Goldfinch at the box feeder! The deer are fat and sassy, but the local drivers are too careless in the mornings and after dusk -- they have to STOP and WAIT for those single-file lines of critters to finish crossing the road. You're not going to get to work any faster in a wrecked car!

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution during Springtime too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

Media Watch: Cable channel FLIX showed The Space Vampires from about 1966 by fabulous horror director Mario Bava. I'm vague about the date because it was shot in Italy with a couple of American actors playing lead roles, and re-edited and dubbed in Hollywood by kitschy American-International Pictures. I think the dreadful rewriting job was by Ib (Robinson Crusoe On Mars) Melchoir.
However, Ridley Scott borrowed liberally from this film when he directed Alien 15 years later.
Fox Movie Channel played Bob Fosse's brilliant All That Jazz (1979) -- some of the best dancing ever committed to film. (See the picture below.)

In The Community: JEFFERSON"S WALL - AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE
A heartfelt acknowledgement from me to the audience in Kalispell, Montana who shows up for these events -- they come out to hear what our speakers have to say, no matter what their personal beliefs or preconceptions may be.
Discovery Institute flack David DeWolf roundly offended most of this audience with his verbal trickery and constant refusal to define what he meant by "Intelligent Design," and his appalling lack of examples of contributions this "movement" may have give to general knowledge -- especially in public classrooms, where his Institute DEMANDS that "I.D." be treated as the equal of science. He hinted at a couple of points, but the people wanted to hear more, and felt cheated when he repeatedly changed the subject when asked about his points of belief.
I refuse to outline his vacant arguements about "Darwinism" as an "Othodoxy," or his false equivalencies relative to the Dover, Pennsylvania decision, but there were people who showed up, evidence in hand, ready to refute him -- and did.
The audience became fed up with being treated like marks by a carnival barker. Many of them had dealt with lying 10 year olds caught in an inappropriate act, and they were frankly insulted to be recieving this kind of disrespectful treatment from a middle-aged law professor.
Next week, we are presenting Dr. Marci Hamilton, whose thesis will be that Law and the Common Good must prevail over issues particular to religions in a functional society.


Few artistic relationships have been as fruitful or tumultuous as the one between entertainment geniuses Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. All That Jazz was a success, but it followed some trying times after the misfire of Lenny, and the barely non-flop status of Chicago in the mid 70's. Fosse's revue That's Dancing was kind of like a stage version of That's Entertainment -- dances to popular song hits -- hardly breaking new artistic ground, but paying his formidable bills. Jazz made references to Lenny, and Fosse's relationship to Verdon. She WAS able to play a twenty-something in Chicago -- possibly with the help of a perscription for Jazz's co-star Dexedrine; They both LOVED their daughter; Ann Reinking WAS his girlfriend; and Fosse did some of the BEST work of his life ("You sonofabitch," adds Gwen Verdon's character.) just before the near-fatal heart attack -- which he THEN incorporated into what would be his second-to-last movie.

The Great Blue Heron has returned to Middle Foy's Lake! We also had a male Pheasant eating right out of our box feeder on the deck this morning.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution during Springtime too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: A Rotary Club seminar on Business Ethics (and cynicism) at Flathead Valley Community College. We went out over ITV to Libby, Montana -- about 90 miles away. Our guests were John Johnstone, CEO of D.A. Davidson & Company and Dr. Dane Scott of the University of Montana. Dr. Scott Wheeler, retired History professor from West Point was the co-presenter, along with our president Jane Karas.

Media Watch: On TCM (from their web site) -- Anna May Wong (1905-1961) in Piccadilly (1929). A British production, directed by the German filmmaker E. A. Dupont. Wong steals the show as Shosho, a scullery maid in the club who becomes the star attraction. Wong is cool, confident, manipulative, and frankly sensual - a performance that is all the more remarkable at a time when Asian women (including Wong herself) were usually stereotyped in films as evil Dragon Ladies or submissive Lotus Blossoms.
Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong (her name means "Frosted Yellow Willows") in Los Angeles, where her parents ran a laundry. Fascinated by films from an early age, she began acting at 14. A small role in Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924) led to stardom, but fed up with the stereotypical "exotic Oriental" roles, Wong went to Europe in 1928, hoping for better parts. After making two films in Germany, she was cast in Piccadilly by Dupont, who had been working in Britain since 1926.
E. A. Dupont, a film critic turned screenwriter and director, had demonstrated a brilliant visual flair with the German film Variete (1925), and had been signed to a contract by Universal. But his stint in Hollywood was unsuccessful, and he returned to Europe. Like Variete, and his earlier British film, Moulin Rouge (1928), Piccadilly demonstrated Dupont's mastery of camera movement and lighting. From the opening scenes, shot in art director Alfred Junge's enormous and complex nightclub set, through noirish scenes of London streets and alleys, Dupont's direction and Werner Brandes's fluid camerawork are stunning.


