The Skyline Newspaper

Photo: Keith Bowden on the Rio Grande. Photo by Jesse Bogan

Keith Bowden: The Tecate Journals: Seventy Days on the Rio Grande

By Madeleine Cantu
Skyline Reporter

Imagine setting up camp alone, and looking up to find two feral, feline eyes glittering back at you. You're about forty feet away from a mountain lion, frozen by fear, unable to breathe, weaponless. Your choices are either to run or fight, so you let out what you meant to be a mighty roar—but it ends up as a strangled whimper. It does the trick though, and you manage to scare the cat and live to see another day.

These kinds of brushes with nature color Keith Bowden's first book, The Tecate Journals: Seventy Days on the Rio Grande. Rich descriptions as he relays his tale about traveling down the Rio Grande from El Paso to the Gulf of Mexico make it impossible to put down.

He touches on the variety of problems that this rugged borderland experiences every day, including drug smugglers, dead bodies floating in the water, cultural clashes, and the inhospitable flora and fauna. He uses only a raft, a canoe, a bicycle, and his own two feet to make a journey that has never before been recorded: to traverse the 1,885 mile stretch. Granted, there have been those that have traveled the Rio Grande in years past, but Bowden's contemporary account is the first of its kind.

There are very few adventurous, investigative Texas journalists around today who are willing to sacrifice life and limb for an important story, says Dr. Ira Blanton, an English professor here at the university.

The story that Keith Bowden relates is pertinent, poignant and rugged. His trip is what many Texans long for, but do not have the intestinal fortitude to attempt, with or without a Tecate or two.

I find it interesting that Keith Bowden, a Sul Ross alumnus who currently teaches at Laredo Community College, thought of such a trip. Although all Texans know the location of the Rio Grande, there is so much about it that isn't known, that people don't see, and may never see in their lifetimes. It's a border that has always received political interest. It's dangerous and wild. It's an important source of water. Wars have been fought along it.
Yet Bowden has been the first to thoroughly explore this both physical and social terrain.

Bowden will be in the area for book-signings on October 26th in Marfa, and the 27th here in Alpine at Front Street Books. The Tecate Journals: Seventy Days on the Rio Grande is published by The Mountaineers Books and costs $16.95.

New Show Ain't Just Peanuts

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is slated to run for two weekends, Oct. 26-28 and Nov. 2-4, in the Studio Theatre of the Fine Arts Building on the campus of Sul Ross State University.

The beloved musical, based on the successful cartoon strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz, will run Friday and Saturday evening performances at 8:15 p.m., and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

The Sul Ross Theatre and Music Programs are producing the 1999 revival of the award winning musical with book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner.

Associate Professor of Theatre, Dona Roman, is directing the musical, with musical direction by Dr. Justin Badgerow, Assistant Professor of Music, and vocal direction by Dr. Donald Callen Freed, Associate Professor of Music.

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, opened on March 7, 1967, and played for 1,597 performances in New York. A new revival version of the musical was presented on Broadway in 1999 and played for 149 performances at the Ambassador Theatre with award-winning performances by Roger Bart and Kristin Chenoweth as Snoopy and Sally. This newer version is the one West Texas audiences will have the opportunity to attend at Sul Ross.

Based on an average day in the life of Charlie Brown the musical is made up of little moments featured in the Peanuts strip: Valentine's Day, baseball season, and kite flying. From wild optimism to utter despair, all of the characters in the musical display the openness so often displayed in the innocence of childhood and it becomes quite obvious that they are all really very fond of each other.

For reserved seats and ticket information, contact the Department of Fine Arts and Communication, (432) 837-8218.

DVD Review: Vacancy

By Adam Cuellar
Skyline Reporter

The past few years have ushered in an unprecedented number of horror flicks. Movie studios have flocked to produce low budget slashers they hope can keep the audience's attention for ninety minutes. Most of these films are nothing more than an unprovoked rampage featuring different ways to bludgeon the typically young adults.

It is rare, then, to discover a horror film that actually has an interesting plot and set of characters to match its thirst for blood and guts. Vacancy, a 2007 film recently released on DVD, proves to be an exception.

The film is centered around couple David (Luke Wilson) and Amy Fox (Kate Beckinsale). Choosing to spend the night at an old hotel rather than sleep in their car that has mysteriously broken down, the bickering couple is quickly forced to unite as they realize they have been trapped. An array of recording equipment cleverly placed around their room by the villains gives the film a Saw like feel that horror fans will rejoice about.

The movie goes on to focus on the psyche of the two as they become fully aware that they are the newest victims of a snuff film. After finding a secret passageway to their room, the race is on as they stumble around desperately seeking freedom.

Unlike the majority of horror films, you won't be exposed to constant gore and violence. Though there are a few of these well done scenes, the action follows the middle aged couple for the most part.

The high points of the film are reached when the couple is faced with quick decisions as their lives hang in the balance. You can't help but wonder out loud at each of these intervals what you yourself would have done in the given situation, and that's the true beauty of it. My nephew Andrew and I couldn't stop squirming wondering whether a masked assailant lurked around the next corner, and if our own ideas would have proved futile or not.
Needless to say, the Fox's fortunes are much better than ours would have been.

The DVD's special features surprised me. There was an average amount of bonus material, but one feature in particular grabbed my attention. It was the inclusion of full length versions of the snuff films alluded to during the movie. A collection of four scenes graphically show the prior inhabitants of the Fox's room all stalked and eventually slayed through a voyeurs point of view. For a movie praised by critics for displaying a commendable amount of gore, this seemed like a sneaky move aimed solely at those not satisfied with the lack of violence present in the film. I actually had to stop the DVD because the images proved morbidly exploitive rather than entertaining in the least.

Other special features include two deleted scenes, a making of featurette, and a trailer gallery. The deleted scenes are marginal while the featurette is quite interesting although somewhat short. DVD fanatics will be unimpressed by the assemblage.

Overall, the direction of Vacancy makes it a can't miss film, especially if you have a special someone to cozy up next to you during the thriller. Just don't plan on the bonus features to match the wild ride.