Recap: Good Morning, From Here, March 22 – 28
Monday
My dear friend, writer Sandra Bradley, and I, could hardly squeeze into Patricia Gawle’s Gallery over the weekend to see new and exciting art exhibits. This large space can barely enclose the explosive energy of a number of painters, sculptors, and sewers. Here’s a problem. That word s-e-w-e-r means two different things, but pronounced like s-o-w-e-r is what I’m talking about. Patti Gallardo has reinvented herself through craft again. She takes meters of fine linen and creates patterns simply with needle and thread, thousands and thousands of stitches per garment. The results are stunningly beautiful, unique clothes for your body or your house. No two pieces are the same. Incredibly meticulous work. We also met Bruno Vargas, a Brazillian transplant who describes himself as a ‘handcrafter.’ You must pass by the gallery on Basilio Badillo and see his work. Many art gallery owners, including Gary Thompson of Galeria Pacifica, were in the crowd sipping wine and discussing the eclectic mix of art displayed everywhere. It was lovely catching up with Patti, Wendy Johnson, Bruno, and dear Patricia Gawle, who rarely leaves her home in El Tuito anymore.
Yesterday’s penultimate NIA dance class at the IFC Clubhouse was an emotional rollercoaster for some of us. Our dance created a very vulnerable, soft space full of excitement and longing. Maybe the change of seasons? Most of those people will be gone soon, back to other climates, other lives, other countries. It baffles me how they can leave.
The last stop on the weekend was the tiny theater at Arte Vallarta up on Pilitas. Diana Frances had completed her two-day, intensive Improv workshop and her five students put on a show that left us helpless with laughter.
Diana ran her students through a series of exercises that were familiar from class, but the audience determined the subject matter, so nothing was scripted and moved at lightning speed with hilarious results. For example, “Sex with me is like —-” slip in a word from the audience, try y-o-g-u-r-t, and you get, “Sex with me is like yogurt – raw and uncultured!” Five answers were out of the student’s mouths before I could even think of a plausible sentence. Great brain work!
Tonight is the last show of Gouda Gabor/Diana Frances’s “Match That Snatch” game show at Nacho Daddy at 7:30. This mashup of The Match Game TV show from the 70s and RuPaul’s latest drag race is so funny. It was painful last week; my cheeks hurt for a couple of days. Diana Frances is in drag as host Gene Gayburn. Get your tickets fast; this is the last show – Diana is on a plane back to Toronto on Wednesday. I hope something like this will return next season. We need an Improv space. A place where stand-up comedians can work regularly! Laughter has never been more important in our lives, and we need to encourage and support those writers and actors who can make us smile, chuckle, and laugh out loud so hard it makes us cry, creating laughing jags that move like ocean currents through an audience, From Here.
Tuesday
Deborah Darr, former Broadway singer and dancer, now dance teacher, painter, and fabulous woman who I adore, and I finally got together over mango smoothies and traffic noise. We traded heart stories for a couple of hours and reluctantly hugged goodbye; a week today, she flies back to Chicago. I will see her again at the last NIA class at IFC at noon on Sunday and at the after-party, but the shift has already begun.
A new beginning in Versalles last night with the kick-off party at Gastronomiq, the latest restaurant bar to open its doors. Chef/Owner Chad Gardner expected about 200 people to drop in, enjoy deliciously decadent tequila/cranberry cocktails and wee tastes from an eclectic ‘Global Cuisine’ menu. This is Chad’s seventh restaurant – the first in Mexico, with the other six back in California. The building is Quonset Hut-chic, with ceilings high enough for a climbing wall. The olive-drab-colored cement brick walls hold amazing organic, mixed-media paintings I wanted to run my fingers over. Light fixtures are made from variously shaped light bulbs and an excellent sound system considering the immensity of the industrial space, with the DJ pumping out techno beats at a comfortable decibel level. I will go back for a bowl of corn chowder. Maybe beef stroganoff!
So many familiar faces – luscious Jet de La Isla, Tamale Ringwald (seeing her creation Burlesque tonight!), Matt Karimi, Mike Owens, Mikel Alvarez, Jerry Jones, owner of Out & About Puerto Vallarta magazine, Ryan Donner, Randee, Derek Carkner and an old and beloved friend Juan Carlos Bernal.
I rode with Derek back into town, both of us heading for Nacho Daddy for the finale of “Match That Snatch.” He and Lisa Manoogian were the first contestants in this muy funny mashup of a game show. Brainchild of Gouda Gabor aka Richard Lucas in association with another brilliant funny person from Canada, Diana Frances, who emceed as ‘Gene Gayburn.’ (My editing software corrected ‘Gayburn’ to Rayburn; I love AI!).
