"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...
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.
Two-day celebration begins September 9 with old-timey telethon
The history of the Telluride Council for the Arts & Humanities, aka Telluride Arts, is the history of our town from the tie-dyed days hippies and falling down shacks, the 1970s, to robust resort packed with ski bums, entrepreneurs and retired CEOS, living in hot-and-cold running condos and restored Victorians. What everyone has had in common over the years is reverence for the Telluride landscape and abiding support for the region's cultural economy, initially nurtured by Telluride Arts.
In 1971, the ski area had just opened and the town's brand new Arts Council began looking for state grants and running benefits. Those early years were focused on incubating a dynamic arts activity by fostering grass roots initiatives and presenting and producing a robust array of cultural events and activities. Many of those programs hatched under Telluride Arts have flourished and helped define the region, among them: Telluride Film Festival, Telluride Chamber Music Festival, Telluride Bluegrass, all three having just celebrated 38 years in business. The Telluride Jazz Celebration, Telluride Writer's Guild and the Telluride Artists' Bazaar also received a leg up from the organization.
Telluride Arts turns 40 this year. Rather than crashing and burning in a mid-life crisis, the nonprofit also known as TCAH has big plans for the future and is celebrating Big Time.
Telluride Arts is hosting a two-day bash starting with a telethon. (The word is shorthand for "television fundraising marathon," a way to open wallets that started in the Fifties). Beginning Friday, September 9, 9 p.m. and continuing straight through Saturday until 9 p.m., the wild and crazy fundraising spectacle is scheduled to be broadcast LIVE from the The Steaming Bean, HUB (across the street), with the finale from The Sheridan Opera House. Viewers not in Telluride can view on www.telluridearts.org and in Telluride, on Telluride TV Channel 12.
For Telluride Inside… and Out, this is personal. We own two Bill Ellzey photographs. The first, a black-and-white image, was a gift to Clint Viebrock for his 50th birthday. It depicts a calf being rescued from a ditch by two cowboys. We obtained the second print, a small color photograph of a delicate bird perched on a fern, at Baerbel Hacke's art auction for the Telluride AIDS Benefit. Both photographs are classic Ellzey and bear the imprint of his nature: penetrating, focussed, elegantly spare.They tell us life's wonder is everywhere. Celebrate.
Friday – Sunday, September 30 – October 2, Bill Ellzey is teaching a class at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts. The workshop is for at least semi-serious landscape photographers.
(Ed. note: This is a bit late but here is the film schedule for after the Festival) Telluride Film Festival AfterFest at the Palm Tuesday 7:15 - KID WITH A BIKE – 87 min 9:15 - FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD -109m-------------Wednesday 7:00 – LE HAVRE- 103m 9:15 – WE NEED...
For the second year in a row, a King George dominated the Telluride Film Festival. Last year, it was King George VI, whose life and stutter were immortalized in director Tom Hooper's golden "The King's Speech." This year was all about a second King George, a man who rose from a humble background, the son of a former Army dj, to rule Telluride – at least for the long Labor Day weekend. I am talking of course about actor George Clooney, a tributee at the 38th annual celluloid celebration of the art of filmmaking. (He threatened to wear the metal medallion he received at his tribute through airport security.) Virtually every other superstar in town – and there were plenty – walked in Clooney's shadow.
Mark Stevens
Labor Day weekend, the action is mostly on the silver screen. Labor Day weekend, September 2 – September 5 is all about the Telluride Film Festival. However, one Telluride Film Festival regular, documentary director extraordinaire Ken Burns, always finds time on Monday, the last day of the epic film happening, to meet his public. For the third year in a row, Ken will take his traditional post at Telluride's popular book emporium, Between the Covers Bookstore, on September 5, 10:30 – 1 p.m. (ish) or just before he feels he needs to leave for the Closing Picnic.
This year Ken Burns signs copies of "The National Parks: America's Best Idea," "Jazz," "Baseball," and "The Civil War." Joining Ken at Between the Covers is a newcomer to Telluride, author Mark Stevens, in town to to sign copies of his latest work, "Buried by the Roan," an Allison Coil Mystery and the sequel to Stevens' best-seller, "Antler Dust."
The official website of the Telluride Film Festival claims there is no better way to attend the event than as a passholder. Further, it states there is "no hassle" with a pass. True. Sorta kinda.
Here's why. Your pass entitles you to seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Even then, not so much, because passholders are not created equal.
Especially for big buzz movies in the smaller venues (the Sheridan Opera House, the Masons and The Nugget) first-come, first-served means if you are a plain vanilla passholder, your lanyard may not get you in unless you arrive super early, as much as 1 1/2 – 2 hours in advance of the scheduled screening. Even then, remember you are behind sponsors, patrons, students, and Hollywood entourages, who can show up when they wish and jump the queue. When that happens, your treasured numbered Q becomes just another piece of paper to recycle.
[click "Play", Kristin talks hats with Susan]
What's good for the goose… If men can shop in women's stores, go metrosexual, then why shouldn't wear turn the tables too? Kristin Holbrook of Telluride's Two Skirts suggests our hat's in the ring.
In the 1960s, women burned bras and started wearing the pants in the family too. By the 1970s, pants were ho-hum. (So were most fashions.) In the 1980s, women wanting to break the glass ceiling, decided to look more like men: shoulder pads to create the illusion of broad shoulders (all the better to lean on during bad days at the office) came in to fashion, along with button-down shirts, even bow ties. (I bought mine at Paul Stuart.) Power suits for powerful women.
