e-culture: Celebrate Black History, Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras
February 04, 2002
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Celebrating the Lunar New Year
Here's the schedule of Lee's Golden Dragon, one of the best Chinese traditional dance troupes:
http://www.geocities.com/leegoldendragon/schedule.html
Learn more about Chines New Year:
http://www.houstonculture.org/cr/cny.html
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More information coming soon!
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Louisiana Comes to KTRU
KTRU DJ and music curator, Richard Johnson developed a great series of Americana shows covering a wide range of music from Louisiana. Be sure to tune in the Americana Show on KTRU, Monday nights from 9 - 10pm, immediately following the World Music Show.
Feb. 4 - Mardi Gras Music (hosted by Mark Lacy)
A great sampler, including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, ReBirth Brass Band featuring Kermit Ruffins and Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias, as well as great rural artists you may not have heard before. Don't miss it.
Feb. 11 - New Orleans Hot Jazz of the 1920s and 30s (with guest co-host Prof. Dan Wallach)
Feb. 18 - New Orleans R&B, Funk, and Soul
Feb. 25 - Swamp Pop and South Louisiana Soul
Mar. 4 - Cajun and Zydeco music
Mar. 11 - Mardi Gras Indians (hosted by Mark Lacy)
Future Americana themes will include: Lightnin' Hopkins in Houston; Rhythm and Blues on Atlantic; Houston Funk and Soul; Truckers' Juke Box; Gospel; Playing it Fast and Slow; 60's Garage Rock; and the Harry Smith Collection.
Stay tuned to the Americana show for more information:
http://home.houston.rr.com/americanashow
Get more information about special programs on KTRU:
http://www.houstonculture.org/world/shows.html
Get more information about the World Music Show:
http://www.houstonculture.org/world/music.html
On your computer, you can listen to KTRU and see DJ set lists:
http://www.ktru.org
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Carnvival Time! Gone to the Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in Texas:
Mardi Gras in Port Arthur
February 7 through 10, 2002
Downtown Port Arthur
Procter Street
Parades, Concerts, Carnival Rides, Arts & Crafts, Food Vendors, Kidzone, Fireworks and more.
http://www.portarthur.com/mardigras/index1.html
Mardi Gras Galveston
February 1 through 12, 2002
Galveston Island
Free for most events
888-425-4753
http://www.mardigrasgalveston.com
New Orleans Mardi Gras links:
Mardi Gras Parade Schedule
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule.html
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com
http://www.mardigras.com
http://www.nola.com/mardigras
Schedule including Metairie, West Bank, St Bernard, and more
http://www.mardigras.org/Parades
Complete Links
http://www.mglinks.com
Rural Mardi Gras
http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/mardmain.htm
Rural Mardi Gras Schedule
http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/schedule.htm
Mardi Gras Indians
http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/mardigrasindians
http://www.nola.com/mardigras/about/?/mardigras/about/indians.html
Mardi Gras Indians Feature
Mardi Gras Features:
Mardi Gras History
Cajun Terminology
Future Mardi Gras Dates:
2003 March 4
2004 February 24
2005 February 8
Where to get King Cakes:
Cannata's Kitchen in Houma, LA
800-CANNATA
http://www.cannatas.com
Recommended Vintage Louisiana Music:
Zydeco Sont Pas Sale by Clifton Chenier (Arhoolie)
The Lake Charles Atomic Bomb by Boozoo Chavis (Arhoolie)
Alonse de Zydeco de La Louisiana by Mark Bon Ton St. Mary (Jewel Records)
Fred's Hot Step by Donald Thibodeaux and Cajun Fever (Arhoolie)
The Great Cajun Accordionist by Nathan Abshire (Ace)
Where to buy great music in Louisiana:
Louisiana Music Factory
210 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA
504-586-1094
Tower Records/Video/Books
408 N Peters St
New Orleans, LA
504-529-4411
Kruz
432 Barracks St
New Orleans, LA
504-524-7370
Floyd's Record Shop
434 E Main St
Ville Platte, LA
337-363-2184
Music Machine
235 W Walnut Ave
Eunice, LA
337-457-4846
Fred's Lounge
420 6th St
Mamou, LA
337-468-5411
Educational Opportunities:
Mardi Gras Interpretive Programs at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Prairie Acadian Culture Center in Downtown Eunice, Free Admission.