The panelists were Eva Gabor (Gouda Gabor), Enrique Iglesias (Enrique de Allende), and Pink (Eva Jimenez). It was hilariously confusing with a real Eva and an uber fake Eva on the stage together. The night was all about laughter and exceeded itself in fun.
Juan Alvarado, owner of La Catrina Cantina went up against Derek Carkner for the ultimate win. That took three or four tie-breakers before Juan was crowned the winner, and we could all go home, and Diana could get out of her seemingly sprayed-on polyester pants. Diana and I are having breakfast at Langostinos on the beach this morning. She is off to Toronto in the morning. Another farewell.
Fundraiser at Casa Karma this afternoon at 5:30, starring Gloria Fiona, Fusion 91, Rene Nieto, and Tao Te Chia, a martial arts group, then Burlesque at Coco Cabaret at 8. Looking forward to seeing you out and about. Take gentle care of one another From Here.
Wednesday
I spent a couple of delicious hours yesterday with Diana Frances on the beach for breakfast at Langostinos. With our toes in the sand and Diana’s working vacation rapidly coming to a close, we dissected her Improv workshop and the outstanding presentation made by her five students at the theater at Arte Vallarta. She loved doing “Match That Snatch” in drag as Gene Gayburn, alongside Gouda Gabor, aka Richard Lucas, who will be returning to his fabulous home on Vancouver Island shortly. Diana has brought great joy to Vallarta and would dearly love to spend winters out of Toronto. She is putting it out to the universe for ways to make that happen. Now, if we just had a venue for laughter…
Open Mic at Nacho Daddy is expected to continue on Tuesdays with guest hosts and Captain Lydia, of course, steering that sometimes tippy ship! Speaking of Ms. Lydia, she will be calling bingo today, again at Nacho Daddy for Colina Spay and Neuter Clinic. That starts at 4 pm. Get there a bit earlier, or you will not find a seat. Prizes are awesome, and Lydia is funny as, you know the rest!
There must have been 50 of us on the labyrinth at Casa Karma yesterday afternoon for an unusual event and fundraiser. Local artist Rene Nieto was to paint a large canvas in front of us and auction off the finished masterpiece for charity. The ingenious part of the painting’s creation was that Rene wore a blindfold the entire time!
This idea sprang from the fertile brain of Gloria Fiona, whose production company put together this quirky event. There were two other demonstrations – a martial arts display and Fusion 91, the dance troupe that won the So, You Think You Can Rise? talent contest last month.
Gloria Fiona hosted – it was her first time, and she aced the job perfectly, of course.
The martial art of Tao Te Chia incorporates “the power of balance, path, and virtue of life,” and the students took our collective breath away with their concentration and fluidity of motion. They are super strong, flexible, and agile as children playing. From Tao Te Chia, that originated in Samoa, to Brazil, about half the group demonstrated Capoeira, a gorgeous blend of dance mixed with martial arts. The students really enjoyed showing off their hip-hop skills in this less rigid physical regimen. Truly delightful.
The girls of Fusion 91 performed their longest-choreographed piece to date just as the sun was beginning to set behind us.
Two darling waiters from La Catrina Cantina served Casa Karma’s exquisite hors d’oeuvres and made dozens of trips for cocktails from the labyrinth up the stairs to the bar.
As soon as Rene’s painting was unveiled and the auction began, Rob Burton, Jan Dorland, Robert Ryan, and I had to leave quickly to get to Coco Cabaret for Burlesque.
For a review of this outstanding parody that finished its run last night, come back tomorrow morning.
Georgia Darehshori is having a fundraiser today at 5:30 at Avida to help the victims of wildfires around El Tuito and the Vallarta Botanical Garden. Then, at 7 pm, at the Gay+Community Center, is the first showing of Joyce Pate’s movie “Jive Erotica,” which will be shown this year at the Montreal Film Festival. And don’t forget Scrabble at 12:30 today at Qulture, From Here!
Thursday
An American couple stopped me in front of the V399 condo a couple of days ago. I am always happy to help anybody with directions, but this woman said, “I am pretty sure I took a picture of you at Casita and Garden, so, can you hang on a minute?” as she scrolled through hundreds of photos on her phone. She found it, and yep, that’s me sitting at Casita and Garden. She never saw my face, and I was most certainly not wearing the same clothes (yikes!), but she recognized me somehow. She said she planned to enlarge the photo and hang it in her house when she and her husband return to Wisconsin. I handed her a business card, and she sent me the photo. Thanks, Connie from Wisconsin; perhaps we will meet again!
