Wyoming's Snarky Slacktivists hit the road to Vermillion in October

I'm pleased to announce that the John R. Milton Writers’ Conference Oct. 27-29 at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion will be featuring the roundtable, "Snarky Slacktivists or Online Outlaws? Leftie Blogging in Red State Wyoming”

Panelists include Cheyenne's Rodger McDaniel, Jeran Artery and Mike Shay and Laramie's Meg Lanker-Simons (see their links on the right sidebar blogroll).

We are definitely snarky slacktivists. One has only to look at my sitting-in-front-of-the-computer-all-day waistline to deduce that. But outlaws? Probably not. We are progressives in a decidedly non-progressive state. Putting us in the same camp as Butch Cassidy and Wild Bill Hickok automatically gives us some Wild West creds.

Bang, bang!

We first began thinking about pitching a panel to the Milton conference back in July. Lee Ann Roripaugh, director of the creative writing program at USD, put out the call for proposals early in the summer. Lee Ann is a Wyoming native, offspring of Robert Roripaugh, Wyoming Poet Laureate Emeritus, and Yoshiko Roripaugh, native of Japan and one of the nicest people in the universe. As often happens, Lee Ann escaped her home town of Laramie to do some amazing things. She earned a music performance degree from Indiana University and went on to earn an M.F.A. in creative writing at IU working with Yusef Komunyakaa, a prize-winning poet, Vietnam vet and Colorado State University (my alma mater) grad.

So had did we make the case for outlaw online slacktivism? Read this:

In 2008, Wyoming voters went for John McCain over Barack Obama by a 65-33 percent margin. This was the lowest percentage of “blue” voters in any state, outdoing even neighboring Utah and Idaho (34 percent). In 2010, Republican Matt Mead was elected governor by a 3-to-1 margin. All five elected offices were swept by Republicans and the GOP-dominated Legislature upped its “R” margin to 76 out of 90 seats. 

Democrats are an endangered species in Wyoming. This is a state where sporting an Obama bumper sticker is a radical act. Many Democrats are afraid to speak up in public because they are so tragically outnumbered. In some cases, jobs are on the line. 

The four bloggers in this proposal are not the state’s only outspoken progressives, but they represent voices unheard in Wyoming’s mainstream media. They have been active in Democratic Party politics, and one has served in the legislature as a Democrat. But they are not party functionaries. They often find themselves at odds with a party structure that is timid in the face of Republican onslaughts. It may be a stretch to label them “virtual outlaws.” But they do represent voices that fall into four of your suggested conference categories:
• Outlaw as Other
• Gender outlaws, and/or queering the American West
• Borders, border crossings, and boundary transgressions
• Virtual outlaws, and/or outlaws in the “new frontier” of cyber-space 

In our roundtable session, we will speak about our prog-blogging journeys. It will include a multimedia presentation of our work. All of us will be blogging from the conference.

Presenters: 

Jeran Artery, Cheyenne, blogs at Out in Wyoming, LGBT activist and Director of Social Change for Wyoming Equality, actor and visual artist, a native of Wheatland in very conservative Platte County, Wyo. Blog: http://outinwy.blogspot.com

Meg Lanker, Laramie, blogs at Cognitive Dissonance, hosts a radio show by the same on KOCA FM every Friday night. Meg brought a successful lawsuit against the University of Wyoming when it refused to let 1960s radical turned education reformer Bill Ayers speak on campus. She also organized a fund-raiser for LGBT groups when ultra-conservative commentator Ann Coulter spoke in Laramie earlier this year. She’s a member of the National Writers Union. Her web site is included in Tumblr's featured politics and government directory at http://www.tumblr.com/spotlight/politics and her site has over 3,000 followers. Blog: http://cognitivedissonance.tumblr.com/

Rodger McDaniel, Cheyenne, former Wyoming state legislator, one-time director of Habitat for Humanity in Nicaragua, retired director of Wyoming Mental Health and Substance Abuse Division, ordained minister, Blowing in the Wyoming Wind blogger. Sponsors a Monday night “Beer and Bibles” get-together each week at a Cheyenne bar where Bible stories are explored from a social justice angle. Rodger is a frequent guest columnist for the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. Blog: http://blowinginthewyomingwind.blogspot.com 

Michael Shay, Cheyenne, fiction writer, essayist and blogger on hummingbirdminds since 2005. One of Michael’s short stories is featured in the 2010 anthology “Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking Out the Jams” from Coffee House Press. Other poets, writers and musicians in the anthology include new U.S. Poet Laureate Phil Levine, Wanda Coleman, Diane DiPrima, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Li-Young Lee, Dorothy Day and Daniel Berrigan. One of Michael’s essays is in “Easy to Love but Hard to Raise,” due out in November from DRT Press. Michael’s blog was recently named by the Washington Post as one of the top state-based political blogs in the U.S. Blog: http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com

Go read the blogs. What would Judge Roy Bean think: snarky slacktivists or online outlaws?

Find out more about the Milton conference at http://miltonconference.wordpress.com

Robert Greer's "Astride a Pink Horse" explores the twisted legacy of Wyoming's atomic era

Robert Greer

Robert Greer left Gary, Indiana, as soon as he could to attend college and eventually become the only international cancer specialist and best-selling African-American mystery writer to raise cattle in Platte County, Wyoming.

