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July 2009

[click "Play" to hear Eileen's interview with Michael Glabicki]


by Eileen Burns

Rralbumcover_tn There may be another tarp run in Telluride Town Park on Saturday, July 11th.  Rusted Root rolls into town kicking off an evening of invigorating and energetic music that promises to leave townies dancing all night long.  Gates opening at 3 P.M. with the ultimate jam band,  Rusted Root, taking the stage at six followed by the Godfather of Funk, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic.

Rusted Root’s bluegrass/rock sound has always been heavily influenced by world music such as African, Native American and Latin America, and their long awaited new release Stereo Rodeo is climbing the charts.

11 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Betsy Lummis]

When the going gets tough...

DSC_0423  Betsyanew is a start-up founded by entrepreneur and part-time Telluride local Betsy Lummis. The new business is an affirmative response to adversity and a shining example of taking a yoga practice off the mat.

Betsy Lummis was hardwired to practice Karma Yoga. Raised among politicians/philanthropists, she embraced the idea of selfless service, and for 20 years expended time and energy doing fundraising, event coordination, and networking in support of causes she believed in. The Telluride region's Ah Haa School for the Arts and the nascent Telluride Yoga Festival are just two examples of Betsy's largesse.

Betsy Lummis began taking classes at Ah Haa when she first arrived in town 15 years ago. Daughter Phoebe has been a summer art camper at the school for seven consecutive summers.

10 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Richard Freeman]

Guruji richard virasana When Richard Freeman returns to the Telluride Yoga Fest this weekend, June 10 – 12, for his encore, legions of devoted followers will be lining up for his classes on alignment, mulabandha (not what you think), backbends, shoulder stand, and headstand – and with good reason: Richard Freeman is unique, even among  princes of the mat, a magnetic combination of guru, gumby, and wit.

 Freeman is a teacher's teacher, who lost his principal teacher last month, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, 1915-2009,  the smiling, pot-bellied man who favored Calvin Klein shorts and famously said, "Do your practice and all is coming." Yoga is 99 percent practice and 1% theory.

Yoga has entered the mainstream in the West, particularly in urban centers: everywhere people who drive Priuses and eat organic veggies are practicing one of the many flavors of Hatha yoga, the yoga of action. Devotees are divided into tribes: Iyengar students obsess about building precisely articulated poses with straps, blocks and bolsters.  Ashtangi just go for it: they tend to be ripped from all the stretching, toning and balancing moves of the six series. Freeman, originally an Astangi, is no exception – but with a mind as toned and flexible as his body.

10 July, 2009 /

July 9 to 16, 2009

Visible Planets: Morning: Venus, Mars and Jupiter    Evening: Saturn

DSC01512 I can’t stop thinking about Michael Jackson. I know it’s crazy, but it’s true. And even while I’m feeling crazy-busy about getting ready for a two week camping trip up in Idaho - paying bills, packing clothes, doing all the funny-nutty things we do before we leave – his story keeps tracking across my brain – and filling up my heart.

It seems to be all about home and family. Children and parents. Love and success. Working to get recognition for our talents. Feeling good when we do. What an incredibly gifted boy and man. And what a sad, sad end to the fairy tale life.

I watched the memorial service on and off while I was cleaning, organizing, packing, taking care of business and wrapping up loose ends. CNN covered the entire event, commercial-free. And then, on into the evening, we continued to have the boob-box tuned in to coverage of the day. All I can say is that I’m blown away, and I can’t stop thinking about Michael Jackson.

10 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear conversation with Tias Little]

Parivrtta Padmasana Like a number of his colleagues in town this weekend for the 2nd annual Telluride Yoga Festival, Tias Little could be described as a rock star in the Yoga world. He certainly has legions of devoted students and followers – however, message tank tops and loud music, increasingly popular in yoga studios across the country, are not his stock in trade.

Tias Little guides his students elegantly and efficiently according to the principle of vinyasa krama, taking the right steps in the right order to cultivate a mind-body connection through asana, pranayama, meditation, sensory sensitivity,concentration practices, and the study of sacred texts. The payoff: self-awareness, health and serenity.

09 July, 2009 /

Up_smallposter2 Yearone_smallteaser The Nugget Theatre in Telluride for the week of July 10-16, is showing "UP", an animation from Disney/Pixar (rated PG for some peril and action), and "Year One",  (rated PG-13, for language, crude sexual situations).

