Wildlife: Yellow-Headed Blackbirds are joining the Red-Winged Blackbirds at the backyard feeders. They screech rather than sing, but they're very pretty to look at.



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Weather: It got down to 19 degrees(F) last night. "Froze my hose!" -- outside, of course.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site and five others -- give with just a few clicks!

In The Community: The final Honors Symposium for 2005 was Public Opinion and the Media: Looking Glasses or Fun House Mirrors? by Dr. Christopher Muste, an adjunct professor at the University of Montana and poll analyst for the Washington Post.
He pointed out good news/bad news aspects of different issues. One instance showed that the general public's once-positive opinion towards "privatizing" Social Security has become opposition as facts, figures, and debates have become common in the mass media. Another sad instance shows that a majority of Bush supporters believe that experts think that 1) Iraq had WMD, and 2)Iraq was involved in 9/11.
Real experts agree that neither of the above were true at all, nor was there any evidence to support them, but the public has been slow in reversing their misconceptions.
Chris Muste didn't say it, but lies can have an awfully long life when they are stated as facts. He was a genial speaker, and very magnanimous -- even when speaking of people like William Kristol -- a blackguard who would just as soon see most U.S. citizens working behind barbed wire in prison camps, so long as he prospers by dealing self-serving propaganda for the world's amoral masters-in-training.

Media Watch: We taped a show about "Punk Rock" off of PBS last night. Whatever musical movement it represents started thity years ago. My sister chatted with the leader of the "Circle Jerks" at a gig in Salt Lake last month, while her son was lurking outside the 21-and-over "Velvet Glove" club without her knowledge. (He was glad to talk to someone near his own age for a change.)
I re-read Isaac Asimov's View From A Height, and by coincidence, neutrinos were back in the news forty years after I read about them in this book. Fermi Lab Experiments

Wildlife: A Redtail Hawk was hunting at the crest of Buffalo Hill -- trouble is, that's also Highway 93 -- Watch out for cars and vice versa!



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Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site, and FIVE others.

Weather: Several days of almost-too-nice weather, but we got a rain shower right after sunset yesterday, and it's snowing in the mountains this morning.

In The Community: I was taking pictures at the extremely busy intersection of U.S. Highways 2 and 93. There are plans to put art work on each of the four corners, but the process is just beginning, despite all the rumors and lobbying over the last few years.
The David Shaner Exhibit is finally over at the Hockaday Musum of Art. As we were setting up our annual Auction of Miniatures, the local artists brought in their pieces, and about one person in four said "Oh, I missed seeing Shaner's show."
(We had it on display for four months -- y'all have to do YOUR part too.)
The deadline is approaching for applications for our VERY successful Arts in the Park open air exhibit/sale on the last week of July, so the procrastinators are flooding the phone lines. Most of them will be on time, but previous years are any guide, there will be people asking to be included from now until after the event is over. (It's often mistaken for other outdoor craft shows, and sometimes even the NW Montana Fair.)
Hockaday Museum of Art
The final Honors Symposium for 2005 is tonight: Public Opinion and the Media: Looking Glasses or Fun House Mirrors? by Dr. Christopher Muste, an adjunct professor at the University of Montana and stringer for the Washington Post.
I'm sure that everyone will come with an opinion -- seeing someone speak to each of those will be interesting.
(He and his wife were talking about bicycling in Glacier National Park too -- be prepared for snow, folks.)

Media Watch: Speaking of the subject above, I saw an interesting thing on CBS Evening News last night. During a report about angry Islamic radicals in England, there was a taped sequence of a bunch of loudmouths leading a chant which mostly consisted of the phrase "...Go to Hell..." The reporter's voice-over came in immediately afterward, but you could see and hear an obviously concerned Muslim gentleman telling the chanters how "shameful" their actions were -- right to their faces -- and those punk kids were back on their heels, with their ugly mouths shut, as he was admonishing them.
I frankly wonder if a producer intentionally hurried the reporter's commentary in order to emphasize the hatefulness of some individuals in the British Islamic community, while literally burying the decency of others under news-speak.
(I'm also very grateful that the older guy's response was left in, to be seen and partially heard. Some ethical technician might have counter-sabotaged someone's bad intentions.)
I've said it before, I'll say it again -- TV is a hazardous way of getting objective information because its interplay of sounds and images works strongly on viewers' emotions, and time tends to be hurried, or otherwise altered, to maintain "interest."

