The event will feature live music, a beer garden, family entertainment, craft booths, exhibits and great food. The event has grown to be one of Downtown Merced’s signature events, drawing thousands to Main Street between M Street and Martin Luther King Street.

Performing on the DLM Stage will be live performances by local favorites Deriva and a host of other bands from around the area.

For more information on the event, or to see how your organization can participate, call (209) 385-6970 or go to http://cityofmerced.org.

After high school, Teran followed a fairly traditional route, attending California State University, Stanislaus, to pursue a major in criminal justice. She started her new life, moving up to Modesto and setting the wheels in motion to follow her plan of becoming a probation officer. However, little by little, Teran began to feel that a career in the criminal justice system wasn’t what she wanted. Perhaps she needed something else.

So after a series of unforeseen circumstances, Teran made the decision to move back to Merced and enroll at Merced College. Following some debate about what to major in at her new school, she recalled one of her first loves — art.

Teran began hand drawing as a child with her father.

“I guess it just stuck with me,” she says.

She inherited her fondness for art from her father, whom she considers to be a source of inspiration for her work.

“If I were to show you some of the stuff he could draw…it’s just amazing,” Teran gushes. As a child, the two developed a special connection bonding over art. Teran recalls that they would sit down and draw together as he shared tips about technique with her.

But it was not until she began to entertain the idea of art as a career that she made the transition from hand drawing to painting. Her oil painting class with Merced College instructor Louisa Benhissen allowed her to explore her own place in the art world and develop a love for painting. “When you really get into painting, it seems like you lose track of time,” she says.

Benhissen taught her a valuable lesson — that her art didn’t have to live up to anyones’ expectations. Teran could make her own artwork, exploring her personal style of painting with subjects she found interesting.

Teran prefers to paint natural landscapes, finding a particular sense of beauty in the tonal variations of colors.

“Like the green in the trees for example. There are so many different varieties of green in there and even yellow,” she says. “Or, even with shading. You may think it’s just black and gray, but there are even hints of blue and purple.”

Yet Teran’s pursuit for education was not nearly as serene and organic as her painting.

“I had a lot of things interfere with my education” she says. Situations that, as she explained, demanded her undivided attention and made it difficult to keep her education as her number one priority.

At the age of 20 her child, Ariana, was born. “She’s my princess,” she said quietly, eyes glistening. “She’s 4 and she is just her own little person.”

Shortly after she was born Teran found out her daughter had cerebral palsy, a group of disorders involving the brain and nervous system that consequently impair control of movement in individuals

“She’s like my little half…always off in her own little world,” Teran said with a smile. “Even with her disability, she never lets it get to her. It’s like she doesn’t even care.”

As things started to advance in respect to her daughter’s health, Teran weighed her options and ultimately made the move to Merced to be closer to her family. She knew that staying at CSU Stanislaus would mean she would have to spend plenty of time commuting—and would have less to spend with her daughter.

“So I transferred here [Merced College]. I’m really glad I did, it was just a lot easier. I didn’t want to keep having to go back and forth,” She says. “My whole family would help me watch her if I had to go to school.”

Now, on the brink of completing her A.A in visual arts, Teran admits it wouldn’t have been possible without her family, who has showed unwavering support.

When Teran’s daughter was four months old, her husband was incarcerated for four years, only recently returning after the child turned four.

“My family was there for everything. Hospital visits, babysitting…everything,” she says.

Teran will be the first of her siblings to graduate from college, but what will follow she’s not quite sure. “Family is my first priority,” She states. “I’m still debating what I want to do with my A.A. I know that I will still keep painting at home, but who knows where that may lead to.”

She had few ambitions other than breaking free from her conservative household and she says she knew Merced was the perfect place for her to spread her wings.

“Where I’m from, it’s not traditional to let girls move far away from home,” says Adeeb. “It was a big deal for me to move away. It was the perfect distance … two and a half hours away so my parents could come visit if they wanted to. But it was also enough distance for me to get my freedom.”

She says her parents were hesitant about the move but reluctantly let her go.

A biological sciences major with a focus on microbiology and immunology, Adeeb says she wasted little time in testing herself. It was an experiment for her — can I become a member of this campus community? Can I be a leader?

