Calendar: July 20-26

Tuesday, July 21: 6:30 - 8:30, Discussion of Employee Free Choice Act, Progressive Center of Texas, South Side on Lamar, 1409 Lamar Street :

Many in Dallas hold multiple jobs yet still must rely on food and clothing pantries. Better wages and healthcare would increase family security and improve quality of life. Mr. Lantz and Reverend Doctor Joerge Reiger discuss this current bill and invite a lively dialogue. Gene Lantz is proudest of his title of "organizer" for North Texas Jobs with Justice, among his many other credentials. Reverend Doctor Joerg Rieger is a professor at the Perkins School of Theology at SMU and an internationally known theologian and author.

Sign up at Progressive Center of Texas

Wednesday, July 22: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Free general admission to the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood.

Friday, July 24: 10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m., Erotic Art Show at Soda Gallery--by invitation only. For more information and to request an invitation, visit The Soda Gallery blog.

Saturday, July 25

North Park Center: Free Yoga, 9:30 a.m:

July 25, 2009
You are invited to NorthPark's beautiful 1.4-acre landscaped garden for FREE, hour-long yoga sessions on Saturday mornings during the summer. Starting at 9:30 am, these traditional yoga classes will be led by instructors from the nationally renowned Cooper Fitness Center and will emphasize stress reduction, relaxation and flexible strength training techniques. Participants are encouraged to dress comfortably and to bring a yoga mat or towel. Please R.S.V.P. by contacting "rsvpyoga@northparkcntr.com". In case of inclement weather, classes will be cancelled.

Soda Gallery, 7:00 p.m. Opening reception of pinup art "Between a Real Blonde and a Fake," featuring the work of Erik Jones and Jonathon Kimbrell.

Gallery night in the Design District, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. featuring:

• The Cameron Gallery, 1414 Dragon Street, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m."Pieces of Me," Texas debut of Laura Di Nello's latest work
• Conduit Gallery 25th Anniversary Celebration and Party. 1626-C Hi Line, 5:30 - 8: 30 p.m.
• Craighead-Green Gallery 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. 16th annual New Texas Talent exhibit, 1011 Dragon Street
• HCG Gallery 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Summer Selections, 1130 Dragon St., #190
• Marty Walker Gallery 2135 Farrington St., 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. "Frontroom/Backroom" exhibit by gallery artists
• Mary Tomás Studio Gallery, 1110 Dragon Street, "Chaos and Order," featuring Don Bristow, Stephen Arruda, Roger Moore, James Edgar Crowe and Mary Tomás. Music performance at 8:00 p.m. by composer Jeffrey Gascon, who will perform original music inspired by the works of Mary Tomás.
• PanAmerican Arts Project, 1615 Dragon Street, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Exhibition of gallery artists.
• Thornwood Gallery, 1605 Dragon Street, 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Exhibition of gallery artists.

Sunday, July 26: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., Health care panel discussion, Greenland Hills United Methodist Church, 5835 Penrose Ave. Sponsored by Park Cities Democrats:

Dr. Winfred Parnell, Regional Director for Doctors for America will lead a discussion about the health care reforms that are winding through Congress. Please come to find out what this important legislation looks like and how you can help affect the outcome.

RSVP at Organizing for America

If you know of a free or dirt cheap event happening this week, send an email to lindacoleman@netzero.net, with Real Dallas Event in the subject line.

Friendship caravan comes to Dallas

Here's a bit of trivia we learned on our travels--there's a four-letter word that starts with "C." If you write this word in the memo line on a check, you and the recipient will get into huge trouble with the U.S. government.

Guess what the word is?

It's Cuba. Write that word on a check and you'll get into much more trouble than you will if you write...you know, that other word you were probably thinking of when you read "a four-letter word that starts with C."

So if, after reading this blog post, you're moved to give to the Friendship Caravan, put Pastors for Peace into the memo line, or IFCO (for the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization), because if you put that other word, your check will be "flagged" by your bank, and who knows what kind of trouble you'll get into with the IRS, the Secret Service, the FBI--just one of the many consequences of our country's bizarre relationship with our nearest island nation neighbor.

Last night, we went to a pot luck dinner and celebration of Pastors for Peace's 20th anniversary Friendshipment Caravan to Cuba. Every year, volunteer "caravanistas" travel from 130 U.S. and Canadian cities to Mexico, via 15 different routes, one of which comes through Dallas every year. From Mexico, they take medical, educational and cultural supplies to Cuba, where they stay for 9 days, visting organic farms, attending cultural events, and, basically, establishing person-to-person friendship with the people of Cuba.

Last night's event featured spoken word by Mike Guinn and the talented poetry slammers of South Dallas Cultural Center, as well as progress reports on the IFCO project. Reverend Tom Smith, of Pastors for Peace, gave an overview of the friendshipment program, and Ellen Bernstein
reported on the Latin American School of Medicine, which offers 500 full medical school scholarships every year to students willing to serve in impoverished areas of the world, including the United States. While our government will not allow humanitarian aide from Cuba (we ignored the offer of aide to areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, even though Cuban relief workers were mobilized and ready to go), our students can accept scholarships to the medical school if they agree to practice in underserved areas.

We also received information on several bills in Congress to end our blockade against Cuba.

H.R. 2272 and H.R. 1530 are bills to end the embargo and lift all restrictions to trade with Cuba.

H.R. 1531, H.R. 1737 and S1089 are bills to ease restrictions on sales of food and medicine to Cuba.

If you want to help out, ask our Senators and your member of Congress to sign on as co-sponsors of these bills. After all, it's the people who are being hurt--why should people suffer just because our government is mad that Castro is still in power?

And, of course, you can always help out by donating money to Pastors for Peace. You can donate online with a credit card or you can send a check--just don't write the C-word in the memo line and you'll be okay.

Calendar: July 6-12

This is the closing week for Organica, at Mary Tomás Studio Gallery, featuring the works of Mary Tomás, Fannie Brito, Adriana Cobo-Frenkel, Lisa Ehrich, Cecilia Feld, and Adrienne T. Roserbrg. The studio is located at 1110 Dragon St., and is open Monday - Friday 9-5, and Saturday 12-4. Closing day is listed as Sunday, July 12. For more information, call 214-727-5101. (Photo is from Opening Reception, Saturday, June 13. More pictures from the opening reception at my Flickr page: Mary Tomás Studio Gallery).

Tuesday, July 7: 7:00 p.m. Free screening of
Peaceable Kingdom at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, 3839 W. Kiest Blvd. Dallas, TX 75233. The event is co-sponsored by Dallas Peace Center and Spiral Diner. For more information, call 214.337.2429.

Saturday, July 11: Free outdoor yoga at North Park Center, 9:30 a.m. From the North Park website:

July 11, 2009

You are invited to NorthPark's beautiful 1.4-acre landscaped garden for FREE, hour-long yoga sessions on Saturday mornings during the summer. Starting at 9:30 am, these traditional yoga classes will be led by instructors from the nationally renowned Cooper Fitness Center and will emphasize stress reduction, relaxation and flexible strength training techniques. Participants are encouraged to dress comfortably and to bring a yoga mat or towel. In case of inclement weather, classes will be cancelled.

If you know of a free or dirt cheap event happening this week, send an email to lindacoleman@netzero.net, with Real Dallas Event in the subject line.