A Blue Heron, and later a Bald Eagle, were flying over Middle Foy's Lake in the golden hours before sunset yesterday. It has been overcast, windy, and rainy since early morning today.

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution in Springtime too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemaster Sez: Serbia/Montenegro was surfing for Ida Rubinstein, Raleigh, North Carolina was looking for Tanya, Unspecified USA was seeking Herman Schnitzmeyer -- whose photos were on display for the first time at the Hockaday Museum of Art earlier this year.

Media Watch: Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1959) was on IFC's Samurai Saturday, where it actually belongs. There are some critics who praise this film, but I don't think it compares well against Kurosawa's half-dozen masterpieces, or even his Underworld Movies. In my opinion, it is a Comic-Book Flick or Samurai Western, neither of which are unworthy genres to me, nor are they the highest forms of art either.
Fortress's primary importance in cinema history is it's admitted influence on George Lucas while he was developing Star Wars.
The audience mostly sees Fortress from the perspective of Tahei and Matakishi, two peasant characters -- mirrored later by R2D2 and 3CPO. The trouble is that Kurosawa's two "clowns" are cowardly, greedy, treacherous, and altogether loathsome, without any redeeming character traits. I find it insulting to think that that average viewers, including myself, are supposed to identify with them, or think their constant fuck-ups and crimes are humorous.
Toshiro Mifune portrayed General Rokurota Makabe, an idealized medieval Samurai, with his typical grace and ease -- looking like a Kuniyoshi print in action. Mifune was very comical as a commoner in Seven Samurai -- much more so than either of the dimwitted stooges in Fortress, which leads me to consider them Kurosawa's mis-steps. General Rokurota was such a larger-than-life hero that he was big enough to split into Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Konobe in Star Wars.
Han Solo had a vague counterpart in General Tadokoro, who surprised everyone with his sudden heroics near the end. If there was ever a firm correlation between the Death Star and this movie's hidden fortress, I can only GUESS what it might have been. They had completely different purposes -- one was the location for an (important) incident in the middle of Kurosawa's rambling tale of escape, the other was the focus of George Lucas' whole plot.
Misa Uehara played Princess Yuki -- as feisty as Princess Leia nearly 20 years later, but ridiculously spoiled and insensitive at first. Ms. Uehara was made-up and dressed in an un-historic, contemporary style through most of the film, and she was stunningly beautiful that way. Her character changed for the better, revealed by an episode where she initiated a tavern-girl's rescue. The two women were unusually active for actresses in a Japanese movie -- but cultural issues held them down, like similar issues held down their female counterparts in Europe and America.


(Center) Misa Uehara as Princess Yuki; (Clockwise from Upper Right) Actors Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara as Kurosawa's pathetic clowns; Ms. Uehara on horseback; Princess Yuki, incognito, as a mute servant. Toshiro Mifune on the movie poster, as General Rokurota, with a tiny mounted Princess Yuki below the title.

Rain this morning, but it's clearing up now. Everything's green -- Firehouse Pond is getting %$#@! algae blooms already. No Canadian Geese chicks yet, but any day now ...

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Seattle, Washington rode in via Yahoo! -- looking for *Tanya Memme nude* and got that page where I beat feet to Jackson Hole and back, stopping to see B.B. King, and take his picture. It looks like they read a lot of it too. Check it out HERE. *BTW -- Nude refers to theatre impressario Ida Rubinstein, and Tanya's name comes up in a later reference to Sell This House.

Theater/Theatre: I called Footsbarn Theatre in France EARLY this morning. (Yawn) Oh sorry -- fell asleep again. I spoke with Paddy Haytor, since John Kilby wasn't in, but it was GREAT! He's working on their new play, so his head isn't into the details of the 35th Anniversarry Celebration. He is certainly excited to see me, and the other ex-Footsies, this summer. I told Claire, the nice lady who answered the phone, my name was Mike Evans -- she found Paddy and told him that "Kevin" was calling from the USA. His voice was really tentative and puzzled when he spoke at first, but he recognized me in short order -- "Of course I remember YOU!" (Claire heard KEVIN instead of miKEVINs over the line.) I'm flying out on July 27, and will be back in Montana on August 16.

