Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Cool vid from Occupy Denver's Oct. 8 rally
There are at least two people I know in this time-lapse vid
Convergence WY asks: "Wyoming culture is unique but are we leveraging this culture to help build prosperous communities?"
Jackson Farmers' Market - Creative Bakeries from Indie Media: The New Journalism on Vimeo.
This vid comes from a series filmed by Cheyenne videographer Alan O'Hashi as he tours the state (with Wyoming Arts Council staffer Randy Oestman) in search of details about Wyoming's Creative Vitality Index (CVI). Teton County's CVI is off the charts, making it one of the best arts towns in the West. And that's not all high rollers buying big bronzes and Teton landscapes. It's also young artists finding ways to transfer their skills to the kitchen, and then selling those handcrafted pies at the farmers' market, with money going into their pockets and the community. The Circle of Life!
I'll share more of these CVI vids as they become available... They'll cover other areas of the state, including Sheridan and Rock Springs and Cheyenne and others. This creativity is no surprise to Wyomingites who know that there is an incredible amount of arts and crafts happening quietly in farms and ranches and small towns and in cities (we have a few) and even resort towns all around the state. The video series is an attempt to put a face on that activity.
So interesting that this surge of creativity happens in such a conservative state. After all, Wyoming has the most Republican legislature in the U.S. -- and the least diverse. The new Tea Party Repubs fell all over themselves during the 2011 session trying to propose the most absurdly regressive laws. Anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-worker, anti-wolf, anti-environmental protections. You name it, they were agin' it. Except for guns -- very pro-gun. Fetuses now have their own concealed carry laws.
Our gun culture is part of the creative economy. There are many artisans making and decorating their own firearms. Cody is home to the Buffalo Hill Historical Center and its fantastic firearms museum. In Cody, don't miss the eclectic Dug Up Gun Museum. Cody artist Paul Clymer turns old shotguns into colorful works of art. Pinedale artist JB Bond is in the process of transforming a junked vehicle into a nine-foot-long machine gun that will be part of the town's public art initiative.
But let's face it -- Wyoming's population is aging rapidly. Its infrastructure is crumbling. The education system is not getting the results warranted by the investment of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, or so say the Repubs..
Most importantly, its young people aren't hanging around to watch it crumble. Sure, some of these youngsters are featured in these videos. But unless we can boost the entire state's CVI, those youngsters won't stick around.
I ask my fellow parents this question: how many of your children departed Wyoming to go to college or the military and never moved back? Go ahead, tell me your stories.
The Rocky Mountain West is filled with livable towns and cities that also are artsy outdoor sports meccas. Need I name them? Fort Collins, Boulder, Durango, Denver, Steamboat Springs, Park City, Salt Lake City, Moab, Aspen, Sun Valley, Bend, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston, Moscow, Pullman, Boise, Taos, Tucson, Flagstaff and so on.
These are the cities that Cheyenne, Casper, Rock Springs, Gillete and Riverton are competing against. Here is the question posed by Convergence Wyoming: "Wyoming culture is unique but are we leveraging this culture to help build prosperous communities?"
Well, are we?
"Undead Lovers," post-apocalyptic film set in Wyoming, screens Aug. 27 in Laramie
K. Harrison Sweeney grew up in Worland and graduated from the University of Wyoming Theatre and Dance program in 2001. He now lives in southern California making movies. He sends word that he and his cohorts are holding a free screening of his short film "Undead Lovers" (using Jalan Crossland's honky tonk song of the same name) around the state. The first screening is 2 p.m. this Saturday, August 27, at the UW Fine Arts Main Stage in Laramie. Live music and hors d'oeuvres will be available at the reception.
"Freedom Riders" asks: Would you put your life on the line?
