A classic Winter snowfall today -- this one is piling up rapidly, with snowflakes the size of coins. A Raccoon was sighted on the back deck at Dry Bridge Slough, along with Blue Jays.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Manchester, UK; Flushing, New York (Tennis anyone?) and Woodlawn, Illinois

REAL SLC Punk, not the movie, 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!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics!





Thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

All-round good guy Jim Keefe wrote me to say: Enjoyed the comparison from strip to film. Fun stuff!
Put a link on the Yahoo adventure strip group as well.
Hope you get a lot of hits. THANKS AGAIN JIM!

Charity Alert: Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day. Also check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site.

In The Community: Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road, The Collective Caravan, and Old West -- New Visions at the Hockaday Museum of Art. I had to get our Artist Wilderness Connection pieces ready to travel -- there's plenty of time to sign up for THIS year!

Media Watch: Allen Toussaint's 70th birthday was celebrated on Montana Public Radio the other night. He represents the best of New Orleans' Soul, Funk, and R&B. The DJ tracked through 1958's The Wild Sound of New Orleans , where Al Hirt got his big hit Java. Mr. Toussaint has produced or performed on dozens of my favorite singles and albums -- fluid rhythms, earthquake bass, soulfull singing, eccentric arrangements, and songwriting that is second to none for humor and bluesy fun. I first became aware of him on Lee Dorsey's records, but he'd already been part of so many other great sounds that I wasn't surprised when I learned more about the extent of his work over the years. Here are the lyrics to just ONE of his songs --

Yes We Can

Now is the time for all good men
To get together with one another
Iron out our problems
Iron out our quarrels
And try to live as brothers
And try to find the peace within
Without stepping on one another

And do respect the women of the world
Remember you all have mothers

Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give

I know we can make it
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can,
I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we
If we wanna get yes we can can

I know we can make it a world
I know we can make it if we try

Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, great gosh almighty
Yes we can, I know we can can

Take care for the children
The children of the world
They're our strongest hope for the future
The little bitty boys and girls

Make this land a better land
Than the world in which we live
And help each man be a better man
With the kindness that you give

I know we can make it (I know that we can)
I know darn well we can work it out

Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can't we
If we wanna get yes we can can

I know we can make it a world
I know we can make it if we try

Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, great, gosh almighty
Yes we can, I know we can can

Now for my OWN Media:


I expanded Cellulose to Celluloid, featuring Alex Raymond's Witch Queen of Mongo (above). I also rewrote some comments and fixed some links. My Web hosting service was upgrading their servers, so I took the opportunity to make changes as well as check the functionality of my domain.