Not a bad claim to fame.

Robert has a new book coming out in March 2012:

ASTRIDE A PINK HORSE North Atlantic Books Hardcover: March 27, 2012, ISBN-13: 978-1583943694 

The Cold War ended years ago, or did it? 

For Thurmond Giles, a decorated African American Air Force veteran found dead, naked, and dangling by his ankles inside an entry tube to a deactivated minuteman missile silo in desolate southeastern Wyoming, the answer is no. The labyrinthine investigation that follows, led by Air Force fighter pilot Major Bernadette Cameron and ex-college baseball phenom-turned-reporter Elgin "Cozy" Coseia, reveals how the atomic era's legacy has continued to destroy minds and lives. 

Set in contemporary times, Astride a Pink Horse follows Bernadette, Cozy, and Cozy's eccentric boss Freddie Dames as they match wits with a gallery of unforgettable murder suspects: a powerful, politically connected cattle rancher, long bitter over government seizure of his land for defense purposes and the expulsion of his son from the U.S. Air Force Academy; a declining 76-year-old WWII-era Japanese internment camp victim and her unstable math professor nephew; an idealistic lifelong nuclear arms protestor; and a civilian Air Force contractor with a 20-year-old grudge against the murder victim. Do three amateur detectives stand a chance against these characters and the conspiracy that may be behind it all? 

Robert Greer's trademark mix of vivid eccentrics, surprising plot twists, and political edge makes this one of his most memorable thrillers.

Despite what the Gov says, Cindy Hill continues her war against public employees

Why does Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill hate her permanent employees?

Probably because she can't fire them every time her little heart desires.

Hill had some juicy quotes in yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune story, "Wyo. Gov. Mead: At-will employment should be consistent."

“I have SOME permanent employees who are very personally committed and find ALL at-will employees are personally committed to their work,” Hill said.

I have capitalized "some" and "all." I am a permanent state employee. If I saw my agency director saying that only SOME of her employees were "personally committed," I would ponder several things:

1. Thank God that there are laws that protect me from Tea Party extremists such as Cindy Hill.

2. Why do Republicans hate the people who actually do the work?

3. This person is in charge of our public schools?

4. What is my union’s (Wyoming Public Employees Association) position in this tug-of-war between its members and Hill?

Cindy Hill is part of the Republican bid to privatize everything. As we've seen in Wisconsin and Ohio and Florida, Republicans governors and their lackeys are trying to undo every gain made by employees since The Great Depression.

One has to wonder how Wyoming will find and keep “personally committed” employees when right-wing extremists such as Hill are calling the shots.

Democracy for America trying to keep a few steps ahead of Dingbats for America

From Monique Teal, Democracy for America:

2012 is almost here and the stakes are high. We've seen what happens when right-wing Republicans get elected at the state and national levels - wars on working families, women and the American Dream. DFA is gearing up to elect more progressives than ever in 2012. This means more actions, more endorsements and a lot more trainings.

We're scheduling our 2012 Campaign Academy trainings right now and we'd love to organize one near you! 

Apply to host a Campaign Academy in Wyoming! 

I can't host but I'll contribute $15 to support the Campaign Academy scholarship fund! 

Since it was created in 2004, DFA has been building the progressive movement by training thousands of progressive activists and candidates every year. We've brought our training program to over 115 cities across the country and trained over 12,000 progressive activists.
A Campaign Academy is more than just a series of lectures. They are gatherings of like-minded and passionate progressives where we assess what is working, learn cutting edge campaign skills and make plans for the future. We bring the best political talent in the country to your city to fire up the local progressive movement. 

Have an active group that can plan a training? Click here to Host a Campaign Academy in NULL.
Thank you for everything you do. 

Monique Teal, National Field OrganizerDemocracy for America

Put your kids first, Wyoming

UPLIFT Executive Director Peggy Nickell was interviewed for the latest edition of Wyoming Kids First. We're all hoping that the State of Wyoming will put its very considerable fiscal resources into its most precious natural resource -- its children. The overall political atmosphere does not look favorable for this, as selfishness and stupidity are on the rise in state and national politics.

Still, Peggy Nickell provides a voice of reason in a difficult time. In the name of full disclosure, I must claim my role of UPLIFT board member since 1998. Here are some kind and wise words from Ms. Nickell:

Question from Wyoming Kids First: In your opinion, what is the most important thing Wyoming can do for its children?

Peggy Nickell: Wyoming is fortunate to have the resources to ensure that all children have a good start to life. The first five years are so critical in the development of children. It all starts with prenatal care and education and then home visiting nursing services for first time moms. It is hard to list one thing because every component of early childhood care, education, and services are so important but it does have to start before these precious children take their first breath of Wyoming’s clean mountain air!

"How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" cast performs at The Hynds Sept. 8

Things are looking up for Cheyenne’s downtown. Reconstruction, music construction, farmers’ markets, artist lofts, music and big murals. All these help boost the prospects for Wyoming’s Capital City.

Art Design & Dine is one of the many events that have brought new life to downtown. Started two years by arts dynamo Georgia Rowswell, this second-Thursday-of-the-month event has expanded from an art walk featuring a few galleries and a restaurant to an evening gala with arts, food and music. The Cheyenne Arts Council now plays a big part in the event.

The LightsOn! Project at The Hynds Building joined the mix when the building’s renovated ground floor art space opened in June. Big happenings there at the next AD&D:

Join us as we kick off September's ART DESIGN & DINE, Cheyenne's Monthly Art Tour at The Hynd's, on September 8 with a live performance by the cast of Cheyenne Little Theatre's production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.  

This production opens Cheyenne Little Theatre's 82nd Season of continuous entertainment for all theatre enthusiasts throughout the region!  Members of the 28-person cast will be on hand from 5:15-6 p.m. to perform musical selections from the show to give everyone a sneak preview of the show that will open on September 23. FMI: www.cheyennelittletheatre.org

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying was originally presented on Broadway in 1961, starring Robert Morse as J. Pierrepont Finch. It won seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critic Circle Award and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was successfully revived in 1995 starring Matthew Broderick and this past February a new revival with Daniel Radcliff (of Harry Potter Fame) and John Larroquette, opened on Broadway, has won Tony Award's and has been proclaimed a huge hit. With a magnificent score that moves to the rhythm of the city by Academy and Tony Award winner Frank Loesser, this exciting, new production brings one of Broadway’s funniest and best-loved musical comedies to the Cheyenne Little Theatre stage. 

Peat Bog Mysteries will play Celtic music following the musical theatre performance. Harpist Michael Riversong will provide musical accompaniment to the evening's figure-drawing classes.

A good time will be had by all. 

UPDATE: Cheyenne Interfaith Council 9/11 commemoration

September 11, 2011 - 10th Anniversary of 9/11. The theme of the Cheyenne Interfaith Council Observance is “Remembrance, Healing, and Hope." On the 11th, there will be a presentation by Hands in Harmony starting at 2:45 PM at the Capitol. The Interfaith Service will begin at 3:00 PM with a program that includes music, readings from the Quran, Hebrew Bible, Gospel, Greek Orthodox, and other traditions... Each faith community is asked to bring a meaningful “broken” item to the September 11 commemoration. All broken items will be brought forward and used by a local artist, Forest King, to create a work of art symbolizing the transition from brokenness to hope. Please come! 

That Was The Week That Was In Wyoming

Oregon Buttes: Not worth protecting

Rough week for forward-thinking people here in Wyoming. Let me see if I can sum it up:

No "crown jewels" protection for our natural treasures

Check.

FMI: Wyoming fails to identify lands worth saving (KGWN) and BLM: No "crown jewels" worth saving (CST)

Drill, baby, drill -- and feel free to poison the air with ozone

Check.

Lungs of Sublette County residents: Not worth protecting

FMI: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PGLI3G0.htm (thanks to Mead Gruver at AP article via Business Week) and this media release from the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill attempts to make up her own personnel rules. On the "good news" side, the WY AG rules that she can't do that. More bad news: the fight isn't over

Check.

FMI: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fc22d342-a26c-5071-ab10-f0385ae6d876.html (Casper Star-Tribune)

Put all juvenile offenders into adult prisons and throw away the key

Check.

FMI: http://blowinginthewyomingwind.blogspot.com/2011/08/wyomings-tradtion-of-selling-out.html

(thanks to Rev. Rodger McDaniel, who's always on the case when it comes to healthcare and youth issues)

WY juvenile offenders: Not worth protecting (Getty Images)

Shoot all wolves on sight!

Check.

FMI: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_d17eccac-d641-11e0-af80-001cc4c002e0.html

Koch Brothers-sponsored Tea Party Express rolls into Cheyenne. WY Dr. Sen. John Barrasso is one of the speakers. He thanks Tea Partiers "for all that you're doing to reclaim America."

Check (and please stop laughing at our esteemed senator).

Get the lowdown (with many fine comments) at "Tea Party members attempt to clarify what they stand for" (neat header, WY Tribune-Eagle)

More fun next week...

On this Labor Day weekend, "Take 'Em Down"

In March, when Wisconsin public workers were battling anti-union legislation, this blog featured a video of the Dropkick Murphys' song, "Take 'Em Down," dedicated to that struggle.

The fight still rages this Labor Day weekend. But it's not only workers in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio battling regressive governors and legislatures. Workers in almost every state have seen ugly anti-worker legislation raise its ugly head. You can trace these proposals back to ones crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC. Each year, legislators (mostly Republicans) gather at the ALEC conference to pick up their marching orders. This August the conference was held in New Orleans. This fall, you can expect to see more legislation that attempts to take away any protections for public workers, including teachers. Here's a recent article on the subject in The Nation.

In Wyoming, Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill is attempting to classify all of the department's jobs "at-will." With this designation, any worker can be fired at any time for any reason. Although Wyoming is a so-called "Right to Work" state, permanent state employees (once past the probation period) are covered by various protections from this sort of random, politically-motivated dismissals. Fortunately for state employees such as myself, Wyoming Attorney General ruled this week that agency heads cannot set their own personnel policies. The AG's opinion was issued Aug. 25 and schooled Hill on the law. To put it simply, she cannot make up the rules as she goes along. The Wyoming Department of Administration and Information (A&I) determines personnel policies at the request of the Governor. If it's time for rules to be changed, the Gov has to take that action and not Ms. Hill. Perhaps she forgot to read the state org chart. The Gov's office announced that it may have something to say on the matter next week. Read about the AG's decision in the Sept. 2 Casper Star-Trib.

