My Star Turn on YouTube!

I finished my stint on Saturday night as the Guest Tweeter at KLRN's Blazing Gavels auction. What a blast! I hope to return for next year's auction ...although in what role, I have no idea. The apps and how we use them will have changed drastically in a year, and there's no way to predict now what social media's role will be.

Another Guest Tweeter was Alan Weinkrantz (www.twitter.com/alanweinkranz), who had so much fun, he returned for several nights. He wandered the studios with his digital camera, documenting some great behind-the-scenes action and posting it to YouTube. You should check out his work...fascinating stuff.

I modestly direct your attention in particular to the video he posted about my Guest Tweeter stint. I've never been on YouTube before (at least, not knowingly). I must say, it's pretty cool.

For those of you in San Antonio still looking for bargains, their After-Auction Auction is Tuesday, June 29 at 6:00pm at the studio.

The "In-Studio" Experience at KLRN's Blazing Gavels Auction!

We've enjoyed KLRN's Blazing Gavels auction for years; we've bought wine, vacations, art...all sorts of cool things. They had a Twitter account last year but really didn't do much with it. This year, rather than tweeting themselves, they decided to ask members of the San Antonio social media community to come into the studio and serve as "guest tweeters." I was flattered and honored to be asked to do so Friday night!

As much as we've watched the auction, I've never been in studio during the events. I previewed the new digs a couple of days ago (see my last blog post). I've heard it's very exciting, so I was really looking forward to it. And here I am:

• 5:05pm: arrived at the station early. Each night a restaurant donates dinner for volunteers. Tonight we enjoyed salad and pasta; very tasty.


• 5:20pm: into the studio with Katrina, who helps set up my station and get me logged onto the various accounts. She offers a few suggestions on what to post, but for the most part, I'm on my own.


• 6:07pm: went on air a few minutes ago with lots of hoops and hollers from the USAA volunteers. There's so much activity that it's tough to know what to focus on. Can't hear Steve (the announcer), which is oddly disorienting.


• 6:20pm: found out they plan to do a little interview with me later this evening. I hope my tongue doesn't decide to get all tied in knots.


• 6:30pm: Bonnie Walker of the great blog SavorSA just sat down next to me! She's reading one of the wine boards later. Trying to figure out how to pronounce all those foreign words. Oh...and she's co-editing a new foodie magazine, San Antonio Taste. Look for it at HEBs.


• 6:50pm: starting to feel the rhythm and keep my eye on things I want to bid on. I'm allowed, but I have to call from outside the studio. I think I may have gotten a Texas red wine package, but just like everyone else, I won't know until they call.


• 7:30pm: wandering around the studio. Lots of wine lined up in the back. At any given time, there's at least one board with open bidding on wine packages.


• 7:50pm: I've just about decided that bidding will have to wait until I'm not tweeting. Too much going on.


• 8:10pm: snack break. Headed up to snack room for some soda, popcorn and chips.


• 8:15pm: sandals may be cute, but an unwise choice in a chilly studio. My toes is froze.


• 8:40pm: Ellen stopped by to say goodbye and asked me to come back! She also asked me to put a bug in Chef Jason Dady's ear about donating some gift certificates for his restaurants. I'll see him Monday night at a cooking class, so I'll ask!


• 8:55pm: about to do my on-camera interview. Boy, I hope the words all come out right.


• 9:15pm: done! Everyone said it looked fine. Hope so. I recorded it at home and will look later. That's nerve-wracking!


• 9:45pm: tonight, USAA volunteers man the phones. Shift changes at 10:00, and new folks are trickling in.


• 9:55pm: winding down. Last night's guest tweeter made it to 11:00. Not this tired bear.


• 10:00pm: finally got to meet the awesome Steve Alwais, the voice of Blazing Gavels!


• 10:05pm: signing off! They want me to send a "guest" entry for their blog. Will do so tomorrow!
  

And to finish the night, a much-appreciated escort out to my car by a nice deputy sheriff.

Many, many thanks to KLRN, Ellen, and Katrina for a fabulous evening!

It's Almost Time for Blazing Gavels!