"UP" is the story of an old man (even older than I am) who has never had any adventure in his life, and now is coerced into adventure by a young boy.

"Year One" has two hunter-gatherers off to see the world. Much of the movie is set in ancient Sodom. Perhaps you can guess some of the rest.

For reviews and trailers, see the Nugget website. Also, note the addition of a Saturday matinee for "UP".

09 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's interview with Karl Straub]

Scorpions seem to like Arizona Telluride, you are not alone. The stats are compelling: in the 21st century, in America alone, over 20 million people have come to include some form of yoga in their wellness regimens. There are packed classes in town at the Telluride Yoga Center and in the Mountain Village at The Peaks. The 2nd annual Telluride Yoga Festival, this weekend, July 10 – July 12, is attracting senior teachers such as Karl Straub, and devoted students from all over the country , who fell head over heels for Telluride and the Festival after participating last year in the inaugural event.

At the Telluride Yoga Fest, obsessed practitioners will be assuming the postures of a Noah's arc of animals: dogs, fish, scorpions, camels, frogs, cows, pigeons, dolphins, you name it. Let's face it, in the West, most people become interested in yoga through the door of physical fitness, through asana. Generally speaking the real juice, mental, emotional, and spiritual, comes later, but senior Jivamukti instructor Karl Straub got it right away: The sacred art and science of Yoga is not just about getting lithe and limber. It is a comprehensive discipline with a single purpose: transformation through enhanced self-awareness.

08 July, 2009 /

Ahhaa_auction As much spectacle as fundraiser, the theme of the 2009 Ah Haa auction encourages everyone around Telluride to embrace their love of art and discover their inner artist: "Celebrate Art ! Be The Artist You Want To Be!"

Now in it’s 17th year, Ah Haa’s annual fundraiser is not to be missed. The event includes a live and silent auction, featuring over 100 pieces of original art, services, and excursions, donated by the regional artists, locals businesses and Ah Haa. The monies raised in this single evening support scholarships, supplies,
teachers, the Visiting Artist series, and keeping the spirit of Ah Haa going for another year.

In years past, local celebrities such as General Norman Schwarzkopf have contributed art work they created in conjunction with Ah Haa teachers in support of the school. (Joanne Corzine bought Stormin' Norman's first effort for $17,000.)

08 July, 2009 /

by Kris Holstrom

 123 Is it a strip of weedy sidewalk? Or a potential edible landscape? Perspective makes all the difference.

Changing Telluride, changing our world, can be as simple as changing a lightbulb or seeing a garden where weeds used to be. (The edible landscape is outside the Telluride Academy's new home, in the old Silver Belle building on Pacific Street.

 What's required is a shift in perspective to get the ball rolling.

We are creatures of habit. We tend to sit in the same seat, walk the same route, think in the same way until something motivates us to change. Sometimes motivators are forced upon us: someone takes our usual seat, an injury forces us to change routines, etc. But a valuable tool when dealing with each other  –  friends and family to co-workers, community members –  and with our environment is to change our perspective on purpose.

08 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" for Susan's talk with David Russell]

DaveRussell w mic A sound experience –  kirtan – has been added to the schedule of the 2nd annual Telluride Yoga Festival, June 10 – June 12, 2009.

On Friday evening, 7 – 10 p.m., under the stars at the Mountain Village Sunset Stage, just a short walk from Yoga Fest hospitality, attendees and friends are invited to attend two performances of kirtan, one given by Durango's Prema Shakti, a 12-person energetic kirtan group. The second is led by David Russell and friends.

Plato pondered the powers of music and sound in "The Laws"  and other dialogues. Shakespeare also intuitively understood: several of his most poignant scenes dramatized music's soothing effects on troubled souls.
Pre-dating Western scholars, the Yoga tradition has known for centuries that sound is the new aspirin or apple –  only more so. Proof positive lies in the bible of Yoga, "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali," where the great sage explains that the mystic sound "OM" is not just the name Isvara (a God analog), but is Isvara, the actual form of God. Humming"OM" is a summons: the sound brings God to you.

Kirtan is a group practice of singing Sanskrit mantras that are set to simple melodies. These mantras are sound vibrations which roll and vibrate through the seven energy centers (chakras) of the body creating well-being in body, mind, and spirit. It really doesn’t matter what the words mean because the sound vibrations alone are a direct plug-in to the experience of Source, or God Consciousness, or whatever you choose to call Isvara.

07 July, 2009 /