BOING! That is the sound of Spring's official arrival -- we celebrated here in NW Montana with cold winds and hailstorms. Early Daylight Savings Time has been a royal pain with our computers, but the bright evenings are wonderful. Venus and the New Moon have been dancing together in the Western sky. I hate to report it, but a pack of damn Coyotes are prowling the neighborhood -- we heard them right after dark last night. Our cats are staying inside until after 9 AM for the time being.

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
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: Make a resolution after the Vernal Equinox to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Honors Symposium has been interesting in that the audiences are bringing their own controversies with them -- Feminism 101 by Brooke Barnett prompted a 40 minute post-lecture discussion after a fairly diagramatic overview of various forms of Feminism over the last 200 years or so. (Mary Wollstonecraft included!)
Biological Differences by Dr. Steven Gaulin said more in it's implications than his careful correlation of the physiological trait of spatial recognition being directly related to amounts of androgyns between human sexes. Body height, muscle mass, and aggression also correlate in similar ways. These tested, objective criteria do little to solve any disputes between Nature vs. Nurture however, or slow down people with agendas. The few facts may say something about our species being Polygynis in certain important ways, but Gaulin also made an important point that the most numerically significant human cultures are largely Monogamous.
So many people had their minds made up, and Gaulin's subject matter was so narrowly focused, that the big guns of preconception started booming right away, and continued the next morning on local talk radio.
This weekend at the Honors Symposium: Twelfth Night — Gender in the Shakespeare Theatre -— Brian Bechtold, Department of English and British Literature -- Flathead Valley Community College, Free lecture from 6-6:30 p.m. followed by FVCC theatre department production of Twelfth Night at 7 p.m.
That's a BIG subject, Brian! Our Theatre Dept. is handling the whole thing -- I'll be at the Hockaday!
Auction of Miniatures bid lists and bid forms at Hockaday Museum of Art's Website. The real thing is TOMORROW -- I'll be meeting, greeting, and then running away to the wrap-up room to pack things up as we sell them. It takes a crew of about a dozen folks to make an auction work efficiently.

Media Watch: Let's get the sad stuff over -- one of our students in the video class made mainsteam news by passing away while celebrating St. Patrick's Day in nearby Spokane, Washington. Priscilla Wetzel was a friendly, vivacious lady and I'll always remember her for those qualities!
Trash A Go Go Go Go -- The FOURTH season of Dancing with the Stars! Only two couples showed some flair -- Joey Fatone & Austrailia's own Kym (Tina Sparkle) Johnson and Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough. Ms. Hough is only 18, but she is a remarkably accomplished dancer, and an excellent teacher. Most of the other couples started rather tentatively, but only one celebrity was actually bad -- Billy Ray (Achy Breaky Legs) Cyrus.
I sent an email to Robert Edsel's site congratulating him for his Book TV presentation, and a question about Ida Rubinstein. (High Patroness of this Blog). I got an answer back the very next day! I was able to pay them back by giving them a few facts about my own Art History professor Lennox Tierney and his own team's efforts in Postwar Japan. They sent me a return email which read in part:
Yes, I saw your wonderful website! She was a rather amazing woman! I have made note of the website and your email address in my database in case I ever encounter any references to Ida's confiscated items.


The Ida Rubinstein Ballet performing Ravel's La Valse in Monte Carlo circa 1929. Choreography by Bronislava Nijinska.
False theatrical color by M.E.
Adapted from www.balletto.net