September 2011

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Matisse, "Large Reclining Nude"

Picture Telluride without Levi's and denim. There would be lots of locals running around half-naked. And naked walls instead of walls filled with art in the apartments of the Cone sisters of Baltimore. Their massive collection – about 3,000 pieces including some 500 Matisses – was in large part built on the back of denim. The family business, The Cone Mills Corporation, produced cloth for work clothes and, during WW1, for military uniforms. But the company was also the largest supplier of denim to Levi Strauss. Their brothers' support of their two spinster sisters enabled (Dr.) Claribel and Etta (likely a former lover of Gertrude Stein, a major mentor) to devote their lives to collecting masterpieces of modern art.

"Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore" is the featured show (through September 25) at The Jewish Museum in Manhattan on the corner of 92nd Street and Fifth Avenue, once the Warburg mansion. The exhibition, meant to reinforce the idea the two sisters were very important collectors of cutting-edge art, not mere "shoppers"  as dismissed by their detractors, showcases about 50 of their finest gems.

  Susan and I are on the road again. That means that Gina the Dog is on vacation at Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel. I no longer wonder why she has to sleep for a few days when she gets home from "Uncle Ted's." I've seen...

September 15 to 22, 2011

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

Mystical Musicians and Magnetic Magic

B&B banner2 The last week of summer in southwestern Colorado is one of exquisite beauty and grace. The shift from hot days and warm evenings to cool, crisp mornings and chilly nights awakens instincts and stimulates desire. Pastoral lowlands transform from verdant greens to autumn blondes, rusty auburns and burnished golds. Up high, emerald aspen surrender to shades of vibrant yellow and crimson peach. It’s magnificent and poignant, a time to embrace Mother Nature’s magic and feel the powerful, metaphysical flow of seasonal change.  

B&B peace tipis In Telluride, this week translates simply as Blues & Brews. Headliners include legendary master musician and mystical maverick Willie Nelson – the man and voice responsible for more than one ecstatic night in the 1970’s Sheridan Bar- blues great Robert Cray and locals favorite Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The weather looks far from last year’s perfect, but, c’est la vie, it’s gotta be good, regardless. Whatever comes, it’s time to gather the tarps and umbrellas, endure the rain and hope for rainbows. One never knows…everything’s possible and anything can happen.

 

RA- MBposterbio Marcia Ball hit the jackpot with her name. It defines the lady and her talent, as in Marcia Ball is:

“More fun than a barrel of funky monkeys. Spicy, Texas-Louisiana blues, rock 'n’ roll and boogie-woogie...awesome piano,” National Public Radio

Translation: The lady is, well, a ball. And those around have – you guessed it - a ball.

Singer/pianist Marcia Ball joins Willie Nelson, Mavis Staple, The Robert Cray Band, Dweezil Zappa, BIg Head Todd and the Monsters on long list of talent performing this weekend at Steve Gumble's rocking, rollicking 18th annual Telluride Blues & Brews Festival.

  "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," Mark Twain Wow, it's hot. Oops. Now it's not. You know the cliche about weather in the Telluride mountains, any mountains really: Don't like it? Wait a minute...

Home Let's start with Jeff Osaka. The understated elegance and warmth of this chef/owner pervade "Twelve," our "local." When Telluride Inside… and Out heads to our Denver home, one of our first stops is always "Twelve," a favorite restaurant thats feels like our dining room – only with much better food and service.

Located at 2233 Larimer Street, Twelve is a 34-seat restaurant with a 10-seat massive oak bar bar in a neighborhood Denverites call Curtis Park, just blocks away from Coors Field and the heart of the uber hip LoDo district. But rather than an aggressively downtown demeanor, Twelve feels as comfortable as an old pair of slippers: the warm tones of the room, the laid back furnishing, the soft, very flattering lighting are conducive to leisurely dining, lingering conversations and the long glance looks of a romantic evening. The overall effect is warmly contemporary without a sense of trying too hard. Nothing about Twelve screams "Look at me": not the decor, not the patrons, not the farm-to-table menu. At Twelve, artistry and good taste replace the razzle dazzle of virtuosic flourishes, especially when it comes to the food.

Ahhaa_tio

by Lauren Metzger
Marketing Director
Ah Haa School for the Arts

Well, the leaves are turning and this is our last big weekend before town is quiet. But just because town is slowing down, doesn't mean the Ah Haa School is. Our new fall/winter catalog is online and at the printer. The catalog has a great line up of workshops and events for adults and kids and showcases the beautiful work of local artist, Judy Haas on the cover.

Don't forget that next month is The Art of Being A Woman Month where the Ah Haa School celebrates the female spirit in the arts. The school will once again host Lunafest, the national touring women’s short film festival, a handful of workshops and last year's every popular BRAvo Auction. Be a part of BRAvo this year and decorate a bra to help raise awareness about breast cancer. Bras will be available at the school starting next Friday the 23rd. Partial proceeds will benefit the San Miguel Resource Center.

 

In August I was in Washington State to celebrate the 100th birthday of my former father-in-law. I arrived the day before the big occasion and took the time to check out an airplane that interests me in Yakima, and to catch up with family on the East side of the mountains.

I stayed overnight with my brother Denny and family, drank a few beers and told some of the old lies. The next morning I visited with two of my aunts before heading back to the coast.

 

by Dan Hehir, MD

Here in Telluride the arrival of autumn is heralded by many events. We all recognize the cool mornings and changing of the aspens as signs of fall, but here at theTelluride Medical Center the first sign is the arrival of this years’ influenza vaccine. While many of us may respond to these seasonal cues by taking winter clothes out of the closet, making sure the ski gear is in order, or stacking firewood, I would like all of us to add getting a flu shot to that regimen.

Influenza is a viral illness that affects hundreds of thousands of US citizens a year. When calculating the suffering, death, lost work and productivity, the impact is quite severe. While there has been a lot of attention paid to pandemic flu in the media in the past few years it is important to note that the seasonal flu has great impacts to us all. Indeed it is estimated that it is involved with the deaths of about 36,000 US citizens a year. Fortunately, we have yearly flu shots that can protect us from this insidious virus.