BYLINE: DIANE MARLIN-DIRKX
Okay. So summer is here with a vengeance. And no, we can’t do anything about the heat. Just try to repair the damage. For women, it may be mascara rivulets sliding into the décolletage. (Stash wet wipes.) For guys, the sweat is on—here’s a wilting problem even Viagra can’t solve—stiffen your resolve and toss the talking, torn tee. (Just because you’re wearing clean underwear doesn’t mean we want to see it.) Hey, how about an attitude-adjustment? Get out and about, stop clinging to the dark shadows and shed light on your skill set: Learn, Laugh, Listen and Love your freedom starting right here with the calendar of events and entertainment in the Coachella Valley where the heat is on and the beat is cool!
Thursday, May 24. Summer School! Inside! The registry for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is underway for students 50 years of age or older. The summer quarter of classes, which begin on June 12, will include courses specifically chosen for seniors and their interests and enjoyments: Famous mutinies, new thoughts and modern religions, Mexican art, culture and personalities, significant political films, and today’s must-take class focused on the history of computers. This is learning for the fun of it! There are no credits, no grades, no tests or homework. The institute offers quarterly memberships for $150, and courses typically cover arts and humanities, natural and social sciences. The learning institute is at Cal State San Bernardino’s Palm Desert Campus, 37-500 Cook St., Palm Desert. For more information, or for a free spring/summer course catalog, call 760-341-2883, ext. 14428, email mdadamss@csusb.edu, or visit CSUSB College of Extended Learning at www.cel.csusb.edu/osher.html.
Friday, May 25, and Saturday, May 26. Personal appearance and delicious testimony from Theo Stephan, accomplished artist, owner of a major graphic design firm, who gave it all up and went back to the kitchen! Before you start a women’s lib revolution, listen to the story. Stirred to action by her Greek heritage that assured olive oil was the main ingredient on the dinner table, Stephan’s impetus came from a visit to the Santa Barbara wine country where she planted thousands of olive trees and today, 14 years and many awards later, her company Global Gardens offers several varieties of extra virgin olive oil and flavored vinegars that she makes by hand in her own commercial kitchen. Meet her and nibble on tastings on Friday as she signs book “Olive Oil and Vinegar for Life: Delicious Recipes for Healthy Caliterranean Living,” at KitchenKitchen, 2 to 4 pm, 74-945 HWY 111, Indian Wells, 760-773-9464. Tastings Fee $5. Online pre-registration go to www.kitchenkitchen.com. If you can’t make it on Friday, come Saturday, May 26, when Stephan will teach a special session at Cooking with Class, 47875 Caleo Bay Dr., Ste. #A107, La Quinta, 760-777-1161. She’ll delve with delight into the history, production, manufacturing, and nutritional aspects, as well as flavor profiles of olive oil and vinegar that are gaining plaudits for sustained healthy living. And she will stir up several recipes from her cookbook “Olive Oil & Vinegar For Life” including Kalamata Feta Pistachio Rolls and Orange Fantasia Cake, among others. We’re drooling already. Class fee, $75. Online reservations, www.cookingwithclasslaquinta.com.
Saturday, May 26, 10 am. What the world needs now, is right in Rancho Mirage. World Laughter Day with Yogi Ramesh Pandey will lead a session of Hatha Yoga, mastering body, mind and soul toward the art of laughter, which he says is good medicine for what ails you, whether anxiety, stress or trying to lose pounds without losing your mind. Yogi Ramesh produces the TV program Universal Yogi and has appeared on Oprah and the Roseanne Barr shows. He has been profiled in the Los Angeles Times (“Ramesh Pandey, Better Body by Breathing”) and the U.S. News and World Report (“Ramesh Pandey: Universal Yoga Guru”). There’ll be prizes, music, singing, snacks at this free event at Whitewater Park, 71-560 San Jacinto Dr., Rancho Mirage. For more information, call 562-716-9367.
Saturday, May 26, 11 am to 4 pm. The Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM) in Palm Desert hosts Its first “Art Party Palm Desert” with free admission for the public to mingle and make art, take docent tours of the 8,400 square foot building known as The Galen and watch plein air demonstrations in the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden. The kids will love getting their hands on real potters’ tools to make clay sculptures or make their own accordion style sketchbook. A community installation inspired by a message in a bottle will be held in the education wing. The marvel of story-telling in the garden begins at noon, and at 3 pm guests will be amazed at the sounds and rhythms of repurposed percussion instruments by Street Beat. Take advantage of Docent tours who will highlight the museum’s first exhibition, “Rodin to Now: Modern Sculpture” featuring works by great masters including Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Robert Therrien, Ken Price and Joel Shapiro. The whole day of enjoyment is free. (Monday, Memorial Day the museum will be closed.) PSAM Palm Desert, 72-567 Highway 111. For information, call 760-346-5600.
