Old Events

[Click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Steve Spitz]

Steve Spitz  cooking up something special for Telluride

Steve's 2009 Publicity Shots 027 In the Obama age, when the issue on the table is HIV/AIDS, prevention education should be back on the agenda, trumping the Bushies' abstinence only stance that has been proven not to work, especially with young people.

But forget abstinence altogether when lifestyle TV personality Steve Spitz returns to Telluride for the fourth year in a row. On Tuesday, February 24, 6 p.m., in support of the Telluride AIDS Benefit's big week, Steve is once again producing a not-to-be-missed wine and tapas pairing at a private home in town.

Steve was drawn to TAB's cause because of an altogether different kind of pairing: HIV and kids; six or seven years ago, AIDS killed a first cousin. Also several friends in the gay community were lost to the pandemic. A chance meeting years ago with former TAB director Betsy Adler at the Santa Fe Wine and Chili Fiesta convinced Steve to throw his considerable weight and imagination behind the nonprofit.

[click play to hear Susan's interview with Fred Garbo]

Telluride's Michael D. Palm Theatre hosts Fred Garbo Inflatable Theatre Company, Feb 20, 7:00 pm

The term refers to collective increases in the supply of money or prices – and a theatre company. In Fred Garbo's world, inflation is a good thing.

Fred is the founder and one of two principals in the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theatre Co.(click link to learn more about Inflatable Theatre), a multi-faceted, inventive exercise in pure entertainment, combining physical comedy, mime, dance, juggling, and gigantic inflatable props, which bounce between grand silliness and organic sculpture.

Fred & Co. are in Telluride for a one night only performance at The Palm, February 20, 7 p.m.

Flap our gums, as is our wont in the Telluride community, about the need for expansion and new equipment,  at the end of the day, for a key player in this area such as Kristin Holbrook, it is a no-brainer: through her store,Two Skirts, she is a big time supporter of the FEAST, or Fund for Expanding and Supporting Telluride's Medical Center,  because she is here for the long haul and wants to be assured of state of the art medical services for her young family. Watch the video below to preview the Two Skirts' shopping spree, one of the auction items.

The facts on the table seem plain enough: The Telluride Medical Center has outgrown its existing building.  Between 2001 and 2007, TMC’s emergency service volume grew 81% and  community population projections indicate the TMC’s primary service area should grow by 39% over the next 10 years. With a new facility, the TMC would be able to double the capacity of the ER, and add specialty services such as pediatrics. 

[ click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with Rosemerry]

H3TaO Front300 Instead of pulling the covers over your head, make Friday the 13th your lucky day. Kick off the holiday weekend at Telluride's Between the Covers bookstore with a Valentine's Day Eve celebration, 5 - 6:30 p.m.

The event is a poetry party to celebrate the release of two new books of poems, "Holding Three Things at Once" and "Come Together: Imagine Peace: Poems" (Harmony), by  San Miguel county's poet laureate, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

Rosemerry is joined by her friends, country commissioner Art Goodtimes, and Ellen Metrick, for readings. Bobbi Smith has created a batch of "naughty cookies."  Frannie Major created the flower arrangements.

Humming beneath the surface of every elegant line is the author's child-like sense of inquiry. Sleek and sinuous as a cat, Rosemerry is just as curious about the many gifts of the natural world and the metaphors they enfold.

Telluride's Nugget Theatre is screening four films this week, including the animated feature, "The Tale of Despereaux" and the World War II drama, "Defiance."

"Despereaux" is the story of a mouse who would be the hero who rescues the Princess. As travel writers know, you have no story unless something goes wrong. "The Tale of Despereaux" illustrates this dictum. Among the famous voices behind this animation are those of Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. To see a trailer, go to apple.com/trailers.

Edward Zwick's "Defiance" is set in Eastern Europe in World War II. At a time when Jewish people were being massacred by the millions, the Bielski brothers were fighting the Nazis with a makeshift army of the people they had rescued. The movie stars Daniel Craig (the latest James Bond) and Liev Schreiber as two of the four Bielski brothers. The trailer can be found at apple.com/trailers. In the interest of full-disclosure, the editor of "Defiance" is Susan's and my brother-in-law, Steven Rosenblum, so this one is personal.

The Nugget's schedule for the coming week:

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Jeb Berrier]

Comedy Fest begins Thursday at Telluride's Sheridan Opera House

Guaranteed the barbs will hit their mark – us – when the 10th annual Telluride Comedy Fest opens for business Thursday, February 12, with Locals' Night.

The weekend produced and hosted by town clown Jeb Berrier is always a great excuse for his old friends to gather and party hardy on the mountain and on the stage of the historic Sheridan Opera House. When those friends include the Who's Who of the world of comedy, then all bets are off. Anything goes.

The usual suspects include Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Rob Huebel Jason Mantzoukas, Jamie Denbo, Scott Armstrong, Jessica Chaffin, Paul Scheer, Arj Barker, Steve Agee and DJ Eric Appel!

by Eileen BurnsThe San Juan Symphony, with guest conductor Philip Mann, will be performing in Telluride, Sunday, February 15th at the Michael D. Palm Theatre.  Show time is 5pm.  The evening's selections include "Shubert's Symphony No. 8 in B minor, Unfinished".  Shubert lived a full six years after...

Poster Part two of Elisabeth Gick's  three-part series on Tibet at Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library is a pause to refresh from the country's challenges: a screening of the award-winning documentary, "The Saltmen of Tibet."

According to Eilsabeth, the film offers a loving look at an ancient way of
life in one of the harshest, yet gorgeous regions of the world, the
Tibetan plateau. The story follows the daily rituals of a Tibetan nomadic community,
transporting us into a realm untainted by the tides of foreign invasion or
encroaching modernity. Step by step we experience the unforgettable, annual
three-month pilgrimage to the holy salt lakes of northern Tibet.

"Tibet is the roof of the world, a place where we feel we are in the
sky just as much as you are on the earth. The intense blueness of space
contrasts sharply with the deep green of Eastern Tibet's rolling grasslands
and the mineral colors of the west with its expanse of barren rock. For over
a thousand years Buddhist culture has been at the heart of Tibetan society,
and anyone who has travelled across these high plateaux will understand how
this contemplative civilization flourished in a landscape of such vastness," explained physical scientist/Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard.