¡Viva Arizona! has a lot to celebrate this weekend. As always, Viva will be celebrating Hispanic culture in Tucson. The event will chronical everything since the 1800s with mariachis, can-can dances, orchestras and special thanks to Tucson Hispanic radio announcers who helped keep the culture alive.

It is the 20th anniversary celebration of the organization, so it was bound to be a big celebration no matter what. However, this year is different for Julie Gallegos, a local folkloric choreographer, who founded Viva Performing Arts with founded with her dad Ralph Gonzalez.

Gallegos says her father always had a huge passion for music, and music's history in Tucson's culture. He was always interested in how European instruments found their way into Tucson's culture, and shaped the music scene. Gonzalez acted as the historian to Gallegos' role as choreographer, and together they created the cultural celebration that is Viva Arizona.

In addition to celebrating the history of Hispanic culture in the area, the show will be honoring Gonzalez. Gonzalez is in hospice right now, and while Gallegos is concerned about his strength, he does plan on going to Sunday's show.

"He doesn't know I'm honoring him, he would have a heart attack. He's a very humble man. He's always thinking about other people, not himself," Gallegos said.

It's not just Gonzalez that Viva is losing. Gallegos, remembering Viva's early days and the musicians who helped put on the first years of the performances, says many of the people who helped make the shows great are in their 80s and 90s. Gallegos says that musicians such as Jesse Tovar, a saxophonist, were instramental in making Viva a success. Tovar died last week.

"That was just deviating. He would put together a 16 piece orchestra with musicians who knew how to play the songs from the 50s and I was so appreciative to him," Gallegos said. "This event will be a very sentimental journey because we are losing this generation of men who gave us this beautiful music."

Tickets are $15 and are sold at Viva Performing Arts Center at 4563 S. Park Ave.

• Danny Lyon ©Dektol.wordpress.com, courtesy Etherton Gallery

In my high school teaching days, I did a ten year stint as a photography/photojournalism teacher, which I enjoyed thoroughly (I love the smell of Fixer in the morning!). So going to the Etherton Gallery, 135 S. 6th Ave., is always a pleasure. The photos regularly on display in the back areas of the gallery make my knees weak — some of the greatest photos in the history of the medium, the kind of work you travel to fine museums to see. They're always worth a visit.

Through March 15, you can see a stirring exhibit in the main gallery area, "Danny Lyon: Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement." Timed, I'm sure, for Black History Month, these are photos from 1962-1964 taken by the first staff photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a 20 year old Danny Lyon. Gripping work.

You can see a few of the photos after the break.

Experimental filmmaker Godfrey Reggio is best known for his Qatsi trilogy. The trilogy started with 1982’s Koyaanisqatsi (Hopi for “Life Out Of Balance), and is followed by 1988’s Powaqqatsi (“Life In Transformation) and 2002’s Naqoyqatsi (“Life As War). Each film does away with conventional narration; in it’s place are slow motion and time-lapse shots of people, places and things, all set to a spellbinding score by minimalist composer Philip Glass.

He has a new film out today called Visitors. It’s opening at the Loft Cinema, and you can read my Tucson Weekly review of it here. While it’s similar to his past three films, and Glass is still responsible for a masterful score, there are some remarkable differences. It’s shot entirely in black and white, and there are only 74 shots in the picture. There are times where it’s like watching a photo suddenly spring to life. This is as slowed down as Reggio can get, and you’ll find out why in this rare interview.

I spoke to Reggio on the phone, and we discussed some of the themes of the films, the shooting process, and his unique relationship with Glass.

I noticed a bridge between Naqoyqatsi and Visitors. It’s the human relationship with technology. Do you think I’m on the right path with that?

You know, there’s a very famous saying in Latin that says “Quidquid recipitur," meaning "one receives according to their bowl or to their cup or their form." With Visitors the person who sees the film is herself/himself the storyteller, the character, the plot, anything’s possible in terms of how it can be seen. Does it have a relationship to Naqoyqatsi? I think so. All of the films are an attempt to go around the same tree as often as possible, but in a different cadence, in a different form. So, they do all relate in some way to each other.

