Zoom, zoom, zoom -- Day-um, I'm busy today! Intermittent rain with snow falling on the foothills between streaks of blue sky.

Sitemeter Sez: Many visitors from MySpace, and/or search engines that don't track. Someone viewed my picture of lovely Lisa Schaus.

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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 was helping our guest John Houston take pictures of the Inuit Art at the Hockaday Museum of Art last evening. I'll be following him around with a video camera tonight during his gallery lecture, and showing his film all day tomorrow.


Inuit Art at the Hockaday -- see it while it's there!
(We are taking it away after Oct. 13)

Don't Go Away!
Theatre/Theater: Footsbarn Theatre Tour Dates this month --

Montluçon, France
04 October at 20:30h - The Man Who Laughs
05 October at 20:30h - The Man Who Laughs
at Esplanade du château
(in the footsbarn tent)
presented by Saison Culturelle
reservations: tel: +33 (0)4 70 02 56 55
Tickets: From €7 to €8

Parassy (18), France
14 October at 18:30h - The Man Who Laughs
(in the footsbarn tent)
presented by Festival La Cuvée de Parassy
reservations: +33 (0)2 48 24 83 41
Tickets: €15

Stourbridge, United Kingdom
19 October at 19:30h - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
20 October at 19:30h - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
25 October at 19:30h - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
26 October at 19:30h - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
27 October at 19:30h - A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007)
at Glasshouse College
(in the Footsbarn Tent)
Presented by International Mask Festival
Reservations: +44 (0)1384 812812
Tickets: £12.00 (concessions £10.00)
Special offer first 50 tickets purchased only £8.00
www.internationalmaskfestival.com

NOT a morning person, but I was up before 6 AM to make sure we were ready for a 7 AM event. I need COFFEE!

(Back Later)

Oh, that was GOOD! Where was I?

Sitemeter Sez: Many visitors from MySpace, and/or search engines that don't track. Someone viewed my picture of lovely Lisa Schaus.

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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: Back to work, with a vengence! Many public events at the Hockaday Museum of Art AND Flathead Valley Community College this week -- several associated with the Inuit Art exhibit.

Media Watch: REAL Books -- I finished re-reading Joy Chant's Red Moon and Black Mountain, but didn't like it as much as I did 35 years ago. She owes a LOT to Andrew Lang, and I'd guess that the Inklings were part of her reading list too, although she didn't acknowledge them in the author-blurb. However, she has an enjoyable writing style, and I thought she did a good job with The High Kings.
Speaking of key books in the development of Fantasy, ever-exploitive Ace Books reprinted Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen* in the late 60's, explicitly trying to capitalize on the "Tolkien Tradition," since they were foxed out of exploiting Tolkien by the old professor himself. Garner was/is a much more original writer, one of the best storytellers and wordsmiths in the Fantasy Genre, and I recommend his books very highly -- read the Wikipedia entry about him, and follow the links!
*The Moon of Gomrath is something of a sequel to Weirdstone, except that the two books don't really rely on one another. Garner's ability to criss-cross the borders of Faerie with grace and ease is remarkable. I also say that both he and Joy Chant owe much to Evelyn Nesbitt's fantastic novels about children in strange worlds, as did C.S. Lewis.


Jack Gaughan's cover of Ace Books' late 60's reprint of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (1960) -- Andre Norton's testimonial is interesting in that she also dabbled in Nesbitt-like heroic fantasies in her Witch World series from the same publisher. This illustration portrays the Mara, minor but dangerous antagonists in Garner's book. Another version of these monsters showed up a decade later in the half-baked movie Prophecy, but I'll bet this author had nothing to do with that!

My house is still full of brown boxes! Why didn't this stuff put itself away while I was on vacation? It started raining last night, and is still trickling on. The Autumn leaves are turning fast in this corner of Montana, as they were in Utah.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Cary, North Carolina; Makati, Phillipines; Frisco, Texas and Brooklyn, New York (Stozo Da' Klown, perhaps).

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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: Back to work! Many public events at the Hockaday Museum of Art AND Flathead Valley Community College this week -- several associated with the Inuit Art exhibit.

Media Watch: REAL Books -- Joy Chant's Red Moon and Black Mountain with a Frazetta cover. It was originally published as part of Ballantine Books "Adult Fantasy" series. J.R.R. Tolkien's impressive success with Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit apparently convinced Ballantine to take some risks. They had done well with Edgar Rice Burroughs earlier, and reprinted some amazing works by E.R. Eddison, Mervyn Peake, David Lindsay, and Peter S. Beagle in paperback too. Since I was working a full-time industrial job and going to college, I sure liked having a century's worth of Fantasy Literature on the racks to preserve my sanity when I had time to read. Here's a listing of the series itself (thanks to Wikipedia):
1. The Blue Star, Fletcher Pratt (May 1969)
(Never read it, didn't like this author)
2. The King of Elfland's Daughter, Lord Dunsany (Jun. 1969) EXCELLENT!
3. The Wood Beyond the World, William Morris (Jul. 1969) EXCELLENT!
4. The Silver Stallion, James Branch Cabell (Aug. 1969) EXCELLENT!
5. Lilith, George MacDonald (Sep. 1969) EXCELLENT!
6. Dragons, Elves, and Heroes, Lin Carter, ed. (Oct. 1969) (nope -- just didn't read it)
7. The Young Magicians, Lin Carter, ed. (Oct. 1969) (wasn't impressed)
8. Figures of Earth, James Branch Cabell (Nov. 1969) EXCELLENT!
9. The Sorcerer's Ship, Hannes Bok (Dec. 1969) (Great artist, lousy writer)
10. Land of Unreason, Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp (nope)
11. The High Place, James Branch Cabell (Feb. 1970) EXCELLENT!
12. Lud-in-the-Mist, Hope Mirrlees (Mar. 1970) EXCELLENT! -- One of the very best.
13. At the Edge of the World, Lord Dunsany (Mar. 1970) (never saw it)
14. Phantastes, George MacDonald (Apr. 1970) VERY EXCELLENT!
15. The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, H. P. Lovecraft (May 1970) (Well, I liked it)
16. Zothique, Clark Ashton Smith (Jun. 1970) (Lovecraft's friend, but crappy book)
17. The Shaving of Shagpat, George Meredith (Jul. 1970) (nope)
18. The Island of the Mighty, Evangeline Walton (Jul. 1970) EXCELLENT!
19. Deryni Rising, Katherine Kurtz (Aug. 1970) (I wasn't impressed, but my vote hardly counted -- the whole series was a big success.)
20. The Well at the World's End, Vol. 1, William Morris (Aug. 1970) and
21. The Well at the World's End, Vol. 2, William Morris (Sep. 1970) EXCELLENT!
22. Golden Cities, Far, Lin Carter, ed. (Oct. 1970) (tedious)
23. Beyond the Golden Stair, Hannes Bok (Nov. 1970) (nope)
24. The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson (Jan. 1971) (A big disappointment)
25. The Boats of the "Glen Carrig", William Hope Hodgson (Feb. 1971) (never saw it)
26. The Doom that Came to Sarnath and Other Stories, H. P. Lovecraft (Feb. 1971) (some good, some bad)
27. Something About Eve, James Branch Cabell (Mar. 1971) (got tired of him)
28. Red Moon and Black Mountain, Joy Chant (Mar. 1971) EXCELLENT!
29. Hyperborea, Clark Ashton Smith (Apr. 1971) (nope)
30. Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley, Lord Dunsany (May 1971) (didn't finish it)
31. Vathek, William Beckford (Jun. 1971) (almost unreadable, abandoned)
32. The Man Who Was Thursday, G. K. Chesterton (Jul. 1971) EXCELLENT!
33. The Children of Llyr, Evangeline Walton (Aug. 1971) EXCELLENT!
34. The Cream of the Jest, James Branch Cabell (Sep. 1971) (actually liked it)
35. New Worlds for Old, Lin Carter, ed. (Sep. 1971) (no more of these)
36. The Spawn of Cthulhu, Lin Carter, ed. (Oct. 1971) (see above)
37. Double Phoenix, Edmund Cooper and Roger Lancelyn Green (Nov. 1971) (nope)
38. The Water of the Wondrous Isles, William Morris (Nov. 1971) EXCELLENT!
39. Khaled, F. Marion Crawford (Dec. 1971) (nope)
40. The World's Desire, H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang (Jan. 1972) (good names, bad book)
41. Xiccarph, Clark Ashton Smith (Feb. 1972) (nope)
42. The Lost Continent, C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne (Feb. 1972) (never saw it)
43. Discoveries in Fantasy, Lin Carter, ed. (Mar. 1972) (nope)
44. Domnei, James Branch Cabell (Mar. 1972) (nope)
45. Kai Lung's Golden Hours, Ernest Bramah (Apr. 1972) (nope)
46. Deryni Checkmate, Katherine Kurtz (May 1972) (nope)
47. Beyond the Fields We Know, Lord Dunsany (May 1972) (nope)
48. The Three Imposters, Arthur Machen (Jun. 1972) (nope)
49. The Night Land, Vol. 1, William Hope Hodgson (Jul. 1972) and
50. The Night Land, Vol. 2, William Hope Hodgson (Jul. 1972)
(never finished, wished I didn't start it)
51. The Song of Rhiannon, Evangeline Walton (Aug. 1972) EXCELLENT!
52. Great Short Novels of Adult Fantasy I, Lin Carter, ed. (Sep. 1972) (nope)
53. Evenor, George MacDonald (Nov. 1972) (never saw it)
54. Orlando Furioso: The Ring of Angelica, Volume 1, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by Richard Hodgens (Jan. 1973) (nope)
55. The Charwoman's Shadow, Lord Dunsany (Feb. 1973) (nope)
56. Great Short Novels ... II, Lin Carter, ed. (Mar. 1973) (nope)
57. The Sundering Flood, William Morris (May 1973) EXCELLENT!
(nope to all below)
58. Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy, Lin Carter (Jun. 1973)
59. Poseidonis, Clark Ashton Smith (Jul. 1973)
60. Excalibur, Sanders Anne Laubenthal (Aug. 1973)
61. High Deryni, Katherine Kurtz (Sep. 1973)
62. Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson (Oct. 1973)
63. The People of the Mist, H. Rider Haggard (Dec. 1973)
64. Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat, Ernest Bramah (Feb. 1974)
65. Over the Hills and Far Away, Lord Dunsany (Apr. 1974)

