City Different
The Buzz Around Town
Icons of Enchantment
New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes (Eyemuse Books, $20)
Elisa Parhad
Parhad, who spent her formative years in New Mexico, came up with her unique photo guide while living in Japan, “where I really didn’t understand much of the built environment and cultural objects surrounding me.” So she decided to highlight our state’s unique visual signposts as a guide for out-of-staters: Among them, Hatch chiles for the Ristra photo, for example, John Gaw Meem’s New Mexico Museum of Art for Pueblo Revival Style, and this shot of Smokey for Smokey Bear.—Devon Jackson
Sweet Equity
To paraphrase an old Hunter S. Thompson statement, when the going gets tough, the tough get weird. Such are the times we live in that, of all organizations, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, in one of those think-outside-the-box fund-raising efforts, has started making candy. Yes, candy. Known as the Justice Bar, their first-time venture into the sweet-tooth industry comes in three yummy flavors: dark chocolate chile, dark chocolate mint, and milk chocolate pecan. As NMELC spokesperson Juana Colón explains it, “We all thought, What a fun and different way to educate people about our mission. I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate?”
One of the oldest independent nonprofit environmental groups in the state, the NMELC provides free or low-cost legal services to state residents dealing with environmental issues. All organic and, except for the cacao, all coming from in-state (the pecans from Mesilla Valley, the pistachios from Alamogordo, the red chile from Chimayó, and the mint from Truth or Consequences), the Justice Bars can be found at all Señor Murphy locations and the Mission Café; all proceeds go directly to the NMELC. “We found that we could be very conscious of our impact and share enough with our partners,” says Colón, “so that everyone—the farmers, the candy-bar maker—got something good out of it.”—DJ
Bitter Extract
Split Estate, the hard-hitting documentary from independent filmmaker Debra Anderson, premieres October 17 on Planet Green. Chronicling the David-versus-Goliath struggle all too common here in the West—that of unsuspecting rural communities and landowners suddenly finding themselves being undermined, literally, by various oil- and gas-drilling enterprises—Split Estate examines the plight of residents, and the land, in Colorado’s San Juan Basin.
After New Mexico governor Bill Richardson viewed the film, which is narrated by Santa Fean Ali MacGraw, he called it “an eye-opening examination of the consequences and conflicts that can arise between surface landowners in the western United States, and those who own and extract the energy and mineral rights below.”
As sober as it is sometimes sensationalistic (as in the scene in which one landowner illustrates the high levels of benzene contamination in a mountain stream by setting the water on fire with a match), Split Estate is part of Planet Green’s Saturday night Reel Impact series. “For those of us living in the path of that industry and its potential to do real destruction to the environment and our health,” says Anderson, here making her directorial debut, “it is impossible to remain silent.”—DJ
First DFW, now LAX? OMG!
Emboldened by the success of its flight between Santa Fe Municipal and Dallas/Ft. Worth International airports, which began this past spring, American Eagle airlines decided not only to add a second DFW flight but, beginning November 19, to expand service to Los Angeles. “Success breeds success,” says American Airlines media relations director Tim Smith.
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a not-so-infrequent flyer himself, praised AA’s added lineup for “giving New Mexicans more travel options and making it easier for visitors to Northern New Mexico.” Santa Fe Mayor David Coss also applauded the extra sky traffic, and was especially enthusiastic about the L.A. connection. “We are very excited about having this new flight, which will provide greater flexibility when traveling to and from Santa Fe.”
The two new nonstop services will use either the 44- or 50-seat regional Embraer jet (seen at right), and prices should range between $99-$109 each way. “Would we consider additional service?” muses AA’s Smith. “Sure, but it’s too soon to think about that yet.”—DJ
