2013-06 5enses

EE FR

5enses Celebrating art & science in Greater Prescott

June 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 6

Planes, trains, & supercomputing It’s all in a day’s work for Earl Duque

Alan Dean Foster gives plastic containers their walking papers Ty Fitzmorris daydreams about clouds, ill winds, & coming storms

And much2 more!

5enses In which:

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Ruby Jackson

raises a glass to new, new-ish, and favorite diners, boutiques, watering holes, concert series, and brewfests.

Eric Moore

4 14 16 15

doesn’t quail at the thought of watching a cutesy covey of nascent birds scurry after their parents.

Andrew Johnson-Schmit Ty Fitzmorris waves hello to the annual Tsunami on the Square performing arts festival.

roughs out a tough month in the Central Highlands with an eye toward approaching storms.

Helen Stephenson

Matt Dean

Wyatt Frazee

Gene Twaronite

Jimmy Polinori

Paolo Chlebecek

Alan Dean Foster

Sadira DeMarino

James Dungeon

Jacques Laliberté & Nancy Ibsen

recommends a gig that doesn’t pay well, has few perks, but could land you an Oscar.

takes an ultra deep view of the Hubble Telescope and its infamous Hubble Ultra Deep Field mosaic.

reacts to the amazing culinary confluence of amino acids, sugar, and extreme heat.

asserts the glass is neither half empty nor half full — it’s wholly plastic.

talks number crunching & data visualization with Earl Duque of Intelligent Light.

Jill Craig

finds out a critter’s home is, indeed, his castle, especially if he’s a lady bagworm.

June 2013 • Volume 1, Issue 6

Copyright © 2013 5enses Inc. unless otherwise noted.

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

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

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

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surrenders intel about how civilian wartime programs lead to a modern hobby.

espouses a magnanimously monospecific take on marriage, naturally.

recounts a cautionary tale about Internet security and helps you protect your data.

talks jewelry, inspiration, metal, & meddling with artist Megan Dean.

canvas the county with all the news that’s fit to print.

PLUS

Left brain/Right brain Find out what’s going on in Greater Prescott

Weathering Kites & Sun Blockage The science of play COVER: Hovering V22 (Osprey) tiltrotor’s isosurfaces of the second invariant of stress tensor, colored by position. Neal Chaderjian, NASA Ames Research Center, courtesy image.

THIS PAGE: National Renewable Energy Lab Unsteady Aerodynamics Experiment wind turbine’s vortical wake. Simulation by Christopher P. Stone, Computer Science and Engineering, and Marilyn Smith, Georgia Institute of Technology, courtesy image.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • CONTENTS • 3

Left Brain: June’s mind-full events COTTONWOOD PENINSULA BIRD WALK

1

MOON WALK • 7:30 p.m. Sunday, discover the wonders of the forest illuminated by the (almost) full moon.

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

• 7 a.m. Saturday, Bonnie Pranter leads a Cotot d Barn, Barn tonwood Peninsula bird walk. (Jay’s Bird 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900)

ZOO BY MOONLIGHT

“DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A BOOK, PLAY, AND A MOVIE”

• 8 p.m. Sunday, visit the zoo by moonlight or flashlight. (Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary, 1403 Heritage Park Road, 928-778-4242, $5/$3 members)

• 2 p.m. Saturday, theater professional Kate Hawkes’ workshop about producing plays and film adaptations from books. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

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WHITE SPAR CAMPGROUND OUND UND BIRD WALK

5 6 8

PRESCOTT ASTRONOMY CLUB B

• 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, monthly meeting. g.

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

• 7 a.m. Friday, Eric Moore leadss a White Spar ird Barn, Barn Campground bird walk. (Jay’s Bird 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900)

“COOKIES FOR GROWN-UPS”

“DID YOU KNOW YOU’RE E EATIN’ GMOS?”

• 5:30 p.m. Thursday, author Kelly Cooper er shares the history of cookies and her recipes cip cipes with cookie samples and adult beverages. s.

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

• 2 p.m. Sunday, GMO-Free Prescott scott talk about genetically modified food. (Bodyy Language Studio, 900 N. Arizona 89, 928-636-2007)

YNDIA SMALLEY

NATIONAL GET OUTDOORS DAY AY

• 2 p.m. Sunday, Dr. Elizabeth Bruening-Lewis, retired Arizona State University professor, discusses the life of Yndia Smalley, who founded the publication that became Journal of Arizona History, a Skirting Traditions lecture. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-3122, $5/$3 members)

• Saturday, U.S. Forest Service waives fees ees es at Alto Pit, Granite Basin, Hayfield Draw, Lynx Lake, Mingus Lake, and Thumb Butte.

(FS.USDA.Gov/Prescott)

AUDUBON BIRD WALK • 8 a.m. Saturday, bird walk. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

CITIZENS WATER ADVOCACY GROUP • 10 a.m. Saturday, Camp Verde Economic Development Director Steve Ayers’ talk, “Human Folly and Its Impact on the Verde Valley.”

(Granite Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation building, 882 Sunset Ave., 928-445-3218)

“TOOLS OF THE TRADE” • 10 a.m. Saturday, a presentation featuring pioneer items necessary to sustain a home during the state’s territorial period, an Arizona Living History Adventure. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-3122)

“RATTLESNAKE RULES” • 11 a.m. Saturday, children’s author and science writer Conrad J. Storad’s book presentation about the amazing world of rattlesnakes.

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

“SWIM WITH MR. WATER” • Noon Saturday, children’s author Connie Foss book signing. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

“CREATING ART IN A SOCIETY OF CONFLICT” • 2 p.m. Saturday, Tsunami on the Square performers discuss creating art in a climate of conflict and violence. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

Vintage “Man in the Moon” illustration. Via TheGraphicsFairy.Com, public domain. See June 23 listings for some moon-related festivities.

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BRADSHAWS BIRD WALK K

• 7 a.m. Friday, Eric Moore leads a Bradshaws bird walk. (Jay’s Bird Barn, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900) 43 5900) 43-5900)

HIGHLANDS CENTER FOR OR NATURAL HISTORY GEOLOGY Y HIKE

PROFESSIONAL WRITERS OF PRESCOTT • 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, monthly meeting.

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

“THE WEST IN ART”

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• 8 a.m. Saturday, author Jim Neal al leads eads a short geology hike followed by a book signing and rere ception. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

• 1 p.m. Saturday, Jerry Smith, Phoenix hoenix A Art Museum Western art curator, discusses scusses depicdepic tions of the West in art. (Phippen n Museum, Museum 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385)

“THE ONLY ONE LIVING TO TELL”

“THE ELEMENTS OF A PLAY”

• 2 p.m. Saturday, publisher Gregory McNamee’s book presentation about Yavapai Indian Mike Burns’ autobiography. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

• 2 p.m. Saturday, theater professional Kate Hawkes’ workshop about story, visuals, dialogue, and story adaptation. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

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23

ELEANOR “ELLIE” MATTAUSCH TAUSCH AUSCH

PRESCOTT ORCHID SOCIETY CIETY

• 2 p.m. Sunday, Dr. Gail Bornfield, ld, d, author of “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” order,” talks about Eleanor “Ellie” Mattausch, usch a child of the Great Depression who later became a Phoenix broadcaster and newspaper editor, a Skirting Traditions lecture. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-3122, $5/$3 members)

• 1 p.m. Sunday, monthly meeting. ng. (Prescott Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500) 00)

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GRANITE DELLS BIRD WALK WAL

• 7 a.m. Friday, Bonnie Pranter leads eads a Granite Dells bird walk. (Jay’s Bird Barn, 1046 Willow Creek Road, 928-443-5900) 43-5900)

4 • EVENTS • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

“VOICE OF THE CAHUAMA” • 2 p.m. Sunday, author David Byrn reading and presentation with Seri folk art. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

Multiple days PRESCOTT AREA BOARDGAMERS • 5 p.m. every other Wednesday, June 12 and 26, play board games. (Prescott Public Library, Founders Suite, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

NATURALIST CITY WALKS • 8 a.m. Wednesdays, discover more about local birds, geology, plants, and more. (At select city trails, HighlandsCenter.Org, 928-776-9550)

NATURALIST FIELD WALKS • 8 a.m. Saturdays, discover more about local birds, geology, plants, and more. (Highlands Center for Natural History, 1375 S. Walker Road, 928-776-9550)

DROP-IN CHESS • 2 p.m. Saturdays, play chess, all ages, skill levels welcome. (Prescott Public Library, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

June’s art-full events :niarB thgiR

1 2 3

PRESCOTT DOLL SHOW

“SHADOWS OF THE MESA”

• 10 a.m. Saturday, third annual doll show.