In the Community: I needed to wake after that experience, so I stumbled into the Montana Coffee Traders on the way to work. It was a good thing I did -- Jennifer Jameson was visiting town for the holiday weekend, and we swapped hugs and stories. She used to be a volunteer at the Hockaday Museum, and a dancer with Carol Jakes -- and what a dancer! Jennifer's performing with the fabulous Alvin Ailey Company in New York this summer.


Members of Carol Jakes' Northwest Ballet Company -- I've worked with Katy in the upper left on a Seussville production. Jennifer Jameson is in the lower left of the picture, doing her extensions at the barre. If they all look young, it's because they ARE! (Get ready for Judith Jamisson jokes, Jennifer.)

The Eagles and Ospreys visit Middle Foy's Lake every morning. There are fish for them, too. It's been raining at night, with a few squalls during the day between cold winds and bright sunshine. Montana Spring!

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Monroe, Louisiana was looking for Kim Cattrell's scene in that stupid movie Porky's. They out-clicked on Jillian Barbarie's picture -- but there's a dandy nude of Ms. Cattrell further down the page, from the cover of her book Sexual Intelligence: http://northernborder.blogspot.com/2005_12_01
Salt Lake City, Utah was searching Yahoo! for Canada Geese, and found John Barrymore.
Lisbon, Portugal was a Blogspotter, surfing through.

In the Community: (Cross-posted from DailyKos) Immigration bill diverts Senate...
...from it's "normal" business. I know that there are many opinions out there about what that business may be. My ballyhooed teleconfrence with Conrad Burns and some local Glacier National Park stakeholders mutated into a confrence call via telephone, because the Senator had to stick close to the Chamber.
He listened to some real concerns -- and promised action to ensure safe potable water in the Park's campgrounds, but he also made a joke about making laws being similar to making sausage -- distasteful to watch.
I personally find this racist diverson mis-named 'Immigration Reform' to be distasteful. Whatever problems exist need to be handled by clear-thinking adults, but guess what...?



Raquel (Tejada) Welch, daughter of a Bolivian immigrant, and co-star of PBS' American Family -- Journey of Dreams.

A new Duck Family (for us) -- these ducklings are much bigger than the others we have seen, although they are a third of the size of their mom. I think they hatched in another part of the lake, and ventured over to our side just recently.

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Blogspotters have clicked their way over here from Switzerland, Germany, and the USA -- I'm not sure if those Dixie Chicks pictures scare them, attract them, or what.

Media Watch: The Wild Party (1974) starred the late James Coco, and the beautiful Raquel Welch -- who was/is a perfectly good actor. The film had a little social truth in it, but it was NOTHING like the Fatty Arbuckle incident of the 1920's, which gave it's seedy screenplay some form. The excellent acting is ultimately wasted in this pointless downer of a flick. She and Coco got jobs in better shows over their careers, thank goodness


(Upper Left of collage) Raquel Welch as "Queenie" in The Wild Party -- Ms. Welch (Clockwise) as Hollywood's biggest "Poster Girl" in the 60's; As Aphrodite in a pant suit circa 1970;

As herself (goddess enough for anybody) in a pant suit circa 2001; Dancing and singing around 1967; On Broadway in 1981; and (Center) as an exercise diva in the 90's. Raised as Raquel Tejada (her father was born in Bolivia), she has been EXCELLENT on PBS' drama American Family -- Journey of Dreams, where she teams up with Edward James Olmos, playing his sister in an extended clan of Latin American immigrants.

Two very large raptors were hunting over the fields around Little Foy's Lake and Firehouse Pond this morning. It ended up raining a little yesterday, and we also had pretty stout winds!