It's almost here! The 44th annual Blazing Gavels Auction (sponsored by KLRN) is June 10-19.

This year's auction features a spiffy new set. Students at the International Academy of Design and Technology designed the colorful murals (pictured), which were painted by students from the Blue Star Mosaic program. They give the set a marvelous sense of color and movement. KLRN's engineers worked hard to design a new set in about half the space. (KLRN now rents part of its studio to another production company.) But there's still plenty of room for volunteers to move around...and for three rows of phones!

The auction features hundreds (if not thousands) of items...everything from gift certificates to food to wine to travel to......you name it. The most valuable prize this year is a Harley Davidson motorcycle, valued at $15,000. You can bid on the more valuable items on their website.

I highly recommend calling the station (210-270-9000) to get a speed bid number. This makes it easy for you to bid on multiple items (and multiple times, as you compete with other bidders).

This year's auction also features social media. They have a Facebook page and a Twitter account (www.twitter.com/KLRNauction); the Twitter account will have "guest" Tweeters each night. I'm honored to say I'll be the "guest Tweeter" on Friday, June 11. They'll also feature social media-only items each night, with the biggest prize being an iPad (donated by Rackspace). You'll only be able to bid on these items via Twitter or Facebook.

They're still looking for volunteers for a few shifts, particularly the late-night shift (9:30 pm until it's done). Call 270-9000 to volunteer.

The fundraising goal this year is $402,000, which represents about 8% of KLRN's annual budget.

Tune in June 10-19 at 6:00 pm, or visit their website. Bid high, and bid often!

Celebrate Kurosawa's 100th Birthday with "Rashomon"

The 100th birthday of legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa is this coming Tuesday. To celebrate, TPR's Nathan Cone (master programmer of TPR's "Cinema Tuesdays" series; more on that later) has scheduled a special screening of one of the best of Kurosawa's films, "Rashomon" (Tuesday, 3/24 at the Bijou at Crossroads at 7:30pm).

Kurosawa directed thirty films in his fifty-year career. Probably his most recognizable film (to American audiences anyway) is "The Seven Samurai" which was subsequently re-made as the American western "The Magnificent Seven." His favored leading actor (and the lead in this film as well) was Toshiro Mifune, whom you will recognize as Toranaga from the mini-series "Shogun" or Adm. Yamamoto from "Midway."

Kurosawa's work influenced many modern directors. I love watching his films and discovering scenes from "Star Wars." George Lucas was and is a committed Kurosawa devotee, and I find a "Star Wars" scene in nearly every Kurosawa film I watch (including the speeder bike chase; yes, really).

The plot for "Rashomon" involves a brutal crime and the different recollections of the action from four different (and one very surprising) witness.

Tickets are $10 for TPR members, $12 for non-members. You can purchase online or at the door.

And speaking of Cinema Tuesdays, if you haven't attended yet, you've missed a treat. Running on Tuesday nights during the summer, Nathan puts together an always-interesting package of classic films. This year's features include "Goldfinger" and "Dr. Strangelove." I plan on purchasing season tickets. The fun begins Tuesday, June 1.

Oscar Shorts!

Every year, Santikos Theaters earns its way into the hearts of San Antonio Oscar fans by showing the Oscar-nominated short films, most of which go unseen by average Oscar viewers. We planned to view both the animated and live-action shorts on Friday night, but an unexpected tow truck deployment delayed our viewing of the animated films until Saturday.

First impression: Dear Bijou, please fix your projector. If you're going to use DVDs to show films (is that an oxymoron?), your projector needs excellent color balance and sharp projection. Yours didn't (and probably won't today). We still enjoyed the show, but it's distracting.

Setting that aside, here are my impressions of the live-action nominees, without giving away important plot points. Overall, it was a rather sobering collection; no hilarious "West Bank Story" from years past. Glad we're going to see the animated ones last.

