View "Becoming Eduardo" Trailer

See familiar Las Cruces (and Hollywood ) faces in a trailer for "Becoming Eduardo" now in post-production and slated for a fall world premiere at CMI Theatre at NMSU, just in time for entry in Sundance and other film festivals.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbOHjZaHOTA

becomingeduardomovie.com


Read more about it in this recent update of 2008 film projects in our region (southern New Mexico.)

• “The Burning Plain”
Plot: “The Burning Plain” explores the mysterious connection between several characters separated by time and space: Mariana, a 16-year-old girl trying to put together the shattered lives of her parents in a Mexican border town (Las Cruces), Sylvia, a woman in Portland who must undertake an emotional odyssey to make up for a sin from her past, Gina and Nick, a couple who must deal with an intense and clandestine love, and Maria, a young girl who helps her parents find redemption, forgiveness and love.
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Stars: Academy Award winners Charlize Theron & Kim Basinger
Producers: Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, 2929 Productions
Release date: Venice Film Festival, August
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
Principal locations: White Sands and southern New Mexico
Plot: The battle for Earth has ended but the battle for the universe has just begun. After returning to Cybertron, Starscream assumes command of the Decepticons, and has decided to return to Earth with force. The Autobots, believing that peace was possible, find out that Megatron’s dead body has been stolen from the U.S. Military by Skorpinox and revive him using his own spark. Now Megatron is back seeking revenge and with Starscream and more Decepticon reinforcements on the way, the Autobots with reinforcements of their own, may have more to deal with then meets the eye.
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Ehren Kruger, Alex Kutzman
Producer: Michael Bay
Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Jon Voight, Rainn Wilson, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, and Matthew Marsden
Company: Dream Works, Paramount Pictures
Planned release date: June 2009
Note: The first “Transformers” film, which featured extensive location shooting at White Sands National Monument and Holloman Air Force Base, grossed more than $700 million worldwide.
• “Afterwards”
Principal locations: Includes Southern New Mexico
Plot: Nathan Del Amico is a brilliant New York lawyer who leads a life of professional success. His private life is pretty dismal since he divorced Mallory, his only love..until he meets Garrett Goodrich, a mysterious doctor who introduces himself as a “messenger.” He claims that he can sense when certain people are about to die, and that he is sent to help them put their life in order before it's too late. Though he doesn't believe the doctor, events in Nathan's life slowly make him think he's not long for this world.
Director: Giles Bourdos
Writers: Michel Spinosa, Giles Bourdos
Stars: John Malkovich, Romain Duris, Joan Gregson, Evangeline Lilly
Planned release date: December, 2008
• Year One
Principal locations: New Mexico, including White Sands
Plot: Zed (Jack Black) and O (Michael Cera) search for the meaning of life in a comedy set in Biblical times.
Director & Writer: Harold Ramis, Olivia Wilde
Producers: Harold Ramis, Judd Apatow
Stars: Jack Black, Michael Cera
Company: Apatow Productions
Planned release date: June 19, 2009
• “AH-HOS-TEEND (Retired)”
Principal locations: Las Cruces, Southern New Mexico
Plot: (Source www.moltenpictures.com/retired)Where do the spirits go when they are no longer remembered? And who shepherds them back to their native land? In a world where gods still live and die among men to explore questions of individual belief and cultural identity as well as the mystery and meaning of faith, two men are revealed to be much more than they initially seem. Nameless, a young Native American man is obviously lost and searching to understand who he is, as well as remember his name and his purpose in living. This quest begins at the Glittering World Casino and moves to the Running Indian truck stop nearby. There he meets Pete, who appears to be little more than an old man as lost as Nameless. But Pete is hardly lost, and knows the true nature of what Nameless is, and what he is really searching for. By the end of the film both Nameless and Pete find what they are looking for in the strangest of places.
Directors and scriptwriters: Chris Kientz and Shonie De La Rosa
Producers: Doña Ana Community College
Funded by: National Geographic and the Smithsonian Institute
Stars: Ernie Tsosie and Gerald Vandever
Crew includes: Film makers Antonio Hernandez, Bill McCamey and Mark Vasconcellos, 20 DACC students, special effects by Aaron Berger
Planned release date: Fall, 2008 for entry in Sundance Film Festival
• They Can’t Be Stopped”
Locations: Las Cruces region, Deming, Albuquerque
Plot: Synopsis. One night, one town must deal with an epidemic of deadly zombies set on devouring the world.
Writer: Mackenzie Ridgeway
Producer/Director: Jaron Whitfill
World premieres: Around Halloween in Las Cruces and Albuquerque
• “Becoming Eduardo”
Principal locations: Hillsboro and Truth or Consequences
Plot: Eduardo, a teen in danger or becoming a gangbanger, ends up being saved by poetry.
Writer: LouAnne Johnson, whose bestseller “My Posse Don’t Do Homework,” became the 1995 blockbuster film “Dangerous Minds”
Director: Rod McCall
Producer: Brad Littlefield
Stars: Include Julian Alcarez, Gary Perez , students from Alma d’arte Charter School for the Arts, as well as CMIstudent crew
Planned release date: Fall, in time for Sundance Film Festival release
• “Grave Mistake”
Principal locations: Southern New Mexico
Plot: When Alex King finds the people around him are turning into mindless Flesh-eating zombies, it’s up to him and his companions to fight their way to the National Guard Armory and to find Alex’s missing mother before they become LUNCH!
Writer, Director, Producer, Music, Monsters & more: Shawn Darling
Local cast and crew
Company: http://www.gryphonseggproductions.com, gryphonsegg@hotmail.com (575) 521-9882
496-7843
Planned release date: Maxim Media International and Brain Damage Films release DVDs nationally on Dec. 2
• “Red Sands”
Principal locations: Chihuahuan Desert and Las Cruces
Plot: In this monster movie, troubled kids sent to a survivalist camp have one last chance of getting it right, but after coping with the desert, wild animals, and drug dealers, just when they think they’re safe...monsters appear.
Director, writer, music, etc. Shawn Darling
Crew includes DACC film tech students.
Stars: Local
Company: www.gryphonseggproductions.com
Planned release date: Not yet set
• “A Road to Paris”
Principal location: Las Cruces
Plot: Sexually starved Corrine Biggs, out looking for love in all the wrong places, accidentally discovers her pastor husband's dirty little sins.
Writer/Director: Constance Haspopoulos
Original music by David Kelly, University of New Mexico faculty
Producers: CMI for a short film production class of Mark Medoff.
Stars: Beth LeBlanc
Planned release date: August, 2008