Within weeks of her arrival she began working in student government at the External Office, which focuses on higher education issues at state and federal level.

By the end of her freshman year, she was running for vice president of the External Office.

“I have a Bobcat family here. I feel like Merced and the Central Valley has given me so much that the least I can do is come back and give back to the community here. There is so much diversity on our campus and being exposed to that has given me a new perspective on life.”

“I needed to get out of my comfort zone,” says Adeeb, who grew up in a sheltered neighborhood surrounded by mostly Indian and Asian communities. “I pushed my boundaries. I was shy and close minded, but the more I interacted with the students on campus and got to experience all the diversity, I learned a lot about myself.”

She won the election and would serve has vice president her sophomore year, working closely with campus administrators.

She traveled up and down the state, meeting with student groups and legislators, lobbying for higher education to have greater importance in the state budget.

“During this process I discovered what I am passionate about,” says Adeeb. “I care very much about higher education issues. We have a lot of students at UC Merced that come from disadvantaged backgrounds and we need to make sure we are doing everything we can to even that playing field.”

During her junior year she discovered Dr. Paul Brown’s research on campus. Brown was studying the barriers to HIV testing in the Central Valley. She immediately got involved, and she says suddenly her educational objectives had expanded into public health.

While working with Brown she also collaborated with current and former students who had an interest in starting a student-run health clinic.

“This was a real chance to give back to the community,” says Adeeb. There is a huge  undeserved community and a shortage of physicians and this is one of those things that we can do to give back.”

She says the clinic idea has stalled with legal issues, but in the interim, she has helped organize internship opportunities for students at local organizations like Golden Valley Health Centers and Building Healthy Communities.

Between what she called a rigourous academic schedule and her involvement in student government, Adeeb says she found time to focus on other things that are important to her as well.

She joined and helped build the Muslim Student Association, which she now serves as president.

“I was part of really setting a foundation for the organization. We wanted to give students from all different walks of life the opportunity to really see what Islam and being Muslim is all about,” says Adeeb. “There are so many stereotypes and we break those down so students can really understand that it isn’t a religion of hatred, it’s a religion of peace.”

Adeeb immediately gets emotional when she thinks back at her time on campus. She says she’s not ready to leave and that she plans to return after completing medical school.

“I have a Bobcat family here,” she says. “I feel like Merced and the Central Valley has given me so much that the least I can do is come back and give back to the community here.

There is so much diversity on our campus and being exposed to that has given me a new perspective on life.”

“I was a surprise baby for sure,” says the UC Merced senior. “My mom was told by the doctor that she couldn’t have any more children after my sister, but 14 years later, out I came!”

Noel’s sister would end up playing a pivotal role in the journey that would bring the Central America native to the U.S., and eventually, the Central Valley. The journey starts in Teakettle Village, a small community in Belize where not much of an emphasis is placed on education.

“Basically, you can do one of two things after high school,” Noel says. “Either you learn a trade such as farming or construction, or you can join a gang.”

Despite these limitations, he wouldn’t trade his childhood for anything. The sights and sounds of nature were everywhere, including his backyard.

“I love animals and I had a lot of them. Chickens, rabbits, sheep … I had a lot of sheep. I raised them and bred them myself. And then I’d sell them and put the money in my savings.”

One thing Noel particularly enjoyed doing earned him a nickname.

“I would ride my bike every weekend selling bananas. Everyone eventually started calling me Banana Boy.”

“I had no prior knowledge of Merced or the Central Valley for that matter. But I fell in love with the campus as soon as I got here. It was small but so welcoming. I just wanted to get involved.”

Though both of his parents worked hard, neither of them went to high school, which Noel says is not uncommon where he’s from.

“Going to high school in Belize is like going to college here,” says Noel. “It’s not publicly funded, so you have to pay tuition and for your books.”

The money he earned came in quite handy. He was able to help pay for his schooling and was a high school graduate by the age of 15.

After graduation, Noel didn’t know what to do. He began working in construction with his father and figured he would spend the rest of his life doing that.

“Nobody is told they can further their education elsewhere,” he says. “The thought of leaving is just so daunting.”

However, Noel had left before.

When he was still in school, he came to the United States to visit his sister who had married when he was four-years-old and moved to Las Vegas. Years later, she would make her brother an offer he couldn’t refuse.