• "Kavi" (India): about a struggling Indian family. Very poignant, mostly because you know what they're showing (in this fictional film) does happen in the real world. The dicey projector made the subtitles difficult to read at times.
• "The New Tenants" (Denmark, but in English): One of the two funny shorts (but very darkly funny), it follows a couple who've just rented a new flat, and their gradual discovery of what happened before they moved in. Watch carefully toward the end (the fellow with the wild hair), and you may recognize a versatile, chameleon-like American actor. I didn't catch it until the credits.
• "Miracle Fish" (Australia): Something unexpected happens to Joe while he's at school on his birthday. It was a little draggy-poo in the middle. Just like a short story needs to make every word count, a short film needs to make every second count, and this one didn't.
• "The Door" (Ireland): We watch a family as a well-known disaster unfolds. The projector problems made this one a lot more blue (and oddly, more eerie) that it probably really was. This is my pick for the Oscar.
• "Instead of Abracadabra" (Sweden): Thankfully, the DVD producers put this one last, as it's by far the lightest (but it does still have its moments). We follow a family whose 25-year-old son needs to get a real job.

Nominated shorts are at the Bijou all week. I highly recommend a visit I'll post again tomorrow about the animated shorts. (I can't wait!!! "Wallace and Grommit"!!!!)

Attention All Foodies! Book/Movie Recommendation

If you missed "Julie and Julia" in theatres recently, you missed a jewel. An absolute must-see for all foodies, this charming film (written and directed by Nora Ephron) deftly weaves together two completely separate narratives.

The first is "My Life in France," Julia Child's enjoyable memoir about how she came to fall in love with la belle France, her years in Europe, and the struggles she faced in first learning to cook, then publishing her most famous cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Surprisingly, she didn't write the memoir until the last years of her life, and in fact, the book wasn't finished and published until after her death.

The second is "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. Julie, in a dead-end job, decided to cook every recipe in "Mastering the Art" in one year and blog about her experiences. The blog turned out to be hugely popular, and this memoir resulted.

I'm not sure whose idea it was to combine the two books, but whoever it was is a genius. Director Ephron brilliantly shifts between the two stories, without clunky tools like subtitling "Paris 1948" (intelligent film-goers can see the styles of cars and the Eiffel Tower and figure that out, thank you). There are occasional poignant scenes and several hilarious ones (two of my favorites, without spoiling anything, involve Julia and onions and Julie and lobsters). Meryl Streep nails her performance, as always. It must be tough to portray a real character that so many filmgoers have living memory of, but she pulls it off. And I'm really beginning to like Amy Adams.

After the movie, we purchased "Mastering the Art" (had to order it online and wait six weeks for volume 2; the bookstores were completely unprepared), one of the most unique cookbooks we've ever seen. Not just recipes, but instructions on how to whisk an egg, turn an omelette, dissect a chicken, etc. A true learning experience. We won't do a recipe a day, but so far, we've tried classic French onion soup (a success) and a classic hollandaise. Not so much. It broke. People always ask, "What does a broken sauce look like?" and the pros always reply, "You'll know when you see it." Uh, yeah. One minute, it's a lovely sauce. The next second, it doesn't resemble anything remotely edible. Yuck.

The movie isn't out yet on DVD, but be watching for it soon. And the bookstores are now full of all things "Julie and Julia," so you shouldn't have any trouble at all finding the books. As Julia would say, "Bon appetit!"

Upcoming blog posts:

• Columbus Day weekend in post-Ike Galveston
• Enjoying once again the Texas Renaissance Festival

Singing With the Symphony: A Fabulous Experience

Apologies for the lack of posts this week. Besides a just-plain-busy workweek, my evenings filled up with four music rehearsals, a Central Market cooking class, and one spectacularly fun performance…. “Carmina Burana” for the San Antonio Symphony’s 70th anniversary gala.

I do not normally sing with the choir. I joined last August so I could participate in a trip to New York to sing John Rutter’s “Gloria” in Carnegie Hall. (Another marvelous experience.) I love to sing, but I love handbell ringing and playing flute/piccolo more, and three rehearsals a week is one too many. So I was going to quit after “Gloria.” But then SA Symphony conductor Ken-David Masur asked the University UMC choir (and three others) to sing “Carmina.” That being my very favorite piece of vocal music, I could hardly decline.

