San Antonio Museum of Art hosts Spring Break Free Day

The San Antonio Museum of Art will have free admission and a day of family-friendly activities. Photo: San Antonio Museum of Art, used with permission.

The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) invites the community to join them for Spring Break Free Day on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. The Museum will have free admission from 10a.m. to 7p.m. and a full slate of family-friendly activities from 10a.m. to 3p.m. (San Antonio Museum of Art, 2023)

Visitors will be able to enjoy story time with the San Antonio Public Library; participate in gardening and planting activities with Gardopia; and pet alpacas from Black Barn Alpacas while youth DJs with the AM Project, an arts and digital music program for kids, keep the music flowing.

Visitors also will be able to take a guided tour of the exhibition Roman Landscapes: Visions of Nature and Myth from Rome and Pompeii, now on view in the Cowden Gallery; go on a scavenger hunt organized by the Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy; learn how mosaics are created with artists Oscar Alvarado and Armando Vasquez; and make leaf texture rubbings with the San Antonio River Foundation. The San Antonio Food Bank’s Mobile Mercado will hold cooking and nutrition demonstrations and provide free, locally grown produce to the first 130 families.

Refreshments will be available from on-site food trucks Love is Sweets, Tastes Like More, Cori Jean Ice Cream, and Akhanay Coffee Roasters.

Free Museum and Exhibition admission: 10a.m.–7p.m.
Artmaking and activities: 10a.m.–3p.m.

Participating Community Partners:
San Antonio Public Library
Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy
The AM Project
Oscar Alvarado (Artist)
Armando Vasquez (Artist)
Love is Sweets
San Antonio River Foundation
Tastes Like More (Food Truck)
Cori Jean Ice Cream (Food Truck)
Akhanay Coffee (Food Truck)
Dream Partiezzz Tots
San Antonio Audubon Society
Gardopia Gardens
Black Barn Alpacas
Mobile Mercado San Antonio Food Bank
SAMA Free Little Library

The San Antonio Museum of Art serves as a forum to explore and connect with art that spans the world’s geographies, artistic periods, genres, and cultures. Its collection contains nearly 30,000 works representing 5,000 years of history. Housed in the historic Lone Star Brewery on the Museum Reach of San Antonio’s River Walk, the San Antonio Museum of Art is committed to promoting the rich cultural heritage and life of the city. The Museum hosts hundreds of events and public programs each year, including concerts, performances, tours, lectures, symposia, and interactive experiences. As an active civic leader, the Museum is dedicated to enriching the cultural life of the city and the region, and to supporting its creative community.

New album release: Lost Voices – Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz

Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz pay tribute to those who ‘Still Had So Much To Say’ on their new album Lost Voices now out via Mountain Fever Records. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

When long-time friends, mutual admirers, and heavily respected bluegrass musicians Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz started accumulating a catalog of co-written songs during Covid lockdown and beyond, it only made sense to get these inspired, well-crafted stories recorded for the rest of the world to hear and enjoy. Retreating to Jutz’ log cabin studio outside of Nashville with a crew of like-minded greats including Shaun Richardson on mandolin, Ron Block on banjo, Tammy Rogers on fiddle, and Mark Fain on bass, Stafford and Jutz cut fourteen of their songs to create an album of tunes that the beloved, late music writer and historian Peter Cooper called “Songs that bring American history—mountain culture, steam trains, vaudeville, race, baseball, strife, and grace—to technicolor life.” The album is called Lost Voices, and it is out now on Mountain Fever Records. (Tim Stafford/Thomm Jutz, 2023)

From Callie Lou, a song based on a scene from Harriette Arnow’s The Doll Maker that features Dale Ann Bradey on vocals; to the story of Negro League heroes, The Elizabethton Blue Grays, brought to life by the dedicated research of Jacey Augustus and the Cedar Grove Foundation; to the amazing story of the now-recognized Navajo heroes of the battle of Iwo Jima in Code Talkers; to The Queen and Crescent which is full of the alluring jargon from the golden era of America’s railroads; Lost Voices is all in tribute to what the longtime Blue Highway guitarist (Stafford) and the long-respected Nashville songwriter and session man (Jutz) call “the lost voices that still had so much to say.”

