2015-01 5enses

Celebrating art and science in Greater Prescott

Alan Dean Foster pops the classical question P. 10

Ty Fitzmorris

lightens & enlightens the dark winter P. 14

Jacy Lee

tells a shaggy dog story P. 7

Gene Twaronite slams his cabeza against the wall P. 21

And much2 more

JANUARY 2015 | VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 | 5ENSESMAG.COM

LOCALLY & INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED

METHOD COFFEE

3180 WILLOW CREEK • 777-1067

5enses In which:

4 5 6 7 10 11

Peregrine Book Co.

ponders life’s miracles, momentary transcendence, terrorism, the inside of many things, and storied dishes.

Rich Schooler

takes to the skies and finds a foulweather friend who’s also a wintery sign of the times in Prescott.

Helen Stephenson

talks about a film that uses politics and religion to define characters who’ve met critical acclaim.

Jacy Lee

sees a man about a dog and learns that you can, in fact, teach an old new dog-appropriate tricks.

Alan Dean Foster

arranges for some newer songs to get an older treatment and frets about heroic instrumentation.

Robert Blood

14 16 18 20 21

Ty Fitzmorris

weathers the wilds and squirrels away some wisdom for the (possibly) long, (possibly) cold winter .

James Dungeon

discusses sleights of hand and handy sleights with Prescott-based street magician Josh Balt.

Markoff Chaney

looks forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling toward freedom.

Paolo Chlebecek

washes his hands of bacteria-filled technology by washing said technology clean of bacteria.

Gene Twaronite

stubs his green thumb on a peppy, pugnacious plant he’d rather give another finger, naturally.

January 2015 • Volume 3, Issue 1

Copyright © 2014 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Publisher & Editor: Nicholas DeMarino Copy Editor: Susan Smart Read a new 5enses the first weekend of every month.

Visit 5ensesMag.Com, Facebook, & Twitter for more.

Contact us at 5ensesMag@Gmail.Com & 928-613-2076.

Plus

5/6 8 22

Flip Photo

A visual puzzle by the Highlands Center for Natural History

Left Brain/Right Brain

Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

Oddly Enough

Comics by Russell Miller

BELOW: An exterior sketch of the recently renovated church on North Marina Street. Courtesy image.

See Robert Blood’s story on Page 11 for the full story.

discusses the upcoming Milagro Arts Center with Kristen Densmore, Ty Fitzmorris, and Bill Otwell.

COVER: A set of blueprints for the Milagro Arts Center sits on display during a special June 2014 open house.

Photo and cover design by 5enses.

COVER DETAIL: Milagro Arts Center exterior shot.

Courtesy photo.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JANUARY 2015 • CONTENTS • 3

Peregrine Book Co.

Staff picks

By Peregrine Book Company staff “Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition”

By Wendell Berry Poet-farmer Wendell Berry parts company with many of his reductionist, materialist friends in his critique of E. O. Wilson and others.

—Tom “The Snow Queen”

By Michael Cunningham “The Snow Queen” is a quiet, beautiful, and somewhat neurotic work about four friends living in Brooklyn, piecing together small moments of transcendence into a mosaic of meaning in light of the death of friends and the loss and discovery of love. —Ty

lands C igh e H

ry

at

to

for

N

in the beauty of nature -

er nt

The

Imagine your special day

u r a l Hi

s

“Wool”

By Hugh Howey An intensely intriguing book that goes beyond personal experience into the political aspects of being the victim of terrorism. A man’s journey to reconcile his personal suffering with that of the terrorist’s family.

—Kim

• Comfortable amenities • Indoor and outdoor reception areas • Close to hotels and restaurants • Intimate and affordable

“Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living”

By Todd McLellan Take a look; it’s really cool. You’ll never look at your possessions the same way again. —Lacey

highlandscenter.org

•

928.776.9550

4 • FEATURE • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

“The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook”

By Deb Perelman After following her blog for several years, I was over the moon when Deb Perelman announced the release of her cookbook. In similar fashion to her blog, Perelman has a story to go with every dish. You can taste her excitement as she divulges little tricks and tips as you follow a recipe. It is obvious that Perelman enjoys sharing her recipes as much as she enjoys cooking them herself.

One highly recommended recipe from a girl with a large sweet tooth, is the Cranberry Crumb Bars found on page 206 of this delectable book.

—Sarah

***** Visit Peregrine Book Company at PeregrineBookCompany.Com and 219A N. Cortez St., Prescott, 928-445-9000.

Bird of the Month

White-crowned Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Wolfgang Wander, Creative Commons 3.0.

By Rich Schooler

The

White-crowned Sparrow is primarily a wintering bird throughout much of the United States. White-crowned Sparrow can be found in Arizona during the late fall through spring in most Arizona habitats. The arrival of Whitecrowns in the fall is a sure sign that winter is not far behind.

The sparrow comes to seed feeders regularly and is frequently accompanied

by Dark-eyed Juncos, both preferring to feed on the ground beneath the feeders. The bird is common throughout its range, and is seen regularly in and around Prescott.

The White-crowned Sparrow is a small bird, about 6.5 inches long with distinct white and black stripes on the crown of the head of the adults. The bird has plain gray under parts, a whitish throat, and brown streaky upper parts.

The bill varies from pink to orange to yellowish. Immature White-crowns are similar to the adults, except the crown is uniformly brown.

The

sparrow is an active bird that is not particularly shy, making it a relatively easy bird to find with binoculars. Feeding

White-crowns are fun to watch as they “hop kick” through leaves and sticks on the ground searching for seeds. White-crowned Sparrows depart for their breeding areas in Canada and Alaska in mid- to latespring. White-crowns also nest in the American Northwest and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Departure of White-crowns in the spring signals the coming of warmer weather in the Prescott area. In Arizona, White-crowned Sparrows nest in the mountains around Flagstaff.

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

pilF Photo

***** Rich Schooler has been birding for more than 30 years. Rich has a master’s degree in geology and spent approximately 35 years working in the geotechnical and environmental consulting business.

He became seriously interested in birding after moving to Arizona in 1982. When Rich and his wife Carol moved to Prescott in late-2010, they became members of the Prescott Audubon Society.

Rich is now a member of the board and cochairman of the field trip committee.

Visit Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org. Contact them at Contact@PrescottAudubon.Org or 928-778-6502.

Why am I always a hexagon?

5ENSESMAG.COM • JANUARY 2015 • FEATURES • 5

Prescott Film Festival’s SCRIPT NOTES

Nun, the wiser

By Helen Stephenson “Riveting, original and breathtakingly accomplished on every level, “Ida” would be a masterpiece in any era, in any country.”

— Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.Com

“Ida”

is Poland’s entry into this year’s Oscar race for Best Foreign Film. The movie is shaping up to be a favorite, featured on many short lists from critics across the country. The Prescott Film Festival features the film at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Yavapai College Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students.

The film, which takes place in 1960s Poland, is about a young novitiate nun who, on the verge of taking her vows, discovers a dark family secret dating from the terrible years of the Nazi occupation. An orphan brought up in a convent, she is preparing to become a nun. But, before she takes her vows, the Mother Superior insists she first visit her sole living relative. Naïve, innocent Anna soon finds herself in the presence of her Aunt Wanda, a worldly and cynical Communist Party insider, who shocks her with the declaration that her real name is Ida and her Jewish parents were murdered during the Nazi occupation.

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

Flip otohP

Snowflakes are made of snow. Snow is frozen water.

Water is, atomically speaking, H20. Each oxygen atom has an especially powerful attraction to the hydrogen atoms’ electrons, which pulls them closer. As a result, the two hydrogen atoms end up more positively charged and the center of the water molecule’s V shape is more negatively charged. When water molecules brush against each other, these forces cause them to join in a very specific three-dimensional pattern with six-sided symmetry. (Source: Learner.Org)

6 • FEATURES • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

A still from “Ida,” which is being screened by the Prescott Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 17. Fair use.

Kimberly Gadett writes of the film: “‘Ida’ should be required viewing for all budding filmmakers. Rather than relying on any preceding work that had been driven by the written word, director Pawel Pawlikowski and his two directors of photography, Łukasz Żal and Ryszard Lenczewski, have constructed a masterpiece that nods to the sheer poetry of the visual. The artistry of ‘Ida’ nods to such auteurs as Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson and, traveling back five centuries, to the 16th century Dutch renaissance painter Johannes Vermeer. With certain scenes depicting a high exterior light pouring diagonally down into a room, its singular focus illuminating a young female’s expressive face, Vermeer might as well have been literally calling the shots.”

