A show for the eyes and ears where just about anything musical goes

Keep the tuxedo in the closet for this weekend's violin performance extravaganza, "Barrage," at Centennial Hall. The production shows off technical talent arguably as advanced as something one might hear and see at an Itzhak Perlman recital, but its music-making is of a different symphonic order: fiddling.

Like the tuxedo associated with stuffy symphonies, the cowboy boots associated with a hoe-down fiddling festival can also be left in the dust. Instead of orderly orchestras or cowboy country, "Barrage" meets in the middle, where classical technique fuses with cross-cultural musical traditions in its own unique barrage of melody, percussion, theater and choreography sure to engage any audience member's eyes and ears. [Read article]

Artist Terence La Noue's exhibit focuses on layers ÷ layers of material, layers of time and layers of cultures. What the layers divulge is four decades of bold and bright abstract work, brought together in the exhibition "Layers Concealed and Revealed."

"The exhibition is a rich sensation of color and line and movement," said Julie Sasse, the curator of contemporary art at the Tucson Museum of Art. "There's a deep sense of archaeology in the way that the works are layered. The way that La Noue creates the pieces is so that you can see all these wonderful layers of fabric or gauze or acrylic paint. It's a lively melding of many different materials, symbols, colors, and pure, expressive brush strokes." [Read article]

Foreign films are usually very good. I think it's because the shitty foreign films don't make it all the way to the States.

"City of God" is a gripping and disturbing movie, and one of the best foreign films of the year ÷ note the Golden Globe nomination. Edgy cinematography and snazzy camera tricks give this true story of a Brazilian ghetto an excitement that helps it surpass other foreign films, which can be tedious to watch. [Read article]

Perhaps surfing the Internet isn't the most valuable way to spend time. But it can be fun, and if you know where to go, you can maximize your time.

So I present to you merely a recommendation, one to be taken dreadfully seriously, of how to spend two hours on the Internet without wasting a second.

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Realistically, the first thing you have to do is check your e-mail and write any emails. And you always have to cancel the mass porn e-mail subscription that shows up every couple weeks. [Read article]

Sometimes you feel like some live music, sometimes you don't. That's why Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave., doubles as a local art gallery/studio.

The artwork that adorns its walls also provides an excellent diversion for awkward in-between-set conversations, giving the verbal participant something to distract his listener's attention with.

"Yeah, so · that was cool · whoa, look at that!" said crafty, made-up speaker #1. [Read article]