She had since divorced and invited Noel to come live with her to help take care of her child. In exchange, she would pay for him to go to college. He accepted and began taking classes at a community college immediately.

Graduation came and went again and, just like before, Noel didn’t know what to do next so he got a job. One of his mentors noticed that he hadn’t applied to any four-year universities and asked him about it. Noel’s response was the same thing he hears today from student after student: He didn’t think he would get in.

After a little coaxing, Noel began researching and applying at various universities, although, not to any of the UC campuses.

“Quite honestly, I hadn’t heard of them,” says Noel. “And after I looked at what the schools were doing, again, I didn’t think there was any way I would get into a UC.”

However, his mentor had faith in him, and even though it was the middle of the summer by the time he applied, UC Merced accepted him as a transfer student.

“I had no prior knowledge of Merced or the Central Valley for that matter,” Noel says. “But I fell in love with the campus as soon as I got here. It was small but so welcoming. I just wanted to get involved.”

Noel immersed himself at his new school. He got a job as a writing tutor the first day and has been tutoring ever since. After switching majors to political science, he founded the school’s oly-Sci club. Everything began to snowball. One door invariably lead to another.

His director recommended him for the Harvard Latino Leadership Initiative, which involved a very inspirational field trip.

“When I got back from Harvard, I was anxious to get something going. I didn’t know what, but I felt empowered,” says Noel.

It wasn’t until Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse’s keynote speech at his club’s inaugural event, that it hit him. The DA charged the group in attendance to come up with a way to lower the crime rate in the community. Noel took that challenge head on.

“Me and my partner, Patricia Paredes, did some research and learned that there is a correlation between high school drop out rates and the crime rate,” says Noel. “Our idea was for a group of UC Merced students to go to the middle schools and talk to the students about the importance of staying in school.”

This program was named Merced County Project 10% after a statistic Noel came across that states if the high school graduation rate was increased by 10 percent during the next five years, there would be 500 fewer homicides and 20,000 fewer aggravated assaults.

After a series of meetings with the county and city school district superintendents, Project 10% was given a chance. And if Noel has proven anything, it’s that a chance is all it takes.

“All a student needs to be told is that they have potential,” says Noel. “I was lucky to have family and mentors who invested in me. And now I get to be that person for others.”

After graduation, Noel intends to take a well-deserved year off before graduate school. He plans to continue working with and expanding Project 10%, helping students realize their potential and, just like him, defy the odds.

The theme of this season’s game would be a fans versus favorites, pitting Drama Island veterans against folks who have never participated. I was to be part of that uninitiated group.

Being a big fan of the game and of Joe’s I initially agreed to participate. But as the weeks passed I began to take stock of the situation I had put myself in. I am a painfully shy publisher who cannot sing or dance and has a terrible fear of being on stage.

What the hell was I thinking?

When it crystallized that I was about to flame out like Carl Lewis singing the National Anthem, I politely bowed out.

Still standing was Partisan owner RC Essig to represent the eight rookies who will be performing and the incredibly confident Rob Hypes to represent the eight veterans.

I sat down and talked to these two about the  season and the growing animosity between the two of them that will no doubt boil over during Drama Island.

DLM: Why are you looking forward to facing off with RC. Didn’t you work well together when you directed him in Jesus Christ Superstar?

Rob Hypes: A lot of it is I just don’t like RC. I asked him all during JC superstar to shave his beard. He never did. Now I’m going to take him out the best way I know how — theatre games.

DLM: Do you have a rebuttal RC?
RC Essig: He told me to pave my weird. So I tried to act weirder and weirder and he kept getting madder and madder. 

DLM: Rob, you are veteran of this game how confident are you going in this season?
RH:  This is the fourth time I’ve competed. The first time I finished first, the second time I finished fifth, and last time I finished fifth. So, I’m thinking 1-5-5 … and then I’m going to win. 

DLM: With so little experience, how do you plan to compete RC?
RC: The games that are played within the game and the alliances are something that I in general stay away from. It will be interesting to be a part of something where alliances are a necessity. (His alliance) will have to be people that are better than me and who like to drink so that I can give them free beer so they won’t vote me off.

