Four activities that sure ain't for the Supreme Court.
WEDNESDAY
Gleesome Threesome
The customary length of a Lannan presentation is about an hour and a half, including an introductory speaker. This week, however, there's a wrench-or three-in the comfortable works: Simon Ortiz, Joy Harjo and Leslie Marmon Silko dispense with formalities and share the stage for the full duration. With 15 books and decades of writing and storytelling between them, Ortiz, Harjo and Silko tell labyrinthine stories about memory and blood, breath and creation and, of course, storytelling. A benefit for the Santa Fe Indian School, and a collective expression of the power inherent in stories, it's no wonder this event sold out, but don't count yourself out before the bell rings; unclaimed tickets are routinely released before the doors are sealed and the stories told. (
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THURSDAY
Iron Jawed Cause
Suffragette
-what a tattered, archaic word to describe some of the most vivid, creative and energetic women history has ever encountered. It's even worse that the story of one of the more aggressive (and successful, after 72 years) lobbying campaigns ever waged is usually told in such a way as to put its hearers to sleep. Fortunately, Katja von Garnier's
Iron Jawed Angels
, made last year for HBO, changed all that. Starring Hilary Swank as Alice Paul, the fiery, bloody-minded young activist who masterminded some of the National Women's Party's more controversial publicity stunts (including the first-ever picket of the White House, setting President Wilson's WWI speeches on fire and a dramatic five-week hunger strike accompanied by violent thrice-daily force-feeding), with a supporting cast including Frances O'Connor, Anjelica Huston and Julia Ormond and an astonishingly hip soundtrack (Vertical Horizon, St. Germain, Mandalay…), the galvanizing
Iron Jawed Angels
takes a few liberties with the story (giving Paul a boyfriend, for example) but should be required viewing for all unregistered women voters-and it wouldn't hurt the rest of us to see it, either. (
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SATURDAY
Mother of a Benefit
If not for the recent efforts of
Bang!
, a rapid-fire onslaught of art exhibitions and events masterminded by artist and curator David Solomon and his crew of like-minded cronies, the swirling stew of a culture scene in Santa Fe would be noticeably more stagnant. And, if our experience is anything to go by, without David Solomon's mama, none of this would have happened at all. Sure, there's a biological aspect but, as those of us with mamas of our own can attest, there's also a wellspring of support, love and inspiration that's hard to come by from any other source. David Solomon's mother, at the age of 57, has liver cancer. It's his turn to do what he can for her and part of that is a benefit art auction featuring work from the likes of Leslie Dill, Joel Nakamura, David Lynch, Greg Harris (pictured), Sam Scott and quite a few more. It's our turn to pay David back for his investment and participation in our community and to pay homage, through a minor jab to the pocketbook, to all of our mothers. (
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SATURDAY
Femme-O Was Her Name-O
One goal of the Femme-O-lition Derby is to shirk the cloak of invisibility that "femmes" have both in and outside of the queer community, and certainly one should pause at the door to this "cabaret night featuring queer femmes" and utter a curse upon anyone condoning marginalization of any group-but then toss that lonesome and unwieldy burden of identity and gender politics to the side and enjoy the show. After all, it ain't every night (though it is more nights in Santa Fe than most places) when you can blend your aerial acrobatics with burlesque, your spoken word with fire-dancing and have it all done with aplomb by strong, smart, sassy, sexy and soulful performers with names like Hot Rod, Kiki Luv, Ammo, Stormy and that sparkly contortionist muse, September Smith. As you leave, knowing that a little bit of queer femininity has just given you a damn good time no matter how or who or what you identify with, swear to yourself to always remember that it's okay to pick up a book because of its cover but it's never okay to refuse to read one because of it. (
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Santa Fe Reporter