Awareness into Action: Galamsey David Byars and Jenny Jacobi left last year's Mountainfilm with the same inspiration and desire to do good that many take away from Telluride's film and philanthropy festival. Not wanting to lose this feeling, they began a serious campaign to...
Ed. note: TIO's Denver-based contributor Tracy Shaffer muses about the play she has written, which is being performed this week by the Paragon Theatre Ensemble.
After years of living with these characters inside my head and seeing them come to into two-dimensional existence with various staged readings, my play (W)hole is finally on its 3-D feet in Paragon Theatre Ensemble's World Premiere production. I sat down for lunch at Cholon Bistro (more on that) with Telluride Playwrights Festival Director, Jennie Franks, who came to town this week to see my play, discuss our new Colorado playwrights group, Collective 7, and brainstorm about the 2011 Playwrights Festival. As Denver Post Theatre critic, John Moore, wrote in his advance press piece, (W)hole was started years ago and has been the beneficiary of input from various theatre companies along its way. I wasn't writing or shopping the play around the whole decade, but revising drafts and submitting as time allowed.
Here's something we all know: It's all about positive reinforcement. Ted Hoff, trainer/owner of Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel, near Crawford, Colorado, puts that theory into practice as he works with Calvin a young yellow Labrador...
Telluride Inside... and Out wants to talk bull with you. Mega bull: Zeus when he seduced Europa. Here's the story:
Minds of Mountainfilm - Tom Shadyac from Mountainfilm in Telluride on Vimeo.
This weekend, people enjoying the 2010 Mountainfilm program will be surrounded by skyscrapers instead of mountains—the film festival is screening some of its finest flicks in New York City at the Lincoln Center this Oct. 22-24, including Tom Shadyac's I Am and Reel Thing Productions' Bag It. Mountainfilm is also sharing its message about the extinction crisis (the festival's 2010 theme) by hosting a discussion with a panel of experts at the event.
Over the years, Mountainfilm in Telluride has evolved from its roots as a cinematic collection of outdoor adventures into something even more significant. Today, Mountainfilm offers a broader perspective on the world, a group of films, books and conversations by people who share a love for the natural world and a passion for protecting our place in it. The documentaries presented still portray the pioneering adventurers of the outdoors, but now films like I Am and Bag It also make another type of connection with audiences. They ask tough questions about how over-consumption and greed are affecting our world.
Dateline: Athens, 10/16/2010
You know you are not in Kansas – Telluride either – when the view outside your window is, yes, a mountain, but not a very big one, and on top of that mountain – or "Sacred Rock," the name locals gave it – is a cluster of ancient buildings, marble masterpieces dating back to the late fifth century B.C., the Golden Age of Athens.
The temples on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, are among the most important monuments in the Western world. Yesterday, day #2 in Greece, we made the required pilgrimage. I say "required," not "desired," because the place is on everyone else's bucket list too, and so even now, the tail end of tourist season, there is barely room to turn around. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Labrador retrievers are easy to train, says Ted Hoff, owner of Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel, near Crawford, Colorado. They pick up skills so easily, he says, because they are eager to please. They are also...
Regular readers of Telluride Inside... and Out will recognize a familiar voice at the helm: Deb Dion has the con while Susan and I are on the road. Thanks for taking control, Deb.
We had a good week in Hackensack, NJ, with Susan's parents, with a few side trips into New York for art, theatre (if you're in New York, don't miss "Little Foxes" at New York Theatre Workshop) and catching up with friends. We had good pass rider karma on Delta Airlines, with seats in Business Class for the 10 hour flight to Athens. That set us up to hit the ground running when we arrived.
Construction and traffic delays related to labor strikes (protesting austerity measures mandated by EU bailouts in Greece) slowed our ride into the city. Our driver, Stevios, had plenty of stories to fill the time. Our first home-away-from-home, the Eridanus Luxury Art Hotel, has proven helpful beyond measure, as well as beautiful. The view of the Acropolis from our patio is also a major benefit.
I believe I have mentioned before: for me there is no good time to leave Telluride. But things are so busy in Telluride during the Winter and Summer, that if one is to get out of town to visit family, the shoulder season is when it's going to happen.
We were in Telluride long enough to be aware of this even-more-beautiful Autumn, but mostly we have been on the road. We were in Pittsburgh in early September with daughter #2, Kjertsin Klein and husband Greg and grandkids Dylan and Anna. That was a great time. We hadn't been together for a year, so there was a lot of catching up to do, and lots of noticing that the kids had shot up in the meantime.