In Visitors, everything is distinctly slowed down, in contrast to how our culture and how our lifestyle is vastly accelerated. Was that purposeful?

Very purposeful. Indeed. It was done deliberately for that reason. We’re on speed in rush hour, as it were, running our future. As a result of that, the stiller a person can be, or attuned as senses can be - if you look at a normal theatrical film the average cut is anywhere from three to six seconds, so there’s not much time to dwell, because the images are telling you a story. In this case, the story is to behold, and in that sense the longer it’s on, the more there is to behold. It’s like if you went to see a sunset, you don’t look at it for three seconds and disappear. What the meaning of the sunset is, is probably the sunset has no meaning but it can be immensely meaningful. In that sense, slowing things down can be at once unnerving, confrontational, and difficult given the speed. Everything is in a nanosecond at this moment.

I read that some in of the shots, particularly the children, that they were filmed while playing video games and watching television. Was that also intentional?

Oh yes, definitely. The film, it has no words, it’s like a speechless narrative because the people on the screen are looking directly at you. I didn’t want those people acting in any way, so what you see on the screen is nothing more than their ordinary activity. The second the TV comes on, or video games or any kind of screen for that matter, it’s like a tractor beam, it holds our attention. While they knew they were being filmed, as soon as that TV went on, they went inside the TV. These are images from the outside in, being drawn by a screen that’s not present except at the end of the film. So yes, screens are very important, and nobody was told “can you make this face?” It was simply having to shoot an awful lot in order to capture those moments when people have these kinds of expressions or stares. All of that was unacted and non-self conscious.

I assume that some of the footage, such as the abandoned amusement park and ruined buildings, was in New Orleans?

Yes indeed. I wanted to go down there - I’m from New Orleans - and I wanted to go down after the hurricane, but I couldn’t get the backing for the kind of project I wanted. Those locations, having sat there for five years, no longer look like the result of a massive hurricane or flood. They look more like Pompeii or the ruins of modernity. In that sense I couldn’t have a set built better for the point of view for this film.

Did Visitors stem from wanting to capture post-Katrina New Orleans?

No, Visitors started in 2002 actually. I was finishing up Naqoyqatsi, and this idea of slow, very slow, of black and white, of something in another dimension - other worldly - came to me. I don’t don’t know how it came to, let’s just say it was an intuition. Then, taking years to find the money, of course those intuitions mature, and become more reflective because if I’m thinking about them, they’re thinking about me everyday, I’m really focused on it. There were seven years in prep and then a over three year period for the shooting, editing, and musical score.

So will we see you tomorrow night, Bill? @BillWalton @hottunaband @leonrussell #ArizonaWildcats pic.twitter.com/Cd37jSlY8A
— Rialto Theatre (@TheRialtoTucson) January 25, 2014

As if you needed another reason to watch the Arizona men's basketball game tonight, how about this enticement: thanks to the rambling interests of former college and NBA great/color analyst/space cadet Bill Walton, our very own Rialto Theatre is going to get some love during the ESPN broadcast.

ESPN cameras spend time at the Rialto this afternoon to shoot footage of the concert venue, which drew Walton's attention a few weeks back when he was in town to work the Arizona-Colorado game. He mentioned, during one of his many random segues, that was excited to see the Rialto was playing host to jam acts Hot Tuna and Leon Russell on Jan. 25.

That prompted the Rialto to adjust their marquee, noting that the show had the "Bill Walton Seal of Approval." Walton and the ESPN folks caught wind of that, and with Walton working tonight's game against Oregon it turned into the perfect chance to promote the theater on national television, Rialto executive director Curtis McCrary said.

"We hope to get as much mileage out of this as we can," McCrary joked.