Interesting to note that 40 people in Hill's 146-employee department have left since the new Superintendent took office in January. In some places, that would be classified as a purge.

Hill came to office in the Tea Party wave of 2010. She handily defeated Democrat Mike Massie, a former state senator and one-time staffer at the Wyoming Humanities Council. Not only did we lose one of our few Democratic senators, we also lost the opportunity to have a highly intelligent and efficient voice for education in the superintendent's chair.

Hill and her pals in the legislature want to blame teachers for Wyoming's lack of progress in public education. The problems go deeper than that. But you know how those Tea Partiers are -- thinking deeply is not their strength.

Meanwhile, let's celebrate workers on this Labor Day weekend. Here are the lyrics to "Take "em Down" by the Dropkick Murphys:

When the boss comes callin' they'll put us down 

When the boss comes callin' gotta stand your ground 
When the boss comes callin' don't believe their lies 

When the boss comes callin' his take his toll 
When the boss comes callin' don't you sell your soul 
When the boss comes callin' we gotta organize 

Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 
Let them know 
We gotta smash them to the ground 
Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 

When the boss comes callin' you'll be on your own 
When the boss comes callin' will you stand alone? 
When the boss comes callin' will you let them in? 

When the boss comes callin' will you stand and fight? 
When the boss comes callin' we must unite 
When the boss comes callin' we can't let them win 

Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 
Let them know 
We gotta smash 'em to the ground 
Let em know 

We gotta take the bastards down 

We gotta take the bastards down 

When the boss comes callin' they'll put us down 
When the boss comes callin' gotta stand your ground 
When the boss comes callin' don't believe their lies 

When the boss comes callin' his take his toll 
When the boss comes callin' don't you sell your soul 
When the boss comes callin' we gotta organize 

Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 
Let them know 
We gotta smash 'em to the ground 
Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 

Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down 
Let them know 
We gotta smash 'em to the ground 
Let em know 
We gotta take the bastards down

Roy's a Liberal who sings funny songs about conservatives

Roy Zimmerman was born in San Francisco and still lives in the Bay Area. He could dwell forever in this cone of Liberalism. Yet something inside keeps urging him to get out and meet "Real People," those salt-of-the-earth types that conservatives love, in theory.

A bunch of us Real People went out to see Roy in concert Thursday night at the UU Church of Cheyenne. Some of you may not think of Unitarians as real people or UU as a real religion. We rarely hear about the Cheyenne Unitarians waging holy war against, say, the Sunni wing of the Unitarians over in Laramie.

Despite their namby-pamby ways, UU seems to thrive and put on great programs at their midtown church.

Roy Zimmerman's concert was one of those programs.

Roy wanders the country, seeking out pockets of Liberals to sing to. His plan is to play in all 50 states before the 2012 elections. He did the same thing before the 2008 elections, missing only Hawaii (too far away), Alaska (too cold) and New Mexico (didn't know it was in the United States). He won't make the same mistake again. This time, he started in Alaska, came to Wyoming and this weekend is in Colorado. You probably didn't know this, but Colorado Springs has a UU Church and Roy will play there Sunday. The American Taliban which make up most of the religious in Colorado Springs will not be amused.

One of the funniest songs from Thursday's Cheyenne concert was "The Abstinence Song."

"Abstain with me baby
Abstain with me all night long."

He sang it in a strained voice, as if attempting to keep his devilish desires in check. He also sang "The Bible Tells Me So," which recalls all the great marriages in the Old Testament. You know, King Solomon and his 700 wives and 300 concubines.Another great song is "My Conservative Girlfriend." He used to sing this with Anne Coulter in mind. Now he sings it to Michelle Bachmann.

"Moammar Ghaddafi gives us a glimpse of what a Michele Bachmann presidency would be like," he said as a prelude to the song.

Amen.

You can't visit Wyoming without bringing up the specter of Dick Cheney. And lo, he is quite spectrous. And his new book is out so his Satanic Majesty is all over the news.

Roy sang his "Chickenhawk Song," spelling out the litany of all those draft-dodging warmongers (like Cheney) who were only too happy to send your sons and daughters to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. Possibly the most touching song of the night was the ballad about being the "Last Man to Die in Afghanistan."

He didn't let Liberals off the hook. There was a satiric song about how hard it is to be a Liberal, and one about the "psychedelic relics" of the sixties. And a touching ballad about how regular people are trying to rise up against the bullshit. He reminded us that "hope" and "change" are powerful words, but there is a third one we need to remember: Struggle.

Three words: hope, struggle and change.

Roy is traveling the U.S. with his Starving Ear tour. This is his answer to the Hungry I in San Francisco, a place that featured outspoken activists of the fiftes and sixties. People like Mort Sahl, Bill Cosby, Lenny Bruce, Glenn Yarbrough and a host of others. Hungry I = Starving Ear. I get it.

