Wildlife: An immature Bald Eagle joined our mature pair on Middle Foy's lake yesterday. -- not their baby, just a migrating adolescent.
Weather: Blue skies, sunshine, plee-ease just GO ... Oh how I wish that it would SNOW!
Sorry, I just had a "Temptation" to misquote those lines.
Charity Alert: The Literacy Site ... and more! Maybe the ability to read isn't enough, nowadays, but it's a better situation than illiteracy. (See emotional manipulation issues below.)
When I was at the Red Cross giving blood yesterday, one of the staff was bemoaning "too many donations" to Tsunami Relief. Send your money to Oxfam and others who want to stick around and help the people who have to rebuild their lives in Sri Lanka, Sumatra, etc.
Media Watch: I watched a TV movie called Not In This Town, based on an outbreak of hate crimes in Billings, Montana which were especially directed at Jewish people. The movie was typically manipilative, and necessarily fictional in it's conversational details, but that's TV -- very minimal content, and lots of broad-brush emotions.
My friends at The Working Group made a rather more sober PBS documentary about those events, and the community's response, called Not In Our Town.
Here's their Website: Working Group tapes
Not In Our Town ... tells the uplifting story of how the residents of Billings, Montana, joined together when their neighbors were threatened by white supremacists. Townspeople of all races and religions swiftly moved into action. Religious and community leaders, labor union volunteers, law enforcement, the local newspapers and concerned individuals stood united and spoke loudly for a hate-free community, proclaiming in no uncertain terms "Not In Our Town!" This critically acclaimed PBS special sparked a national campaign against hate crimes that continues to grow each year.
Not In Our Town II ... briefly recaps the Billings story and tells six compelling new stories about people working to create hate-free towns, cities, workplaces and schools. A Klan rally is countered with a diversity celebration; citizens work with police to address hate crimes; young people discuss how hate crimes affect their lives; office workers discover that improved communication skills can ease racial tensions and create a more harmonious workplace; people come together to rebuild burnt churches in the South; and a town finds that preventing hate before it starts is the best solution.
Not In Our Town Study Guide (.pdf)
I just finished a book about newspaper comic strips, published about 1995, when there was some hype about "100 years of comic strips." The medium actually predates Hearst's Yellow Kid by generations. Robert Beerbohm, Michael Feldman, and others are doing the long-overdue scholarship.
That being said, there were some interesting stories, insights, and illustrations in the oversized paperback, but damn, it was hard to read -- some of the most fractured editing I've ever seen. The title isn't really important.
Then is then, now is now, but it's good to remember mistakes, and know what propaganda looks like -- Here's an item that's sweeping the Blogoshere:
Daily Kos: U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote: Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror
by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 3-- United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam's presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.
According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.
The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.
Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president.
A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson's policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu...
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Monday, January 31, 2005
Charity Alert: Remember, there's six good organizations linked to this URL: Animal Rescue Site
Wildlife: One small dead deer on the Foy's Lake Road this morning, in the westbound lane. Drive carefully, dammit -- deer collisions cost hundreds of human lives and millions of dollars every year, plus most of them are preventable.
Weather: 50 degrees (F) almost daily -- pleasant, but potentially destructive at this time of the year.
In the Community: I found a solution to our "icy breath" problem from last Friday. We videotaped our Current Events footage on a nearby hill, overlooking the Stillwater River, in a wooded area recently donated to the college. There's a house, stable, and barn there, and the weather was just a tad bit nicer!
We will be moving Eric Kaplan's photographs from the Hockaday's vaults to the walls of Flathead Valley Community College tomorrow. It took me two hours to wrap them all in bubble-wrap last Saturday. No, it's not a travelling show, either -- Eric's gotta pick 'em up when this exhibit is over.
See the archive: Hockaday Exhibits -- Centennial; Autumn/Winter 2004
Theater Update: I had to whip up a brochure for Footsbarn so that Cheney and Mills had something to show prospective promoters. Footsbarn will still be at the Guthrie Theater in mid-June, but whether they'll be able to stick around the States for awhile is unclear at the moment.
Footsbarn Traveling Theatre's website: Footsbarn Theatre
Good Guys: Cheney and Mills -- Maskapades etc.
