This pass is good for admission at three locations including Crescent Moon, Call of the Canyon, and Grasshopper Point. The “Big Three Pass” costs eighteen dollars for weekly passes and forty dollars for an annual pass.

For more information on National Forest permits, check here.

Starting in September, and running until December 1, 2010, a new international film will be shown every Wednesday at 7P.M. in the Liberal Arts Building, Room 135.

The latest film, “The Match Factory Girl,” will be shown Wednesday, October 20, 2010.

The film, directed and written by Aki Kaurismaki, presents a match factory worker who becomes pregnant. The father, a man she meets at a night club, abandons her. The woman decides to get revenge on the man, and anyone who crosses her.

Sig Hansen, captain and fisherman from Norway, will be coming soon to Northern Arizona University.

He stars on Discovery Channel’s hit series “Deadliest Catch,” working the crab fisheries in the Alaskan waters.

At age 26 he became captain of the Northwestern and is now training his brother Edgar to take his place when he leaves.

If you enjoy watching the “Deadliest Catch,” Sig Hansen will be hosting a lecture for NAU students and faculty.

This event will be on October 5, 2010 at 7:00p.m. in Prochnow Auditorium.

Tickets are available for free at the Central Ticketing Office.

Tickets and a JacksCard are required for admission.

Video: Ryan Gahris, Sage Chandler

The video below is a preview. The full report will be coming soon.

This event will include:

• Mayor Presler and Vice Mayor Barotz being there to dedicate the 50th mile of trail, unveil a 50 mile milepost, and recognize everyone who has been involved over the years with making the FUTS what it is today.
• The FUTS/St. Mary’s Food Bank Food Drive. Bins will be available in and outside of the Visitor Center for food donations.
• Live music
• Free and delicious food. The food will include sandwiches (meat and vegetarian), various fruits and cheeses, snacks (cookies, brownies, chocolates, granola bars), and lastly the magnificent 50 Miles of FUTS marble cake!
• Merchandise giveaways. During the celebration we will hand out free FUTS T-Shirts, caps, and bandanas.

Rug Auction patrons, 2008. Image courtesy of Flagstaff Cultural Partners

(Flagstaff, AZ) MNA Media Release—Flagstaff Cultural Partners (FCP) and the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) will host Flagstaff’s 4th Semi-Annual Navajo Rug Auction on Saturday, June 12, 2010. The auction will be held at the Museum of Northern Arizona and will feature 300 vintage and contemporary Navajo weavings from artists, consigners, and the R. B. Burnham & Co. Trading Post. Rug styles being auctioned include Two Grey Hills, Ganado, Teec Nos Pos, Ye’ii, Pictorial, Wide Ruins, Storm, Sandpainting, and Eyedazzler.

A public preview of all weavings in the auction begins at 9 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. on June 12. The auction begins promptly at 2 p.m. and is free to the public. A portion of the proceeds from this event will provide support for Flagstaff Cultural Partners and the Museum of Northern Arizona.

A Members’ Preview, also at the Museum of Northern Arizona and open only to members of Flagstaff Cultural Partners and the Museum of Northern Arizona, will be on Saturday, June 11 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Curator of the Museum Dr. Jennifer McLerran will give a presentation on Navajo textiles during the Members’ Preview.

Consignments will be accepted for this auction. Artists and other consigners are invited to bring their Navajo weavings to the Museum of Northern Arizona from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8 through Thursday, June 10. Experts will be on hand to view and select weavings for the auction.

The auction will be led by auctioneers from the R. B. Burnham & Co. Trading Post. Bruce Burnham and his family are well-known for their work in trading Native art of the Four Corners Region for five generations. He has been a trader to the Navajo for over forty years and is also the auctioneer for the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Arizona. He and his wife Virginia own and operate the Burnham Trading Post and Collector’s Gallery in Sanders, Arizona, in the Navajo new lands. The Burnham family is known for their encouragement of innovation and quality in Navajo textiles, and Bruce Burnham’s expertise in buying, selling, and trading has earned him the respect of area collectors and peers nationwide.

Specialists and experts in the field of Native art and Navajo weaving will be on-site to identify handspun, hand-carded, and vintage pieces, verses acrylic yarns, to ensure quality items and prices for the auction. Information on how to evaluate and buy Navajo rugs, as well as detailed information on each auction item, will also be available.

Saturday morning from 9 to 11 a.m., auction attendees will be able to bring Navajo textiles of their own for evaluation and assessment for $25 per piece. Please note, the evaluation values given will be approximate and are not suitable documentation for insurance or tax purposes.

The Museum of Northern Arizona is located at 3101 N. Fort Valley Road in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Hwy. 180, on the way to the Grand Canyon. Call (928) 779-2300 or visit culturalpartners.org or musnaz.org for more information.

(Left to Right) Kathryn McLean, Jake van Zoete, and Matt Smith playing at the Drunken Lass Irish Pub in Prescott.

Singer, guitarist, and writer Matt Smith, as well as two of his other band members, Jake van Zoete on guitar and vocals, and Kathryn McLean as the bass player and self proclaimed mediator for the band, are all students at NAU. Other members include CJ Flynn, from Flagstaff, on drums, and Chris Bennet, from Phoenix, on lead vocals.

Nothing about getting this band together has been easy. “Jake and I had a couple classes together and we started talking – when we actually went to class. From there we started talking, jamming, and writing music together.” After that, it was just a matter of filling in the rest of the places in the band. They got their drummer from Craigslist after they put up an advertisement once they realized they were going to need a drummer for Battle of the Bands. Bennet had previously been in a band with Flynn.

The band has faced difficulties bringing everyone together in more ways than one. Although they practice about four to five times a week as a group, their lead vocalist is in Phoenix. They had to approach it by recording their music and sending it to him, and occasionally getting everyone together to practice in a studio.

They also had to find a way to combine their own style with Bennet’s – who approaches metal in a more traditional fashion. What they came out with was melodic death core – which Zoete explained as establishing a strong melody that is supported by an interesting backing track. Polyrhythms, jazz inspired melodies, and atmospheric soundtrack influences can be heard in their music. As God’s Fall also plays swing metal, two genres which most people would never think to combine. But Smith and a friend have been working this blend for the last year.

“I love swing. I love metal. Why not combine the two?” Smith said, explaining what it was that made him want to create something new.

Meeting up with them, one may be surprised they go up on stage on weekends to play music heavy with growls, screams, and bold electric guitars and drumming. While traveling to a concert at The Drunken Lass Irish Pub in Prescott, Smith, wearing a bright red fedora, and McLean, in a corset and long black skirt, were getting pumped up by listening to Frank Sinatra and other big band music.

“We’re all a bit weird in every way.” Smith said. “That’s for damn sure. Most of us don’t even fit the whole metal stereotype. Chris is the only one with long hair and chains.”

Whatever it is they’re doing, whether it’s the considerable amount of practice or the evenings spent bonding over Nerf Gun fights, they say it’s working for them. Their audiences, as well as other bands, seem to be receiving them with open arms.

“I’ve heard other bands try this,” said Marc Fealk, an NAU student and member of the audience at The Drunken Lass, “But what they’ve done? It actually works. I could never have imagined someone putting together swing and metal, but I can’t wait to see more of it.”

It’s good news for Fealk – as well as everyone else waiting to hear As God’s Fall.

“We’re taking this all the way.” Smith promised. “Music is the only future any of us want. It’s definitely going to take us somewhere great.”

If you’re going out hoping to hear some swing metal, chances are your only chance of finding it is going to be in mid-April at Joe’s Grotto, or in May at the Orpheum.