2015-06 5enses

Celebrating art & science in Greater Prescott

Alan Dean Foster argues for intelligent (product) design P. 10

Ty Fitzmorris

calms before much-needed storms P. 14

Jacy Lee

leaves no stoneware unturned P. 19

James Dungeon

digs up horror-able truths about ‘Witch Child’ P. 20

And much2 more

AMPERSAND:

Laark Productions battles the Bard of Avon JUNE 2015 | VOLUME 3, ISSUE 6 | 5ENSESMAG.COM

P. 16

WORLD BISTRO LIKE US ON

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5enses In which:

Sue Smith

4 5 6 7 10 11

spies a silver-lined cloud on the proverbial horizon, despite some desperate, desolate days in the wilds.

Johanna Shipley

James Dungeon

welcomes a big bird to Prescott who seasonally visits between stays in places that rhyme with Nantucket.

talks Shakespeare, pine trees, and “As You Like It” with Karla and Lane Burkitt of Laark Productions.

Peregrine Book Co.

Plus

14 5/6 16 8 18 19 20

Ty Fitzmorris

picks some prickly plants that you might otherwise call weeds to showcase the beauty of many-flowered pollinators.

June 2015 • Volume 3, Issue 6

Copyright © 2015 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

Publisher & Editor: Rev. Nicholas M. DeMarino, M.A. 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.

Audacter calumniare, semper aliquid haeret.

Flip Photo

A visual puzzle from the Highlands Center for Natural History

Left Brain/ Right Brain

Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

22 22

Oddly Enough Smart, quirky comics by Russell Miller

Not-as-holy-days

Enjoy some alternative reasons for the season(s)

Paolo Chlebecek

staffers read up on Shakespeare and Star Wars, lean poetry, animal noises, biollionaires, and literary ghost stories.

mines consumer data and plugs away at an argument in favor of favorable big data minding.

Kathleen Yetman

Jacy Lee

Alan Dean Foster

Robert Blood

taps into a unbeatable vegetable narrative and is tickled pink by a prime Prescott folate-full food.

“The Lord of Orange.”

2’ x 2’ painting, oil on board by, Robin Lieske. Fine art photography by Pat Warwick. See Page 11 for more.

throws stoneware crocks in a glass jar house and neither kills fowl or calls foul on pieces of Americana.

mothers necessary invention tips for designers who’ve yet to tame vacuum cleaners, electric cars, or cereal boxes.

talks obscure witch burials, scary movies, and Kickstarter with Andrew Johnson-Schmit of the Burns Unit.

James Dungeon

COVER: ”The White Boat” detail. 30” x 24” painting, oil on board, by Robin Lieske. Fine art photography by Pat Warwick. See Page 11 for more.

talks about mediums, media, and transitions with Prescott printmaker turned painter Robin Lieske.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2015 • CONTENTS • 3

Plant of the Month

Thistle Arizona Thistle (Cirsium arizonicum).

Photo by Sue Smith, Cals.Arizona.Edu/ yavapaiplants.

By Sue Smith

Thistles.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that word?

Probably weed or nasty invasive plant. While many species of thistles fit these ideas, it’s important to know there are three beautiful common, native species in the Prescott area: New Mexico Thistle (Cirsium neomexicanum), Arizona Thistle (Cirsium arizonicum) and Wheeler’s Thistle (Cirsium wheeleri).

What looks like a thistle flower is actually a collection of many small flowers. Consider the artichoke, which is actually a type of thistle.

The “leaves” you eat are actually the bracts that enclose many young flowers that you don’t eat, i.e. the choke.

If you let an artichoke flower mature and bloom in your garden, you’ll discover a beautiful flower head with many small flowers. In a thistle, each of these small tubular flowers produce pollen and seeds.

Thistles are in the Aster family, a very important group of flowers that provide nectar and pollen for native bees, beetles, and other pollinators.

Nature Based Wellness Develop Your Inner Resources to Navigate Life Transitions

They are also plants that bees nest beneath or within or harvest parts from to construct nests. Thistles meet many needs for bees: They’re open during the day time; they’re brightly colored; they provide good landing pads; and a long tongue isn’t necessary to get their nectar.

New

Mexico and Arizona thistles are biennials that produce a basal rosette of leaves the first year and a flower stock their second year. However, they can at times act like Wheeler’s thistle and mimic perennials.

Local native species tend to be smaller than non-natives and have smooth stems.

New Mexico Thistle is a tall plant.

It has erect stems and sparse leaves that are greenish-gray. This broad flowering thistle is sometimes called power puff thistle because of its rounded flower heads that range from stark white to soft pink or lavender flowers. It is found in

grasslands, mesas, roadsides, and canyons.

Arizona Thistle is compact with cylindrical flower heads that often bloom vibrant red throughout most of the the Prescott area. However, blooms can range from red to pink to lavender.

Wheeler’s Thistle can be found in our pinyonjuniper woodlands to ponderosa pine forests with striking lavender flowers.

So, next time you’re out hiking and see a thistle, stop, check it out, enjoy its unique structures, and ask yourself a question. Is it native or not? ***** Sue Smith is the president of the Prescott Chapter of the Native Plant Society and a Yavapai County Master Gardener.

Visit the Arizona Native Plant Society Prescott Chapter at AZNPS.Com/ chapters.prescott.php.

“Tell me ... what is it that you plan on doing with your One Wild and Precious Life?”

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- Mary Oliver

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Experience the Nature Based Wellness healing approach that takes you into nature to connect with your authentic self in order to grow. Your session will take place in the natural surroundings of Prescott, Arizona.

Call for a Free Introductory Consultation

970-217-8698

Joseph Paul McCaffrey – Ecotherapist – MS Counseling/Ecopsychology, MA Ed Psych

4 • FEATURE • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Visit me on www.josephpaulmccaffrey.me

Bird of the Month

in your Feed the Wild Birds backyard with Quail ...

QUALITY wild bird food.

15 lb Quail Block made in Arizona only $12.99

Pelican A rehabilitated Pelican is released at Willow Lake on Oct. 26, 2014. Photo by Jim Morgan.

By Johanna Shipley

During

spring and fall migration, lucky birders at a Prescott Lake may witness a remarkable sight. Huge white birds with black wingtips wheel and soar on rising thermals, seeming to disappear and reappear as they turn in the sunlight. This is one of North America’s largest birds, the American White Pelican.

With a wingspan of up to 9.5 feet, and weighing almost 20 pounds, a White Pelican is larger than a Bald Eagle. Groups of pelicans spend the winter on the southern coasts, then pass through Arizona on their way to island breeding colonies on northern rivers and lakes. White Pelicans don’t build elaborate nests; they just scrape up rocks and vegetation into a shallow cup. They lay two eggs, but only one chick survives. Amazingly, the embryos squawk inside the egg if they get too hot or cold.

It

takes about 150 pounds of fish to raise a pelican chick. Adults eat three pounds of fish a day, generally minnows.

A pelican’s lower jaw is flexible and has a large soft bill pouch (a gular pouch) attached.

When the bill is pushed through the water the jaw spreads out and the pouch expands much like a balloon, allowing the bird to scoop up large

quantities of water and fish. Then the head is raised, the bill is closed and the water is allowed to drain out, leaving the fish to be swallowed. Early naturalists thought that pelicans stored fish in their pouches but that’s not so. Still, that belief inspired Dixon Lanier Merritt’s famous limerick: A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill will hold more than his belican, He can take in his beak Enough food for a week But I’m damned if I see how the helican!

How does a large, slow bird catch a speedy little fish? Cooperatively.

Lines of pelicans actually herd fish towards shore, dipping their heads in synchrony to make the catch.

A wonderful bird is the pelican, indeed. ***** Johanna Shipley has been birding for more than 20 years. She’s a retired science teacher, biologist, and professional bird guide from the Midwest. She’s lived in Prescott for three years and is enjoying getting to know the western birds. Contact her at LaughingBird@Live.Com. Visit Prescott Audubon Society at PrescottAudubon.Org. Contact them at Contact@PrescottAudubon.Org.

25 lb bags of white prose millet only $12.99 Offer expires 6/ 6/30/15

www.jaysbirdbarn.com 1046 Willow Creek Rd, Suite 105 Prescott

(928) 443-5900

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

pilF Photo

Who’s got sensational sustenance-finding sensilla?

