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Film Premiere: A Journey of Understanding in Mississippi Queen
“When I first fell in love I was 17, and it happened to be with…
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Who Said Fathers Have to be Perfect?
Christopher Buckley didn’t start it. But his latest book, Losing Mum and Pup, codifies our…
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Designing the New West
The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping…
People
Montana Debut
Film Premiere: A Journey of Understanding in Mississippi Queen
“When I first fell in love I was 17, and it happened to be with a girl. The news hit hard. They’d pray and pray and pray over me. There was a lot of anger and fear. And even a gun. In the South I was taught to love God first and then you love your family second, and I did. And I was really good at it.”
So begins the heartfelt and gripping documentary Mississippi Queen from Missoula filmmaker Paige Williams. The award-winning film, which follows Williams as she delves into her past and fits the jagged pieces into a livable whole, has its Montana premiere tonight as part of Pride Week activities.
The event at the Wilma Theatre kicks off at 7 p.m. and includes live music by Mississippi Queen composer John Floridis and Jenn Adams, whose music is also featured in the film.
The hour-long movie starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 and includes appetizers and talkback following the screening. The film will also be shown June 20 at the Red Lion Fireside Room in Kalispell, at noon. Proceeds will benefit Montana PRIDE 2009.
Father's Day
Who Said Fathers Have to be Perfect?
Christopher Buckley didn’t start it. But his latest book, Losing Mum and Pup, codifies our generation’s complaint that we had less-than-perfect parents. Baby Boomers excelled at compiling lists of grievances. Our parents’ shortcomings have always been at the top of the charts. Blame it on Dr. Spock, but why is our generation -- we who led the charge for civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights, and respect for the Third World -- so singularly close-minded and judgmental when it comes to our own parents?
Like Christopher Buckley, I grew up in awe of my father. Charles Longstreet Weltner, a Democratic Congressman and Georgia Supreme Court justice, was a world away from Buckley in terms of culture and politics and fame. Tom Brokaw described my father in Boom, his book about the Sixties, as “the local Congressman, Charles Longstreet Weltner, a scion of a prominent white family, (who) was the only Southerner to vote for the Civil Rights Act in 1964.”
Yes, he was named after Civil War General James Longstreet, blamed by some historians for losing the Battle of Gettysburg. Yes, he voted his conscience in 1964, and again when he resigned from Congress in 1966 rather than comply with a Georgia Democrat Party requirement to take a “loyalty oath” to support all other Democrat nominees on the ticket. This was the year notorious segregationist Lester Maddox was the party’s nominee for governor. Maddox was famous for two things: riding a bicycle backwards and wielding an ax handle to chase African-Americans from his "whites-only" restaurant.
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NewWest.Net Conferences
Designing the New West
The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation.
A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing.
Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference.
Photos from Super Tuesday in Bozeman
Gallatin County GOP Votes Romney
The Mixers Club in Bozeman – typically a site for college dance parties – took on a much different atmosphere on Super Tuesday as Republicans from around the county came to participate in the first presidential Montana caucus in some 20 years.
In an effort to elevate Montana's voice in national politics, the Montana GOP recently moved their June primary to a February caucus. Though Ron Paul supporters seemed to be the most numerous and definitely the most vocal, Mitt Romney came out on top with 47 percent of the vote. Ron Paul took 28 percent; John McCain received 14 percent; Mike Huckabee finished fourth with 11 percent.
Though many attendees expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the country, the overall attitude seemed to be hopeful. "Anybody but Hillary" was the theme, and conservative hallmarks such as "Don't touch my guns" and "If they're not legal, send 'em home" bubbled up amid soundbites from CNN and Fox News. Republican Larry Wix seemed to sum up the uneasy feeling many Republicans have about the 2008 candidates: "You can't vote for who you want. You're voting for who can win. It makes me sick."
Click on the image or here to see a photo gallery and quotes from the big night.
Documentary Looks at Wolf Reintroduction
Of Wolves & Men: An Interview with William Campbell
No wildlife species is as iconic and controversial as the wolf. Canis Lupus is a symbol of wildness and healthy ecosystems to some, but to others it is a callous killer and an economic threat.