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Columbus, Ohio stuck around to read about Ms. Rohe, Huffington, and Maines. I still get a lot of hits from Blogspotters looking for nudes – well you just might see lots of pictures of women, wildlife, and other beautiful things on this blog – If I wanted to look at ugly white men, I’d just peek in the mirror -- so there won’t be much of the latter (except at the top of the page).

Media Watch: CORRUPTION ON PARADE – Congressman William Jefferson had a hundred grand stashed in his freezer, allegedly received surreptitiously from an FBI informant/agent. He’s the only Democrat who's been caught recently, but his case doesn’t make the large-scale Republican Culture of Corruption any less corrosive or evil, despite all those bought-off talking heads on TV making claims to the contrary.
While I was cutting cantaloupe, I saw Larry King with a huge panel of those Howdy Doodys (i.e. puppets) like Leslie (Wolf) Blitzer and James Carville repeating their standard unsubstantiated talking points without any of their fellow flacks refuting that rubbish.
NPR ran a story about Republican corruption this morning, as well as Jefferson’s unfolding saga. They also played yet another interview with Natalie Maines. (Contrary to expectations, I am NOT blogging the famous unclothed Dixie Chicks picture from Entertainment Weekly below!)


Free Speech in Action: Not Ready to Make Nice is the latest single by still-popular Country Music stars The Dixie Chicks (L to R) Emily Burns Erwin, Natalie Louise Maines, Martha Elenor Erwin Seidel -- Hmmmm, I wonder who they might be talking about?

Hummingbirds and Lilacs are everywhere! We don't know if those clouds have any rain in them, though.

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Arlington, Virginia -- home of the CIA, NSA etc. etc. took a look at Arianna, Jean, and Natalie exercising their Constitutional rights. They exited on Ringmistress Philomenia, though.

Media Watch: Leonard Da Vinci is getting some exposure, because of the cinema version of Dan Brown's book. There was a fairly expensive two-part biography on the History Channel last night, but we still know only fragments of his life, and have to speculate to bridge the gaps of our knowledge.



Cecilia Gallarani (Left) and La Scapigliata (Right) by Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

Another Mother Mallard -- this one has six Ducklings following her. After a day of squalls, it cooled down, and the sun is peeking out between low roiling clouds

Funk Master Bernie Worrell at: Theater X-Net

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

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution as Summer approaches! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Sitemeter Sez: Valley Stream, New York, Palatine, Illinois, and Whitwell, Norfolk UK came by and read about Indian (Bollywood) Movies, plus the daily scuttlebutt I've posted about my trip to France later this summer, Ringmistress Philomena, Christine Keeler, Mandy Rice-Davis, and Tanya Memme (she's on the TV right now). There's still a lot of guys peeking in for nude pictures of the former model and full-time announcer -- you'll find 'em, if that's what consumes your time.