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| An amazing documentary. My wife and I saw it on WY Public TV several weeks ago. Donate to Truthout and get a fee copy. |
Star Wars Festival "food-raiser" set for July 7
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| Is it possible that Darth Vader is a force for good in the universe? |
Fellow prog-blogger and minister Rodger McDaniel announces this good (and fun) cause:
Highlands United Presbyterian Church announces its "Star Wars" Festival “food-raiser” for NEEDS. The STAR WARS FESTIVAL, is scheduled for 6:30-9:30 p..m., Thursday, July 7, at the
A variety of events are planned as part of this family evening:
6:30 p.m. - Intergalactic Meet-and-Greet
Want to meet Darth Vader, Imperial Stormtroopers or R2D2? Come early to the talk and meet some of your favorite characters from the Star War films. Bring your camera and take as many pictures as you like! Re-enactors include members of the Mountain Garrison of the 501st Legion -- www.501st.com. Members reside in both
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| Dr. Toby Rush presents "The Music of Star Wars" |
This 90-minute multimedia presentation from UNC music professor TOBY RUSH, includes excerpts from all six films. Dr. Rush will present the music of Star Wars and explore how John Williams used the soundtrack to help tell George Lucas' epic tale.
9 p.m. -- Costume Contest
Wear your Star Wars costume! Guests are encouraged to dress as characters from any of the Star Wars films. A short fashion show, allowing guests to strut their stuff, will be held following Dr. Rush’s talk. Prizes will be awarded for the top outfits!
All this FREE with your donation for NEEDS! So bring the family, this is one event you don’t want to miss! And it’s for a good cause – with all foodstuffs to be donated to NEEDS
Highlands Presbyterian Church is located in north
For more information, contact Rodger McDaniel, pastor of Highlands Presbyterian, at 307-634-2962 (church office) or rodger.mcdaniel@bresnan.ne
"From "Brokeback Mountain" to "Beyond Brokeback" -- the long life of a short story
On Friday, as I drove the pass back to Cheyenne, I thought about the impact and mystery of the arts. I had just seen a staged reading of “Beyond Brokeback” at the Shepard Symposium for Social Justice at UW. “Beyond Brokeback” is another chapter in the story of “Brokeback Mountain,” a short story written by Wyoming writer Annie Proulx back in the last century. She wrote it in the mid-1990s and it made its debut in the The New Yorker magazine in 1997. It was in Proulx’s 1999 collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories. The first edition of the book featured illustrations by renowned Western artist William Matthews. A signed copy is worth a lot, I’m told by eBay.
That, as we say in the short story writing business, is that. The New Yorker copies get recycled and books are read and put up on the home library shelf. Its bookstore shelf life, especially in the dark ages of the 1990s, was probably a couple of months. The book was used in the Wyoming Humanities Council “Reading Wyoming” series. One of the stories, “Pair a Spurs,” was excerpted in Deep West: A Literary Tour of Wyoming by the Wyoming Center for the Book. I co-edited the book with Wyoming Poet Laureate David Romtvedt and then-director of the Center for the Book, Linn Rounds.
So the stories already had more visibility than is usual for the genre. Annie Proulx is a Pulitzer Prize winner, after all, for the The Shipping News, set in Newfoundland but written in Wyoming. The critics liked it, yet many Wyomingites did not. The stories featured (in no particular order) a crazy mother who tossed her infant into a creek, a half-skinned steer, wanton hussies, a smattering of drunks, a talking tractor, crazy old coots and violence a-plenty. I, for one, liked the talking tractor in “The Bunchgrass Edge of the World.” And I was proud of myself for tracking down and reading the Icelandic Saga that was the basis for “The Half-Skinned Steer.”
I read some – but not all – of the stories in Close Range. I missed “Brokeback Mountain.” It wasn’t the subject matter of two young cowboys having a homosexual relationship. I just didn’t get around to it until I listened to the entire audiobook during a long drive across the state. The tale ended as I drove a secondary road in Fremont County. I pulled over to take a deep breath so that I wouldn’t cry on company time. The scene with the shirts in the closet was one of the most powerful endings of any American story. I sat there on the side of the road, contemplating this very touching love story between two men of the West.
As I mentioned, Close Range was not beloved here in The Equality State. The former state parks director, a Wyoming native and voracious reader, said that he liked the stories but wished that they had been written about Nebraska. During a drive to Cody with a colleague, I excitedly plugged in the Close Range audiobook. We listened to the first two stories. After the second concluded, my colleague asked if we could listen to something else. “The stories are depressing,” she said. We listened to an oldies station the rest of the way.