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2015 • FEATURES • 5

Peregrine Book Co.

Staff picks

By Peregrine Book Co. staff “William Shakespeare’s Star Wars”

By Ian Doescher Shakespeare. Star Wars.

Together. Awesome. — Jon

Highlands Center for Natural History’s

Flip otohP

... beetles.

There

are more than 350,000 species of described beetles that have amazing sensory organs incomparable to our own.

Beetles and other invertebrates have specialized sensory organs called sensilla that can be located on their antennae, complex mouth parts, legs, wings, and even their abdomens. The sensilla are usually small hairs that detect specific stimulus from the environment (e.g. touch, smell, taste, temperature) or even secrete chemicals during food consumption. For example, species of the Rhinoceros Beetle (Dynastinae) use complex sensilla in their horns that help them determine the size and strength of a potential opponent when they’re fighting for territory or a mate.

6 • FEATURES • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

“Poems: 1962-2012”

By Louise Glück While Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Gluck, whose father invented the X-acto knife, has favored a lean line throughout the fifty years of her published verse, she has reinvented her voice with each subsequent book, making this collection one of astounding breadth and depth. Drawing from myth and family, from nature and sex and her own body, she addresses her reader directly, with courage and simplicity.

To read Gluck’s poetry is to face one woman’s truth unmasked, in all its fierceness and beauty.

—Michaela “The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places”

By Bernie Krause You will never perceive the world in the same way again, after reading Krause’s passionate and knowledgeable examination of the soundscapes that form an invisible and disregarded, but allimportant other dimension of the world around us. —Reva

“This Land was Made for You & Me (But Mostly Me): Billionaires in the Wild”

By Bruce McCall & David Letterman What kind of absurd exploitation of nature can money buy? How about a three-thousand mile personal highway constructed from hollowed-out California Redwoods? This book is absolutely hilarious.

Also, a bit terrifying. — Jeremy “Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story”

By Diane Setterfield When tragedy repeatedly strikes brilliant and hitherto fortunate Will Bellman, he is drawn into a complex reckoning born of a thoughtless childhood act-- the casual slaying of a rook.

An alchemical combination of down-to-earth storytelling and compelling magical realism. In brilliantly crafted prose, Setterfield lays out a story not quite mystery, not quite fantasy, but a literary combination of both. —Ty ***** Visit Peregrine Book Company at PeregrineBookCompany.Com and 219A N. Cortez St., Prescott, 928-445-9000.

Vegetable of the Month

The Highlands Center for Natural History and Laark Productions present two performances of Shakespeare’s

Shakespeare in the Pines

As You Like It Friday, June 26th and Saturday, June 27th 2015

in the beautiful Highlands Center Outdoor Amphitheater ReCeptiOn ReC Re Cepti eptiO On begins at 6:30 pM pM with actors joining the audience to begin the peRfORMAnCe peRfORMA ORMAn nCe at 7:00 pM pM

June

is a wonderful time to enjoy fresh beets from local farmers. In Yavapai County, fresh beets, Beta vulgaris (also known as “beetroot”), are generally in season from April to September.

With season extensions, many farmers can stretch the season into the winter.

Most people are familiar with red beets, but there are additional varieties of different shapes and colors.

Golden Beets are becoming more available as farmers diversify and Chioggia Beets are beginning to pop up at farmers markets and grocery stores. Chioggia Beets have a lighter pink hue on the outside and a pink and white candy-stripe bulls-eye on the inside.

Today’s beets are thought to have evolved from wild beet, which originated along coastlines.

Initially, people only consumed the leaves.

Beets were first domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East before becoming popular for both their color and medicinal qualities across Europe.

Both

beetroot and beet greens have health

benefits. Beetroot is high in folate, is a good source of Vitamin C, and contains significant amounts of potassium and manganese. Beet greens are loaded with Vitamin K and are a good source of Vitamin A. One local dietician prescribes beets to patients with high blood pressure. Several recent studies have found that the nitrates found in beet juice dilate blood vessels leading to a lower blood pressure for the drinker.

Most people either love or hate the earthy taste of beetroots and their greens. Some adventurous ways to eat beets: shredded raw in a green salad; pickled in vinegar brine; in a smoothie with raspberries and bananas; in a cake for color; or in hummus.

If you’re going to test out a new beet recipe, get them while they’re fresh. ***** Kathleen Yetman is the Managing Director of the Prescott Farmers Market and a native of Prescott.

Visit the Prescott Farmers Market every Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to noon from May through October at Yavapai College.

Call

928-776-9550 for information.

Tickets available online at highlandscenter.org

4

Presented by

Highlands Center for Natural History

Prescott’s 4th Friday

ART WALKS

4FRIDAY ’S

By Kathleen Yetman

proceeds go to support nature-based educational programs for children.

COT T

Beet photo from Whipstone Farm.

Photo by Shanti Rade.

PRE S

Beets

Fundraiser – $60 ticket price includes catered appetizers by El Gato Azul, wine, beer from the Black Hole Beer Company, dessert and coffee.

EVERY

TH

2015 January 23 February 27 March 27 April 24 Beginning at 5 PM May 22 June 26 July 24 August 28 September 25 October 23 November 27

See Special Events

www.ArtThe4th.com

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2015 • FEATURE • 7

Left Brain: June’s mind-full events Events

4 5 6

“Grand Canyon Through a Hiker's Eye” • 5 p.m. Thursday, June 4: Tom Martin presentation including various hikes from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs at Lake Mead.

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

18

White Spar Campground bird walk • 7 a.m. Friday, June 5: Local, guided bird walk at White spar Campground with Ryan Crouse. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP) LAN party • Noon Saturday, June 6: Play multiplayer computer games like “Quake,” “Counterstrike,” and “Tribes.” A monthly Local Area Network party via Western Sky PC. (Game On, 1957 Commerce Center Circle Suite C, Prescott, PPCGG.Com)

“Two Six-Shooters Beats four Aces: The Lives of Men on the Arizona Frontier” • 1 p.m. Saturday, June 6: Dr. Barbara Marriott discusses the pioneer men who first road in the Arizona Territory, including incredible gun battles, deadly weather, outlaws, and evasive fortunes. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385, $5-$7) “How to Market Your Published Work” • 2 p.m. Saturday, June 6: Book publisher Bala Zuccarello discusses his 40 years of experience in the business, publishing, marketing, cover design, and succeeding in the book business. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

9 11 12 13

Willow Lake bird walk • 7 a.m. Tuesday, June 9: Local, guided bird walk at Willow Lake with Johanna Shipley.

(Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP) Elliot Eisenberg • 11 a.m. Thursday, June 11: Nationally acclaimed economist Elliot Eisenberg talk.

(ERAU Davis Learning Center, 3700 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-6985) Evening Forest Walk • 7 p.m. Friday, June 12: A family-friendly adventure in the evening forest. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550) Prescott Audubon Bird Walk • 7:30 a.m. Saturday, June 13: Monthly Audubon bird walk. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928776-9550)

“Ancient Native American Astronomy” • 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13: Ken Zoll discusses ancient Native American astronomy. A 2nd Saturday Lectures Series event. (Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230) “The Devil Wears Clogs” • 2 p.m. Saturday, June 13: Travel memoirist Jennifer Burge talks about her new book and the ups and downs of a life abroad. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

18

“Aldo Leopold” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18: Steve Morgan portrays Aldo Leopold, the father of the national wilderness system, wildlife management, and best known for the book “A Sand County Almanac.” A Highlands Center Chautauqua Series event. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, RSVP, $8-$14)

“Our Amazing Sun” • 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 18: Randy Shivak, amateur astronomer, discusses the star at the center of our solar system that he's studied and photographed for the past 46 years. Via Prescott Astronomy Club’s Third Thursday Star Talks. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-778-6324) IMAGE: The Sun, via the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer, Stanford-Lockheed Institute for Space Research. Image by NASA, public domain.

20 27 21 28 26 Multi-day

Flume Trail bird walk • 7 a.m. Saturday, June 20: Local, guided bird walk at Flume Trail with Eric Moore. (Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP) “Starry Nights” • Time TBA Sunday, June 21: A Prescott Astronomy Club Star Party in honor of the Summer Solstice. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-778-6324)

Kendall Camp bird walk • 7 a.m. Friday, June 26: Local, guided bird walk at Kendall Camp with Bonnie Pranter.

