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Author: Susan Viebrock

[click "Play", Vivien Russell and Rick Fusting talk about One To One and the "Top Chef" event]

1__#$!@%!#__unknown A few smart Telluride non-profits seem to have gotten the message when New York Times columnist Tom Friedman entreated President Obama to make 2010 "the year of innovation" (NYT January 23 Op Ed).  Events such as the San Miguel Research Center's/Two Skirts' "Clutch for the Cause," The Telluride AIDS Benefit's "Intoxicating Cuisine," the Telluride Historical Museum's Muleskinners' Ball are all examples of what happens when the tough get going.

Telluride-based One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program has also stepped up to the challenge of  how to get enough pie when the overall pie has shrunk. Like many regional non-profits, One to One experienced funding cuts. The reaction: stage a lollapalooza of a first-ever fundraising event.

On Thursday, August 19, 6 – 9 p.m., at The Peaks, One to One hosts a Wine Tasting & Telluride Top Chef Competition, which also includes live music by Westward magazine's choice of Colorado's Singer-Songwriter of the Year, Rob Drabkin, also in the line-up for Blues & Brews.


14 August, 2010 /
[click "Play", Meehan Fee describes the event]

PIG & WHISKEY POSTER FINAL Telluride's sister city, the Mountain Village, is hopping this weekend with two big events: the Telluride Festival of the Arts and the Telluride Conference Center's Pig & Whiskey.

Pig & Whiskey is no pig in a poke: everything about the event is out there on the table. And there is something for everyone.

For film buffs, there's a screening of a documentary by Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood. "The Secret to a Happy Ending" chronicles the life and impact of the Drive-By Truckers, a rock-and-roll band that may not enjoy mass fame, but claims an unusually potent connection with its fans just like the jam band who packed Telluride Town Park earlier this week, Phish. It's a connection the film's director, Barr Weissman felt first-hand when he saw them in 2003. One song in particular, "The Living Bubba," frontman Patterson Hood's high and mournful ode to a friend who had died, purportedly reduced Weissman to an emotional pulp.
13 August, 2010 /

Emma Ryan The Telluride Academy's Mudd Butts opens August 13 at The Palm. The 24th annual production is "1001 Arabian Nights." The event takes place Friday, August 13 and Saturday, August 14 @ 7 p.m. The Sunday program, a matinee @ 2 p.m., is followed by an auction of Mike Stasiuk's incredible props. 

While the heart and soul of the Mudd Butts is a trio of outspoken creative geniuses, Sally Davis, Kim Epifano and Mike Stasiuk, its takes a village to mount their ambitious happenings.

A list of this year's cast and crew follows:

13 August, 2010 /

click "Play" to hear Ashley Deppen of Two Skirts talk about Fall footwear] Summer in Telluride has felt a lot like Seattle. Nothing but rain. Who knows what the Fall will bring – unless we are talking footwear. According to...

13 August, 2010 /
[click "Play", Alex Carter talks about his book]

InsidersCover Telluride is not just any small town. And Telluride Middle School/High School principal Alex Carter is not just any school administrator. In 2003, Carter was recognized as one of the top educators in the United States with his selection to receive a National Milken Educator Award. And Alex Carter is also an author.


On Thursday, August 12, starting at 6:30 p.m., Carter will be on hand at Between the Covers bookstore to sign copies of his latest effort, "The Insider's Guide to High School: A Parent's Handbook for the Ninth Grade Year," (Vandamere Press, 2010), a work he co-authored with Tim Healey. (Together the writing team have 40 years of teaching experience.)

11 August, 2010 /
IMG_7576 Last night, Tuesday, August 10, Phrog and Phidgt from Steamboat Springs threw a little party for a few of their closest friends in Telluride Town Park. Food and drink were served. The main course was Phish. Though clearly not an endangered species.

Here're a few things you need to know about Phish phans:

#1. They are nice people, who smile and look you in the eye as they eagerly answer any and all questions about their favorite band.

#2. They are smart and articulate. (See quotes in related post)

11 August, 2010 /
It's fair to say The Grateful Dead were early adapters of the Google model – predating Google. They understood the power of the people to sell their brand, (Read "What Would Google Do?" by Jeff Jarvis if you want to know more.)  Word is that when the Dead parted ways, their sea of fans parted too, some becoming devotees of Widespread Panic and others, Phish phans.

The scene last night in Telluride Town Park was grassroots Gothic, avid Phish phans as far as the eye could see demonstrating a populist zeal rarely seen outside of Tea Party gatherings these days. Only they are positive and having lots more fun. Phish does not hold back, delivering cross genre, super-extended grooves laced with improv and a light show that drives the crowd wild. Phish phans don't hold back either. They give full-throated praise to the boys in their band. Here's a random sampling from our neck of the woods Tuesday night.

IMG_7505 Phrog (his first Phish concert was in 1991) and Phidgt from Steamboat Springs. Phrog is involved with two Phish websites: cotapers.org and etree.org, which tapes and distributes the band's shows. (Trading tapes has helped Phish sell over 8 million albums/DVDs in the U.S alone.)

11 August, 2010 /
[click "Play" for Roy Malan's conversation with Susan]

Roy Malan In the early 1970s, Telluride was just beginning to pulse thanks to a chap from Beverly Hills named Joe Zoline, who had just opened the ski resort. Still, half of Main Street was boarded up and people were high-tailing it out of town muttering darkly about the closing of the Idarado Mines. The historic Sheridan Opera House was a camping ground for derelicts with broken glass and dusty mattresses everywhere. Roy Malan and Robin Sutherland, for many years stalwart co-directors of the Telluride Chamber Music Festival, played despite the venue – and the crowd liked the sound.

That was in 1974. The Telluride Chamber Music Festival returns this weekend for its 37th encore. Following a free concert  and picnic, starting 5 p.m.,  in Town Park, the series takes place two consecutive weekends, Friday and Saturday, August 13 – August 14, then again August 20 – August 21.
11 August, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's interview with Steve Spitz]

Postcard Fruits and veggies are seasonal. AIDS tends to ignore changes in the weather.


The Telluride AIDS Benefit, the crown jewel of Telluride's winter cultural calendar, hosts its first ever summer fundraiser. Intoxicating Cuisine with returning TV host/author/entrepreneur Steve Spitz takes place Friday, August 13, 5 – 8 p.m., 602 West Columbia. The event pairs great wines with tapas prepared by Spitz to honor the flavors and ingredients from every continent on the globe.
09 August, 2010 /