I’ve spoken with Annie Proulx several times. At an art museum opening in Casper, she told me that she was dismayed that people thought her stories about Wyoming cowboys and barmaids and oil patch workers were inaccurate and hard to believe. Proulx, a dogged researcher, said that the stories were based on real incidents dug from the archives. She changed the names and added details and gave it her own writerly touch. The author was already working on another collection of Wyoming stories – she did three in all.
We skip ahead to 2005. “Brokeback Mountain,” the film by Ang Lee starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the ill-fated Heath Ledger, opened with much fanfare. Theatres in some small towns refused to show the film. There was even a question whether it would be screened anywhere in Wyoming (it was). The film made a lot of money and gets some Oscar nominations. At the Oscar ceremony in 2006, novelist Larry McMurtry and screenwriter Diana Ossana won the award for best adapted screenplay from Proulx’s story.
Meanwhile, thousands of people were leaving comments on the Ultimate Brokeback Forum web site. Their comments were angry, sad, sweet and funny. They arrived from all over the world and from all kinds of people young and old, gay and straight, rural and urban. Site founder Dave Cullen says that the site recorded 500,000 posts the first year. Another 50,000 to 100,000 lurkers came by to see what was going on.
A lot, as it turned out.
Cullen culled the commentary and poetry and song lyrics and came up with enough intriguing narrative to fill a book, Beyond Brokeback: Impact of a Film. On December 11, 2010, the fifth anniversary of the movie’s release, Gregory Hinton debuted his adaptation of “Beyond Brokeback” at the Autry Museum in L.A. The museum is named after its benefactor, cowboy crooner Gene Autry who died one of the richest men in America. The show was part of the museum’s “Out West” series, a clever bit of word play.
The Autry event comes with its own connection to Wyoming (funny how they keep on coming up). Gregory Hinton grew up in Cody where his father was editor of the newspaper. He acknowledges the sad fact that many LGBT kids in rural places depart rather than stay, believing (for many good reasons) that there is no place for them. They flee to cities where being gay is not an excuse for revulsion or name-calling or worse. As one commentator said on the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, there are three items from the film that every gay young man knows: the closet, a bloody shirt, and a tire iron.
Hinton was invited to present “Beyond Brokeback” at the Shepard Symposium. This symposium is named for Matthew Shepard, the young gay man from Casper who was severely beaten and left for dead on an October night in Laramie. The theme of this year’s Shepard Symposium was “CREATE: Activism Toward Social Justice.”
Friday’s “Beyond Brokeback” staged reading featured these talented people: James Bowyer, Lee Hodgson, John J. O’Hagan, Peter Parolin, Hannah Peterson, Katie Stearns and Katrina Zook. Bowyer also played the piano and sang along with Zook. Shawn Kirchner wrote the original songs. The reading was directed by O’Hagan and produced by Hinton and O’Hagan. It’s important to name the names. Not only did they do a terrific job on stage, they breathed life into people they’d never met. We heard stories from a farmer who’d just tended to his 95 cows, a 57-year-old divorced woman who was making some big changes, and a gay Jackson, Wyo., resident who loved his natural surroundings but was mystified by the prejudice he received from humans. A “senior division” gay man regretted his lonely, anonymous suburban life – yet still was willing to give love another try. A married woman took her tough-guy husband to the movie and was shocked when he admitted crying at the sad ending. “He’s going to get lucky tonight,” she quipped.
These were the voices of real people shaped by the art of a writer and told by actors and teachers and singers. They transformed the work. And it lives on.
What can be made of this long history of this short story turned script turned movie turned web site turned book turned script turned stage performance? It’s miraculous how one creative work can beget so many other creative works. The movie received most of the attention. But the saga now is entering another phase.
As mentioned earlier, Greg Hinton knows what it’s like to grow up different in the rural West. His formative years go back a few decades. But when you survey the state now, you realize it hasn’t gotten much better. Witness the foofaraw over the “Erase the Hate” banner removed from the Wheatland schools last year. Witness the huge outpouring of anti-gay sentiment during Wyoming’s recent legislative session. Rural school continue to reject the state’s anti-bullying program because school boards, stacked with fundamentalists, fear that anti-bullying has an agenda to protect LGBT youth. It does, of course. No bullying means no bullying – period. No bullying of gays or lesbians or ethnic minorities (only 8 percent of the state’s population and less in rural areas) or those with physical or mental or psychological disabilities. All that these small-town school boards see is what they hear in their tight-knit circles and close-minded churches and (of course) Fox “News.” It’s no surprise that these rural areas send some of the most close-minded people to the state legislature.