(Jay’s Bird Barn, No. 113, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900, RSVP)

“All Hat & No Cattle: The Language of the American West” • 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27: Steve Renzi discusses the use of words and phrases rooted in the American West, like “brand,” “maverick,” “railroaded,” “climb down off your high horse,” and “passing the buck.” (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385)

local insects, birds, geology, plants, and more on city trails. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

Prescott Orchid Society • 1 p.m. Sunday, June 28: A monthly Prescott Orchid Society meeting. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

Naturalist Field Walks • 8 a.m. Saturdays: Discover more about local insects, birds, geology, plants, and more at the Highlands Center for Natural History.

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

Naturalist City Walks • 8 a.m. Wednesdays: Discover more about

8 • EVENTS • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Prescott Area Boardgamers • 5 p.m. Wednesdays, June 10 & 24: 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)

June’s art-full events :niarB thgiR

3 4 7 13

26

Events

Poetry discussion group • 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 3: Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly poetry discussion group.

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

Poets’ Cooperative • 6 p.m. Thursday, June 4: Share your work with other poets in a supportive atmosphere.

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

Lloyd Kiva • From June 6: New exhibit featuring works

by Lloyd Kiva. (Smoki Museum, 147 N. Arizona Ave., 928-445-1230, $6-$7) “Figments of The Imagination” • Through June 14: Found object and nostalgic oils by Judy Kaufman, welded steel by Darrell Woods, and cast bronze by Charles Adams. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

Organic Potluck Picnic • 4 p.m. Saturday, June 13: Great food, samples and recipes, outdoor activities, and unity with others dedicated to building a healthy, sustainable, and amazing local community. Bring an organic dish to share. Via GMO-Free Prescott. (Prescott National Forest Thumb Butte Picnic Ramada, GMOFreePrescott@Gmail.Com)

American Indian art show • Through June 16: American Indian art show. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

“My Life in Art” • Noon Tuesday, June 16: Bill O’Hagen discusses his life and art in film. (Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286) “A Midsummer Night’s Queen” • 5 p.m. pre-show VIP, 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Saturday shows, June 20: Join the fun and laughs with drag queens Mya McKenzie, Luna Love St. James, Kendra Katoure, and CoCo St. James (Stage Too, alley behind Murphy’s and Peregrine Book Co., MidsummerNightsQueen.BPT.Me, $15-$30)

Astrology workshop • 2 p.m. Saturday, June 20: Titiana ShostakKinker discusses the basic influences within your natal astrological chart. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000) “You Gotta Have Art!” • 5 p.m. Saturday, June 20: First annual benefit auction . (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510, $10)

21 24 26 27

Summer Solstice Celebration • 6 p.m. Sunday, June 21: Pool, organic raw vegan potluck, poetry with Johnny Light, Happyo and special guests, and song, plus optional hike. (Heaven on Earth retreat, 928-308-2146, Happy@HappyOasis.Com, RSVP for directions, $10) Open mic poetry • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 24: Poet Dan Seaman emcees monthly open mic poetry.

(Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

Bruce Haughey • Through June 17: New ceramics by Bruce Haughey. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “The Eyes Have It” • From June 18: Annual photography show. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

“The Essence of Equus” • 5 p.m. Friday, June 26 artist reception in conjunction with 4th Friday Art Walk; June 15 through July 14 show: Sculptural steel works by Lin Hall and photography by Susan Kordish. This is Lin Hall’s last show in Prescott. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223) IMAGE: “Watch Me Fly” by Lin Hall. Courtesy photo.

Multi-day Modern-day meditation • 7:20 p.m. Wednesdays, June 3 & 17: Open. Calm. Think. Act. An active, four-part practice. (Blackbird Yoga 322 W. Gurley St., 303-903-2630)

4th Friday Art Walk • 5 p.m. Friday, June 26: Monthly art walk including more than 18 galleries, artist receptions, openings, and demonstrations.

(ArtThe4th.Com)

“Monty Python’s Spamalot” • 7:30 p.m. June 4-6, 11-13, & 18-20; 2 p.m.

June 7 & 14: Lovingly ripped off the classic comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Spamalot” retells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and features a bevy of beautiful show girls, cows, killer rabbits, and French people. Directed by Bruce Lanning. (Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286, $14-$23)

Contra Dance • 7 p.m. lesson, 7:30 p.m. dance Saturday, June 27: Contra dancing. Via Folk Happens.

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

Folks art fair • 10 a.m. June 6 & 7: 42nd annual festival featuring art from a simpler time.

(Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-2133, $3-$7)

“Improvitionians” • 8:30 p.m. Saturday, June 27: The Prescott Center for the Arts Improvitionians provide improv comedy at 5,000 feet. (Stage Too, North Cortez Street alley between Willis and Sheldon streets, 928-445-3286, $5)

Jody Miller • From June 1: Western lifestyle photographer Jody Miller art display. (Prescott Valley Public Library, 7401 E. Civic Circle, 928-759-3040) Willem Van Der Heyden • From June 4: New art by guest artist Willem Van Der Heyden. (That New Gallery, Gateway Mall near Dillard’s, 928-445-0788)

Antiques on the Square • 8 a.m. Sunday, June 7: 70 vendors cater a variety of antiques. Benefits Prescott Thumb Butte Questers. (Yavapai County Courthouse Square, 928-443-8909)

16 20

Art

“As You Like It” • 6:30 p.m. June 26 & 27: Laark Productions presents Shakespeare’s zany pastoral romp at the second annual “Shakespeare in the Pines” event. Proceeds benefit the Highlands Center for Natural History.

(Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550, $60) Community Yoga • 5:15 p.m. Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10 a.m. Saturdays: Free community all-levels 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) Mindfulness meditation • 6:30 p.m. informal sit, 7 p.m. formal sit Tuesdays: Meditation group open to people of all faiths and non-faiths followed by optional discussion. (First Congregational Church, 216 E. Gurley St., PrescottVipassana.Org) Saturday Night Talk series • 7 p.m. Saturdays: “Taking Ownership of Life: Moving Beyond Blame & Resignation,” “Friendly Enemies: Our Greatest Spiritual Ally is Closer Than We Think,” “Mary Oliver & Friends on Aging & Impermanence” and “May the Heat of Suffering Become the Fire of Love.” (Vigraha Gallery, 115 E. Goodwin St., 928-771-0205, $5)

Karel Armstrong • From June 19: Watercolor and pencil 2D artwork and woodwork 3D artwork by Karel Armstrong. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “Point of Time & Texture” • Through June 22: A colorful, textural exhibit of peace featuring meditative photography by Esmeralda Ruiz and handmade paper art by Annie Alexander. (Yavapai College Art Gallery, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031) Carolyn Dunn • Through June 24: New work by photographer Carolyn Dunn. (Arts Prescott Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717) Mary Hays & Heath Krieger • From June 26: Works by painter/printmaker Mary Hays and potter Heath Krieger.

(Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341) “Black & White With a Splash of Color” • Through June 27: Black and white pieces with, ahem, a splash of color. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 Alarcon St., 928-445-2510) “Drip, Dribble, & Splat” • Through June 27: Go abstract and have fun with painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, metal, and glass.

(Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286) “Convergent” • Through June 28: New art by Maria Lee and Dana Cohn. (The Raven Café, 142 N. Cortez St., 928-717-0009) “Street Seen” • From June 29: This exhibit asks locals artists “What is seen on the streets you travel?”

(Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286)

9

Formless factor

Alan Dean Foster’s

Perceivings

Redesigning the design of design you can feel safe pulling the contraption through a room without bashing up grandma’s heirloom furniture. Or the paint on your walls. Brushes that will not clog with pet hair. A wheel system that moves at least as efficiently as a pair of roller skates.

I mean, is that too much to ask? Even if it requires a design that isn’t quite so pretty? No wonder Roomba robot vacuums are so popular: People can’t hear them cursing at the cat litter.

By Alan Dean Foster Here’s the problem with the design of consumer products these days.

They’re not designed by consumers.

They’re conceived by engineers and professional “designers.” I doubt the word “utility” ever enters into the process.