Hot sources for film aficionados
• Las Cruces Film Office
Who: Crystal Downs, Las Cruces Film Liaison
Where: Creative Media Institute, Room 168 Milton Hall, NMSU
Mailing address: Las Cruces Film Office, MSC-3 CMI, New Mexico State University, P.O. Box. 3001, Las Cruces, NM 88003
Info: (575) 646-6360, (575) 571-1229, e-mail cddowns@nmsu.edu, Fax (575) 646-1741
www.filmmesillavalley.com
• New Mexico Film Office
Who: Lisa Strout, Director, Jennifer Schwalenberg, Deputy Director, jennifer@nmfilm.com
Where: 418 Montezuma Ave., Santa Fe, NM 87501
Info: info@nmfilm.com, (505) 476-5600, 800-545-9871, Fax 505-476-5601
• Creative Media Institute
Who: Jonathan Benson, Program Director
Where: 172 Milton Hall, New Mexico State University,
Info: cmi.nmsu.edu ,(575) 646-5671, (800) 821-1574, Fax: (575) 646- 6321
# Milton Hall 172
• DAAC Media Tech Training Programs
Who: Rebecca Congs, Digital Imaging and Design, department chair
Where: Doña Ana Community College, Las Cruces
Info: 527-7573, rkongs@nmsu.edu, http://dacc.nmsu.edu

