Weather: No, we never set out to Missoula -- the weather was awful here, and worse down there. The roads have been icy, and the snow keeps falling. Our driveway will be dug out this morning, but there's more storms on the way. We are also beginning to develop ice dams over our frozen-full rain gutters. Will de-icer on the eaves help any?

Wildlife: I think that the big raptor who's haunting our bird feeders is a Red-tailed Hawk. The Bald Eagles are flying over the neighborhood, and hanging out in their dead tree across the lake. The deer are hungry and stressed in the deep snow.

Charity Alert: The Child Health Site : Help a Child in Need Lead a Healthy, Active Life

Media Watch: Lawrence Olivier's version of Henry V from 1944 -- this time I recorded the whole thing! My favorite scenes still feature Robert Newton's over-the-top "Pistol" character. (See the archive for my previous words on these subjects.)
Arrrrr, Matey! Website Ahoy!: Robert Newton (1905-1956)

I read a book over the weekend: Serious Music - and All That Jazz! by Henry Pleasants (1910-2000), published in 1969. Quoting from the International Herald Tribune's web site:
Mr. Pleasants, the longtime London music critic for the International Herald Tribune, was perhaps best known for his 1955 book ''The Agony of Modern Music,'' a polemical attack on the direction taken by much of 20th-century serious music, and an argument in favor of jazz and other vernacular styles as the true music of the time, both as entertainment and as art. He developed this theme in other books, ''Death of a Music?: The Decline of the European Tradition and the Rise of Jazz'' (1961) and (my book). Beginning in 1967, he was the London music critic for the International Herald Tribune.
The author stops listing names and examples from sometime in 1967, so I think it took him over a year to publish it. (More about the content later.)
Coincidentally, I also bought a couple of CDs which were originally recorded in the very interesting time between the writing and publishing of Mr. Pleasants' book: Al Kooper and Michael Bloomfied's Super Session (Remixed) and Live at the Fillmore East. The latter's importance is Johnny Winter's first appearence in New York City as a guest. Kooper admits admits to having a bad night in the album notes, and apologizes for the mismatch between the bassist and drummer. Bloomfield plays wonderfully and vocalizes quite well -- I wish that some of the second night of their gig, with B.B. King, was released too.
It's a nice thing that all those hums and buzzes from the original masters are able to be digitally removed.
It's very sad that Michael Bloomfield's quality recordings were so few in number, but I'm glad that his family and musical partners are keeping his memory alive. The Official Mike Bloomfield Web Site

Speaking of older Pop music, I also watched several Bands Reunited on VH1, in whole or part. "Berlin" was the best -- Terry Nunn still sings those songs regularly, and the original musicians seem to possess most of their chops. "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" achieved a speaking-terms reunion, but Holly Johnson seemed to have his reasons for not performing again. He might be correct in his choice -- I liked some aspects of "Flock of Seagulls'" reunion performance, but the singing was ROUGH, 'though it gradually became tolerable. (Maybe Holly Johnson wanted his fans to remember his best moments.)