Damn freezing weather has started again -- couldn't wait for October to end, could it?

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Cranston, Rhode Island; Paisley, Renfrewshire, UK; Seattle, Washington; Brooklyn, New York; Davenport, Iowa; Houston, Texas; Warsaw, Poland; Kankakee, Illinois; Oneonta, New York; Union City, California; Cachoeirinha, Brazil; Los Angeles, California; Lexington, Virginia; Miami, Florida; Zurich, Switzerland; Sofia, Bulgaria; Zaanstad, North Holland; Moscow, Russia; Fresno, California; Easton, Pennsylvania; Missoula, Montana; Chicago, Illinois; Courcouronnes, France (Britanny); Ankara, Turkey; Jamaica, New York (Yo Stozo!); Vancouver, British Columbia; San Diego, California (Yo Justin!); Buffalo, New York; Denver, Colorado; Somerville, Massachusetts, and Chartres, France.

Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
High school seniors all over the community college today. I was running sound in one room, and missed most of the seminars, but our near-future students were all pumped up and enthusiastic.
The Climate Change series drew a few people on the night of the Presidental debate. Dr. Dominick DelaSalla was excellent, and the crowd was pretty thoughtful. The ever-decreasing jackass contingent is slowly learning that nobody's taking the trouble to attend these lectures in order to drink saccharine kool-aid, stirred with waters of denial.

Road Trip: It started out rainy, and there was new snow on the Rocky Mountains, but once I cleared Marias Pass the weather was sunny and warm throughout Eastern Montana. Lewistown is an oasis of green on the high plains -- the downtown seemed vibrant and the houses were well-kept. There was also an ESPRESSO BAR on Main Street!

The tiny Lewistown Art Center, just across from the big courthouse.
I saw Raptors hunting in the neighboring fields, a few Deer, Pheasants, and migrating Geese. I listened to a couple of fairly substantial Verdi operas off the satellite -- Macbeth and Masked Ball, the latter featuring tenor Jan Pierce of New York City, whose long streak of performances singing the Star Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium will never be broken. I stumbled on the tail end of a Samuel Barber number with a nice chourus, but true to form, a couple of over-wrought lines of atonal English ruined everything.

Historic Fort Benton, Montana, navigational head of the Missouri River in the days of steam. Acting Governor Meagher, an Irish/American patriot, died under mysterious circumstances, falling from a boat like this one, moored at about this same spot around 1870. It's likely he was just drunk, but he'd made a lot of enemies out in the Wild West to boot.
Oldies DJ Cousin Brucie featured Dion DiMucci promoting his latest album, but although I never really liked that guy's singing very much, it was worth listening because he experienced Rock & Roll up close during its golden era -- I never knew he did Abraham, Martin, and John in one take -- good job! I rather enjoyed Dion's performance of that song on the Smothers Brothers TV show when it was new, but I also liked 'Moms' Mabley's serio-comic version a few months later too.

Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road exhibition was safely delivered to its temporary home at Liberty Village Art Center in Chester, Montana.
Media Watch: Speaking of opera, Lucia di Lammermoor is on the radio tomorrow! Let's see this programme again!

Crazy Lucia redefined Grand Opera in the mid-18th Century. Neither Verdi, nor Wagner, nor Puccini boiled over the top with as much tragic style as Donizetti did in his masterpiece -- it is SO tragic it seems like black comedy, but those melodies are nice!

It started raining yesterday, first in short showers, then gradually clouding over and getting all persistent about it. I hope the roads will be suitable for high-speed Eastern Montana driving.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Garrucha, Spain; Aberdeen, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; Orange Park, Florida; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Somewhere in Germany; Madrid, Spain; Jamaica, New York; Norristown, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York; Manchester, UK; Mineola, New York; Stockton, California; Toronto, Ontario; Groningen, Holland; Bristol, UK (Long John Silver's hometown); Speer, Illinois; Singapore; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Hamilton, Ontario, and Karlsruhe, Germany.

Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
My road trip to Lewistown and Chester, Montana is happening tomorrow.
My community college is hosting a writers' conference, and I'm doing tech for it all day Saturday. They've had workshops the last three days, and are very nice people. One class launched over a half-dozen new bloggers on this very same service!