Take

vacuum cleaners. Allow me, for a moment, to be slightly chauvinistic.

Want to bet how many vacuum cleaners are designed by women? What, no takers? The engineers who design vacuum cleaners are obsessed with two things: suction power and how their device will stack up at the next international industrial design awards. How many of the builders and sellers do you think have actually tried to utilize their devices to clean up, say, cat litter? Those wonderful rotating brushes they seem so fond of and can’t seem to kick? Spit cat litter all over the room. Try vacuuming the stuff up and you find yourself making tiny field goals all over the house.

In contrast, someone who actually has to use the dang thing in real life wants the following. As much silence as possible. A cord that will reach all the way across an average living room or den (cordless upright vacs don’t count because they’re not even powerful enough to kick those kitty litter field goals). Something without 23 filters that don’t have to be fine enough to snag Ebola: just household dust. Enough external padding so that

Or

take the electric car. For years, decades, we were told it wasn’t doable. Told that by the auto industry’s engineers and the designers.

Then this Elon Musk guy comes along and thinks, instead of starting with the design for an electric car, why don’t we start with the … electric?

In other words, take a big battery and build a car around it instead of trying to shoehorn a battery into a car design. The BMW i8 is a perfect example of the latter approach. Beautiful car, exquisite lines; just not very electric. The legacy auto manufacturers can’t seem to get away from letting their design studios dictate what they build. So we have one actual electric car manufacturer — Tesla — and a bunch of also-rans who make cars that happen to be a little bit electric. There’s a big difference, as any consumer can tell you.

Television manufacturers; now they got it right.

Because they started with the picture and built everything else around it.

Music — that was different. Remember when stereos used to come in variations of giant cabinets all designed to look like expensive furniture? Eventually some smart folks started asking consumers what they wanted in music players and, lo and behold, the consumers said “music!”

Not furniture. Music. So the smart stereo makers began separating out the parts of the giant stereo

10 • COLUMN • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

I‛m not complaining that the new vacuum works underwater, changes its own filters, and syncs with my iPhone. I just wish it had a longer cord.

cabinets that actually made the music and selling them as separate components: speakers, amp, turn-tables, tape decks, etc. Nor was it a surprise that the biggest manufacturers of individual components were Japanese. There’s no room in the typical Japanese household for giant wooden cabinets of any kind.

The food industry has been slow to catch on.

One day, some smart producer is going to set aside the mantra of design and come out with packaging that says, “This box is full to the top of the product you’re buying.” Think that will outsell boxes twice as big that are half empty? Do they really think we buy the excuse you find on every box that says, “Contents may have settled in shipping?”

Let

the consumer design a few products and see how manufacturing changes.

And if we don’t start with vacuum cleaners and electric cars and cereal boxes, how about a container that holds wet wipes whose contents don’t dry out a week after it’s opened?

Bet those would sell. ***** 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.

“Do Android Maids Dream of Electric Dustbusters?”

Components public domain.

Illustration by 5enses.

Brushwork

Robin Lieske (reluctantly, triumphantly) embraces a new medium

By James Dungeon She’d put it off for nearly 55 years. But, after resettling in Prescott around 2006, printmaker Robin Lieske finally picked up a paintbrush.

“It was time to do painting,” Lieske said. “I’d put it off long enough.”

Her introduction to the medium wasn’t exactly encouraging, though.

“It felt like somebody had amputated my arm from the elbow down and just stuck a stick in it,” she said.

Over the decades, the physicality of printmaking had taken its toll on her, but Lieske wasn’t ready to hang up the proverbial palette. Painting was supposed to herald her artistic rebirth. Instead, the lodestone had proven to be millstone.

“Truthfully?” Lieske said. “I hated painting.”

Life & art The middle child of five, Lieske grew up in Minneapolis mesmerized by the works of Goya, Michelangelo, and Velázquez in her parents’ Met Museum of Art books.

She started drawing as a child, but decided to pursue the sciences rather than the liberal arts when she enrolled in Prescott College in 1971.

“I didn’t last long, though,” Lieske said. “All I wanted to do was draw.”

While she was there, she was inspired by Western photographer Jay Dusard, whom she cited as her first graphic arts teacher. Lieske dropped out but stayed in the area for about seven years. During this period, she met her now husband-of-40-some years, Bill, started a family, and discovered printmaking during a class with Mirta Hamilton at Yavapai College.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >>> “The Mermaid.” 2’ x 4’ painting, oil and pastel on board, by Robin Lieske.

Fine art photography by Pat Warwick.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2015 • PORTFOLIO • 11

... FROM PAGE 11

CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: “The Red Wheel”; “That Dream with Giant Tattooed Horses,” 3’ x 4’ oil on board; Robin Lieske touches up “The White Boat,” 30” x 24” oil on board; and “Things in the Dark,” 2’ x 2’ oil on board.

All paintings by Robin Lieske.

Fine art photography by Pat Warick.

Robin Lieske photo by Bill Lieske.

12 • PORTFOLIO • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

“There was something about the physical process of printmaking that really appealed to me,” Lieske said.

“I’d thought I’d truly found my medium.”

Art was sidelined by life, though, and the Lieskes moved to Phoenix in 1976.

“There were more opportunities there,” Lieske said. “We both wanted to do art, but we figured it’s better to make your money first then do your art.”

Lieske taught English as a second language and raised three children.

“Once our youngest son was in kindergarten, it got easier to find time for art,” Lieske said.

After enjoying the resources of Arizona State University’s graphics department, she set up shop at home.

Lieske etched countless images— sometimes as stand-alones, sometimes as series, and sometimes as the guiding illustrations for works of prose.

“Usually I have dreams that lead to images and then images lead to stories,” Lieske said. “That might sound backward, but it works for me. Sometimes I have to use multiple mediums to fully express an idea.”

Still, she put off painting. ...

Starting again “She said that?! I wouldn’t believe Robin if she said she hated painting.”

That’s Paul Abbott, Lieske’s painting mentor of about four years. (If you want to see him frown, try calling him a guru.)

“She’s gotten very good at it in a very short period of time, and she knows it,” Abbott said. “There’s no mastery of this thing, whatever the medium, and I think she’s very aware of that, which helps.”

Lieske first saw Abbott’s work at show at The Raven Café. When she accepted that she wouldn’t be able to continue printmaking and needed to adopt a new medium, she took one of his classes which, at the time, was at The Art Store.

“I found out that painting is a very liquid medium and, because you’re using brushes, it can be inexact,” Lieske said. “That’s quite a change from working with etching needles that are very pointed and hard.”

In order to bridge the familiar and unfamiliar, she spray-painted her early canvas boards copper to approximate the appearance of printmaking.

“And I kept thinking, ‘I can’t wait to pull an image off of this,’” Lieske said with a laugh. “It was a really big struggle. I’d even collage these tex-

tures onto the canvas just so my brush had something to grab on to.”

Abbott said it’s not unusual for artists to bring in years of experience in other mediums.

“I challenged Robin to think of it as learning a different skill first,” he said.

“Then, later, she could bring them back together as she saw fit.”

It proved humbling.

“I went from being very good in one medium to being very bad in another,” Lieske said. “I found that embarrassing at first.”

Work, work, & more work (plus even more work) “When she’s determined about something, she doesn’t shirk away.

She’s going to keep working at it.”

That’s Lieske’s husband, Bill, who can attest to the hours at the easel his wife has racked up in the last few years.

“Keep in mind, she’s been drawing since she was quite young, so her draftsmanship was never in question,” Bill said. “But she wasn’t able to get the paint to behave the way she wanted it to at first. … And she was vocal about it.”

Lieske spent —and, indeed, spends — a lot of time in her home studio, where Abbott now teaches his classes.

“There are no shortcuts with art,” Lieske said. “You have to put out hundreds of pieces before you’re going to find your footing. So far I’ve done 55 paintings and, after three-and-a-half years, they don’t suck.”

The progression from her early paintings to present is illuminating.

Her use of textures and layers is no less prevalent, but their integration has become less artifice and more artful. Indeed, they’re integral.

“She’s creating a hybrid paintings,” Bill said. “There’s a character to the surfaces of her pieces that only comes from printmaking.”

Abbott concurred.

