Author: Susan Viebrock


Legendary guitarist and gypsy Tim Reynolds is in Telluride to perform with his trio,TR3, at the historic Sheridan Opera House on Wednesday, January 20. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.

Out of the gate, Reynolds got spoiled by adoring fans. As the child of pious, fiercely conservative parents, he began playing electric bass in a gospel band at age 12 before writhing congregations of ecstatic worshippers. Reynolds performed at church three times a week  – over 1000 times – until his high school graduation.

6a00e553ed7fe18833011570134a4b970c-120wi Jennie Franks' Telluride Playwrights' Festival owes a debt to the Bard. Four hundred years after his death, Shakespeare is still the most popular playwright in the world because his every word, every phrase offers dozens of possibilities for the pace, rhythm and trajectory of every scene. Directors and actors only have to get out of the way for the structure of the whole play to reveal itself. The Telluride Playwrights' Festival is all about words, not the production.



Talk about flights of fancy.

To celebrate 51/2 months of wedding bliss, on January 6, Telluride locals Eliot Brown and Mary Sama-Brown, a broker with Telluride Real Estate Corp, headed to Las Vegas for a romantic getaway. Only Eliot and Mary did not have to deal with the hassle of booking a flight. The happy couple simply commandeered their own Twin Commander/Grand Renaissance 840.

Eliot's day job is operator and chief pilot of MayaAir, a Telluride-based air charter carrier. The Grand Renaissance became his airplane of choice for its all-around reliability and performance. This bird is just as strong and flexible as the acrobats in Cirque du Soleil, which the Browns saw on their trip. (Word is "Zumanity" is both funny and sexy, very sexy.)

[click "Play" to listen to Erika Gordon speak about Sunday at the Palm]

Endurance.11x17 The Telluride Film Festival's Sunday at the Palm series kicks off the 2010 season with the award-winning docudrama, "The Endurance: Shackleton's Lengendary Antarctic Expedition," back on Telluride’s big screen for the first time since its Telluride Film Festival premier in 2000.

Vain-glory-mongering or scientific curiosity? A desire to get there first? What motivated Ernest Shackleton matters less than the fact that, when all was said and done, after 22 harrowing months, he emerged from his dangerous and failed adventure a hero, having led 27 men to safety.

[click "Play" for Kristin Holbrook's take on leather] From London to New York, Milan to Paris, leather looks were big this past Fall on the red carpet and fashion runways. Leather jackets, skirts and accessories continue to be hot this...

Banner5 Dr. Marshall Whiting, a psychologist, is known and respected in Telluride for intelligence, intuition, and empathy. What may not be common knowledge is that her heart is way too big to be confined within the walls of a box canyon. Whiting is the board development chair of Project Concern International.

With over 45 years of experience, Project Concern International is a leading international health organization that saves the lives of children and families around the world by preventing disease and providing access to clean water and nutritious food. The nonprofit reaches over three million people a year with programs in third-world countries to Bolivia to Zambia. Project Concern is on the ground in Haiti today.

Dr. Whiting sent the following appeal to her friends in a morning email:

Telluride's Palm Theatre is offering up a little recession-friendly entertainment for the whole family AND a great after school activity. Where else can you see your favorite films on the big screen for only $1? Can you deduce the names of these movies from the clues below? The Palm says they can't tell us the titles, but surely it's more fun this way, right?

Upcoming in January:

[click "Play" for Ulli Sir Jesse's comments on the Kindermusik program]

Salsa
Salsa at Ah Haa

Ulli Sir Jesse is that rare being who is universality liked and respected in the Telluride community. Mention her name and people throw flowers, never stones.

Ulli, a long time Ah Haa instructor, begins teaching the next installment of the Kindermusik series, Sign and Sing, on Wednesday, January 20, at the school. The program, consecutive Wednesdays, is now scheduled from 11 – 11:45 am, a change from the times listed in Ah Haa's catalog.
[click "Play" to listen to Joan May speaking with Susan]

IMGP0907 The premise is simple: if we want a sustainable future, if Telluride wants a future at all, the region needs to be prepared. Ready, fire, aim is not an acceptable strategy.

Telluride's Regional Economic Futures Task Force is the offspring of two meetings held in 2008 and 2009: The Regional Sustainability Visioning Process and Thinking Outside the Box Canyon. Its purpose: under the banner of The New Community Coalition, REFTF is meant to help our extended community identify the best – read elegant, efficient and effective – ways to support and enhance our environment and our economy, which are joined at the hip. There is a clear need to leverage existing businesses, while identifying gap opportunities that allow people to remain part of a community that becomes multigenerational.
[click "Play" for Anders Beck's conversation with Susan]



What happens in Telluride does not stay in Telluride. Witness Greensky Bluegrass. Since winning the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's band concert in 2006 and returning in 2007 to sell-out Nightgrass, it's been blue skies everyday for Greensky Bluegrass. The band circles back to where it all began, performing this time at the historic Sheridan Opera House on January 14. Show time is 8 p.m.