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Everyone should know their Bard

“Measure for Measure” has been characterized by English professors for generations as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays,” meaning that academics who make a living by condescendingly making categories (for the supposedly less astute) need to leave their thumbprints on plays neither wholly comedic or tragic. Morally ambiguous, laughable, weepy literature can be called instead by a more straightforward term: “tragicomedy.” A perceptive Shakespeare theatergoer, in Boise or London, could probably correctly detect plentiful instances of tragedy and comedy intermingled throughout Shakespeare’s entire body of works. No problem, is there?

Why do categories matter when faced with any Shakespeare production? [more]

Race against the forces of nature

The world’s largest adventure race, Primal Quest, is weighing-up the Big Sky vicinity for their 2008 five-day race.

Montana is one of four states in consideration for the June 21-July 2 dates, along with Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho. Ninety teams representing 17 countries are registered for next year’s event.

The announcement will be made in mid-September, awaiting conversation with the state agencies for permitting of their “secret course” in the Gallatin National Forest, which will be bearing over 350 racers, not including their support network and checkpoint staff. [more]

A celebration of creativity

It’s Sweet Pea Festival time again, a gala we look forward to every year.

When you scroll down BozemanEvent.net, it becomes overwhelming how many activities are happening at the 30th annual Sweet Pea Festival of the Arts — more than 45 different theatrical, musical and dance performances are listed over three days.

And this doesn’t include the Tater Pigs and other delectables that we look forward to every year served by local non-profits. And perusing the arts & crafts vendors tucked under the trees of the rolling green Lindley Park.

This truly is a homegrown festival that started in 1978 by a group of dedicated Bozemanites to stage a “celebration of creativity.” Over 20,000 people attend Sweet Pea festival, which is almost half the population of Bozeman alone. It’s an annual pilgrimage for folks returning to Bozeman where they once called home, tourists visiting or an ideal time to invite the parents for a visit.

Here are just a few of the creative highlights of the Sweet Pea weekend: [more]

Two ladies adventure on the road, backstage & groovin'

Last weekend, a scattered caravan of dancers, rockers, hikers, campers and Dionysian festival-worshippers loaded up their trucks, campers and sporty fuel-efficient coupes and headed to the Grand Targhee Resort for the Third Annual Grand Targhee Music Festival.

Although better known for hosting a bluegrass festival each summer, Grand Targhee Resort and Bozeman-based Vootie Productions have also presented the newer festival, a three-day showcase of Americana, roots, rock funk and blues for the past two years.

The following story is about taking off in the summer season, traveling through the abundant scenic beauty of the Northern Rockies with the added incentive for groovin’ to the eclectic beats at Targhee Music Festival with two Livingston Weekly staffers: New Orleans transplant Jen Eames and former Memphian Reilly Neill. [more]

4th of july

Cartoon by Stephen Templeton of the Flathead Beacon.

Bigfork and Red Lodge, uniquely Montanan in architecture and character, are arguably the most popular towns to celebrate this country’s independence in the state. While many of Montana's largest cities empty for the holiday weekend, Red Lodge’s population of about 2,500 and Bigfork’s 1,500 swell several times over. How much? It’s hard to say. But, on peak holidays, estimates for each are in the tens of thousands.

This begs the question: Which town hosts the best Fourth of July celebration?

Visit the Flathead Beacon to find out.

Ranchers, Kayakers come together

As Big Timber Creek crashes down the eastern flank of the Crazy Mountains, water spurts through narrow slots and sprays across shallow, steep rock chutes before gushing over lofty waterfalls into roiling, foamy pools.

The quintessential mountain creek provides challenging and unique kayaking, and a recent race there drew in 40 boaters from locales as far away as Colorado and Canada. With an average elevation drop of 720 feet per mile, the Big Timber Race — according to organizers — is the steepest kayaking race in the world.

The Headwaters Paddling Association (HPA) organized the inaugural race and took a new grassroots approach to the event. Much of the perimeter of the Crazy Mountains is characterized by a checkerboard ownership of private and National Forest land.