“Paintings have a life of their own, and Robin’s are very personal, very quirky, and have a lot of unexpected elements in them,” he said. “Even though she’s been very humble about her first steps, she’s achieved a quality that’s really amazing for any artist.”

Despite her waxing painting prowess — a recent show at The Raven Café, her second there, showcased a much more focused, stylized set of images — Lieske remains timid.

She is, however, warming up to painting.

“I’m no longer as frustrated with it as I once was,” she said. “I enjoy painting … I guess.”

***** See more of Robin Lieske’s work at MoonLogic.Com/Wordpress.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats @ Gmail.Com.

13

News From the Wilds

By Ty Fitzmorris

June,

in most years, can be a pretty tough time in the Central Highlands. It is reliably the driest month, with nearly two out of five years receiving no precipitation at all, and most others receiving only the most minute amounts. If there is any rain, it comes at the end of the month with the first of the monsoonal storms. In fact, the drought of June is critical in bringing the rains of July, as the hot, dry air in the Sonoran Desert and the Interior West rises and draws the moist, humid air from the Sea of Cortez to our region. This regional climatic pattern is observable locally in the movement and development of different cloud species.

June mornings tend to dawn clear and bright, but especially toward the end of the month, cumulus clouds appear and build in the hot afternoons. These clouds may start as relatively small Cumulus humulis, wider than they are tall, and uniformly white, and then turn to Cumulus mediocris, as tall as they are wide, and with gray bases, and eventually to towering, 30,000-foottall Cumulus congestus storm clouds. It is only this last species that brings with it the most precious of all resources in the high desert — water. And with those first, massive raindrops the quiescent, drought-stressed landscape begins its strident reawakening.

Until that time, however, the wilds remain very dry, with most of the creeks of the Prescott area not flowing at all, though the perennial spring-fed streams of the Verde

Valley, such as Beaver, Clear, Fossil, Sycamore, the Verde, and the Agua Fria, do continue to run during this time. These few wet areas around the Central Highlands are burgeoning with life, and now is the time to see some of our most spectacular migrant birds, including the tanagers and orioles, as they finally come into our region from the south. Elk, Mule Deer and Abert’s Squirrels are giving birth now, while Otter kits are weaned and Badger kits and Bobcat kittens leave their dens for the first time. The eggs of many species of birds hatch, and adult birds tend their young in anticipation of the coming time of plenty when the rains finally come.

June

is our single most dangerous month for fires, due to extremely low fuelmoisture (water content in woody and herbaceous plants), the increase in lightning late in the month, the prevalence of dry grasses, and the number of people in the backcountry that mishandle fire. In fact, fuel moistures of live plants in deserts can sometimes drop below fuel moistures of dead wood, making live plants more flammable than downed deadwood. In the high desert, as with most of western North America, it is profoundly important that we use fire with extreme caution, and not complicate the already difficult situation that our firefighters and land management agencies face through our sometimes catastrophic mistakes. While fire is a vital force in the wilds, it must be treated with extraordinary caution. *****

June weather Average high temperature: 85.9 F, +/-3.0 Average low temperature: 49.4 F, +/-3.7 Record high temperature: 104 F, 2013 Record low temperature: 25 F, 1899 Average precipitation: 0.37”, +/-0.52”

Record high precipitation: 2.46”, 1972 Record low precipitation: 0”, 37 percent of years on record Max daily precipitation: 1.35”, June 26, 1954 Source: Western Regional Climate Center

14 • FEATURE • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Western Screech Owls are teaching their young to fly and fend for themselves now, in advance of the coming monsoon rains. Photo by Ty Fitzmorris.

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 com-

munity 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.

Skyward • June 2: Full Moon at 9:19 a.m.

• June 6: Venus at greatest eastern elongation. Venus is at its highest in the evening skies, reaching 45.4 degrees east of the Sun, or nearly half the way from the Sun to the zenith at the moment of sunset. It is also half full (or its theoretical dichotomy), appearing through binoculars much as the first-quarter Moon.

• June 16: New moon at 9:05 a.m. and June Lyrid Meteor Shower Peak after midnight. This is a minor shower, but the dark skies might reveal a larger number of meteors than would normally be visible.

• June 21: Summer Solstice in northern hemisphere at 11:38 a.m. The northern hemisphere of the Earth is at its maximum tilt toward the Sun now, and the Sun appears to be at its furthest north, which places it directly above the Tropic of Cancer. This is the longest day of the year, and marks the beginning of summer, though it’s also the moment after which the days begin growing shorter.

• June 24: Mercury at greatest western elongation. Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, is at its highest in the morning sky before sunrise, at 22.5 degrees. Mercury rises just over an hour before the Sun. • Highlight: Venus and Jupiter will be drawing closer during this month in the western skies after sunset culminating in an extraordinarily close conjunction on July 1. Venus is the brighter of the two and is lower in the sky, though it achieves its overall highest in the evening sky on June 6.

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

By Ty Fitzmorris High mountains • Butterflies proliferate in the high altitudes. Look for metalmarks, blues, and admirals.

• Silverstem Lupine (Lupinus argenteus), with its tall, lilac flower spikes, blooms, drawing our one bumblebee species, Bombus sonorus, to its flowers.

Visit: Maverick Mountain Trail, No. 65.

Ponderosa Pine forests • Ponderosa Pines release their wind-borne pollen during this conspicuously windy season. Strong winds carry pine pollen for long distances, thereby increasing genetic diversity through outcrossing of pines from different regions.

• Abert’s Squirrels (Sciurus aberti) give birth. These squirrels are important for Ponderosa Pine health, as they consume and disperse truffles and other mushrooms, which pines rely on for nutrient uptake.

• New Mexico Locust (Robinia neomexicana) flowers in the pine understory. This gorgeous leguminous shrub fixes nitrogen in the poor soils of the pine forests, which is critical for the growth of other species.

• Dalmatian Toadflax (Linaria dalmatica), one of our most aggressive non-native invasive plants, flowers.

This is one of the few plants in the Central Highlands that can be removed without qualm when encountered. Look for its semi-succulent, rubbery leaves and bright yellow flowers, which give it its other name, Butter and Eggs, and try to remove whole root systems when possible.

Visit: Miller Creek Trail, No. 367.

Pine-Oak woodlands • Arizona Thistle (Cirsium arizonica) flowers. This is one of the few hummingbird-pollinated thistles.

• Bobcat kittens emerge from dens following their mother as she hunts and often preventing her from hunting by their playing and clumsiness.

• Canyon Wren (Catherpes mexicanus) young fledge from their nests and begin learning to fly. These lovely wrens form monogamous pairs that

Red Satyrs (Megisto rubricata) are among the species of butterflies that first emerge in June.

Photo by Ty Fitzmorris. last for years, and can be seen exploring granite boulders in areas such as the Dells for spiders and insects.

Visit: Little Granite Mountain, No. 37.

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands • Gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer), important grassland predators of rodents, lay eggs in large clutches, and hatchlings appear starting in August. These very long constrictors (up to 8 or 9 feet!) will sometimes mimic rattlesnakes when threatened, but have no true rattles, and are not venomous or dangerous.

• Mule Deer give birth to their spotted fawns, which weigh as little as eight pounds, and will remain hidden for the first month of their life.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

Grasslands • Evening primroses (Oenothera spp.) flower in profusion.

• Young Badgers emerge from dens for the first time to play, especially in the evenings.

• Ringtails, cat-like relatives of Raccoons, begin giving birth after a seven-week pregnancy.

• Mexican Free-tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) give birth to a single, nearly helpless pup, which remains

in its nursery with the young of other bats. When the mother return to the nursery with food she finds her child among the throngs by its unique song. Mexican Free-tails can live up to 10 years, and eat as much as 80 percent of their body weight per night of insects.

Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345.

Riparian areas • Many of the creeks in the Central Highlands, with the exception of spring-fed perennial streams, stay dry until monsoon storms come.

• Western Screech-Owl young fledge this month, and can be heard calling after their parents with a short, descending three-note trill late in the twilight.

• Black Hawk eggs hatch, and young can be seen perching on nests, watching for their approaching parents.

• Young Great Blue Herons begin fishing alone for the first time, often following other fish-eating species, such as Common Mergansers, to find the best fishing grounds.

