March came "in like a lamb" this year around the Flathead Valley. Robins feeding at FVCC. Migrating Canadian Geese would land if the waters weren't still frozen.

Sitemeter Sez: Amsterdam, Holland; Albany Creek, Australia; Vero Beach, Florida; La Porte, Indiana; Bogazici, Turkey (Lady Miss Kier played in their country -- they found a nice pic of her on this blog); Macau Island, China; Daytona Beach, Florida; Redmond, Washington; Somewhere, USA; Des Plaines, Illinois; Ghent, Belgium; Denver, Colorado; Dublin, California and Denver, Colorado.

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 -- UPDATED!





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: 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: I've uploaded images of over half the items for our upcoming Auction of Miniaures on the Hockaday Museum of Art's Website, not including those beautiful postcard-sized mini-minis. When the rest of the artists bring their stuff in, I'll put them online too.
Check out Fall for Glacier too -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: Besides Verdi's excellent Otello (1897) on Live From The Metropolitan Opera, Montana Public Radio had an extensive interview with the great pianist Van Cliburn. It is the 50th anniversary of his triumph at the First Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow -- a good excuse as any to talk to one of America's stalwarts of Clasical Music. Gutless composer Dmitri Shostakovich was chairman of the competition in 1958, and he cleared Cliburn's award with the Soviet Premier first -- typical for him. The Cold War was thawing a bit, but I think that Stalin's death was more important than any artistic event in warming things up, although anything that helps people see each other as human beings makes a positive difference anytime.
I thought a certain point in Cliburn's story was interesting -- his mother (and teacher) extensivley studied piano with a man who had studied with Franz Liszt, so he was only separated from the magnificent Romantic composer by two generations.


From Russia With Love -- A Post-Romantic Vision:


(Click for a larger image.)
Ida Rubinstein, High Patroness of this Blog, in a partial reconstruction of one of her publicity pictures from 1912. The original was reversed and defaced by the Hearst newspaper syndicate to illustrate Alan Dale's rather laconic interview from her studio on the Rue Vanneau in Paris. A Rubinstein fan from Russia sent me a distorted scan of the undefaced image from a bound copy of Comoedia Illustre, advertising D'Annunzio's decadent La Pisanelle, ou Le Mort Parfumee (1913). I've brought out some details of her Maisson Worth outfit by laboriously combining the two pictures.

Mild weather for winter at this latitude. More Raccoons at Dry Bridge.

Sitemeter Sez: Newton Highlands, Massachusetts; San Antonio, Texas; Louth, Ireland; Brooklyn, New York; Jamaica, New York; Chicago, Illinois (Whomever it was found a good post about Lisa Versteeg/Verstieg) and Clermont-Ferrand, France (Drove there several times on my Footsbarn trip -- nice cathedral, plus a music store with Maceo Parker on the shelf, which sure helped me on those drives back and forth!)

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 -- UPDATED!





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: 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: All students are admitted FREE this year to the Hockaday Museum of Art, thanks to Pacific Steel & Recycling. Check out the Ukrainian Egg Decorating Workshop in three weeks!
Check out Fall for Glacier too -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: The Celebrity Game is a nest of snakes, and I'm wondering if writer Brook Bussey A.K.A. (Diablo Cody) REALLY wants to play in there. Her memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper (2005), about that sad sleazy biz, led to screenwriting opportunities in Hollywood and an Academy Award for authoring Juno. I know some excellent women who have endured the demands of the 'exotic dancing' scene, but only for short durations -- sounds like her experience was similar to theirs.

Ridiculous --


Unclothed pictures of Ms. Cody/Bussey abound on the Internet -- Find 'em yourself! Here's a couple of snaps of her evolving tattoo.

Sublime --

Theater/Theatre: What's Katie doing over there in A'Dam?
MONDAY MATCH – DANCE & MUSIC IMPROVISATION
MARCH 3 – 20:30 - BIMHUIS Piet Heinkade 3 – Amsterdam – entrance free
Curator: Katie Duck & Alfredo Genovesi
Music: Alfredo Genovesi-gitaar, Hilary Jeffery-trombone, Oscar Jan Hoogland-piano
Dance: Katie Duck, Melvin Fraenk, Alexandra Manasse, Maria Mavridou, Bruno Isakovic
Light: Petyr Veenstra info@bimhuis.nl / http://www.bimhuis.nl


(R to L) Katie, Justin, Alex and J.C. in New York, November 2007.
Redigitized from a video on http://justinmorrison.net

The snow was like marshmallow and oatmeal this morning -- had to fling it off my car windows, or else it stuck again if I just scraped.

Sitemeter Sez: Milan, Italy; Seattle, Washington and Kaysville, Utah.

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 -- UPDATED!





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: 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: The Auction of Miniatures for the Hockaday Museum will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn this year. We will have to move everything, but we are hoping the greater space will mean greater sales.
All students are admitted FREE this year to the Hockaday Museum of Art, thanks to Pacific Steel & Recycling.
Check out Fall for Glacier too -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Ch-Ch-Ch Changes: From Footsbarn Theatre's Website:
We are very sad to announce the death of Oliver Foot (1946-2008) one of the founder members of Footsbarn Theatre. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad and tragic time.
Oliver will live on through the many inititiatives that he started, with the incredible work that Orbis UK has done and will continue to do. At Footsbarn we carry on the journey that started 37 years ago in Cornwall, Oliver not only shaped the future of our company but even gave us our name. Oliver’s energy and vitality will continue with us on the road, as it will with all the other people he touched and moved.
Links to Oliver Foot's obituaries and videos HERE.