Loathed and loved, the American Gray Wolf has gone through a tumultuous history in the West. They were hunted as vermin to virtual extinction by the early 20th Century, reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, and now are around 1,500-strong across the Northern Rockies. Biologists say wolves are officially recovered in the West and should be removed from the Endangered Species List, but – true to form – disagreements over wolf management between pro-wolf and anti-wolf groups has delisting at a standstill.
In 1999, journalist William Campbell began a documentary film to tell the story of what wolf reintroduction meant for people living in wolf territory. The result, “Wolves in Paradise,” sheds invaluable light on this story, giving a face and a voice to the many people trying to live with this species.
Introducing...
A New Magazine: The New West
The best way to check out The New West magazine is to subscribe. We want to know who’s interested in The New West, so we have made the magazine available free to qualified subscribers who answer a short questionnaire.
In the Spring Issue and online here:
- Montana’s Cash Cowboy
- Real Ranch Living: Not Everyone is Selling Out
- Essay: The Family Farm, Version 2.0
- Essay: Tracks Across A Landscape
- Have Your Ranch & Develop It, Too
- Design Showcase: The Big and Little of Western Building
- Stuff It: Can Wolf Hunting Help Conserve the Species?
- Traffic Perplexes New Western Communities
- Boise in Its Own Little Bubble
- Revenge of the Resource Economy
- Spotlight North Idaho: On the Agenda: Youth, Growth & Silver
- Spotlight North Idaho: Players of the Panhandle
- Spotlight North Idaho: Coeur d’Alene Tribe Rides the Idaho Boom
Counting Blessings
Bozeman Gets a Homeless ShelterFor over seven years, Rev. Paul Thomas has tirelessly provided Bozeman’s homeless and down-and-out with a meal, a cup of coffee, clothing, company and any other kind of help he can through his mobile soup kitchen named HIS Soup. Thomas’ white Econoline van and those who flock to it are fixtures on the east and north parts of a town that has never had an official homeless shelter or mission. This month Thomas received a permit to create a historic rescue mission in the very same place he serves his complimentary home-cooked Thanksgiving meals.
Not so long ago, Bozeman police used to “float” homeless residents and transients by buying them a ticket on the next Greyhound out of town. City officials say they haven’t floated anyone for many years, but when a homeless man froze to death in a U-haul truck here last winter, the homeless issue became hard to ignore and elicited a strong community response.
Bozeman, “the most livable place,” is the only major city in Montana to not have a homeless shelter or rescue mission, but thanks to Thomas and his supporters, this is about to change.
Monday Business Roundup
Facing Life in Prison, Boulder Banker Chooses DeathWhen it came down to face-the-music time, former Boulder banker Edward Mattar III took the traditional desperate-financier's way out: a long walk off a short ledge. Newspapers around the country reviewed Mattar's life and times after he plunged 27 stories to his death in downtown Denver just hours before he was to be sentenced for his role in the failure of BestBank. And it was not a pretty story.
At 67, Mattar faced spending the rest of his life in prison after being convicted in February of conspiracy, bank fraud, filing false bank reports and wire fraud. His personal fortune was decimated: he faced fines of $14 million.
In other business news: Anschutz Entertainment Group plans a New Orleans-style music fest for Denver; Newmont Mining's fortunes turn; and Xcel Energy makes plans to shut down some power plants.
Maybe the vegetarians are on to something
Idaho Salmonella Cases Possibly Linked to Banquet Pot PiesI only eat chicken if it is hidden or disguised. I know, it’s kind of juvenile to be a finicky eater, but I just can’t stomach looking at meat, especially if I have to eat it.
I like General Tso chicken because it is hidden beneath gobs of fry and sauce. I like chicken burritos because they, too, cloak the meat. This is also why I love flaky, creamy, covered chicken pot pies.
But there is bad news in the chicken pot pie arena today. Eight Salmonella infections reported in southern Idaho might be related to frozen store-bought pot pies containing poultry meat.
Banquet pot pies or the generic store-brand name with a code number “P-9” on the side of the box are the specific pies in question. Consumers shouldn’t eat them.
