The Vagina Monologues & The Wyoming Monologues Feb. 24-25 in Laramie

From my prog-blogging pal Meg Lanker-Simons in Laramie:

The Vagina Monologues is returning to the University of Wyoming on Feb. 24-25 at 7 p.m. at the Education Auditorium on campus. This is marvelous, but there’s something even more fantastic: It will also feature the premiere of The Wyoming Monologues on February 25 at 9 p.m. 

I’m sharing this for two reasons: It’s awesome, and I HAVE A FEATURED MONOLOGUE! It was one of ten chosen. My monologue, “Going Hungry,” is fifth on the list. 

I’m wicked excited and would like to invite my followers to attend. It’s at the University of Wyoming Education Auditorium. You can view a campus map here or a Google map here. The other monologues are incredible. Several deal with GLBTQ issues and body image. I encourage those who can to attend. If you have a question or are attending, email me at meglanker@gmail.com. I’ll post my monologue after the production. 

Please, if you can, come attend The Vagina Monologues at 7 p.m. and The Wyoming Monologues Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. It’s going to be spectacular. If you can’t, please share. The proceeds from this event will benefit 93.5 KOCA FM in Laramie (a bilingual, community station -- and the one that houses my radio show) and Albany County SAFE Project. 

Break a leg, Meg!

Just to be clear -- "The Wyoming Monologues" will be performed only once, on Saturday, Feb. 25, after "The Vagina Monologues" performance.

Citizen Lobbyist Training Feb. 15 in Cheyenne

Register at http://equalitystate.org

Clint Eastwood Chrysler ad as American as Detroit (and apple pie)

In your face, Karl Rove!

Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County seeks entries for "Salvage Art Show & Auction"

I was on the first board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County. That was way back in the early 1990s and it's gratifying to see the gains made by the local Habitat unit. I visited the ReStore last summer looking for replacement fittings for my outdoor hoses. Since I'm not the most handy guy on the planet, I sought out a ReStore volunteer who got me the right stuff. It's good to see that the place is expanding to bring even more revenue to a great cause. And Habitat promotes recycling and reuse and the arts! You local creatives might want to enter this:

Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County will be hosting a Salvage Art Show & Auction in conjunction with Habitat’s ReStore Annex grand opening in late spring and you are invited to participate! The Salvage Art Show & Sale will focus on pieces made primarily of recycled, salvaged and found objects. If chosen to participate, artists will receive a $15 voucher to use to buy items from the ReStore. If you would like to be a part of the show or have any questions, contact Elizabeth Williams at elizabeth@cheyennehfh.org or 307.637.8067 by Wednesday, February 29.

Survey results show that Wyoming residents support a multitude of gas wells and scenic vistas

Foundation Coal's Eagle Butte Mine in Campbell County

Wyoming Public Radio had a news item this week about the results of a survey of Wyoming residents conducted by Colorado College. Here are the results, in a nutshell:

Most Wyoming voters view the state’s national parks, forests and wildlife areas as an essential part of the economy. That’s according to a bipartisan poll conducted at Colorado College. 

The survey found that Wyomingites support a broad range of environmental protections but also support energy development on public lands. 

Bob Budd with the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust says that’s not a contradiction.“Wyomingites really do believe that we can have it all,” Budd said. “I think our track record is pretty good that way. We’re bullish on development to some degree, and at the same time we’re very protective and bullish on our natural resource heritage.” 

Budd says surveys like this are important in helping policy makers plan for the future. “Wyomingites really do believe we can have it all.”

Beliefs are one thing, reality another. Air pollution in Sublette County, water pollution in Fremont County, fracking disruptions in Goshen and Laramie counties, oil-and-gas drilling on public lands all over the state, uranium and precious metals mining in northeast Wyoming, fights over the viewsheds for transmission lines, coal-fired power plants that are some of the worst polluters in the U.S., battles over locations of wind farms, gobbling up of Campbell County for more open-pit mining, millions of beetle-killed trees due to global warming caused by the burning of Wyoming’s carbon products, and so on.