Media Watch: Arianna Huffington sat on a panel with NYT writer Frank Rich, and a couple of (quote) conservatives (unquote), who shall remain nameless -- Lynn Scherr was the moderator, and gave a pretty good talk about her OWN book as an introduction. I'm skipping over most of what they said because I thought that Ms. Huffington's point about Democrat politicians needing AUTHENTICITY was worth pointing out to everyone. One example of her thesis was Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been shaming herself and her constituents by acting as INAUTHENTIC as a person with her well-known history can act.
Read her blog on this subject HERE
A lack of authenticity, especially out of unspecific fears, or motivated by money-grubbing, is degrading to a public official -- one ugly example is former war-hero John McCain whose mealy-mouthed cringing has turned him into an object of rightful scorn. When he spoke at the graduation for the New School in Madison Square Garden, a courageous student named Jean Rohe abandoned her own worthy speech to call the Arizona Senator's dirty hand (BTW Bob Kerrey is another war-hero from Nebraska):
The entire afternoon leading up to my speech I imagined that everyone who saw me knew what I was up to. I felt like an infiltrator. I wanted to go home and I was sick to my stomach. But when I heard an organizer on her walkie-talkie speaking nervously with another coordinator about the students outside who had leaflets and armbands, I knew that I would have my supporters. Later, John McCain arrived in the green room, and with the encouragement of Laurie Anderson, another honoree ... I almost wanted to warn the guy that I was about to make him look like an idiot so that he would at least have a fighting chance and an extra moment to change his speech to save himself. But he didn't even make eye contact when we shook hands, so I figured I didn't owe him anything.
The rest is a blur ... just before the end of the ceremony Bob Kerrey asked if I wanted to walk out with McCain. I said that would be OK. Kerrey led me over to him as the recessional music began, and I took McCain's arm. "I'm sorry, man," I told him, "I just had to do it." He mumbled something about it being alright, but I think he probably would've rather not had me there...
... I do feel that I need to respond to a couple of things that have been floating around in the news. It's been noted in several columns that anti-McCain sentiment coming from the left may actually help him to garner support from the conservatives by giving him the opportunity to paint us as extremist liberals, so we should all keep our mouths shut. I say we need some "extremist liberals" if we're ever going to get our democracy back. Others have said that he's a moderate at heart and that we should let him continue pandering to the religious right so he can get the vote. Once he gets into office he'll show his true colors and be the centrist he always was. I don't buy that. People who truly care about human beings don't vote for an unjust war, among other things, simply as a political maneuver. Enough said.
Here are some of Ms. Rohe's words prior to McCain's canned speech:
Right now, I'm going to be who I am and digress from my previously prepared remarks. I am disappointed that I have to abandon the things I had wanted to speak about, but I feel that it is absolutely necessary to acknowledge the fact that this ceremony has become something other than the celebratory gathering that it was intended to be due to all the media attention surrounding John Mc Cain's presence here today, and the student and faculty outrage generated by his invitation to speak here. The senator does not reflect the ideals upon which this university was founded. Not only this, but his invitation was a top-down decision that did not take into account the desires and interests of the student body on an occasion that is supposed to honor us above all, and to commemorate our achievements.
What is interesting and bizarre about this whole situation is that Senator Mc Cain has stated that he will be giving the same speech at all three universities where he has been invited to speak recently, of which ours is the last; those being Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, Columbia University, and finally here at the New School. For this reason I have unusual foresight concerning the themes of his address today. Based on the speech he gave at the other institutions, Senator McCain will tell us today that dissent and disagreement are our "civic and moral obligation" in times of crisis. I consider this a time of crisis and I feel obligated to speak. Senator Mc Cain will also tell us about his cocky self-assuredness in his youth, which prevented him from hearing the ideas of others. In so doing, he will imply that those of us who are young are too naïve to have valid opinions and open ears. I am young, and although I don't profess to possess the wisdom that time affords us, I do know that preemptive war is dangerous and wrong, that George Bush's agenda in Iraq is not worth the many lives lost. And I know that despite all the havoc that my country has wrought overseas in my name, Osama bin Laden still has not been found, nor have those weapons of mass destruction.
Finally, Senator McCain will tell us that we, those of us who are Americans, "have nothing to fear from each other." I agree strongly with this, but I take it one step further. We have nothing to fear from anyone on this living planet. Fear is the greatest impediment to the achievement of peace. We have nothing to fear from people who are different from us, from people who live in other countries, even from the people who run our government--and this we should have learned from our educations here. We can speak truth to power, we can allow our humanity always to come before our nationality, we can refuse to let fear invade our lives and to goad us on to destroy the lives of others. These words I speak do not reflect the arrogance of a young strong-headed woman, but belong to a line of great progressive thought, a history in which the founders of this institution play an important part. I speak today, even through my nervousness, out of a need to honor those voices that came before me, and I hope that we graduates can all strive to do the same.



Natalie Maines reaches maybe five feet in high heels (she's probably on a box, or pedestal in the picture), but she stood TALL when others cringed: I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever... Arianna Huffington and Jean Rohe also spoke truth to power this weekend -- GOOD FOR ALL OF YOU!
See Huffington Post for their stories.