Greg Hinton wants to take “Beyond Brokeback” to small towns and rural communities around the state that shaped him. His goal is to put scripts in the hands of teachers and ranchers and home-school moms and have them read the commentary from “Beyond Brokeback.” It would be entertaining and educational. It may open up a few minds. Audience members might even see themselves in there somewhere. As Hinton said when he introduced the staged reading on Friday:
"I was born on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana, grew up in Cody, and went to school in Boulder, Colo. I experienced bias as a rural-born Western man.”
But he felt forced to leave the places that he loved. “But not everybody is leaving anymore. That’s what today is all about.”
I am a straight man (“senior division”) who was born in the West, grew up in the South, and returned to the West because I love it. I didn’t experience the same kind of bias that LGBT youth did in the West or the South. I saw it, though, and now know many who experienced it then -- and are experiencing it now. LGBT youth need to hear the voices of people like them. They are not alone. And it gets better.
If you’re interested in hearing more about Greg Hinton’s project, or you have an interest in bringing a staged reading to your community, send me a comment here or look me up on Facebook.
Dick Cheney's legacy -- sickly Wyomingites and water supplies that catch fire
The documentary was screened this evening at the Kiwanis Community House in Cheyenne before 60-some people. It explores natural gas drilling throughout the U.S., mainly that taking place in shale oil plays like the one beneath us in southeast Wyoming.
The film’s director, Josh Fox, traveled from his rural homestead in Pennsylvania to our wide-open Rocky Mountain spaces, interviewing those who’ve been impacted by the byproducts of drilling. Weld County, Colo., was his first stop. He watched homeowners flick their Bics under kitchen faucets. Fires erupted. The air and groundwater are being polluted by fracking chemicals. People are getting sick. The Wyoming DEQ issues air pollution alerts for rural Sublette County due to the energy boom. Air quality is as bad as L.A.’s on some days.
Wyoming rancher and former oil patch welder John Fenton attended the Cheyenne screening. He’s a cowboy working his in-laws’ spread near Pavilion. He’s surrounded by gas wells and storage tanks. Clouds composed of gas and chemical byproducts sometimes envelop his house. His three-year-old son began having seizures as soon as the family moved in. His wife has recurring headaches. His mother-in-law has lost several of her five senses. She’s consulted docs throughout the West and they have no answers. The Feltons can’t drink their water. For 18 months, John made the 80-mile round trip to town to fetch his water. He now has water delivered.
These are good people whose lives have been upended by the rush to pump as much gas from shale as possible – and damn anybody who gets in the way. Sure, it’s great to develop homegrown energy. You’ll find bipartisan agreement on that. But at what cost?
John has joined a delegation traveling to D.C. several times. They have met with the Wyoming Congressional delegation. “I’d like to say that they listened and are working hard for us,” John said. “But they’re not. Their loyalties lie elsewhere.”
Remember these names: Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. John Barrasso, Rep. Cynthia Lummis. They boast that they stand up for the citizens of Wyoming. But they don’t. Rep. Lummis, one of the richest members of Congress who can’t be bothered with the concerns of “the little people.” Sen. John Barrasso, a physician who can’t be bothered with the health problems of farmers and ranchers. Sen. Mike Enzi, entrepreneur whose loyalties lie elsewhere – with big corporations instead of with Wyomingites trying to make a living from the land.
It is shameful to contemplate the power of oil and gas companies. It’s also shameful to note, as Mr. Fox does in his film, that the catalyst for these problems was none other than Wyoming’s not-so-favorite-son, Dick Cheney. His secret energy commission drafted what became the 2005 energy bill which exempted oil and gas companies from the Clean Air Act, the Safe Water Drinking Act, EPA regulations and almost any other environmental regulations. This is known as The Halliburton Loophole.
Thanks, Dick. I hope the people of Teton County remember Mr. Cheney as they try to protect the Hoback River Basin from rampant and largely unregulated gas drilling. Dick has a home in Jackson, you see. His ritzy neighbors might not be pleased when they can’t breathe and their gold-plated water faucets start catching on fire.