Ida Rubenstein as Creatrice de La Pisanelle (1913)
From the painting by de La Gandara (in progress at the time), gown by her favorite dressmakers at the House of Worth.
La Pisanelle was a deliberately decadent fantasy co-created by Gabrielle D'Annunzio where Ida's character was smothered by rose pedals during the finale. The alternate title was Death by Perfume. It was her last major extravaganza before WWI, but she would continue staging her elaborate theatrical pieces from the 20's into the 30's.
Many thanks to Xavier Mathieu at La Gandara's Web Site

Middle Foys Lake is ice-free. Firehouse Pond is ice-free. Little Foy's Lake is ice-free. We saw a pair of Common Mergansers yesterday, and a Great Blue Heron on Saturday. No Bluebirds in our neighborhood yet, but we sighted some by Ashley Creek.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Webmaster's Notes: Xavier Mathieu wrote to me about my Ida Rubinstein site -- he made a nice website about Antonio de La Gandara, the portraitist who was a friend of both Ida and Sarah Bernhardt. Xavier's de La Gandara Website

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution for Springtime too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: AmeriCorps had a statewide meeting at our college over the weekend, and I worked every morning, even though I was sick with a lingering cold. (I'm better now.) It is amazing how these post-teens can grow when they are given their own projects to oversee and worthy tasks to do! Thanks to insightful Bill Clinton for starting this program, curses on stupid George Bush for trying to end it.
Tonight I'm running the tech for a seminar on Business Ethics. (No cynical remarks, please.) Besides sound and slideware, we are going out over ITV to Libby, Montana -- about 90 miles away. Our guests are John Johnstone of D.A. Davidson & Company, Dr. Dane Scott of the U of M, and Dr. Scott Wheeler, retired History professor from West Point.

Media Watch: I had to sleep this sickness off during the last week, so I didn't catch much TV -- I did see Antonio Banderas' Take the Lead last night in a real movie theater, though. It is inspired by the story of Pierre Dulaine, an inspiring energetic Ballroom Dance instructor in New York City who is teaching this art form to High Schoolers there with great success. It was an entertaining, albiet VERY fictional feel-good flick.


My friend Katie Duck, and dancers Vincent Cacialano, Justin Morrison, & Eileen Standley are lighting it up again onstage in Amsterdam, Holland -- with musicians Rozemarie Heggen (contrabass), Colin McLean (electronics), Michael Moore (alto sax, clarinet), & Mary Oliver (violin, viola), plus lights by Ellen Knops.

Middle Foys Lake lost another few acres of ice. Firehouse Pond is ice-free. Little Foy's Lake was difficult to assess, because of heavy rains. The deer thought it was twilight and were out grazing midday yesterday.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Webmaster's Notes: I got a couple of emails from a nice European guy, Patrick Van De Velde, about my Ida Rubinstein site -- mostly about Antonio de La Gandara, one of her portraitists. A French Antonio de La Gandara Website

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution for Easter too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE.
Prof. Robert G. Natelson from U. of M. in Missoula was more of a scholar on Constitutional History last night. He avoided being baited into right-wing rants, and was surprisingly reasonable. He missed a couple of facts, but to be fair who doesn't?
I managed to do sound, run the data projector, and record the event on video. Ivan ran around the hall with the audience mic during Q&A, though!
I'm also videotaping Americorps tomorrow and Sunday, plus another event on Monday night.

Media Watch: The Invisible Ray, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi from 1936 -- Carpathia, Africa, Paris, Radium X, pseudo-science fiction, and murder!


Spitfires of the Spaceways preview: Wilma Deering, Buck Rogers' long-suffering sidekick, got to be a spitfire late in the Buster Crabbe serial from 1938. She was played by big-band singer Constance Moore, and deserved a moment of effective action. Once she let her hair down, all HELL broke loose for the bad guys.

The ice only covers about 60% of Middle Foys Lake. Firehouse Pond is almost ice-free. Little Foy's lake is melting at the edges, but it's heavily shadowed most of the day. The big waterbirds are nesting, and we're watching for Bluebirds!

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution for Easter too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE.
Prof. Robert G. Natelson from the School of Law at U. of M. in Missoula was recently on sabbatical at Oxford University, and claims he researched Thomas Jefferson's writings there. There's a chance this may be an informative lecture if this is the subject, and his research was rigorous. Unfortunately, Natleson has a history of being a right-wing extremist -- who nods and winks at violent threats against state judges who have repeatedly overturned his foolishly unconstitutional ballot initiatives. Will we see a scholar or a demagogue?
I'm doing sound, running a data projector, and recording the event on video. I don't want to run around the hall with an audience mic, though!

Media Watch: I am sick with some out-of-left-field congestion, so I sat back and captured some Flash Gordon sequences for my upcoming Spitfires of the Spaceways page:


Spitfire Number One is undoubtedly Princess Aura (played by Priscilla Lawson), who repeatedly saves Flash Gordon's life, but gets him into serious trouble again and again. She is implacably hostile towards Dale Arden (played by Jean Rogers), even going so far as to hunt her down with the "Sacred Tigron" beneath Ming's palace -- only to see Flash come to Dale's rescue one more time.

The Canada Geese are all over Firehouse Pond. I think they are the chicks who were born there over the last few years. As the ice melts on our lake, more migrating waterfowl are joining the literal crowd in the freshly-open waters. The Mallards are starting their spring rituals too -- lots of boy ducks, with their heads low, running at each other quacking their lungs out.

NEW -- Modern Dance at: Theater X-Net

Featuring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
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!

Charity Alert: Keep that resolution after the Equinox too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: John Rawlings' reception for Sacred Stones; Continued Explorations at the Hockaday Museum of Art was a lot of fun. The multi-media presentation went well, except that I could have used more volume for Andrew Goldsworthy's segment. We also showed Rawlings' own videos of Stonehenge and Michaelagelo sculptures within the Powerpoint presentation. (Edited and spruced-up by ME!) Hockaday Museum's Web Site
Trouble is, we're going to take the whole show DOWN in a month.

(Left) "Rose Window" sculpture and painting.
(Center/Right) John Rawlings and a few of his many friends who showed up at the Hockaday opening of Sacred Stones; Continued Explorations last night.