Series "left-overs," June-November 1974
1. Merlin's Ring, H. Warner Munn (Jun. 1974) (nope)
2. Prince of Annwn, Evangeline Walton (Nov. 1974) EXCELLENT!

I might give Lord Dunsany another chance today. I enjoyed every George MacDonald book I ever read. Thanks to those prolific paperback publishers of the 60's and 70's, there is an official Fantasy Genre now, with new fans and writers blossoming seasonally like Mallorn Trees in Lothlorien.


An illustration from William Morris' elaborate Wood Beyond the World (1894 edition). J.R.R. Tolkien was free with his written appreciation of Andrew Lang and other fantastic storytellers. Somehow he didn't mention Morris much, if at all, but their writing styles were SO similar -- in both poetry and prose.

I was bumped off my flight from Salt Lake to Missoula, so I hopped on the waiting plane to Kalispell, then drove my car the 2 1/2 hours south to see Elton John and his awe-inspiring band yesterday. I drove back this afternoon. On the way I saw an Osprey by Flathead Lake -- they haven't all migrated yet.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Madrid, Spain (Magpie Music/Dance I think); Palmerston North, New Zealand; Dublin, Ireland (Here's a virtual kiss on the cheek, Eavan).

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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: Make a 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'll have a couple of events at the Hockaday Museum of Art this week, associated with the Inuit Art exhibit.

Live On Stage: Elton John and his wonderful band! Two and a half hours of high-energy Rock Music, leavened by Church Music and Pop Music -- all burnishing Bernie Taupin's gorgeous lyrics, plus a few words written by others. Paul Buckmaster's groundbreaking orchestrations were also played, thanks to the synthesizer. He acknowledged his original bass player Dee Murray when he introduced the rest of the group: Maryland's Guy Babylon - keyboards; Michigan's Bob Birch - bass guitar, vocals; Scotland's Davey Johnstone - guitar, vocals; Ohio's John Mahon - percussion, vocals; England's Nigel Olsson - drums, vocals. The spectacle was impressive, as good Rock should be, but the quality of the Art itself was very high, and pure communication was shared by performers and audience.