Look up Roy's stuff at www.royzimmerman.com

Karen Cotton's New York City photos on display at Clay Paper Scissors Gallery starting Sept. 8

I've known the multitalented Karen Cotton for ten years. She's not only a fine musician and writer, but this Green River native has a warm spot in her heart for New York City. 

In honor of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Clay Paper Scissors Gallery & Studio will present “New York City: Rising from the Ashes.” This exhibit features photographs by Karen Cotton taken four years after the attack on New York City’s Twin Towers. The mix of images combines the vibrant resiliency of New York with haunting images of ground zero, and memorials.

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Opening reception is Thursday, Sept. 8, 5-8 p.m./, as part of the Art Design and Dine art walk. A second reception will be held during the next AD&D night on Oct. 13. The exhibit continues through Oct. 23.

The gallery is located at 1506 Thomes Ave., Suite B. It's in a renovated historic warehouse off of 15yth Street across from the railyards. Open every Saturday from 1-5 p.m. or by appointment. Call 307-631-6039. 

September 2011 a time to celebrate the creators over the destructors

The arts can bring us together and, sometimes drive us apart.

After 9/11, the arts were a strong healing force in America. Ten years after, I still remember that beautiful "America" A Tribute to Heroes" telethon that featured performances Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Wycleaf Jean, The Dixie Chicks, Celine Dion and so many others. Music was this Sept. 21 show's centerpiece. Unlike most televised music events -- MTV Awards, Grammies, etc. -- the egos were left at the door and they just played.

On that night, when you and your Republican neighbors were watching the same show and thinking some of the same thoughts, who would have thought that we would be such a miserable and contentious and downtrodden nation as we are now? Who would have thought we would still be waging war in Afghanistan and one in Iraq? Who would have predicted how mean-spirited our politics would become? It disgusts me and I hope it disgusts you.

Me -- I'm part of the problem. I regularly attack the other side for what I see as knuckleheaded politics. They, in turn, attack me. That's O.K. a healthy give-and-take of ideas is a good thing. That makes our country stronger. It shows us that the terrorists really didn't win on that sunny day ten Septembers ago. But when we spend all of our time in name-calling mode, I'm not so sure. When politics becomes another excuse to tear our neighbor down, I'm not so sure. After 9/11, we were talking. Our leaders were operating on the same page. Healing and recovery became our goal.

That didn't last long.

Does that mean that I'm going to leave my Cassandra ways behind and become all Pollyanna?

No. I will keep fighting the Know Nothings. But, during September, I'm going to write about constructive things that may make our lives just a bit better. The arts, just to name one topic. The arts are a constructive force. To create is to see toward the future.

And I leave you now with a healing song from from the 2002 CD by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, "The Rising." Great CD. The title song could have been in that long-ago healing concert. It's a performance of "The Rising" at a 2003 concert in Barcelona. Barcelona residents know a bit about rising from the ashes. It was a city in ruins after the Spanish Civil War which divided Spain for generations (and Spaniards are still dealing with it). Is there another civil war in America's future? Let's hope not. Here's the concert link: http://youtu.be/eNnB4dkVRJI. Some of the lyrics:

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Local actors on stage for New Play Project

Our theatre pal Lois B. Hansen sends this notice:

You are invited to a staged reading of “Rust to Dust” by John Remington, winner of the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players New Play Project, on Friday and Saturday, September 9 and 10, 7:30 pm. Tickets are $5. At the Laramie County Community College Playhouse. The play is set in the time of gunfighters and camp fires, it sees a notorious gunfighter finally meeting his match ... Jane Mortier, played by ... me!!! FMI: http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/new_play_project_2011-12.asp

Cheyenne Interfaith Council marks 9/11 anniversary with readings, art and music

The Cheyenne Interfaith Council invites you to a ceremony at the Wyoming State Capitol Building on Sunday, Sept. 11, 3-4 p.m., marking the 10th Anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. The theme is "Remembrance, Healing and Hope." This will be a contemplative ceremony with Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Unitarian readings, Hands in Harmony and an interfaith community choir. Cheyenne artist Forrest King will be there to create a special piece of art symbolizing the movement from brokeness to healing. The public is encouraged to attend. 

Who are the funniest American writers?

Pat Robertson helped me discover Andy Borowitz.

Borowitz writes a great humor blog. The other day he posted this:

Evangelist Pat Robertson sparked controversy in today’s broadcast of his 700 Club program by saying that yesterday’s mild East Coast earthquake was God’s revenge on people “who act kind of gay.” 

I saw the re-post on Facebook and, thinking it was serious, made some sort of snarky remark. Then someone hipper than me sent a status-update that Borowitz was a humorist, fool, kind of like The Onion. Then I looked up the rest of Borowitz's take on Robertson:

"All across the Eastern seaboard, there are men who get manicures, wear designer eyewear and know about thread counts,” Rev. Robertson said.  “God finds this somewhat gay-like behavior confusing, and He responded by getting mildly peeved.” The televangelist warned that if Americans persist in their “seemingly sort-of-gay behavior,” the country should brace itself for additional ambiguous acts of retaliation from the Almighty.
 “God will strike back at people who act sort of gay with all kinds of mild responses,” he said.  “If you keep getting pedicures and facials, you can expect two to three inches of rain and some really hot humid days in your future.”

