The weather in the Flathead Valley is now as cool as it is, say -- in early April. Not too long ago it was almost 100 degrees (F). I've bought a house overlooking a slough -- kind of a lake in an oxbow left behind by the Flathead River. The northern tip of the water is surrounded by Dry Bridge Park. All of our wild friends swim and play along our back yard again -- Ducks, Muskrat, Red Wing Blackbirds etc.

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 as Summer approaches to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: Abbrescia's Passion -- Plein Aire Paintings of Glacier National Park: Opening Reception TONIGHT! Celebrating the life and work of my late friend Joe Abbrescia. Fellow artist, and former competitor, Mark Ogle will speak at 4:00 p.m. on Joe's life and work. Lyle Olson will also be on hand to co-host the formal opening of his photographic exhibit: Views of India.
Tomorrow morning I'm putting up the annual Artist/Wilderness Connection show at Big Mountain Resort, along with the US Forest Service.
I'm also editing my college's Current Events video for Cable TV today.

Media Watch: NPR had a discussion about Otis Redding at the seminal Monterey Pop Festival, presented almost 40 years ago at the beginning of the famous (some say infamous) Summer of Love in nearby San Francisco. One point escaped the somewhat flippant interviewer -- Redding already had a significant audience among "white" music fans -- his incredible album Live In Europe, with an almost identical set, stands as proof. Wikipedia makes more accurate observations HERE.


Art imitates life, or is it the other way around?
(R to L) Wes Wilson, the prototypical San Francisco poster artist, was one of about a dozen brilliant commercial graphic designers whose work has defined Psychedelic Art. This is a copy of his poster for the Monterey Pop Festival, alongside a digital re-interpretation of a news photo from that same era.