Guthrie Theater: New building on the Mississippi I'm wondering if/where Footsbarn will be setting up their tent?
Media Watch: The Merry Widow (not the Strauss opera) on TCM -- with young Maurice Chevalier, Edward Everett Horton, Sterling Holloway, and Jeanette MacDonald -- delightful!
Book TV -- Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe January 29, 2005
Simon Singh discusses his book, "Big Bang," at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. Mr. Singh talks about the development of the theory of the Big Bang and describes the early disagreements over the theory that emerged within the scientific community.
Witty and fun -- he even plays a segment of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven backwards, "Satanic messages" and all, to demonstrate how we percieve what we want to percieve, even when the things we want to percieve aren't there.
The Iraqi elections -- I have to be hyper-skeptical about everything I've seen, heard, and read about this event. Why? Because that whole hideous war has been driven by lies and deception. If things actually went better than anyone expected -- I'll be truly happy.
The true importance of yesterday's acts of bravery, murder, and tragedy will be determined by grim reality, not by hyper-saturated news media or corrupt politicians.
An example -- Morning Edition on National Public Radio was completly devoted to this subject, which meant that a lot of simpering propaganda was mixed with whatever real news came from Iraq, and nothing else was covered -- shamefully cringing journalism.
Wildlife: One small dead deer on the Foy's Lake Road this morning, in the westbound lane. Drive carefully, dammit -- deer collisions cost hundreds of human lives and millions of dollars every year, plus most of them are preventable.
Weather: 50 degrees (F) almost daily -- pleasant, but potentially destructive at this time of the year.
In the Community: I found a solution to our "icy breath" problem from last Friday. We videotaped our Current Events footage on a nearby hill, overlooking the Stillwater River, in a wooded area recently donated to the college. There's a house, stable, and barn there, and the weather was just a tad bit nicer!
We will be moving Eric Kaplan's photographs from the Hockaday's vaults to the walls of Flathead Valley Community College tomorrow. It took me two hours to wrap them all in bubble-wrap last Saturday. No, it's not a travelling show, either -- Eric's gotta pick 'em up when this exhibit is over.
See the archive: Hockaday Exhibits -- Centennial; Autumn/Winter 2004
Theater Update: I had to whip up a brochure for Footsbarn so that Cheney and Mills had something to show prospective promoters. Footsbarn will still be at the Guthrie Theater in mid-June, but whether they'll be able to stick around the States for awhile is unclear at the moment.
Footsbarn Traveling Theatre's website: Footsbarn Theatre
Good Guys: Cheney and Mills -- Maskapades etc.
Guthrie Theater: New building on the Mississippi I'm wondering if/where Footsbarn will be setting up their tent?
Media Watch: The Merry Widow (not the Strauss opera) on TCM -- with young Maurice Chevalier, Edward Everett Horton, Sterling Holloway, and Jeanette MacDonald -- delightful!
Book TV -- Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe January 29, 2005
Simon Singh discusses his book, "Big Bang," at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. Mr. Singh talks about the development of the theory of the Big Bang and describes the early disagreements over the theory that emerged within the scientific community.
Witty and fun -- he even plays a segment of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven backwards, "Satanic messages" and all, to demonstrate how we percieve what we want to percieve, even when the things we want to percieve aren't there.
The Iraqi elections -- I have to be hyper-skeptical about everything I've seen, heard, and read about this event. Why? Because that whole hideous war has been driven by lies and deception. If things actually went better than anyone expected -- I'll be truly happy.
The true importance of yesterday's acts of bravery, murder, and tragedy will be determined by grim reality, not by hyper-saturated news media or corrupt politicians.
An example -- Morning Edition on National Public Radio was completly devoted to this subject, which meant that a lot of simpering propaganda was mixed with whatever real news came from Iraq, and nothing else was covered -- shamefully cringing journalism.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Wildlife: The two Bald Eagles dragged a fish out of the aereator pond on Middle Foy's Lake, and it was a big ol' thing -- about two feet long -- took 'em about an hour to finish eating it.
Weather: Since this unseasonable thaw began, the rains have melted most of what was once a decent snowpack. Chill out, please!
Charity Alert: The Rain Forest Site -- someone needs to pump some oxygen into our air!