• Common Mergansers can sometimes be seen with their young ducklings riding on their backs. Look for them especially in lower Granite

Creek, Willow and Watson lakes, and the rivers of the Verde Valley.

• Yellow Monkeyflowers (Mimulus guttatus) flower by perennial creeks in the Verde Valley, while Texas Mulberry (Morus microphylla) sets fruit, drawing tanagers and other birds to their delicious berries.* • Chick Lupine (Lupinus microcarpus) flowers in wet streamside seeps in the mountains, such as Butte Creek, Miller Creek, and Aspen Creek.

• Young Botta’s Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bottae) leave their parents’ dens and establish their own.

These gophers are fundamental in the maintenance of soils through oxygenation and nutrification.

Visit: Willow Lake Loop Trail.

Deserts/Chaparral • Ocotillos flower, providing important nectar resources for hummingbirds. Ocotillos have lost their leaves now, their primary drought adaptation. They can still perform photosynthesis without leaves, however, using photosynthetic bark which contains chloroplasts.

• Manzanita fruits are nearly ripe, and are edible and delicious even when green. Beware the large seeds, however, which are hard and inedible.

• Preying mantids reach their winged, adult stage, and begin searching for sites to deposit their resinous egg pouches. Mantids are important predators of many types of insects.

• Crucifixion-thorn (Canotia holacantha) “flowers” on hillsides, though strictly speaking this species is more related to pines and junipers than to the flowering plants.

• Saguaros, the second largest cactus in the world, continue to flower, attracting Mourning Doves by day and Mexican Free-tailed Bats by night.

Visit: Agua Fria National Monument. *Always consult with a trained professional before ingesting any part of a wild plant. This information is not intended to encourage the attempted use of any part of a plant, either for nutritive or medicinal purposes.

15

The play’s the thing

Laark Producitons stages second ‘Shakespeare in the Pines’

By James Dungeon [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Karla and Lane Burkitt, founders of Laark Productions, whose upcoming production, “As You Like It,” is 6:30 p.m. Friday & Saturday, June 26 & 27 at the Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 Walker Road. Tickets are $60.

Find out more at LaarkProductions.

Org and HighlandsCenter.Org.] I understand you were involved in the theater community, but not everyone who does that starts a production company.

Why, specifically, did you found Laark Productions?

Karla: One of our friends in Tucson who’d worked on Shakespeare here in Prescott is also friends with people at the Highlands Center and put us in contact with each other. We found out the Highlands Center was looking specifically for Shakespeare, so I thought we must reply to this. …

We did our presentation. I think they were thinking of doing some scenes — something small — but I went in with, “We need to do ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream,’ the whole thing, with costumes and props,” and we managed to sell them on that.

Lane: As part of that, we became a subcontractor with the Highlands Center, so we formed a company to foster that relationship. It’s easier to communicate with other organizations when you’re an organization, not just a couple of people into plays.

Rosalind (Reva Howard) teaches Orlando (Ben Lamb) a thing or two about love in “As You Like It.” Photo by Marion Johnston.

Last year, for the first “Shakespeare in the Pines” event, you staged “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” How was that?

Karla: The beauty of the Highlands Center — the trees and breezes, the stars coming out, it all reinforces those beautiful speeches.

Oberon and Puck had these great speeches where they talked about the sun and moon, and Puck does this speech about nighttime and darkness, about things that go bump. It plays really, really well when you’re outdoors.

Lane: We like performing outdoors, too. There’s something great about the lack of control of the environment — even the wind and rain. It brings an immediacy to the performance.

Karla: Don’t forget the rattlesnakes.

Lane: There was only one.

Karla: That was my favorite thing.

In all the time I’ve done theater, I’ve never got a minute-by-minute update on the pre-show location of a rattlesnake. It was never an issue during rehearsals but, the first night of performance, there was a rattlesnake on the wall by the amphitheater. We would get updates before

the show, “OK, it’s off the wall.” “OK, it’s moving up the hill.” So, yeah, we got rattlesnake updates. That wasn’t really a challenge, just an interesting thing. I think the biggest challenge with working with the Highlands Center was the adjustment period, as far as communication goes. The Highlands Center carried the weight for everything for the event — from advertising to prepping the space and getting volunteers. We tried to bring in a fully functional production.

So, what can you say about this year’s production, “As You Like It”?

Karla: “As You Like It” is another comedy. Shakespeare’s comedies are popular and play well. Part of the reason we decided to do “As You Like It” is because it has a forest setting, which makes sense at the Highlands Center.

Lane: We’d like to get people out to the Highlands Center who’ve never been there before. That’s part of the drive behind “Shakespeare in the Pines.” It’s something different than what most theater people do.

Karla: It’s great to have that amphitheater, but we also try to use the environment, so some parts of the play happen offstage. This

isn’t a presentation where someone faces one direction. People enter into it. You should feel like a part of it, not just an observer. The show itself is, well, convoluted. The story is that the duke has been exiled by his younger brother and has gone and made a camp in the forest. It’s a little Robin Hood thing, and, in fact, the play references that by name. Rosalind, the daughter of the banished duke also gets banished, and her cousin goes with her. In order to pass unmolested, Rosalind dresses as a boy and the cousin dresses as a peasant girl, so they’re pretending to be brother and sister.

They go into the forest and meet all sorts of different people. Eventually everybody’s in the forest. I don’t think anybody’s left in the court proper except the usurping duke.

We decided that it plays well being interpreted in the court of Louis XIII of France. One of sons, who hasn’t been to Versailles, but has heard us talking about it, suggested we use the Gardens of Versailles. So, instead of being in the deep, dark woods, these wealthy, spoiled people of the court think they’re roughing it out in the wilds, but they really never get further than the royal garden. The peasants and people there somewhat take advantage of the situation. So, yeah, there’s a lot of social satire. …

There’s lots of things, like they meet a shepherd who sells them a tool shed as a house.

Lane: And he probably sells it every weekend to the aristocracy who’ve wandered too far away from the place.

Lee and Karla Burkitt, founders of Laark Productions. Photos by Bree Purdy.

16 • FEATURE • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Karla: There’s a young man who’s fallen in love with Rosalind and his brother wants to kill him, and he writes love poems and hangs them from the trees, and they find them as they walk around and, they’re really, really bad. She meets him, dressed as a boy, and he doesn’t recognize her, and she tells him, “You’re wasting your time being so romantic and women aren’t worth it. I’ll teach you how to woo a women.” And she gives him lessons on how to woo a woman. … It’s Shakespeare, so of course there’s gender bending. In his time, all the roles were played by men anyway. It’s really about mistaken identities. One of the interesting things is that “As You Like It” ends with a quadruple wedding. Everybody meets somebody they fall in love with, so there are eight people who are paired off and everything works out. The usurping duke meets a holy man and decides to give it all up and turns the kingdom back over to the brother and everyone comes back to the palace. So, the worst thing that happens is the bad guy goes to a monastery.

Lane: The play is really an excuse to mock the aristocracy. It doesn’t

have any deep themes, not really.

It does have some of the greatest soliloquies in all of Shakespeare, though.

Karla: The “All The World’s a Stage” speech is from that, and there are a few songs that are really wellknown, too.

in from last year, some of them are coming back, and they’re really excited about this. The wrestling match is going to be a whole show unto itself. Charles will come in in a robe, maybe put his arms around some ladies — paying customer — signing autographs. It’s really funny.

Read the extended interview at 5ensesMag.Com. What else would you like to say about the production, aside from the story?

Karla: There’s also a wonderful wrestling match we should mention. … You know, WWF-style wrestling, just in case you think Shakespeare is a sissy. We’re making posters for it, “Charles the Wrestler.” It’s interesting, in the original text of the play there’s no stage direction for it. It has the lines and then it says, “They wrestle,” and then there are some more lines. That’s all you get. As actors, you have to figure out what that means. With the people we pulled

Looking forward, what’s next for Laark Productions?

Karla: To survive this year. We’re doing three productions at the moment. We did “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Camp Verde public library, “As You Like It” at the Highlands Center is second, and, in September, we’re doing “The Tempest” at Arcosanti. It’s quite an undertaking getting through the three of those.

Lane: It won’t be clear if we’re going to survive until we’ve been around at least three years. It’s seasonal, only a few shows a year.