I get it. Very funny. Cuts close to the truth which is what good satire should do. And I fell for it.

Here's his bio from amazon.com:

Andy Borowitz  is a writer and a comedian whose work appears in The New Yorker and at his satirical website, BorowitzReport.com, which has millions of readers around the world. The author of six books, he is the first-ever winner of the National Press Club's humor award, a two-time finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and a two-time host of the National Book Awards. He has been called a "Swiftian satirist" (The Wall Street Journal), "America's satire king" (The Daily Beast) and "one of the funniest people in America" (CBS News Sunday Morning).

He has a new book coming out in October. It's called "The 50 Funniest American Writers." Already he's causing controversy with his list. For one thing, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell aren't on it. To thinking people, they are the most hilarious people in America (along with Michele Bachmann). But other comedians didn't make the grade, either.

But humor writers aren't really comedians. They have comedic talents, naturally, but they also know how to create believable characters and string sentences together into a story. 

Some of Borowitz's favorites are mine too. Ring Lardner, Robert Benchley, S.J. Perelman, Mark Twain, Fran Leibowitz, Molly Ivins, Woody Allen, etc. Others I don't know much about: David Rakoff, Larry Wilmore and Sloane Crosley. Must find out more…

On the literary humor side, the National Book Critics Circle “Critical Mass” blog has been featuring posts all summer by its membership and former winners about the best comic novels. It comes under the title "NBCC Reads." Since I didn’t see this until we were well into the dog days, I had to play catch-up with my reading. 

Favorite comic novel? No surprise there – “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller. It’s a masterpiece, one that I’ve read six times and dip into periodically for some laughs. The characters are fantastic and the writing superb.

I’m a little less insightful on some of the other choices. I haven't read “Lucky Jim” by Kingsley Amis. This makes me feel dumb as apparently everyone else in creation has read this 1953 novel.

I feel smart again when I read about the classic English novels “Tristram Shandy,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Tom Jones.” It’s been awhile, but English Department Brit Lit courses are good for something.

David Abrams writes at length about Lewis Nordan’s “Music of the Swamp. I haven’t read that Nordan masterpiece, but I have read “Lightning Song,” “The Sharpshooter Blues” and “Wolf Whistle.” There is always a dark streak to Lewis Nordan, usually darkly humorous – he’s from Mississippi, after all. In the latter novel, he uses it to great horror with the infamous Emmett Till murder.

“A Confederacy of Dunces” was named by three writers. Bharati Mukerjee likes Salman Rushdie’s “Shame.”

Here’s how Rob Spilman describes his favorite, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," by Douglas Adams: “The consistently hilarious series of novels is deadpan funny from the opening destruction of the earth."

My son Kevin would agree with that. He turned me on to the series through audiobook during a cross-state jaunt across Wyoming. He’s still a big fan. I also saw the movie, which sort-of counts.

Go read this Critical Mass series as summer wanes.

I’d like to make a pitch for some of my favorite comedic writers, ones that seem to have been left out of the NBCC series. The late Grace Paley’s stories are amazing. I have a signed first edition of Paley’s “The Collected Stories.” I suppose I should be handling it with kid gloves, but it’s well-worn now. Here’s the opening from “An Interest in Life:”

“My husband gave me a broom one Christmas. This wasn’t right. No one can tell me it was meant kindly.”

It just gets better from there.

Tim Sandlin of Jackson is a fantastically funny novelist. I’m not saying that just because he’s from Wyoming. Go read “Jimi Hendrix Turns 80” or any one of the Gros Vont series. Tell me that’s not funny.

Bronx-born Jerome Charyn writes the Isaac Sidel NYC cop novels. I read the Mysterious Press paperbacks that came out in the 1990s. They are very hard to find now, at least in bookstores, even good ones such as Kramerbooks in D.C. Kirkus Reviews says that Charyn “writes like a rabbi on bad acid.” The NYT Book Review called his books “anarchic in form and apocalyptic in theme.”

Our public library has none of Charyn’s books (they’ve tried to order them). Neither do our bookstores. I have a few copies you can borrow. I’ll temporarily swap you a copy of “Maria’s Girls” for one of “Lucky Jim.”

Billionaires for Wealthcare members welcome the Koch Brothers' Tea Party Express to Cheyenne

All of us local Billionaires for Wealthcare members are gathering in downtown Cheyenne Monday for cocktails and sign-waving. 

The Tea Party Express is rolling into town Monday, Aug. 29, funded by our fellow billionaires, the unfairly maligned Koch Brothers. If you want to act like a billionaire and believe that wealthcare is all we need in this country and the poor and middle classes have it too good because Social Security is a "disease" then come to our rally for billionaires. Dress like the opulent rich person that you are -- tiaras, tuxes, long gloves, formal wear, or whatever. 

We will gather at Capitol Avenue and Lincolnway (16th Street) at 5:30 p.m. Don't be late. That's so gauche.

For more information or to see examples go to www.billionairesforwealthcare.com.

FMI: 307-631-3410 or 631-9990. 

