It rained all day yesterday, except on the east side of the Flathead Valley -- where it snowed. The Canadian Geese have Goslings swimming on Firehouse Pond! (See photo below from last Sunday.)



Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art's two-week preview of the 4th Annual Spring for Glacier Auction on May 25, 2007 in Glacier National Park is taking over the lower gallery, starting this weekend -- once we finish getting Jeff Walker's 70+ etchings and paintings on the walls upstairs!

Media Watch: I got a tip about a website that engages in some online observations about how ridiculous Comic Books could and can be. It is almost TOO obvious an idea, but it takes REAL fans of the medium to care enough to do it. Their main theme is "Superman is a dick," and they prove it by many examples. (Maybe it was the fault of his editors.) Other features of this site include Sexual Innuendo, Stupor Powers, Propaganda, Stupid Comics, Weird Science (NOT the EC type!), Suffering Sappho, and Frames & Pages. Their comments are pretty funny most of the time -- variations of "...if this isn't intentional..." abound.


Clark Kent/Superman tells off childhood sweetheart Lana Lang and long-suffering Lois on this mean-spirited cover from Lois Lane #63 (1966). Art: Kurt Schaffenberger and Wayne Boring; Script: Leo Dorfman; Editor: Mort Weisinger.
Characters copyright by Time/Warners Inc.
I remember reading a story in a fan magazine (Trumpet perhaps) around 1969 with this interesting angle: If I'm Superman when I'm wearing tights, and I'm Clark Kent when wearing a suit, then who am I when I'm naked, sitting on the bed writing these words?

During the out-and-back to Big Sandy, Montana yesterday, the temperature got HOT! It was even warmer when we got back to the Flathead Valley. A brilliant Full Moon rode through the night sky. We saw well over a half-dozen Pronghorn Antelope on the Great Plains.

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art is re-hanging nearly everything for a two-week preview of the 4th Annual Spring for Glacier Auction on May 25, 2007 in Glacier National Park. (More about the crazy Jeff Walker art-collecting drive later!)

Theater/Theatre: SUGAR BABIES: The Burlesque Musical May 4 , 2007 to May 13, 2007 Fridays & Saturdays @ 8pm; Sundays @ 3pm at Snug Harbor Cultural Center (in the Music Hall), 1000 Richmond Terrace Adult: $25.00 Students/Seniors/SHCC Members: $23.00
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus co-founders Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu will be singing, dancing, acting, juggling, and presenting a number of their variety skills in "Sugar Babies"
...a homage to a classical American theatrical form -- NY Post
The original Broadway production starred the talented and energetic Anne Miller and Mickey Rooney in 1979. This show features actual Burlesque sketches and musical numbers. It is a historical re-enactment of one of the greatest eras of show business where America's greatest comics received their training before moving to Vaudeville, Broadway, Film and TV.



Ann Miller -- Was Too Darn HOT in Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate movie; With Sugar Babies co-star Mickey Rooney; Ms. Miller's second banana Julia Ann in the same show; All-American Ann Miller circa 1944; and Mr. Pennygaff and Mistress Philomena, stars of the Snug Harbor Sugar Babies revival. They DO know their Burlesque!
Man:(picks up phone) Hello, Cohen, Cohen, Cohen and Cohen. Caller: Let me speak to Mr. Cohen. Man: He's dead these six years. We keep his name on the door out of respect. Caller: Then let me speak to Mr. Cohen. Man: He's on vacation. Caller: Well then, let me speak to Mr. Cohen. Man: He's out to lunch. Caller: How about Mr. Cohen? Man: Speaking.

The Big Sky is clear and blue, most of the fields are green, and it sure resembles Spring. Red Headed Ducks are swimming in pairs on Middle Foy's Lake. I have also seen a solitary Merganser, and the first of many Yellow Head Blackbirds. May Day is manana, but I won't be blogging on the out-and-back to Big Sandy, Montana.

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art is re-hanging nearly everything for a two-week preview of the 4th Annual Spring for Glacier Auction on May 25, 2007 in Glacier National Park. Hmmm -- why did I use the third person? I'll have my hands on everything, including Jeff Walker's new show. Our crew may be small, but we help each other.

Media Watch: Book TV had a couple of scholarly shows about Jamestown, Virginia. Founded in 1607, it was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Twelve year old Pocahantas really did save the life of Captain John Smith. Her father Powhattan really forebore exterminating the English invaders when he could -- maybe because of trade goods like copper, and the hope of acquiring firearms. The history of Virginia has been critical to the history of the rest of what is now the United States of America. I refuse to watch that blowhard propagandist Chris Hitchens, singly or on a panel, so I skipped most of CSPAN's coverage of the L.A. Book Fair. Even though there are several sides to any story -- lies and self-serving distortions do not advance a discussion, whatever it may be. Saying that, his panel was supposed to be about Religion. What is the Right Wing Western Taliban think they are saying by presenting their case through an abusive alcoholic bully like Hitchens?
I went out and saw a movie in a real THEATER -- Next, based on The Golden Man by Philip K. Dick, with comic-book fan Nicholas Cage (Nick Coppola adapted his stage name from Luke Cage, Powerman) in a comic-book movie. It wasn't the worst film based on Dick's paranoid but all-too-discerning stories, but it wasn't high art either. Hollywood had a little fun with it's seeing-the-near-future angle, and it moved fast enough to keep it's bamboozlement factor intact. Julianne Moore's make-up, or lack of make-up, was noteworthy at times. It's refreshing when an actor lets down their guard, but that stuff sure beats the hell out of a person's skin! Cage's love-interest was played by Jessica Biel who is about half his age -- exercise has given him a convincing body, but make-up sure helped bridge the gap!