After calling both Stafford and Jutz “master guitarists and writers,” the aforementioned Cooper described Lost Voices: “These are new kinds of bluegrass songs, informed by mutual heroes Tony Rice, Norman Blake, John Hartford, and Gordon Lightfoot, yet not beholden to any prior influence, other than the influence of the American experience.”

Fans can stream or purchase Lost Voices.

Lost Voices track list:
Take That Shot
Enough To Keep You Going For A While
The Blue Grays
The Ballad Of Kinnie Wagner
Callie Lou
The Wild Atlantic Way
No Witness In The Laurel But The Leaves
Vaudeville Blues
Code Talker
The Standing People
The Queen And Crescent
High Mountain Rising
Revolutionary Love
Lost Voices

Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce the signing of Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz; two of the most prominent and prolific songwriters in bluegrass music, for the release of their forthcoming duo project, Lost Voices. Their love for history, vintage guitars, and well-crafted songs brought the two together five years ago. “I’m such an admirer of Tim’s writing, singing, and playing. Making a duo record with Tim was a logical step and a dream come true for me,” notes Jutz. Stafford says, “Thomm is such a great, unique writer, player, and singer – we connected and found so many ideas that spoke to us both. Recording was a breeze!”

JW Marriott San Antonio and Desert Door Texas Sotol’s partnership for Texas bees

The two organizations partnered to serve a signature cocktail exclusive to the resort using Desert Door Texas Sotol’s Pollinator spirit, the third Texas Sotol variation in Desert Door’s Conservation Series. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa and Desert Door Texas Sotol have pollinated a partnership to serve a signature cocktail exclusive to the resort using Desert Door Texas Sotol’s Pollinator spirit. The cocktail, Paloma Preserve, will be available on the menu across all of the resort’s restaurant and bar outlets: 18 Oaks, Cibolo Moon, Crooked Branch, High Velocity, Rivertop, and Replenish. (JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, 2023) 

Desert Door Texas Sotol’s Pollinator is a sotol spirit made from the West Texas-grown evergreen sotol plant and is similar in profile to agave-based spirits, tequila, and mezcal. Pollinator was created with mesquite, persimmon and honeysuckle, which are native plants that are pollinated by Texas bee species. 

The Paloma Preserve cocktail will feature the Pollinator Sotol, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup, topped with soda and garnished with a lime wedge, and will be served in signature blue porcelain tumblers. 

The partnership between JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa and Desert Door Texas Sotol was established from the organizations’ common mission of the preservation of Texas bees.

According to Texas Master Gardeners within Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services, development and pesticides have ravaged Texas bees putting not only honey prices at stake, but the pollination of native Texas plants, since bees play a key role in pollinating, and the pollination of around $587 million worth of crops every year in Texas. 

Desert Door’s nonprofit foundation Wild Spirit Wild Places (WSWP) is dedicated to the restoration and preservation of wild lands across Texas and the U.S. through research, education and conservation practices, and spearheaded the planting of pollinator gardens across Central Texas as part of the release of Pollinator. Desert Door regularly releases limited editions of its Texas Sotol with a portion of its proceeds directly funding the foundation’s future land conservation projects. Pollinator is the third spirit variation in the Conservation Series and highlights one of the overlooked heroes of the earth’s ecosystem, bees. 

According to WSWP, bees are experiencing a steep decline which poses a serious threat to global food production. In Texas, 40% of the honeybee population is being lost every year. Reasons for the decline vary from pesticides, drought, habitat destruction and disease.

“Desert Door’s nonprofit foundation and third Conservation Series spirit directly aligns with the resort’s missions to protect bees in Texas and to establish local community partnerships. We are proud to have them as a partner and are confident our guests will enjoy the exclusive Paloma Preserve cocktail using Desert Door Texas Sotol’s new Pollinator spirit.” – Adam Tyler, director of food & beverage at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa

The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s food and beverage team and Culinary Gardener are responsible for providing regional bees with the home they need to thrive by maintaining beehives on the resort’s property and harvesting honey from them. Recently, honey harvested at the resort was used in the brewing process of a new beer, Hill Country Honey Blonde, in partnership with Freetail Brewing Company, a company that actively builds awareness for wildlife conservation through the development of their products. 