We Wyomingites may believe that we can have it all. It’s not true.

When you’re an energy colony like Wyoming, there is no escaping the effects of energy extraction. And when you have an economy almost wholly dependent on severance taxes on oil, gas and coal, you can never escape those effects. This is a real quandary when the state’s second-largest economic generator is tourism. In 2010, tourists spent $2.6 billion in Wyoming and the industry generated $108 million in state and local taxes. A good chunk of that money was spent in Jackson and at Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, with its 3 million tourists annually. Jackson Hole is relatively free of commercial energy development. But there is a lot more to Wyoming than its very scenic Northwest corner.

But what are we to do with the state's Energy Sacrifice Zones? Those places with lots of coal/gas/oil but without tourist-pleasing scenic vistas? 

Campbell County, for instance.

No mountains in Campbell County. Plenty of buttes, mesas and wide-open spaces. The landscape features huge open-pit coal mines, some of the biggest in the country, and hundreds of coal-bed methane gas wells. The city of Gillette is perched out there in Powder River Country, located at the junction of I-90 and U.S. Hwy. 59. Summer tourists from Chicago and Milwaukee and Minneapolis have just visited the Black Hills and Devils Tower and now are wondering how far it is to the next scenic vista -- the beautiful Bighorn Mountains. That's just about the time they arrive in Gillette. Visually, Gillette offers nothing to write home about. If you were writing home about it on Facebook while holed up in the Holiday Inn Express during a March blizzard, you might say, "Help -- I'm stuck in Siberia." Or "Gillette is butt ugly."

Gillette still life (coal mine in background)

True, Gillette as seen from a Holiday Inn Express window during a March blizzard is a depressing site (been there!). Some ("some" meaning "me") have proposed erecting noise barriers along I-90 so that tourists don't have to actually see the city as they move westward, forever westward, toward Yellowstone. You've seen those barriers in every big city, erected to muffle the eternal racket of the interstate, an effort to spare the delicate hearing of suburbanites. Denver's I-25 noise barriers were made to resemble rock cliffs embedded with fossils of ancient flora and fauna. Very clever.


With Gillette, we're talking more "visual barrier" than noise barrier. I envision a 30-foot-high wall along both sides of I-90, from one end of the county to another. Local artists could limn scenic vistas on the wall. They'd be busy for years, generating millions for the local economy. We could also try to Denver approach and embed Powder River fossils (allosauruses, pterodactyls, state legislators, etc.) in the barriers. The idea is to spare motorists the sights and sounds of 21st century energy development.


Alas, what looks good on paper runs into the realities of real life. Gillette earns millions providing services for tourists. For that, they have to go into town and face the forest of motels and fast-food joints. And Gillette also is one of the most exciting arts towns in the state. It's home to the AVA Center, an old municipal building that's been turned into a place for arts classes and exhibits and gatherings. Its exterior now features a mural by local artist Christopher Amend. Chris is known more for his nudes and surrealist paintings.

Chris Amend's mural at the AVA Center

Gillette has an active public art program, "Avenue of Art," initiated by former Mayor Duane Evenson, who now sits on the Wyoming Arts Council board of directors. On the eastern fringes of town is the CAM-PLEX Center, known more for rodeos and monster truck rallies than art exhibits and concerts -- but it does all that. U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi was on the CAM-PLEX board and now sits on the U.S. Senate arts caucus. He buys books by Wyoming authors and actually reads them. Beneath Sen. Enzi's Gloomy Gus exterior beats the heart of a diehard arts supporter.


Gillette is home to the Powder River Symphony and the Donkey Creek Jazz Festival and a cool library and an active writers' organization and a slew of dedicated art teachers and....

See how complicated this is? An Energy Sacrifice Zone yearns to break free of stereotypes. Its residents don't want to be sacrificed. We want good jobs, many of which are in the energy industry, and we also want pretty mountains and pristine streams. For the most part, those two facets of Wyoming life don't exist in the same place.   