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve:
New Orleans Unit, New Orleans, LA
Prairie Acadian Culture Center, Eunice, LA
Acadian Culture Center, Lafayette, LA
Wetlands Acadian Culture Center, Thibodaux, LA
Chitimacha Culture Center, Charenton, LA
Chitimacha Indian Reservation, Chalmette Unit, Chalmette, LA
Barataria Preserve Unit, south of New Orleans, LA
NPS Acadian Culture Center
501 Fisher Rd
Lafayette, LA
337-232-0789
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When the Party's Over (It's Back to Class)
Once we return from Carnaval in Veracruz, where we will follow the route of Hernando Cortés and Cabeza de Vaca between Mexico City and the historic port, we will begin our Virtual Classroom on Cabeza de Vaca.
If you would like to participate, please visit the Virtual Classroom.
And, Assignment Cabeza de Vaca.
Learn more about our upcoming educational adventure to New Mexico and Colorado, which will follow the historical routes, El Camino Real, the Zuni Trail, etc:
http://www.houstonculture.org/travel/itinmay02.html
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"Don't Miss" Houston Events
Asia Society Events:
H.E. Nguyen Tam Chien, Ambassador of Vietnam, will be in Houston for Asia Society's Ambassadors' Forum and Luncheon on Friday, February 8th, 2002. Students may attend the program at the special rate of $10. See http://www.asiasoc.org/houston, or call 713-439-0051.
Tea Tasting and Asian Market
Saturday, February 9th, 2002. From 3:00pm - 5:00pm at the Doubletree Post Oak Hotel. Admission to the Tea Tasting and Asian Market is $50 per person (members), $75 (nonmembers).
Proceeds from the sale will go to the educational outreach projects of the Asia Society.
Get more information about these programs:
http://www.houstonculture.org/temp/asiasoc0201.html
Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll!
Cavemen, rayguns, dinosaur cops and pumpkin people!
The rock musical laugh riot of two continents!
Get more information about this program:
http://www.houstonculture.org/temp/ibg0202.html
Pauline Oliveros Foundation Houston presents music pioneer Keith Rowe
Saturday, February 9th, 2002, 8:00pm at Suchu Studio, 2201 Preston
$8
Get more information about this program:
http://www.houstonculture.org/temp/pofh0202.html
Films in Houston:
Memoirs of a Difficult Daughter: Works by Elisabeth Subrin
Saturday, February 9, 2002, 8pm and Sunday, February 10, 2002, 6pm*
Elisabeth Subrin in person
Aurora Picture Show
Aurora Picture Show hosts fundraiser for Jenny Stark's FotoFest Installation
Thursday, February 14, 2002, 8:00pm
Get more information about these programs:
http://www.houstonculture.org/temp/aurora0202.html
Museum of Fine Arts films
http://www.mfah.org/Films/films.html
Adventure in Houston:
Alone Across the Arctic
Friday, February 8, 7:00pm
Pam Flowers and her eight-dog team journeyed 2,500 miles across the Arctic enduring darkness, isolation, cold, polar bears, and one of the stormiest winters on record. Pam is the first woman, and the first American, to complete this trip solo. Join us for this inspiring slide show about an incredible trans-arctic dog sled expedition.
Canyons of Big Bend National Park
Monday, February 11, 7:00pm
Mark Evans with Texas River Expeditions will give an entertaining slideshow about rafting the canyons of the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park. Mark, a professional guide for 27 years, will talk about day trips as well as overnight river adventures. He'll cover family trips and wilderness adventures. Don't miss this outstanding program about one of the jewels in our own backyard.
http://www.rei.com/storelocator/houston
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Parade
Saturday, February 9, Downtown Houston
Starting at 10:00am on Texas at Louisiana
In Response to Place: Photographs From The Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places
Saturday, February 9 through April 28, 2002
Presented in conjunction with FotoFest 2002, this exhibition features 120 photographs exploring and celebrating the natural world. The exhibition's range of styles, from landscape photography to portraiture and photojournalism, illustrate the rich and complex splendor of these places as well as the diversity of the artists represented. Free with Museum admission.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science
One Hermann Circle Drive
Houston, TX 77030
713-639-4629
en español: 713-639-4603
TDD service: 713-639-4687
Texas Flags: 1836-1945
January 13 - April 28, 2002
Paintings of Native America from the Stark Museum of Art
Now through April 21, 2002
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1001 Bissonnet (at Main), Houston, Texas 77005
713-639-7300
713-639-7390 TDD/TTY for the hearing-impaired
Get more information about this program:
http://www.houstonculture.org/temp/mfa0202.html
Discover Navajo: People of the Fourth World
Should you happen to be anywhere near the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, you should check out an exhibit sponsored by the Navajo Nation, complete with displays on the Navajo Code Talkers. The exhibit takes place in the Navajo Pavilion and Festival of Nations.