Media Watch: A pretty good Queer Eye, with the "Fab Five" traveling to London. That riff of the show taking place over one day gets pretty strained though -- the client's apartment (flat) was a mouldy mess, and needed many layers of elbow grease and nasty chemicals to clean up.
It's too bad that the British version of that show hired such a bunch of standoffish stiffs as hosts -- the NYC crew is a delight to watch -- maybe the former group are just too "English" for a suburban American to readily understand.
In The Community: Taping the college's Current Events video today -- it's sunny outside, but just cold enough for the announcer's breath to show. Gotta think of something -- don't want her nose to turn red either.
Weather: Since this unseasonable thaw began, the rains have melted most of what was once a decent snowpack. Chill out, please!
Charity Alert: The Rain Forest Site -- someone needs to pump some oxygen into our air!
Media Watch: A pretty good Queer Eye, with the "Fab Five" traveling to London. That riff of the show taking place over one day gets pretty strained though -- the client's apartment (flat) was a mouldy mess, and needed many layers of elbow grease and nasty chemicals to clean up.
It's too bad that the British version of that show hired such a bunch of standoffish stiffs as hosts -- the NYC crew is a delight to watch -- maybe the former group are just too "English" for a suburban American to readily understand.
In The Community: Taping the college's Current Events video today -- it's sunny outside, but just cold enough for the announcer's breath to show. Gotta think of something -- don't want her nose to turn red either.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Weather: It's bloody RAINING today! We had an "icy road" advisory yesterday, and the college declared a "snow day," so that all the slackers could sleep in once more before the semester got serious. Temperatures are in the mid-forties (F), but the dirt roads around here are at their slipperiest under these conditions, and there are many of them.
Charity Alert: The Child's Health Site -- Just click to show it's sponsors that "eyeballs" see this site!
Wildlife: The male Pheasants are getting huge, and their tail feathers are getting longer and brighter. Merlins are still hunting around the neighborhood too. Over the weekend, one of the Bald Eagles landed in our yard for a moment -- we think he was after the Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk) who was safely in the branches of a friendly tree.
In The Community: The Central School Museum opened it's new Regional Indian Culture Exhibit. I met Gil Jordan, the new director of the NW Montana Historical Society, and let him know that I wanted to quit doing their website, but with a smooth transition to another volunteer. Sooner the better -- there's some politics behind the most recent exhibit I wish to avoid completely. (The site is still going to LOOK good!) NW Montana Historical Society
Our David Shaner Retrospective and Susie Arthur's Roots of Rhythm II exhibit, featuring portraits of Jazz musicians, will open tomorrow at the Hockaday Museum of Art. Hockaday Museum of Art - Prime visual arts resource in the Flathead Valley of Northwest Montana
Ya' know what? Besides work here at the college, that event is ALL that's going on tomorrow, Jan. 20, 2005, as far as I'm concerned.
Media Watch: Henry Rollins, ex-Punk Rocker, and a smarter man than I, has his own half-hour show on IFC. Darryl Hanna was one of his guests, and she did alright reviewing a new film with him. He also had at least two other not-so-famous guests doing the same thing. Not bad, not bad.
Charity Alert: The Child's Health Site -- Just click to show it's sponsors that "eyeballs" see this site!
Wildlife: The male Pheasants are getting huge, and their tail feathers are getting longer and brighter. Merlins are still hunting around the neighborhood too. Over the weekend, one of the Bald Eagles landed in our yard for a moment -- we think he was after the Kestrel (Sparrow Hawk) who was safely in the branches of a friendly tree.
In The Community: The Central School Museum opened it's new Regional Indian Culture Exhibit. I met Gil Jordan, the new director of the NW Montana Historical Society, and let him know that I wanted to quit doing their website, but with a smooth transition to another volunteer. Sooner the better -- there's some politics behind the most recent exhibit I wish to avoid completely. (The site is still going to LOOK good!) NW Montana Historical Society
Our David Shaner Retrospective and Susie Arthur's Roots of Rhythm II exhibit, featuring portraits of Jazz musicians, will open tomorrow at the Hockaday Museum of Art. Hockaday Museum of Art - Prime visual arts resource in the Flathead Valley of Northwest Montana
Ya' know what? Besides work here at the college, that event is ALL that's going on tomorrow, Jan. 20, 2005, as far as I'm concerned.