(Wyndham Garden Hotel, 4499 E. Arizona 69, 928-445-8559, $5/free for children under 12)

• Through June 16, Southwester paintings, illustrations, and photos featuring artists who visited Kayenta during the early 1900s. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385)

ANTIQUES ON THE SQUARE

“EXPRESSIVE ART THROUGH PAINTED & TURNED WOOD”

• 9 a.m. Sunday, more than 50 dealers offer a variety of antiques and collectibles. (Yavapai County Courthouse square, 928-776-7220)

• Through June 20, art by Karel Armstrong, of the Prescott Area Woodturners. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 N. Alarcon St., 928-776-4009)

“THIS HOUSE”

• 7:30 p.m. Monday, set in 1974, this play explores infighting and politics within the Parliament of Great Britain, via satellite from London’s National Theatre. (Yavapai College Performing Arts Center, 1100 E. Sheldon Ave., 928-776-2000, $12-$16)

“CHILD’S PLAY” • Through June 22, artists recreate childhood pastimes. (Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286)

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POETRY DISCUSSION GROUP

“INGENIOUS ASSEMBLY”

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, Dr. Janet Preston’s monthly poetry discussion group. (Prescott Public Library, Elsea Conference Room, 215 E. Goodwin St., 928-777-1500)

“Miss Lala im Zirkus Fernado.” Painting by Edward Degas, 1879, VintagePrintable.Com, public domain. See June 15 and multiple days listings for festivities involving acrobats.

CARLEEN BLUM ART SHOW

• 2 p.m. Saturday, artist Carleen Blum displays colorful, textural paintings including mandalas, spirals, petroglyphs, and abstracts.

(El Gato Azul, 316 W. Goodwin St., 928-445-1070)

TSUNAMI ON THE SQUARE

• Noon Saturday, 15th annual performing arts and culture festival featuring Pyrokylectic, The Carpetbag Brigade, NymNemcatacoa Teatro, and Hojarasca Música Andina, Cedar Creek Apache Crown Dancers, Clan Tynker, and Axe Capoeira. (Yavapai County Courthouse square, TsunamiOnTheSquare.Org)

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PLAID PEACOCK EXCHANGE GRAND OPENING

• 5 p.m. Friday, retro and vintage clothes shop and local art store opening. (Plaid Peacock Exchange, 131 N. Cortez St., 928-713-7921)

PRESCOTT FILM FESTIVAL

• 7 p.m. Saturday, Helen Stephenson, Prescott Film Festival executive director, presents shorts from July’s upcoming film festival.

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

CONTRA DANCE • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, dance and lessons , contra dances, newcomers and singles welcome, with caller J.P. Thom Gronachan and music

by Scrub Oak. (First Congregational Church annex, 216 E. Gurley St., 928-925-5210, $4-$8 and specials, FolkHappens.Org)

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Multiple days FOLK ARTS FAIR VILLAGE • June 1 and 2, 40th annual heritage festival celebrating traditional arts, and crafts of central territorial Arizona. (Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., 928-445-3122)

SOUTHWEST INDIAN ARTS FESTIVAL • June 8 and 9, ninth annual arts event, featuring Granite Mountain Gourd Society, Lane Jensen and the Yellowhouse Dancers, and Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers. (Grace Sparkes Activity Center, 824 E. Gurley St., 928-445-1230, $5)

• 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dan Seaman emcees open mic poetry. (Peregrine Book Co., 219A N. Cortez St., 928-445-9000)

4TH FRIDAY ART WALK

TSUNAMI ON THE SQUARE

• 5 p.m. Friday, monthly art walk including more than 18 galleries and artist receptions.

(ArtThe4th.Com)

PET PLAYS

• June 13-16, pre-, intra-, and post-festival performances including Flourish Before the Flood, Neptune’s Tea Party, and Tsunami Tsunday.

(Yavapai County Courthouse square, TsunamiOnTheSquare.Org)

“EARLY WEST STORYTELLERS” • Through July 7, art show covering early Western storytellers. (Phippen Museum, 4701 Arizona 89, 928-778-1385)

MARK NAWROCKI •Through Aug. 1, art by Mark Nawrocki.

(Method Coffee, 3180 Willow Creek Road, 928-777-1067)

PRESCOTT MASTERS PRESENTS • June 6-Nov. 1, art show featuring Betty Carr, David Harlan, Pat Lambrecht-Hould, Douglas Miley, Doug Oliver, Dorothy Ray, and G. Eric Slayton. (Mountain Artists Guild & Gallery, 228 N. Alarcon St., 928-776-4009)

“SILK, STEEL, & SPHERES”

• 7:30 p.m. June 6-8, 3 p.m. June 8, festival featuring 12 original short plays about, starring, or inspired by pets, via The@trics Theatre, some proceeds support Yavapai Humane Society. (First Congregational Church, Perkins Hall, 216 E. Gurley St., 928-273-3884,$14)

• June 16-July 23, printmaking and textiles with contemporary and Asian influences

by Jeannie Mehl and garden-themed steel metalwork by Leslee Oaks. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

“THE PRODUCERS”

• June 21 through Aug. 3, art by Tucson-based Jim Waid. (Prescott College Art Gallery, Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-776-7717)

• 7:30 p.m. June 13-15, 20-22, and 27-29, and 2 p.m. June 16 and 23, a musical based on the Mel Brooks movie about a defamed Broadway producer and his accountant who try to produce the biggest flop imaginable, “Springtime for Hitler,” directed by Catherine Miller Hahn.

(Prescott Center for the Arts, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286, $22 evening/$18 matinee)

NATIVE AMERICAN ART SHOW • June 8 and 9, annual Native American art show with paintings, katsinas, jewelry, basketry, demonstrations, and guided tours by curator Filmer Kewanyama. (’Tis Art Center & Gallery, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

OPEN MIC POETRY

June theater

• Through June 29, art show featuring works

by James Bacigalupi, Anne Bagby, and Warren Fenzi. (Prescott Art Gallery, Yavapai College, 1100 E. Sheldon St., 928-776-2031)

June art

JIM WAID

“THE COMPANY OF ANIMALS” • June 24-Aug. 17, art show featuring wild, domestic, and imaginary animals. (Prescott Center for the Arts Gallery, 208 N. Marina St., 928-445-3286)

“BLACK & WHITE WITH A SPLASH OF COLOR”

“TRACE”

• June 27-July 23, art show. (’Tis Art Center, 105 S. Cortez St., 928-775-0223)

• Through June 14, textiles and interactive sculpture loom by Highland Village, Texasbased artist Lesli Robertson. (Prescott College Art Gallery, Sam Hill Warehouse, 232 N. Granite St., 928-350-2341)

• June 27 through July 24, copper artwork by Glen Hinz. (Arts Prescott Cooperative Gallery, 134 S. Montezuma St., 928-776-7717)

GLEN HINZ

5

Around ...

... the Corner

June jingles & jangles

By Ruby Jackson Maxine’s New American Diner at 415 White Spar Road finally opened in early May. The building had been vacant for what seems like forever and, by necessity, underwent a complete renovation. Manager Paul Armenta said they kept the front and side walls up and demolished everything else, literally. The results will make you smile: a classic-looking diner with bright, multicolored block flooring, molded trim, sky-blue walls, custom archways, prerequisite swinging doors, diner window and a front counter complete with pie under glass.

The breakfast menu looks affordable and varied but, unlike typical diners, breakfast is only served until 11 a.m. The lunch menu is brief and a tad pricey, with only five basic sandwiches and a single salad (Caesar). Pie and milkshakes are always available, though. Armenta plans to expand the lunch menu and incorporate dinner, possibly by the time you read this.

Maxine’s was only open for a couple weeks when I stopped in for lunch, so it was understandably in flux. The food was simple, but good. I plan on returning in a few weeks to check out the evolution of this sweet little joint.

The Plaid Peacock Exchange, a new retro consignment boutique, also opened their doors in early May at 131 N. Cortez St. They have a good mix of funkified baubles and wares, including furniture in the mid-century tradi-

After an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink remodel, Maxine’s New American Diner is now open for business in Prescott. Photo by Ruby Jackson. tion, old and new. Their grand opening party is Friday, June 28. There will be wine, hors d’oeuvres, and live music. Cheers!

There’s a new farmers market up and running 11 a.m.-3 p.m. every Sunday at The Native Garden, 602 S. Montezuma St. Whitney Family Farms (purveyors of farm-fresh eggs, hand-made goat’s milk soaps and lotions, and fiber arts) and Hassayampa Vineyard (fresh produce cultivators), out of Wilhoit, are just a few of the vendors setting up shop.

If you’re looking for a new watering hole, let me suggest Fremont Bar at Hotel Vendome on South Cortez Street. (OK, new to me — it’s already

6 • COLUMN • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

more than a year strong.) The front porch beckons on a sweet spring or summer day and, though it conjures images of mint juleps and hoop skirts, the Fremont offers a mighty fine rotating selection of beers and wines, not to mention fruit-laden sangrias that are truly fabulous. Their prices won’t burn a hole in your pocket, which means it’s always happy hour, and, with some live musical entertainment on the porch, makes this place feel like home, only better.

The next best thing to hearing live music on an outdoor porch is to hear live music on the Yavapai County Courthouse stairs for free.

The Downtown Summer Concert Series kicks off this month on June 4 and runs through September 5. It’s 7-9 p.m. and features Jazzy Tuesdays, Movies on Wednesday, Prescott Karaoke Idol on Thursday (quite entertaining, I assure you), and Surprise Fridays and Saturdays with bands ranging from blues to rock to country.

While we’re on the subject, Lizzie’s House of Axes — your new go-to neighborhood music store featuring guitars and vinyl in a buy-sell-trade setting — is revving up the alternative live music scene, which had been somewhat lacking in P-Town lately.