DLM: What about RC strikes fear in you?
RH: I hear he has a temper, especially when he is participating in drama-based challenges. And I just don’t know if he will lash out at me.
RC: I’m excited to bring out my inner-furious.

DLM: Any final words?
RH: I’m not scared of anyone else in this competition. I’m the greatest competitor in the history of this game. 

I have early money that Rob is the first to be voted off.

Drama Island will begin at 7 p.m. May 12 and run for six straight Sundays at Playhouse Merced. Season passes are $15 and can be purchased from any contestant, see Facebook Page for updates. All money raised will go toward purchasing Playhouse Merced a new sound system.

UPDATE: FOLLOWING THIS INTERVIEW DRAMA ISLAND THREW US A BIG CHANGEUP. ROB HYPES IS NOW THE HOST OF DRAMA ISLAND WITH FORMER HOST AND BROTHER JOE HYPES NOW PARTICIPATING IN THE GAME. SADLY, JOE WAS VOTED OFF AFTER WEEK 1.

It is a full-color, glossy and beautifully detailed. My host is enthusiastically pointing out features that she has personally visited or where interesting projects are being conducted. One of UCM’s research partners has an artist in-residence, an asset that Erin Stacy, outreach coordinator for the Southern Sierra Critical Zone, related with all of the envious joy that is usually reserved for rock concerts. David Hosley, the Executive Director of SNRI, is just as geographically aware. He has an excellent handshake and a level gaze.

“We like big pictures,” he says.

And he means it. With degrees from Stanford and Columbia and years of experience with nonprofits, he leads one of the largest research collaborations on the West Coast, and he runs it with a business plan. SNRI researchers fill the last half of the hall I passed through on my way to the conference room where our interview was held. There are 31 active grants, mostly federally sourced, and encompasses $13.1 million altogether. That is about 40 percent of the research money that UC Merced has been given. They have a lot of problems to solve, and UC Merced is at the heart of the solution.

It was designed to be an interdisciplinary facility, and the many researchers, graduate students and undergraduates that make up the Institute reflect that same diversity. Sometimes it seems like Merced forgets how many of their children are here. Often first-generation college students, their kids are the ones who work hardest at fixing the issues they grew up facing. The people here seem to believe that many of the problems they face are solvable.

Bright minds discovering where we can get water for our fields and faucets without hurting the environment, and using it effectively —keeping the air clean and the biodiversity of the national parks intact. Everyone contributes.

For example, one expert uses satellite images to mark snowpack in the mountains over the winter. Another researcher uses that data in sync with groundwater measurements, and together with others, an infinitely clearer picture of where the water has been created. Water allocation and shortages have plagued the Central Valley, and California in general, for decades, and have been getting more desperate. Hosley doesn’t believe that it has to.

“Water does not have to be a zero-sum game,” he says.

They know where the water is, and when, where there are surpluses and what is necessary to sustain the health of the environment. Combine that information with the existing weather patterns and the timing of each snowmelt, suddenly it is easier to gather more water, and make more efficient use of what is already available.

SNRI works with the city of Merced, planning committees, agricultural committees, and many  others, because planning ahead and making sure everyone is on the same page means that there can be better cooperation.

“Water does not have to be a zero-sum game.”

Seems like common sense?

You’d be surprised how fantastically common sense can work when people from all walks of life can work with driven academics. Something as simple as bad bus service can be solved with real people giving feedback, computer modeling of the most popular/requested stops and the most efficient routes to and from. Other issues, like air quality and groundwater pollution, cannot be so quickly patched. Nevertheless, the SNRI director is optimistic.

“We have a strategic advantage here at SNRI…you can develop better and more solutions with faculty from all academic backgrounds,”says Hosley.

Some of those solutions come from the labs here, which to the untrained eye seem to be made up entirely of hallways with magical boxes on shelves. Stacy, the outreach coordinator, mentions smilingly that the equipment rooms are difficult to explain to the general public, since it’s hard to really demonstrate an ion chromatograph or elemental combustion system in a dramatic way.

