Two groups of deer were grazing along the roadside in my neighborhood last night as I drove home from the Honors Symposium. (see below) The days are warm and sunny, the nights are still a little bit cold -- no planting yet!

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!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

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

In The Community: FVCC Honors Symposium: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE -- God on Trial: America's Religious Wars by Dr. Peter H. Irons -- now from the Mt. Shasta area of Northern California, in retirement from UCSD, was a riveting speaker, a kind gentleman, and big success. He DID refute a couple of DeWolf's weak, self-serving assertions, especially the slander about Irons' friend, late scientst Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, countenencing "I.D." or "Creation Science" (sic) in any way, shape or form.
Irons' main theme was that our own country is subject to the ugly passions which cause religious warfare, and there are many historical examples of what a so-called "modern" person may think are abberations only found in Ireland, India, or the Middle East. One of the few protections we have against the worst aspects of our own human nature is "Jefferson's Wall" between religious institutions and governmental institutions.
DeWolf relied on a partial, inaccuratly stated quotation from Justice Jackson in 1944, relative to "Othodoxy," which actually went on to unequivocally state that the principle that our country's constitutional separation between church and state was "beyond the reach of majorities" -- meaning officials and their electorates.
When answering a question from the audience, Irons re-stated the important point that science in general, and "Darwinism"(sic) in particular, were METHODS of inquiry and study, and that "Creationism" was an imposition of a religious establishment, which was forbidden by the First Amendment, according to the Supreme Court in 1987.
A real danger facing our society, according to Irons, is that todays Supreme Court is only one vote away from starting to dismantle "Jefferson's Wall."

Let's go on to another subject:


Jean (Dale Arden) Rogers was not only THE BOMB to look at, but she was a very effective space-bombadier. Watch her rescue Flash Gordon in Spitfires of the Spaceways.

The Canadian Geese are nesting on Firehouse Pond. We have seen Mergansers, Griebes and several types of Ducks pairing up on Middle Foy's Lake.

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!
NEW! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

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

In The Community: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE --
April 27 -- God on Trial: America's Religious Wars Dr. Peter H. Irons from the Department of Political Science, University of California-San Diego is going to rebut David DeWolf's arguments against the Dover, Pennsylvania case. As a matter of fact he'll be reviewing the tape of DeWolf's lecture -- where the latter offended his mostly church-going audience by blatantly side-stepping explainations about what "Intelligent Design" (sic) claimed to contribute to the world's knowledge. Quite a few of our guests were pre-disposed in favor of "I.D." and wanted talking points to use in their conversations. What they got was just the opposite -- convoluted lies and verbal dodging, which undermined the cause they hoped to see championed.
May 4 (Next week, last week) -- Public Opinion on Issues of Church/State Dr. Christopher Muste from the Department of Political Science, University of Montana-Missoula.
Our brand new Fender PA system broke down (in public) during it's fourth use yesterday, so I'm going back to using those reliable old Core speakers tomorrow.

Media Watch: Skating's Next Star on the WE Cable Network had the lowest production values I've seen outside of the post-Dick Clark American Bandstand show. The budget might have ALL gone to hire the celebrity panel -- Rudi Galindo, Elvis Stoiko, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Oksana Grishuk. It DIDN'T go into venues, sets, or costumes, I'm afraid -- PATHETIC! The last two skaters were both good, however, and I hope this humiliating experience helps their careers somehow.


(Left) Natalia Kanounnikova was my favorite of the last two contestants, but Kristen Treni (right) was the winner of Skating's Next Star. They both had interesting, but contrasting, styles. Natalia was nearly a full head taller than Kristen, and could SPIN like nobody's business.

Deer have eyes that glow in the dark from a long way away as they refract the headlights of cars -- they looked like fireflies uphill around the fences last night. I couldn't see their bodies for another minute or so.