The

film is shot in black and white with the unusual aspect ratio of 1.37:1. This is called the “Academy Ratio” and was used from 1932 through 1952. The film almost has the look and feel of a series of moving still photographs.

Cinematographer Lenczewski shot approximately 3,000 photos to prepare for the film and says of the photos, “These became the basis for the film’s storyboard, for the divisions of the scenes. In every movie, the script plays a large part in dictating the pace and structure of the movie. In this case, the photographs were just

as important as building blocks.”

B. H. Martin from U TV says, “‘Ida’ is a truly extraordinary experience.”

As of press deadline, the Prescott Film Festival is planning on including a short film to screen before “Ida.” Watch the film festival website, PrescottFilmFestival.Com, and Facebook for updates. ***** Helen Stephenson is the founder and executive director of the Prescott Film Festival and the director of the Sedona Film School at Yavapai College.

The

How much is that doggie in the window?

By Jacy Lee

At

some point in every writer’s life, they will pen something that is disliked or disagreed with by someone. This article will probably raise the ire of about half of the people who read my articles (that’s 11 new enemies for me).

This one pertains to the role of dogs in the antique world. Not to say that cats, horses, birds or Himalayan Snow Leopards are not represented in antiques culture, but the prolificacy of dogs is unquestionable.

Besides, what do you get when spell “cat” backwards?

For

the sake of reaching the general public, this article will focus on the dog’s appearance in the Western world. Most people are probably not interested in a 3,500-yearold Babylonian statue with the head of a dog and the body of eroded sandstone. Besides, there are many iconic depictions of Canis Familiaris in the last two centuries in America.

Certainly one of the most widely recognized dogs in America was Nipper. Nipper and Little Nipper were the trademarks of RCA – Victor. In the early 20th century, record players, or victrolas, prided themselves on their amazing ability to recreate the human voice. The depiction of Nipper, a bull terrier, sitting patiently near a victrola, was meant to convey the image of him being fooled into listening to what he believed was his master’s voice.

One

hundred years prior to Nipper, the iconic canine decoration was the Bennington Dog. The Bennington, Vermont area became a major ceramic and stoneware producing region in the early 1800s. They mostly produced practical, functional pieces for day-to-day use. One exception to this was what became known as Bennington Dogs.

These floppy-eared, glazed pottery pieces have often graced the cover of antiques guides, frequently appear in historic colonial sites, and have been captured in many paintings of the early 1800s.

And speaking of paintings, many late 18th to early 19th century household and genre scenes made sure to include the dog somewhere visible. On the eve of the Revolution, a painting was done of prominent North Carolina ladies, signing a pledge to boycott tea. Remember, the issue of tea was a catalyst of the war. In the lower right corner, there is woman’s best friend, lifting his leg and plainly visibly, giving his opinion to a tea box. A woman’s best friend also appears in a representation of an upper crust ladies’ salon of a fancy steamboat plying the Long Island Sound. A painting of the Fifth Avenue, New York, Rococo ballroom of the Astor’s, one of the wealthiest families in the U.S., features their dog, as prominent as any of the people.

But, what about the common man and his best friend? Well, right around the turn of the century, a very popular line of prints became

Tapestry detail.

Photo by 5enses.

available to the general public. These prints were accurate and colorful depictions of dogs in work poses.

Labs, retrievers, spaniels, setters, and others were captured in settings of woods, fields, or swamps. These prints are often available in today’s antique shops.

metallurgy world has had its share of dog art.

Victorian silver plate napkin rings had been adorned with cute little puppies sitting atop them. Early 20th century bronze or iron bookends often had dogs on them. And in the mid-20th century, tin lunch boxes with Lassie or Rin Tin Tin were popular among kids.

One of the more unusual depictions of the canine philosophy came through one of my recent auctions.

A late 19th century tapestry of a southern European street scene had a dog and a monkey sparring over scraps of food on the ground. Ever since losing my rent money betting on a dog-monkey fight, I no longer condone such actions.

But anyway, the next time you walk past an antique shop window, and glimpse a silhouette of a Scottie dog, you might wonder, “How much is that doggie ...” ***** Longtime Prescott resident Jacy Lee has been in the auction business for 37 years and is directly responsible for a fraction of a million pounds of minimally processed recycling each year.

4 Prescott’s 4th Friday

ART WALKS

4

2015 January 23 February 27 March 27 April 24 May 22 June 26 July 24 August 28 September 25 October 23 November 27 December 25

See Special Events

www.ArtThe4th.com

5ENSESMAG.COM • JANUARY 2015 • FEATURE • 7

Left Brain: January’s mind-full events Events

Natural History. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, RSVP)

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Showcase of historic firearms • 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 2: An interactive display of antique and historical weapons from the Sharlot Hall Museum’s collection spanning almost two centuries. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928445-3122, $10)

Prescott Orchid Society • 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25: Monthly meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Election Organizing Meeting • 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27: Prescott Good Governance kickoff meeting about the 2015 Prescott Election for mayor and three city council members. (Yavapai Title Co., 1235 E. Gurley St., 928-642-6788)

3

LAN party • Noon Saturday, Jan. 3: Play multiplayer computer games like “Quake,” “Counterstrike,” and “Tribes” at monthly Local Area Network party via Western Sky PC. (Game On, 1957 Commerce Center Circle Suite C, Prescott, PPCGG.Com)

Multi-day

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“Photography/Astrophotography” • 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7: Larry Mason, of the Prescott Photography club, discusses cameras and other astrophotographic considerations at monthly Prescott Astronomy Club meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

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“Hand Work” • 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 10: Discover the knitting, crocheting, quilt piecing, and other hand work of early pioneers who stayed snug ’n’ warm, via Sharlot Hall Museum’s Living History program. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-2133) Shade the Raven • 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10: Diane Phelps Budden reads her children's book about Shade the Raven, then Emily Corey, Shade's keeper, presents her studies. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, $2-$5)

11 13

Johnny Anderson • 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11: Meet local author and world traveler Johnny Anderson. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1526)

“Ancient Features in Glaciated Landscapes on Baffin Island” • 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13: Kurt Refsnider, of Prescott College, talk at monthly Central Arizona Geology Club meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-778-6324)

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"Co-authoring Adventures" • 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31: Five writers present their adventures collaborating with a spouse, friend, or sibling on "Farm Kids," "Without Consent," "The Year in the Mirror of Poems," "Footloose Pilgrims," and "Pearls Beneath the Rind." (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Authors Connie Johnson, Jeff Kirkendall, Herbert Windolf, Bill Lynam, and Carole Bolinski. Courtesy photos.

14

“Cattle Kate” • 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14: Author Jana Bommersbach discusses her historical novel about a woman who dares to speak her mind in 1880s Wyoming. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

15

Pint Night • 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15: Tap It Brewing Co., from San Luis Obispo, Calif., tasting event. (The Raven Cafe, 142 N. Cortez St. 928-717-0009) “Outreach & Education Through Webcasting” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15: Matt Francist, Prescott Observatory director, discusses Slooh Community Observatory and webcasting, via Prescott Astronomy Club’s Third Thursday Star Talks. (Prescott

8 • EVENTS • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-778-6324)

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“From the Arctic Circle to the Arctic Ocean” • 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22: Roy H. Smith discusses his 400-mile, 40-day winter journey, supported

by National Geographic, over the Brooks Range Mountains from the arctic circle to Umiat, near the Arctic Ocean, at monthly Prescott Audubon meeting. (Trinity Presbyterian Church, 630 Park Ave., 928-778-6502)

23

“Fire Ecology Education in the Central Highlands of Arizona” • 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23: Information about the upcoming Bradshaw Vegetation Management Project, which includes the Prescott National Forest and Highlands Center for

Mindfulness meditation • 6:30 p.m. informal sit, 7 p.m. formal sit Tuesdays: Meditation group open to people of all faiths and nonfaiths. (601 Miller Valley Road, park in back, PrescottVipassana.Org) Prescott Area Boardgamers • 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Jan. 7 & 21: Play board games. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) Drop in chess • 2 p.m. Saturdays: Play chess, all ages and skill levels welcome.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) Free Sunday Cinemas • 1:30 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 11, 18, & 25: Free educational films about local and worldwide natural history. Hosted by David Attenborough.

(Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-7769550) Community Yoga • 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10 a.m. Saturdays: Free community alllevels yoga class for people from all walks of life. Come heal your whole self. No experience necessary. (Deva Healing Center, 520 Sheldon St., DevaHealingCenter.Org) Bird walks • 8 a.m. (Dates TBA): Local, guided bird walks. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-4435900, RSVP)

January’s art-full events :niarB thgiR

4

Events

“Private Lives” • 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15-17, Jan. 22-24 & 2 p.m. Jan. 18 & 24: Noel Coward’s 1930s comedy of manners. Directed

by Parker Anderson. (Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286, $15-$20)

“Of Mice & Men” • 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 4: Via satellite, National Theatre Live’s presentation of John Steinbeck’s powerful portrait of the American spirit.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928776-2000, $10-$15)

7 8 11

Poetry discussion group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7: Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly group.

(Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Poets’ Cooperative • 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8: Share your work in a supportive atmosphere. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“La Bayadère” • 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11: Via satellite, Bolshoi Ballet’s presentation of a story of impossible love. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $10-$15)

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“The Merry Widow” • 10:55 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 17: Via satellite, The Metropolitan Opera’s presentation of Lehár’s enchanting operetta. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $12-$30)

“Ida” • 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17: Pawel Pawlikowski’s moving, intimate drama about a young novitiate nun in 1960s Poland who discovers a dark family secret, via Prescott Film Festival. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-533-8897, $5-$10)

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“Camelot” • 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22: Broadway’s sweeping tale of passion, pageantry, and betrayal.

(Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928776-2000, $29-$69)

23

Live Nude(Plant)s • Noon Friday, Jan. 23: Lunch-time open drawing hour featuring living and preserved plants and other eth-

Art Wish board • From Jan. 1: Annual public collaboration. (Method Coffee, 3180 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-1067)

2-13

“STEPS Children’s Art Show” • Jan. 2-13 show, 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3 artists’ reception: Artwork by children from the fall STEPS Art School for Children art classes. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

IMAGE: Children enjoy children-created art at a STEPS Children’s Art Show. Courtesy photo, manipulated. ically sourced artifacts from nature.

Bring your own supplies. (Prescott College Natural History Institute, 312 Grove Ave., 928-350-2280, $5) 4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23: Monthly art walk including more than 18 galleries, artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations. (ArtThe4th.Com) Mile High Comedy Theater • 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23: Using audience suggestions, the Mile High Comedy Theater troupe spontaneously creates smart, satirical, and hilarious comedy. (Elks Theatre, 117 E. Gurley St., 928-777-1370, $10-$20)

24 25

Contra Dance • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24: Contra dancing via Folk Happens.

(First Congregation Church, 216 E. Gurley St., 928-925-5210, $4-$8)

“Swan Lake” • 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 25: Via satellite, Bolshoi Ballet’s presentation of this tragic love story. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $10-$15)

28 31

Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28: Poet Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “Sleeping Beauty” • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31: The Russian National Ballet Theatre’s production of Marius Petipa’s crowning jewel. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2000, $18-$58) The Improvitionians • 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31: Improv comedy at 5,000 feet. (Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon, 928-445-3286, $5)

Multi-day “Planting the Seed” • 7:30 p.m. Jan. 2 & 3: Third annual female playwrights festival produced

by Little Black Dress featuring 11 plays brought to live by nine directors. (First Congregational Church Theatre, 216 E. Gurley St., $14)

“Life in the West” • From Jan. 7: Western-themed show.

(Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “Red, White, Black, & Blue: The Revenge of Billy Jack” • From Jan. 9: Works by visual artist Kerry Skarbakka (Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) “Mixing It Up” • From Jan. 12: Group show.

(The Raven Cafe, 142 N. Cortez St. 928-717-0009) “Seeing Red” • From Jan. 12: Red is presented in a whole new light. (Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286) “Pursuing the Vision” • From Jan. 15: Group show by the Yavapai Alumni Photo Group (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) “Workshop Wonders” • From Jan. 15: Artwork from “Workshop Wonders” instructors.

(Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “Winter Photography Show” • Through Jan. 20: Annual show. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) \ “Piece & a Poem Show” • From Jan. 22: Annual show. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

9

Whatever you do, don’t Bach down

Alan Dean Foster’s

Perceivings

This

By Alan Dean Foster As a lover of many kinds of music, from gamelan to guitar, from taiko to kazoo, the artificial gulf that continues to separate “popular” music from classical music has always bothered me. And by classical, I don’t mean The Beatles or Led Zeppelin.

What’s ironic is that pop musicians have always embraced classical music, and a surprising number of today’s pop composers have had some classical training. On the other hand, the classical music establishment prefers to dwell in a terrible funk (we’ll talk about funk another time).

It desperately craves the adoration, attention, and income that pop produces while simultaneously decrying most popular music as a mere shadow of what “real” music ought to be.

None of which stops “serious” orchestras and serious musicians from making a good part of their income playing in Pops concerts every year. For many serious classical musicians, Pops series are a bit like the drunken uncle no one in the family really wants to discuss.

He’s part of the family, and he paid for that vacation in the Bahamas last year, so we have to tolerate him. But we gossip about him behind his back and secretly wish he’d just go off on a permanent bender while leaving us the money.

particular conundrum is less acidic than it used to be, though. Perhaps because so many orchestras drift in straits ranging from dire to difficult and there’s money to be made by performing crossover concerts. It’s really not a new idea, to which anyone who remembers Procol Harum’s gig (and fine recording) with the Edmonton Symphony orchestra can attest. There was a “band” called Electric Light Orchestra that synthesized pop and orchestra quite effectively, although their efforts were limited in scope due to budget constraints.

In fact, I don’t understand why we don’t see more straightforward orchestral transcriptions of pop music. Instead of bringing in Metallica to play in front of the orchestra, why doesn’t some enterprising symphony association commission a suite of transcriptions of their perfectly marvelous music for the orchestra itself? I’d love to hear a concert overture based on “Enter Sandman.”

Or consider AC/DC’s “Who Made Who [?],” a candidate for the full orchestral treatment if ever there was one. Crescendo with coda, and partially fugal in structure. Copland wrote a “Fanfare for the Common Man.” AC/DC does a Fanfare for the Common Fan. Where’s Robert Russell Bennett when you need him? (Hint: He’s the composer who orchestrated Richard Rodger’s award-winning music for the TV show “Victory at Sea”).

The opportunities for transcribing popular music for chamber orchestra are even greater than they are for full symphony orchestra. “Eleanor Rigby” would be terrific played by a standard chamber quartet. One of the best covers ever of Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” is by the Kronos Quartet.

I’m not sure garage metal lends itself to violin,

10 • COLUMN • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

viola, cello, and bass, but I’d sure love to hear someone give it a go.

It’s

not that the best efforts don’t meet with a certain amount of acclaim from both constituencies. Mark O’Connor may be a popular fiddle player, but his classical compositions garner accolades from both strait-laced classical aficionados as well as his “pop” audience. A lot has to do with presentation, as I had to explain to numerous concert goers who were sure that “Pictures at an Exhibition” was written by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. On the other hand, Mussorgsky never envisioned a rotating piano complete with player.

Music as portrayed via aerodynamic engineering.

Heck, if George Gershwin could find acceptance as a classical composer, surely there are young musicians out there who can write the same music for strings as they do for strats. Modern orchestras want to know. They, and the young audiences they crave, are waiting for you. ***** Alan Dean Foster is author of more than 120 books, visitor to more than 100 countries, and still frustrated by the human species. Follow him at AlanDeanFoster.Com.

“The Face of Bach,” a painting of 61-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach by Elias Gottlob Haussmann, 1748, public domain; metal horns photo, public domain, manipulated.

Illustration by 5enses.

Ty Fitzmorris, foreground (middle), and Kristen Densmore, background (left), give tours in June of 2014 of the renovated church on North Marina Street scheduled to open as Milagro Arts Center in May this year. Photo by 5enses.

By Robert Blood

“Some

people have asked if it’s a studio space rental,” said Ty Fitzmorris in a recently renovated building on Marina Street. “It’s not, not really.”