TELL YOUR BILLIONAIRE FRIENDS!

Wyoming Millennial artists doin' it for themselves

I spent my afternoon at the U today.

That's U as in University of Wyoming in Laramie. It's the state's only four-year public university. Many of its leaders, including ones that I can't stomach such as war profiteer Dick Cheney, reactionary U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis and Tea Party fave Ron Micheli, graduated from UW. On the plus side, former Democratic Governor Dave Freudenthal was a UW grad, as was artist Dick Termes, literary publisher Rick Campbell, mountain climber Todd Skinner, artist Sue Sommers and basketball jump-shot pioneer Kenny Sailors.

Chris Drury's sculpture, Carbon Sink: What
Goes Around, Comes Around,
one of the many fine public art works
 on the UW campus.

Pretty campus, especially on a late-summer Saturday afternoon. Kudos for the UW Buildings & Grounds crew for its love of fragrant petunias. It's an aggie campus after all, founded to provide diplomas and wives for the sons of cattle and oil barons. It's moved a damn sight further along, graduating strong women in fields such as geology and law and the arts. And the aggie tradition is still strong, although taking paths that stress biodiversity and sustainability over corporate farming and ranching.

As we walked, a group of male and female students played a game of Frisbee football on Prexy's Pasture. Over on frat row, there was a “Greek Week” party going on that involved a massive slip-n-slide -- great way to spend a hot day.

My wife Chris and I are several decades removed from Greek Week on our own campuses of origin. I never rushed a frat. I started college in 1969 and frats were about as relevant as its Greek alphabet. My frat friends at the University of South Carolina seemed to have more dates and better drugs. In fact, they did have more dates and better drugs. I was able to maintain my dignity by looking down my nose at frat boys, possibly the origin of my very annoying Liberal Know-It-Allness.

Chris and I smelled the state-subsidized flowers and investigated the public art, such as Chris Drury's "Carbon Sink" (see photo). UW has gone in for public art in a big way. In fact, it has gone in for all art forms in a big way. This is why the largest campus construction project is the new visual arts building. It is located adjacent to the UW Art Museum and, when completed later this year, will be the largest and most complete visual arts facility in the Rocky Mountain West. Right now, the visual arts department shares a building with theatre and dance and music. There regularly are brawls, pitting the Sharks & Jets' thespians against post-modern neo-formalist painters.

Dear kindly Sergeant Krupke,
You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.
Our mothers all are sculptors
Our fathers play the drums.
Golly Moses, natcherly we're punks!

Doesn’t rhyme, but you get the picture.

After the visual artists move to their new building, the Fine Arts Building will be inhabited only by performing artists. They always get along famously.

We saw some of them in action today.

Chris and I attended a screening of a film inhabited by UW actors and musicians and Laramie roller derby skaters.

O.K., it's bit of a strange combo. But it made for an entertaining 7-minute short.

K. Harrison Sweeney is the filmmaker. He graduated in 1996 from Worland High School in the Big Horn Basin and UW in 2001. He moved to L.A. and has acted in commercials and TV. He now wants to make movies in Wyoming, and will soon be moving back to do just that.

More than 100 people gathered Saturday in the UW Fine Arts Theatre to see a screening of "Undead Lovers." Chris and I were not the only Baby Boomers in the house. Cheyenne native and melodrama Sheriff Paul Sahler was there -- he has a role in the film. Paul and Lynn Montoya, long-time arts supporters and owners of a B&B near Vedauwoo, also attended.

Almost everyone else was a Millennial. Dancers, actors, musicians, filmmakers, writers, roller derby dames. Some were in the film; others were there because they thought it was cool and worth supporting. Sheridan's Micah Wyatt (barefoot as always) performed his music as we went into the film. Laramie's Upbeat Project ("Pure Wyoming Reggae") played while we schmoozed at the reception.

Some very talented people in this windswept state of ours. Keeping them here is a challenge. They need to find ways to support themselves through their art. I work for the Wyoming Arts Council. We make a dent in the artistic poverty rate -- but just a dent. We are playing catch-up when it comes to creative ways to support our artists. We lack creativity. That would be funny (ironic funny) if it weren't so sad.

The best I could do Saturday was encourage all these young creatives to meet me at the WAC so we can come up with new ways to make Wyoming work for them. They are working for Wyoming but Wyoming may not be working for them.

Chris and I have one young creative (son Kevin, 26) who works in theatre in Tucson. We have another one (daughter Annie, 18) who is about to lave the nest for the very creative clime of Tallahassee, Florida. Both university towns. Both communities with younger populations. Strangely enough, they are both in Sun Belt states run by Tea Party governors and legislatures who care little or nothing for the future. The Arizona Arts Commission has been slashed to the bone. Even though artists are scrambling, they are finding new and interesting ways to make it. But will they?

Micah Wyatt's (The Barefoot Band) feet 

Chris and I were among the last to leave the festivities at the UW Fine Arts Building ("The Things That Wouldn't Leave!"). Beautiful evening in the Laramie Range. The slanting sun lit up the rocks of Vedauwoo as a dark curtain of rain fell in the distance. It's beautiful, this place. But as is often said: "You can't eat the scenery."