They’ve got basement shows most

weekends and are the official sponsor of Squirrelcage Studios’ Whisperfest, a two-day music festival July 27 and 28 at Whispering Pines Camp.

The lineup is TBA, but about 20 bands should take the stage. I’m already a fan of this hole-in-the-wall on South Montezuma and its resident bulldog and Chihuahua greeters.Seeing an honest-to-goodness record store in town that’s got drive and dedication to the local scene warms this girl’s heart.

The Mile High BrewFest returns to downtown Prescott 1-7 p.m. Saturday, June 15 at the corner of Montezuma and Goodwin streets. Live music and art demonstrations are featured alongside Arizona craft brews. You get a wristband, taster glass and six taster tickets for $20, and all proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Arizona. Additional taster tickets are available at 10 for $10.

Drinking for the greater good is a winwin no matter how you spin it. ***** A native of the Windy City, Ruby Jackson is a freelance writer and collector of Norfin Trolls. In her spare time she is an aspiring actress (drama queen) and millionairess (donations gladly accepted). Contact her at RubyBJackson@Gmail.Com.

The wave returns

By Andrew Johnson-Schmit

It’s

hard to explain the annual Tsunami on the Square Performing Arts and Culture Festival to folks who’ve never seen it.

It’s like a circus. And it’s like Cirque du Soleil. And it’s like a show kids put on in the backyard.

Tsunami on the Square fanatics and first-timers alike have plenty to enjoy, including 10 hours of live performances on the Yavapai County Courthouse Square.

This year, there are per-

formers from all over the U.S., Colombia, and U.K. These include Nemcatacoa Teatro — a world-class acrobatic stilt walking group — from Bogota, Columbia and Hojarasca Música Andina — a musical group specializing in Andean music — from Antioquia, Colombia, thanks to help from the Southern Exposure grant program, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and others. They’ll be performing with The Carpetbag Brigade, led by Tsunami founder Jay Ruby.

Most events are free. Times and locations vary, so visit TsunamiOnTheSquare.Org for up-to-theminute scheduling information.

Here’s a peak at 2013’s Tsunami performances: “Creating Art in a Society of Conflict” 2 p.m. Saturday, June 8:. Nemcatacoa Teatro presentation at Peregrine Book Company.

“Traditions of Stilt Walking in Columbia” 2 p.m. Sunday, June 9: Nemcatacoa Teatro presentation at Prescott Public Library’s Founders Suites.

Clan Tynker is returning for 2013’s Tsunami festival. Courtesy image.

Circus Camp for Kids 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, June 8-13: Youth learn juggling, stilt walking, acrobatics, costume making, and other skills and perform at the festival. ($25/day, $85/week/free for Yavapai Big

Brothers Big Sisters children.)

Flourish Before the Flood 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 13: A site-specific experimental dance performance at Granite Creek starting at El Gato Azul. This year’s show features local dancers, Nemcatacoa Teatro, and The Carpetbag Brigade.

Neptune’s Tea Party 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 14: Massive performance by stilt walkers with music by Hojarasca and spoken word by Tucson’s Verbobala. Location TBA. Tsunami on the Square Noon- 9 p.m. Saturday, June 15: Main festival starts with a parade, rockets on with performances of all kinds, and ends with a fire show.

Tsunami Tsunday 1 p.m. Sunday, June 16: A matinee for kids and their families given by long time festival favorites Clan Tynker at the Prescott Public Library lawn. ***** Andrew Johnson-Schmit wears the Tsunami on the Square director’s fez. Contact him or sign up for the festival newsletter at Andrew.Tsunami@Gmail.Com.

Prescott Film Festival’s Script Notes

Short films, tall orders

By Helen Stephenson

They

take a lot of work. They make you bleed creativity. They turn you into an obsessivecompulsive nitpicker. They take over your life. They are usually expensive.

And they don’t make any money.

They are short films.

The No. 1 question filmmakers who create short films get at film festivals: “Why did you make this if it’s not going to make any money?”

Answer: A short film is like a résumé in the industry.

Most short films play at a few festivals and slowly fade to YouTube. The filmmakers travel with the film, see their work with live audiences, and basically enjoy a few free trips.

Short films are their calling cards.

They help them get their next job or

move up in the profession.

But, the best of the best filmmakers in the “short film” category can use their short as a foot into Hollywood’s Big Door – the door to the Oscars.

The first level Oscar is a Student Academy Award. Alas, these are gold medals, not the iconic statues.

So, you’re not a student but you’d still like win an Academy Award?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has three Best Short Film categories: Documentary, Narrative, and Animated.

Prescott Film Festival preview The 2012 winner of the Oscar for Best Narrative Short Film, “Curfew,” is screening during the 2013 Prescott Film Festival, July 24-31.

This year, there are fours shorts programs: Animated Shorts, Ro-

mance/Bromance Comedies, Dramatic Shorts, Documentary Shorts. Plus, there’s an all-Prescott shorts program.

We’re proud that there are enough quality short films in Prescott to devote an entire program to them. Part of the festival’s goal is to bring more filmmaking to the area.

If you can’t wait until the festival, you’re in luck: On Saturday, June 22, Prescott Film Festival presents a sneak peak at this year’s short film selections. This free event is 7 p.m. at Peregrine Book Co.

Visit PrescottFilmFestival.Com and PeregrineBookCompany.Com to find out more. ***** Helen Stephenson is executive director of the Prescott Film Festival and collects old hats and Mary Poppins memorabilia. When she’s not watching films or marketing the fest, you can usually catch her at the computer in her Prescott Film Festival office on the Yavapai College campus. Contact her at Helen@ PrescottFilmFestival.Com.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • FEATURES • 7

Prescott Astronomy Club presents ...

Astronomy 101: Hubble hubbub

By Wyatt Frazee

On

April 24, 2013, the Hubble Telescope celebrated its 23rd anniversary orbiting Earth. In those 23 years, it’s brought us some of the most fascinating and enlightening images of space ever recorded, all thanks to its “eyesight” five times sharper than the best ground-based telescope.

We can safely say, without hyperbole, that the Hubble Telescope has changed the science of cosmology.

The history of the Hubble goes back to 1977, when Congress approved funding for what was then called the Large Space Telescope.

Two years later, work began on its 14-foot (2.4-meter) primary mirror. A few years later, in 1983, it was renamed the Hubble Telescope.

Its namesake, Edwin P. Hubble, was the first astronomer to prove a number of celestial objects classified as nebulae were actually galaxies. He’s also known for hypothesizing one of the earliest expanding universe theories.

The Hubble was supposed to be deployed in 1986, but was delayed because of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It finally hitched a ride with the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990.

The

initial images sent back from the Hubble weren’t as rewarding as NASA had hoped.

After they were analyzed it became clear that the telescope had a serious problem. It’s primary mirror had been ground to the wrong specifications, rendering the Hubble unable to focus on the distant objects it was created

to observe. NASA and the telescope became the butt of many a joke — the scale of the fiasco was even compared to the Hindenburg and the Titanic.

Then, in 1993, the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor came to the Hubble’s rescue and installed corrective optics. Indeed, it was easier to give the telescope the equivalent of a pair of glasses than to correct its eyesight outright in space.

The new-and-improved Hubble was up and running just in time to capture a rare, truly amazing celestial event.

In 1994, when the Shoemaker Levy 9 comet slammed into Jupiter, the Hubble captured images of the fresh impact sites.

One

of the most amazing images the Hubble Telescope has captured is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. By focusing the telescope at an empty, dark area for more than 200 hours, scientists were able to capture an image that literally changed the face of cosmology. In that singular image, you can see 10,000 separate galaxies. The light from one of those galaxies, more than 13 billion light years away, is estimated to be almost as old as time itself.

Unlike some other pieces of space history that came before it, it’s unlikely the Hubble Telescope will ever end up in the Smithsonian. America’s space shuttle fleet is retired and there’s no way to retrieve it.

Sometime between 2019 and 2032, the Hubble Telescope is destined to return to Earth in a blaze of glory.

Most of its primary mirror and parts of its structure could survive reentry, but the majority will probably burn up on reentry.

The

Hubble Telescope has cost somewhere around $2.5 billion. In addition to beautiful, hitherto sights it’s capture, the Hubble’s findings have inspired more than 11,000 scientific papers.

And that’s just so far; a lot of the information collected by the telescope has yet to be processed.

Who knows what else is waiting to be discovered? ***** Wyatt Frazee is manager at Think4Inc, vice president of the Prescott Astronomy Club, a science student at Yavapai College, and a hopeful future science teacher.

aA A aA

BACKGROUND: Hubble Deep Field View mosaic image as released on Jan. 15, 1996. Image by NASA, WikiMedia.Org, public domain.

8 • FEATURE • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Bra n F od

A monthly column by Jimmy Polinori, Culinary Composer and Restaurateur

Imagine

The Art & Science of Classic Cuisine

The Maillard reaction and melting pot roast

By Jimmy Polinori

you’ve been selected from a studio audience to be a contestant on your favorite trivia game show.

The question posed to you is this: “In what type of facility does the most widely practiced chemical reaction in the world take place?” The first response that pops into your mind may be “laboratory” or “nuclear power plant.” Seems logical, right?

It may surprise you that the facility to produce the most widely practiced reaction in the world is … the kitchen.