The third laboratory I am shown into has a fair number of people, all of whom are hunched over computers. Within 30 seconds of being shown in, I bump into a huge piece of equipment, apologize profusely, and am met with a grin and a shrug. The freestanding structure is one of the sensor nodes that the researchers use to track everything from snow depth, temperature and humidity, and other features, and are scattered over hundreds of square miles. Some of the nodes in the field have been up for 6 to eight years, communicate constantly via wireless feedback (in development with UC Berkeley collaboration), and can hold up to everything from high winds to heavy snowfall. I apparently could not have been clumsy near a tougher piece of science.

The scientists here come from a wide range of hometowns and areas of expertise, and all share their director’s level-eye contact. Midway through the tour, I finally realize why they look so different from the stereotypical image of scientists; they’re all suntanned.

Muddy boots are shoved under desks holding computer screens with bleeding-edge research. Large prototypes sit next to toolboxes. Men and women with masters degrees and callused hands explain their work to me, everything from silt measurements in streams to air quality studies, to old naturalist questions about where groundwater and surfacewater meet in meadows. Whether or not there is pollution, and if so, how to treat it before it gets into drinking water or the air we breathe. Some of the questions and research have on-point relevence to Merced and the Central Valley, and much of it has even wider ramifications.

Although experts disagree about the rate and severity of man-made climate change, the scientists here would prefer not to take chances. California is on the leading edge in environmental reform, and it is not nearly enough.

We have to move faster than we have been.

“UCM was built with the idea that we could use the prism of the Central Valley to look at the world,” says Hosley.

Education and outreach is not neglected, amidst the hard slog of applied research. There are of course classes at UCM (one of which, soils, is taught by Stacy herself) but also K-12 outreach, which the SNRI staff hopes to expand and reach out even more to the community. All governments are short of money, and the city of Merced is no exception.Sequestration has had an impact on the National Science Foundation and future grants and science funding. It’s going to be harder to find the resources for the problems Merced is facing.

“There is no more practical work than the research we’re doing,” says Hosley.

Merced has been one of the worst victims of the economic downturn, water shortages, agricultural pollutants and undereducation and unemployment. There’s nowhere to go but up.

This is his newest piece: a three-eyed umbrella on a candy cane handle that will stab through a green, rotting sweet tooth — tarantula legs spread behind as if the molar is the arachnid’s body.

Garcia often uses teeth in his work and he says it has multiple meanings to him from wisdom to decay.

“You know, like the Grandaddy song, ‘O.K. With My Decay.’  It’s the symbolism of wisdom. The piece is just an experiment in composing certain images,” he says. “There’s an incredible amount of wisdom in aged and rotting objects. In Japanese culture, artists will see a crack and coat it in gold and that’s the emphasis of the piece, the crack. Wood, eaten away by termites, that has aged, that’s beauty right there.”

Garcia is describing the Japanese aesthetic called wabi-sabi, often translated as, “wisdom in natural simplicity” and “flawed beauty.” It centers on the ideas of imperfection and impermanence. The pockmarked wood or a tattoo on the skin (etched into myriad histories a person has lived through), exemplify this aesthetic. And Garcia’s talent lies in pulling the beauty forward from what already exists, exalting their inevitable conclusion. Salvaging discarded window panes from abandoned houses, doors from dumpsters, metal sheeting from alleyways and flats from abandoned lots, he utilizes the decomposition to produce an organically savage, yet clean look.

“If you have to go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby to get your art supplies then your art is going to be manufactured art. You have to just go out, go out and walk the railroad tracks and find your canvas there, look for the colors in the landscape. Some colors don’t really come out of a tube.”

The process is shamanistic for Garcia — it takes him out of his body, where he approaches his work as conductor of a universal current.

“Especially with found objects, you try to just go off the energy that the object has. There are all these different objects that want to assemble and you know that the universe is trying to help you out, so you just gotta start having a conversation. I have a dialogue with my work.”

Print maker, painter, mural designer, graffiti artist, tattoo artist and father, there is almost no medium Garcia hasn’t played with. He began his career in 1994, airbrushing in his garage. A crew took notice and begged him to tag their name, which is how he ended up designing his first mural, a result of community service. Though Garcia has long since given up tagging, he still attributes it to some of his fondest memories.

“I used to love painting freights, it’s so free flowing and wide. Oil against the rust looks really great. You can really express yourself with bold lines. I’d draw clowns holding umbrellas and running with balloons.”