(Click to see a larger image.)
Foots Barn Theatre in 1973, posing in the field just south of the actual barn, with the Seaton Valley over the hills behind them.
Front: Davy Johnston, dog Lorrian, Tank, Maggie Watkiss (sitting) unknown, Joey Cunningham, Sarah Dunkley and Richard Worthy. Rear: Serena Henderson, Maggie Bruce, Stevie Lawrence, Simon Fraser (on bench), Keith Bruce, unknown, Angus Fox, unknown, hidden, unknown, Nancy Foot holding Jesse Foot, Oliver Foot holding Mary Rachel, Kathy, John Paul Cook, Mike Novotny.
(Some of the unknowns may be members of Richard and Foxey's band Charley and the Widebouys. Those two were later part of a group led by Davy called Touch the Earth.)
I met Davy, Joey, and John Paul again in the Summer of 2006 at Footsbarn's base in France. I was friends with Foxey, Tank, Maggie Watkiss, Richard Worthy, Stevie Lawrence, and cyber-pal Michael Novotny when I lived in England. I met Serena, Simon, and Oliver as Footsbarn toured the entire county of Cornwall. Mr. Foot no longer lived in the converted barn that bore his name at the time I was there, but he brought his young family to see our Beauty and the Beast pantomime during the winter of 1975-76 in the ancient town of Bodmin. (Listed in the 11th Century Domesday Book.) We had a full house and he was favorably impressed. It is a pity he won't be able to see the still-evolving company at the Globe Theatre in London this upcoming May.

A very gray day. Half-rain and half-snow in the PM.

Sitemeter Sez: Moscow, Moscow City; Екатерина помогает чемпионом через желоба... Inset: Susie Scott, Playboy 's Miss May of 1983. Врезка: Сьюзи Скотт, "Плейбой" с "Мисс май 1983 года. She put the Salt Lake City Track Club on the national map when she wore one of our t-shirts in her article -- she ran in our winter 50K series... Somewhere in the United Kingdom; Durham, North Carolina and Smithtown, New York.

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 -- UPDATED!





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: 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: All students are admitted FREE this year to the Hockaday Museum of Art, thanks to Pacific Steel & Recycling. I'm STILL adding images to the Auction of Miniatures page.
Check out Fall for Glacier too -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: The 80th Academy Awards -- Marion Cotillard did a good job of acting in that morbid flick En Vie La Rose, and now she's won the Oscar and Golden Globe for her work this year.

Real Books: I'm still strolling through the pages of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I was once able to read each volume in six hours -- kind of like watching a movie with my mind's eye. The experience is different now. Age alone is bound to alter my perspective as the long story unfolds before bedtime.
Tolkien first won me over with the force of his personality, expressed right on the cover of the Ballantine paperback:
...this paperback edition and no other has been published with my consent and co-operation. Those who approve of courtesy (at least) to living authors will purchase it an no other.
I had anticipated buying the book since seeing the Ace paperbacks, but there was something about his direct appeal that convinced me to take it off the shelf of Sam Weller's Books and buy it then and there, even though the other edition was available for five cents less, right around the corner.
Tolkien's forward and map cemented the foundation of the enduring bond I have since enjoyed with his magical sub-world:
...The most critical reader of all, myself, now finds many defects, minor and major, but being fortunately under no obligation either to review the book or to write it again, he will pass over these in silence, except one that has been noted by others; the book is too short.
British modesty, with a bold-as-brass assertion that he could have said more!
Since I'm writing a de facto essay about Tolkien's forward, I'll make sure I sketch out his description of the Rings' progress:
1936 -- First drafts of The Hobbit's sequel, between the writing of The Hobbit, and it's publication in 1937. (The Shadow of the Past and more writings.)
1939 -- Book I (The Black Riders) is not quite complete at the end of the year.
1940 -- Balin's Tomb and a long halt.
1941 -- Lothlorien and the Great River.
1942 -- First drafts of Book III (Riders of Rohan) and start of Book V (Gondor).
1944 -- Book IV (Dead Marshes and Mordor) sent as a serial to son Christopher in the RAF in South Africa.
1945 to 1949 -- Then when the 'end' had at last been reached the whole thing had to be revised, and indeed largely rewritten backwards.
Other reading reveals constant proddings by Tolkien's fellow Inklings, a group of Oxford men led by C. S. Lewis, who also included Christopher among their number after WWII. Humphrey Carpenter's collection of Tolkien's letters showed financial pressures on the Professor as he forsaw the end of his scholastic career while the trilogy was slowly being published in severely austere postwar Britain.
The eventual success of Lord of the Rings revolutionized Fantasy as a literary genre, and created a persistant demand for everything he ever wrote. Christopher R. Tolkien, as literary executor, edited and published his father's copious drafts and notes in a series of books called The History of Middle Earth. I collected almost all of the 13 volumes, and had fun seeing how Tolkien's imaginary sub-world took shape. One observation I can share from all that stuff was that he wasn't kidding about rewriting the book backwards from its original end!


(Click for a larger image.)
Barbara Remington's evocative covers for Ballantine's Lord of the Rings in poster form circa 1968. The Ringwraiths or Black Riders (center) were such archetypical boogiemen that I still find it fun to ruminate about them. Scary as they were, Tolkien set strongly-implied limits on their powers, at least early-on in the book, otherwise those big fast guys would have had no problems seizing the Great Ring from the small slow-moving Hobbits. Later the 'Nazgul' were so powerful they risked undercutting the "willing suspension of disbelief" which Tolkien so aptly identified in readers who enjoyed literary creations like Middle Earth. I highly recommend his essay On Fairy Stories, where he outlines his aesthetics of this form.