Friday, April 16, 2004

Weather: Light persistant rain, and snow above 5000 feet. GOOD!

Wildlife: I have to watch out about feeding birds in the front yard -- sprinkle lightly in nooks and crannys for the ground-feeders, like pheasants, otherwise songbirds crash into the windows from frenzied feeding, flocking, and flying.

Charity Alert: The Breast Cancer Site : Fund Mammograms for Free

Media Watch: Kingdom Hospital's plot is finally moving at a discernable pace. That show needed some humor BADLY, and it finally got it with a separated head, and the decapitated body that is searching for it. At the end of yesterday's episode, a German Shepherd was carting the head around the hospital, and laid it at the feet of two doctors -- right after one told the other, derisively: "If you see anything that seems strange, just reach out and TOUCH it, to make sure its real." (He ran away when the dog started growling at him.) The headless body caused an earthquake by thumping the basement floor in frustration after losing his head again.

At the College: I bought five more books at the sale today: The New Age, Martin Gardner; Tales of Henry James; Filmgoer's Companion 3rd Edition; Introduction to the History of Mathematics, Howard Eves; Cults in America, Wila Appel.
I think I'll take some photos at the Multicultural Fair too. (Prof. Gerda Reeb's Global Friends club).
Done!

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Weather: It looks like it MIGHT rain -- do it! do it! do it! There's new snow on the mountains, at least.

Wildlife: Several flocks of Golden Eye Ducks have landed in Middle Foy's Lake. Ducklings of many kinds will be waddling and swimming in about four weeks.

Charity Alert: The Child Health Site : Help a Child in Need Lead a Healthy, Active Life

Media Watch: I'm reading God's Secretaries : The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson. It's a pretty opinionated historical work so far. I'm glad I didn't live in the early 1600s! Even the people Nicolson seems to LIKE come across as pretty, selfish, and mean-spirited.
This book praises the memory of William Tyndale -- three generations gone, as the King James Bible was being edited -- he wrote (or translated, as it were) the bulk of this bedrock English Bible.
Information about Tyndale: William Tyndale, Bible Translator - Christian Biography Resources
Heres a play about him: Friends of William Tyndale ... History of the English Bible

At the College: An oral reading in the Learning Center, featuring Brian Bechtold and George Cowan.
I think someone read Desiderata -- I was asked to research it -- here's Snopes' story: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (Desiderata Errata)
A book sale! Here's what I bought: The Universe, Isaac Asimov; The Halloween Tree, Ray Bradbury; Mariner IV to Mars, Willy Ley; Trozas, B. Traven; Museum Without Walls, Henry Moore in New York City; Introducing Science, Alan Isaacs; No! In Thunder, Leslie A. Fiedler; Change and Habit, Arthur Toynbee; How to Create New Ideas, Eugene Raudsepp, From the New Criticism to Deconstruction, Art Berman.

I'm going to give Isaac Asimov to Stormy Good, our technical writing teacher, and Henry Moore... to the Hockaday Museum's library. Hockaday Museum of Art - Prime visual arts resource in Flathead Valley of Northwest Montana.

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Weather: It rained most of last night! It's welcome to do it again any time now. (HINT)

Wildlife: Canadian Goslings any day now! They are seriously nesting on Little Foy's Lake and Firehouse Pond.

Charity Alert: The Rainforest Site: Help Save Our Rainforests!

Media Watch: The pilot for Queer Eye For The Straight Guy was on last night. Ted and Carson are the only two left from the first Fab Five, recorded in Boston. Paraphrase: "They may do different things in the bedroom, but after all, gay guys and straight guys are JUST GUYS."

At the College: The Honors Symposium Lecture was about heredity and behavior -- yep, there are correlations, but environment is inseparable from genes as far as human history goes.

At the Art Museum: Staff meeting -- we have a VERY busy spring and summer coming up!
Tomorrow we are hosting the opening of Flathead Community College's Photography Show. Hockaday Museum of Art - Prime visual arts resource in Flathead Valley of Northwest Montana.

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Weather: Too nice, too soon -- we'll be hurtin' if it doesn't start precipitaing like it should!

Wildlife: Haven't seen a deer for three weeks or so, but the birds are going cray-zee with the cracked corn.
We are using fewer sunflower seeds -- the uneaten ones grow up!

Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site : Feed an Animal in Need

Follow Up: I haven't mentioned my VERY talented friends in Duck's Breath Mystery Theater.
Site One: Once was ducksbreath.com
The photo shows (L to R): Leon Martel, Dan Coffey, Bill Allard, Merle Kessler, and Jim Turner.
Their most famous character is Dr. Science (Dan): Ask Dr. Science!
Merle plays Dr. Science's assistant, Rodney, and does a fast-talking commentator named Ian Sholes who has haunted radio and TV for the last 20 years.
Review of a rcent play (with Bill directing): Tuneful 'Broke' picks apart painfully absurd reality
Jim Turner played "Randee of the Redwoods," and other roles on TV, after he moved to NYC.
I've lost touch with Bill, Leon, and Steve, their manager, but here's a not-too-outta-date biography page:
UIAA

At the Collage: Lotsa media today -- Giotto, straight from Italy, on DVD via the computer. (It was in PAL mode, and our TV equipment wouldn't play it.) Later on this evening, the Honors symposium wants a computer/data projector setup at the hotel in the mall! At least I'm getting paid. At the same time, Brian Bechtold is showing You're Telling Me from 1934 with W.C. Fields, for the Film Appreciation class.
First Site: Juggling Hall of Fame - W. C. Fields
2nd Site: W.C. Fields Fan Club
Filmography: W.C. Fields

Media Watch: My wife took me out to dinner last night -- not much TV at all!
Who in da' heck is Gina Gershon? She was on IFC for an hour.
Filmography: Gina Gershon

Monday, April 12, 2004

Weather: No rain for awhile. The sun might be good for gardening, but I hurt my back digging weeds, and the flowers are going to need more water than they're getting.

Wildlife: Turtles are sharing the log in the lake with ducks and red-winged blackbirds.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site : Give Food for Free to Hungry People in the World Click 'em all!

Media Watch: My wife and I are still on a "Bollywood" kick -- she's using the Internet to find info on singers, songs, and actors. I'm SURE that Britney Spears' Toxic song/video stole several elements from Indian movies.
Books: Fighting Back by James Carville; Traci Lords' autobiography -- yes, I agree -- she's a hard-working, talented performer. No ifs, ands, buts, or other anatomical references about it either. World Series 100 Years -- lotsa typos, but tons of information. I liked the pages about 19th Century World Series', Negro League, and Woman's League the best, but I also enjoyed stories of the characters who play, and have played, Major League Baseball.
When I went back to the library, I noticed a LOT of books which had been featured on CSPAN's Book TV -- interesting!

Follow Up: Footsbarn Theatre premiered TWO shows over the Easter Weekend -- Tempest and Footsbarn Cabaret. Don't even THINK that it's the old Broadway play! It'll be original Footsbarn looniness.
Footsbarn - News
Come to think of it, don't expect a the literary Shakespeare either -- his spirit has been a collaborator of Footsbarn for nearly thirty years though! He and Moliere are full-fledged 'ectoplasmic members' of the company.
My friend John Kilby, Footsbarn's long-time manager, has been e-mailing me as he is able -- THANKS!
I phoned one of the original members at her home in Vancouver B.C. She's not on the Internet, so I'll use snail-mail to send her some photos from Denver in 1983 (the last time I saw them).
At the moment, I'm scanning Footsbarn pictures as a beginning to my "Theater Web." I hope to put up a website by May 1, outlining my experiences with this wonderful gathering of humanity. I'll have "How I Got There" and "Where I Went" sections to provide some structure for the rest of "Theater Web."
Besides my own groups, I'm going to include pages about other creative performing artists who I've had the pleasure of knowing over the years, like:
SKA band 004 and their post-punk scene (no Internet link -- yet!)
KRCL-FM Community radio in Salt Lake: KRCL Community Radio
The big-hearted people of Parliament-Funkadelic: George Clinton.com
The Disco Drippers: Old Review from City Search
Street Legal Theater: Street Legal Theater of Salt Lake City, Utah
They are Burning Man participants, and have some amazing aquaintances, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, featuring the AMAZING Philomenia (Stephanie Monseu) and her husband Keith Nelson.
Their Website: The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
An Appreciation: SIGNUM * Bindlestiff Family Cirkus * MARROW
Diect link to media downloads (High Heels & Red Noses is NICE!): Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Web Movies
Here's an exuberent one from "Knockers the Clown" in Chicago: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
A link to "Backwashzine," with some well-written background stories. This show was on 42nd Street, where it belonged, but it ain't happening anymore, because their building is being demolished. (HEY! These guys need some gigs in the NYC area! Can anyone help?): The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus on Times Square