A very wet frontal system is passing over us -- rain and occasional snow. Some flakes were almost as big as my hand, but it hasn't stuck so far. Mama Deer with triplets sighted at Dry Bridge Park.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Santiago, Chile; Louth, Ireland; Salt Lake City, Utah (How're things in the old hometown?); Los Angeles, California; Winston Salem, North Carolina; Curitiba, Brazil; Hamburg, Germany; Seattle, Washington; Madrid, Spain; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Oakland, California; New Delhi, India (Yep, looking for Rani Mukerji!); Katowice, Poland and Athens, Greece.

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 including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!


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: The Hockaday Museum of Art's Autumn Salon, with 116 pieces on display. We also have Crown of the Continent and Ace of Diamonds gracing our walls.
Voting may be affected by the dreary weather, but this is our country's most important election since 1932, and the adults HAVE to win, or our future will be bleak indeed.



Media Watch: Trash A Go Go is starting to look like General Hospital, there are so many illnesses and injuries. Brooke Burke and Derek Hough deserved their score of 30. Susan Lucci has no outstanding aptitude for dancing, plus a grueling work schedule that prevents her from improving much anyway. I'm not sure the group competition is such a good idea, but it took a little less time than a second round of partner dances.
Most of the omnipresent political ads are ridiculous, libelous, or both -- I'll be glad when those things are are GONE!
Sixty Minutes returned to its tradition of insightful reporting again for a few moments with a report about neural computer controls -- a technology which is in its infancy, but can do so much for communicating with ALS and stroke victims.

Fair & Balanced -- The Adolescents:

Political satire from 2008 over originally uncopyrighted art by Robert Crumb circa 1969.

Mild Autumn weather during the days -- perfect election weather, and an excellent Halloween night.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Lubbock, Texas; Athens, Greece; Singapore, Singapore; Munich, Germany; Buffalo, New York; Morristown, New Jersey; Alexandria, Virginia; Gladwyne, Pennsylvania; New Orleans, Louisiana; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jamaica, New York; Quaregnon, Belgium; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Antonio, Texas; Merseburg, Germany; Brisbane, Australia; Dorgaand Verkeer, Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Rne, Sweden; Wilmington, North Carolin; Los Angeles, California; Mobile, Alabama; Longwood, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Saint Helens, UK; Guadalajara, Mexico; NYC, New York, and Fort Worth, Texas. Hundreds have visited over the week -- 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 including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!


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: The Hockaday Museum of Art's Autumn Salon, with 116 pieces on display. We also have Crown of the Continent and Ace of Diamonds gracing our walls. The Rape of Europa movie will be rescheduled -- what I saw of it was very compelling!
There are only 100 U.S. Senators out of a population that exceeds 300,000,000 -- I shook hands with both of mine last Saturday, and not for the first time. I imagine that there are people in large-population states who never actually see their elected officials, much less become acquainted with them by repeated meetings. Small can be beautiful!

Media Watch: I've never cared a lot for Mozart's Abduction from the Sergalio, so I didn't give it much attention on Montana Public Radio Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning was entirely different with extended performances by Moira Smiley and VOCO -- a first-rate vocal group who accompanied themselves with minimal instrumentation or sang acapella at a festival in Bloomington, Indiana. The sound engineering did not separate those beautiful voices from the distant-sounding ambience, although their instruments sounded close and clear. The power of their singing came across anyway, so I'm glad it was broadcast with all its live imperfections. The following show featured Guitar Royalty -- Spanish musicians Celin Romero and Pepe Romero for an hour.

Bollywood Movies: Bunty Aur Babli starring Abhishek Bachchan, his father Amitabh Bachchan, and the beautiful Rani Mukerji. New Bachchan family member Aishwarya Rai appeared as a cabaret dancer in a drunken hallucination scene featuring Daddy as a hard-drinking cop, with Sonny trying to keep up with him. The basic theme was modelled on Bonnie and Clyde, but it was much sillier, and very light in tone. The acting was generally very good -- how these actors manage to express their craft while telling such ridiculous stories astounds me. Rani Mukerji portrayed a very young woman with the right amount of apparent shallowness and increasing depth. Like many other Bollywood movie stars, she is gorgeous in the extreme, but she knows how to convince an audience that she is the person she is playing. Abhisheck was appropriately exuberant and energetic, plus his crafty old man brought out a human dimension in a rather two-dimensional role.