TCM played Elizabeth and Essex with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn last night -- Gawd! What a wretched flick -- the dialogue was as bad as Chaplin's Limelight, or a Roger Corman drive-in special. (Speaking of which, Vincent Price was one of the villans in Essex.)
I was told by an aquaintance of Ms. Davis that she bragged about loading up with excess jewelry and intentionally knocking out the drunken Mr. Flynn while filming a scene where the script required a slap. Cast morale must have been lower than Death Valley.

Wildlife: I saw a big butterscotch-colored fox on Buckboard Lane, at the junction of Foy's Lake Road, hunting in the drainage ditch among the cattails.



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The Rain Forest Site -- spare a little oxygen?

Weather: Today is bright and clear. Yesterday we had mixed rain, snow, and sun, but in the local drainage of Ashley Creek, the moisture level is about 25% of normal.
Our homeowners association is taking the developers of a new neighboring housing project to court, otherwise the law says we'd have to wait for our wells go dry before initiating any action.

Media Watch: We saw that Bride and Prejudice was playing at the Strand Theater last night -- and ran out to see it before it left town. (There were only three teenaged girls in the audience besides us.)
It was filmed in Amritsar (India), Goa, London, and Los Angeles by Gurinder Chadha, the director of Bend It Like Beckham. Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai is a wonderful actress, and the rest of the cast is very good indeed. The dialogue was all in English, and everyone seemed to have fun with the song-and-dance numbers. The use of color was gorgeous!
One criticism -- the male protagonist (played by Martin Henderson) wasn't particularly appealing. His basic character was never clearly drawn, and his actions tended to be awfully reprehensible. Whatever goodness he possessed was described rather than shown. The screenplay may have been adapted from Jane Austen, but it was crafted like a Harlequin Romance -- par for the course in Bollywood, but Ms. Chadha is capable of better than that.
The music was alright, with singer/dancer Ashanti performing most of the lead vocals and doing a brief number -- Bollywood stylings are a current Pop fad, after all. The nice lady at 'The Strand' gave us a copy of the movie poster too!
Informative Review Page
The Movie's Official Flash Site (rubbish)

In The Community: The opening reception for our annual FVCC Photography Exhibit at the Hockaday Museum was low-key, but fun. (I went over and shot some event photos after the movie.)
The Hockaday Museum of Art
The Honors Symposium last Wednesday was entitled The Dollars and (Non) Sense of Defense Spending and was presented by Stanford University graduate Dr. Karen Anderson, Political Science Professor at the University of Montana in Missoula.
Eisenhour's designated "Military Industrial Congressional Complex" is corrupted in the vast sums of money needed for re-election, furnished by the greedy business people who bid for the lucrative contracts supplying the military. When the Pentagon asks for so much, Congress gives them even more -- despite the fact that many of those additional things are un-needed, un-wanted, and contrary to national security needs.
Retired General VanSickle, an elderly gentleman, wanted the rest of the audience to know how the Pentagon procurement proccess worked from HIS point of view, and got to tell us. His information made Dr. Anderson's points even more clear, and scarier.
Next Week -- Karen's husband, Christopher Muste (a Washington Post writer) will speak on Public Opinion and the Media: Looking Glasses or Fun-house Mirrors?
On A Lighter Note: RAVES about FVCT's adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull

"...I'm speechless..."
Joel Siegel, The Today Show

"...hard hitting..."
Steven Seagal, star of Under Siege

"...soaring..."
Jonathan Livingston Seagull

"...made my day..."
Don Siegel, Director of Dirty Harry

"...a wake-up call..."
Robert Siegel, National Public Radio host

"...worth the gamble..."
Benny (Bugsy) Siegel, founder of The Flamingo

"...super..."
Siegel and Shuster, comic strip creators

"...plays like a guitar..."
Corky Siegel, blues musician

"...a slam dunk..."
Larry Bird

"...legendary..."
Brigham Young

Wildlife: A literal cloud of shining, dark blue swallows were gobbling insects over the lake yesterday afternoon between alternating squalls and sunlight.