We rehearsed Wednesday nights, as usual, after preparing our pieces for the following Sunday’s worship. We didn’t have to prepare the entire suite (about 45 minutes long). The Mastersingers and soloists handled most of the songs, and the “guest” choirs joined in on about ten others (we sang seven). Ours were in Latin (not bad) and something-other-than-modern German (doesn’t exactly roll trippingly off the tongue; “Von deme mere unze an den Rin.” Really.) We all sang the most famous selection, “O Fortuna.” You might not think you know “Carmina,” but you do. “O Fortuna” has been in about a million movies (“Excalibur” as the knights ride through the woods), commercials, and television shows.

The entire ensemble (more than 400 vocalists) rehearsed together only four times (only once with the symphony). Tuesday night’s rehearsal was, um, something less than auspicious. The Mastersingers stood on stage, but the rest of us were scattered throughout the audience seating section of the Majestic. (We stood in two groups on the main floor, just behind the Children’s Chorus; the other two choirs were up in the mezzanine.) In such a case, you cannot listen and sing; if you wait until you hear the others, you are late. It’s critical to watch the conductor’s baton and stay with that beat. It was difficult to stay together, being separated, and our pitches kept going flat. But my professional musician friend reassured me that the first rehearsal in a new space often experiences such problems.

Wednesday night’s rehearsal went better. Thursday night, the symphony accompanied us (rather than a piano). What a difference! Ken-David is a fabulous conductor and was very respectful of the difficulties we faced singing at a distance from the stage. But he was also very exacting and very emotional. His instructions on the feelings behind the words made a huge difference in the performance.

Thursday night’s rehearsal reassured us in other ways, too. At the end of one song, Ken-David cut off twelve measures too early, sending the entire symphony and Mastersingers into fits of confusion. A hurried conversation between the concertmaster and Ken-David finally resulted in the conductor’s astonished “Did I really do that?!?” Hilarious. Almost immediately afterward, the baritone soloist sang his first note, then totally blanked. For us “noodlers,” it was tremendously comforting to know that the pros goof up too.

Saturday night arrived, and we all gathered at the Empire for a quick warm-up. The “guest” choirs (including the San Antonio Choral Society and the Alamo Heights UMC Chancel Choir) then took their seats in the audience and were treated to an amazing performance by violinist Gil Shaham. I didn’t know a person could move his fingers that quickly. Intermission, then showtime!

I felt the performance went very well. Everyone stayed together and really felt the emotion behind the words. I have to tell you….it’s a heady feeling to sing that last note and have the entire audience shout and leap to their feet. It was pretty cool. There were three curtain calls; Ken-David was gracious enough to include the guest choir directors on stage with him and the soloists.

While it was a lot of work, it was also incredibly fun. I hope we have the opportunity to do more of this kind of thing in the future. And if you haven’t purchased your tickets for the new SA Symphony season, go click on the link and do so right now!

The Vex’s Eleventh Season Opens This Fall

The Sheldon Vexler Theatre at the Jewish Community Center opens its eleventh season this fall. As mentioned in a previous post (see May 7), the Vex is our favorite community theatre, consistently producing top-notch shows with excellent performances and technical details.
Their 2009-2010 season includes:

• Run for Your Wife: A hysterical British farce involving the chaos that surrounds the life of a man trying to balance having more than one, well, wife.
  
• Orphans: An emotionally-charged drama about a domineering older brother, a troubled younger one, and a mysterious stranger who disrupts their lives.
  
• Jake’s Women: Neil Simon’s play about writer Jake, his struggling marriage, and the real and imaginary women he talks with to resolve his issues.
  
• Rent: A 1996 Tony winner for Best Musical, this New York-based drama explores themes of urban living, homelessness, AIDS, and how friendships develop through adversity.

The SA Express-News ran an excellent article about their new season a few days ago….check it out.

Season tickets, called “VexFlex” passes, are reasonably priced ($54 for seniors, military and members; $62 for non-members) and, as their name implies, allows you some flexibility. Each pass includes four shows. You can use one-per-show, or take three friends to one show….completely up to you. Season tickets are now on sale; call the box office at 210-302-6835. Individual tickets are $18, $16 for senior/military/JCC members, and $12 for students.