We don’t solicit donations — it even says that on our website — and if you want to support our productions the best thing to do is to donate to our partners. We’re not looking to get a piece of the shrinking pie for these kind of organizations. We’d prefer to partner with people to help them raise money. We’re not looking to grow a business and we don’t want to build a space. We just want to do shows, to work with more fun people, to entertain people, and introduce some of them to Shakespeare. ***** See “As You Like It” at 6:30 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, June 26 & 27 at the Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 Walker Road. Tickets are $60.

Contact Laark Productions at LaarkProductions.Org. Contact the Highlands Center for Natural History at HighlandsCenter.Org and 928-776-9550.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats @Gmail.Com.

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17

Diagnosis: Technology

Why data matters, what it promises, and why it’s necessary...ish

By Paolo Chlebecek

Recently,

I was patronizing a store that was recovering from a power outage. Naturally the computers systems weren’t functioning, which caused long

Have the awareness but struggling to make the changes?

If it feels like you’re trying harder and harder and getting less and less in return, it might be time to try something different.

Subconscious resistance is often present when we can’t seem to move forward; without the support of the subconscious mind, you’re simply not going to make the changes you need. When you have it, though, the sky is the limit!

Read to make changes the funfast-easy way? Call or text Erica at 928-308-7650. Mention the code Change5 and receive a free 20minute phone session.

Track this column

lines and frayed nerves. It got me thinking on one profound thought.

Our dependence on technology: Is this a good or bad thing?

Just

when did we become so entangled with tech? In short, it’s been happening quietly and somewhat conveniently under our collective noses. We’ve been using computers or computerized aids in our daily lives since the 1960s. Back, then it comprised mostly of communication and manufacturing systems. If you picked up a phone and used it since the ‘60s, some or all of your interaction depended on a computer.

Today, our dependence can be likened to an appendage — it’s something we can’t do without.

While my intention isn’t to start a debate on the pros and cons of technology, you can guess where I stand. Instead, I’d like to explore why we need technology or, at least, some kinds of it in the modern world.

The rationale is simple: More people generate more needs, which generate more data, which needs to be tracked. So, when you go to the store and the computer is on the fritz, you have to wait for the “old way” of doing things or maybe you can’t even buy anything at all.

Indeed, we have become more impatient as a society. We expect services that are fast and friendly with little or no hiccups. But when that doesn’t happen, the collective “we” — who includes the employees and owners of said businesses — get impatient or mad.

So

why do we need to keep track of so much data? That old adage that “knowledge is power” holds water.

Something as simple as buying a bar of soap entails an incredible amount of information. Then, add the manufacturer, transporter, store, and ultimately the consumer, it leaves quite a trail of data.

If it were collected and analyzed, it could lead to more efficiency and hopefully better savings for all parties involved. For instance, if you knew what time of day most people buy a certain kind of soap at a certain location, a store could prepare and make sure to stock those items.

More importantly, there are so many choices now that the manual way of keeping track of them simply doesn’t work anymore.

Try as we might, there’s too much information for us humans to keep track of properly, so we let computers do the work for us. Between 1975 and 2008, according to Consumer Reports, the number of products in the average supermarket ballooned from an average of 8,948 to almost 47,000. That’s a lot of things to keep track of. Whether or not we really need that many is beside the point, for now.

Naturally,

many people are concerned about privacy. Why should the store keep track of what, when, and why I buy a particular product?

Well, when they do, they can target advertisements and send coupons to keep us coming back to buy it again. Yes, customer loyalty is a major concern for manufacturers and sellers these days. Ultimately, better tracking should lead to better products, yet that hasn’t happened on a large scale yet.

Believe it or not, I’d be one of the first to recommend unplugging and enjoy nature for a while.

Let them try and track that. On second thought, they probably already have. ***** 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.

18 • COLUMN • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

‘Stone me’

A meditation on American stoneware

By Jacy Lee

Have

you ever been to a Tupperware party?

Well, I haven’t, although I use Tupperware. And Pyrex. And glass jars. And plastic bins of all shapes and sizes.

With the exception of the glass, these are fairly modern conveniences. What, you might rightly ask, were the common ways of home and store storage 150 years ago? Well, there were tins, crates, and wooden boxes.

And there was stoneware.

Stoneware, or earthenware, held several distinct advantages over its metallic and wooden counterparts. Compared to tin, stoneware was easier to produce. Metal had to first be discovered in ore form then mined, thus metalware was often more costly and time consuming.

Good, pottery-quality clay for stoneware was often available courtesy of a relatively shallow dig in the ground. Easily molded by hand or on a wheel, clay was decorated then fired. Although firing required high temperatures, it didn’t have to be smelted, that is, refined and separated. Once it’s cooled, the piece is done. In contrast to a wooden crate, stoneware was impermeable to moisture, bugs, and vermin. (Incidentally, I’ve sold many a kitchen cupboard with rodent damage to the back or drawer back. This is considered quaint now, but when a rat chewed

through a 1 inch solid plank in the 1880s, it was a travesty.)

Stoneware was impervious to rot or corrosion from acids, like vinegar, and other messy products like horseradish. In buildings that had inadequate cooling or stifling heating systems, stoneware permitted more stable climate control.

Early

American stoneware, mainly from Northeastern states like New York and Vermont, was prolific from the late 18th century to the late 19th century.

It was decorated by hand with cobalt blue dye before firing. The easiest and most common design was the Bee Sting or Stinger. It was a continuous circle pattern that started from a mid-point and spiraled outward.

Other common decorations included flowers, deer, and birds. Such alternate designs command more money than the Stingers. Specialized painting such as houses, farm scenes, and landscapes are even higher in value.

The most unusual piece I’ve ever seen was procured by a friend from Kansas. It features a hilltop with a tree and an American flag with just the right amount of stars to include Kansas. Early 19th century pieces with unusual decorations can

An assortment of stoneware crocks. Photo by Daniel Christensen, Creative Commons 3.0. bring anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000.

As

the population of the U.S. grew and shifted, mass production of crocks and jugs permeated the Midwest. I refer to these mass produced items as factory pieces. Instead of hand painting, these pieces were adorned with a stamp. Big producers included companies like Monmouth, with their blue leaves, and Western. One of the most prolific and collectible companies is Red Wing, from Minnesota.

Their logo is a red wing above which is stamped a gallon number. Common sizes, in gallons, are between 1 and 20, but I’ve seen them as large as 50- or 60-gallons — the size of a garbage can. I also have, in my own collection, a newer Red Wing the size of a large shot glass.

Further west, to the coast, the

need for crocks swelled. Pacific, from Portland, Oregon, met this need for the Northwest. In L.A., Bauer, known for their kitchenware, also produced crocks in their early days.

The process was pretty much the same, only kitchenware was usually colored and glazed over the entire piece. Perhaps they copied the idea from Red Wing and Monmouth, also known for producing kitchenware and artistic pieces.

Stoneware still has seen some limited use in the last 50 or so years.

Beer and wine have been marketed this way, as well as jams, butter, and some condiments.

So, the next time you walk into a modern country store and have a choice of receptacles for your syrup purchase, remember to say “stone me.” ***** 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.

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5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2015 • FEATURE • 19

Witch hunt

Burns Unit sets sights on horror feature Arizona to excavate an unmarked cemetery. He accidentally releases the vengeful ghost of a girl who was executed as a witch 300 years ago and they turn to an unconventional ex-priest to help save them in the ensuing melee.

“Witch Child” poster

by Marchetti Photography.

By James Dungeon [Editor’s note: The following interview was culled from conversations between the reporter and Andrew Johnson-Schmit, co-director, co-producer, and co-writer of the horror movie Witch Child.

The locally shot feature is filming locally this summer and slated for a late 2016 release. Find out more at WitchChildMovie.Com and Facebook.

Com/Witch ChildMovie.]

What’s your elevator pitch for “Witch Child”?

It’s “Poltergeist” on the prairie. It’s about a down-on-his luck archeologist who takes his reluctant family out in the middle of nowhere in

Where does the story come from?

