July 2011

[click "Play" to hear Eileen's interview with Lo Snyder]

 

By Eileen Burns

Rope, Boots and Hat Grab your cowboy hat and boots folks, The San Miguel Basin Fair and Rodeo is in town and promises to be jam packed full of events and competitions for everyone in the family.  From the adrenaline rush of a pro cowboy taking a wild and thrashing 8 second bull ride around the arena, to little Johnny next door, hanging on with sheer guts, as he tumbles through his first mutton busting competition, Norwood Colorado is the place to be this weekend.  The fair grounds are located just 40 minutes from downtown Telluride, on Wrights Mesa.  The CPRA Rodeos will take place both Friday and Saturday evenings starting at 7:00 pm.  Entry fee to Rodeo is only $9.00.  There will be plenty of vendor stands with food, pop and beer, including the kids' favorites: sno-cones and cotton candy.

[click "Play", Susan speaks with Allen Toussaint]

 

Allen Toussaint
Photo credit: Michael Wilson

Treme, the neighborhood in New Orleans, and Telluride, a box canyon mountain town, do not, on the surface, have much in common, except "Treme," the latest knock-out series from HBO, keeps coming up in Telluride.

Steve Earle mentioned "Treme" during his performance at the 38th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June. He appears as himself in the series. And now Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Allen Toussaint, another series regular (as himself), is headed our way for a momentous event: Toussaint performs on the Town Park Main Stage for the first time ever with none other than Delta Lady, Rita Coolidge. The event takes place Sunday night, August 7, at the 35th annual Telluride Jazz Celebration.

(Follow this link for a related post on Coolidge.)

[click "Play", Susan talks about the auction with Rachel Loomis Lee]

 

Ahhaa_7-20 Here's a pop quiz: What does Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts have in common with James Bond?

If you answered that the theme of the upcoming auction revolves around the iconic spy you would be partly right. Ah Haa's 2011 "007" art auction takes place Thursday, July 21, 5 – 7 (for an intimate evening at the school, including a mini-auction), with the main event Friday, July 22, starting at 5 p.m.

The other answer is less obvious, but no less true: Bond is unshakeable and so is Ah Haa. The school is a rock of our community, a hub where individuals get to discover their inner Picasso –  or last year, Gypsy Rose Lee!

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Steven Lee]

 

Talks are Wednesday in Norwood & Thursday in Mountain Village

Fireside Chats poster Noticed the weather lately? The Telluride Historical Museum is not taking any chances this year. (Last year, of the six Fireside Chats in the series, only one was able to take place around the Mountain Village fire pit in Heritage Plaza.)

The 7th season of the Museum's ever popular (and FREE) Fireside Chats opens this week – indoors– starting Wednesday, July 20, at Aces of Norwood, (in the Livery Building) and continuing Thursday, July 21, at the fire place in the Great Room at The Peaks Resort & Spa. Both opening programs begin at 5:30 p.m. and feature actor Steven Lee as "Otto Mears, Pathfinder of the San Juans."

Steven Lee is a professional story teller from Denver. His depiction of the man who brought the Rio Grande Southern to the San Juans routinely gets rave reviews such as this one from Tom "Dr. Colorado" Noel, Prof. of History & Director of Public History, Preservation & Colorado Studies, University of Colorado at Denver:

Just a little reminder that the San Miguel Basin Fair and Rodeo is taking place right now down in Norwood. The festivities began at 6:00 pm on Friday, July 15th, @ the County Fairgrounds Outdoor Arena with a Greased Pig Contest - PRIZE...

By J James McTigue

 


In Rome they’d throw people in a ring with a lion for entertainment; in Telluride we have The Lunar Cup. It’s an event that shouldn’t really be watched—it’s frightening and a little disturbing, yet at the same time, extremely difficult not to watch.

Lunar Cup has a little of everything—free-riders throwing back flips, skiers and boarders racing down a snow-covered scree-field, and even a little nudity. Former event organizer and current announcer, Herb Manning summed up the highlight of this year’s Lunar Cup saying, “Everyone came out fairly unscathed.”

So, what is Lunar Cup exactly?

[click "Play" to hear Rita Coolidge speaking with Susan]

 

Rita_piano_colorized2 Just like Telluride Bluegrass regular, superstar Emmylou Harris, Rita Coolidge is ageless.

The last time Rita Coolidge showed her face in Telluride was in 2001. The legendary performer was, as always, larger than life – but on the silver screen. The film, "Christmas in the Clouds," which screened at Mountainfilm in Telluride that year, is a classic comedy of mistaken identity and romance set during the holiday season at a ski resort owned and operated by a Native American nation. "Christmas in the Clouds" featured Rita, a Cherokee by birth, in the role of the leading lady's mother. It also showcased her music.

 

A little stork is an avatar for Jeanne B. de Sainte Marie, one of 10 author/illustrators whose magical images will be on display at the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art starting July 28 in a show entitled "From Beasts to Babar: Ten Children's Illustrators."

La cigogne de Noël (The Christmas Stork, Editions du Bastberg, France 2000) is the tale of a stork that decides not to fly south with his peers. He wants to see snow. But how will he eat and stay warm? Through his trials and triumphs, Little Stork learns the rewards of following a dream.

Just like Jeanne.

[click "Play" to listen to Sasha Cucciniello's interview with Dr. Kent Gaylord]   by Dr. Kent Gaylord Sore throats are one of the most common reasons for coming to the doctor.  Sore throats are most commonly caused by a virus, but...

[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Christopher Crockett]

 

Chris Crokett In a manner of speaking, Telluride's Pinhead Institute has sky high ambitions. The non-profit's programs latest program designed to promote science literacy is the upcoming Stargazing Series, ahem, starring astronomers from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.

It is clear humans have always observed the sky. The roots of astronomy, the natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects – stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies –  extend back before written records.