Moira Smiley (Top Center) clowning around with her cohorts in VOCO -- (L to R) Jessica Catron, Christine Enns, and Jess Basta. They are ALL multi-talented, and make memorably great music together -- Folk Art in service of High Art, not to mention fun! Introduce yourself to their art at Moira Smiley's Website.

I can't see! Oh, I see -- ICEEEY windshield! The Wild Turkey family were making their rounds on South Woodland. I've seen plenty of Deer tracks, but no Deer.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Chicago, Illinois; San Antonio, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Sofia, Bulgaria; Hayden, Alabama; City of London, UK; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Taipei, Taiwan; Madrid, Spain; Dallas, Texas; Hong Kong, China; Lees Summit, Missouri; Caurieux, France; Cohoes, New York; Lisbon, Portugal; Oakland, California; Great Falls, Montana; Saint-Laurent-du-Var, France; Lake Mary, Florida; Seattle, Washington; Collingswood, New Jersey (Dark Shadows? No, that was Collinswood, New England); Vacaville, California; Louth, Ireland (Hey Hey!); Peoria, Arizona; Atlanta, Georgia; Hampshire, Illinois; Medelln, Colombia; Heerbrugg, Switzerland; New York City, New York, and Victorville, California.

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 including my efforts on his Flash Gordon Resources Page -- along with actual creators like Alex Raymond, Al Williamson, and others!


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: The Hockaday Museum of Art's Autumn Salon is finally UP -- with 116 pieces on display. We also have Crown of the Continent and Ace of Diamonds. The Climate Change Series is done at the college, but there are other public events on the schedule.

Media Watch: Trash A Go Go -- The cast is banged up or otherwise medically-impaired. Julianne Hough went to the hospital, and Edyta will take a turn with her partner. Front-running Brooke is injured, Lucci is injured, and Cloris is still 82 -- her comedy wasn't enough to keep her on the show. I liked the Pussycat Dolls and Missy Elliot, but the funnier they are, the better they are -- this one could have been funnier.
Barack Obama's half-hour prime-time infomercial Wednesday night basically stated that it is time to take action on the problems we all know our country has. He was his usual calm self, but I projected some anger in his voice when he spoke of his mother's final days, and how she had to deal with insurance companies who tried to avoid paying for her treatments as she suffered from cancer. I know I'm angry about that kind of thing.

A digital painting made from an online video of The Pussycat Dolls' latest appearance on Trash A Go Go. Their current lineup is: Excellent lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, Jessica Sutta, Kimberly Wyatt, Melody Thornton, and Ashley Roberts. Their offstage choreographer/leader is Robin Antin, and the whole gang has talent. This act is definitely Pop Art, with High Art in service to Low Art.

Ice on the windshield time again, plus occasional cold winds -- LOOKS good outside, though. I saw the Wild Turkey family yesterday evening and the chicks are almost as big as mom.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from my home town of Salt Lake City, Utah; Bountiful, Utah (just north of my old neighborhood); Brummen, Holland; Eaton Park, Florida; Pau, France; Milton, Ontario; New York City, New York; Rome, Italy; Toronto, Ontario; Clarksville, Tennessee (famous for the Monkees' first hit); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Owings Mills, Maryland; Fredericksburg, Virginia (Is it REALLY America? Palin and McShame are total sleazeballs for trying to divide our country); Freeman, South Dakota; Line, Czech Republic, and Szczecin, Poland. We're seeing hundreds of visitors a week here -- 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: The Hockaday Museum of Art's Autumn Salon is finally UP -- with 117 pieces on display. We also have Crown of the Continent and Ace of Diamonds. Ironically, I'm missing the reception tonight because I'm doing tech for a community hearing tonight at the college. Speaking of which, the Climate Change seminars have been quite well attended, and the last one is on October 28.

Media Watch: Trash A Go Go (time shifted because of my insane schedule this week) sent graceful singer Toni Braxton packing. She has heart problems, which surprised me, so maybe it was for the best. I'll surmise that her fans don't watch that show in large numbers. Lucci and Leachman are far worse dancers, but at least Cloris is funny. Derek Hough and Brooke were excellent, but Julliane Hough and her eighteen year old student were almost as good. I'm still rooting for Warren Sapp to reach the final. Maurice and Lance seem to have learning disabilities with ballroom dancing, but they did better than normal this week.

Real Books: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939) didn't put me to sleep, unfortunately, since I picked it up for that purpose. I noticed that Robert Mitchum's movie, filmed in England, followed the plot much more closely than versions set in the original Los Angeles, however the plot is so ridiculous I can't blame anybody for tampering with it. There are four beguiling women in the story -- too bad they are all ridiculous too. Ex-Martha Graham dancer Richard Boone stole the show as a psychopathic trigger man.