Media Watch: I saw the Vice Presidential debate -- so did nearly 70 Million others. Within ninety minutes after it was done, there were polls and statistics all over the media which showed public win/loss perceptions -- Among Dems/GOPs: Their side 80%, the other side 20%; Among Undecideds/Independents: Biden 70%, Palin 30%;
The amount of data gathered and correlated in such a short time astounded me.

Foggy San Francisco, one of America's cultural hubs.

Montana Public Radio is playing Handel's Aridante (1735) from the San Francisco Opera. Ah! The transition of Baroque Music into Classical Music in Europe during the so-called Enlightenment, when the despots er, kings and queens stopped being enlightened and started partying, but turned their governments over to smarties, if they were lucky, or sycophants, which was likely, and debauched their way to the Revolutionary Era.
This opera is set in a violent fantasy Neverland called Scotland, but is not quite the mad romp that Lucia di Lammermoor was. It has its charms however --
Act I True Love, Treachery, and a Masked Ball.
Act II Denunciation, Madness, Suicide, and a Ballet.
Act III Return of the Good Guy, and Sword Fights.

Crazy Lucia premiered in 1835, as did Aridante, but Donizetti revised his score for this French version which debuted in 1839 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance in Paris.

More great Autumn weather, but an unconfirmed report of a Mountain Lion in my neighborhood -- Get outta there, kitty!

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from the United Kingdom; An unnamed military base in the United States; Burlington, Vermont; Houston, Texas; City of London, UK; Salamanca, Spain; Breckenridge, Texas; Lampertheim, Germany; Canberra, Australia; Chicago, Illinois; Fort Worth, Texas; Bradenton, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Daytona Beach, Florida; Wagga Wagga, Australia; Rochester, New York; Jacksonville, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina and Toronto, Ontario.

Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
My road trip to Lewistown and Chester, Montana is set for this Sunday.
My little community college's Climate Change series featured Pastor John Lund doing a back-and-forth discussion about ethical and theological perspectives, not only about climate change, but how humanity takes on, or avoids, working towards common interests. The meeting went on for almost two hours, just because so many people had something to say about "tending the garden."
A contingent of jackasses was on hand, as usual, but their agendas were not on the agenda, and nobody was interested in fighting with them. One particularly excitable fellow tried to advocate Gavin Menzies's theory of Admiral Zhen's Ming Chinese fleet not only discovering America (completely discredited), but mapping an ice-free Arctic Ocean on their way back to China in 1421. The discussion moved on.
One thing that happened was a consensus that, no matter what was going on with the climate, society could do a lot better than it does in coping with its collective problems.

Media Watch: Trash A Go Go -- It's too bad ex-champ Mark drew such an untalented partner on Dancing With The Stars, but it's just one example of "happens to the best of them." (His ol' man is stuck with the name Corky, and Cloris Leachman to boot.) Lance Bass dominates the lady who is supposed to be his teacher -- bad move if he wants to learn, or win. Once the next few schlubs are gone, he'll be next, and he's no schlub. My current top four -- Brook, Misty, Toni, and Warren, but watch out for that kid who's dancing with Julianne Hough!

Kalispell, Montana's Conrad Mansion Museum just after sunset on Sept. 28, 2008. It's a few blocks away from my house -- if you see any Pumas lurking around, be sure to let me know!

September has been a great month for weather -- no complaints. I'm still surprised by the variety of wildlife this close to the town center.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Madrid, Spain; Bedford, New Hampshire; Jamaica, New York; Montreal, Quebec; Columbia Falls, Montana; Bloomington, Indiana; Spokane, Washington; Houston, Texas; Yokohama, Japan; Wetzlar, Germany; Tallinn, Estonia; Belmont, Wisconsin; Birmingham, Alabama; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Hermosillo, Mexico; Louth, Ireland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Aliso Viejo, California; New York, New York; Theodore, Alabama; City of London, England (Neighborhood next to the Bloody Tower); Seattle, Washington; Hayward, California; Tujunga, California (My theater company stayed there in the 70's); Tracy, California; Orland Park, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Alpena, Arkansas; Tolland, Connecticut and Calgary, Alberta.

Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
My road trip to Lewistown and Chester, Montana is set -- Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road tour will move along next Sunday.
Dr. Steve Running from the University of Montana spoke at my little community college to lead off our Green Committee's Climate Change series. Dr. Running shared a Nobel Prize with Al Gore -- along with 600 other writers and umpteen editors.
His graphs were scary -- things have been getting MUCH worse since the 80's on many "fronts." (gallows humor) He brought up ONE optimistic point -- even though hearing the scientific data often causes despair, people might do well to remember how science and technology revolutionized communications, and hopefully could do the same for energy.
The full-house audience asked some very thoughtful questions, but there were a couple of agenda-driven loudmouths on hand. Luckily the ol' professor knew how to handle willfully-ignorant hecklers, and the organizer disarmed them with niceness before they wasted any more time. There's another Climate Change lecture on Tuesday night, and at least four more after that.

Media Watch: What good are circuses without bread? This serious economic crisis brought out the worst in the crooks who made this mess. I hope last Friday's televised presidential debate motivated concerned voters to reject McShame and his miserable cronies -- who have nothing to offer except lies and more theivery. His tactics of interfering in recent crises without power, or even qualifications, has been counter-productive to say the least. Trying to weasel out of these public debates so he can interfere some more, although he's expressly unwelcome in the circles making decisions, is insulting in the extreme. One of McShame's major puppet-masters, or so-called advisors, is Phil Gramm -- who provoked the most severe meltdown since the Great Depression with his kleptomaniac legislation, and called his country "a nation of whiners" when things began to fall apart.

Now for something completely different -- Phillip Glass' opera Appomattox had some beautiful musical passages, but was more like a lecture than a work of art. I enjoyed hearing it on Montana Public Radio, but I was doing other things. The choral pieces caught my attention more than anything else. The somewhat-turgid Hayden and Handel operas from the 1700's have been beating contemporary works on the air this year. Les Miserables proved that modern music can create High Art, so today's composers are NOT inherently limited by the form. There's room at the top, boys and girls -- go for it!

Ch-ch-changes: Actor Paul Newman passed away from cancer at 83. He once said that he'd rather be remembered for his philanthropy than his movies, but he DID make a number of memorable films (and some dreadful dogs). He led a GOOD life -- RIP.
Songwriter/Producer Norman Whitfield died without reaching seventy (diabetes) -- his list of accomplishments is astounding --
* 1963: "Pride & Joy" - Marvin Gaye
* 1964: "Too Many Fish in the Sea" - The Marvelettes
* 1964: "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" - The Velvelettes
* 1966: "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" - Temptations
* 1966: "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" - Temptations
* 1966: "(I Know) I'm Losing You" - Temptations
* 1967: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" - Gladys Knight & the Pips
* 1967: "I Wish It Would Rain" - Temptations
* 1968: "Cloud Nine" - Temptations
* 1969: "Runaway Child, Running Wild" - Temptations
* 1969: "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" - Marvin Gaye
* 1969: "I Can't Get Next to You" - Temptations
* 1969: "Don't Let The Joneses Get You Down" - Temptations
* 1970: "Psychedelic Shack" - Temptations
* 1970: "Ball of Confusion" - Temptations
* 1970: "War" - Edwin Starr
* 1971: "Smiling Faces Sometimes" - The Undisputed Truth
* 1971: "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" - Temptations
* 1972: "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" - Temptations
* 1976: "Car Wash" - Rose Royce
Whitfield also co-wrote with Barrett (Money) Strong, and supported the great Junior Walker in his later career.

One of the first five albums I ever bought was Soul 001 -- Jr. Walker's Shotgun, pictured above with a photo of his combo, and some gratuitous Go Go dancing. The record was straight-up FUNK, and every cut was a hit single or the flip side of one -- the title song made Number One in mid-1965. Junior Walker (Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr.) sang like Wilson Pickett and blew his saxophone like King Curtis -- he had to be one of the greatest frontmen of all time.