By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — Transformers, zombies and monsters. A teenage poet tries to make sense of the world. A troubled young man and a shaman search for the meaning of life. Two guys embark on a comedic quest in Biblical times.
And it’s all happening in our territory.
It’s shaping up as a big year, here in Hollywood on the Rio Grande.
From major big budget movies to creative indy and student films, there’s so much going on that there’s a good chance that a movie crew may be coming soon to a neighborhood near you, if it hasn’t already.
“The Burning Plain,” wrapped local shoots in December and earlier this year. Las Cruces and Portland, Ore., were primary locations for the film, which stars Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.
Diane Slattery, a publicist and assistant on the film, said “The Burning Plain” is expected to be finished “or at least a version of it will be finished” in time for a showing at the Venice Film Festival in August.
The plot focuses on a mother, Gina, portrayed by Basinger, and her daughter Sylvia, (Theron) who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.
White Sands and southern New Mexico will again be principal locations for the film producers of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” The first film in the series, which featured extensive location shooting at White Sands National Monument and Holloman Air Force Base, grossed more than $700 million worldwide.The current production has been preparing in Alamogordo since April and filming is expected to begin this fall. It’s slated to hit theaters next summer. According to www.imdb.com, the cast includes Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Jon Voight, Rainn Wilson, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, and Matthew Marsden.
Comedic superstar Jack Black and Michael Cera just finished shoots in White Sands for “Year One,” a buddy quest comedy set in Biblical times.
What’s the big attraction? Producton companies from around the world come seeking our unique and diverse locations. Resources and trained students emerging from Creative Media Institute at New Mexico State University and Doña Ana Community College’s Digital Video Project & Media Technician Training Programs are another lure, along with New Mexico Film Office financial incentives.
“The incentives are the No. 1 reason more media projects are coming here. New Mexico is now the third most desirable place for companies to make movies, after Los Angeles and New York. We have fabulous locations and infrastructure and a great relationship with other film offices in the state,” said Crystal Downs, Las Cruces Film Liaison, who reported this week that she has been doing some scouting for interested parties and may soon have some announcements about additional projects coming here.
Jennifer Schwalenberg, Deputy Director of the New Mexico Film Office noted that the John Makovich movie, ‘Afterwards’ did some location shoots in Southern New Mexico and a London production company is filming the David Parker Ray documentary in Truth or Consequences, scene of Ray’s crimes.
She said that a reality TV show, “Man vs. Cartoon” is filming this summer at Very Large Array, about 50 miles from Soccorro.
Several indy films are in production in Southern New Mexico, too.
Filming in Hillsboro and T or C this month is “Becoming Eduardo,” CMI’s first feature-length film. It’s based on “Alternative Ed,” a book by former Oñate High School teacher LouAnne Johnson, whose bestseller, “My Posse Don’t Do Homework,” became the basis for the 1995 blockbuster film “Dangerous Minds,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
Johnson is working with indy filmmaker and CMI professor Rod McCall on the film, which McCall said “is about a kid in danger or becoming a gangbanger who ends up being saved by poetry.”
The cast includes students from Alma d’arte, Las Cruces’ charter high school for the arts and its executive artistic producer, Irene Oliver-Lewis.
Producer Brad Littlefield of Open Range Pictures had praise for the company and crew.
“LouAnne Johnson is a lovely person to work with. Everything is going extremely well and there’s a lot of positive energy here,” Littlefield said.
The crew hopes to have the film completed and ready this fall to qualify for acceptance in the Sundance Film Festival in January.
It’s a goal shared by several independent film makers in the region, many of whom are working with CMI and DAAC students.
Writer and director Constance Haspopoulos is finishing “A Road To Paris,” produced by CMI for a short film production class of Tony Award-winning playwright and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Mark Medoff. Also aiming for the Sundance Film festival is “AH-HOS-TEEND (Retired)” a spiritual quest movie filmed on locations in Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico by writers-directors Chris Kientz and Shonie De La Rosa.
Writer Mackenzie Ridgeway and producer and director Jaron Whitfill chose locations in Las Cruces, Southern New Mexico and Albuquerque for their thriller, “They Can’t Be Stopped,” set for world premieres around Halloween in Las Cruces and Albuquerque.
Could Las Cruces become the living dead epicenter of the planet? Believe it or not, “They Can’t Be Stopped” is one of two zombie films made here that are slated for 2008 release.
Shawn Darling’s “Grave Mistake” had a private premiere here and has just been picked up for national distribution by Maxim Media International and Brain Damage Films.
“The official release date for the film to DVD will be Dec. 2,” said Darling.
Darling’s Gryphon’s Egg Productions has just completed another deal with the same distributor for “Red Sands,” a monster movie set in a a survivalist camp for troubled kids that is currently being filmed in desert locations around Las Cruces.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com

