Rain and Shine under the Big Sky -- the old joke says if you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes. Today it varies by the hour.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Union, New Jersey; Lawrenceville, Georgia; Linden, New Jersey; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Long Beach, California; South Solon, Ohio; West Hempstead, New York; Jessup, Maryland and Omaha, Nebraska. They were actually looking at my Flash Gordon ETC. site.

Ch-ch-changes: (From my friend David Fagiolli in Hawaii)
Alton Kelley Abandons Earthly Vehicle - Died in the early hours of Sunday, June 1

I acquired a copy of this poster of my favorite musical group of the time from David in 1969 -- it is by Alton Kelley and his partner Stanley Mouse. You can buy classic posters from Dave at Postergeist

Kelley's career was long and productive. I just saw a whole gallery of his work on CBS Sunday Morning featuring his series of Journey albums -- another group originally from San Francisco:

Image by the team of Jim Welch, Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley

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: The Hockaday Museum of Art has Frank Tetrault's sculptures, and Greg Siple's playful bicycle photos.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!


Media Watch: CSPAN runs too much Right Wing propaganda nowadays, and I rarely mention them any more, but the network had some interesting events on its various channels this weekend -- there was a raucus meeting of the Democratic Party's Rules Committe where a number of Hillary Clinton's suppporters made thorough asses of themselves; A live feed from Book Expo in San Diego was more fun and less irritating; There was also an Ernest Hemingway informational marathon Sunday, including short and long interviews with his famous grand-daughter Mariel, who was born about five months after the great writer's suicide.


(Left) Beautiful model and actress Mariel Hemingway can say a lot about the impacts of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse in a family. (Right) While I was growing up, Ernest Hemingway was treated like Cultural Royalty -- he led a life that was so accomplished and colorful, it seemed beyond attainment by common humanity, according to the international press. The hyperbole of that public image might have fed the despair which killed him. HOWEVER -- his writings are damn good, and hold up very well almost 50 years after his death!

Election Madness: That zoo on TV was thankfully 3000 miles away. In my neighborhood a nice pair of folks wearing Obama shirts stopped by my house as part of a get-out-the-vote campaign. They didn't ask who I was voting for, but made sure I knew my polling place on Tuesday -- there are good reasons to think that the Democratic Nominee will be decided very soon after Montana's primary election. The people of this country must defeat John McCain and his "100 years in Iraq" stupidity.
Support the troops -- bring them home.