Most of the post-film discussion focused on citizen action. As I mentioned earlier, the Niobrara Oil Play Boom is happening right now in southeast Wyoming. Not too much to ask to require better oversight of the drilling process, from beginning to end, by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Not too much to ask our legislators to be looking out for our needs rather than those of energy companies and lobbyists. Not too much to ask for our county commissioners and city council members to be looking out for the health and welfare of Laramie County citizens.
They may need extra persuasion. Attend commission and council meetings. And there are several organizations working hard for citizen rights. They are the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. They were the co-sponsors of the free film screening. These conservation organizations got involved in the Pavilion situation. But not much happened until the Environmental Protection Agency got involved, according to the PRBRC’s Jill Morrison.
Both the PRBRC and the Wyoming Outdoor Council seek full disclosure on chemicals and processes used in the drilling process, from beginning to end. Not too much to ask, is it?
Don't forget Cheyenne "Gasland" screening
From the Wyoming Outdoor Council:
What: Free showing of "Gasland"
When: Thursday, April 7th, at 7 p.m. Followed by questions and discussion with Gasland’s featured Pavillion, Wyoming landowners John and Catherine Fenton. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.
Where: Cheyenne, Kiwanis Community House, Lions Park, 4603 Lions Park Drive, Cheyenne
"Gasland" film at UW includes Q&A with ranchers John & Catherine Fenton
Wednesday, April 6th, Laramie: "Gasland" (2010) What happens with hydraulic fracturing when it's done around real people. Ranchers John and Catherine Fenton, who are featured in the Oscar-nominated film, will answer questions after the screening. 6 p.m., Education Auditorium, UW Campus. Info: www.gaslandthemovie.com, Jamie, 307-721-3097, jamie@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org. Free.
Staged reading and music part of Autry's fifth anniversary screening of "Brokeback Mountain"
Cross-posted from the wyomingarts blog:
The Autry in L.A. describes itself as "California’s only museum and cultural center dedicated to the history, art, and stories of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry features special exhibitions, lively programs, and hands-on activities for kids." While the Autry isn't exactly commuting distance from Wyoming, it is interesting to note that one-time Wyoming resident Annie Proulx wrote the story that started it all. "Brokeback Mountain" was in her collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories, with color illustrations (in the hardcover first edition) by noted Denver artist William Matthews. Annie also shared the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for the film, now celebrating the fifth anniversary of its release. According to Variety mag, New York's City Opera had plans for a "Brokeback Mountain" opera until the 2008 economic collapse -- and the departure of its artistic director -- caused it to shelve the project.
Creative economy coming to a Cheyenne near you
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Here are the details:
Mark your calendars! The Cheyenne International Film Festival (CIFF) begins with an important pre-festival gathering for anyone wanting to learn about and experience the New Creative Economy. It’s not just about the intrinsic nature of arts and culture as community assets, but also how creative thinking is integrated into day-to-day activities.
So far, Wyoming Community Media (WCM) and Ignite Cheyenne are teaming up to provide a day-long experience. Join the event through facebook by clicking http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142223729161546
The ECE features hands-on seminars presented by experts and practitioners of digital media arts. Students of all ages including businesses owners, their employees and budding entrepreneurs will learn how to tell their stories better: Other ECE partners will be announced as they consent.
Here are some of the topics:
storytelling – scriptwriting, and story arc
basic still and motion pictures – composition, lights, sound and camera operation
digital music production – how to compose your own music
website design – blogging, email marketing
social media – how to maximize networks to increase profits
art integration – how educators can add creating thinking approaches in the classroom
Take away experiences that will enhance existing skills on the job, add new skills if you’re reinventing yourself. There will be a small registration fee, that includes lunch and a ticket voucher for a CIFF film program.
ECE will convene May 20, 2011, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. the Historic Atlas Theatre in Downtown Cheyenne, 211 W. 16th Street. There will be a small registration fee that covers lunch and two ticket vouchers for CIFF movie programs. Half of your registration is tax deductible as a charitable contribution.
Stay tuned for more details about seminars and presenters. Even if you don’t plan to attend, please pass the word to your friends and colleagues.
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