UPDATE! Holiday-Themed Theatre: Go See "1776" This Weekend

The first Continental Congress as a musical? Yes! Believe it or not, "1776" is a surprisingly intelligent and stirring portrayal of the historic events that July, starring my friend Kyle Andrews as John Adams (pictured). It runs for the next three weekends at the Cailloux Theatre in Kerrville. Showtime on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is 7:30 pm, and Sunday shows start at 2:00 pm. The show on Saturday, July 4 starts at 5:00 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children 14 and under. Be aware that there is some “coarse” language, slavery is addressed, and it's not an action-packed romp filled with dance numbers and special effects--so it may not be the ideal show for young ones. And it's a long show....about 2 1/2 hours.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show. In addition to a great venue, strong performances were turned in by Jeff Cunningham (Benjamin Franklin), Max Smith (Thomas Jefferson), Jeffrey Brown (Edward Rutledge), and Kyle.

Come celebrate our nation's birth with a show in Kerrville!

(Many thanks to Karen Andrews for a good deal of this post.)

Lovely Chamber Music at the Cactus Pear Music Festival

In its thirteenth season, the Cactus Pear Music Festival features four different programs from July 9-19. The chamber music festival was founded by Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio, former concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony; she wanted to fill the classical music void left when the Symphony went on its summer hiatus.

This year's schedule features 16 artists (including Sant'Ambrogio) and works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Bach, and Ravel. This year's concerts:

• Thursday, July 9, Travis Park United Methodist Church, 7:30pm


• Friday, July 10, New Braunfels Presbyterian Church, 7:00pm


• Saturday, July 11, Travis Park United Methodist Church, 7:30pm


• Sunday, July 12, First Presbyterian Church (New Braunfels), 2:30pm


• Wednesday, July 15, First United Methodist Church (Boerne), 7:00pm


• Thursday, July 16, Travis Park United Methodist Church, 7:30pm


• Saturday, July 18, Travis Park United Methodist Church, 7:30pm


• Sunday, July 19, First United Methodist Church (Boerne), 2:00pm

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students, and $70 for season tickets.

CPMF also sponsors a Young Artists Program, where young musicians spend two weeks learning from professionals.

You can order CDs from past seasons on their website.

Browse the Exhibits at the San Antonio Museum of Art

Housed in the historic Lone Star Brewery (built 1884), the collections of the San Antonio Museum of Art represent a wide variety of cultures. From Greek/Roman to Latin American to Asian, the collections span the globe.

The building features two distinctive towers, now connected by a glass walkway. When the museum was renovated, the builders put the original steel walkway into storage, rather than just throwing it away. It now serves as a pedestrian bridge over the new Museum Reach section of the Riverwalk (see previous post).

My personal favorites: the Dale Chihuly glass sculpture “Persian Ceiling” (located in between the main lobby and special exhibits wing) and the Medicine Buddha Sand Mandala (pictured). Monks usually ritually destroy these stunning creations shortly after completion, to represent impermanence. When a group of Buddhist monks prepared this piece in 2001, the museum obtained special permission from the 14th Dalai Lama to preserve it. It’s one of only four mandalas in the United States. (Funny personal story: this blogger’s son, when younger, looked puzzled when viewing the mandala. What’s the problem, I asked? How did they transport that thing, intact, from Tibet to here on an airplane?! he asks. LOL. Uh, no dear, created here.)

The museum is open Tuesday through Sundays, and admission is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $3 for children (4 to 11). Tuesday evenings from 4:00-9:00 pm, admission is free.

San Antonio Film Festival

Think you gotta go to Hollywood or Austin for an indie film festival? Think again!

The San Antonio Film Festival celebrates its 15th year with an eclectic lineup. Held June 25-28 with two daily screenings (daytime 2:00-5:00 pm; evening 7:00-11:00pm), the Festival will award nine jury prizes. Many of the films are “shorts” of less than 10 minutes. You’ll of course see several of these during a screening.

The Festival accepts entries from around the world. Some of this year’s features from San Antonio:

• “The Thing Walking Outside,” directed by Valdemar Belmares. An eight-minute short about children and their imagination.


