ARTS&LIFE
5
September 17, 2013
{Local Events} Tuesday, September 17 7:30 p.m. Anime: “Princess Jellyfish” Alamo Drafthouse Westlakes (1255 SW Loop 410) will screen “Princess Jellyfish” as a part of their Anime at the Alamo event. Each screening features a give away at the end of the film. Tickets are available for purchase online at drafthouse.com.
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Wednesday, September 18 7 p.m. Exhibit: “Destination: Mexico”
The original set used in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” of Jack’s tower depicting Jack’s plans to incorporate Christmas into Halloween Town.
This is Halloween: McNay delights and excites with ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ exhibit
Janae Rice
Arts Editor arts@paisano-online.com “Life’s no fun without a good scare,” sings the town of Halloween in the song “This is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” The McNay Art Museum pays homage to this lyric and the film with a nine-piece exhibit in the year of the film’s twentieth anniversary. Just in time for Halloween and Christmas, the McNay Art Museum released their biennial “Nightmare Before Christmas” exhibit, which contains pieces illustrating the frightening and fascinating Disney film. Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” both
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entertained and disturbed children when it was released in 1993. In Halloween Town, every day is Halloween and everyone is a monster, vampire, ghoul or zombie just jumping at the chance to prank or scare someone. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, has grown tired of Halloween and stumbles, or rather falls, into Christmas Town. Jack is astonished to find an entire town full of color and joy, celebrating a holiday very different from Halloween. In a failed attempt to make Halloween Town more like Christmas Town, Jack tries to imitate Santa Claus, but only scares children with the ghastly presents he delivers. Fans of the film will be de-
lighted to see how Jack’s tower was made from simple ink paper and wood or how Lock, Shock and Barrel’s walking bathtub was made from wood, metal and styrofoam. The highly praised film is brought to three dimensions with the constructed sets of pivotal scenes including Jack’s Christmas experiment and Lock, Shock and Barrel’s plan to kidnap “Sandy Claws.” The pieces in the exhibit take on the same dark and disturbing tone of the film. The media used seem so simple but create this unique world effortlessly. Oogie Boogie, the burlap sack monster covered in spiders and worms, is also on display. The monster from every child’s nightmare — made from Lindsay Smith / The Paisano
Sara Flores
Staff Writer arts@paisano-online.com We have barely entered the fourth week of school and I already feel it weighing down my fellow classmates and me. During a night of classic procrastination, I wondered why this term in particular has proven to be so stressful at such an early stage. My workload is not as time-consuming as previous semesters and I’m interested in what I’m studying, yet there is something about it that feels debilitating. Discussing this with other students and friends, I see that school-related stress may be getting worse amongst the masses. Putting off responsibilities is something most of us do at some point in our lives, yet I think we all come to a point where enough is enough. However, an all-nighter here and there doesn’t seem to teach me
the lesson that it may have in years past. I feel a universal degree of distress that seems to come with finishing even the simplest assignments, which leads me to wonder if we are all simply burnt out. While I think that waiting until the last minute to take care of school work is a common theme among anyone who balances college and life, I feel that it is easy for bad habits to consume us. I should point out that I do not necessarily think that procrastination is born from laziness. It’s easy to avoid responsibilities and have fun instead, but I’ve had my fair share of 3 a.m. freakouts over schoolwork that should have been completed hours earlier to know that it is more than simply being passive about school. When stress begins to eat at you, it is easy to reach a point of no return. We eat too much too late, our backs begin to hurt,
we reach level 72 of Candy Crush. Pretty soon we may find ourselves delving into the lesser-known tracks of ABBA’s full discography to avoid addressing the elephant that is life. Perhaps it’s the immediate fear of not being good enough, or thinking that our talents could be utilized elsewhere that creep inside of our minds late at night and distract us from studying. Or maybe it’s the exhaustion of a long day catching up with us. Either way, I am of the opinion that small joys can provide us the comfort we need in times of stress, even if they won’t necessarily help us get our work done. Listening to your favorite album while dazing off into space, eating your favorite food at two in the morning, doing the tiny yet important things that make you feel whole again. These moments, while shortlived, can make all the difference in the face of a consuming
foam, rubber and wire — is an integral character of Halloween Town. Funny signs are displayed alerting patrons not to touch the pieces. One states, “Hands off! This is art you know.” The exhibit also contains information on the making of the film, including the 24 photographs that were needed to make one second of stop-motion animation. The exhibit mentions that designers for the film made 180 different heads for the character of Jack with mouths and eyes for various emotions. These different heads were synched with Jack’s dialogue. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” exhibit is a treat for any fan of the movie, animation
or art. The many pieces allow patrons to explore the film in a new way and educate fans on the making of such a praised and admired film. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” exhibit will be available through Jan. 5, 2014 at the McNay Art Museum (6000 N. New Braunfels Ave.) in the Theatre Arts section of the gallery. The McNay is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is $5 for students with I.D. and free on Thursdays after 4 p.m. and on the first Sunday of each month from noon to 5 p.m. McNay Art Museum is closed on Mondays.