My Mother used to look out our kitchen window at her husband as he turned meat on the grill with every gadget imaginable.

“Look at him. He thinks he’s a ‘Rocket Scientist’ or something,” she’d say.

NASA recruiters certainly weren’t knocking on our doors, but it turns out there’s a bit of science to what she said. Home kitchens, restaurants, food trucks, and, yes, even back yard barbecues, all utilize a very specific piece of chemistry called the Maillard reaction.

The Maillard reaction Simply put, it’s the reaction of amino acids and sugars when applied to extreme heat. First discovered by French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard in 1912, this chemical reaction is responsible for the color and flavors of countless culinary delights including breads, grilled steaks, and roasted coffees.

Maillard was the first to attempt to explain what occurs when amino acids react with sugars at high temperatures. He set forth the foundations of serious food science. (For the curious, the article is “Action of Amino Acids on Sugars.

Formation of Melanoidins in a Methodical Way,” published in the June 1912 issue of Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences.)

Although the Maillard reaction is named after its founder, the man credited with establishing an actual mechanism for the reaction was the American chemist John Hodge. While working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hodge published his paper on the reaction in 1953. To date, Hodge’s paper is more widely cited than Maillard’s original findings.

The list of chemicals found in food that are essential to this process is endless. I won’t bore you with all of their nearly unpronounceable names.

What’s interesting, however, is that the end result of the reaction varies significantly based on the food chemicals involved. The browning of the beautiful crust on a loaf of bread, the smell of a sizzling steak, the creamy texture of yogurts and cheeses — all these differing attributes can be credited to Maillard reactions.

What’s consistent throughout such reactions is the presence of amino acids, sugars, and high-heat. When a food containing amino acids and sugars is exposed to very high heat, a multitude of molecules are created and compounds are rearranged, thus creating color, aroma, and flavor.

Learn how to make a pot roast that explodes with complex flavors as it melts in your mouth

step when preparing meat that most do not, and that step involves the Maillard process.

My favorite smell in the world, bar none, is garlic and onions in hot olive oil.

And there’s never enough garlic. When preparing a roast in my kitchen, garlic and onion are always involved. At some point, I felt simply throwing them on top of a roast in the slow cooker wasn’t creating the complex flavors I desired.

One day, I decided to experiment by quickly searing the roast on extremely high heat in a pan already sizzling with my three usual suspects, garlic, onion, and olive oil. I let the roast sear about a minute on each side until it had reached a beautiful outer color and had collected pieces of onion and garlic all over.

I now know that the Maillard reaction was what I utilized in this process.

When applied to high heat, the amino acids in the meat and the sugars in the onions cause the muscle fibers to break down and complex flavors and natural juices are locked inside. The end result is an incredibly delicious roast that you could cut with a rubber fork and feels as if it melts on your tongue. And that’s all thanks to the Maillard reaction. Buon Appetito!

Get the recipe for melting pot roast, kitchen tips, and more at Facebook.Com/TheCulinaryComposer

Fire it up I had been using Maillard reactions in my cooking adventures for years before stumbling across a science journal article marking the 100th year since the discovery of the process. Not only was it interesting to name the process, but it provided me with a more appropriate answer to a question that’s often been posed to me.

Guests in my home and at my various restaurant and catering ventures almost always ask, “How did you get this meat so tender?” My stock response had always been “slow cooking.”

Although I still attribute slow cooking to the tenderness of roasts and brisket, and other large cuts of meat, I realized that I was already taking a first

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • COLUMN • 9

By Alan Dean Foster So if U.S. Armor LLC can provide approximately

Alan Dean Foster’s Perceivings

1-inch-thick glass that will stop multiple 7.62 rounds from an AK-47, why can’t I get my Kraft Real Mayonnaise in a glass jar anymore?

Plastic. That’s the world we’re careening toward. One where everything in addition to our politicians is made out of one kind or another of plastic.

With the advent of the Boeing 787, we’re already there with airplanes.

Oh, alright: Technically it’s carbon fiber. I suppose that shouldn’t bother me. We humans are mostly oxygen (65 percent) and carbon (18 percent), anyway. But people are still calling it the plastic airplane.

Folks worry about peak oil, i.e. the end of recoverable oil. When that happens, we won’t miss it in our cars because we’ll have found other means of propelling ourselves from one place to another. I can quite easily imagine a world without gasoline or diesel.

But a world without plastics? Can’t visualize it.

That doesn’t mean I have to like it, and I especially don’t like it when it comes to food storage. Which brings me back to mayonnaise.

I

know it’s the same product I’ve been slathering on bread for years and that my opinion is entirely subjective, but doggone it, everything seems to taste better when it comes out of a glass container as opposed to one that’s fashioned from plastic.

The big corporate food conglomerates say that plastic costs less to ship and is less prone to breakage, but insofar as mayonnaise is concerned (and ketchup, and mustard), we know that the real reason for the changeover from glass to plastic containers is because you can’t make a squeeze bottle out of glass.

Ah, but squeeze bottles are so much more convenient, goes the manufacturers’ argument. Persiflage. We know that convenience has nothing to do

Those who live in plastic houses with it. Manufacturers of mayo, etc., love squeeze bottles because there is no way, short of inveigling a squadron of trained beetles to assist on your behalf, to actually get the last ten percent out of such containers. That means, after subjecting yourself to contortions sufficient to qualify you for a tryout with Cirque du Soleil but which still prove insufficient to get those last gobs of mayo on the end of a butter knife, you have to buy — another new container.

Returning

to matters of taste, my drink of choice is iced tea.

You used to be able to buy excellent glass bottles of Tetley Iced Tea, but the big American producers chased Tetley all the way back to the British Isles.

10 • COLUMN • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

Lipton employed similar bottles for years, switched to plastic, went back to glass (after a deluge of customer complaints, one wonders?) and has, lamentably, succumbed once more to the lure of extruded petroleum byproducts. Nestea has used plastic for years.

There are a few smaller, specialty drink companies, some owned by conglomerates loath to surrender even a fractional segment of such a substantial market, who still use glass. Honest Tea, Sweet Leaf, and others do their best to keep up the fight on behalf of glass. I try to patronize them when I can. They strive to emphasize their exclusivity by selling only single bottles at a time (no convenient four- or sixpacks), making it difficult for someone who consumes their product daily.

Even in restaurants that serve iced tea in plastic tumblers, I try to have it served in a glass. Note that finer restaurants always serve it in glass.

A number of years ago it was possible to buy Promised Land chocolate milk in a couple of Prescott supermarkets. Shipped over from Texas, Promised Land milk came in a glass bottle.

I am not succumbing to nostalgia when I say that the taste was so different from what is presently available in plastic jugs or cardboard cartons as to be a different product entirely. I am even allowing for the fact that Promised Land was made with whole milk.

Not 2 percent milk; not 1 percent milk. Actual milk: The kind one still finds in markets all across Europe, where milk products are still regarded as nutritional food and not an excuse to indulge in liquefied soy and globules of carrageenan.

Imagine. Real, whole chocolate milk in glass bottles. All without having to fire up the Wayback Machine and return to the 1950s.

I

don’t hate plastic. I think it’s a wonder of the modern age, eminently suitable for use in everything from planes to trains to the keyboard on which I’m typing this screed.

I just don’t want it in my food.

Or my food in it. ***** 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.

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Art and science cast By James Dungeon in Intelligent Light for Everything Prescott's Earl Duque

worked on paper. But the new Apache helicopter prototypes developed in the early 1990s were, in engineering terms, having difficulty achieving a particular flight envelope.

Landing was like riding a bucking bronco.

“We had no idea what we were looking for,” recalled Earl Duque, who was part of a team troubleshooting the problem for NASA’s Ames Research Center. “All we could do was look at the data.”

Duque, then an engineer about to get his doctorate from University of California, Davis, ran the the figures through imaging software. The computer visualizations, though rudimentary by today’s standards, gave color and shape to forces otherwise invisible.

While flipping through them, Duque noticed something odd: a large circle with no obvious source. He walked the simulation backward — it was coming from dual avionics boxes — then forward — it was hitting the helicopter’s tail.

Eureka.

“That circle was a vortex from the boxes kicking up and hitting the tail,” Duque said. “They covered up the boxes, flew it, and it worked.”

Nearly two decades later, after 13 years as a NASA engineer and six years as an associate professor at Northern Arizona University, Duque went to work for Intelligent Light, the same company that created software like the kind he used to solve the Apache helicopter problem.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 >>>

Hovering V22 (Osprey) tiltrotor’s isosurfaces of vorticity magnitude. Neal Chaderjian, NASA Ames Research Center, courtesy image.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • PORTFOLIO • 11

... FROM PAGE 11 Imaging and imagining During the 1990s and 2000s scientific visualizations become widespread, if not standard.

Today, they minimize time and money for prototypes and accelerate troubleshooting, among other things.

“This software is used to look at everything from shampoo and toothpaste to supersonic jets and the space shuttle,” Duque said recently in his Prescott home.

All those processes have at least one thing in common — the interaction of engineers and laypeople alike. “We use computers to solve these equations and plug gases and liquids with solid surfaces — those results into our software.” as predicted by computers with Com(You might remember the equations from high school physics: Conservation of putational Fluid Dynamics, or CFD, Mass, Newton’s Second Law of Motion, and Conservation of Energy.) and given substance with visualization The challenge isn’t the physics; it’s the sheer number of calculations. software.