There's a lot of similarities between Tucson and Liberty City. Where else can you learn how to hotwire a car and pay with BitCoins?

• Photo courtesy of the Facebook event page.

Spirit Art House and BICAS are hosting the Grand Theft Art Show on Feb. 7 and 8 at Thunder Canyon Brewery, 220 East Broadway. The theme is art so good you want to steal it, but don't because that's not fair to the artist. BICAS will have superhero themed bikes for sale. 10% of the proceeds of all art sold at the show will benefit BICAS for their search for a new scene.

Rob Osborne, MatlockTheArtist, and Ethan Scott will have their art on display and for sale. Osborne is a UA alumni and prolific comic book writer and artist. Osborne is best known for his webcomic Talking Noggins, Interlude and The Nearly Infamous Zango.

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead today in his NYC apartment.

Here's a sad update. According to the New York Times, Hoffman most likely died from a drug overdose and a syringe in his arm:

The actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment on Sunday morning of an apparent drug overdose, according to a law enforcement official who requested anonymity because he was not certain the actor’s family had been informed of the death.

The official said Mr. Hoffman, 46, was found in his West Village apartment around 11:30 a.m. by a friend who had become concerned at not being able to reach Mr. Hoffman.

Investigators found a syringe in his arm and an envelope containing what is believed to be heroin, the official said

WSJ:

Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead Sunday afternoon in his New York City apartment, a law-enforcement official said.

The New York Police Department is investigating, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine exact cause of death. The official said Mr. Hoffman, 46 years old, was found dead at his apartment at 35 Bethune St. in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.

Mr. Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 film, "Capote."

"I have nothing to gain here. This has been disruptive of my life, and I've taken a number of personal risks. ... I have not gained anything except knowing that I came forward and did what I felt that I had an obligation to do. That was to tell the truth," Anita Hill, October 1991

So strange to think there are now generations who don't know the name Anita Hill or understand her importance in history, which makes the documentary Anita: Speaking Truth to Power so important.

The film debuts in theaters March 21. From the filmmakers:

An entire country watched transfixed as a poised, beautiful African-American woman in a blue dress sat before a Senate committee of 14 white men and with a clear, unwavering voice recounted the repeated acts of sexual harassment she had endured while working with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. That October day in 1991 Anita Hill, a bookish law professor from Oklahoma, was thrust onto the world stage and instantly became a celebrated, hated, venerated, and divisive figure.

Anita Hill’s graphic testimony was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual misconduct and power in the workplace that resonates still today. She has become an American icon, empowering millions of women and men around the world to stand up for equality and justice.

Against a backdrop of sex, politics, and race, ANITA reveals the intimate story of a woman who spoke truth to power. Directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Freida Mock, the film is both a celebration of Anita Hill’s legacy and a rare glimpse into her private life with friends and family, many of whom were by her side that fateful day 22 years ago. Anita Hill courageously speaks openly and intimately for the first time about her experiences that led her to testify before the Senate and the obstacles she faced in simply telling the truth. She also candidly discusses what happened to her life and work in the 22 years since.

Look for a blistering 81-degree-high tomorrow, then a cold front will set us back all the way to highs in the low 70s through the weekend. Having probably trekked every hike you can imagine, and gone fishing, camping, birdwatching, picnicking and rock-climbing all over Southern Arizona already so far this winter, you might wish for a change of pace.

• Cleveland Indians

Until yesterday, I must confess, the appropriateness of sports teams' using "Redskins" or "Indians" as mascots was way, way far down the long list of humans rights issues that make me want to cry, and fight; to sign petitions and to post insinuating memes to Facebook.

Chinese New Year Festival Teaser Trailer from Julian Ybarra on Vimeo.

If you are looking for something to do on Saturday, be sure to check out the Chinese New Year Festival at the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona and the Tucson Sino Choir presents a festival that boasts music, dancing, performances and martial arts (shameless self promotion).

Chinese New Year is on January 31st and it is the Year of the Horse.