco. All listings are researched and written based on what we think has flavor. As always, feel free to send in any and all feedback — comments, questions, ideas, or rants. Spread the flavor...
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Please send all interesting event information (press releases, links, etc.) to events. |
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| Contributors: |
| Mummies of Guanajuato | Husani Oakley | | Balaclava | Sander-Martijn Milks | | Che's beret | Christopher Hampton | | Cuban cigar | Jocelyn K Glei | | Churro | Paul Laster | | Salsa verde | Lisa Rosman | | Mojito | Jennifer Bachman | | Mofongo | Nate Cavalieri | | Emiliano Zapata | Sam Smith | | Cubiche | Marke Bieschke | | Don Francisco | Cyrus Wadia | | Mark & Patife | Tim Pratt | | Bumblebee Man | Lisa Butterworth | | The Hand of God | Sam N Shah | | Nortec | Colin J Nagy | | Fanta Limon | Lauren Epstein |
| Leche de Pantera | Monica Naman | | Cerveza | Jimmy Carson | | Sangria | Lisa Won | | Carnitas | Erika Christiansen | | Futbol | Rebecca J Hill | | Dugout canoe | Kristin Keifer | | Ayahuasca | Sebastian Koch | | Menudo | Nish Nadaraja | | Cachaca | J Jarrell | | Ceviche | Ali Kops |
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WRITERS & DESIGNERS WANTED
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