Weather: TWC shows our part of the USA under rain showers, but it's only beginning to cloud up at 1:00 PM.



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Wildlife: The male pheasants all have big long tails now, and the girls are elusive. Nesting season perhaps? The various ducks are all paired up on Middle Foy's Lake.

Charity Alert: The Hunger Site -- Just click here to DO something!

Media Watch: Nell Shipman's silent epic Back To God's Country was shown on TCM over the weekend. How about a nude outdoor bathing scene in 1919? How about a real baby bear and an equally real honey jar? How about a cast of actors with their hands real full trying to separate the two? How about settings in the Canadian Rockies and Canadian Arctic? How about an Aussie leading man who insists on bathing in the frigid waters of Great Slave Lake every day until he dies of pneumonia?
Nell's movie was a big hit. She used her share of the money to set up a movie company of her own, based in in Spokane, Washington, and later Priest Lake, Idaho. She lost her shirt of course. (Now's the time to make jokes about nudity.)
Here's a few websites about this remarkably adventurous woman:
Nell Shipman - Filmmaker by Joel H. Zemel
The Silent Era
Her Own Museum in Glendale, California!

I read some reviews of Cream's first reunion concert (of four) at the Royal Albert Hall last night. They are just about ready to play the second one as I write this, a third of the world away.
Cream was the first successful power trio, and it's true that they had more chops among them than a martial arts movie festival, but I'll never forget how much better their records were when they recorded with Felix Pappalardi and Tom Dowd, neither of whom are still with us.
Strangely enough, this is one of the best reviews: CNN International

Weather: We haven't had any measurable moisture for most of a week.



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Wildlife: A Bald Eagle perched across from my office on Highway 93, and flew away just as I was taking his/her picture.

Charity Alert: Animal Rescue Site -- A click is as good as a coin!

In The Community: I have a conflict this Friday -- an FVCC banquet plus a reception for the Miniature Show at the Hockaday -- I'll have to shoot just a few photos at the museum, and then run to go set up and man the P.A. at the banquet. Benefit Auction of Miniatures on May 20th at the Hockaday Museum of Art

Media Watch: We are picking up some good ideas from shows like A&E's Sell This House, and HGTV's Designed to Sell et al.
We also see some of the damndest things on these shows -- leopard-spot wall paper, red-on-red-on-red rooms, or forest green striped bedrooms, with forest green solid skirting. The designer on one of these shows walked into that hideous stripey-green room wearing a green striped blouse, a green skirt, and said "This is fun!" (She painted the room a whole different color and scheme though.)
C-Span was a pipeline for right-wing propaganda on Sunday, with the cringing Thomas Friedman doing In-Depth, and a real suck-ass named Brian Anderson telling outright lies while selling his book South Park Conservatives: The Revolt against Liberal Media Bias.
I want to research Friedman's assertion of a "35 hour day" in India, otherwise it was sad to see a fairly good writer acting as an advocate for amoral ruthless economic opportunists, while trying to pretend he was a reporter, but never really listening to objections, or other points of view -- just repeating the party line of his clients.
Speaking of the above, I missed a discussion on Saturday: 2005 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Deception in Politics & Academics -- John Dean, Maureen Dowd, Eric Alterman, Michael Shermer, and Jon Wiener discuss lying, as it is practiced by politicians and academics. They talk about why people lie, why they get away with it, and the consequences of lying. From the 2005 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the campus of UCLA: Eric Alterman, author of "When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences"; John Dean, author of "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush"; Maureen Dowd, author of "Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk"; Michael Shermer, author of "Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown"; and Jon Wiener, author of "Historians in Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud, and Politics in the Ivory Tower." The moderator is Larry Beinhart, author of "Wag the Dog" and "The Librarian."
My guess might be that Sunday was composed of illustrations and examples of those lies and deceptions.

Future Blues: I saw three movies about musicians over the weekend 1) The Last Waltz, featuring The Band; 2) End of the Century, featuring The Ramones; 3) The Year of the Horse, featuring Neil Young and Crazy Horse. I had strong feelings about all of these films, and I'll write something about them, but not now.

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.