Weather and Wildlife: The big sky is still flinging snow flurries at us -- yesterday afternoon we had sunshine and snow at the same time. This morning I drove/slid to work on extremely slick roads caked with layers of white crytalline deposits of heavenly precipitation. The songbirds have been scare lately -- we think that the Sharp-Shinned Hawk is still lurking nearby.

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Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

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In The Community: A very good opening reception at the Hockaday Museum of Art! Most all of the Montana Impressionists came to meet their public, and a significant portion of the Flathead Valley Art Educators stopped by too. Herman Schnitzmeyer is dead, but his photos were appreciated by all in attendance. We had two artist couples who came in late -- very late, so late we had to turn the lights back on in their gallery, because we were closing up the museum. They are friends of mine, so I will not say their names. (To be fair, we SAID we were going to be open until 8 PM, and there were still 15 minutes to go.)

Media Watch: Dancing With The Stars -- Our favories, Cheryl and Drew, did very well. I didn't like "Tina Sparkle"'s choreography, but she got the same score (27 out of 30). Tia Carrere's partner did the best choreography and they got a 26. Giselle Fernandez had the funniest moment of the show topping the already-funny George Hamilton -- he started speaking Spanish while pleading for viewer's votes. "I know what he's saying," she told the befuddled announcer. She then took the microphone and said (paraphrased): "He's telling you to vote for Giselle Fernandez and Jonathan Roberts!" as Hamilton went on in the background.
The two male judges were outright rude to "Master P" Miller -- he actually tried this time, and did OK in his clinches with Ashley Del Grosso. We didn't like the way he was treated, and VOTED for the self-made millionaire and well-meaning dance floor schlub. (I hope we didn't jinx him -- remember we voted for "Sticks" too, and he was out on his tail the next day.)
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
TCM has been showing Japanese animated movies by Hayao Miyazaki on Thursdays. This week it was Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba) from 1995.
Director: Yoshifumi Kondou; Screenplay, Storyboards, Production: Hayao Miyazaki; Character Designs: Kitarou Kousaka, based on rough designs by Yoshifumi Kondou; From on the manga by Aoi Hiiragi. Hayao Miyazaki Web -- An illustrated site about this movie and more.
Marc Hairston says in part: One of the key elements of the movie is the old John Denver song Country Roads. The movie opens with Olivia Newton-John singing it (her version was a hit in Japan in the 1970s), and throughout the movie Shizuku struggles to write new Japanese lyrics to the song. At one point she does a parody of it called Concrete Roads which describes her city life. Ironically, her spoof is closer to her real life than the cliched images of country life that she keeps trying to use. The movie closes with her new version of the song, but now it is more about her life and her experiences growing up than about country life. Shizuku has finally begun to find her voice as a writer.
Miyazaki "felt that children living in the modern day Japan need their own story" as opposed to the nostalgic movies like Totoro which look back to an idyllic country life. In Miyazaki's own words: "'For Shizuku, who grew up in the newly founded residential area in the city, the green earth or mountain momma has little to do with her. After many struggles, she reaches the conclusion that for her, this scenery with convenience stores and fast food restaurants is her 'home', and she has no choice but to live here with her feet down to earth."


Moments of Fantasy (Left) and Reality (Right) in Whisper of the Heart
This matter-of-fact portrait of modern Tokyo teaches foreigners like me a lot about Japanese culture as the movie's well-realized characters go about their daily lives. A parallel world of wonder breaks up the conventional story once teenaged Shizuku follows a commuting cat on it's way to a mysterious shop. If You Listen Closely is another translation of the title. Many thanks to FVCC Literature Professor Christy Kabler for recommending this series to me, and showing Miyazaki's films to her classes!