BYLINE: DIANE MARLIN-DIRKX
Good old H₂0! There are times when only a particular liquid—Give it up for WATER!—will quench thirst and drench the fevered body in our desert paradise. Patio misters cast cooling fog. Menus for designer water are as long as for fine wine. Smiling sales personnel tuck bottled water in your bag with the register slip. And summer’s Great Escape calls for heading out anywhere as long as there is water on the package tour. (Debate me, if you will.) Ask anyone. “Oh, we’re going to the beach,” they’ll say, or they’ll list another body of water—roaring ocean, foamy sea, peaceful lake, trickling inlet or outlet, a big-hearted river or pulsing rivulet, gentle brook or silken-smooth bay, a designer pool or free-form pond. If it flows, someone goes, writes a poem, or comes up with a new idea. Case in point: Fitness workout “Aqua Zumba.” Dance away and you may look like a frog caught in a blender, but it all happens underwater and who will see it? The exercise is perfect for perfecting your own body of 60% water!
Thursday, June 14, and all summer! Get in the swim at La Quinta Pool Summer Aquatics which offers a whole interesting roster of classes and events, plus an exciting array of new features including an impressive selection of food and beverages for sale at the front office counter. New and hot off the presses, an exhilarating Aqua Zumba Class that gives you an excuse to make a splash while screaming to the skies with pleasure over the innovative cardio-and-body toning workout! And don’t miss “theme” days, like the “Wacky Bathing Suit Day” on June 23! New Summer Swim Pass is $70 for La Quinta residents and $85 for non-residents. (Fees vary by event and class.) To make your summer recreation easier, they suggest new online registration at www.ymcaofthedesert.org. For more information call YMCA, 760-341-9622.
Here’s another way to make Summer Fridays in La Quinta special: “Picnic and Swim Fridays” occur once a month precisely on June 15, July 6 and August 3 from 6:30 to 8:00pm for an in-the-swim sum of $3 per person. Cool! La Quinta Pool at Fritz Burns Park at the corner of Avenue 52 and Avenida Bermudas. For more info, call City of La Quinta, 760-777-7035, or go to www.La-Quinta.org.
Thursday, June 14, 5pm – 7pm. A refreshing new idea for a party where all proceeds benefit Desert Samaritans for Seniors: The Charity Wine Pull sponsored by Atria Hacienda Senior Living. Following the precepts of helping others, the good people at Desert Samaritans invite everyone to “Be Surprised! Be a Connoisseur! Be a Good Sport! Patrons select a disguised bottle of wine. What you pull is what you take home.” The fine wines especially chosen for this fundraiser have values up to $85 a bottle. And what it will do for senior programs and assistance is valued at, well, it’s priceless. Wine and appetizers will be served. Cost is $20 at the door. Location: Atria Hacienda, 44600 Monterey Ave., Palm Desert. RSVP to Desert Samaritans, 760-837-9066, or email at info@desertsamaritans.org
June – September 2012. There’s nothing we like more than a smile that turns into a roar of appreciation for a good joke, a well-skewered cartoon, savvy satire to sharpen a point, or a critter sculpture that takes on—and gives off a whole new meaning to the human experience. “Pop Goes the Humor” is exhibit A-Z in the genre. Currently running at the Palm Springs Art Museum are the art, or better yet the pop art versions—think Roy Liechtenstein or Andy Warhol—works from leading artists in the field of humorous and popular imagery who beseech us to stop taking the “human experience” too seriously. As a sampling, think of what crosses your eyeballs every day from comic strips to advertising to TV commercials! Exhibited are the works of George Segal, Robert Arneson, Mel Ramos (Nude on Rhino!), Red Grooms’ artwork poking fun at Picasso! Is it art, or is it Memorex? Who cares as long as it gives you a giggle? Palm Springs Art Museum, 101 Museum Dr., Palm Springs. For more information, call 760-322-4800, or go to www.psmuseum.org
LAST DAY FRIDAY TO UNLEASH YOUR MOJO!
Friday, June 15 is the deadline for craftspeople, artists, and hobbyists who live in La Quinta Cove to exhibit their most recent creative works for an exhibit in the La Quinta Museum from September 21 through December 22, 2012. Up to a dozen 2- or 3-Dimensional art works will be chosen to represent a variety of the creative arts. Applicants must be current, part-time or full-time residents of La Quinta Cove, bounded by Avenida Montezuma, Calle Tecate, Avenida Bermudas and Calle Tampico, as well as the Yucatan section. The selection committee is composed of Museum members, Historical Society and the city’s Community Services Department. For more information, call the museum at 760-777-7170.