Tea Party Slim: "Keep the change"

An August Sunday morning. Tea Party Slim and I were dining on the veranda. We weren't so much "dining" as eating doughnuts and swilling coffee. And "veranda" would be a high-falutin' name for my utilitarian back porch.

The sun was out, sprinklers were on and we were at rest on the Sabbath. Slim's wife was at church. Mine was walking the basement treadmill.

I announced: "Which way, Cheyenne?"

Slim looked at me blankly. He held half of a gigantic apple fritter in his hand.

I pointed at the front of the Cheyenne paper. Big headline: "Which Way, Cheyenne?" Smaller subhead: "What do you want our city and county to look like 20 years down the road?"

Slim sat back in the chair. "I like it just the way it is."

"Keep the change, right? Just like your bumper sticker?"

Anti-Obama stickers remained affixed to the massive bumper of Slim's Hummer. I guessed that he was saving them for 2012.

He nodded. "Change is not good."

I finished off my chocolate doughnut and sipped some coffee. "Don't you enjoy electricity and indoor plumbing?"

He waved the fritter at me. "Don't be ridiculous. Our country's been the leader in those sorts of improvements."

"So you wouldn't be adverse to further civic improvements? Paved roads, traffic lights, schools, hospitals, long-range planning, better airports?"

"Paved roads are overrated," he harrumphed. "What kind of long-range planning are we talking about?

I picked up the paper and read aloud about the two long-range plans. The City of Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is commissioning a new five-year plan as the previous one expires. It will cost $278,000, 90.5 percent paid for by federal funds and the rest split between the city and county. Clarion Associates out of Fort Collins will conduct the study. Laramie County's five-year plan is five years out of date. It will only incur nominal expenses for printing and community events as it plays catch up to things such as the massive Swan Ranch development, the Niobrara Oil Play, increased industrial development along county stretches of I-25 and I-80, etc.

Slim's responses was predictable. "The first is a waste of time and money. The second is a waste of time."

"But the Feds are picking up most of the tab for the first one"

He sat up. "See, there you go again. That's our tax money you're talking about. Why should it go to some nonsense like long-range planning when developers and and businesses and oil companies should be left alone to grow our economy." Slim paused. He looked thoughtful for a micro-second. "In fact, I'm going to write Rep. Cynthia Lummis and tell her to eliminate whatever federal agency is providing money for that stupid study." He jammed the rest of the fritter into his mouth, washed it down with some java.

"Wow, Slim, I didn't know you felt so strongly about boring planning issues."

He chuckled. "You like to push my buttons, don't you?

"I truly do. Hey Slim, did you know that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently announced a $400,000 grant to our county. It's for rebuilding the interchange at I-25 and College Drive. The goal is to 'reduce crashes.' Good idea, don't you think?"

"I hate that interchange. Some nitwit from Colorado ran into the Hummer there last winter."

"So it's O.K. to spend federal money on that project?"

"Let those gigantic truck stops pay the costs. There's three of them out there. Plus a bunch of fast-food joints."

"Soak the corporations, eh Slim?" I smiled. "Socialist!"

He laughed. "They benefit the most from he interchange. Let them pay to rebuild it."

I paused. "You may have a revolutionary idea there there, Slim. Have developers actually pay up-front for the roads, sewers, water lines, electric services and everything else that will benefit them. The developers will love that idea."

For the first time that morning, Slim began to look uncomfortable. "People should pay for the services they use. That's all I'm saying. Don't overextend yourself. That goes for people and that goes for our country. That's how we got into this mess. Now everyone wants to get bailed out."

"I don't."

"You're one of the few Liberals who can say that."

"My wife can say that. My kids can say that."

"You know what I mean," he snapped. "Not all Liberals want a bailout. A lot of them do. And so do some Republicans. They should be ashamed of themselves."

I felt a need to sum up the conversation so I could go inside for another doughnut. "So no change?"

"No change."

"Another fritter?"

I fetched more fried dough and brewed dark roast. For a few moments, we sat quietly in the warm morning.

"I probably won't be around in 20 years," Slim said.

"Not if you keep eating those fritters."

He contemplated his lumpy slab of fried dough. "You may be right."

"Your kids and grandkids will be here, though. Mine too."

"I guess they'll have to figure it out," Slim said. "Just like we did."

"Or not."

"Or not," he concluded.

Wyoming legislators travel to Hawaii; state employees told to curtail travel

The Billings Gazette reports today that more than two dozen Wyoming lawmakers who traveled to Hawaii last month for a conference are costing the state about $50,000.

Read more at http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_f56ff06e-d0e2-11e0-8621-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1WISPqvWS

Meanwhile, state employees are being told to eliminate out-of-state travel and curtail in-state travel. Budget cuts, you know. Austerity measures must be put in place. Time to tighten your belts, you free-loading state employees.

Meanwhile, Wyoming's current budget surplus is $50 million and growing.

You do the math.

Looking for Vietnam War chapter in Dick Cheney's memoir? Don't bother...

For a detailed (and timely) wrap-up of the situational patriotism shown by Wyoming favorite former Republican Veep, Dick Cheney, go to http://www.thenation.com/blog/163010/chapter-about-vietnam-went-missing-dick-cheneys-book