Some of it’s based on reality, actually. This last year, in Italy, they excavated a cemetery and found a new grave they didn’t know was there. When they opened it up, they found a young woman who was buried face down, which apparently is done when they don’t want the person to rise during the resurrection. My wife, Angie, came up with the whole story from there. The three writers — Angie, myself, and Christian H. Smith — all pitched a movie idea to work on. We did “Coyote Radio Theater” for eight years, which was fun. We’ve been writing together for 18 years, counting that, and we wanted to do a horror movie. We picked Angie’s pitch, hands down. There’s a lot to work with in the time period we’re talking about. There’s the Pueblo uprising, it’s during the Inquisition — all this crazy stuff is happening. So let’s have this girl accused of being a witch, not only buried face down, but chained in the coffin, and the coffin is full of holy water. When the coffin comes up, all this murky stuff comes out. It’s a really dramatic visual. I came up with the idea of having her float into the room superimposed on the shot. We’ll shoot the actress under water then rotoscope the image, pull her out, and superimpose her on the scene. This way, her hair and costume will really flow. By the way, it’s almost impossible to not have bubbles coming, out of clothing when you film underwater. Oxygen has a way of sticking around.

In Hollywood, you’d pay a couple of scruff y young men $20 an hour to remove every last bubble digitally. We don’t have that kind of budget, so we needed a reason for why the bubbles were there.

So that’s how you got the holy water in the coffin.

The “Witch Child” Kickstarter made $10,000 of its $15,000 goal within 24 hours. That obviously reflects a lot more than a single day’s work.

It’s an overnight success that’s five years in the making, right? Each of the 13 members of this group identified at least 20 people to reach out to personally to do something in terms of donation on Day One. Our goal wasn’t so much to make vast sums of money on the first day, but to have a lot of individual movements, people jumping in, either doing something or spreading the word. Kickstarter is very sensitive to that kind of movement.

As you move up in popularity — in terms of the number of contributors you have — you get their attention and may become a staff pick. By the end of that first day, we were listed as No. 3 in terms of all of Kickstarter in the entire world for popularity. It was a real eye opener for us. Everything we’d learned about Kickstarter turned out to be relatively true. That’s a surprise given that Kickstarter is relatively new and everyone’s still guessing how to do it. We attended a Phoenix Comicon panel in 2014 with people who’ve done multiple successful Kickstarter campaigns and talked to them. Personally, I’ve backed 17 Kickstarter campaigns and Angie’s backed 12. I’ve talked to some of them.

I’ve also made friends with a couple through the Prescott Film Festival who did a horror comedy who’ve done some fantastic work with Kickstarter.

They raised $100,000 and they worked it scientifically. I wanted to ask people like that how they did it. As we got closer, we had a list of three people who agreed to look at what we had for the Kickstarter and offer feedback and suggestions before it went live. From there we made some changes and reworked some things. Some of that’s little things. One particular: We were using the movie poster for our icon on Kickstarter. Someone suggested tightening that image on the hand holding the doll, more of a close up, to make it pop as an

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20 • FEATURE • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Kendra Katour

7 p.m. & 9 p.m.

Coco St. James

Luna Love St. James Mya McKenzie

Angie Johnson-Schmit.

Photo by Forrest Sandefer. icon when you saw it online. So we changed that, which gave the whole thing a different look. … It’s funny that so many people who are pitching in a visual medium park a camcorder on their kitchen table and just talk for their pitch video. As someone who works in a visual medium, I’m sensitive to that. Moreover, the audio — the acoustics — in a kitchen are horrible. So, for our video we tried to go above and beyond. We needed to show we could make a horror movie.

If Joss Whedon uses Kickstarter to fund a pet project, people know he can deliver, but when Andrew and Angie Johnson-Schmit say they want to make a movie, people say, “Who the hell are they?” So, we hit upon the idea of doing a short video that demonstrated we could make the movie we were promising. The script for the video took a while — it’s short, but compact, like a haiku — but we got it done.

As a horror movie, where does this fall between, say, “Bambi” and “Cannibal Holocaust” or “House of 1,000 Corpses”?

Maybe three quarters between them? You can’t look at horror as a continuum, though. Horror has a lot of branches. “House of 1,000 Corpses” falls into “body horror” which is slashing and hurting of the body. We don’t do that. We’re doing supernatural horror. It’s something more like “Poltergeist” or “The Woman in Black” or modern Japanese horror like “The Ring.” It’s atmospheric.

This is an attempt by artists to create genre pic that appeals to a range of people who want to leave behind the work day. If art comes out of that, that’s a bonus. That’s not the intention, though. We’re not crazy about slasher movies. After a 40- to

“Witch Child” Kickstarter video still by Josh Orlando.

60-hour week, you might not be in the mood to see viscera. What we’ve got is a supernatural thriller. We have something we think will appeal to somebody in every culture. Every culture has ghosts. … We don’t do much with jump scares. The movie is more about really creating an idea of place. We take it for granted that Arizona has this beautiful landscape that, to people elsewhere, is exotic. We see the setting as an extra character in the story. The film starts with a number of shots in a town, but then the characters go off into desert. If something happens out there, there ain’t nobody coming soon.

This is straight-faced, while “Dead Votes Society” was social satire with black comedy. Why do you think horror so often gets paired with comedy?

They both elicit involuntary responses. That’s the beauty of horror and comedy. In a drama there’s all kind of leeway. It can be complex, but you can be sloppy and there’s no “yes” or “no” in terms of the audience’s reaction. But if you’re not laughing at a comedy, it doesn’t work.

If you’re not leaping out of your seat or the hairs aren’t standing up on the back of your neck when you watch a horror movie, it doesn’t work. It gives you a standard to go by. … In our pitch video there’s one little comic moment in the whole thing. Comedy can be a relief, a break. It’s like with ginger or wasabi with

Andrew Johnson-Schmit.

Photo by Forrest Sandefer.

Read the extended interview at 5ensesMag.Com. sushi; it cleanses the palate.

be out in the fall of 2016.

So what’s next for “Witch Child”?

Well, the Kickstarter will be done by the time this goes to print. We’ll have had the audiences for the major characters. We’re still looking for some cast and crew, though. We’re filming in July and August. It’s 10 days on the Date Creek Ranch. Plus there’s the pool shoot for the witch and the high school shoot. It should

***** Find out more about Witch Child at WitchChildMovie.Com and Facebook.Com/WitchChildMovie.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination. And he likes cats.

Contact him at JamesDungeonCats @Gmail.Com.

21

Not-asholy days Without

a major holiday in sight — but, hey, make sure to call your dad — you could just get up, get out, and enjoy the wilds. Or you could scare up a few reasons to stay on the porch this month. Consider celebrating ...

On

the same date – Dec. 5, in 1664, 1785, and 1860 – a ship sank in the Menai Strait near North Wales. In every one of these instances, there was only one survivor.

ODDLY ENOUGH ... In each case, the single survivor was named Hugh Williams!

June 1: Flip a Coin Day • A 50/50 proposition.

June 3: Repeat Day • Repeat Day. June 9: Donald Duck Day • AKA Peter-Pantless Day. June 18: Splurge Day • Treat yo-self.

June 19: Sauntering Day • Idle feet ...

June 20: Hollerin’ Contest Day •Shout it out loud.

June 23: Pink Day • [))Crayola))> June 25: Catfish Day • Friend or feast?

June 29: Camera Day • Picture perfect.

June 30: Meteor Day • The sky is falling.

*****

On

April 27, 1865, America’s worst shipping disaster occurred. The Sultana, a Mississippi paddle-steamer, designed to carry 376 passengers, was carrying 2,500. Many of the travelers were former Civil War prisoners of war, heading North to be repatriated.

ODDLY ENOUGH ...

The struggling boilers exploded while pushing the enormous weight, killing most on board while they slept.

Well over 1,500 people died, clearly more than perished in the Titanic incident 47 years later. ***** Russell Miller is an illustrator, cartoonist, writer, bagpiper, motorcycle enthusiast, and reference librarian. Currently, he illustrates books for Cody Lundin and Bart King.

Bellydance Classes with of New Moon Tribal Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced classes held at Lotus Bloom Yoga Studio

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22 • FEATURES • JUNE 2015 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Huckeba Art Gallery 227 W. Gurley St. Prescott, AZ 86301 928-445-3848

www.huckeba-art-quest.com charlesnjill@yahoo.com

We do custom art pieces & special commissions