Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the summer encore of the Met Opera’s “The Merry Widow” (from the 2014/2015 season) on Saturday, July 16 at 1 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Soprano Renée Fleming lights up the Met stage as Hanna Glawari, the wealthy widowed heroines in Lehár’s popular operetta, set in Paris and seen in a glittering production directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Baritone Nathan Gunn is Danilo, Hanna’s former flame, who is supposed to woo and marry her in order to keep her fortune in their home country…
Author: Tommy Acosta
Read More
By Amaya Gayle Gregory What if we threw it all out — all the beliefs, every last one and started from scratch? It’s nigh impossible to tell truth from fiction, little white lies from the darker variety. Truth is a rare commodity and those who can discern the truth from the lie even rarer. It seems everyone has their own truth. How can it be truth if there are infinite versions of it? The world seems designed to hide the truth, to prevent us from looking for it, let alone finding it. Bombarded with everyone’s expert opinion, it’s often far…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of the award-winning documentary “Living Wine” showing July 16-21 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. “Living Wine” follows the journeys of natural winemakers in Northern California, during the largest wildfire season on record. Equal parts farmer, winemaker, and artist, they stay true to their ideals of creating exceptional wines made through innovative sustainable and regenerative farming and without chemical additives. Eschewing the industrial agricultural practices of the corporate wine industry, our winemakers are healing the very environment they are surviving — a changing climate marked…
Verde Valley News – The Coconino National Forest is evaluating a proposal that would remove more than 1,600 dead and dying trees located along Highway 89 in the recent Pipeline and Tunnel fire burn areas. The proposal would grant the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) the use of heavy equipment to cut and remove the trees located alongside Highway 89. These dead or dying trees are hazardous because they’re located within falling distance of the roadway. Highway 89 north of Flagstaff sees an average of 8,000 vehicles per day, and topography of the area leads to high wind speeds capable…
Sedona News – The city of Sedona’s Parks and Recreation Department will host the Challenger British Soccer Camp again for a second week this summer, this time from July 25, 2022 to July 29, 2022 at Posse Grounds Park. The Youth Soccer Camp’s TinyTykes program for kids ages 2 – 4 will be held from 8 – 8:45 a.m. and costs $90 for the week. Children ages 5 – 14 have the option of a half-day camp from 9 a.m. – noon for $145 for the week, or a full day camp from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. for $200…
By Rabbi Alicia Magal Shalom and greetings from the Rabbi, Board of Directors, and congregation of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley. All the services, classes, and programs are listed on the synagogue website. Come join us either in person or online. See jcsvv.org for instructions to register for in-person services or online links. Visitors are welcome to attend services. On Friday, July 22, a Friday evening Erev Shabbat service, led by Joe Berger, VP of the Religious Affairs Committee, begins at 5:30 pm both in person and on Zoom, and livestreamed for members and their invitees. Congregants participate…
… and the new is a Greenhead Mallard in flight that looks just like the one that passed Corky and me on a flight back from the Grand Canyon on day when we were just kind of lollygagging our way back home to Sedona at 10,000′ … we were flying at about 50 to 60 knots and this greenhead passed us on the right side about 15 feet off the wingtip. Creatures that fly and machines that we fly in always rank high on my list of amazing things. Below is an early fall shot of the western ridgeline of…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Both Sides of the Blade” showing July 15-21 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Winter in Paris. From acclaimed writer-director Claire Denis comes “Both Sides of the Blade” — the tale of a passionate love triangle. Jean (Vincent Lindon) and Sara (Juliette Binoche) have been living together for 10 years. When they first met, Sara was living with François (Grégoire Colin), Jean’s best friend and an admirer from back when he played pro rugby. Jean and Sara love each other. One day, Sara…
Verde Valley News – Effective Friday July 15, 2022, at 08:00a.m. Due to resent the precipitation and higher humidity levels, Verde Valley Fire District in coordination with the National Forests and surrounding agencies is lifting all burn restrictions. Residents are still encouraged to exercise caution and good judgment. Please contact Verde Valley Fire District Fire Inspector Danny Hinds at 928-634-2578 x 4 if you have any questions.
Sedona News – UPDATE – The Casner Fire, located north of Beaver Creek Wilderness and reported Tuesday, is 90 percent contained following heavy rains and thunderstorms in the area. While the fire has experienced no growth since Tuesday, the updated acreage for the fire is 301 acres. The increase in acreage is due to more accurate mapping conducted by a perimeter walk rather than an aerial estimation. Today’s resources included one Hotshot crew, one hand crew and one engine. Crews spent the day securing the fire’s perimeter. The fire was reported at 10:55 a.m. July 12. It was caused by lightning. This…
… and shooting the red rocks of Sedona has been a passion … more hundreds of hours shooting them from every direction in every possible variant of weather and close up and backed off. The shot above was taken from S of Woods Canyon and E of SR 179, looking generally to the N. The canyon running along the lower part of the photo is Woods Canyon and on the very left side of the image a little up from the bottom is the Red Rock Ranger Station just to the right of SR 179 which runs on a diagonal…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “The Royal” showing July 15-21 at the Alice Gill-Sheldon Theatre. “The Royal” is based on the powerful and inspiring true story of Willie Mays Aikens. The promising career of Kansas City Royals slugger Willie Mays Aikens quickly turns disastrous because of drug addiction. Sentenced to prison, Aikens seeks redemption with his estranged family, friends and ultimately with himself. Faith and family helped baseball legend Aikens survive his historically unjust incarceration, but he quickly finds upon his release that faith and family — and…
By Amaya Gayle Gregory Everything is real. Nothing is real. What the heck does that mean anyway? I’ve written those words before with what seemed deep understanding … and thought them appropriate. I may have been off track, short-sighted, oh call it what it is – wrong. 😉 Those two sentences insinuate separation into the storyline, albeit quite slyly, and may be the best way to point to something important, but I question that now. There’s gotta be a better way. I just haven’t found it yet. Everything is real assumes an everything. Nothing is real assumes a nothing ……
… I have never tired of shooting the San Francisco Volcanic field from every direction and in all conditions and all seasons, hundreds of hours in the air shooting them … I love it up there and it tells the tale of millions of years in a single photograph. In this photo I am about level with the eastern most ridgeline of Kendrick Peak at an altitude of 10,179 feet; the peak of Kendrick is the pyramid formation left of center and it is 10,425 feet. Coming down the right side of Kendrick and about 20 miles to the west…
Sedona News – The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Official Competition” showing July 15-20 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas star as two egomaniacs commissioned by a billionaire to make a movie together in “Official Competition” — a sharp comedy skewering wealth, art, and pride. When a billionaire entrepreneur impulsively decides to create an iconic movie, he demands the best. Renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz) is recruited to mastermind this ambitious endeavor. Completing the all-star team are two actors with enormous talent but even bigger egos:…