Fitzmorris — the man behind The Raven, Peregrine Book Co., and, most recently, Gray Dog Guitars — is running a tad late after finishing up some other business. He’s got a litany of other things to attend to, but is surprisingly eager to stand still and discuss Big Ideas for an hour on a Saturday evening in December.

“A few other people have asked if it’s a gallery space,” he continued. “Maybe we’ll have one down the line, in a couple of years, but that’s not its primary purpose, either.”

Fitzmorris is trying his hand at something new: a nonprofit community arts and environmental space called the Milagro Arts Center. Despite a year-and-a-half-old website with tons of pictures and explanations, it’s been hard for some people to wrap their heads around what it actually entails.

There are plenty of stories about what the space is and how it came to be, but it’s ultimately the stories of what’s created there that will matter.

Ironically, if all goes well, Milagro’s cofounder will be

content to simply fire up some ceramics of his own.

Unto that end, here’s the what, who, where, when, why, and how behind the Milagro Arts Center.

What The Milagro Arts Center is a community arts and environmental space that includes a ceramics studio, a digital media studio with a computer and print lab, an analog photography studio with darkrooms and space for alternative processes, and a sound recording studio.

The space is membership-based (more on that later) and grants users access to shared equipment. There’s also a stage and performance area.

“There’ll have to be a calender, especially for the darkrooms,” said cofounder Kristen Densmore.

“We want people to have access to the space, not the just the same people using it to the exclusion of others.”

Although the music studio wasn’t originally planned for inclusion as part of the nonprofit, it proved beneficial to include it under the Milagro umbrella. It’s a practical tie-in, too, as the stage will be mic-ed and filmed for sound and video streams.

Densmore, a Prescott College grad and photographer, said it’s hard for an artist to leave behind the resources of an academic facility — especially

years later — and that continued access is part of why the space is so important for the community.

“All throughout school, you have access to stateof-the-art facilities,” Densmore said. “On the day you graduate, all that disappears.”

She further hopes the space fosters cross-medium conversations and creativity akin to that of 17th and 18th century salons in France.

“We’ve got amazing people in this town, sort of hidden, and we want to reach out to those folks,” Densmore said. “We want to use the space and, especially, the workshops to build connections and really reach out.”

Glassblowing was bandied about early on but wasn’t feasible in the initial space.

“We might add it,” Fitzmorris mused. “That’ll depend on what the community wants.”

Other possibilities are spaces for letterpress-ing, blacksmithing and welding, and woodworking.

Less technology-dependent ideas and events include lectures, panel discussions, workshops, and other special events. Weekly critiques, monthly group meetings, a lending library, monthly newsletter, mentorship program, and TEDx events could be in the cards, too.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >>> 5ENSESMAG.COM • JANUARY 2015 • PORTFOLIO • 11

... FROM PAGE 11 Who The Milagro Arts Center is currently overseen by a five-member board of directors including the co-founders — Fitzmorris and Densmore — and Joel Hiller, Bill Otwell, and Julie Comnick.

Densmore is the executive director.

Gita Lozowick is the program coordinator.

Dylan Ludwig (co-manager of Gray Dog Guitars) has been tapped as the sound studio manager.

Although job postings have cropped up for printmaking, ceramics, and photography/digital media studio managers, as well as other positions, no hires have been announced.

The Milagro Arts Center’s website also lists an advisory board including Tony Brown, Reid Callanan, Barbara Garvey, Joel Lipovetsky, Paul McKee, and Dan Campbell.

In late 2013, the arts center applied for 501(c)3 status, which it was granted the following year.

An artist-in-residence program is also in the works. Participants would likely stay for a couple of weeks up to a couple of months, Densmore said. An artist who would use the space to wrap up a nationwide project has already tentatively agreed to be the first artist in residence.

FROM LEFT: The model design conception of the upper, lower, and basement levels of the Milagro Arts Center. Courtesy images.

A panoramic view of the remodeled interior of the Milagro Arts Center. Courtesy photo.

Cable railings are installed toward the end of renovations in 2014. Courtesy photo.

12 • PORTFOLIO • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Where The home of Milagro Arts Center is a former Mormon church built in 1935 at 126 N. Marina St. There are two entrances on Marina Street because, as a former Mormon church, there were separate entrances for men and women. (The men’s side of the building had a higher floor — six inches in theory, but sometimes four inches in practice — per Latter-day Saints’ specs of the period.)

Dave Potthast, owner of Circle D Builders and contractor on the Milagro Arts Center, said it’s no wonder the building’s still standing.

“The outside walls are 2-foot-thick granite and poured concrete,” Potthast said. “When they built it back in 1935, they built it to last forever.”

There’s a lot of character in the details, including the roof trusses, which have concrete on them, he said.

“Somebody poured that — they’re all hand-built and the spacing isn’t consistent,” Potthast said. “It’s like Joe put up a couple of trusses on Monday and Robert did a few on Wednesday, and they’re not the same distance apart.”

Bill Otwell, owner of Otwell As-

sociates Architects and architect on the Milagro Arts Center, knows the building well. He’s the guy who redid it in 1983 as an executive office complex and small business incubator and was hired by Fitzmorris, who bought the building in 2013, to re-do it again.

“When we rehab buildings, whatever we do is reversible,” Otwell said, “But this is the first time I got to see how well that really worked — and it worked.”

Three decades ago, his guiding principal was a so-called ship-in-a-bottle.

They created the office space set back from the windows to preserve the building’s character.

In addition to the original building, this iteration as the Milagro Arts Center includes a new kiln shed that was constructed behind it.

“It’s perfect for ceramics,” Otwell said. “We got to use locally produced stabilized adobe, which is a beautiful, environmentally friendly material.”

When (& how much) As of the the new year, the Milagro Arts Center opens its doors in May. “It’s actually a month of events,” Densmore said, alluding to a week highlighting each of Milagro’s initial areas of activity. “There’ll be a week for photographic media, a week for printmaking, a week for ceramics, and a week for sound.”

There was an open house for a small set of entrepreneurs in June of 2014.

Since then, there’ve been a few tours.

A membership drive began in December.

Fees could be tweaked by the time the Milagro Arts Center open, but the pillars are in place. A basic annual membership costs $60 ($50 for students), and includes first dibs on workshop spots and a discount on materials and other fees. Benefits and incentives climb from there to the upper levels at

$1,000 and $5,000.

The use-based membership — akin to the monthly facilities fee at a gym — is still being discussed. It could be something like $80 a month or maybe $140 or $150, depending on the space and materials in question. At one end of the spectrum is printmaking, which has relatively low overhead; at the other end is ceramics, which is more resource intensive.

“We’re taking bits and pieces of this from some places throughout the country,” Densmore said. “There are community art spaces with access to equipment, while others focus more on workshops — we’re trying to do both.”

Why The Milagro Arts Center was almost called Obsidian Studios.

“It seems so hard and cold now,” Fitzmorris said. “It’s funny how you can settle into a name.”

Though “milagro” means “miracle” in Spanish, the space’s name was inspired by an autographed copy of the John Nichols book “The Milagro Beanfield War” on Fitzmorris’ bookshelf.

“It evokes the idea of a small town coming together,” he said.

Densmore further referenced the building’s history as a church as well as the use of the term milagro in reference to Mexican talismans.

In terms of the environmental focus, Fitzmorris said it’s an idea he’s long been passionate about.

“I’d come across the discussion of the environmental impact of shared facilities,” he said. “They have a much smaller environmental footprint, so it seemed like a logical step.”

In addition to shared space, the building itself has been renovated with the environment in mind.

Glaringly, the building boasts close

to 1,000 square feet of rooftop solar panels with a 22 kW output. The annual utility savings are anticipated at an annual average of a hair over $9,000.

Inside is an Energy Recovery Ventilation unit that took some improvisation to install when blueprints proved a tad off. It eases heating and cooling costs through heat exchange.

Although LEED certification wasn’t sought, the building meets many of the requisite specs, Otwell said.

“It’s a mountain of paperwork and it’s money and energy that, in this case, is better spent on things for the building,” Otwell said. “The accreditation is valuable to some people, but my feeling is that we try to do these kind of practices all the time.”

Rehabbing buildings wastes far less energy than constructing new building, he added.

“Whenever you save a building, you’re saving the equivalent of decades of operating costs,” Otwell said.

“There’s a mindset that when you build a brand new building you can make it more energy efficient but, as long as there aren’t any structural issues, that’s not always the case.”