No more glamour in the skies

By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
SOMEWHERE IN THE WESTERN SKIES — I’m not sure just when glamour finally vanished in thin air.
For almost a decade, it seemed like my feet barely hit the ground. This was mostly due to wealthy amigos in Santa Fe and Florida who thought nothing of booking a flight to Los Angeles for lunch, or firing up the Learjet for a week at their digs in Aspen or to meet the family yacht off the coast of South America.
It feels like I’ve spent years in airports, because I have — literally, a couple of years as an executive with the Palm Beach County Arts Council, running the Art at the Airport Program at Palm Beach International Airport, decorating the place with original art and greeting musicians flying in for South Florida concerts, or sometimes, just to perform at the airport and fly right back out.
And back in New Mexico, it seems like I’ve spent a lot of time aloft, in hot air balloons, small aircraft and perched on high vistas that seem almost like soaring in a little Cessna: living atop Picacho Mountain, hiking in the Organs, visiting Acoma Pueblo’s ancient Sky City.
I’ve spent a lot of time picking up loved ones at airports near places I’d rather live than leave.
Somehow, I didn’t realize that it has been a very long time since I’ve flown on a commercial airline myself. Before 9-11, in fact, back when the newspaper sent me with a delegation of Las Crucens to visit our Sister City in Nienburg, Germany.
Lately, I’d been wondering if my first and last flights would be to Deutschland, where I made my inaugural airborne trip as a 17-year-old exchange student, on an old Flying Tiger prop plane, that lasted more than 26 hours. (Yes, Virginia, we had jets back then, but the nonprofit group had lots of kids to transport and a small budget).
But even that flight had something that, I realized last week, has forever vanished in the no-longer-so-friendly skies of commercial air travel.
Glamour.
Back in the day, everybody and everything involved with aviation had an extreme glam factor. We teens dressed up in suits and nylons and heels for our interminable journey, like everybody else fortunate enough to travel by air in that era. We even dressed up to meet people at the airport, as they flew in on jets with designer paint jobs after hours of being pampered by stewardess in chic designer uniforms. And they were all stewardesses then: slim, chic, model-pretty young women, beautifully made up, meticulously groomed and accessorized, graceful in their high heels, even after a cross-country siege, serving cocktails and gourmet meals (with china, silver and crystal) and first class extras like elaborate sundaes and treats.
Ah, those golden days of yesteryear, I thought, as I headed off to the Pacific Northwest to see grandson Alexander the Great and his parents Shannon and Ryan (read about my Coeur d’Alene adventures in next Sunday’s travel feature).
Having listened to the complaints of all the passengers I’ve met at the airport in recent years, I wasn’t surprised by the delays, cancellations and security checks.
But I found myself still nostalgic for the glam factor, as we were herded into our crowded airborne corrals by beleaguered men and women in casual shorts, rumpled shirts and sturdy boots and sneakers, virtually indistinguishable from their frazzled, equally non-glam passengers.
As we weary cattle were watered and tossed bales of peanuts and stale snack bars on a connecting Las Vegas flight, I spotted a beautifully groomed blast from the past. One of our flight attendants was clearly a veteran of more glamorous times. She was probably in her late 50s or early 60s, with a chic, gleaming gray bob that seemed more appropriately dubbed platinum. Her snowy white blouse and beige trousers were crisp and tailored, especially in comparison with her unkempt crewmates’ outfits. She wore subtle, artful makeup, a string of pearls and discreetly lovely earrings.
For a moment, I almost expected that we would be blessed with warm, fragrant, thick terry towels to refresh ourselves as we landed.
We weren’t, of course. But I was impressed at how much just a touch of glam and consideration can ease the grimy, overscheduled, crowded, economically-stressed new millennium world of air travel.
We should all try a little harder, I thought, and some of us at least have our memories. If we must fly, we can vie for the steerage seats, lean back and think of those days of glamour in the skies, dreaming until we land.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com

