Get TIO in your Inbox!

Personalities

[click "Play" to hear Emily Kunstler's conversation with Susan]

DTU_Poster_Final_Small "Disturbing the Universe" might be a catchall phrase to describe Mountainfilm in Telluride, an annual gathering of a tribe of people who rarely pull their punches. The regulars who attend year after year – 2010 is the 32nd annual get-together – believe the world can be changed for the better through the metastasis of ideas and images, one person, one mountain, one book, one photograph, one symposium, one film at a time.


Like many Mountainfilm regulars and guests, radical civil rights attorney William Kunstler was a man who thrived on controversy and never pulled his punches, his wild hair was always on fire about something. For better or for worse, no one can deny the man advocated change. William Kunstler's professed avatar was Michelangelo's David, the man who fought the giant Goliath. During the second half of the 20th century, Kunstler was one of the most admired lawyers in America ( largely by progressives, though not all civil rights lawyers) – and one of the most reviled (by the radical right, who wanted him disbarred).
24 May, 2010 /
[click "Play", Susan and Nick Sherman are NOT silent]



Mountainfilm in Telluride waxes eloquent on the subject of silence with the inclusion of  "Soundtracker" in this year's lineup. The documentary, the intersection of science and poetry, was written and directed by Nick Sherman.

The Sounds of Silence were first immortalized in lyrics that propelled folk duo Simon and Garfunckel to fame back in 1964. Forty-six years later the sounds of silence are celebrated once again in "Soundtracker," as Sherman pursues sound recordist Gordon Hempton pursuing the few remaining quiet corners of the Earth, where deer cross a quiet country road and tall grass waves in the wind. In a way, the two media events are related: both the hit single and the documentary are responses to an assault, the first on an American president; the second, on our senses. Both tributes argue for an awakening.
22 May, 2010 /

A new feature on Telluride Inside... and Out is a regular Tuesday post by Sam Bush, one of Telluride's favorite musicians. Last week was the opening of this series, a Doers column with Sam, a podcast interview with Sam by Susan, and a video from Sam Bush TV.

This week's article is not quite that elaborate, but includes a video from SBTV. The video will be a weekly part of TIO's coverage, and we at Telluride Inside... and Out appreciate the opportunity to help spread the gospel according to Sam. The following is a description of this week's video from Sam's organization:

"On this week's episode of Sam Bush TV, we're revisiting the Circles Around Me CD Release party (which, coincidentally, was also Sam & Lynn Bush's 25th wedding anniversary) at Sound Emporium Studio, in Nashville, TN the spot where most of the CD was recorded.

18 May, 2010 /

by Tracy Shaffer

Eli and Betty Black and White Dec 2008 Life as a single parent is rough. Tales of being overwhelmed, of budgets and stress, fly across tables at your local Starbucks. The crash of weary heads falling into pillows echoes through our nation’s nights and while some of us rise and fall to the daily drill, others patiently teach a little one to tie a shoe, even if it takes all year.

After a day at the soccer field and showing houses I met up with sister-single-mom and Autism Society of Colorado’s Betty Lehman to wrap up my stories for Autism Awareness month. Looking like a softer version of Sarah Jessica Parker, Betty burst into Racine’s, spotting me in an instant though we’d never met before. She is keen and kind, pin-point focused as we launch into an energetic conversation sharing stories of raising sons. The difference is, that while I foray into the land of the teenage boy, Betty Lehman is the mother of a child with autism.

15 May, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Sam's conversation with Susan]

In Telluride, he is royalty, but please, hold the drum rolls and cornets. The instrument of choice for Sam the Man, King of Telluride, is the diminutive mandolin. Throughout his 30+ year career, by ignoring orthodoxy, Sam Bush did as much as anyone since Bill Monroe to put his instrument on the map. The way he dug in, plucked and strummed, and never mind what he played, added new power and syncopation to the mandolin's percussive chops. Sam's harmonic vocabulary continues to cross musical boundaries, fusing the instrument's more traditional sounds with jazz, rock, blues, funk, and whatever other sounds entered his busy head.

Sam Bush is a trailblazer and Doer #367.

11 May, 2010 /

by Art Goodtimes

IMG_5178 I threw a hissy fit in Norwood last week. At our regular meeting of the San Miguel County Board of Commissioners.

It’s something that’s bugged me for years.

My poor colleagues and staff had to put up with my ranting on and on over contested word choice in a county document that I, as chair this year, was going to have to sign my name to. Ridiculous? You decide…

08 May, 2010 /

IMG_0602
Matthew, with makeup,
out of costume

Telluride Inside... and Out is in Bellevue, Washington, strategising and getting technical issues solved. Daughter Kimm Viebrock is listed as "head geek" on our organization list, so TIO has spent the better part of the past week with faces buried in our computers. We have been working hard during the days, but there has also been time to enjoy family.

Grandson Matthew Nesteroff had a busy weekend: it began with a jazz band contest on Friday morning. Matthew is in the trumpet section of the Chinook Middle School band, and this was our first chance to hear him play in concert. We enjoyed the opportunity, and the band sounded great. For Matthew, that was just the beginning. In addition he was an "Evil Eel" in the Bellevue Youth Theatre production of "The Little Mermaid." We went Friday evening, and once again were proud of our boy's artistic abilities. The cast played to full houses for three more performances: a matinee and an evening show on Saturday, and a matinee on Sunday.

05 May, 2010 /

Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local/mountaineer Ben Clark and a few friends/professional colleagues have made Spring treks to the majestic mountains of the Himalayas. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all. Sadly, this is likely to be the last dispatch of his most recent adventure.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Dispatch 10: So it is done, my ankle is broken

My ankle is broken after my fall yesterday. We iced 8 times, we went through 5 rounds of Ibuprofen and Tylenol and we kept it elevated almost 14 hours before I slept in a compression wrap and elevated for the night. Currently, I believe it wants to ski or hike downhill...because that's the only way it will point! Then I try to move it...ooooh. It looks like a baseball that has soaked in water staining the lower part of my foot with a purple and green base. Yuck.

So...I guess that this Spring, even after our initial and really charged foray onto the hill, we will not be going higher. Jon says so and I just nod. He's a great partner who despite ambition can see the facts. We have gone over every boot-cutting splinting option you can imagine...None will get me back across base camp even. Ha...ohh, we are climbers.

02 May, 2010 /

Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local/mountaineer Ben Clark and a few friends/professional colleagues have made Spring treks to the majestic mountains of the Himalayas. Follow his adventures on Telluride Inside... and Out, including links to his regular podcasts. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

Benbioshotlr-254x300 "Dispatch 9: well...hmmmm

Jon and I feel stronger than ever. Our spirits are up, our sense of adventure is high, and today we departed for base camp to begin the summit climb. I love moving in the mountains. The first moment was incredibly invigorating.

The sun highlighted the Southeast ridge. I waved goodbye to our cook staff, I turned.

Then I rolled my ankle in the sand. With a 60 pound pack on. I wasn't 120 paces out of camp. I hit the ground and knew immediately that everything would be okay. Well, almost everything. Well, maybe not the ankle right then. Oh man. Shit, it feels like it snapped in half.
02 May, 2010 /

"Telluride Hiking Guide" author Susan Kees talks with TIO about her experiences in the region's high country. The third edition of her book is due out this year, and she also has a new website, www.telluridehikingguide.com. ...

28 April, 2010 /