“If you have to go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby to get your art supplies then your art is going to be manufactured art. You have to just go out, go out and walk the railroad tracks and find your canvas there, look for the colors in the landscape. Some colors don’t really come out of a tube.”

Many of his pieces from that time have become iconic images. He repeats many characters that have grown to symbolize his work and are immediately recognizable.

“I was in Mexico and I picked up these Mexican lottery cards, one was a bird and I started drawing it. Then I kept breaking it down ’til it was just one line. That’s the main thing, I always break images down and make them minimal, simple — strip away all the detail,” says Garcia. “No unnecessary lines. I want to make it bold. Especially with tattooing, it’s easy to read on the skin this way. Just like graffiti, you want to be able to read it across the street”.

Garcia, now a family man with children, says he’s evolved as he’s aged.

“Before I had a family I had this edge to me, but when your kids are born, you give them your edge,” he says.

The trade, he says, is a wealth of wisdom that otherwise would be absent in his now more prolific art. He draws with his children.

“I teach them and they teach me. A good teacher is a good student and a good student is a good teacher, so we just bounce off each other”.

When he’s teaching, his message is simple.

“Don’t worry if you think its good or bad, or if others think its good or bad, just finish what you start.”

DLM: It’s been a while since the DLM last spoke with you guys — about a year and a half — what have you guys individually and Down Dirty Shake been up to since then?
DDS: We’ve all been extremely busy, managing full-time jobs and playing about four shows a month. Circuiting the Bay Area, Sonoma County and the Central Valley. Since last time we’ve spoke, we lost our old bass player and picked up a new one, Mr. Cory Routh, who fits perfectly with the sound and vibe of the Shake. We also self-produced a live album called “Sex and Magic Live at the Hopmunk” recorded at the Hopmunk Tavern in Sebastopol. We played the 2nd annual San Frandelic Fest in SF with the best of the SF psychedelic bands. We’re definitely truckin’ along, hustlin’ hard and trying to spread the word of the Down and Dirty.

DLM: It looks like you’ve been playing in places throughout the Bay Area and in San Francisco, what are some of the lessons you’ve learned as a young band in a tough market?
DDS: We’re like sponges, constantly soaking up knowledge (and booze/boob sweat). We’ve learned how to play around with different scenes. Luckily, the Shake can fit in with different genres from the psychedelic bands, to blues bands, to the most garagiest rock ‘n’ roll bands, even to alt rock/pop/indie bands. We’ve also learned to completely let go on stage, baring nothing but our souls. In the past we were a little timid and nervous, but these days it has become a séance of sorts — a release. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

“We’ve all agreed that The Partisan shows are always the most fun, in particular the last Partisan show. People were going nuts, giving so much love. It was quite the confidence booster — nothing beats coming home.”

DLM: What are some of your best and worst show experiences?
DDS: We’ve all agreed that The Partisan shows are always the most fun, in particular the last Partisan show. People were going nuts, giving so much love. It was quite the confidence booster — nothing beats coming home. A close second would be our Hopmunk show in 2012. You can hear the good vibes and energy of that show on the live album. We’ve definitely had our fair share of unfortunate show experiences. Recently, James’ brand new amp crapped out on stage at a rather big show for us. We were playing the Rickshaw Stop in S.F. with some well-known bands and mid-song (Stoned Love) it just cut out and never came back on. We handled it well though, James grabbed another band’s amp and ripped it a new one. We ended up getting a lot of good feedback from that show.

DLM: How is the new album coming along and how will this differ from some of the previous work you’ve done?
DDS: The new album is coming along wonderfully. We couldn’t be happier with where it’s at as of now. We are not recording it by ourselves this time, as we did on the previous two. We’re working with Mr. Paul Lamb (bassist for Quicksilver Messenger Service). Paul really gets the sound and naturally knows the vibe we’re going for. We often think of him as the sixth member of the Shake. If I could describe the album in five words I’d say “sexy spooky Spanish psychedelic soul.” This is definitely by far the best stuff we’ve done.