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 in Springtime too! Click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHURCH AND STATE -- Prof. Marci Hamilton from Yeshiva University School of Law in New York City was the best-prepared speaker in our Honors Symposium. Her talk -- The Religions Origins of the Separation of Church and State was very illuminating in that most of our "axioms" about American religious toleration originate from special pleadings from churchmen early in our history who represented minorities in the colonies. It made a lot of sense, and produced her desired result of "a factual basis from which we can examine our own opinions." She gave plenty of information to check her facts later, if someone wished.
There was some talk about the rampant religious corruption of the political process going on today (my words not hers), and some cogent questions from the audience. The only jackass in the crowd happened to be a friend of mine, so I won't identify them.
We videotape all of these lectures, and only ONE person has shown up for a later viewing so far.

Media Watch: Not much time for TV this week -- Public radio has been good about playing programs about Mozart for his 250th anniversary celebration, though. His vocal music is really fine, and relativly unheard compared to other works.


(Left) Azura, Witch Queen of Mongo became Azura, Witch Queen of Mars (Right) in Universal's 1938 Flash Gordon serial. The former Azura was decadent, cruel, and uncomfortably kinky sometimes. The latter Azura, played by Beatrice Roberts, was appallingly distainful and cold-hearted, but sexless. Watch out Flash! Oh, too late -- she caught you napping again, dumbass.

Whitetail Deer were walking along the ridge across the lake in a long line -- too far away to see if their leader had spikes or not.

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: JEFFERSON'S WALL: AMERICA'S DEBATE OVER CHRCH AND STATE (From Director Ivan Lorentzen) -- The fifth lecture in the seven part series is tonight at 7:00 at West Coast Kalispell Center Hotel ballroom. Prof. Marci Hamilton from Yeshiva University School of Law in New York City is the speaker and she will discuss "The religions origins of the separation of church and state."
Prof. Hamilton is an international expert on church-state relations and is one of the most highly-credentialed speakers we've had the pleasure to host. To get an idea of the wide array of church/state cases she has been involved with over the last several years, go to : http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/ to see her legal comments and opinions - it's a layman's legal site and search engine.
Oh yes - one more site you might find interesting -- The Daily Show Don't be put off by the comedy central thing - Daily interviews Hamilton for 5 minutes and the video clip is just a teaser for tonight.
Her book "God v.s. The Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law" will be available at the lecture for purchase, thanks to the college bookstore. We've averaged well over 200 at each lecture, but there's room for more.

Media Watch: Another Bollywood Goodie -- Hungama with Rimi Sen and Akshaye Khanna in a real broad-brush slapstick comedy. Akshaye is NOT the romantic lead -- Aftab Shivdasani is really appealing in this role. There's a whole bunch of comedic sterotypes running around the place, and lots of stolen jokes from the world of cinema.


The stars of Hungama:
Khanna, Shivdasani, and Rimi Sen as one of two "Anjali"s.
The same filmamkers did Hulchul recently, with Akshaye Khanna and yet ANOTHER "Anjali," played by Kareena Kapoor. It's not a bad flick, despite it's Romeo & Juliet theme.

Two Bald Eagles were swooping over Middle Foy's Lake -- the larger one drifted off to the east, up to Lone Pine State Park, but the smaller one found a tree and stuck around. We had rain and snow over the Easter weekend, but blue skies on Monday.

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: The so-called centuries-long Axial Age discussed on Book TV -- Confucius, Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Greek philosophers like Euclid, Socrates, Democrites, and Archimedes. Major changes in civilzations all over Europe and Asia which wouldn't really happen again until the Age of Enlightenment over 1500 years later.

Now for something completely different -- another preview of Spitfires of the Spaceways:


Emperor Ming's palace on Planet Mongo 1940-style. This Interplanetary Hoochie-Koochie dance was maybe meant to demonstrate the decadence of Mongo culture, but it always seemed like good fun to me -- better than ugly ol' men blasting each other with pseudo-scientific rays and stuff. Once the oft-captured Dale Arden appears in this scene, our lovely dancer disappears from the whole darn serial.

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.