week. No matter what universityrelated issue comes my way, I try to remind myself of the things that invigorate me. The simplest things can help me wind down; watching 1930s musicals, reading my favorite poems, pretending to get really into crafts for a couple of days, whatever works. Another important component to keeping it together during school is not to single yourself out as a terrible person. I’ve met people who seemed to walk on air, only to find out that their lives were just as hectic as any other person’s. I was once told by a classmate that
I looked very put together. Of course I laughed in their face due to the tornado that was my mind at the time. We all have messiness that we must deal with in some way or another, and addressing it head-on can lead to good things. I don’t have any solutions for procrastination, nor do I have any theories for making life easier, but I know that none of us are lazy even if we refer to ourselves as such. The upside of this is that we can all relate to one another as we go through similar circumstances. In the event we lose our minds, I’m happy to do it with all of you.
The San Antonio Museum of Art (200 W. Jones Street) presents “Destination: Mexico,” a modern look at Mexico and its culinary traditions. Proceeds from the event will go to SAMA. For more information, visit samuseum.org.
Thursday, September 19 7 p.m. Film Screening: “The Hustler” Santikos Bijou (4522 Fredericksburg Road) as a part of their weekly Free Movie Night will screen the 1961 drama “The Hustler” based on the novel by the same name. “The Hustler” follows ‘Fast Eddie’ Felson played by Paul Newman, a pool hustler determined to prove himself the best player in the country by beating the famous pool player ‘Minnesota Fats’ played by Jackie Gleason. Admission is free. For more information, visit santikos. com.
Friday, September 20 8 p.m. Theater: “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Tennessee William’s Pulitzer prizewinning play “A Streetcar Named Desire” will run at The Little Carver Theater (226 North Hackberry Street). Showings will run on Sept. 20-22, 27-29 and Oct. 4-6 at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays. The play is directed by Carol Lee Klose and stars Sam Carter Gilliam as Blanche, Rick Frederick as Stanley and Mindy Fuller as Stella. Tickets are $25 at The Carver Box Office. Box Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday- Friday and three hours before showtimes. For more information, visit streetcarnameddesire.net.
Saturday, September 21 9 p.m. Live Music: Abbey Rode & Already Gone Sam’s Burger Joint (330 E. Grayson St.) will host Houston-based tribute bands Abbey Rode and Already Gone, who will perform popular songs of The Beatles and Eagles. Admission is $8-$30. For more information, visit samsburgerjoint.com.
Sunday, September 22 12 p.m. Exhibit: Localized Histories Artpace (445 N. Main Ave.) hosts an exhibition inspired by Artpace founder Linda Pace. Artists featured include Leonardo Drew, Tony Feher, Isa Genzken, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Thomas Hirschhorn and many more. For more information, visit artpace.org.