Saturday, June 16, 9:30am. The pretty boy from the Bronx makes it Big-Time! Desert Film Society presents the award-winning documentary and international festival favorite film Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom at the Camelot Theatres in a one-time premiere showing in the Coachella Valley. Over six decades in 130 films, the teen idol proved he was more than a pretty face in such critically raved-about movies as Sweet Smell of Success, The Boston Strangler, Some Like it Hot and The Defiant Ones which earned him an Oscar nomination. A rebel with a cause, he influenced the careers of James Dean and Elvis Presley, yet had commitment problems with wives Janet Leigh and Christine Kaufman. Featuring Debbie Reynolds, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Jamie Lee Curtis, and others. Ticket is free for DFS members; $15 at the door. For more information, call 760-770-0507, or go to www.desertfilmsociety.com. Camelot Theatres, 2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs.
Saturday, June 16, 8 am. Get out of that lounger and take a hike! Coachella Valley Hiking Club’s experienced Hike Leader Paulette, will be your guide on a moderate 5 mile walk with a 700–ft. elevation gain in the summer-lush mountainous area called the “Round Valley Loop: San Jacinto Wilderness Tram Area.” Watch for crawling, creeping, coiling desert denizens on the way. And if this particular hike doesn’t swing your compass, choose from a wide range of guided hikes for all abilities from “easy interpretive rambles” to “fast-paced, strenuous workouts.” (And we quote.) However, this is not boot camp! Leaders are friendly, knowledgeable and experienced. Club members include several hundred hikers who are year-around residents, as well as seasonal snowbirds. Instructions: To register, for meeting place and further instructions, call between 8am and 8pm, 760-771-1256. Wear proper gear, including a hat, hiking boots and sunscreen, bring at least 2 qts. of liquid—and always tell someone where you are going. (Make them jealous!) National Forest Adventure Pass required $5 per car, or $35 per year. Tram fee applies. For more info, go to www.cvhikingclub.net
Wednesday, June 20, 9am to 12 pm. “In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking Panel” moderated by Gary Jeandron will be presented by SafeHouse of the Desert and The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. The panel includes speakers from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, the Riverside District Attorney’s Office, Million Kids, and SafeHouse of the Desert. Working with the Trafficking task force, SafeHouse provides emergency and long-term shelter, intervention and outreach services to runaways, homeless and exploited youth in crisis. Join this urgent and educational discussion at the Desert Regional Medical Center, 1150 North Indian Canyon Dr., Palm Springs. Free. All donations are tax-deductible. Safehouse of the Desert, 72-710 East Lynn St., Thousand Palms. For more information, call 760-343-3211.
June through July 31. What a Brighton Idea! The Americana Jewelry Campaign by Brighton Collectibles features its limited edition bracelet in a fund raising campaign to benefit children’s art programs at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert. For each star-dazzled red-white-blue bedecked bracelet sold until July 31, 2012, the privately owned Brighton Collectibles store on El Paseo in Palm Desert will contribute $24 to the museum. “We are honored to be selected,” says the museum’s General Manager Arlene Amick. “Thanks to Brighton’s generosity, children across the valley will benefit from the funds raised, as they will be used to enhance our art education programs.” Hey we’re not alone—more than 160 Brighton Collectibles stores nationwide are participating to strengthen the arts in their communities. Brighton Collectibles, 73-199 El Paseo. For more info, call Brighton Collectibles at 760-341-4900, or the museum at 760-346-5600.
Tuesday, June 19 through Monday, June 25. The Palm Springs International ShortFest, Short Film Festival & Film Market calls “action” on its 18th year in Palm Springs with receptions, seminars, master classes and scheduled “one-on-one” meets with industry and filmmaking insiders! What a movie showcase for the world! Presenting over 300 short films from more than 40 countries, the ShortFest has a library of more than 2,700 films available to film buyers, industry and press in its concurrent Short Film Market, the largest of its kind in America. Sanctioned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 86 short films seen at the ShortFest have garnered Academy Award nominations. The Festival offers twenty awards in six categories (including student and non-student work) with cash awards or film production prizes, worth in all, over $100,000! Camelot Theatres, 2300 E Baristo Rd., Palm Springs. For more info, and tickets, call 760-322-2930 or 800-898-7526, or visit www.psfilmfest.org
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