Concerned about kayakers’ reputations and access to the creek, the HPA opened a dialogue with the landowners and modeled the Big Timber Race as both a celebration of the creek and an awareness raiser to build a respectful relationship between the landowners and the kayaking community.

To see a slideshow of images from the race, click here. [more]

Western Writers

In his new book, The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart, the Montana-based writer John Clayton delves into the long life of Caroline Lockhart, a journalist, novelist, publisher, and rancher who is as fascinating a Westerner as I've ever read about. (I reviewed the book for NewWest here.) Clayton is currently on a book tour and in the coming week he'll be doing signings and readings in Bozeman, Missoula, Hamilton, and Kalispell (see his website for details). In an email interview, Clayton recently answered some questions about his research process, Lockhart's use and embodiment of Western myths, and the more difficult aspects of her personality.

New West: In your Author's Note, you write that you first heard about Caroline Lockhart when you came across her ranch in the Pryor Mountains. How did your interest in her life evolve to wanting to write a book about her?

John Clayton: At first I was just trying to satisfy my curiosity. A bestselling novelist had lived on a gorgeous ranch near my home, and I'd never heard of her. Why? Well, I thought, maybe she was a bad novelist. But then I read her books, and I really liked them! So I thought maybe she hadn't really achieved all those other accomplishments, maybe she was more of a self-promoter than a do-er. But I found some ways in which she actually did more than she took credit for. So I thought maybe she was just not a nice person. But then I came across an archive, not available to previous researchers, of her early newspaper and magazine work. And that material was so warm and funny that I wanted to get to know her better. [more]

the gourds to headline

The River City Roots Festival will be back for its second year, taking place September 15th and 16th, and this time it's looking to be much improved. Last year's one-day event brought in around 5,000 people to the city-wide event. This year the festival is two days and has something for everyone. For the art lovers there will be a juried art show in some of the downtown galleries. The more extreme festival goers can enjoy the inland surf invitational on Brennan's Wave or the skateboard demo at the Missoula Skate Park. All of that goes on before the music on Main Street with Corn Mash, Russ Nassett & The Revalators, Big Daddy the Blue Notes, Big Sky Mudflaps, The Mammals and Missoula's favorite band the Gourds all performing on Saturday the 15th. Sunday's music lineup will be The Shuffle Bums, Tom Catmull & The Clerics, Broken Valley Roadshow and Hot Buttered Rum. So mark your calendars cause this will be an event that you won't want to miss.

Colin Hickey is New West’s Events Editor. Keep an eye out for his “MVP Events” or check here to find your own: www.MissoulaEvents.net.

Greater Yellowstone Coalition Annual Meeting

Last year, over 2.8 million people visited Yellowstone National Park. But our nation’s crown jewel and first National Park cannot be defined as just the land within the park’s boundaries. There is an ecosystem that inhabits wildlife, waterways and the communities that together, make up the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

This ecosystem is two times the size of Yellowstone National Park, equating to roughly 4.5 million acres located in Idaho, Northeast Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

Within this landscape, there is a diverse range of people invested in issues and challenges facing the region.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC), located in Bozeman, Montana, is hosting their annual gathering of these folks in Cody, Wyoming to discuss the growth, change and development impeding on the health of regional communities, water and land. [more]

international wildlife film festival

The climate is changing. Not only is Earth’s atmosphere transforming, but the atmosphere among television broadcasters like the BBC, Animal Planet, and PBS is changing too. Slowly they are admitting the necessity of producing conservation films.

At this years International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF), the topic of an environment in crisis dominated talk between filmmakers. Ten years ago, Festival delegates may have openly discussed their deep concern for nature, but the climate within the wildlife and science film industry was inhospitable to broadcasting stories with a conservation message. The tide has turned. This year, the IWFF celebrated its 30th year by choosing a BBC film about global warming, entitled Climate Chaos, as the best of festival winner. “I think the judges were sending a message,” said Climate Chaos producer Nicholas Brown.

The Festival became a weeklong clarion call to filmmakers to address the global environmental crisis. [more]

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