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Author: Susan Viebrock

[click "Play" to hear Sergio Gonzalez talk about SMRC, the Fling, and Telluride Pizza Kitchen]

 
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Sergio Gonzalez

The San Miguel Resource Center is the Telluride region's only nonprofit in the business of eliminating domestic violence and sexual assault. The upcoming Chocolate Lovers' Fling is the Center's only public fundraiser.


Chocolate’s history dates back at least 1,500 years, when the Mayans of Central America crushed cocoa beans into an unsweetened beverage. Closer to home, last year tests of cylindrical clay jars found in the ruins of Chaco Canyon confirmed the presence of theobromine, a cacao marker. Researchers now believe the ancestors of modern Pueblo people of the Southwest used the jars to drink liquid chocolate. Years later in Europe, chocolate was prescribed for depression and made into love and death potions. (Its bitter flavor masked poisons.) You are in good company if you find the allure of chocolate irresistible. (Cravings may be in part be attributed to the natural chemicals in chocolate, including theobromine, thought to produce feelings of well being.) But did you know chocolate is good for you in other ways? According to the Harvard Women's Health Watch, over the past 10 year chocolate has undergone an extreme makeover from "fattening indulgence" to "health food."

04 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Susan's conversation with Katia and Steve]

Necklace-mask-b-e Sponsored by the Telluride Council for the Arts and Humanities, First Thursday Art Walk has become what to do apres ski or pre-prandial for Telluride locals and guests, who get to soak in the town's fine art and retail scene: galleries, studios, arts organizations (such as the Council) and retail stores located in and around Colorado Avenue (Main Street) stay open late until 8 p.m. Lustre Artisans Gallery is one of the participating venues.

For Art Walk, February 4 (also Friday, February 5), 4 – 7 p.m., the husband and wife team of Steve Pflipsen and Katia Pflipsen-Olivová are on hand at Lustre for an artists’ reception. The couple will be talking about their newest large-scale sculptural glass vessels.( Also at Lustre, a trunk show featuring 24K gold jewelry by Gurham, who fashions his contemporary pieces based on techniques dating back thousands of years.)

04 February, 2010 /

[click "Play" to hear Adele Kaars-Sypesteyn]

TELLGALLERYsypesteyn_Candle 3 First Thursday Art Walk, February 4, 5 – 8 p.m., is a big night out on the town. Locals and guests meet and greet on the street as they check out Telluride's fine art and retail scenes. Venues are open late until 8 p.m.

The Telluride Gallery of Fine Art , 130 East Colorado Avenue, features the work of artist Adele Kaars-Sypesteyn , who paints images of aged and decrepit walls, floors and other architectural features of buildings marred – or enhanced? – by time. Repetition of forms, the visual marks of lives well lived, evoke a feeling of bygone days and the weathering of lived-in spaces. The power and physical beauty of Sypesteyn's abstractions and landscapes also suggest the artist holds some interesting views about the aging process in humans.
04 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to MD about his art]

Md_web The Telluride local known on the streets simply as "MD" is not what his handle suggests. Michael Patrick Doherty is an artist, this month the featured virtuoso at the Ah Haa School for the Arts. "Life on Telluride" officially opens tomorrow, February 4, for the First Thursday Art Walk., 5 - 8 p.m. in Ah Haa's Daniel Tucker Gallery.


03 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Susan's conversation with Kent Ford]

Kent_head_shot_color Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library teamed up with The New Community Coalition to kick off the 2010 Green Business Roundtable series.The first meeting takes place Friday, February 5, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. in the Program Room. Guest speakers are Kent Ford and Tracy Daniels of Durango's Green Business Roundtable and San Juan Citizens Alliance. The event is FREE. (Breakfast provided along with food for thought.)

Whitewater is an intriguing metaphor for these challenging times in the Telluride region. Who better than Ford to help us navigate to safe shores. Kent's unique background includes 20 years of international whitewater racing and coaching, combined with similar experience teaching recreational boating to all levels of paddlers. His dvds, videos and books on paddlesports have influenced the education of half a million paddle sports enthusiasts. Ford, a Durango resident, is also founder and coordinator of Durango's Green Business Roundtable, now in its seventh year. Like a civic club, the GBR takes on topic related to environmental sustainability, seeking to network, inspire, educate and make a difference. As a result of the efforts of the Roundtable, many Durango businesss stepped up their commitment to green ventures: recently Durango was rated  #12 community in the nation by EPA for Green Power purchasing.

03 February, 2010 /

Telluride's Palm Theatre brings live transmissions to local audiences from all over country and the world. On Feburary 4, 6 p.m., watch Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" an HD transmission on the Big Screen, live from the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul, MN.

For over 35 years, legions of fans have tuned in to Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" to be entertained by this armchair philosopher's low-key reflections, barbed insights, and trademark humor. Each week, "A Prairie Home Companion" is heard by more than four million listeners of every age, on more than 600 public radio stations across the country. One of them can be you. This broadcast features special guest Elvis Costello.(Walk in at 5:30 for a special peek behind the scenes and APHC trivia.)

03 February, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Melanie Montoya's conversation with Susan]

Telluride's San Miguel Resource Center hosts its 15th annual Chocolate Lovers' Fling Saturday, February 6, 7:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m., at the Telluride Conference Center. This year's theme: "The Love Boat," based on the eponymous ABC TV series (1977 –1986) about a ship's captain who moonlights as Cupid encouraging passengers to find romantic partners. The Fling is the SMRC's only major public fundraiser.


The San Miguel Resource Center and The Telluride AIDS Benefit fight a common misconception: Not in my backyard. In rebuttal, numbers from the Resource Center talk, muzzling the naysayers and providing hard reasons to support the non-profit's overriding objective: promote healthy, loving relationships  – that's why the Fling is scheduled so close to Valentine's Day – and put itself out of business by ending interpersonal violence in our greater community through education and support services.

02 February, 2010 /

Telluride local Ben Clark takes Telluride on the road every spring, doing what Telluriders often do: Get out there on the edge. This is the second post in a series linking to Ben's adventures in the Himalayas. View the website and check out the video...

02 February, 2010 /

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Chef Bud and Jenna Thomas

Telluride is always high. And we mean that in a good way. The town and its surrounding mountains range between 9,000 – 14,000 feet, great if you like skiing, hiking, parasailing, mountain biking, lots of sports, but challenging for basics such as breathing and cooking. Just ask "The Tomboy Bride," Harriet Backus.

In her memoir, Backus wrote  “'The Rocky Mountain Cook Book' became my guide, philosopher and daily companion.” One memorable Thanksgiving at their Tomboy cabin, the Backuses and friends sat down for what was sure to be the best meal of the year, only to find the bird still quite frozen.

01 February, 2010 /