Media Watch: Henry Rollins, ex-Punk Rocker, and a smarter man than I, has his own half-hour show on IFC. Darryl Hanna was one of his guests, and she did alright reviewing a new film with him. He also had at least two other not-so-famous guests doing the same thing. Not bad, not bad.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Let's Talk About Favorites: That's why we list them, do we not?
Mike Gold sent me an email about the Flash Gordon serials:
My favorite comics movies ever; always have been. There has yet to be a movie villain with half the appeal of Charles Middleton. And, of course, when he takes on Chico Marx in Duck Soup...!
Agreed -- Charles Middleton was abolutely stunning as Emperor Ming!
He had a great voice, and got to chew up some of the wackiest scenery in movie history. Priscilla Lawson was perfect as Princess Aura, his hell-cat daughter too.
The over-the-top barbariousness of the first series, echoing the flavor of the early Flash Gordon comic strip, has never been equalled.
Middleton was also in a crazy backstage mystery flick called Murder at the Vanities with Victor McLaughlin. The actual Vanities was a 1920's/1930's New York revue that featured leggy chorus girls and variety numbers. Charles Middleton explicitly asks for "the prop machine gun," and mows the Duke Ellington Orchestra down as part of his act.
Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site: We make trouble for these critters, lets help 'em out too!
Weather: Twenty below (F) this morning. Those weather services were right. (%$#@!) We've had more than a foot of snow since Wednesday morning, but luckily got about 30 hours to clear the sidewalks and roads before the deep-freeze hit us. The Missoula region, about a two hours drive south of us, was pounded with snow all day yesterday.
Wildlife: We are spreading out suet for the birds on the rail of our back deck, as well as peanuts. The deer are very active in the dawn hours -- watch out, that's DRIVE TIME! I saw a spiked buck this morning. Those antlers were supposed to have dropped by now.
Media Watch: Michael Moore on IFC, conducting some kind of town meeting. I somehow got the idea that it occurred after the horror of 11/2/04.(Note from later in the day: The show was At the Angelika, which usually runs shallow semi-advertisements. Not this time!)
I was underwhelmed by Queer Eye's show for women. The crew redecorated the client lady's house, and bought her new clothes, but it was all superficial. (The client even said so.) It wasn't a good imitation of Straight Guy at all.
Mike Gold sent me an email about the Flash Gordon serials:
My favorite comics movies ever; always have been. There has yet to be a movie villain with half the appeal of Charles Middleton. And, of course, when he takes on Chico Marx in Duck Soup...!
Agreed -- Charles Middleton was abolutely stunning as Emperor Ming!
He had a great voice, and got to chew up some of the wackiest scenery in movie history. Priscilla Lawson was perfect as Princess Aura, his hell-cat daughter too.
The over-the-top barbariousness of the first series, echoing the flavor of the early Flash Gordon comic strip, has never been equalled.
Middleton was also in a crazy backstage mystery flick called Murder at the Vanities with Victor McLaughlin. The actual Vanities was a 1920's/1930's New York revue that featured leggy chorus girls and variety numbers. Charles Middleton explicitly asks for "the prop machine gun," and mows the Duke Ellington Orchestra down as part of his act.
Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site: We make trouble for these critters, lets help 'em out too!
Weather: Twenty below (F) this morning. Those weather services were right. (%$#@!) We've had more than a foot of snow since Wednesday morning, but luckily got about 30 hours to clear the sidewalks and roads before the deep-freeze hit us. The Missoula region, about a two hours drive south of us, was pounded with snow all day yesterday.
Wildlife: We are spreading out suet for the birds on the rail of our back deck, as well as peanuts. The deer are very active in the dawn hours -- watch out, that's DRIVE TIME! I saw a spiked buck this morning. Those antlers were supposed to have dropped by now.
Media Watch: Michael Moore on IFC, conducting some kind of town meeting. I somehow got the idea that it occurred after the horror of 11/2/04.(Note from later in the day: The show was At the Angelika, which usually runs shallow semi-advertisements. Not this time!)