Picture a room filled with Legos. Each brick contains three equations, which must “It basically comes down to three remain balanced at all times. Every time you move a brick, you’ve got to balance its equations,” said Duque, who, as Intelequation along with all of the other bricks’ — even those seemingly far from the acligent Light’s applied research manager, tion — as the movement of one has ramifications for all. talks about these sort of things with “Let’s say there’s 100,000,000 bricks in this room,” Duque said. “That’s three equations per brick, and 300,000,000 equations to solve.”

If you’re measuring the pressure on a plane’s wing, the circulation of air in a car, or a wind turbine’s wake, there are exponentially more equations.

To crunch those numbers, Duque accesses some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, some of which have

12 • PORTFOLIO • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

the equivalent computing power of 4,000 computers. For the past two years, he’s done that remotely from his office in downtown Prescott.

Industry, academia, and extracurriculars Computer simulations, almost by definition, fall short of reality. Still, they offer broader, conceptual insights.

“Visualizations give you a better understanding of processes,” said Dr. Roger Strawn, U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate. “You can measure forces, but unless you can see them, it’s hard to know what’s really going on.”

Furthermore, they’re invaluable when securing funding or convincing manage- there’s hardcore engineering behind them ment of a project’s importance, Strawn Because of their value to industry, they said.

“When Boeing makes prototypes for ai “People joke that CFD actually stands puter simulations before they build a sing for Color For Directors — that’s an inbara, associate professor of aerospace an side joke usually meant in a derogatory Aeronautical University’s Prescott campu sense — but these visualizations help ing students on that technology.” people understand what we’re doing,” he That’s also why Hayashibara jumped at said. “They’re beautiful and compelling, ligent Light’s flagship programs in the cla and can certainly be viewed as art, but In addition to the software-assisted insights, Hayashibara said there’ve been other advantages to consulting with Duque.

“It’s hard to find somebody like Earl who’s got experience in industry and academia and understands the demands of both,” Hayashibara said. “I think he’s a great role model for the students.”

It’s also hard to find a friend like Duque, he added, who’ll drop everything for shop talk and sushi or join students to discuss

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Meeting room airflow, simulation by CD-adapco, Intelligent Light FieldView courtesy image; Dr. Earl P.N. Duque portrait, photo by Delisa Myles; NASA ROtor Body INteraction (ROBIN) experiment’s wake structure, isosurfaces of vorticity colored by vertical air velocity, simulation by Christopher Stone, Computational Sciences and Engineering LLC, and Earl P.N. Duque, Intelligent Light; hovering dual-rotor helicopter’s vortex wake, surface of helicopter colored by pressure, isosurfaces of vorticity colored white, simulation by Arsenio Dimanlig, U.S. Army Aeroflightdynamics Directorate, Ames Research Center, visualization by Earl P.N. Duque, Intelligent Light; chamber airflow with subject testing breathing apparatus, Intelligent Light FieldView courtesy image.

m, as well.” y’ve saturated the field. rplanes, for instance, they do lots of comgle prototype,” said Dr. Shigeo Hayashid mechanical engineering at Embry-Riddle us. “That’s why we have to focus on educat-

t the chance to use FieldView, one of Intelassroom courtesy of Duque two years ago. complex physics over drinks.

“And did he tell you about dancing?” Hayashibara asked.

Strawn, who worked with Duque at Ames Research Center in the early ’90s, elaborated on this.

“Earl was totally into the dance scene,” he said. “That’s not something you can picture every engineer doing.”

Strawn once wrangled a date with a woman at an upscale club, and, in a panic, tapped Duque.

“Someone who’ll give you an emergency salsa dance lesson?” Strawn said. “Now that’s my definition of a true friend.”

Drawing inspiration As an undergraduate at Northern Arizona University in the early 2000s, Abigail Arrington’s first exposure to Computational Fluid Dynamics and scientific visualizations was via Duque.

“Here were images, this simulation, based on the numerical quantities and theories he’d been teaching in class,” Arrington said. “That’s what really drew me in.”

After finishing her degree she continued studying with Duque as a graduate student working on wind energy.

“Earl taught me how to do CFD computations in

a thorough, professional manner … and to always question my results and make sure they were right,” Arrington said. “These aren’t skills I learned in a classroom — I’m not sure you could teach those skills in a classroom — but he instilled these practices in me.”

Today, Arrington is an application engineer at Altair Engineering, a company that does similar work to Intelligent Light, and sometimes partners with them.

“I think everyone loves to look at images,” she said.

“But there’s so much more to these visualizations; they tell a story.”

Just how compelling that story is, however, might depend on your interpreter.

“He’s always been focused on telling a story. That’s what visualizations are really about,” Arrington said.

“That’s what made Earl such a great teacher and why he’s so good at his job.”

Despite an exponential growth in computer processing looming on the horizon, Duque believes there’ll always be a human element to scientific visualizations.

“More computing power means more solutions processed for simulations,” Duque said. “What we’re really doing is coming in with automation tools that

allow engineers to digest information so they can understand it better.”

That’s a familiar scenario to Duque — one that harkens back to the Apache helicopter simulations he saw in the early ’90s.

“We solved the problem because of that circle, and it’s not something we were even looking for,” Duque said. “That’s the power of visualizations.” ***** Earl Duque has managed the Applied Research Group for Intelligent Light since 2006 and has lived in Prescott since 2011. He also teaches Argentine Tango with his fiancé Delisa Myles, a Prescott College dance and choreography professor. You can usually find them dancing at The Raven Café or the summer dances on the Yavapai County Courthouse square. Visit ILight.Com and Meetup.Com/PrescottTango for more info.

James Dungeon is a figment of his own imagination.

And he likes cats. Contact him at JamesDungeonCats@Gmail.Com.

13

Highlands Center for Natural History’s Outdoor Outings

Dwelling on dwellings

By Jill Craig

When

second-grade students visit the Highlands Center for Natural History for a field trip, they learn about habitats and their inhabitants.

They look at nests that the Highlands Center has collected under a Game and Fish permit (collecting nests, feathers, and eggs is otherwise illegal). Students look at the nests and try to determine where the parent birds lived.

Nests made with grass? Chino Valley, perhaps.

Nests made with mud? Maybe down near a creek.

And the ones with pine needles? Likely in the forest.

When we ask them what they need in a home, their answers are very astute and specific. They need shelter, water, food and video games! Really, though, they understand that humans have very basic survival needs. They also understand that plants and animals have those same needs, even though their homes look different than ours.

This

season, one of our volunteers who works with school groups noticed a lot of bushtits (tiny gray birds) close to the amphitheater where we start the day with a puppet show. He drew our attention to a small nest built hanging from an Aspen tree branch. This bushtit pair had found all sorts of soft

materials — lichen, hair, down, and grass — to make their intricate nest.

Bushtit nests are usually built to hang with a bit of spider webbing and are shaped like gourds with the entrance on one side close to the top. This leaves a cozy space near the bottom for eggs.

What a great home these birds have found. The nest is nearly undetectable to predatory eyes and is certainly difficult to get to. If we hadn’t looked so hard, we might’ve missed it.

Take

a cursory glance around the forest and you may spot a nest or two perched high in a tree. Those are the obvious ones.

Look closer, and you might find a hole or two burrowed out of the earth. These are probably homes for tarantulas, foxes, rabbits, or squirrels. If you look even closer, you’ll see smaller, more intricate homes, such as oak apple galls on the underside of oak leaves.

Tiny female wasps make these fascinating homes.

They lay eggs on leaves (some species lay eggs on bark) along with a harmless chemical. The tree responds to that chemical by developing a round, ball-like structure around it. Some are smooth and peach colored. Others are redder and fuzzier. Protected by these structures, eggs develop unhindered by wind, rain, snow, or predators — although some critters may make a meal of them before they hatch.

Some people grew up calling these balls “poppers” because of that satisfying crunch when you crush

them. Don’t do that unless they’ve got holes, though.

That means the pupae have already emerged.

Another home that deserves appreciation is that of a small creature with a rather complex life cycle.

The female bagworm gathers materials from the tree on which she makes her home and, with silk and ingenuity, she creates a teardrop-shaped bag.

From the outside, it looks like a bundle of needles hanging off a branch. Inside the bag, the female completes her transformation into a maggot-like form. Meanwhile the male of the species becomes a moth and, eventually will drop by to mate with her. After that, the female lays her eggs inside the bag. About two weeks later, young caterpillars will emerge.

We

may marvel at homes created by humans but birds and other animals display a natural ability to create dwellings that rival and, in some ways, surpass our own. Next time you find a nest or critter home, take a moment to appreciate how well it’s put together.

Could you do that without using your hands? ***** Jill Craig is education director at Highlands Center for Natural History. She oversees all educational programming for the center and facilitates the Highlands Naturalist Volunteer Program. In her spare time, Jill can be found hiking in the Bradshaw Mountains with her two dogs and husband.

June’s Bird: Quails z

By Eric Moore

As

Juvenile Gambel’s Quails and an adult male enjoy a Tucson yard. Photo by SnowmanRadio, Wikimedia.Org, Creative Commons 2.0.