Both the Paloma Preserve and Hill Country Honey Blonde beer are part of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s Conservation Series aimed at creating a positive impact in the local community.

The JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is an award-winning luxury resort encompassing 600 acres of rolling hills, meandering creeks and Live Oak trees in the Hill Country. The resort is a sophisticated but relaxed destination with 1,002 guest rooms; seven restaurant and lounge options; 9-acre water park experience; TPC San Antonio, a 36-hole PGA TOUR golf facility; full-service Lantana Spa; and more than 265,00 square feet of customizable meeting and event space. 

The recipe for the Paloma Preserve cocktail is:

  • 1 ½ oz grapefruit juice
  • ½ oz lime juice¼ oz agave simple syrup
  • 1 ¼ oz Sotol
  • Build in glass rimmed from 12-6 with salt, fill with ice and top with soda
  • Garnish with lime at 10 o’clock

New book release: ‘Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast’ by Jomini Struthers

‘Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast’ is the new historical fiction novel by Jomini Struthers. Photo: Amazon

For fans of historical fiction and action/adventure fiction: Jomini Struthers has a new book out this month. In “Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast,” The MacGregor, the captain of the privateers breaks his gunner, Ruben, out of an English prison and presses him into service. They have sailed together before, and Ruben does not want to sail with the MacGregor again. However, he has little choice. It is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major booksellers. (Jomini Struthers, 2023)

“Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast” – Ruben and the second mate William do not like each other almost at once. Ruben is taken to the privateering ship where he meets two old friends, Mr. Alistair, the first mate, and a teacher nicknamed Archimedes by the crew. They set sail, but because The MacGregor has a convict aboard, they cannot cruise where they had intended. Ruben suggests they attack the corsairs of the Barbary Coast. After much underhanded wrangling, he convinces The MacGregor. 

Their plan is to first attack the chieftain of the corsairs, Ahmed. They intend to steal or sink as many of his ships as possible so as to cripple him. They then plan to attack the Shah of the coast, who is the ally and fence of Ahmed. The Shah, however, lives in dread of the ferocious Ahmed. A storm drives them past the Straits of Gibraltar, and then, soon after they have beaten back north and passed the straits, they are captured by the galleys of Ahmed. Ruben manages their escape, and they succeed in taking two of Ahmed’s ships. They then set sail for the city of the Shah.

Once there, Ruben contacts his cousin Benjamin and an old friend named Abraham. The MacGregor begins to realize Ruben has been here before and has ulterior motives for everything he has been doing, especially when Ruben demands half of any loot they capture. Their plan is to sail boldly into the bay and open fire on the palace of the Shah. They hope that he will see the ships of Ahmed which they have captured and believe Ahmed is attacking him, and so will agree to their demands. They demand he empty his treasury for them. The plan goes remarkably well – until they have the gold.

Then everything begins happening at once. Ruben, with the aid of Abraham, steals a very large share of the loot from The MacGregor. Ahmed arrives and attacks one of the ships. William tries to kill Mr. Alistair, and then steals the rest of the treasure that Ruben had not taken. Abraham double crosses Ruben, and tries to steal Ruben’s treasure. Archimedes is almost killed by the Shah’s men. The end finds Ruben, The MacGregor, Archimedes, and a severely wounded Mr. Alistair with one small ship, and no treasure. They set out in pursuit of the treacherous William and further adventures.  

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Free online book: ‘Details of Reality’ by Peter Laska

‘Details of Reality: True Accounts With An Invisible Individual’ is Peter Laska’s free online book. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

A Ouija board, also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, the words ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘hello,’ and ‘goodbye’ along with other symbols and graphics. Some people believe that it facilitates communication with the supernatural world. If you are interested in the subject, or curious about how they may work, here is an online book worth exploring. “DETAILS OF REALITY: True Accounts With An Invisible Individual” is a free online book by Peter Laska which gets updated much like a blog might get updated. (Peter Laska, 2023)

That is because the book is about Ouija board communications, and every once and a while, new information comes in from the spirit world. In the book, the author explains how he came to start using the Ouija board, why he thinks the information he gets from it really comes from the spirit world, and most interestingly, he presents the questions he has asked the Ouija board as well as answers he has received. The book was written in a way which aims to satisfy any reader’s quest for esoteric knowledge.

