Events

[click the "Play" button to hear Clint's conversation with Jolana Vanek]The Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride is hosting an interactive event by Jolana Vanek on Monday, Feb 23, at 6:00 pm in the Library's program room. This is part...

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's interview with EFF's Melanie Robbins]

Telluride AIDS Benefit supports Ethiopian Family Fund

Edelawit Bright Eyes Masresha in uniform at school The young girls the Ethiopian Family Fund has rescued from a lifetime of sickness, poverty and monotonous labor indirectly have Mother Teresa to thank, and two girls in particular, the Telluride AIDS Benefit.

Melanie Robbins and Marla Hodes, EFF’s co-directors, took a trip to Africa several years ago to visit Marla’s brother Rick, a full-time doctor at Mother Teresa’s Mission in Addis Adaba, the capital of Ethiopia.

The original plan was to help Dr. Hodes, but it turned out his piggy bank was full and the Mission was in great shape. The boys there, many dropped on the doorsteps by desperate parents, were doing fine thank you. But where were the girls?

[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!