14 • FEATURES • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

spring gives way to summer, it’s time to look out for baby Gambel’s Quail (Callipepla gambelii). Few sights in nature are as endearing as walnut-sized quail babies scurrying to keep up with mom and dad.

Quail hatch after a 21-day incubation period, emerging from their eggs in an advanced stage of development called “precocial.” Their eyes are open and they’re fully covered with downy feathers. Unlike most songbirds, they’re mobile and capable of feeding themselves within a few short hours.

Baby quail face many threats and are highly susceptible to predation — house cats, ravens, jays, roadrunners, and snakes are just some of their many threats. Their best defense is camouflage. When danger is present, they freeze and they virtually disappear by blending in with their habitat. ***** Eric Moore is the owner of Jay’s Bird Barn located at 1046 Willow Creek Road in Prescott, Eric@JaysBirdBarn.Com.

News From the Wilds

flow at all, though perennial streams, such as Beaver, Clear, Fossil, Sycamore, the Verde, and the Agua Fria, continue running. These few wet Central Highlands areas burgeon with life. Now is the time to see spectacular migrant birds, including tanagers and orioles, returning from the south. Other species, such as Mule Deer and Abert’s Squirrels, give birth in anticipation of the coming time of plenty when the rains fall.

By Ty Fitzmorris

Depending

on the year, June can be pretty tough in the Central Highlands. It’s reliably the driest month of the year — two out of five years receive no precipitation, and the others only receive tiny amounts.

If there’s any rain, it comes at the end of the month and heralds upcoming monsoonal storms. The June drought is, in fact, critical for July rains as hot, dry air in the Sonoran Desert and Interior West rises, pulling the moist, humid air from the Sea of Cortez to our region. During June, you can see this process from the Central Highlands through the pastime of cloud spotting.

June mornings tend to dawn clear and bright but, especially toward the end of the month, cumulus clouds build in the hot afternoons. These clouds may start as relatively small Cumulus humulis clouds, wider than they are tall and uniformly white, then turn into Cumulus mediocris,, as tall as they are wide and with gray bases, and then eventually turn into towering, 30,000-foot-tall Cumulus congestus storm clouds. This is the moment many residents of the Central Highlands, animal, plant, fungus, and even bacteria, wait for. And, when the first massive rain falls, our entire community, human and non-human, celebrates.

Until that time, however, the wilds remain very dry. Most Prescott area creeks don’t

***** Ty Fitzmorris is an itinerant and often distractible naturalist who lives in Prescott and runs Peregrine Book Company and Raven Café as a sideline to his natural history pursuits. Contact him at Ty@ PeregrineBookCompany.

Com.

A brief survey of the wilds ...

High mountains

Pine-Oak woodlands

Riparian areas

• Butterflies proliferate at high altitudes.

Look for metalmarks, blues, and admirals.

• Raccoon mating season begins, often punctuated with noisy crepuscular screams and barks.

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

Visit: Spruce Mountain Loop Trail, No. 307.

• Bobcat kittens emerge from dens, following their mother as she hunts, and often preventing her from hunting at all because of their playing and clumsiness.

• Canyon Wrens (Catherpes mexicanus) court their partners, often with their characteristic “bouncing ball” song, build nests, and lay eggs.

These lovely wrens form monogamous pairs for years and can be seen exploring granite boulders, like the Dells’, for spiders and insects.

Visit: Trails Nos. 326 & 392, north of Thumb Butte.

Ponderosa Pine forests

Pinyon-Juniper woodlands

• Abert’s Squirrel (Sciurus aberti) give birth. These squirrels consume and disperse truffles and other mushrooms, which Ponderosa Pines rely on for nutrients.

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

• 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. 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: Aspen Creek Trail, No. 48.

• Gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer), important grassland predators of rodents, lay eggs in large clutches. Hatchlings start appearing in August. These very long constrictors (up to 9 feet!) sometimes mimic rattlesnakes when threatened, but don’t have true rattles and aren’t venomous or dangerous.

• Mule Deer give birth to spotted fawns, which weigh as little as 8 pounds and will remain hidden for the first month of their lives.

Visit: Tin Trough Trail, No. 308.

• With the exception of spring-fed perennial streams, Central Highlands creeks stay dry until monsoon storms arrive.

• Young Great Blue Herons begin fishing alone, often following other fish-eating species, such as Common Mergansers, in search of the best fishing grounds.

• Common Mergansers can be seen with their young ducklings riding on their backs.

Look for them in lower Granite Creek, Willow and Watson lakes, and Verde Valley rivers.

• Yellow Monkeyflowers (Mimulus guttatus) flower by perennial creeks such as Beaver Creek, Sycamore Creek, Clear Creek, and the Verde River.

• Young Botta’s Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bottae) leave their parents’ dens and establish their own. These gophers are fundamental for the soil maintenance through oxygenation and nutrification.

Visit: Lower Wolf Creek Falls Trail, No. 384, and Sycamore Canyon Trail.

Grasslands • Young Badgers (Taxidea taxus) emerge from dens to play, especially in the evening.

• Parry’s Agave (Agave parryi) grows long, asparagus-like flowering stalks. These plants bloom once after growing for 25 years and then die. A new plant grows from the root system.

Visit: Mint Wash Trail, No. 345.

Deserts/Chaparral • Crucifi xion-thorn (Canotia holacantha) flowers on hillsides, though, strictly speaking, this species is more closely related to pines and junipers than flowering plants.

• Saguaros, the second largest cacti in the world, continue flowering and attract Mourning Doves by day and Mexican Freetailed Bats by night.

Visit: Agua Fria National Monument.

LEFT TO RIGHT: A Common Merganser carries her chicks; Canyon Wrens court throughout the summer. Photos by Ty Fitzmorris. aA

June weather Average high temp: 85.8 F, +/-2.97 Average low temp: 49.3 F, +/-3.65 Record high temp: 103 F, 1924 Record low temp: 25 F, 1899 Average precip.: 0.38”, +/-0.52” Record high June precip.: 2.46”, 1972 Record low June precip.: 0” 40 percent of all years on record Max daily precip.: 1.35”, June 26, 1954 Source: Western Regional Climate Center

June skies June 8: New moon is at 8:56 a.m.

June 12: Mercury is at its greatest eastern elongation, i.e. most visible point, to the west, above the setting sun at dusk.

June 20: Summer Solstice is at 10:04 p.m., at night, so June 20 and 21 roughly tie for the longest day of 2013.

June 23: Full moon at 4:32 a.m.

Highlights: Look for Leo the Lion to the west after sunset, diving toward the setting sun, with its two brightest stars, Denebola, at its tail, and Regulus, in its heart.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • FEATURE • 15

Weathering Kites & Sun Blockage

Want

a better memory? And more restful sleep? Plus a healthier heart?

How about a stronger immune system?

Inside a trimmer body? That’s going to live a longer life?

You could scour your email spam for miracle drugs, brain training regimens, or the latest self-help knockoff of “The Secret.”

Or you could just let down your hair and put up your feet.

Having fun (or “engaging in multiple enjoyable activities,” as described in some scientific literature) reduces stress and is associated with myriad health benefits.

It’s also, um, fun.

Whether you’re looking for an excuse

to whistle while you work or unwind after hostile negotiations, science has you covered.

The information in this guide (mostly) draws on (mostly) scientific studies. Note that the results of such studies usually require qualification. Also note that such qualifications have been omitted here in the interest of less-cumbersome-thanthis-paragraph-much-less-this-clause prose.

Having fun can be serious business, but there’s no need to get carried away. After all, these ideas are just for fun.

You experience the world through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Why not fire up those five senses to finagle yourself more fun?

Sound

Sight

We’ve all got that friend — the one who tells everyone to shut up whenever The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon starts playing. It might be wise to shut up, listen, and enjoy a shared experience.

Although we often explain our musical tastes in terms of individual experiences, our brains process the music, itself, in pretty much the same fashion, according to a Stanford University study published in May 2013’s European Journal of Neuroscience.

Research subjects showed brain synchronization in regions apart from those that process the sound — i.e. subjects shared some (apparently not-so) subjective experiences related to the music. Trippy, no?

Let’s say you’re at a concert, sharing in a collective experience. If you find yourself holding up a lighter (or that obnoxious smartphone lighter app) and singing along with some monster ballad, try switching hands — you may have better timing. Holding objects in your right hand stimulates your left brain, which likes rapidly changing sounds like consonants, while holding objects in your left hand stimulates your right brain, which likes slow-changing sounds like syllables and intonation, according to research from the Center for Brain Plasticity presented at Neuroscience 2012, the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting.

The monotony of a 9-to-5 job can put anyone down in the dumps. Lighten your load — and enhance your performance — by enjoying pictures of kittens and puppies. That’s right: Photos of adorable baby animals boost people’s performance on focusheavy tasks, according to research from Japan’s Hiroshima University published in the September 2012 issue of PLoS ONE. Pictures of adult animals and “pleasant food” failed to elicit similar results.

The researchers theorize seeing baby animals triggers a nurturing instinct that temporarily improves motor skills and threat assessment. If that’s the case, though, you’d think visiting “I Can Haz Cheezburger” at work would clue you in that your boss is standing right behind you.

