The ice is melting on Middle Foy's Lake and Firehouse Pond! The Canada Geese are looking for nesting spots, and the Mallard Ducks are eating right off our lawn. The Bald Eagles still show up everyday, but usually only one at a time. We have at least two pairs of California Blue Jays, and the Seagulls sometimes join the Ducks in the yard.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution after the Equinox too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The reception for John Rawlings' exhibit Sacred Stones; A Continuation starts at 4 PM Thursday at the Hockaday Museum of Art. The Media Center at FVCC has done all the tech for his multi-media presentation, and I'll be there to run it! Hockaday Museum's Web Site

Media Watch: I've been doing an online Flash class, if anyone wonders why I'm slacking in the blogosphere lately. (I'll dig up a nice picture tomorrow.)
Here it is:


Evelyn Nesbit's beauty trancends the century.
(Above) As one of Florenz Ziegfeld's Flora Dora Girls
(Below Left, Center)Portraits with roses circa 1904
(Right) Nesbit as a Charles Dana "Gibson Girl"
Photos by Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. from Assumption College
Read this cool history Web page © 1997 and 1998 by James R. Lowe

Eagle Stories -- Over the weekend, one of the Bald Eagles flew up into a nearby tree -- one without leaves. I took a look through my spotting scope, and to my surprise, a Red Tailed Hawk was attacking the Bald eagle by repeatedly diving at it from above. The Eagle screamed and postured, but it couldn't defend itself where it was, so it retreated back onto the ice. We are pretty sure there is a Red Tailed Hawk nest in the evergreens across the lake now. Yesterday the big male Bald Eagle was chewing on a carcass near the rapidly-enlarging pool in the middle of our lake. This morning, the neighborhood dogs were scavenging what was left.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution thru the Equinox too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: We set up John Rawlings exhibit Sacred Stones; A Continuation at the Hockaday Museum of Art yesterday. Our director had a scary drive from the Charles Russell Auction in Great Falls -- about a foot of snow fell on the plains east of the mountains, and there were more accidents than she ever wanted to see happening before her eyes as she steered her way home. The Flathead Valley High Schools and Children's Art Shows are opening this Thursday -- I'll be tacking all that stuff on the walls for the rest of the week. Hockaday Museum's Web Site

JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE; Lecture II-- Dr. Daniel Dreisbach from American University in Washington D.C. did NOT speak in depth about Thomas Jefferson -- in fact he tried to sell a particularly LAME thesis that the phrase "Wall of Separation" is systemetically used to suppress legitimate religious expression.
He relied on a half a dozen different rhetorical fallacies to make his arguement -- incomplete, cherry-picked quotations, ad homenum attacks, undocumented and actually false associations with known pariahs, like the Ku Klux Klan, plus partial, inconclusive "horror stories" of obvious injustices which were corrected long before they went to court.
After he finished his sales pitch, and spoke to the audience, it turned out he was a pretty nice guy who usually thought about what he had to say, and was fairly well-read -- all of which demonstrated that he KNEW his "Wall of Separation" harangue was an intellectual sham. Lawdy Lawd, I'm glad I didn't buy his book!
You may well ask: If he was so much in error, what are these errors, and why are they erroneous? If this series was a debate, there would have been someone on hand who was supposed to rebut his points, but it wasn't a debate, and my job was to be a technician, not an antagonist. My own suitability for debate of this kind is severely limited by my impatience toward right-wing pandering. I used to shovel pig manure as a Boy Scout for a local charity farm, and I'd feel as if I were doing the same thing if I had to even pretend I respected Driesbach's abuse of historical methodology.

Media Watch: I need to put up something aesthetic --


A digital drawing of current RDT dancers: (Top to Bottom) "Leaping" Lynne Listing from 1999; Chien-Ying Wang and Thayer Jonutz from 100 Years of Modern Dance; Angela Banchero-Kelleher from a 1998 brochure.

When the lake ice shifts, it makes a deep noise that is getting more frequent as the average temperature rises. Rain puddles on top of the ice reflect the colors of the ever-changing skies in baffling ways. The Bald Eagles still haunt the edge of the pool for fish, as the Geese and Ducks paddle at a discrete distance. There haven't been any Deer tracks on the lake for awhile now.

Funky pictures coming SOON to: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution thru the Equinox too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE was a big hit on it's first night. Harry Fritz of the University of Montana-Missoula is a friendly and engaging speaker. He mostly had to dissemble The Founding and Founders of America, because most of what we think we know about the Revolution and the Constitution is folklore rather than factual history. I'm not sure he got the point across that established religions lasted into the early 1800's in some states. I think he gave the audience a sense of how remarkable the leaders of our Revolution were, and how they saw a definite division of social purpose between institutions of government and religion in their relatively "unchurched" times. He quoted a lot of James Madison after nobody in the room would answer his challenge for one quote from the "Father of the Constitution" from the audience.
There were about 300 people there, and we're having another on MONDAY -- Dr. Daniel Dreisbach from American University in Washington D.C. is going to speak in depth about Thomas Jefferson -- if there is a keynote lecture, this one's it!
So far I am videotaping the lectures as well as running the sound. I got away with it last night, but I'll be operating a data projector and laptop in April, and I'll be looking for one of these Honor Students to help me then -- I can't be the Clone Ranger in three places at once.

Media Watch: Overcommitment Blues -- Mimes on Miming Edited by Bari Rolfe; Panjamdrum Books 1979 -- I knew this lady from the International Mime Festival in 1974. I became aware of the book via an email from Dr. Lou Campbell. He and she initially organized the Festival and then it spun completely out of anybody's control. I believe she's passed away now. I got it through Interlibrary Loan and have just enough time to xerox the sonofagun. Gawd knows when I'll get the time to properly go through the thing!
I wanted to write a review of Repertory Dance Theatre's concert in Whitefish by now, but I bogged myself down in graphics and plans for Theatre X-Net. Here goes a fast one!
Linda C. Smith, RDT's Artistic Director, acted as presenter and narrater for the evening from a podium at rear Stage Left: Duets to Brazilian - Indian Music -- Three duets to percussion and singing, plus a finish with four dancers. Chien-Ying Wang is a light, graceful lady with a long-torsoed body. She danced with middleweight-sized Thayer Jonutz. Big, blond Chara Huckins danced with big, blond Joshua Larson. Angela Banchero-Kelleher and Lynne Listing have contrasting, but equally graceful styles. Lynne is bigger, and a sense of play comes through her movements. Angela is small, sharp, and precise with an energy that often outshines the lights onstage. They did a lot of tight leaps, rotations, and turns in unison and offset timing. Nicholas Cendese joined Chien-Ying, Thayer, and Joshua in the final section.
The audience LOVED a piece set in a supposed church where the dancers each break decorum with a series of uncontrollable fits of character-driven movements -- Chien-Ying was in the lead-off spot, and got everyone laughing first. Angela, Joshua, and Nicholas followed with their own turns at-bat.
Angela did a tour-de-force solo from RDT's longer Chairs anthology -- lots of energetic arms and swinging legs on one body!
Speaking of chairs, the furniture came out in a group for Yvonne Rainer's Chair/Pillow dance from 1969 -- it was all tension and release, performed in a round-robin to one of the greatest records ever made: River Deep/Mountain High, as sung by Tina Turner, in the famous Gold Star Studios with Darlene Love, The Blossoms, Hal Blaine, and Jack Nietzche. The mercurial Phil Spector's masterpiece, during which he reportedly gave Ike Turner $10,000 to stay the hell away from the recording studio.
One more piece by Yvonne Rainer literally brought tears to my eyes -- Trio A (1966, from The Mind is a Muscle) started as a lecture-dem, continued as a 'silent' dance, with the dancers' bodies making all the music, and finished with accompaniment by one more of the best records I have ever heard in my entire life -- The Chambers Brothers version of In The Midnight Hour. The funky thundering rolling drums in the song act as counterpoint to the gentle rhythms of the dance. The sensual soulful delivery of Lester Chambers and his siblings balance out the cool intellectual demeanor of the dancers, but it all sinks in.
(Lester's daughter Alexis C. Martinez lived here a year ago, but she moved. I was sorry she couldn't have experienced THIS!)
After the intermission, the sad knowing wit of Dorothy Parker about the trainwreck of love was the soundtrack for an athletic duet between Chien-Ying and Thayer, as Lynne and Joshua spoke their lines sitting on a bench behind them, facing away from the audience.
Linda has always seemed to have a culinary flair in the way she presents a dance concert to me, and she served up the best thing last -- an intense percussion-driven epic dance called Sky Light by Laura Dean. It started as a series of spinning solos, then mutated into a group dance with more spins and combinations. It continued until your breath was almost gone from watching -- but then the group strode forward with varied looks of determination, humor, and wicked joy because the level of intensity was about to take a literal quantum leap. Each dancer rose and fell in synchronized turns and twists as the clattering drums pounded through a lingering climax that shook the soul of all in attendance.
The applause was heartfelt and happy -- this kind of Dance Theater was unfamiliar to most of the audience, but they were astounded, entertained, and transformed by their experience.


(Left) I have known Linda C. Smith since the late 60's
Her dance company continues to lift me into trancendental states of being.
(Right) The arms of Angela Banchero-Kelleher mingling with Chien-Ying Wang, and Lynne Listing in the tangle above.

The deer are scavenging in force as Spring begins to bring forth the new greenery. It will still snow many times before anything flowers.

Some Funky pictures coming to: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution in March too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: Every Day Is Veteran's Day: Front Line Poetry
(You'll need FLASH 8) The Honors Symposium starts on Thursday at the hotel at the Kalispell Mall. (I'll be doing the tech) -- JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE
Dr. Harry W. Fritz, professor of history and chairman of the Department of History at The University of Montana-Missoula, will open the series March 16 with a presentation entitled, "The Founding and Founders of America." He teaches courses in early American history, American military history and Montana history and was named The University of Montana's Teacher of the Year twice. In 1985 and 1987, he served in the Montana House of Representatives and served in the Montana Senate in 1991 and 1993.

Media Watch: Something Weird Video's Extra Weird Sampler Collection -- Less than five bucks and a bargain at half the price!
Movie trailers showing some real dreck, mixed with odd curiosities -- Marihuana, The Weed With It's Roots In Hell; Tease A Rama and Varietease, featuring Burlesque queens from the Mid 50's, like Tempest Storm, Lili St. Cyr and Bettie Page; Jayne Mansfield and her husband, bodybuilder Mickey Hagarity, in separate flicks. Some of this stuff is fun, but many of them, like Hershell Gordon's movies, are sadistic and exploitative. I never ever liked seeing women brutalized, but I didn't mind seeing ugly ol' men getting paid back for dissing beautiful ladies -- Oops! I'm over 50 now, and never was all that handsome when I was young. Aaack!


Something Weird delivers just what they say they will! The image on the left is from a Japanese movie made in 1964. The great model Bettie Page graces the cover of Varietease, which originally starred lingerie tycoon Lili St. Cyr in 1954. Ms. Page is more famous now than she was in the 50's
Read the article HERE from Huffington Post

Bird migrations are coming through at a faster rate -- the damn Starlings are decimating our suet feeder, though, and the Pileated Woodpecker left in disgust yesterday. We are seeing and hearing Red Wing Blackbirds, Stellar's Jays, California Blue Jays, Canada Geese, Red Headed Ducks, and Goldeneye Ducks.

Some Funky pictures coming to: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution in March too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: Every Day Is Veteran's Day is now up in HuffPo's Contagious Festival. Click on Veteran's Day in the list, or try this link:
Front Line Poetry
(You need FLASH 8 to see the video.)

Media Watch: PURE GUILTY-PLEASURE TRASH -- Get Crazy (1983) from Alan Arkush, who made the excellent Rock N' Roll High School in 1979. (Arkush's The Temptations from 1998 isn't too bad, but not exactly factual either.) Ed Begley Jr, Fabian Forte, and Bobby Sherman are the villians in Get Crazy. Malcolm McDowell plays "Reggie Wanker," a jaded Rock Singer, Stacey Nelkin playe "Suzie," the little sister -- Lou Reed sings a song to her. There are so many cameos and bit players that it's easy to get lost. An actor named Bill Henderson plays a blues singer who tells God at his guitarist's funeral: If you don't make a place for him in Heaven, I'm gonna come up there and KICK YOUR ASS! The Turtles' great lead singer Howard Kaylan plays "Capt. Cloud," an acid guru, The Doors' John Densmore plays a drummer whose solo is so long that Reggie Wanker has time for an orgy in the dressing room. The artist Mary Woronov and her film-making partner Paul Bartel are all over the place too. There are more drug jokes than I could count, and some of them were even funny. There was a strange pimp-like character with glowing red dots instead of eyes showing under his broad-brimmed hat, distributing cocaine to the musicians, and spiking the water cooler with LSD. An obscure, sprawling L.A. group called Fear did a fast-punk version of Hoochie Coochie Man which was definitely OUT- THERE.
When Lou Reed is the most normal person in the movie, you've got a strange flick!


Joey Ramone (Jeff Hyman) stepped up and took over the wonderfully stupid and entertaining film on the left from actress P.J. Soles. (She actually handed it to him with glee.) The movie on the right is obviously a lot more vulgar, and it's stupidity often overpowers it's wit.

The Buck Deer was sprouting a pair of spiky antlers as the Whitetails loped along up the hill from Little Foy's Lake. We've had mixed, mostly-rainy weather in the Flathead Valley, but the snow continues to pile up in the mountains.

Some Funky pictures coming to: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution in March too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: 100 views by midday today!
Every Day Is Veteran's Day is now up in HuffPo's Contagious Festival. Click on Veteran's Day in the list, or try this link:
Front Line Poetry
(You need FLASH 8 to see the video this month.)

Media Watch: St. Paul Sunday had a fabulous string ensemble playing last Sunday morning on Montana Public Radio. Book TV had some irritations in store for me -- some author tried to denigrate Muhammed Ali's heroism because of the champ's association with the all-too human and fallible Elijah Muhammed. Sorry -- Ali's life has always been a story of rising above the forces which could have/should have held him down. Even Ali's own moments of bad judgement couldn't undo his accomplishments -- SUCKAH!!
More Book TV -- Francis Fukuyama was on for three hours. He spoke about the failures of the Iraq War, which is good, but he never really got around to addressing why he chose to become famous as a NeoCON buzzword hack. Here's my post from DailyKos:
Lost Opportunity with Fukuyama
I tuned in CSpan to see what color Francis Fukuyama's new leaf had turned. I discerned some humilty in place of the insufferable smugness he once projected, but despite all the information about who he WAS, I saw almost nothing about what he has LEARNED, since he gained fame as a pitch man for NeoCON buzzwords.
One of my suspicions was confirmed -- he was influenced by that sold-out phony Allan Bloom, scholastic pimp of "Closing the American Mind," double-speak creator of "The Western Canon," and it's false corollary "Dead White Males," plus the corrosive fallacy named "Political Correctness." (Which is always a fault of your OPPONENT.)
I've had nothing but contempt for Fukuyama -- as just another right-wing shill (with a flair for language) perverting public discourse, until he turned coat on his fellow NeoCON fantasists recently, as the real world burned our "buts."
I was tempted to call in, but the nature of the other calls made me leery of seeming like one more braying jackass. I couldn't have concealed my contempt for him, or gotten to a discussible point across without writing a reasonable question ahead of time.
"Are you sorry for being a Madison Avenue-style academic whore now , you bastard?" would NOT invite thoughtful introspection on his part, I'm afraid, but that's what I was hoping to hear somewhere in that show -- better framed, of course.
There were some intelligent callers, I must say, but too few. It looked like slow-pitch softball time.
I saw some of Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman (1989) on the Extreme Movie Channel last night. It was Shintaro Katsu's final movie in the series after 27 years of making them. The 2003 film by Takaishi Kitano borrowed the gray hair, and some "dark" comedy bits.


About a year ago I blogged about these five Raccoon pups eating out of our bird feeder. Well I finally scanned the picture, and here it is! Mama Raccoon was on the deck to the left and below this snapshot too.