• “Shaken,” directed by Sylvia Rincon. A 15-minute film about a family dealing with long-term illness.


• “Death Rattle,” directed by A.J. Garces. A short film based on Amparo Garcia Crow’s award-winning story.

There are also several longer features.

The festival is held at the Instituto Cultural de Mexico (600 Hemisfair Plaza Way). Tickets are sold at the door only, and seating is limited, so arrive early. Day screenings are $10; evening screenings are $15.

Enjoy “Il Trovatore” This Weekend by the San Antonio Opera

Running this weekend at the Lila Cockrell Theatre (8:00 pm Friday/Saturday, 2:00 pm Sunday), Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” includes spells, lifelong feuds, gypsies, and curses. Several of the arias and choruses will be familiar to even non-opera lovers. The opera is sung in Italian with English/Spanish supertitles.

The San Antonio Opera began in 1996, after a 15-year absence of opera from San Antonio, as the San Antonio Pocket Opera. They produced one-act operas with a modest budget and leftover scenery from the San Pedro Playhouse. Today, their budget exceeds $2,000,000, and they are able to contract both international artists as well as local performers. The orchestra comprises about 50 musicians and a semi-professional chorus of about 40 local vocalists. Since its inception, they’ve performed 47 major operas.

Tickets are $40-$110, available at Ticketmaster outlets.

The new season begins in the fall with “Madama Butterfly,” “Daughter of the Regiment,” and “Rigoletto.” They’ll perform at Municipal Auditorium while the Lila Cockrell Theatre undergoes renovation.

Que Lindo! The Spectacular New Riverwalk Extension

For those of you who don’t live here (or for those of you who do and have spent the last two weeks in a cave), the spectacular new Riverwalk Extension, named “Museum Reach,” opened on May 30. The 1.3-mile extension runs from Lexington Ave. to Josephine Street, with more expansion planned for the future. Twenty-five access points (several of which are wheelchair-accessible) provide easy access.

And I do mean “spectacular.” Lush landscaping and comfortable sidewalks make for a lovely stroll along the river. Eight of the underpasses and access points feature an eclectic mix of public art. A school of eight-foot fish hand from the IH-35 overpass at Camden St (pictured). Yes, really. And they light up at night! Further down, there’s a grotto to explore.

To surmount the nine-foot elevation difference between the new section and the “old” Riverwalk, engineers installed a cool lock system at the Brooklyn Ave. bridge. Completely operated by the power of gravity (look, Ma, no pumps!), the lock attracts many bystanders as barges motor through.

A new river landing at the San Antonio Museum of Art provides a new backdoor entrance. Just outside, the original metal bridge from the restored 1884 brewery has been re-purposed as a pedestrian bridge.

Barge rides on the new section cost $10. (If the ticket booth at the Brooklyn Ave. bridge isn’t open, purchase tickets from barge operators.) An additional $5 gets you service all the way to the original Riverwalk. On the new section, the barges serve as taxis, so you can get on and get off whenever you please.

I’ve visited several times, and it’s clear that this extension is an instant hit. I just wish it could have opened during the cooler months.

For a very useful interactive map, visit the San Antonio Express-News website.

(And it means “how pretty!”)

Two More Summer Film Series to Check Out

In addition to TPR’s Cinema Tuesdays (see earlier post), here are two more summer film series to check out. Both are free.

A monthly foreign film series presented by Slab Cinema and The Main Plaza Conservancy, “CineMundo” kicks off at Main Plaza at 9:00 pm. Features include:

· June 19: The Darjeeling Limited
· June 20: an Indian film to be determined
· July 25: The Dinner Game
· August 29: Cinema Paradiso
· September 18/19: “Golden Age of Mexican Cinema”

The City of San Antonio sponsors “Movies by Moonlight” every Thursday at 8:30 pm (“pre-show entertainment at 7:30) at Hemisfair Park. Bring your own blankets and lawn chairs. Concessions are available. Features include:

· June 4: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
· June 11: Madagascar
· June 18: Kung Fu Panda
· June 25: Big

Check the website for future features. Slab Cinema and Nikita Productions sponsor the event.

