Tuesday, May 06, 2008

(NOTE: This post was actually written on Wednesday, May, 7, 2008, over a "skeleton post" saved the previous day.)
Light occasional rain -- It IS May, and the water is welcome. The Opsreys are merrily catching their fish in the slough. A flock of Wild Turkeys sometimes make an appearance on Conrad Drive.

Sitemeter Sez: Phoenix, Arizona; Medina, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin; Superior, Arizona; Saint Louis, Missouri; Buffalo Grove, Illinois; New York City, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Surrey, British Columbia; Bombay, India; Salt Lake City, Utah; Lenzburg, Switzerland and Princeton, New Jersey.

ROCK against Reaganomics 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.





Many 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!

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

In The Community: Retouching old Glacier National Park photos (digitally) for the Hockaday Museum of Art.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: Trash A Go Go may not have learned its lesson, as far as judging by multiple standards goes. Someone had to leave, and it was singer Mario last night, who had been regularly thrashed by the judges. (He made some obvious mistakes in his second dance though, and I'm not sure his fans watch Dancing With The Stars much.) Kristi Yamaguchi is still the best of this lot, but she was nit-picked a bit unfairly IMHO. Jason and Edyta did VERY well in their first dance, and then got smacked around for their second. Marissa (Tracy Turnblatt) must have a bevy of fans, because the judges usually give her eights, with an odd nine. Champion Cheryl Burke proved her mettle by choreographing two dances for injured Cristian, the first of which completely disguised the fact that his arm was injured. (Everyone knew it, but it didn't show -- masterful!)
Normally-lovely Edyta put on a face that could have etched glass during the elimination segment -- in fact, ALL the pros looked pained. Perhaps the extended broadcast was too long? During the first hour, some of the so-called "best dances" were worthy of the distinction. However, it was crass to re-run former champ Kelly Monaco's true wardrobe malfunction. She and her partner deserve the highest praise for triumphing over a bad situation, but I think THAT near-disaster was better left in the past.
Rascal Flats is a popular Country-Rock group, and I like their version of Tom Cochrane's Life is a Highway. Jullianne Hough and Apolo Anton Ohno were fun to watch again, but Maxim and Melanie danced BETTER.
A Chorus Line is an important theatrical phenomenon, but I frankly found it a touch dull over a generation ago. I had slaved away in the world of Theater and Dance myself, and what really went on was much more interesting than what that particular play showed. (Prime creators Michael Bennett, Michon Peacock, and Tony Stevens could have ALL said a lot more!) Mario Lopez fronting a too-large Broadway cast was alright, but nothing more than that. At least those two dozen high-kicking dancers got an extra paycheck for their work.

Speaking of DANCING!


Click to see a larger image
My friend, ace dancer Katie Duck with Alex Waterman (cello) at the Holland Dance Festival. (Redigitized by ME)


Katie's Schedule for May -- one side of the globe to the other:

May 15-22 Seoul, Korea – Young Choreographers Workshop

May 27 Amsterdam - Orglepark performance
Magpie Keyboard - Melt
Keyboard players - Nora Mulder, piano & cymbalom / Cor Fuhler - piano & electronics / Willem Tanke - organ & piano - Dancers - Katie Duck, Eileen Standely, Vincent Cacalono - Light design - Ellen Knops

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