Telluride Inside... and Out

Nuggets from the Nugget: "State of Play," "Monsters vs. Aliens"

Telluride's Nugget Theatre is showing two movies for the week of May 1 - 7: "State of Play" and "Monsters vs. Aliens."       

"Monsters" is an animated film from Dreamworks, pitting Earth-based monsters, mostly freaks of science, against invading aliens from Space. It's a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

"State of Play" boasts a strong cast including Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, and Rachel McAdams. The political thriller concerns a congressman investigating a private security company (can you spell "Blackwater?"), some unexplained deaths, and some tough investigative newspaper reporting. (Rated "PG-13" for profanity and violence)

Road Trip: Telluride to Chicago

After a brief stop at home in Telluride after our visits to West Coast family, Sus and I left on the next phase of our Spring travels on Friday, 17 April. For those of you who were watching Colorado weather during that time, you know it probably wasn't the most auspicious departure date. But, ever optimistic, we left anyway.

The webcams on Monarch Pass looked nasty, so we chose to go on I-70. That looked like a good decision until just short of Vail. With an electronic sign showing that Vail Pass was closed, we turned off at Minturn, drove in rain/snow mix for a few miles, then in heavy snow. At Leadville, we found that Fremont Pass was closed, and learned that Denver was getting hammered. We had planned to spend the night with friends in Denver- oops!, change in plan. A welcome beer (or two) and a burger at Rosie's in Leadville, then a little time to make a new plan, and time for bed.

Shrink Rap: Sex and Marriage

(editor's note: Quiet offseason in Telluride? Let's shake things a bit with Dr. Susannah Smith's next installment of Shrink Rap: Sex and Marriage.)

by Dr. Susannah Smith

Most comedy routines eventually target marriage and sex.  The joke usually goes like this: if you want a good sexual relationship, don’t get married. The bare naked truth is we all know married couples who complain  they never have sex, and one partner who wants more sex than the other. So, what’s going on?
The human sexual response is a complex one, especially when love and intimacy enters the equation. Erica Jong wrote that, for many, including the heroine of Fear of Flying, it is easier to have sex with someone we barely know than with our own mate.  The sexual response requires a degree of abandon and emotional freedom that familiarity often belies: with our mates, unresolved emotional issues build walls.

Women in particular have been raised to believe having sex when feeling distant from their spouses puts them in the position of being untrue to themselves, compromised, or forced.  Women (not always – sometimes it is the male in a relationship) believe that they must be communicating and emotionally close for sexual intimacy to feel appropriate and good.

Alacazem 2009.04.23

April 23 to 30, 2009

Visible Planets: Morning: Jupiter, Venus and Mars  Evening: Mercury and Saturn

Yesterday morning I got up at 5:05 am and headed downstairs to see if Venus and the Moon had risen. It was the day of the occultation, and I didn’t want to miss it. I looked out our big east-facing kitchen window and saw one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen. There, hanging low, above the black horizon, was brilliant Venus - dazzling and magnificent - so close to the slender crescent Moon that they were almost touching.

I wondered if I’d be able to see the occultation at our southwestern latitude and longitude. Would I actually see the Moon eclipse Venus?

Trio Solisti in concert in New York

Trio Solisti is the founding ensemble of the Telluride Musicfest, this year June 25 – July 5, and featuring world renowned composer Philip Glass as Composer-in-Residence.

 "Telluride Inside...and Out" was privileged to attend a concert on April 24 at New York's Judson Church, which underlined why The New Yorker (April 27) described the ensemble as "the most exciting piano trio in America."

The lighthearted, nontraditional program ignored classic chamber music altogether, including all the usual suspects, to celebrate the recent release of the Trio's latest CD "Cafe Music." The evening of propulsive, jazzy sounds, including our favorites, songs from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," nuevo tango auteur Astor Piazzolla's  "Four Seasons of Buenos Airies," and the eponymous "Cafe Music" by Paul Schoenfeld.

True to form, the Trio's (Maria Bachman, violin/artistic director; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Jon Klibonoff, piano) concertizing was an adrenaline rush, soaring, sexy and sonorous, with the players bouncing off one another, digging deeper and deeper to deliver unbridled, rich-toned emotional content.

For a tantalizing aural appetizer, hear an MP3 interview and musical selections from New York's  WQXR.

Nuggets from the Nugget: "Coraline," "Fast and Furious"

Telluride's Nugget Theatre will show "Coraline" and "Fast and Furious" for the week of April 24-April 30.

"Coraline" is a 3D animated movie about a young girl who turns to a fantasy world to compensate for loving, benign neglect by her parents.