A noir-bleu image of lovely Joan Collins. She played the English version of Chandler's lust-inducing, but hapless, grifter who somehow got involved with four nasty murders. The book's version was a blonde who skipped town with some of Phillip Marlowe's money. Collins played the role as a brunette with class, but cursed with a tragic sensuality. Mitchum's Marlowe was convincing too.

The weather unfroze over the last little while -- looks and feels like Autumn again.
I have driven from here to the West Coast and back since my last post, and there is a funkload to write about!

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Istanbul, Turkey; Saint Joseph, Michigan; Louth, Ireland (Love 'ya Rachelle, or is it Roseanne?); Edwardsville, Illinois; Jamaica, New York; Makawao, Hawaii; Vera Cruz, Mexico; San Jose, Costa Rica; Knoxville, Tennessee; Trindade, Brazil; City of London, UK (a small borough of the megalopolis); Cologne, Germany; Carlisle, UK; Ile-de-France (a small borough of Paris); Leeuwarden, Netherlands (They call it Friesland up there -- Famke Jansson's home turf); Omaha, Nebraska; Cincinnati, Ohio; Miami, Florida; Milan, Italy; Zagreb, Croatia; Stockholm, Sweden; Madison, Alabama; Austin, Texas; NYC, New York; Boston, Massachusetts (Sorry about those Red Sox); Caracas, Venezuela; Denver, Colorado; Tuskegee, Alabama; Prague, Czech Republic; Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Warsaw, Poland.

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: The Hockaday Museum of Art is half empty this morning, after I spent all weekend (with help) taking the old shows down. We still have Crown of the Continent and Ace of Diamonds in place, but the Autumn Salon, with over a hundred pieces, is going up. I am also doing three public events at the college, so the extra help is welcome.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Levi Stubbs, the fabulous lead singer of the Four Tops finally succumbed to the bad health which plagued his final decade of life in his home town of Detroit, Michigan. He gave so much to Popular Music with his skill and sincerity over the decades -- a truly consummate performer whose voice always lifted my spirits.

Media Watch: The schlubs are almost gone on Trash A Go Go -- too bad Misty May-Traynor popped her Achilles Tendon during practice. Macksim danced with Edyta in her honor, because it's unlikely Misty'll be back anytime soon. Bubbly Australian Kym Johnson finally has a chance at the finals with the remarkably light-footed Warren Sapp. Dereck did an outstanding performance with Brooke, but those stupid judges played the handicap game again -- STOP IT!
The last Presidential Debate bandied about someone called Joe the Plumber, who turned out to be a rather banal impostor, whose first name wasn't even Joe. I say Joe Mama to that sorry spectacle!
Time for a Bollywood movie -- how about Bhoot, an Exorcist crib with the excellent Urmila Matondkar and Ajay Devgan? These actors can make almost anything interesting -- including this derivative thriller.

ANOTHER Road Trip: Central Montana had over a foot of snow, but I went in the opposite direction. The highways were littered with chunks of ice from big trucks coming from the East, but everything was warm and dry as we headed West towards Portland, Oregon. We spent the first night on the Columbia River, then visited friends in Washington State the next day.
Tuesday night we went to see JabbaWokeeZ starring in the roadshow of America's Best Dance Crew. They were something to experience live -- their depth and subtlety were truly satisfying as they matched moves with athletic rivals (phonetically) Super Crew, Brake Skate, Acid, and Fanny Pak, plus took everybody higher with their artistry.


The audience was mostly teens, with a few early-twenties, and a scattering of other ages. We were amazed to see that we weren't the oldest there. The crowd SCREAMED at every bright moment, so they screamed alot! The music was so loud that my pantlegs pulsed with the bass notes, even when I stood still. The kids were tuned-in, well-behaved, and totally enthusiastic. One important thing I noticed was that ALL races were represented -- in the crowd and onstage. THIS kind of thing is when America really becomes America!
Just before the show, we went out to an Indian restaurant for dinner in the artistically vibrant Southeast corner of Portland. Along the way we noticed that the Bagdad Theater was doing live performances, and that X-model Famke Jansson (see above) would be starring in a play on October 30! The old Cat Store was still there, as was an auxillary Powell's Books outlet. Earlier in the day we picked up some Bollywood movies.
Still riding a high from that excellent concert, we left Portland at 7 AM and made it back to Kalispell by 7PM -- beautiful weather all the way.

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!