Speaking of Comic Books/Movies:


Over a poster of C.B. DeMille's Madam Satan (1930), I have pasted digital images of Kay Johnson* as our masked-ball heroine, Harry Lucey's bizzare comic-book villain of the same name from 1941, and Irv Novick's cover of Pep Comics #16, where Madame Satan marauded as a back-feature for less than a year. Soon afterwards, Lucey started drawing a high-school gag strip called Archie, which soon dominated it's entire publishing company, and is STILL popular. *Ms. Johnson's costume party was supposedly held in a dirigible tethered to a skyscraper in New York. Her director specialized in parting the Red Sea etc.

Nicer today than yesterday, but some odd rain showers may still fall. Those male pheasants in my neighborhood are damn near a meter long, including their tailfeathers!

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art is hosting a two-week preview for the 4th Annual Spring for Glacier Auction on May 25, 2007 in Glacier National Park. I have put up a whole new page about the various events.


A reconstituted antique tinted postcard-photo of the Lake McDonald Lodge circa 1925 -- the silent auction and live auction will happen here, instead of the Hockaday Museum.

Gray and overcast -- nobody sane is getting the water skis ready for THIS weekend! We have a big Raven cawing away on top of a light pole at work, and pooping on the construction trailer below -- the two acts seem to be simultaneous. Do you think he/she KNOWS what's going on, and is enjoying doing it?

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art will take down the student art shows this weekend! (See it while it's up!) Me and the director are rolling off to Big Sandy, Montana on Tuesday for MORE STUFF.

Media Watch: NPR did a brief, but fairly good report on the death of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Unlike his mentor Shostakovich, he spoke out against the Soviet Union's supression of it's artists, but like Shostakovich, he was also cowed and quiet under Stalin's deadly regime, otherwise he would have been "put away" and forgotten. Thanks to the existence of recording technology, we can appreciate his REAL voice -- his musical voice, even after he's gone.
Speaking of the Soviet Union, the Republican Party of the United States is looting the country, installing incompetent cronys to aid in their theft, and further corrupting the workings of government by blocking enforcement of effective laws, except against individuals who dare to be honest or ethical. Reagan's and Bush I's administrations did NOTHING effective against the Soviets -- the latter ruined their OWN country economically because of officially sanctioned greed and stupidity. Bill Moyers' Journal showed only one of many perspectives on our nation's Hydra-like problem.
Another passing of note is Jack Valenti -- I don't like censorship of any kind, but there have been other, more vile and grasping, people trying to dictate indefinable taboos over the Arts. I guess one of his epitaths could be "Could Have Been Worse."

Theater/Theatre: (Via Nina Cheney)
New York Downtown Clown is proud to present The New York Downtown Clown Golden Nose Awards.
Kraine Theatre 85 E 4th St (btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave) NYC
Monday, May 21st Red Carpet 7:30 pm Show 8:00pm
For tickets ($15) call SmartTix (212) 868-4444
www.NewYorkDowntownClown.com
This first-annual event will honor Clown Excellence from performances of the New York Downtown Clown Monthly Revue’s inaugural year. In addition to the awards presented, the evening will include performances by nominees, dance numbers, door prizes, red carpet, and audience participation games with prizes. The show will also feature Clown Superstar Presenters, including Barry Lubin (Grandma - Big Apple Circus) and Hovey Burgess (Father of the New Circus Movement). The Golden Nose Award Statues will be designed and created by Clown Nose/Mask Maker, Stanley Allan Sherman (creator of the WWF Mankind Mask).
Dress: Formal Attire- Noses Optional.


(L to R) Jacob Mills and Nina Cheney tossing clubs in performance.
Check out their Website!

April is held back on the rain yesterday until we took the PA down -- just barely though. Gawddam Coyotes were howling around Middle Foy's Lake last night.

Footbarn's Celebration of Theatre: 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! Spitfires of the Spaceways
Watch Dale Arden rescue Flash Gordon for a change!

Charity Alert: Make a resolution as Spring finally gets into gear to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art will take down the student art shows this weekend -- today is the last day! (Public response has been excellent.) Me and the director will be gathering up Jeff Walker's artwork next week.

Media Watch: : Bill Moyers' Buying the War is making a splash around the entire world of Media -- maybe that's why the powers-that-be ran it during "Turn Off The TV Week," but then again maybe not. Most major newspapers and established news programs, abnegated their responsibilities to inquire about and investigate all-important facts about the statements and actions of the US Government before, during, and after the invasion of Iraq. Viewership and readership have declined, for a number of reasons, but one outstanding reason is that the general public does not find lies very useful, and not even citizens of the old Soviet Union respected stenographic papers like Pravda. Keith Olbermann made another one of his special comments about the latest despicable pandering words of Rudy Giuliani in New Hampshire.
Sublime & Ridiculous -- I saw a pretty good music video this morning, U and UR Hand, featuring Alecia (Pink) Moore -- she may be a Pop Diva, but she's also a creative musician / songwriter / singer who plays the Glamour Game with a sense of humor. I also stumbled on Maksim's former celeb partner Willa (Wanna Be Bad) Ford hosting a VERY odd show called Pants Off Dance Off -- a bowdlerized amateur stripping competition with both males and females and two professional woman judges. It's played for laughs, and that's GOOD, but it's still a damn strange show.



Some digital reinterpretations of a few characterizations in Pink's U and UR Hand video. Follow the link if you like good Pop -- there's also a multi-media/interactive dimension to the whole project which I don't have time to investigate.