Feeling "Artsy"? Take A Class at the Southwest School!

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at weaving? What about papermaking? Or throwing a pot on a wheel?

The Southwest School of Art and Craft offers a wide variety of art classes for all ages. Categories include:

• Painting/Drawing
• Fiber Arts
• Photography
• Ceramics
• Digital Design
• Metals
• “Other” arts, including glassblowing (yes, really!)

In addition to classes, their gallery hosts rotating exhibits from visiting artists as well as students and faculty. Check their website for a current schedule.

It’s a cool location, too. Their main offices and gallery are on Navarro just behind the Central Library, but many of their classes are held in the former Ursuline Convent and Academy (pictured) just across the street. It’s a wonderful re-use of a beautiful space.

The school also hosts our very favorite Fiesta event, the Fiesta Arts and Crafts fair. We’ve never walked out of there without a beautiful purchase. But more on that next April.

Three Fine Articles in Today's Express-News

In lieu of a regular post from me, see the follow three excellent articles in today's Express-News (and on www.mysa.com) on previous Alamo A La Carte posts...two about the river extension and one on Cinema Tuesdays:

• "Dream Becomes a Reality on River" by Tracy Idell Hamilton


• "For Museum Reach, artists take to bridges" by Elda Silva


• "Genre-spanning film series includes several special requests" by Deborah Martin

Enjoy!

Our local public television station, KLRN, sponsors a fundraising auction every summer. From June 3-12, the Blazing Gavels auction features everything from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to room makeovers to gift cards. (Note that the website is currently under construction; should be ready soon.) There’s something for everyone. During previous events, we have purchased several pieces of art, some art glass, and wine.

The action moves quickly, although not as quickly as a “traditional” auction. Merchandise is organized by “boards;” one board is presented about every ten minutes or so. The “Trading Post” board, for example, includes lower-cost items ($50-$100 face value). The Chairman’s board holds the most valuable items, and you can also bid online. Host Steve Alwais serves as emcee and introduces guest readers, who describe each item. Jot down the number of the item on which you want to bid, and give them a call. You’ll want to call back a couple of times to see if anyone has out-bid you. Most boards open and close several times a night. Items on the Chairman’s and Special’s board stay open for several nights.

If you plan to bid, you’ll want to obtain a “speed bid” number so you don’t have to provide all your contact information every time you call in with a bid. Call 210-270-9000 to get one.
The auction airs nightly at 6:00 pm. This year’s features:

• Wine Nights, June 4-6
• Laredo vendors, June 6
• Fredericksburg B&Bs and vendors, June 3

If you’d like to make a donation (it’s great advertising for your business), call the station at 210-270-9000.

Theatre Listings at SATCO Playbill

San Antonio is blessed with many terrific community theatre programs. So where’s the one place you can go to find everything that’s playing? The SATCO Playbill website, sponsored by the San Antonio Theatre Coalition.

The site is updated frequently with auditions, current shows, and upcoming engagements. You can sign up to receive a weekly email, issued Tuesday or Wednesday.

Current shows include “Agnes of God” (Jump Start Performance Co.), “Vexed” (a musical review at the Sheldon Vexler Theatre), and “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers” (Cameo Center).

The site also publishes auditions and theatre news. Check it out!

TPR Cinema Tuesdays

Attention, movie buffs! If you don’t know about Texas Public Radio’s (TPR) “Cinema Tuesdays” summer movie program, you need to! The series begins May 26 at the Santikos Bijou (at Crossroads Mall) at 7:30 pm with the original “Manchurian Candidate.” Sure, you’ve already seen it, but I betcha you haven’t on the big screen.

The suggested donation is $10 for TPR members, $12 for non-members. A 14-week season pass is $100.

Nathan Cone, TPR’s Director of Programming and an obvious movie-buff, puts together a fabulous program every summer. Featured this year will be “Koyaanisqatsi" (try spelling that 10 times; thank goodness for copy/paste), “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” and Oscar-nominated shorts and short documentaries. Popular titles sell out, so make sure to make your reservations early by calling 800-622-8977, or reserve online.