Follow the author: Instagram YouTube

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New book release: ‘LORDOFSPIES’ by Muneefa Abdullah

‘LORDOFSPIES’ by Abdullah. Photo: Amazon

Muneefa Abdullah is the Kuwaiti author of the children’s book “New Fairy Tales.” In her newest ebook “LORDOFSPIES,” she writes about William Shakespeare, the English playwright, poet, and actor who is widely considered as the greatest writer in the English language. (Muneefa Abdullah, 2023)

“LORDOFSPIES” – Shakespeare’s lost years are explained, revealed, the lost queen of England, the fair youth, all in the shadow of one man Robert Poley. The son of Stratford upon Avon who became the spy. The book started as a research and ended with a ghost of three men; two like beacons in the night and one like a shadow. This is an ebook about the famous poet William Shakespeare’s missing seven years, the secret identity, and why he chose to be in shadows. It will explain all the contradictions in his life.

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New horror movie release: Wolf Garden

Wolf Garden was released last month and is available on digital and On Demand. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

In today’s movie news, there is a new horror/thriller movie out: Wolf Garden. Directed by Wayne David, it stars Wayne David, Sian Altman, Grant Masters, and Jake Wood. It is available for streaming on Amazon Video and Vudu on Roku. (October Coast, 2023)

Wolf Garden – William has gone into hiding in the countryside following horrifically violent events. Struggling to come to terms with reality, he flashes between past, present, and fantasies involving the woman he loves, Chantelle. As his sanity crumbles and he continues to feed an unseen creature locked inside a shed in the woods, he begins having apparitions of a ghostly Visitor who pushes him to kill the creature and discover a terrible truth about Chantelle before the next full moon.

Songstress Jessica Medina blends musical genres in new single

Jessica Medina blends merengue and salsa in her new single Locura, available now for streaming. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Jessica Medina is a singer-songwriter born in New York to a Dominican mother and Puerto Rican father. Their voices were the soundtrack of her formative years. She studied jazz and rights at Hunter College in New York City and she was influenced from a very young age by merengue, specifically the merengue sounds of the 80s. By having the musical wealth of two cultures, her sound is a mixture of both. (Vesper Public Relations, 2023)

Jessica Medina broke barriers with her previous single “Back to Black,” an exemplary song by Amy Winehouse, approached from a completely new style. NPR regards her as “a new artist that you cannot stop listening to.” Constantly taking risks, she breaks barriers that the music industry imposes on language, offering bilingual lyrics and attracting the new generation called “Latinx,” Latinos raised in the United States.

Her new single Locura is now available for streaming. She once again demonstrates her passion for fusions, this time bringing together the rhythms of merengue and electronic synths with samba. Locura is part of her upcoming EP entitled Rosa, which will be released this April. In this EP she dives deeper into her Dominican and Puerto Rican roots and the different types of love from a woman’s perspective. Rosa is a project which includes women in all aspects, such as compositions, musicians, visual arts, musical arrangements, and production. Merengue is having a resurgence and Jessica Medina has decided to celebrate love with this romantic merengue.

Locura depicts an empowered woman with passion, sensuality, and joy. This track will make us all dance and celebrate love. Locura translates as craziness and captures that period of infatuation we all know. “Let’s start the year dancing merengue and being crazy in love.” Award-winning composer Alex Cuba composed Locura with musical arrangements and production by Janina Rosado. It was recorded in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

New children’s book series: Motivating Our Champions by Ife Akanegbu

Dr. Ife Akanegbu has written a series of books for children focusing on promoting positive mental health. Photo: Google

Ife Akanegbu has always had a lifelong passion for telling stories. He completed his medical training in Nigeria before achieving a Master’s in Health Management at the University of Leeds. Upon observing the alarming rise in depression, anxiety, and self-harm rates, he felt compelled to take action and he knew his gift for storytelling could make a difference. That is when he combined this talent with his more than fifteen years of medical expertise to create Motivating Our Champions, a game-changing children’s book series designed to help our precious little ones take good care of their mental health. The books in the series include “My Grandpa Is A Hero,” “Janel’s Struggle,” and “Lila And The New Bully.” (Ife Akanegbu, 2023)

Ife’s charming life story is full of inspiration, adventure, and compassion. In fact, he has mastered the art of captivating storytelling by sharing his experiences with others. Ultimately, this motivated him to use his skill to impact current mental health trends, an issue that concerns him deeply.