Potthast said recycling was the crews’ modus operandi.

“We reused studs, flooring sheets, even dry wall,” Potthast elaborated. “I don’t know how many times we looked in the Dumpster and said, ‘Wait a minute, let’s take this back inside.’”

How Two friends, Fitzmorris and Densmore, met for coffee on New Year’s Day, 2013.

“We were just catching up and suddenly realized we had a shared vision — an idea of a community arts space,” Densmore said. “Ty asked me to stick

around for a month and see if it was viable.”

Densmore had left Prescott in 2001 and was swinging back through en route to a question mark in Oregon.

But she stayed, and everything fell into place.

Well, “fell into place” is an oversimplification. There’s been a lot of work and commitment from all parties along the way.

“I think it’s a convergence of factors,” Fitzmorris said. “Having Kristen available to head this up — that’s important because this kind of project is only feasible to the extent someone qualified and passionate is able to lead the way.”

“I love it here,” Densmore said.

“Staying here for this — this is the longest I’ve lived anywhere since I was 16 — is a dream come true.”

Important, too, they added, was the building, the people who worked on it, as well as the combination of lo-fi and high-tech approaches that made the Milagro Arts Center possible.

Two of the closest analogs for the space are efforts like the Tucson Clay Co-op and Mesa Arts Center. Fitzmorris further cited the ’Tis Foundation (the nonprofit behind the ’Tis Art Center & Gallery) and Prescott Center For the Arts as local inspirations.

Otwell said the Milagro Arts Center wouldn’t be what it is without a benefactor like Fitzmorris and a director like Densmore.

“It’s that rare client who’s willing to experiment,” Otwell said. “It takes more time and money to do that, but at the end of the day the results are more satisfying.”

Potthast concurred.

“It takes seven or eight years for some of what they did to pay off,” Potthast said, “but they’ll never see a return on some of the other things they did; they did it to make the community a better place.”

Although the initial configuration of the Milagro Arts Center is (in some cases literally) set in stone, there’s plenty of room for growth.

“We need ideas,” Fitzmorris said echoing a sentiment he’d expressed six months earlier and,

likely, two years earlier. “The broad strokes are there, but we’re looking to collaborate.”

Thus, it appears the Milagro Arts Center will be many things to many people. Just what it is — nay, what it means — to you depends on how involved you choose to be. ***** Visit MilagroArts.Org or email Info@ MilagroArts.Org to find out more about the Milagro Arts Center. The arts center, which is slated to open in May, is at 126 N. Marina St. Visit Otwell-Architects.Net or call 928-445-4951 to find out more about Otwell Associates Architects. The business office is at 121 E. Goodwin St. Visit CircleDBuilders.Com or call 928443-0208 to find out more about Circle D Builders. The business office is at 1035 Vantage Point Circle.

Robert Blood is a Mayer-ish-based freelance writer and ne’er-do-well who’s working on his last book, which, incidentally, will be his first. Contact him at BloodyBobby5@Gmail.Com.

13

News From the Wilds January weather Average high temperature: 50.8 F, +/-4.4 Average low temperature: 21.1 F, +/-4.3 Record high temperature: 73 F, Jan. 5, 1927 Record low temperature: -21 F, Jan. 22, 1937 Average precipitation: 1.72”, +/-1.74” Record high precipitation: 7.79”, 1916 Record high snowfall: 53”, 1949 Record low precipitation: 0”, 5.3 percent of years on record Max daily precipitation: 2.97”, Jan., 22, 2010

A female Williamson’s Sapsucker forages before beginning her migration slowly back to the north. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

By Ty Fitzmorris

January

in the Central Highlands is when the long quiet of winter reaches its coldest and snowiest, as storms bluster and howl, pushing plants and animals to the limits of their strength. The frigid days, however, are often interspersed with sunny, cold days that skitter with bursts of bird and mammal activity.

Every plant and animal has a set of strategies for making it through this time of scant resources and dangerous temperatures. Pregnant female Black Bears hibernate in underground dens. Bobcats, Coyotes, and deer grow thicker coats and subtly re-route blood flow away from their skin and extremities.

Ground squirrels, chipmunks, and Beavers settle into the well-stocked dens that they’ve been provisioning for months. Insects and herbaceous plants have evolved so that only their eggs and seeds overwinter, while trees decrease photosynthesis either by dropping leaves or by insulating them with thicker coatings and alter

their chemistry by increasing lipid content and membrane permeability to decrease risk of frost damage. In many cases these adaptations, both physiological and behavioral, are remarkably complex.

But

the glimmers of the coming spring continue as well. Some animals are “planting their seeds” for the coming year, including the Black Bears and River Otters, both of whom are giving birth. Many of our wind-pollinated trees are in flower, during this time when the broad leaves of deciduous trees have been dropped, and this allows wind-born pollen to reach further without as many obstacles.

Unfortunately the many species of juniper in our area are among this group, making the next several months the peak allergy season for humans (and some other animals) in the Central Highlands.

But while January is one of our wettest months of the year, nearly 30 percent of the years on record receive less than one-third of the overall average precipitation. One

14 • FEATURE • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

such year was 2014, during which the Central Highlands received no snow or rain in January at all, and while the 2014 monsoon season finished out at the single wettest on record, the preceding winter was among the very driest, creating overall havoc for many of the plants and animals of our region. All of the plants and animals in the natural world time their foraging, mating, births, and migrations by regular climatic periodicity, and in recent years the climatic oscillations have been far outside the usual.

January,

with its snowfalls and floods, is one of the best times of the year to study the activity of mammals by examining their tracks in fresh snow and clean riverine sand. Not only does this season present us with the best tracking substrates, but mammals are particularly active during the breaks between storms, searching actively for food, so a small area of pristine snow or mud can yield amazing tracks and fascinating stories. Look especially

Source: Western Regional Climate Center

for intersecting trails of different animals, and signs of predators tracking prey. We are lucky to live in a part of North America where activity in the wilds never goes completely silent, and the stories of our animal neighbors are abundant. ***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and is proprietor of the Peregrine Book Company, Raven Café, Gray Dog Guitars, and is a founder of Milagro Arts, a community arts nexus, all as a sideline to his natural history pursuits. He is also the Curator of Insects at the new Natural History Institute at Prescott College. He can be reached at Ty@ PeregrineBookCompany.com with questions or comments.

News From the Wilds, too A very brief survey of what’s happening in the wilds ...

By Ty Fitzmorris High mountains • Snow covers the high mountains and melts slowly, trickling through the soil to recharge large underground lakes called aquifers. Aquifers recharge at extraordinarily slow rates, however, and typically only from this type of gradual melting. Snow will cling to the north sides of the mountains for many months, feeding our rivers and aquifers through the spring.

• Black Bears give birth, usually to two blind cubs. The cubs stay in dens with their mother for several months and forage with her through the next year.

Visit: Maverick Mountain Trail, No. 65.

Ponderosa Pine forests • Groups up to 200-strong of adolescent and nonbreeding Ravens forage together in the back country. Ravens are unusual among the birds in that they form clear dominance hierarchies and sometimes even hunt in packs with both other Ravens and other species, prompting Bernd Heinrich, a prominent Raven researcher, to label them “wolf birds.”

• Great Horned Owls finish nest building and lay eggs.

• Northern Goshawks, the rarest in North America of their group of hawks (the Accipitridae), stop over in our region for barely over a month before heading back to the north.

These larger cousins to the Cooper’s Hawk are generally denizens of the deep wilds, but can be seen now.

• Ponderosas continue “weeping” excess water out of their branch-tips.

This cold-adaptation reduces the risk of dangerous ice-crystal formation in the tree’s tissue, creating a gentle “rain” of tiny droplets of sap.

Visit: Miller Creek Trail, No. 367.

Pine-Oak woodlands • Williamson’s Sapsuckers begin their migration to their summering grounds to the north. These woodpeckers make holes in the bark of Ponderosa Pines and other conifers, and wait for insects, mainly ants, to be drawn to the sap. Many species of overwintering insects, such as the

Clean sand and soil make great substrates for reading tracks, such as this Raccoon’s. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa), rely on these “sap wells” during the coldest months.

• Javelina conclude their mating season, which began in late November.

Visit: Little Granite Mountain, No. 37.

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Bobcats begin their mating season.

• Many species of juniper begin their flowering now, aggravating the allergies of humans and non-humans alike.

