Archive for April, 2009

Who: Albuquerque Botanic Garden
What: Orchid show
When: Saturday, May 2 at 12:30pm
Where: Albuquerque Biological Park, 903 Tenth Street SW
Contact:www.nmog.org

Co-sponsored by the New Mexico Orchid Guild, this year’s spectacular orchid show, Orchid Obsession, takes place May 1-3 at the Rio Grande Botanic Garden and features hundreds of blooming orchids in a variety of colors in the Mediterranean Conservatory, the Aquarium lobby and the Garden Showroom. Visitors are invited to vote for the “People’s Choice Award,†view orchid art, orchid collectibles, orchid educational displays and flower arrangements. Visitors may also get a head start on Mother’s Day gifts.  There will be hundreds of orchids available for purchase in the Garden Showroom. The show is included with regular admission. (505) 848-7181,

On Saturday, May 2 at 12:30pm, orchid expert and NMOG President Steve Fischer will give a special lecture entitled Obsession with Orchids in the Garden Showroom.  With around 30,000 species and 110,000 registered hybrids, the sheer diversity of the orchid world is astounding.  Steve will discuss the addictive nature of orchid growing and the “various contrivances†that orchids use to get pollinated–entrapment, deception, and sexual attraction. Steve will also suggest the best plants for beginners and culture techniques that help ensure that anyone can successfully grow and flower orchids.

Who: 516 ARTS
What: A literary arts event with special guest Michael Datcher
When: Saturday, May 9, 7:30 pm
Where: Outpost Performance Space located at 210 Yale SE in Albuquerque
Contact: (505) 242-1445 or (505) 268-0044

516 ARTS, the UNM M.F.A. in Creative Writing program and Outpost Performance Space invite you to a literary arts event with special guest Michael Datcher, an award winning memoirist, poet, journalist and critic, Saturday, May 9, 7:30pm at the Outpost Performance Space located at 210 Yale SE in Albuquerque.

Michael Datcher is a poet and critically acclaimed journalist from Los Angeles and author of the New York Times Bestseller Raising Fences, his memoir about a black man’s right to security, family and love. In this emotionally raw and intimate narrative, Datcher reflects on his fatherless childhood in inner-city Los Angeles, his attraction to local gangs, his promiscuity, and, at times, his lack of faith. The film rights for Raising Fences were optioned by actor Will Smith’s Overbrook Productions, who hired Datcher to write the screenplay. Datcher is co-editor of Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur. His latest play Silence was commissioned by and premiered at the Getty Museum. He has appeared on both news programs Nightline and Dateline as an analyst and is a frequent commentator on BBC Radio. He is co-host of the weekly public affairs news magazine Beautiful Struggle on 90.7 FM KPFK. Datcher’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, LA Times, Baltimore Sun, The Source, Ladies Home Journal and Vibe among many other publications. He has curated and/or presented his work at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hammer Museum and other art institutions.

Local African American poets and spoken word artists will open up for Mr. Datcher, including Maisha Baton, Hakim Bellamy, Idris Goodwin and Gary Jackson. Virginia Hampton and Stephanie Willis (formerly of Out ch’Yonda) will perform a spoken word duet about Charles Mingus.

This event is in conjunction with West Southwest: ABQ-LA Exchange at 516 ARTS (April 4 - May 16, 2009), and is organized by Lisa Gill and Richard Vargas, 516 ARTS literary arts co-coordinators. A visual slideshow about this LA exchange project, composed by Bryan Konefsky of Basement Films, accompanies the featured poets.

Tickets are $12 and are available at 505-242-1445 or 505-268-0044.

For more New Mexico information visit www.new-mexico-visitor.com

Lance Armstrong will compete in the Tour of the Gila after all, the seven-time Tour de France champion’s first race since breaking his collarbone in a crash last month.

Race director Jack Brennan said Tuesday that Armstrong and Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be allowed to compete at this week’s event after USA Cycling reached an agreement with the International Cycling Union.

USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee confirmed a deal was in place, one day after the UCI informed race organizers of a rule that bars top professional teams like Astana from sending organized squads to national-level races.

The compromise allows up to three members of a pro team to race individually without a team car or team director.

Brennan said the Astana riders plan to race wearing jerseys representing Mellow Johnny’s, Armstrong’s bike store in Austin, Texas. The BMC team that had entered an eight-man squad will also be allowed three members and must wear neutral jerseys.

Armstrong wrote early Tuesday on his Twitter feed that he was “Down at mellowjohnnys grabbing some jerseys, etc. to race in…”

The Tour of the Gila in Silver City, N.M., runs Wednesday through Sunday.

Armstrong broke his collarbone during the Vuelta of Castilla and Leon in Spain on March 23 and had surgery two days later. A stainless steel plate and 12 screws were inserted to stabilize it, and the American star has been working toward the Giro d’Italia beginning May 9.

Lee said the agreement allowing the Astana teammates to race in New Mexico was forged by USA Cycling’s chief operating officer, Sean Petty, and UCI president Pat McQuaid in Europe, where they were attending UCI road meetings.

“Sean had significant discussions with the UCI,” Lee said. “Ultimately, USA Cycling and the UCI worked together to find a resolution.”

UCI officials didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

“I thought it was a lost cause, but Sean Petty went to bat for us,” Brennan said.

The deal was hailed on the American side, where the most visible rider in the sport will lend some significant star power to the Tour of the Gila.

“Any opportunity Lance has to race in the United States is a good thing,” Lee said. “And for him to compete in the Tour of the Gila along with Levi and Chris, that’s good for racing in America.”

Brennan said it was important to work out an agreement because other races elsewhere in the United States have had similar issues.

“They are trying to resolve this issue now or work toward a resolution so other promoters are not caught in the same situation,” Brennan said. “It would be good for the sport to work this thing out.”

For more New Mexico information visit www.new-mexico-visitor.com