Saturday, May 26. 8 pm. Talk about “Good Vibrations!” Surf’s up in the desert and The Beach Boys are catchin’a wave on their 50th Anniversary Tour to perform at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio. “Wouldn’t it Be Nice?” It sure will! In fact, it’ll be the first time in twenty years that Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks will tour together. Celebratory concerts in Chicago, New York City and the Hollywood Bowl have already sold out! The first American pop band to bring attention to the sounds of summer of the 60s in southern California, The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 1988, and received The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award. They are indeed an American institution. Hum that tune, “I Get Around,” “Surfin’ U.S.A., “Surfer Girl,” “Catch a Wave” and get your ticket now: $129, $99, $79, $69. Go to the Fantasy Springs Box Office, or call 800-827-2946, or online at www.FantasySpringsResort.com. Exclusive VIP ticket packages will be available through VIP Nation, including premium seats, meet & greets, sound check access, exclusive merchandise, and more. For more info, visit www.vipnation.com
Monday, May 28, 10 am. The Palm Springs Air Museum will present the 14th Annual Memorial Day Flower Drop of 3000 carnations from a vintage B-25 bomber airplane flown in from the Planes of Fame in Chino, California. After the T-34 Missing Man Formation exhibition, PSAM Chief pilot Jim Dale will pilot the vintage aircraft that opens its doors to release the flowers as it wings over the museum’s tarmac to honor and memorialize all veterans who lost their lives defending the United States and our freedoms. White carnations will honor those who fought in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Red carnations will honor those who died in more recent conflicts including the Persian Gulf, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a good time to thank the families of those in our military who have paid the ultimate price for our country. Coachella Valley Ford (including Palm Springs Motors and Fiesta Ford in Indio) is the presenting sponsor. Other sponsors include Forest Lawn Memorial Park and Desert Radio Group. There will be freshly made sandwiches, hot dogs, Polish dogs, cold refreshments and the summer favorite ice cream. Revving up the entertainment: The Heat Wave Jazz Band. PSAM is at 745 N. Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs. All events are included with regular admission to the museum,$8 to $15. Active Military and children under 6 are complimentary. No discounts on holidays. Call 760-778-6262.
Tuesday, May 29, 6 – 10 pm. It’s the third annual Shorts Showcase Awards Ceremony at the Camelot Theatre. The next generation of filmmakers may have started with a Super 8 as a kid, but look at them now! Better yet, come meet and watch as future movie moguls receive awards for excellence in the growing field of short films that tackle every emotion and experience of humankind and draw audiences in to a whole new world of immediacy. At the 7 pm screening you pick the top prize by voting for your favorite films via a remote text set up live at the event. Participate in the Q & A at 8:45. Awards and Scholarship presentations at 9 pm to Palm Springs Cultural Center, Palm Springs Women in Film & Television educational fund and Palm Springs Student Short Film Festival. You win, too: Raffle prizes will benefit three local charities. Admission, $10; VIP reception and pass with after-party at Lulu’s, $25. Shorts Showcase PBS programs on KVCR Tuesdays and 10:30 pm and Saturdays at 12:30 am. For more information, email info@shortsshowcase.com. Or go to www.shortsshowcase.com
Saturday, June 2, 2 – 4 pm. The Palm Springs Writers Guild gets together every month at the Rancho Mirage Library to listen to a speaker or to enjoy a panel discussion. Audience participation is encouraged. This month the guild presents Denise Welch, Media Consultant whose topic is “10 Social Media Tools to Set Your Work on Fire!” It’s going to be a “feel the burn” workout for both experienced and novice writers. Even if the only writing you do is to sign your kids’ permission slips, there’s a story in you just scratching to get out, to get read, to be heard, and this is a group that will support your efforts. Scratch that itch! The programs are open to everyone who feels the need to pick up paper and pen, or aim digits at the keyboard. Trust me. For information, go to www.palmspringswritersguild.org or www.ranchomiragelibrary.org. RM Library, 71-100 HWY 111, Rancho Mirage, CA, telephone 760-341-7323.
Saturday, June 2, 5:30 pm Cocktails, 7:00 pm Dinner/Awards. For the 6th annual “Evening at the Pueblo,” Cabot’s Museum Foundation Board and philanthropists/restaurateurs Barbara and Jerry Keller, Honorary Co-chairs, invite you to a special celebration for the Cabot’s Pueblo Museum in Desert Hot Springs, just named to the National Register of Historic Places! The Hopi-inspired pueblo is a unique treasure, part of Coachella Valley’s rich history, filled to the rafters (literally!)with the story of the journey through the life of Cabot Yerxa and his family dating back over 100 years as they traveled from the Dakota Territory to California and the southwest, including the founding of Desert Hot Springs. Hand-constructed from reclaimed and found objects, the Pueblo is 4 stories, 5,000 square feet with 35 rooms, 150 windows and 65 doors collected and reassembled from abandoned homesteads, old telephone poles, wagon buck-boards, etc. Repurposed craftsmanship at its best! The evening honors Donna and the late Cargill MacMillan, Representative Mary Bono Mack and historian Barbara Maron. Live auction. Individual tickets, $150. Sponsorship levels from $1000 to $5000. For more information, call 760-329-7610, or go to www.cabotsmuseum.org.
Saturday, June 2, 6:30pm Pre-show, 8:30pm Show. Funny business: Judy Tenuta is the most famous person who has ever lived. And if you don’t believe it, just ask the self-proclaimed “Love Goddess” and “Aphrodite of the Accordion” who’s been on TV’s The View, Late Night with David Letterman, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight, and Comics Unleashed. Okay, okay, we get it! Renowned comedienne, stage, film and television actress, and Grammy nominee, Judy Tenuta will appear in An Evening with… at Azul Restaurant in Palm Springs with her outrageous, mind-blowing comedy and after recently becoming an ordained minister, she converts her sold-out audiences to her signature religion. Ready? Yup, “Judyism.” Tenuta shares the bill with stand-up comic Scott Silverman. Not a second banana, Scott has opened shows for Margaret Cho, and appeared on TV’s Comedy Central and Evening at the Improv and performed in all 50 states, Canada and Australia. Meet the comedians after the show! A Blackwell – Black production. For more information, go to www.azultapaslounge.com. Azul, 369 N Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs. Advance tickets required, $25. To purchase, call 760-325-5533.
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