• Gray Fox begin their mating season, which will last until March.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

Grasslands • Mixed-species flocks of sparrows, including Brewer’s, Sage, Lincoln’s, Chipping, Savannah, White-crowned and Black-throated, forage together for grass seeds and insect eggs, larvae and pupae. Over the next two to three months some of these species will begin their migration back to their summer breeding grounds to the north, some migrating as far as Alaska.

Visit: Iron King Trail, off of the Prescott Peavine Trail.

Riparian areas • River Otters give birth in riverside dens, while Beavers begin their mating season nestled in their lodges.

• Arizona Alders (Alnus oblongifolia) begin flowering. These beautiful trees don’t typically cause allergies, though they may slightly exacerbate

those caused by junipers. Notice that the Alders bear two different designs of flower: small, round, cone-like growths and long, pendant droops.

The cones are the female flowers, which capture the pollen from the long male flowers. Some types of cone actually manipulate air currents around them, pulling pollen inward in small whirling vortexes, and this is more easily accomplished when other trees don’t have leaves to get in the way of the wind-born pollen.

• January’s storms knock migrating waterfowl from the sky, and they often settle in lakes to wait for clearer weather. Exotic species brought into our area in this way include Tundra Swan, Ross’s Goose, Blue Goose, Snow Goose, Common Loon, and, extremely rarely, the small, uncommon Brant and larger Greater White-fronted Goose.

Visit: Sycamore Basin Trail in Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, No. 63.

Deserts/Chaparral • Packrats (Neotoma spp.) begin their mating season. Packrat nests can be extremely old, with some continuously inhabited for as much as 50,000 years. These species have been instrumental in reconstructing climate and vegetation patterns over the last 15,000 years, through the research of Thomas Van Devender from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. He discovered that some packrat nests in the Sonoran Desert,

when excavated, revealed needles of Ponderosa Pine and other conifers, and suggested the large-scale migration of plant communities upslope.

• Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum), a parasite of acacias, mesquites, palo verdes and buckthorns, bears its red-white fruit.

These fruits are eaten by many species of birds, but primarily by Phainopeplas (a relative of the flycatchers). The berries cannot be easily defecated, so the birds must rub themselves on branches, thereby distributing the fruit to its preferred germination site, where it can grow into the tissue of its host. Healthy trees can reject mistletoes by growing their bark around the infestation site, but unhealthy trees can host hundreds of mistletoe individuals.

Visit: Agua Fria National Monument.

Skyward • Saturday, Jan. 3: The Quadrantid Meteor Shower will be at its peak after midnight. This mild-mannered shower will be mostly washed out by the Full Moon, but many meteors should still be visible. The Quadrantids can produce up to 40 meteors per hour, appearing to radiate from the constellation Bootes.

• Sunday, Jan. 4: Full Moon at 9:53 p.m.

• Tuesday, Jan. 20: New Moon at 6:14 a.m.

• Astronomical Highlight: The brightest stars in the night sky are visible in winter, and are not only a beautiful sight, but are the easiest to learn the names of. The totem of winter stars is the constellation Orion, which contains two of the sky’s brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse, as well as being one of the more recognizable shapes of all constellations. Orion is followed through the sky by his hunting dogs, Canis Major, whose brightest star, Sirius, is the single brightest star visible from Earth, and Canis Minor, whose brightest, Procyon, is the seventh brightest. Look also for Capella (in Auriga), Castor and Pollux (in Gemini) and Aldebaran (in Taurus), forming the Winter Hexagon.

15

Have cards, will travel

Street magician Josh Balt works his magic on Prescott

Josh Balt, a traveling street magician, has called Prescott home for two years. Courtesy photo.

By James Dungeon [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Josh Balt, a traveling street magician.]

How did you get started performing magic?

My older brother did a magic

trick for me. He had this book and I learned from that. It was exciting.

I dropped out of high school and … it’s a long story, but I started looking at what came afterword, and got fed up with the whole system. So, I went on tour with a magician whose stage name is Reza. I ran spotlight for him. He gave me the technique I needed. Apprenticing with a magi-

cian is pretty common. I learned under him, and he got me a bunch of corporate events. That’s a big deal when you’re a younger magician. So, I was living out in the Black Hills, rock climbing all the time, and started doing magic on the street.

Then I met this girl and we traveled through South America — from Mexico all the way through Panama, — for three months. I was, maybe 20. I did magic everywhere, and not for money, but because I wanted to give back to the community. If we stayed in a place for a length of time, I might put up posters and do a paid show the last day we were there, but otherwise I just did magic on the street or on buses for whoever was there. People start to recognize you and it’s, “Hey, mago!” One time I got arrested while crossing the border between Panama and Costa Rica because I didn’t have my passport, and I spent a little time in a Panama jail. I did some magic for the officers while I was in there, and it made things much more relaxed. Magic can get you out of rough situations. …So anyway, I got married, had a daughter, then took a bit of a downward spiral, got a divorce. I took a break from magic and worked on an oil rig for a while, then logged trees in the Black Hills. I learned then that I could be happy wherever I am.

If you can find peace and joy on a freezing cold derrick, you can find happiness anywhere. Eventually I got rid of all of my material possessions and headed out West.

How did you end up in Prescott?

I started sleeping in Granite Creek Park in 2012. I was just passing through town and I had this dream about a girl, woke up, and there she was: Ellen Bashor. … There’s a lot more to the story, but, anyway, I got sucked in to Prescott, as people do. I met another performer, Timon, who I’ve been bouncing ideas off of — he was attending Prescott College — and we’ve been mobbing together. … Ellen and I fell in love on a trip to Yosemite for two weeks. And she and I ended up doing my magic show from there. My focus has been on busking, that is, street performing rather than in restaurants. It did get me a gig at the Firehouse (Kitchen), and I still do corporate events when they come my way, but, like I said, I’ve been focusing on busking. I still perform on Whiskey Row, but I’ve been going to Las Vegas and learning from international magicians. I’m learning how to draw and maintain huge crowds of people. And I should mention my daughter, Ariah.

She gives me the motivation and strength to get out there.

There was a time when magicians weren’t so accessible. Is it hard to perform for an audience that knows you’re up to something?

Not as much as you’d think. It’s different when it’s up close. Magic brings people back to their childlike state of wonder — where they don’t

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16 • FEATURE • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

know what’s next and everything is new all of the sudden. You go from Point A to Point C without explaining Point B. I think that’s validating and healing, to enter that state. It’s a state of mind we don’t enter as much as we used to. It’s funny, when you perform magic for someone, that’s when it’s interesting. When you explain a trick to someone they become upset. It must not be real, then, or anyone can do it. But magic is like a relationship. You fall in love and everything is new, mysterious and intriguing. Then you get to know the person and you can see through the person — you understand how and why they do things — and for some people that means the love isn’t real.

But other people realize it’s about that journey from Point A to Point C. Just because you know about Point B, doesn’t mean it wasn’t real. Being a magician, you know how tricks are done, but you forget they’re tricks when you perform them. Magic is a language and you’re demonstrating it for people.

When you’re on a stage, you control the angle people watch from. How do you translate that to street magic when you build your own crowd?

It’s about how people respond to your presence and energy. People walk around you and you can gauge people’s sense of space and how to navigate it. I don’t need a rope or a stage to perform, but I always take about five minutes to establish my energy, my space, so people are in an arc, a semi-circle, around me.

You can use lines to get people out of spots you don’t want them, like, “This guy thinks he’s got a backstage pass.” Anyway, you build up this radius, and there’s a moment — you

can feel it — that it’s time to start.

It’s pretty easy to spot. You watch people’s heads and shoulders. People point their stomachs at what they want. One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever been paid is when I was performing on the street outside of the Paris Hotel and, after the show, a couple handed me a $20 bill and said they’d watched the entire show from up in the restaurant. They couldn’t hear me — I’m not mic-ed or anything — but they just had a good time watching me from afar. …

Magic’s a great equalizer; you’re as easily fooled as the guy next to you.

What magicians do you look up to?