Whether true or false on their own merit, some stereotypes appear to self-perpetuate

16 • GUIDE • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

through expectation. If you want to have more fun, dye your hair blond. According to a 2008 study from the UK’s Nottingham Trent University (perhaps not incidentally, funded by the Clairol hair dye company), women who went blonde felt “more confident, impulsive, sexually exciting, rebellious, creative, attractive, and able to deal with criticism.” Moreover, blondes make an average of seven percent more per year than women with other hair colors, according to an Australia’s Queensland University of Technology study in the July 2010 issue of Economic Letters. If you’re looking for results from a country where English doesn’t reign: blonde waitresses get better tips from men, according to research from France’s Université de BretagneSud, as published in the August 2012 issue of The Journal of Socio-Economics.

Touch

TTT

Assuming you’re not allergic to them, pets offer endless hours of fun and amusement, and may actually boost your health. Some of those effects may be comorbid (i.e., not causal), but the correlation is all but certain. A listicle on WebMD makes the case for 27 ways a furry friend may improve your health. Some highlights: pets can reduce cortisol (a stressrelated chemical) and increase

serotonin (a happy-related chemical); pets can help people cope with everything from depression to arthritis to cancer; pets appear to strengthen children’s immune systems and reduce their risk of developing allergies and, in some cases, asthma; pets also lower people’s blood pressure and cholesterol and increase their overall cardiovascular health.

If you’re worried about wasting your time and affections on animals that

will never understand or return your emotions, take heart. It’s not just anthropomorphism; animals show brain activity that appears to mirror human emotion. Some of these areas developed quite early, in terms of mammalian brain evolution, according to a Bowling Green State University study published in the September 1982 issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. That may appear to be a rather dated study, but there’s

enough research in this arena, apparently, to fill a book. Barbara J. King’s book “How Animals Grieve,” which came out in April 2013, explores, well, how animals grieve, as well as how they process other emotions. Maybe if Johnny Utah had known that was the case, he wouldn’t have punted that poor pit bull in “Point Break.”

Taste Ever wondered why alcohol, a depressant, lifts the spirits of so many depressed people? That’s because, in some respects, alcohol isn’t a depressant.

Although it acts on the same brain regions as opiates, alcohol stimulates, not depresses, certain specialized receptors. They’ve been dubbed “one glass of wine receptors” by the University of California scientists who wrote

about them in the May 2007 issue of Alcohol. The receptors’ actual name? Alcohol/Ro15-4513-sensitive gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor subtypes.

Additionally, alcohol effectively increases norepinephrine (an arousal-related chemical). Or something like that. These studies kinda blur together. Anyone have some Tylenol?

Speaking of which, if you’re

apprehensive about life, take some acetaminophen, i.e. Tylenol. In a study published in the April 2013 issue of Psychological Science, University of British Columbia scientists found the drug reduces anxiety about death and other existential topics. How was this tested, you may ask? Scientists showed research participants a David Lynch film and made them talk about it. Seriously.

Smell If finding more fun is your goal, it’s intuitive to break your routine and aggressively seek out new experiences.

But you may get more hedonistic bang for your buck if you literally slow down and stop to smell the roses. Floral scents appear to make people happier. The research in question, announced in June 2011, comes from New York’s Le Moyne College, and measured the effects of nondetectable levels of floral scents, perfume, and other fragrances via essays coded for positive and negative words.

Flower scents elicited three times as many happiness-related responses than fresh air. The study also required respondents to instruct a mime to act out an emotion. Respondents in floral-scented rooms were five times

as likely to move toward or touch the mime than the fresh air coterie. That’s interesting. And kinda creepy.

The statewide smoking ban enacted in May 2007 presents some challenges to nightlife. Once the smoke lifted from bars and clubs, stale beer and body odor became — and, in some cases, remain — the dominant scents.

Owners and managers take heed: relaxing, stimulating, and even neutral scents improve the subjective experience of your venues. The smell of oranges, peppermint, and sea water all improved patrons rating of clubs, according to research from The Netherlands’ Delft University of Technology published in the June 2011 edition of Chemosensory Perception.

FROM TOP, OPPOSITE: “Carnaval! Jour de Folie” from Le Petit Journal, 1920; “Tiny Kitten” by Petr Kratochvil, Aug. 17, 2012; “The New Kit-Cat Club,” London, published by W. Spooner, No. 259 Regent St. Images and photos via VintagePrintable.Com and Wikimedia.Org, public domain.

17

Bird Watching (No, the Other Kind)

From wartime to pastime aA

F-102A of the 57th FIS intercepting a Soviet Tu-95 “Bear” bomber, 1970. Public domain.

By Matt Dean On a late winter morning in 1951, a woman makes her way to the edge of a small North Dakota town to a lookout station codenamed Zulu-PapaPapa-3-3.

She briefly speaks to the pair of graveyard shift observers she’s relieving and checks the telephone connection to the filter center. The stove is still hot but needs to be stoked as a freezing northernplains wind kicks up and finds its way through the cracks of the hastily built post. For the next 12 hours she’ll look and listen to the skies for signs of Soviet planes trying to slip across the unguarded Canadian arctic to drop atomic bombs on America. *****

As

a hobby, aircraft spotting is relaxed and relaxing. For decades, though, it was a matter of life and death.

The military was already organizing a civil aircraft spotting branch before December 7, 1941. After Pearl Harbor, the War Department redoubled its efforts and established that program.

Officials developed extensive training procedures to help civilian volunteers properly identify aircraft as friend or foe. They used spotting manuals, models, and even playing cards. While fairly novel stateside, the Aircraft Warning Service was based on a long-running, pre-World War I program in Britain: the Royal Observation Corps.

During World War II, as mainland Europe fell to the Nazis, the British military reorganized civilians

to supplement the daytime radar that monitored the English Channel. Royal Observation Corps volunteers also helped locate downed planes and pilots during the Battle of Britain.

America’s Aircraft Warning Service was deactivated in 1944. Britain’s Royal Observation Corps stood down a year later but was soon reactivated with a new, Cold War charge.

A

couple of years after that, in early 1950, the U.S. Continental Air Command determined the Soviet Union’s ability to strike the U.S. with aircraft carrying atomic bombs was a real threat.

Moreover, America didn’t have a radar network capable of securing the country’s airspace. While such a system was constructed, the military needed a provisional arrangement to assist in the country’s defense. Their answer: Organize civilians to operate aircraft observation posts around the most vulnerable U.S. borders as the Ground Observation Corps.

At the height of the program, some 800,000 civilians volunteered for the program to staff 16,000 observation posts and 73 filter centers. Volunteers included school-age children, housewives, and retired veterans.

The defense perimeter formed by these observation posts, called SKYWATCH, ran from California to Washington to Maine to Virginia. Posts varied from plywood tar paper shacks to glass-enclosed towers. Volunteers would listen for aircraft and scan the skies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

When volunteers spotted an aircraft, they’d note its position, try to identify the plane and determine

18 • COLUMN • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

its altitude, and then alert the post’s filter center.

These centers tracked planes and passed information along to the Air Defense Direction Center, which decided whether or not to scramble fighter interceptor aircraft.

Operation SKYWATCH ended when reliable warning radar defenses came online in 1959.

During the interim, hundreds of thousands of people were introduced to aircraft spotting and identification. It’s hard to track, but reasonable to assume some of these volunteers became aircraft spotting hobbyists. They may’ve even introduced the activity to their friends or children.

As

technology advanced, aircraft became more numerous and novel. That gave spotters decidedly more diversity to enjoy without the pressure of civil defense. People looked skyward with curiosity, not fear.

That’s because it was fun. The exact date the hobby began and the specialty of individual aircraft spotters is secondary. What’s important is the perspective of a person enjoying his or her life, delighted and in awe of the human achievement of flight. ***** Matt Dean is a Prescott native and a teacher for Prescott High School’s online program who enjoys spending time with his family and walks with the dogs. When he’s not aircraft spotting, you can find him steadily working on projects at his home and property. Contact him at Matt.Dean@ PrescottSchools.Com.

By Gene Twaronite While the issue of same-sex

Gene Twaronite’s The Absurd Naturalist

marriage plays out in the Supreme Court, we need to cool off a bit and find some common ground.

For instance, we can all at least agree that marriage should be limited to members of the same species. Yet there are those among us, even now, cohabiting with partners outside their own genetic kin. It is only a matter of time before such unions become commonplace, threatening the traditional sanctity of marriage. That is why I propose a national Same-Species Marriage Act.

Polls

show that most Americans are opposed by a wide margin to marriages between different species, even when it involves a beloved pet or favorite tree.

Numerous research studies in the past 30 years have amply demonstrated that children growing up in households headed by two different species often display signs of emotional distress and confusion, especially with regard to their species identity.

Furthermore, many religions consider procreation to be the main or even only purpose of marriage.

However, in most cases, trans-species unions are far less likely to result in viable progeny. Thousands of years of recorded evidence have shown that nothing beats same-species coupling for overall reliability and safety in producing healthy offspring. And no successful interbreeding has ever been documented between humans and the plant kingdom, though it has not stopped some people from trying.