I was underwhelmed by Queer Eye's show for women. The crew redecorated the client lady's house, and bought her new clothes, but it was all superficial. (The client even said so.) It wasn't a good imitation of Straight Guy at all.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The Semester BEGINS! It's snowing like the White Devil himself, and the forecasters say that we're due for sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures for the next couple of days. Since Christmas we have had a constant parade of snowstorms -- it's starting to mount up, if you get my drift.
Charity Alert: The Children's Health Site All you have to do is CLICK!
(Donate actual $$$$$ to an ethical Tsumani Relief Organization if you can.)
Wildlife: The deer are welcome to whatever the birds don't eat on the ground below our feeders -- they just move on, since those flying rascals don't leave much.
In The Community: We are working our tails off at the Hockaday Museum of Art, trying to get our shows ready for the next opening reception on January 20. I'm going to be using my new SLR-style Sony DCS 5828 digital camera that night.
Hockaday Museum of Art -- New Year, New Shows! See the EXHIBIT page.
I'm turning THIS particular site over to someone else soon, she's bright and capable, their museum has a new director, and I can't do it for no money anymore: NW Montana Historical Society
Flathead Valley Community College almost had to declare a "snow day" on the first day of the semester. That would be hilarious -- FVCC Home page
Media Watch: Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Girl had an inauspicious "sneak preview" last night. It's a new show, but acting out, and being a character doesn't necessarily mean a person actually has character.
Make up your own mind: Meet the Gal Pals
Cable-ubiquitous actress Gina Gershon showed up again -- as co-star in a pretty-good movie called Picture Claire with Juliette Lewis and Mickey Rourke. It was a crime flick, with enough movement to keep things interesting, but most of all, it was made with a unique visual flair that appealed to me. Congrats to director Bruce McDonald.
Reminder: I'd never heard of Gina Gershon before she was a guest on Dinner For Five last August. The "indie" networks have been showing her films and TV shows since then. She's also a voice actor on the less-than-laudable Tripping the Rift cartoon series. She's frankly just another actor, but since I wish all of those folks well, I'm tracking her newly-revived career on this blog as a curiosity.
C-Span: Ain't watchin' no Chris Hitchens, thank you. Jackasses are only good as pack animals. CNN: Good riddance, _ucker Carlson! (Let's hope PBS cancels his waste of spectrum there too. MSNBC is welcome to him.)
Charity Alert: The Children's Health Site All you have to do is CLICK!
(Donate actual $$$$$ to an ethical Tsumani Relief Organization if you can.)
Wildlife: The deer are welcome to whatever the birds don't eat on the ground below our feeders -- they just move on, since those flying rascals don't leave much.
In The Community: We are working our tails off at the Hockaday Museum of Art, trying to get our shows ready for the next opening reception on January 20. I'm going to be using my new SLR-style Sony DCS 5828 digital camera that night.
Hockaday Museum of Art -- New Year, New Shows! See the EXHIBIT page.
I'm turning THIS particular site over to someone else soon, she's bright and capable, their museum has a new director, and I can't do it for no money anymore: NW Montana Historical Society
Flathead Valley Community College almost had to declare a "snow day" on the first day of the semester. That would be hilarious -- FVCC Home page
Media Watch: Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Girl had an inauspicious "sneak preview" last night. It's a new show, but acting out, and being a character doesn't necessarily mean a person actually has character.
Make up your own mind: Meet the Gal Pals
Cable-ubiquitous actress Gina Gershon showed up again -- as co-star in a pretty-good movie called Picture Claire with Juliette Lewis and Mickey Rourke. It was a crime flick, with enough movement to keep things interesting, but most of all, it was made with a unique visual flair that appealed to me. Congrats to director Bruce McDonald.
Reminder: I'd never heard of Gina Gershon before she was a guest on Dinner For Five last August. The "indie" networks have been showing her films and TV shows since then. She's also a voice actor on the less-than-laudable Tripping the Rift cartoon series. She's frankly just another actor, but since I wish all of those folks well, I'm tracking her newly-revived career on this blog as a curiosity.
C-Span: Ain't watchin' no Chris Hitchens, thank you. Jackasses are only good as pack animals. CNN: Good riddance, _ucker Carlson! (Let's hope PBS cancels his waste of spectrum there too. MSNBC is welcome to him.)
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