Scrabble ended up two and two, then Bingo for Colina Spay and Neuter was a bust. Again. Ugh. I fairly ran up the street to Avida, where Georgia Darehshori’s fundraiser for Vallarta Cares was well underway. Loads of performers sang, danced, and played piano and guitar; famous Casa Karma hors d’oeuvres were passed, and money was made to help the farmers restore their land recently burned in dangerous wildfires. Vallarta Cares co-founder Frankie Victoria eloquently spoke about where the money was going. I, for one, have rarely thought beyond the initial damage – house burns down, so a new place to live is paramount. Vallarta Cares is looking to repair the indeed scorched earth with water and nutrients to quickly restore the soil to be seeded with grass so the farmers can feed their cattle, which will give us milk to make that fabulous El Tuito cheese we love. This is work that goes way beyond slapping on bandaids.
Vallarta Cares has grown immeasurably from a COVID-era food bank to a disaster relief team. They have soared way beyond ladling soup to the hungry, although that is still necessary; now, their facility offers health care, education, a place where those in need can have a hot shower while their clothes get washed, and so much more. You can help with your time, energy, expertise, and money. Check VallartaCalendar.com for upcoming fundraisers – type ‘Vallarta Cares’ in the search box.
I left Georgia’s long before the party was over and made it to the Gay+Community Center to see Jive Erotica, a film made 40 years ago by Joyce Pate. Dealing with abuse, sexual and otherwise, Jive Erotica is Joyce’s gift to 85% of all women, precisely, and the world in general on ways to heal. And, the movie will be shown at this year’s Montreal Film Festival; a validation for Joyce, who has tried to be heard and seen for four decades.
The Gay+Community Center will show Jive Erotica again on May 13, a week before Gay Pride kicks off; I will remind you!
I am so looking forward to hearing Don and Rhonda tonight at Nacho Daddy. These two consummate musicians, who lived and performed in Vallarta years ago, will offer Popular Canadian music from the Old Country for our listening pleasure. A full band bringing delightful music from Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and so much more. See you there, From Here.
Friday
I am still reeling from last night’s concert, “Pop Can,” at Nacho Daddy. I expected to hear a bunch of surface moldy-oldies from my Old Country of Canada. What I was not expecting was my fierce reaction to hearing them.
What set this concert apart from all others were the anecdotes of the Canadian musicians, headed by Don and Rhonda, who had worked with or close to those in the industry who created the sounds of Canadian popular music. For example: Don almost running over Randy Bachman with his van or Jenny getting stoned with Joni Mitchell. And, also the political implications (thank you, then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, RIP) that forced Canadian radio stations to include Canadian content or lose their licenses. Last night, Don said it was 35%; I thought it was 50, but it doesn’t matter.
I do remember the grumblings across the country, more than 50 years ago, headlines screaming about political interference. It was the best thing that ever happened to Canada, and what riches continue to flow from that legislation. Think Joni Mitchell, Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, KD Lang, Gordon Lightfoot (RIP), et al.
It struck me last night that songwriters are our historians, and the singers who carry those songs into the future are the court jesters. These marathon runners hold the words and shout out the proclamations to anyone who can hear from the shower at home to the largest stadiums on earth.
Growing up Canadian in the 50s and 60s meant I knew all about US cities and places from the radio. I vividly remember when I was 12, hearing the lyrics, “Think I’ll go out to Alberta…” for the first time, from Ian Tyson’s timeless folk song, Four Strong Winds, and thinking, whoa! That’s where I’m from! I had the same reaction last night. It is a weird and deeply personal connection that lands in one’s solar plexus like a moral obligation.
Pop Can has three more performances: April 3 and 10 at 7 pm and April 6 at 3 in the afternoon. The band has DannyJu Lopez on drums, Arón on guitar, Rhonda Padmos on vocals and piano, Don, guitar and vocals, and two backup singers, Jenny Allen (also guitar), and Sandi D. Nacho Daddy co-owner Sean Moore brings his bluesy smoky voice onstage for a few rousing numbers.
The genres run from folk to rock and roll, blues to country and western; a couple of sad songs, a whole lotta Rise-Up rejoicing, and Canadian heart, soul, and love.
My sister Patrice arrives from the thawing north tomorrow afternoon (talk about rejoicing!). I will suggest we go and listen to Pop Can. I am curious to see if she will cry unbidden as much during the performance as Sandra Bradley and I did last night.
See you at the last NIA dance class at noon on Sunday, at the IFC Clubhouse. Until Monday morning, have a wonderful weekend, Vallarta From Here.