The artist formerly known as Reginald Dwight stands on Elton John's Yamaha piano in Missoula, Montana. It was the beginning of the latest tour, and his voice was excellent all night. (Image extensively re-digitized from The Missoulian newspaper.)

Last full day in Utah this vacation -- I'll be flying to Missoula, Montana for Elton John's concert tomorrow. (NOTE: Somehow I overwrote my entry for Wednesday with Thursday's musings. I will blog in real time after I return to Montana.)

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from -- Well, the same places they came from yesterday. Saint Peters, Missouri; Darlington, UK; Emeryville, California; Woodbridge, New Jersey; Brighton, UK; Si Dua Besar, Malaysia.


Speaking of yesterday, here's a snapshot of the Autumn foliage in North Ogden Canyon about 11 AM -- photo by Gary Gentry.

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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: Make a 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: Visit the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, Montana if you are up there.

Theater/Theatre: Another theatrical giant passed away this week -- Marcel Marceau combined Deburau's theatrical character of "Pierrot" with Chaplin's cinematic "Little Tramp" after WWII into a new creation he named "Bip." Marceau was a magnificently trained actor with a double-jointed body who could make an audience crack up for two hours without saying a word. Among the curiosities of his long career was a speaking part in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie, and a record album entitled The Best of Marcel Marceau, where each side is silent for about 15 minutes, followed by live clapping in a theater. The great sequential/comics artist Alejandro Jodorosky worked with him in the 60's.


L) A sketch by the late Al Hirschfeld. (R) Marceau himself onstage. (Images re-digitized from a YouTube Video.)
The best way of honoring Marceau and the craft of silent acting was to avoid imitating his moves and his scenarios, and revise your own stuff if you found similarities, no matter how logical or inadvertent they might have been. Unfortunately, he became unfairly identified with the plethora of less-talented imitators who followed his success. His teacher Étienne Decroux was famous as well, but the latter's stringent ideals of Corporeal Mime were ignored by hundreds of would-be Marceau clones who made the word Mime a laughingstock, or a synonym for obnoxious, under-trained street performers, hiding behind whiteface.
My theater company met some nice people playing that imitation game who were disciplined and charismatic, but the public eventually turned away from them too. There are great original silent actors and mimetic dancers in the US and Europe -- just follow some of my links in the margin. Some of Decroux's concepts are carried on by the Dell'Arte School and disciples of Jacques Le Coq -- you'll find them embedded in the works of successful contemporary organizations like Blue Man and Cirque De Soleil.

I have been doing a lot of driving! During my travels, I saw the Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company; Park City, Utah; The Saturday Farmers Market and 9th & 9th in Salt Lake, and George Thorogood & the Destroyers at the Union Pacific depot in my old home town.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Swift Current, Saskatchewan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; Chesapeake, Virginia; Rome, Italy.

Remembering my friend George-O 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!
Spitfires of the Spaceways
Wilma Deering & Dale Arden to the rescue; Bodacious Princess Aura I; Hapless Aura II; The fiery Emperor Ming; The Orson Welles Rumor Debunked; and BOTH incarnations of Jean Rogers!





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: Make an Autumnal Equinoxial 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: Visit the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell, Montana if you are up there.

Media Watch: My friend Jon Ludwig gave me some copies of VERY obscure albums from over 40 years ago. I enjoyed P.J. Proby's Enigma, and was pleased to read that he still has a career driving his fans and detractors crazy in England.
I am also enjoying listening to San Francisco's vastly-underrated Beau Brummels on those long freeway excursions. Their best songs were so original and well-done that I can handle a few clinkers.
The drummer, Jon Andersen, later had a couple of hit singles with Harpers Bizarre, but the core of the Brummels were singer Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliot. The latter became a Warner Brothers studio musician behind Randy Newman to mention just one of his superb associations. He also put out the excellent album From the City to the Sea under his own name. Valentino paid his bills with Stoneground in LA during the mid-70's. The Beau Brummels reformed in the late 70's with their original Irish rhythm guitarist/bassist. Their epynomous album was excellent, and holds up well today, but that was the last I heard of them.


The historic Union Pacific Depot in Salt Lake. George Thorogood performed upstairs in The Depot Club, built into the north wing, which disappears from this re-digitized picture to the right.