The air is officially hazardous in Flathead Valley today because of the forest fire smoke. Governor Schweitzer has declared an emergency, and some communities are being evacuated as I write this. They are having the same troubles just north of us in Banff National Park too. Smokey Bear is even wearing a respirator!
UPDATE: Towards late afternoon, the barometer started to drop, a wind blew from the Southwest, and the smoke rose above our heads. One could see long distances, including the numerous plumes from the fires. There are some big rolling clouds overhead, and they are welcome to rain on us!

Remembering my friend Georgio at: 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
UPDATED! Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!
Read my latest Spitfires in Context essay.

Charity Alert: Make a resolution this Summer to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: I made a display book of Great Northern Railway calendars for the Hockaday Museum of Art. They are monthlies from 1928 to 1932, with a few gaps. These calendars are famous for Winold Reiss' portraits of resident Blackfeet -- they were employed by Glacier National Park as greeters before the Great Depression and Going To The Sun Road changed everything in the mid-30's. Later, Great Northern Railway calendars became single-page posters, but still featured Reiss' portraits. We will have this book available for public perusial as soon as a few more things are done.

Media Watch: The new Flash Gordon Sci-Fi Channel series is scheduled to start on August 10. I have NO expectations for it at all, but if they do a good job, I'll be pleased and surprised. The idea of Space, as some kind of a freebooting Spanish Main out of Rafael Sabatini -- with swords, ray guns, and rockets was already an anachronism by the time I was born. During the mid-50's I enjoyed a pale imitation of Flash called Space Patrol in Kindergarten and 1st Grade, but somehow I missed out on Rocky Jones and Tom Corbitt, Space Cadet where I lived. Speaking of pale imitations, male model Steve Holland played Flash Gordon in an authorized TV version of King Features' space hero. Unfortunately, EVERY expense was spared in the production, and it was a laughing-stock. The Buster Crabbe serials were television staples in those days, so Flash came out second-best to himself on the tube.
Flash's original creator Alex Raymond had quit the the strip before I was born, and his assistant/replacement Austin Briggs was long-gone by the 50's too. Dan Barry's daily comic was well-drawn by an army of ghost-artists, but unimaginativly written. Mac Raboy's once-beautiful Sunday page became sloppier with each passing year until his death in 1968. Al Williamson and other first-rank Comics artists tried to revive Flash's popularity, but they struggled -- despite excellent work on their part, and well-received reprints of Raymond's originals by the Nostalgia Press. Jim Keefe was the last newspaper artist to make a go of re-creating the magic of the mythos, and his Flash Gordon is still syndicated as reprints.
Around 1980, in the wake of Star Wars, a big-budget Flash Gordon feature came out with colorful supporting actors like Topol, Max Von Sydow, Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton, and the great Richard (Riff-Raff) O'Brien -- however, colorless Sam Jones was the star, and TV clock-puncher Melody Anderson sleepwalked as Dale. Italian model Ornella Muti LOOKED good as Princess Aura, but her clothing ads were sexier than the footage in that film. The script was so unfocused that everyone's part seemed like a cameo. Queen's soundtrack was excellent, except for the embarrassingly scant and purile lyrics. Williamson did some promotional comic books for the flick, but DiLaurentis' movie wasn't good enough to create much excitement.
To tell the truth, the silly porn flick Flesh Gordon has been the best homage to the original Flash Gordon serials until now. Some long-time Science Fiction fans were able to "send up" their classic spaceman in style by working on the movie set -- maybe the Sci-Fi Channel's new project will create some demand for this neglected labor of "love" as a contrast of some sort.

George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars are doing a VERY short tour out west, but nowhere near me or Montana:
Aug. 11 - Santa Fe Muzik Festival, Santa Fe, NM
Aug. 16 - San Manuel Casino, Highland, Ca.
Aug. 17 - Orleans Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Aug. 18 - Greek Theatre, L.A., Ca.


One example of a Great Northern Railway calendar by Winold Reiss from the time period of the Hockaday's recently-acquired collection. For other examples of Reiss' varied artwork visit THE REISS PARTNERSHIP.