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Charity Alert: The Animal Rescue Site

In The Community: An adaptation of Anton Chekov's The Seagull , set in pre-WWI Montana instead of pre-WWI Russia, is playing at my college. I had NOTHING to do with it, except for a TV interview with David Ackroyd, the director, but I'm making lotsa Mormon Cricket/Seagull jokes!
The penultimate Honors Symposium for 2005 is this Wednesday -- Dr. Karen Adams, political science professor from the U of M in Missoula on The Dollars and Non-sense of Defense Spending.

Media Watch: I'm reading The Future As History from 1960 -- pretty optimistic in it's opening statements, but accurate in it's observation that actual events can be depressingly surprising, when people expect something else.
Most of the TV shows I saw this weekend were concerned with home repair and design. That %$#@! master bathroom of mine is still %$#@!ed up! My attempts to fix it just made things worse, too. I wish the television could do it for me.

Wildlife: A big Bald Eagle soared over Middle Foy's Lake yesterday morning. OK -- you're in the blog, birdie, if that's what you wanted.



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Weather: A millimeter of snow all over my neighborhood this morning, and a frozen birdbath -- one clear and sunny Friday was unfolding everywhere else I could see.

Charity Alert: Click here and help somebody: The Hunger Site

In The Community: Well, it looks like I'm still working for the Hockaday Museum of Art. Since I never really quit, I'll call it a scaling-back of my duties -- more grunt-and-groan, plus some digital photography. Hockaday Museum's Web Site
Peter Held from A.S.U. in Tempe, Arizona did a beautiful illustrated lecture about David Shaner, the man and the artist. Some people travelled hundreds of miles to hear it, and see Shaner's exhibit before it is removed later this month. (HINT!)
Right now, I'm off to deliver a mini-lecture about Footsbarn Theatre, India, and Indian Culture (including Bollywood movies).

Media Watch: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in Texas reinforced some stereotypes with a somewhat recalcitrant client who was a real cowboy -- uhh -- horse trainer.
I started reading Galactic Derelict by the late Andre Norton, who died not long ago at the age of 92. She had class -- a solid writer in an often-shallow genre. Did she ever break new ground? No, but she grew a damn good garden without many weeds.
Ursula K.LeGuin wrote this on her website:

In Memoriam: Andre Norton

My first published novel was an Ace Paperback Double — the kind where you read the book to the middle of the book and then it stopped, The End, and you turned it over, and there was a whole other novel starting upside down on the other side. It may sound ridiculous, but for fifty cents it was a bargain. Fifty cents was pretty much what the author got paid, also.
Anyhow, it was my first published novel, and I was proud of it, but nowhere near as proud as when I got a letter about it from Andre Norton. The letter is in my files at the U. of Oregon now and I don’t remember the words, only that she praised the book discerningly, and encouraged me to write more. As she was, in the mid 1960’s, a Major Person in the field of imaginative literature, it seemed miraculous to me that she had taken the time from her own work to write a newcomer at all — let alone telling them, hey, it’s good, write more!

I treasure the memory of that letter, and the kind, shy, brilliant, and generous woman who wrote it. It was completely characteristic of her. — Ursula K. Le Guin

Wildlife: Turtles are starting to share the log-in-the-lake along with the Mallards. These cold-blooded reptiles are more reliable signs of Spring than Robins.



Visit: A Tale of Two Movies

Charity Alert: Child Health Site -- DO something, even if it's just clicking a mouse!

Weather: A little moisture every day, and snow sticking on the foothills just over my head.

Media Watch: I'm reading a reprint of Kingsly Amis' New Maps of Hell from 1960. It is an early critical survey of Science Fiction/Fantasy by a competent writer from outside the field. My friend Brian W. Aldiss wrote the more comprehensive Million Year Spree a decade and a half later, and revised it as Billion Year Spree in the 80's.

In The Community: Flathead Valley Community College's Honors Symposium presented Dr. John Wilkerson from the University of Washington's Political Science Department last night. He spoke on The Politics of Health Care in America. It wasn't the best lecture in the series, but it made the point that the USA spends more for HEALTHCARE than any other country in the world without having the best HEALTH in return for all that money.
He didn't say so, but I will -- The Healthcare Industry is skimming our inflated bills like a crooked casino, and paying off our politicians to keep things this way.

Next Big Thang: Peter Held's lecture on David Shaner at the Hockaday Museum of Art Thursday night at 5:30. Exhibits at the Hockaday Museum