DLM: What are some of the band’s future plans and goals?
DDS: The future is looking bright for the Shake, as we say, “I can feel it growing”. We’re excited to come home to The Partisan on May 11 with our brother band all the way from S.F., The Love Dimension. They’re going to blow minds/blow up. People of Merced have to check them out. We’re also working on a So Cal tour in late May, and a residency (showcase every Wednesday) at the Milk Bar in S.F. in July. To promote the new album, we’ll be coming out with a music video around the same time of the album drop in the summer. Our goal is to quit the 9-5, and stop being only weekend warriors. We want to be warriors. If we didn’t have to worry about a full time job, we could concentrate fully on the music. We could only get better and grow as a band.

The first of two nights for the fourth annual comedy and film festival, the free festival reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center, 645 W. Main St., in Downtown Merced.

Attendees will have an opportunity to learn more about the festival, see trailers for the films showing the following day, receive gifts from event sponsors and purchase tickets for the films and Adam Carolla’s stand-up comedy performance.

“The reception is really just the kick off of the film festival. It’s a chance for everyone involved and excited about the event to get together, hang out, and buy some last minute tickets,” says Joey Essig, a member of the four-person organizing team. “What we are trying to do is establish a community of people who are into the idea. People who enjoy film and a good laugh; get them all together in one place and have a little fun before the big day.”

On Saturday, April 27, the festival continues beginning at 11:30 a.m. with a short film program. At 2 p.m., the feature film “Wrong” begins, “It’s A Disaster” starts at 6 p.m. followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Todd Berger and Adam Corolla is set to take the stage at 9 p.m.

Todd Berger, who wrote, directed and acts in “It’s A Disaster,” has also appeared in the NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation,” and is the screenwriter for the new film “Where’s Waldo.”

Tickets for each film are $12; tickets for all three film presentations are $34; tickets for all films plus Adam Carolla range from $52-$71; and tickets for just Adam Corolla range from $29-$49.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit middlestatefilmfestival.com.

“Wrong”
Directed by Quentin Dupieux

Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others. In his journey to find Paul, Dolph may lose something even more vital – his mind.

“It’s A Disaster”
Directed By Todd Berger

Eight friends meet for their monthly “couples brunch.” What starts as an impromptu therapy session/airing of domestic grievances, takes a sudden, catastrophic turn when the city falls victim to a mysterious attack. Trapped in the house and unsure of their fates, these seemingly normal people become increasingly unhinged to hilarious, surprising and revealing results.

Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla is one of the most versatile men in Hollywood. He hosts the “The Adam Carolla Show,” which broke the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast with nearly 60 million unique downloads from ’09 to ’11 and continues to grow today. He is the author of the NY Times bestseller “Not Taco Bell Material,” and is well known for co-hosting the radio and MTV show “Loveline.” Carolla also co-created and co-starred in two hit Comedy Central shows, “The Man Show” (1999-2003) and “Crank Yankers” (2002-2007). A native of Southern California, Carolla currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Lynette, and their twins.

These haunting words from Kandace Gillmore, bar manager at the Partisan, sum up the universal importance of organizations like Relay For Life. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in America; every one in four deaths is cancer-related. Relay is a charity fundraiser in which teams walk and run for 24 hours straight to raise money for cancer research.  All proceeds of the overnight event go directly to the American Cancer Society.

Gillmore’s’s team, “Walkers For Knockers,” was formed last year in memory of Kandace’s mother, who battled breast cancer for 13 years.  Gillmore humbly tells me, “In being involved with something like Relay, I try to keep my mom’s heart alive.  It’s a beautiful thing to see the survivors in purple on the field every year.”

Last year, the event in Merced raised over $220,000 dollars.  Besides online and physical donations, many teams will throw separate fundraising events before the walk to increase awareness.  Gillmore’s team has a concert coming up Saturday at the Partisan, with local talent such as Destructobunny, Bus Stop Boxer, Homebrew and GearBox all performing for the cause.

Besides the concert at the Partisan, other groups are holding a variety of events, such as Team “Quad Graphics” and Team “Punches Out Cancer’s” Barbeque fundraiser. The Relay itself is on April 27, from 9 a.m. until the next morning, in the track at Merced Community College, 3600 M Street.  Besides the run around the track, the event will also contain a survivor’s lap, a memorial ceremony for those who have lost the battle with cancer, and a “Fight Back” ceremony, in which attendees reflect upon the emotional commitment involved in the fight.  To donate, get involved, or find out more, visit Relayforlife.org.