"Fast and Furious" involves revenge, Mexican drug cartels, chase scenes, exotic automobiles and should appeal to lovers of action movies.

For more information, trailers and reviews, check out the Nugget website.

Friday, April 24
     6:00 CORALINE         1hr 40 min PG
     8:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Saturday, April 25
     4:00 CORALINE         1hr 40 min PG
     6:00 CORALINE         1hr 40 min PG
     8:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Sunday, April 26
     6:00 CORALINE         1hr 40 min PG
     8:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Monday, April 27
     7:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Tuesday, April 28
     7:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Wednesday, April 29
     7:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

Thursday, April 30
     7:30 FAST & FURIOUS   1hr 47min PG-13

The Nugget Theatre
Telluride Cinemas, Inc
207 West Colorado Avenue
PO Box 1721
Telluride, CO  81435
970.728.3030

More on Venus/Moon, Jupiter and Mars(?)

This morning I rose to watch the "morning star" planets: Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Venus, of course, was easy to see and identify as it is the bright, bright point of light directly east above the horizon. Jupiter was also bright - though much less so - and to the south a bit, just past the waning crescent Moon.

But, no, no Mars. I mentioned this a few days ago, but I still have not seen our yellowish-orangish-reddish god of war planet as indicated in the publications - including Sky and Telescope and the Mountain Astrologer - from which I get celestial information. Apparently, it's due to the fact that we are much further west and the Sun rises before we can see Mars. In any case, I'll keep looking. One of these mornings - perhaps manana - it will appear. In the meantime, get up early!

I'm posting a few photos of a Venus/Moon occultation just to whet the whistle. Cheers.

Inside secret: TFF presents "The Secret Garden" at Palm April 26

[click the "play" button to listen to Telluride Film Festival's education coordinator/local liaison Erika Gordon talk about her next Sunday at the Palm screening]

One child was left behind, orphaned by an earthquake.

Watch the bloom return to the cheeks of a sad, sickly young Mary Lennox  in Agnieszka Holland's magical "The Secret Garden"  (1993). This film, #11 in the Telluride Film Festival's Sunday at the Palm series, was produced by founder/co-director Tom Luddy.

Based on a book written by Frances Hodgson Burnett and published in 1910,
"The Secret Garden" is a classic about the transformative powers of hope and love.

Showtime on April 26 is 4 p.m.

Dazzling Morning Stars, the Lyrids Meteors and the Occultation of Venus

If you get up before sunrise and have a clear view of the eastern horizon, be sure to check the morning predawn skies on April 19th through 23rd.

Jupiter and Venus are brilliant morning stars – they stand out as super-bright points of light and are not only easy to identify, but impossible to miss – and they will be dancing with the much dimmer planet Mars and a beautiful crescent Moon over the next few days. [Venus is lower and brighter, Jupiter is higher and slightly south, while Mars is smaller and yellowish-orange between them. The Moon is waning, so it will appear slimmer and more delicate each morning.]

On April 19th, the waning Moon is above and to the right of Jupiter. Venus is dazzling below and to the left. On April 20th a slightly slimmer Moon moves down and to the left of Jupiter, and by April 22nd the Moon drops even lower and actually “occults” or eclipses Venus as it passes in front of her. (I’m not 100% sure we will be able to see the full occultation from our latitude here in southwestern Colorado, but I’m looking forward to finding out!) Also take note: the Lyrids meteor shower is peaking, so keep your eyes on the lookout for “shooting stars”!

I know not everyone is as enthusiastic as I am about star and planet watching, but the opportunity to witness such a beautiful, magical celestial event doesn’t happen everyday, and seeing it is something you will never, ever forget or regret. Hopefully, the seductive energy of Venus, the magnanimous spirit of Jupiter, the motivating power of Mars and the nurturing embrace of the Moon will pull you out of bed and in to the cosmic whirl. Happy stargazing!

Wilkinson Public Library: "Beyond Shamanic Visions"

[click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Kent Tompkins]

Tompkins uses words/images to go "Beyond Shamanic Visions" April 22  at Wilkinson Library in Telluride

Telluriders may be exceptions to the rule. We tend to march to our own drum. However, in this Piscean Age, the rest of the world has made like sheep, relying on bellwethers for guidance to the Promised Land. According to healer/counseler/documentary photographer Kent Tompkins that mindset is about to become toast. Just as the flower children of "Hair" sang: "It is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius," when each individual becomes capable of spiritual awareness without the intercession of religious authority.

To date, the way of the seeker has been littered with metaphysical possibilities, rituals, prayers and lessons entirely from ancient cultures, largely from the East. Yoga, Sufis, I Ching, Kaballah are on a long list of examples.