The people I know in Vegas. There are people there from all over the world, and it’s a good place for magic right now. I look up to Matt Rambles, Chris Cromartie — his stage name is GRNDL, and he introduced me to a lot of things about performing in Vegas — and Gwanho Hoya Kim. Chris I met through (magician) Jeff McBride, and he’s lived on the road and done magic out of his pockets just like me, so we instantly related. Hoya, he’s this young Korean magician and the bravest guy I know. He’s so effing good – quite possibly the most talented magician I’ve ever worked alongside. He doesn’t speak English very well, and faces a lot of adversity and ignorance — things I don’t have to deal with like people saying things about him right to his face or shouting “Ni Hao.” I should mention that Vegas is very rough outside the strip.

What’s the hardest thing about performing in Prescott and on Whiskey Row? Everyone, especially around Whiskey Row, is so friendly. What hap-

Josh Balt, a Prescott-based street magician, performs for a crowd. Courtesy photo. pened at the Firehouse was really cool. I was outside performing and they asked me inside — to get paid.

That’s how I’ve gotten a lot of gigs, actually. People pull their friends out of stores to say, “Hey, come see this guy.” It makes sense for store owners to ask me in.

How many packs of cards do you go through a week?

I have a trick — my most popular trick, actually — and a card comes out of my mouth, which pretty much means I’m done with it, so quite a few. I probably go through a couple of packs every day performing. So, if you watch me perform, you could help me out by bringing blue-back Bicycle playing cards.

I’m assuming living in parks and out of your van has given you a different perspective on, well, pretty much everything.

When you remove yourself from everything, from all your fears, you stop trying to keep your life a certain way. And when you’re sitting outside of Phoenix for two days at an exit on

the highway, it seems like the rest of the world is going so fast. When you don’t have money, all you have is time and that’s all I’ve ever wanted — more time. I mean, it’s still a balance. When I go to Vegas, I make a boatload of money, and then I have to do something with it, but then I’m starting at zero again. … When you’re on the street, you’re accessible to anyone and everyone, from the homeless person to the billionaire.

I once met Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, and had this same conversation with him. I’ve also had this same conversation with the bum who lives on the streets. It’s funny how, often times, people have the same perspective. We’re all doing the best with what we have. Wherever you go, people are basically good. ***** Find out more about Josh Balt at JoshBalt.Com. James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats @Gmail.Com.

GET OUT(doors)!

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17

There’s no time like the present

... except for maybe 1915

By Markoff Chaney

By

now, you’re probably sick of holidays and those inevitable (and inevitably redundant and/or boring) “Year in Review” and “Top Stories of the Year” articles.

Don’t pretend you’ve kept up with the papers. You’ve probably started the New Year with a stack of old news that would make the Collyer brothers balk.

Instead of recapping recent events, let’s look toward the future … by looking back a century.

Here’s a highly partial, by-no-means complete list of famous, infamous, or otherwise noteworthy 100-year anniversaries to ponder in 2015.

In January, 1915 …

• Jan. 12: The House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote.

• Jan. 19: Georges Claude got the patent for the device that makes neon advertisements possible.

• Jan. 25: Alexander Graham Bell called his former assistant Thomas A. Watson on the first coast-to-coast long distance call.

• Jan. 26: Congress established Rocky Mountain National Park.

In February, 1915 …

• Feb. 27: Typhoid Mary infected 25 people while working as a cook

at New York’s Sloane Hospital for Women. She was quarantined for life on March 27.

In March, 1915 …

• This month: A plague of locusts broke out in Palestine that lasts through October.

• March 3: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the predecessor of NASA, was founded.

• March 19: Pluto was photographed for the first time, though it wasn’t classified as a planet.

In April, 1915 …

• April 4: Blues musician Muddy Waters was born. (He died in 1983.)

• April 11: Charlie Chaplin’s “The Tramp” was released.

• April 24: The Armenian Genocide began with the deportation of Armenian notables from Istanbul.

In May, 1915 …

• May 6: Babe Ruth hit his first career home run (off of pitcher Jack Warhop) for the Boston Red Sox. • May 6: Director, actor, and Paul Masson enthusiast Orson Welles was born. (He died in 1985.)

In June, 1915 …

• June 5: Women’s suffrage was introduced in Denmark and Iceland.

• June 9: Inventor and musician Les Paul was born. (He died in 2009.)

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18 • FEATURE • JANUARY 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

In July, 1915 …

• July 22: Engineer and surveyor Sir Sanford Fleming — the so-called “Father of Time Zones” — died. (He was born in 1827.)

• July 24: English astronomer and science fiction writer Fred Hoyle was born. (He died in 2001.)

• July 28: Comic book artist and late-life Prescott resident Dick Sprang was born.

(He died in 2000.)

Comic book artist and late-in-life Prescott resident Dick Sprang was born 100 years ago. (He died in 2000.) Sprang overhauled the Batmobile, among other things.

In August, 1915 …

• This month: Ada Hitchins published experimental results IMAGE: “Detective Comics,” No. 156, fair use. indicating that radium is formed by the decay of uranium.

Germany’s “Die Weißen Blätter.”

• Aug. 26: Silent film comedian John • Oct. 11: French entomologist Jean Bunny died. (He was born in 1863.)

Henri Fabre died. (He was born in • Aug 28: Illustrator and children’s 1823.) book author Tasha Tudor was born.

• Oct. 15: Detective Stories Maga(She died in 2009.) zine was first published by Street & Smith of New York.

In September, 1915 …

• Oct. 17: Playwright Arthur Miller • Sept. 7: Illustrator and children’s was born. (He died in 2005.) book author John B. Gruelle got the patent for his “Raggedy Ann” doll.

In November, 1915 …

• Sept. 10: Convicted murderer and • Nov. 15: Educator Booker T. Washoldest American death row inmate ington died. (He was born in 1856.)

Viva Leroy Nash was born. (He died • Nov. 18: The silent film “Inspirain 2010.) tion,” the first mainstream movie in • Sept. 15: P.G. Wodehouse’s short which a leading lady (Audrey Munstory “Extricating Young Gussie,” son) appeared nude, was released. was published in The Saturday Eve• Nov. 25: Albert Einstein formulated ning Post. It introduced the world to his theory of general relativity. the characters Jeeves and Bertie.

In December, 1915 …

In October, 1915 …

• Dec. 12: Entertainer Frank Sinatra • This month: Franz Kafka’s nowas born. (He died in 1998.) vella “The Metamorphosis” (“Die • Dec. 21: Singer Werner von Trapp Verwandlung”) was published in was born. (He died in 2007.)

1915 is also the year that …

• L. Frank Baum’s “The Scarecrow of Oz,” the ninth book set in the Land of OZ, was published.

• Walter Bradford Cannon coined the phrase “fight or flight” to describe an animal’s response to threats.

• Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “The Return of Tarzan,” the second book about the titular character, was published.

• T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Afred Prufrock,” which he first began work on in 1910, was published.

• Frederic Goudy created the “Goudy Old Style” serif typeface. Notably, it remains the text typeface for Harper’s Magazine.

• Scottish astronomer Robert Innes discovered Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth after the Sun. • Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin’s “Visual Figures” (“Synsoplevede Figurer”) was published, introducing the well-known optical illusion later known as “Rubin’s Vase.”

• German scientist Alfred Wegener published his theory of Pangaea, which he called Urkontinent.

• H.G. Wells’ satirical novel “Boon” was published under the pseudonym Reginald Bliss.

• Virginia Woolf’s first novel, “The Voyage Out,” was published.

Incidentally, 2015 is the year in which …

• Dr. Emmett Brown, Marty McFly, and Jenifer Parker will arrive from 1989, according to the film “Back to the Future Part II.” Notably, we don’t have hoverboards ... yet.

• The events of Isaac Asimov’s science fiction short story “Runaround” will occur.

• The Union Aerospace Corporation of the “Doom” video game franchise will be founded.

• The first permanent colony will be established on the Moon, according to the movie “Event Horizon.” Incidentally, the starship “Event Horizon” will disappear during its 2040 maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri.

• The events of the anime “Neon Genesis Evangelion” will occur.

The “Rubin’s Vase,” a well-known optical illusion noted by Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin, turns 100 in 2015. Public domain.

***** Markoff Chaney is an Earth-based whodunit pundit and (Fnord) Discordian Pope. He has lotsa bills and no sense. Contact him at NoisyNoiseIsNoisome@Gmail.Com.

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19

Diagnosis: Technology

Keep your nose, devices clean

A few new habits could keep your tech (& other loved ones) clean

By Paolo Chlebecek

So,

now that you’ve got all those shiny new gadgets, how do you keep them clean and protect them? Let’s discuss.

With all of the literal viruses and bacteria spreading these days, it pays to keep things as clean as reasonably possible. According to multiples studies, remote controls, keyboards, and cell phones are among the dirtiest things we can touch. In fact, those items are dirtier than your toilet seat. The reason is that phones are generally warm and, like TV remotes, they have many crevices for bacteria to hide in. A recent study in the United Kingdom even found that some cell phones can be Staphlyococcus (aka Staph) bacteria breeding grounds, which can lead to everything from skin infections all the way to meningitis.

Knowing this, can you mitigate or at least lessen germ effects? Yes — in several ways, in fact.

Wash your hands often.

Yep, we have heard this often, but it’s the simplest way to keep yourself and the devices you touch clean. As long as you are good about washing with hot water and soap for at least 30 seconds.

Use antibacterial wipes.

As long as you’re careful and avoid sensitive areas such as buttons, most varieties of antibacterial wipes will get your devices clean. Just make sure the wipes aren’t especially moist. And, again, avoid flooding the crevices around buttons.

Some brands of wipes, such as ZAGGwipes, are specifically marketed for tech users. They boast

ease of use and streak-free cleaning that knocks out dirt, skin oils, germs, makeup, and grease, among other things.

all of those things will make it to your devices.

Yuk! OK, now try to clean your gadgets — and hands — as often as possible.

Use antibacterial cases or bacteriaresistant screen protectors Several manufacturers offer antimicrobial and bacteria-resistant cases. You’ll have to decide what works best for your particular phone depending on what’s available. Make sure to check model compatibility numbers

***** Paolo Chlebecek is founder and owner of PaoloTek, which he started in 2003. He loves dogs of all sorts and oddly finds himself driving around town between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. every weekday. Wave hi when you see him or contact him at Paolo@PaoloTek.Com.

Consider a UV sanitizer Some of us germaphobes clean our teethbrushes (err, toothbrushes) with an UV sanitizer light that can kill just about anything in just a few minutes.

There are quite a few on the market now. Some are wands that you can hold over an object, others are a case that you put your device in. Still others are a small cabinet to put many gadgets in at once.

They start at about $60 and go way, way up from there into the thousands.

Maybe get a big one and start a gadget sanitizing business on the side.

Reevaluate toilet time Even though we all do it, you should stop taking mobile devices into the bathroom. Just about every surface in a bathroom — especially a public one — is covered in germs and bacteria from Escherichia coli (aka E. coli) to staph.

Nerdology Want some grimy statistics?

Too bad, here they are anyway.

Computer keyboards are five times dirtier than the average toilet seat.

C ell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat.

Think of it this way Consider how many germ-infested things you touch all day, every day. Now, just assume

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Living in Agaveland

Gene Twaronite’s

teeth and spines, proving once again that there is no such thing as a perfect weapon.

Some The Absurd Naturalist

By Gene Twaronite I very much doubt if Carl Linnaeus ever planted an agave in his life. He was a Swedish taxonomist who in 1753 chose the name for this genus from a Greek word meaning admirable or noble. If he had planted one, the Greek word for pain or some choice obscenity would have come to mind instead.

It is hard to plant an agave without getting jabbed once or twice by a terminal spine. This is the rigid, ridiculously sharp spine found at the leaf tips of most agaves. On some species, such as Agave salmiana, it is a long and gracefully recurved, eye-gouging thing of beauty. Some species also have a steroid compound on the surface of the spine that enhances the stabbing pain. Agaves are like that.

The late Howard Scott Gentry, taxonomic wizard of this genus, referred to the general range where agaves can be found as Agaveland, as if it were some kind of mythical kingdom.

Armed with sharp teeth, the spiraling rosettes do seem to occupy their rocky posts like guardians of a distant realm. There are 200-250 species of agaves occupying the drier sites of virtually every kind of habitat, from sea level to over 8,000 feet, throughout much of the arid Western U.S., Mexico, and Central America, as well as the West Indies.

The teeth and spines are supposedly there to protect the plant’s short stem and soft flower stalk from attack by predators. But cattle will eat agaves when really hungry. Javelina will eat them any time they please. And the most serious pests of all are rabbits, blithely eating around the formidable

of the agaves resort to chemical defenses. Agave lechuguilla, for example, contains a substance toxic enough to kill goats. It has been suggested that some of these smaller agaves might be planted to protect areas subject to overgrazing. The goat people might get upset about this.

Agave leaves are usually glabrous, which means without hairs, though it sounds as if it should mean something else. As leaves go, they are remarkably long-lived, persisting for as long as 15 years or the entire life of the plant unless hacked off by some idiot who thinks agaves should look like pineapples.

Like many late blooming humans, most agaves are monocarpic, flowering but once in a lifetime. They may take anywhere from eight to 20 years to flower. The flower stalks in the larger species may reach up to 40 feet in height. These monumental projections of plant matter undoubtedly helped to inspire the word “admirable.” Gentry compares this rapid growth to “a boiler building up a head of steam.” To erect this mighty structure the agave must use up so much of its stored carbohydrate reserves that the leaves are drained and, in most species, the whole plant must die.

In agave flowers, the petals and sepals are hard to tell apart, so scientists just say the hell with it and call them all “tepals,” which does have a cute ring to it.

As a landscape plant, the agave is hard to beat. Not only is it drought tolerant, but its spiral form tends to collect and direct water down to the roots — the plant almost irrigates itself.

as pulque. Gentry points to the considerable effect this drink had on “the esoteric and exotic development of Mesoamerican culture.” That’s one way of putting it.

Those coming later to American shores also found agaves appealing for the mescal and tequila that they could provide. A single Agave tequilana, upon maturity, can produce a cabeza weighing up to 100 pounds, which when distilled is enough to make about 5 liters of tequila. Talk about admirable qualities.

I think of all these things as I plant yet another agave. True to form, one of its stout spines just narrowly misses my eye, and once again I am quietly grateful for my vision and for living in Agaveland.

Column ©Gene Twaronite 2015 ***** Gene’s latest book is “The Absurd Naturalist. Irreverent Musings on Nature,” available from Amazon or your local bookstore. Follow Gene’s writing at his blog, TheTwaroniteZone.Com. “The Absurd Naturalist” logo by Jonathan Devine.

Few

plants have been as intimately involved in human culture. Their fiber and fleshy hearts have been used for everything from food, clothing and shelter to fish stringers, paint brushes and musical instruments. Various tribes in Mexico have cultivated agaves for centuries.

The thick short stem known as a “cabeza” is a rich source of carbohydrates that provided Native Americans with the fermented beverage known

5ENSESMAG.COM • JANUARY 2015 • COLUMN • 21

Not-asholy days You

recently gorged on a glut of holidays, but there’s no reason the party has to stop. Consider celebrating …

Jan. 3: Festival of Sleep Day • Stay in bed. Float upstream.

Jan. 7: Old Rock Day • Fossils rock.

Jan. 13: Skeptics Day • According to whom?

Jan. 15: Hat Day • Brimming with ideas.

Jan. 16: Nothing Day • Jan. 18: Thesaurus Day • Happy birthday, Peter Roget.

Jan. 21: Squirrel Appreciation Day • It’s nuts.

can reach lengths of 10 feet and weigh more than 300 pounds. They feed on nearly any animal they can catch, including waterfowl.

So tough are their scales that early people used them for arrowheads and spear tips.

Typically found in freshwater, this unique animal can thrive in marine waters as well. The gar’s fertilized eggs are poisonous to humans, birds, and other animals. Young garfish are hatched with suction cups on their noses that enable them to attach themselves to plants while they use up their generous yolk sac.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... Though this fish has gills, it can supplement its oxygen supply by going to the water’s surface and filling its swim bladder with air. The bladder then acts as a lung to help this ancient fish survive in oxygen depleted pools. *****

The

Piddock is a type of shelled animal that mechanically bores into solid rock by moving its hinged shells back and forth like a kind of drill. Once it has burrowed into the stone it can take its food particles from the sea during high tide.

Jan. 25: Opposite Day • No, it’s not.

Jan. 29: Puzzle Day • Figure it out.

Jan. 31: Backward Day • Yad Drawkcab. *****

Garfish

ODDLY ENOUGH ... The Piddock often destroys the strength of the boulders or cliffs that it inhabits. This causes them to collapse, destroying their own homes. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian.

Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

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Where ancient meets abstract