For Exercise & Sightseeing, Prepare to “Bike Bad”

You’ve waited long enough, and Breaking Bad is now less than a month from returning and concluding its epic, Albuquerque-set storyline.

Even if you’ve only been in town a short while, if you watch the show, you’ve probably seen one or two filming locations during your daily travels. And through the end of September, you’ll be able to embark on a more complete tour of these locations, through Routes Rentals’ “Biking Bad” tour. Not only that, but each tour is themed around one of the show’s five major characters’ journeys.

Per Routes Rentals’ website:

Join Routes Bicycle Rentals & Tours for an intimate and interactive experience that takes you into the streets in search of your next “fix”, or key scenes and locations from “Breaking Bad”, the popular Emmy award-winning television series, which is set and filmed in Albuquerque. Your tour begins with a unique, random lottery from among five of the show’s main characters that determines the perspective and sequence of locations to be explored. Routes’ professional tour guides facilitate your experience at every turn of the wheel with our signature concierge-level service, allowing you to explore the city behind “Breaking Bad” in an entirely new way. ‘Biking Bad’ focuses on 11-13 major locations / scenes accessible by bike in and around Albuquerque’s urban core (in addition to some of the show’s more “underground” and little-known locations). Each character’s journey reveals new locations and story lines – no two characters have the same tour!

“Biking Bad” tours are every other Saturday, from 11 am to 2 pm. To learn more about the tour and Routes Rentals click here.

The United Way Seeks Volunteers for Summer Giving Season

It may seem like summer just started, but the new school year is quickly approaching. And while the Christmas holiday season is usually the default season for giving, local children in central New Mexico are in need of basic school supplies this coming semester.

On July 27, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, the United Way of Central New Mexico will be hosting its “Summer is the Perfect Season for Giving” event. Those who wish to help can do so in one of two ways: bring donation items and help fill the supply bags for the students on July 26; or, those who cannot make it to the event can donate their surplus school supplies to the United Way’s office, at:

2340 Alamo Avenue SE
Training Center, 2nd Floor
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106

If you’re looking to donate items, keep an eye out for these high-need items:

● Thumb Drives
● White Copy Paper
● Pocket Folders (with brads)
● Boxes of Facial Tissue
● Scissors
● Wide Lined Spiral Notebooks
● Water-Based Markers
● Educational Software (school appropriate)

Those who wish to participate in the July 27 event must RSVP by Wednesday, July 24. Click here for more information.

A Powerful Piece, No Bones About It

Albuquerque’s artists are certainly a bold bunch. Recently, the local scene has gotten some attention for its quirkiness. But that doesn’t mean that the scope of the area’s artists is limited to our community.

Local art collective Art of Revolution brought their signature brand of grandiose, emotionally powerful artwork to the National Mall last month with a beautiful piece called One Million Bones. The piece consisted of one million replica human bones, laid out on the national lawn to call attention to ongoing mass genocide and mass atrocities in Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, and Somalia.

On Art of Revolution’s website, you can access a 360-degree panorama of the piece, in the likely case that you couldn’t make it all the way to Washington, D.C. to check it out.

Art of Revolution continues to pursue other socially conscious projects and traditional art installations. According to their website, their mission is:

The Art of Revolution uses art to transform public opinion and inspires creative action towards social change.  We select, support and produce projects that allow us to promote social change by creating art by and for the people.  In this way, we connect new activists to their cause using an artistic approach as a point of entry.  Our One Million Bones project mission is to raise awareness of and critical funds for survivors of genocides and crises occurring today in Sudan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in Somalia. 

Our approach to social change incorporates our deeply held belief that genuine and lasting change must occur on multiple levels at one time; we have to make the public aware of what’s happening; we must educate the next generation, we must take care of the immediate need of people, communities and the planet; and we must work to change U.S. policy.

It’s so great to see local organizations that not only create beautiful work but spread it around the world. And it doesn’t hurt that it all started in Albuquerque and its influence will hopefully extend overseas and throughout the world. To learn more about the Art of Revolution and the One Million Bones project, click here.

“Breaking Bad” Beer to Generate Buzz for Final Season

Following in the footsteps of Springfield’s famous “Duff” beer from “The Simpsons,” Albquerque brewers have decided to try their own hand at a TV-show inspired ale.

Albuquerque’s Marble Brewery will soon release Heisenberg’s Dark, to pay tribute to the most commercial successful TV show set in Albuquerque of all time. The beer itself is based on the Marble beers that have already made appearances on the show.

The announcement came by way of the ever-popular Instagram account, Breaking Bad Locations, which posts information about filming locations in the Albuquerque area:

Albuquerque based @marblebrewery will be brewing a #BreakingBad tribute beer to be featured during the run of #BreakingBad’s Final Episodes. It’s called “Heisenberg’s Dark” it’s anIndia Black Ale. Marble beer has shown up in a few scenes through the run of the series. @breakingbadlocations is also teaming with Marble to throw a watch party for one of the final episodes. More details to come.

Like many of you, we can’t wait for the new season to start. And some refreshing local beer sounds like a great accompaniment. If you’re having a premiere party on August 11, don’t forgot to take photos and post them on our Facebook timeline!

Click here to read more about Heisenberg’s Dark.