http://www.navajo2002.org
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Our Current Music and Book Interests
Many people loathe, even fear cultural experiences outside their narrowly-focused small worlds, where things are simply familiar. Sadly, the trendiness of their interests, or some other binding burdens, limit them in this great wide universe. Just outside the doorstep, on the car radio maybe, is unlimited access to unheard music on KILE, KTRU, KTSU, KPFT, and more. And the books we are currently excited about, with only a few exceptions, cost less than $5 each at discount stores, educational centers and neighborhood sales. If you are fortunate enough to have some unique interests, let us know what you are currently reading and/or listening to, so others might chose to wander off the ordinary path. Here are our recommendations for February.
WHAT WE ARE LISTENING TO
Brian:
Blues Routes by Various Artists (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
Mardi Gras by Queen Ida (GNP/Crescendo)
The Soul of Black Peru by Various Artists (Luaka Bop/WB)
Janni:
Sviraj by Ciganine (Omnium Recordings)
Taraf: Romanian Gypsy Music by Various Artists (Music of the World)
Live at Carnegie Hall by Anoushka Shankar (Angel)
Mark:
Soldier of Midian by Badawi (ROIR)
Percussion Music from China by Thundering Dragon (Haus der Kulturen der Welt)
Beloved Chinese Songs by The Chinese Music Ensemble of New York (Chesky)
Im Hogin by Seda Garibyan ( http://www.SedaGaribyan.com )
Note: Im Hogin includes three traditional Armenian songs accompanied by the dudek and dhol, and a 15-track collection of the artist's poetry.
For more recommended music, please see the World Music Show page.
Trentton:
National Antiseptic by James Mathus and His Knockdown Society (Mammoth)
Live at Neon Park by Little Feat (Zoo Entertainment)
Billion Dollar Babies, Deluxe Edition by Alice Cooper (Rhino)
*Mark and Brian hooked me on this terrible hillbilly rock 'n' roll music on our great raft adventure last November.
WHAT WE ARE READING
Brian:
(I'm still enjoying these great books for Black History Month.)
Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart and Soul by Bill Wyman (DK Publishing)
In Our Own Image: Treasured African-American Traditions by Patrik Henry Bass and Karen Pugh (Running Press)
One Time One Place: Mississippi in the Depression (A Snapshot Album) by Eudora Welty (University Press of Mississippi)
Janni:
Cabeza de Vaca's Unknown Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America translated by Cyclone Covey (University of New Mexico Press)
Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico by Stanley Crawford (University of New Mexico Press)
The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos by Peggy Pond Church (University of New Mexico Press)
I'm really into New Mexico after our "Land of Enchantment" class. Now I'm preparing for the Virtual Classroom on Cabeza de Vaca.
Mark:
5 Letters of Cortés to the Emporer by Hernando Cortés (Norton)
Cajun Music: Its Origins and Development by Barry Jean Ancelet (The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana)
The St. Joseph Altar Traditions of South Louisiana by Ethelyn Orso (The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana)
Trentton:
Old Louisiana by Lyle Saxon (Pelican)
We periodically receive email from concerned readers who encourage us to become involved in complex issues involving suppression of minority and under-represented cultures in distant states and countries. We certainly understand the urgent needs of people who are repressed and suffering; however, it is our mission to improve social conditions though improved cultural literacy in the little corner of the world that Houston occupies. That is a difficult mission and a full time challenge. We recommend Cultural Survival's Cultural Survival Quarterly as an effective forum that is informing the concerned public, and creating avenues for people to get involved in worldly issues.
See more recommended periodicals:
http://www.houstonculture.org/hifc/regmags.html
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Our Recent Additions, Comments
New in Houston People
Evangelina Vigil-Piñón
A television personality, teacher, writer and jazz singer.
New in Virtual Folk Art
Kiowa Images Collection
We invite you to help us develop this virtual gallery.
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IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTER
Women's History Month
Best Cultural Destinations
- Ranking the States
- Four Corners Travel Planner
- The Land of Enchantment
Virtual Classroom
- Cabeza de Vaca
Great Events
- Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday Showdown
- Houston International FotoFest
- 12th Annual Bob Marley Festival
- St. Patick's Day Parade
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Muchas Gracias, Mis Amigos
More information coming soon!
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