Have yourself a merry little August and support local artists

By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — This year, let’s go for something crazy. Instead of Christmas in July, I’m moving on to a new concept: Art in August.
Let me explain.
Christmas in July is a pretty popular concept with type A Americans ... and, I must admit, with chronically early, always ahead-of-our-time Aquarians.
Most years, I thoroughly annoy many of my friends, colleagues and loved ones by announcing that I have all of my holiday shopping done by the Fourth of July. I don’t mean to be smug about it all. I’ve just found that it’s easier, less stressful and often considerably cheaper if you keep your eyes out all year for things you know are likely to delight your loved ones.
Of course, I’ve learned the hard way that you have to hold off on wrapping everything, or label it very securely, or you end up unwrapping and wrapping everything twice to figure out who gets what.
It also helps if you have secure storage areas like my double hall closets dedicated exclusively to gifts.
Despite massive recent giveaways, my closets runneth over this year. But necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s one reason I’m planning a quantum shift in my 2008 holiday strategies.
The other reason is that many artists are having a tough time this year. Several of my favorite galleries, shops and boutiques have closed and it can be harder for artists and craftspersons to find venues.
I believe that this, too, shall pass, but in the meantime we have an amazing community of talented artists in the Mesilla Valley and we need to do whatever we can to keep them here ... and keep them creating.
I think we should start our holiday shopping right now, and we should resolve to spend as much of our gift budget as possible on works of art, created close to home.
Some people are timid about giving art, figuring that it will be too difficult to come up with things that will really please all the people on their list. But the solution may simply be to enlarge your definition of art ... and the ways to acquire it.
A painting, drawing, fine art photography or sculpture are what come to mind for many when they think of art, and some think that it will be too hard to choose and too expensive to give such a gift.
Think again. With a little investigation, you can get a good idea of the tastes of a friend. Or you can play it a little safer and give a gift certificate to a gallery or even from a particular artist, many of whom have online galleries now.
If you’re having budget problems, many artists will let you buy art on time. Just ask...you could have your own Christmas club arrangement, and that painting that seems out of reach now could be yours after relatively painless monthly payments. In places like Santa Fe and Silver City, I’ve known elementary school kids, even, who have managed to buy little masterpieces this way.
Some artists may be willing to barter for goods and services, too.
And there are many artistic gifts that you may not have considered.
A book of poetry, photographs or a mystery, biography, novel or something on regional history could be the perfect gift for someone here, or someone far away who would enjoy knowing more about the place you call home.
And what about wearable art? Think about jewelry, tie-dye, woven, knitted, painted and embellished clothing, purses and accessories.
Performance arts are a possibility, too. You can give tickets to a play, concert or dance performance if your recipient lives close by or will be visiting during the holidays. You could stretch the budget by offering transpiration to a museum or gallery tour or a free performance, fiesta or event, or maybe make your own gift certificate offering a home-cooked meal at your place before or after the excursion.
And don’t forget music and performance CDs. Several great local artists and groups like the Las Cruces Symphony have terrific CDs available.
Those faddish items and electronic gadgets may be outdated before the year is out, but a gift of art could well become a family heirloom cherished by generations. A gift of art is a very personal way to inspire and support the creativity that represents the best of humanity, a very nice thing to share any time of year.
Merry Artistic August.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com

Ready to join a gang? You may already have one.

By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
LAS CRUCES — It started one day in the newsroom when we discovered that many of us live in the same neighborhood — some of us within a block of each other, in fact.
“We should form a gang,” quipped Sun-News business editor Brook Stockberger.
We’ve discussed gang names. There are a few votes for the newsroom basketball team’s moniker: “Write Men Don’t Jump,” but many of us feel we shouldn’t mix our sports and ‘hood identities.
Then there are gang colors. I’m lobbying for black and blue. I know my color psychology. Blue represents peace and black is an authority color that clearly conveys “don’t mess with us” vibes. I’m also partial to purple, a peaceful, energetic hybrid that symbolizes spirituality, a quality that’s important for any gang I’d want to be part of in these challenging times.
Colleague Lucas Peerman thinks we need a gang handshake and we’ve been experimenting with variations on knuck-bumps, that classic contemporary pulled-punch knuckle-knocking greeting, combined with thumbs-up and peace signs. This will take some negotiation. We have both reporters and editors in the gang. Editors often think reporters are too wordy and sometimes reporters feel editors can ignore nuances and poetic expression. Compromise is called for and chances are both sides will have to sacrifice a thumb or a knuck-knock or two.
Then there are things like raps and tags to consider and various other slangin’ and bangin’ issues.
But it soon became clear that before we could get to any of that we’d have to resolve the turf wars.
Many of us live on the East Mesa. Other newsroom colleagues go home to cribs in diverse locales that range from downtown and the university area to Mesilla and Picacho Hills.
But the whole question of turf issues reminded me that we may be looking at the wrong gang models.
Maybe instead of gangstas, we’re closer to the “Our Gang” tribe — those cute little movie comedy kids with spotted dogs and strange hairlicks who entertained generations, decades before we were born.
Or maybe we should just forget the whole thing. Journalists are not by nature herd animals. The best of us are philosophers, souls who are known for their lone wolf tendencies to hang out at isolated ponds and desert retreats.
There’s no disputing that the forms of our old gangs are fading away.
As we move into Mojo (mobile journalist) mode and technology evolves to enable us to spend more and more time in the field, maybe our gangs will exist only in cyberspace and all our rumbles will be virtual.
It’s a little eerie, walking into the newsroom early in the morning to find that many parts of the old Sun-News building are a kind of ghost town, with retro-tech artifacts like our old PCs and the desk sets from our old phone system lined up against bare walls. The old press room is an echoing cavern, and if we want to yell “Stop the presses!”, we’ll need to first place a call on our new Voice-over Internet Protocol phone system to our sister paper in Farmington, where our old presses now reside.
Still, gangs are an All-American tradition, from the revolutionary rebels who joined to form a freedom-loving nation to urban teens immortalized in musicals like “West Side Story” and contemporary multicultural kids who are evolving from angst and violence into what is becoming a rich culture of art, music and dance ... and global tribes that transcend borders.
A well-known local educator told me she would rather work with kids in gangs than the nihilistic Goth kids, “because the kids in gangs have a sense of family” and there is loyalty, energy and purpose that can be the basis for all kinds of creativity.
Meanwhile, back in the newsroom, I have come to believe that there is a bit of Diogenes in the best and even the worst of us, some innate quality that wants to find the truth about why we’re here, where we’ve come from and where we’re going. Maybe there’s a gene or something in our DNA that compels us to seek truth and helpful informational tibits and share it all with others.
I know that’s why I’m still hanging out in newsrooms after all these years.
The turf has changed a lot, but they’re still my gang.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com