For

the time being at least, I further propose that the law be applied only to marriages involving humans. While this might seem a no-brainer since, according to the best available evidence, marriage is an institution unique to our own species, we do not know this for certain. In all the extensive field studies undertaken to date, there have been no signs of outward behavior observed

That great animal behaviorist Rudyard Kipling first suggested the existence of such animal courts in his classic study “The Jungle Book.” The mere fact that we humans codify and publish our laws doesn’t preclude in other creatures the existence of hitherto unknown codes of conduct — the Law of the Jungle, for example — by which they live out their existence. As Carl Sagan and Bertrand Russell both have reminded us, in the absence of scientific evidence we should withhold judgment.

But

In defense of same-species marriage — rice-throwing or exchanging rings, for example — in the mating behavior of other species that could be definitively described as a marriage ritual, be it civil or religious.

But just because gorillas, wombats, and skinkss don’t talk about bout marriage age doesn’t ’t mean they don’t engagee in such relationonships.

The deep emotional onal bonds

observed between mated couples in various species such as whales, primates, and wolves points to the possibility at least of relationships as complex and meaningful as ours. Indeed, the cohabitation of ravens, who w mate for life, might aptly be described descri as a form of common-law marriage, marriag defined not by ceremony, but by the th simple act of living livi together. The rar ven clan may h have laws of their own ow recognizing such su unions. Who Wh knows, they th might m even ev have ha courts. cour

what if two different, nonhuman species wish to live together as creature and creature?

Take, for example, the Owl and the Pussycat. Here we have two animals not only of different species, but of wholly different classes. They go off in a pea-green boat, cohabiting shamelessly for a year and a day before they are finally married by a Turkey “who lives on a hill” — and who presumably holds some kind of religious or clerical office. Who among us is ready to cast the first stone at this pair of lovebirds? For two centuries have they danced by the light of the moon for us as a shining example of loving commitment. It is not for us to judge whether their union is morally right or wrong.

The

purpose of the Same-Species Marriage Act would be simply to define the institution of marriage as a legal union in which all parties are certifiably human — pure and simple. No controversy there.

As to whether marriages between non-humans are valid, or whether they are entitled to the same rights as human marriages, perhaps we should leave these issues for future Supreme Courts to decide. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to resolve them. © Gene Twaronite 2013 ***** Gene Twaronite’s writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines. He is the author of “The Family That Wasn’t,” “My Vacation in Hell,” and “Dragon Daily News.” Follow Gene at TheTwaronite Zone.Com.

Medieval dieval illustration of a robed goat perhaps perrhaps mass marryin marrying two chickens and a goose. Public domain.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • COLUMN • 19

Diagnosis: Technology With Paolo Chlebecek

Internet insecurity

By Paolo Chlebecek

even employ the feature by default.

Your

How

computer network may not be as safe as you

think.

In 2010, Miami hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in prison for massive credit card theft.

He committed the crimes without even setting foot near the stores.

He didn’t need to; he had a computer.

The self-styled, self-taught computer guru admitted to hacking into the unprotected computer networks of TJX Cos., BJ’s Wholesale Club, Dave & Buster’s, and others. He cost stores, insurers, and banks nearly $200 million.

Along with a pair of co-defendants, Gonzalez would drive along U.S. 1 in Miami armed with a laptop, tapping into retails with vulnerable or unsecured wireless Internet signals, according to authorities. The trio then installed “sniffer programs” that picked off credit and debit card numbers in digital transit that they’d sell overseas, or so goes the official story.

The store owners were completely unaware.

Like

most people, you probably purchased a wireless router or access point to set up wireless Internet at home. After all the cords are in the right ports, such devices start working with a few simple clicks.

And, like most people, you missed a critical step — setting up wireless Internet security. This vital protection is free and likely built into any wireless router or access point purchased in the past few years. Many

can you determine if your network is protected or not? Your computer will tell you.

On Windows computers, your signal status is displayed in the lower right corner of your screen near your clock.

On some machines, it looks like a tiny computer monitor with waves or curves to the right of it. On Windows Vista, it looks like two computers and a globe.

On Windows 7, it looks like cell phone bar signals ascending to the right.

On Mac computers, your signal status is displayed in the upper right bar by the clock. It looks like a tiny tornado.

Regardless of your operating system, hover your mouse over the signal status icon without clicking on it. The scroll-over text will tell you what kind of security you have. If you don’t on’t have any security, you’re at risk.

Enabling this essential protection tection — did I mention this is important? rtant? — isn’t difficult, but each manufacturer facturer and model is different. Read your user guide or consult a certified computer omputer professional for help.

In most cases, this involvess customizing the network name and choosing a password. Be careful when changing your network as your computer(s) ter(s) and printer(s) may lose Internet connectivity.

It can take some time and effort to secure your wireless Internett signal, ight of but it’s certainly worth it in light the grave risks involved.

What’s

that you say?

“Well I don’t on’t have anything private or worth protecting, otecting, so I don’t need that kind of security.” ecurity.”

Au contraire, mon numérique que

20 • FEATURE • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

ingénue: It’s not all about your information. Anyone with a computer in the neighborhood or a laptop driving by can access, steal, exploit, and even lock you out of your unsecured Internet connection. They might even illegally download movies, music, or even pornography.

Who gets the blame, and maybe even a computer virus? You! This is especially important if you’re a retailer, as you could become one of the many whose customers’ private information is stolen.

Unless the case is revisited, Gonzalez won’t get out of jail until 2025, but, sadly, there are plenty of people to take his place in the interim. ***** Paolo Chlebecek is founder and owner of PaoloTek, which he started in 2003. He enjoys technology of all kinds and, in his spare time, likes to go on adventures with his wife and four-legged children. Contact him at Paolo@PaoloTek.Com.

eF ra Outside the Frame

Bits & pieces

By Sadira DeMarino

On

one wall stands a table covered in beads, stones, and jewelry. On the next, a large cabinet houses block prints, printed wood, and paper. On still another wall sits a table under a large bulletin board filled with pictures, quotes, and pure inspiration. Each surface is carefully covered with supplies, wire, stamps, findings, and tools. Strands of colorful beads and stones big and small hang on the walls, and finished pieces and works in progress alike coil in trays and on shelves.

This is the creative space of jewelry designer, print maker, and artist Megan Dean.

Working from her home studio, Dean enjoys a healthy variety of creative endeavors. Eleven years ago, while attending art school in Tucson, Dean saw a Help Wanted sign in the window of a well-known jewelry store. Though unfamiliar with this medium, she got the job. While researching the history of beads, something clicked.

“This is going to change my life,” she thought.

And thus began her love affair with beads.

While working at the store, she took beads home and practiced working and designing with them.

She became further acquainted with beads while working hands-on with them in the store’s museum.

She soon began buying beads and crafting her own jewelry. Since then, it’s evolved along with her life as an artist and woman.

Intent and purpose Recently, she’s started shifting to what she calls “intentional jewelry.” It’s idea she remembers from her early days as an artist, and wants to explore with wearable art. These new pieces include hand stamping on metal that expresses words and affirmations. She pairs these pieces with beads and stones that support the ideas and feelings of each saying.

While she enjoys this new creative direction, Dean also looks forward to a time when she can work on silversmithing, as she enjoys wearing and drawing inspiration from that mode of Native American jewelry.

The techniques involved in jewelry making are almost endless, she asserts with smile, just like in printmaking. And she would know.

All the art that’s fit to print Dean is also a storied print maker.

These days, she often works on prints accompanied by her 3-year-old daughter. Dean starts by designing and cutting her own blocks from linoleum.

This gives her prints a clean, attractive quality, but not overly rigid. Refusing to limit herself to paper, she also prints on wood remnants with nails, suitcases, and fabric, thus creating multidimensional, interactive art forms.

Moving away from jewelry to artwork has been hard for Dean. She can comfortably sit and make wearable art, but her new approach to them as conceptual pieces is more draining and draws from her personal life and drawing practices.

In retrospect, Dean looks back on herself as an idealist and artist intent on changing the world.

Now, as a mother, her rebellion lies in art with “cute little girls and flowers.” Still, this reminds her that the creative life is supposed to be fun — even during hard work.

“There is joy in the struggle,” Dean says, channeling any number of Sisyphean philosophies.

Many mediums As she stages one of her creations she reveals an-

other one of her creative passions, vintage clothes.

Although she can’t create them, per se, she can certainly arrange them, work with them, and draw inspiration from them.

While doing so, Dean reflects on the spirit in which she creates art and, in a larger sense, tries to live her life.

“It’s not about defining yourself by what you’ve done in the past,” Dean says. “Really, the only difference between artists and non-artists is taking the time to do it.”

Despite her grandiose plans, right now Dean’s focused on a tangible goal: acquiring a mannequin. ***** Megan Dean’s jewelry and artwork show locally at the Ian Russell Gallery of Fine Art and the Raven Café’s annual printmaking show. She also has online stores at DeanAker.Etsy.Com and ArizonaStarTradingCo.Etsy.Com. Sadira DeMarino lives in Prescott, where she’s owned and operated the resale clothing store Snap Snap for 18 years. For the past two years she’s been in business with her mother at 133 N. Cortez St. Contact her at SadiraDas@Yahoo.Com.

TOP TO BOTTOM: Megan Dean recently talks about art at her home studio; jewelry by Megan Dean. Photos by 5enses.

5ENSESMAG.COM • JUNE 2013 • FEATURE • 21

22 • FEATURE • JUNE 2013 • 5ENSESMAG.COM

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