A little cooler since the rains, but the days are still nice. The mama Whitetail and her two spotty fawns raced me on South Woodland last night.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Huxley, Iowa; Auburn University, Alabama; New Haven, Connecticut; Fort Myers, Florida; Canton, Ohio; Schinveld, Holland; San Diego, California (YO Justin!); Fairmont, West Virginia; Greensboro, North Carolina; San Leandro, California; Du Quoin, Illinois; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Columbus, Ohio; da' Bronx, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Plus a few dozen more -- THANKS!)


Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
Scheduling my road trip to Lewistown and Chester, Montana for another stop on Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road tour.

Media Watch: If you think I'm going to watch, or listen to, that poop-throwing chimp who sits in the White House, you don't know me very well. I hope John McShame's stupid stunt of suspending his campaign and the debates will doom him AND his gang of thieves in the upcoming election.

Mo' Trash A Go Go -- Dancing with the Stars did in three days what they did in four last season, and got two schlubs off early. Misty May-Treanor and Brooke Burke have the inside track. Cloris Leachman and Susan Lucci have both gotta go before they embarrass themselves any further. Chef Rocco got his arse in gear, to Karina Smirnoff's credit and relief. Jeffrey and Edyta are gone. Lance Bass and Toni Braxton are still there. Kim Kardashian is still damn weird. (What does she DO?) Don't count-out young Cody Linley and champion Julianne Hough. Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson might just join Misty and Brooke on top. Maurice won't go much further if he doesn't listen to Cheryl Burke. Ted McGinley's goofy partner might possibly have been his downfall, but unfair memories of his loathsome character on Married With Children might have poisoned the viewers' attitudes too. Except for John O'Hierley, comic actors haven't done all that well.

Except for guest-appearances, like Ashley Del Grosso's last night, Edyta Sliwinska won't be struttin' her stuff any more this season. These ballroom dancing professionals give the show some substance, and make Trash A Go Go a delight.

Whew! Two days of frequent rain, bird migrations, leaves turning colors and occasionally falling.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Jamaica, New York; Vigevano, Lombardia; Dunellen, New Jersey; Fairbanks, Alaska; Williamston, Michigan; Nashville, Tennessee; Salinas, California; New Windsor, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Sestri Levante, Italy; Parker, Colorado (named after South Park's Trey Parker??); Denver, Colorado; Bydgoszcz, Poland, and Seattle, Washington

Check out 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: Current shows at the Hockaday Museum of Art include Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, plus Ace Powell -- Ace of Diamonds and Native American Interpretations from our permanent collection.
Scheduling my road trip to Lewistown and Chester, Montana for another stop on Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road tour.

Media Watch: Trash A Go Go -- Dancing with the Stars packed the floor! Olympic champ Misty May-Treanor was off to an auspicious start and model Brooke Burke was excellent. The two "TV Legends" seemed to be bad choices -- Cloris Leachman was funny, but she's just too old to risk further degradation of her health this way. Susan Lucci was pathetically disconnected, overly-botoxed, and physically unable to perform. Chef Rocco showed zero ability, but a pleasant demeanor. Comic Jeffrey Ross was really funny, but Edyta couldn't take off enough clothes to distract from his ineptitude. Singers Lance Bass and Toni Braxton did well, the latter recovering from heart disease, Pretty Kim Kardashian was someone strange to me. Young actor Cody Linley drew Julianne Hough, but seemed to be forgotten. Comic actor Ted McGinley wasn't as good as his score. NFL marauder Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson COULD work out. Sprinter Maurice Greene was OK at times, but when he was bad, he took Cheryl Burke down with him.

Somebody say DANCING?

THIS is the real thing!
A rough draft of a digital mashup featuring my friend Katie Duck in NYC last November with Alex, Justin, and J.C.

Katie's Autumn Schedule:
September 15 to October 17 Amsterdam Magpie Theatre/Dance improvisation classes
October 2-5 Poland
October 6-11 Amsterdam tutor + stage coordinator
October 12 Mad Sunday Muiderpoort Theater
October 20-24 Denmark Danish National School of Dance
November 3-7 Biloba Spain
November 8-18 Colorado
November 19-21 New York movement research workshop
November 22-30 road trip (research project)
December 1-6 workshops San Diego
December 13-14-15 - England
December 20 Nijmegen jazz venue
December 27-31 Amsterdam workshop