Summer odds & ends

By S. Derrickson Moore
Sun-News reporter
It seems to be a summer tradition among columnists. At least once a year, there’s a need to clean and clear one’s mind (and desk) and offer up a little smorgasbord of odds and ends, bits too small for a main course column but just too good to throw out.
Here’s mine for ‘08. Get ready to chow down.
+ + +
Here is a nugget of information from rockin’ tuba virtuoso Jim Shearer that surprised me, even after a dozen years as a woodwind instrumentalist myself: It takes more wind to play a flute than a tuba, he explained to me, because so much air is lost as the flutist blows over, rather than into, the instrument’s mouthpiece. So if you’re looking for a macho marathoner in the orchestra, look first to the flute section.
I’m still in awe of those brass section people, though, after watching ‘em do their thing on instruments like the French horn, trombone, tuba and trumpet. I’ll never forget seeing Doc Severinsen, then pushing 80, run up and down those steep Pan Am steps and still managing to make his full-tilt virtuoso farewell performance seem effortless.
Few appreciate the physical demands of many of the arts, from dance to music to large scale sculpture and painting. Buff ballerinas and athletic musicians and sculptors clearly have an edge in their demanding art fields. Maybe what we need are specialty gyms and fitness centers for artists...
+ + +
This comes from a local physician, who prefers to remain anonymous, in response to a recent article on summer skin care tips. He thought advice to see a dermatologist annually was excessive— and said visits that frequent are only necessary if there are indications/risk factors/family history, etc.
Plus, he noted, there aren’t enough dermatology docs to go around in Southern New Mexico. He even did the math for me, dividing the burgeoning population (I think that was shortly before the latest estimate of nearly 200,000 in Doña Ana County came out) by the number of dermatologists. Suffice it to say, they couldn’t manage to see everybody in a year, even working around the clock. So check with your primary care physician and see if you’re one of the ones who needs to see a dermatologist. Otherwise you’re off the hook. Go have some summer fun instead, but don’t forget the SPF.
+ + +
This is my favorite quote of the year, from Diana Alba’s July 6 story on prospects for the 2008 chile crop. Diana interviewed Jimmy and Jo Lytle of Hatch, whose crop includes Sandia, Big Jim, NuMex No. 64 and other delicious peppers.
“I praise God every day because my husband grows something that’s addictive and legal,” Jo Lytle said.
Amen. !Viva chiles!
+ + +
And speaking of chile, I have good news for those of you who read my recent list of the best green chile treats in Las Cruces and joined me in mourning the loss of green chile sundaes at Caliche’s.
As you will recall, I recently ordered a big scoop of their yummy frozen vanilla custard and asked for it with “your chile sundae topping.” Instead, my frozen desert was topped with chili con carne.
Adventurous though my palate is, I would not advise trying this at home.
Instead, look for Desert Farms’ green chile marmalade. Their booth at The Las Cruces Farmers & Crafts Market carries all kinds of chile goodies, including the Tia Rita line of chile powders and spice mixes. For other sources, give ‘em a call at (575) 525-969. I am assured that their just-hot-enough marmalade was the magic ingredient in the long-lamented sundaes of yesteryear, so now you can pick up frozen custard, or ice cream or healthier yogurt, sherbet or rice or soy frozen desserts and make your own. If you come up with a particularly wonderful hot & cold green chile sundae idea of your own, let me know.
S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com