“My Grandpa Is A Hero” – Tyler spends all his free time in his room playing video games and does not even want to join the family for dinners. His siblings come to the table and play on their devices all through mealtime. Grandpa is staying with the family and is not happy with the lack of interest the kids have in being part of the family. Grandpa decides to do something about it and finds fun and engaging activities for the kids, they begin to live healthier, more well-rounded lives, and their mental health improves.

“My Grandpa Is A Hero” can teach kids and parents the value of family activities and how it affects the quality of life. Parents learn about setting limits for TV and electronic devices and kids learn they can have fun by not engrossing themselves in their electronics.

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

“Janel’s Struggle” – Janel is going through a tough time because she is overweight and feels she does not fit in. No matter what she does, she cannot lose weight. She is bullied at school and feels she does not have any friends. After many attempts to try to lose weight, it begins to affect her mental health. Janel does not even want to look at herself in the mirror. Only the love and support from her mother helps her find the real reason why she cannot lose weight.

“Janel’s Struggle” will take you and your child through a heartfelt journey of how people’s perception and bullying of an overweight child is harmful to their mental health. It helps parents teach children about mental health as well as accepting who they are and asking for help when they feel something is wrong. It also teaches children how much making fun of someone hurts. “Janel’s Struggle” informs parents that when things are not right, there is not always an obvious answer.

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

“Lila And The New Bully” – Lila’s mother moves her to a new school because Lila is being bullied. On the first day of class, Lila is confronted with the same issue from one of her classmates, Kima. Instead of being discouraged, Lila demonstrates empathy for Kima and wants to be her friend, so she comes up with a plan.

“Lila And The New Bully” will help your child realize that sometimes people are mean because they are hurting inside and their mental health is not good. Lila’s compassion and kindness show kids a positive way to handle someone who is mean to them and the importance of mental health. Sometimes showing love and kindness is better than acting out in a non loving way.

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

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New single release: En Este Amor – Adriel Favela

Adriel Favela presents his new single En Este Amor. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Adriel Favela is an internationally celebrated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in the northern Mexican Regional genre known as norteño. Adriel Favela gives free reign to his free spirit and does not hold back. Once again, he surprises the musical scene with the release of En Este Amor, a heartbreak song written by Gussy Lau and Tamayo Aguilera, who through their lyrics try to explain what it means to be that special person, who meant everything and takes away your entire life when they leave. (Adriel Favela, 2023)

En Este Amor was recorded in Sonic Ranch and is the first preview of his next album in the mariachi genre, different from his previous releases, and to which he has invited a renown group of industry collaborators, such as Kiko Cibrian (mix and vocal director), Marco Ramírez (Masterization), Daniel Valenzuela (head producer in Esperanto debuting as “Tipo Country Productions”) along with David Valenzuela, Jared Vacapiz and Ervey Vargas in the musical ensemble.

The release of En Este Amor comes with an official video, which through pictures, showcases a beautiful sunset in the desert of Sonora, Mexico. This is the perfect setting to convey the melancholy in the message of the song, while also representing the singer, composer, musician and producer roots, Adriel Favela.

“Everything has been a happy accident because this song was aimed for another person, but at the end of the day, God has a purpose for us all and the song conveyed a lot. I loved it! It has a beautiful essence which I think will differentiate itself from everything we’ve done before and we’ve obviously put a lot of heart into it and we hope the audience receives it the same way.” – Adriel Favela.

“This is one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written. I started composing it while sitting on my bed, before going to sleep, thinking about the two perspectives of this love, it was self-criticism because I gave it everything and the other person didn’t give anything, and when my heart told me that I had to continue trying, I realized that wasn’t a very smart decision.” – Gussy Lau, composer