Forget the visual barrier idea. We'll have to figure out other ways to hide our Energy Sacrifice Zones while promoting our scenic vistas. Any ideas?

Wyoming's historic struggle: preserving vs. trashing its environment

We heard from Kate Wright of Wyoming Conservation Voters at a house gathering last night in east Cheyenne.

Kate talked about the WCV's 2011 Conservation Scorecard for the Wyoming Legislature. As expected, most legislators of both parties came up short when it comes to voting to preserve and protect one of the most beautiful environments in the world. Not surprisingly, the big money wielded by the energy speaks very loudly in the halls of the State Capitol. Severance taxes on coal, oil and gas pay Wyoming's bills. Legislators know it. When they forget, lobbyists from Encana and Peabody are there to remind them.

This will always be the case until Wyoming figures out alternative ways to pay the bills.

Tourism comes close. And tourism depends less on scenic oil wells and open pit mines than it does on towering mountains, crystal clean trout streams and waist-deep powder.

This is a traditional struggle in Wyoming. We're an "energy colony" for the U.S. and, increasingly, the rest of the world (coal for Australia and China). Tourists from China now make Wyoming a destination. A new housing development in China, located two hours north of Beijing, is called Jackson Hole and is based the the cute little Alpine village of Jackson, Wyoming. Or some sort of re-imagined version of Jackson. Isn't it fun to imagine a Wyoming-coal-fired suburb in China filled with people who can't wait to go to the Wyoming-coal-and-natural-gas powered village of Jackson, Wyo. While in our quaint energy colony, these tourists might want to take a side trip to the open pit coal mines of Campbell County. Industrial tourism is a growing trend. I know a number of people who've taken the coal mine tours and have been down into the deep trona mines of southwestern Wyoming. As a curious human being, how can you not be interested in the origins of the material that powers our laptop computers. I'm typing on one right now!

For the most part, tourists want scenic vistas. When they travel to scenic Sublette County, they want to ogle the Wind River or Gros Ventre Mountains, fish in Fremont Lake, hunt elk in the Upper Green River Basin. They also want to be able to breathe, which hasn't been easy with air pollution caused by oil and gas development in the Pinedale Anticline. Last winter, air pollution levels in Pinedale topped those in L.A.

Back to the Wyoming Conservation Voters. Check out its web site at www.wyovoters.org. Get a copy of the scorecard. In the Senate, some Repubs such as Tony Ross (Laramie), John Schiffer (Johnson/Sheridan) and Leland Christensen (Teton/Fremont) top those of Democrats Marty Martin (Sweetwater/Fremont) and Chris Rothfuss (Albany). In the House, however, Dems lead the way. You can't find a sorrier, more anti-environment group of Tea Party Republicans than those in Natrona County, home of Casper, "Oil City." These Natrona County Repubs are regressive in almost every imaginable way, so this is no surprise.

WCV will again be keeping score as the 2012 Legislature rolls into town. The org also will lobby for upcoming legislation, including the Aquatic Invasive Species Act, increased funding for the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, and bills promoting Public Records and Public Meetings.

WCV is a 501(c)4 and works for all of us. It also has an education arm, a 501(c)3.

Go to the web site and contribute. You'll be glad you did.

Glass Art Celebration at Botanic Gardens sheds light on the winter gloom

I’m always amazed at what artists can do with glass. Fused glass, stained glass, blown glass, cast glass, slumped glass, recycled glass art, etc. Artist and art teacher Marianne Vinich and her students are creating fused-glass pieces as centerpieces for the Governor’s Arts Awards gala Feb. 24 in Cheyenne.  If you like glass in all of its art forms, plan to visit the Glass Art Celebration at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. While in the CBG building, think about how great it will be if voters approve the list of sixth-penny tax proposals on the ballot later this year. A spacious new Botanic Gardens building is on the list.

Winter Farmers' Market Feb. 4 at the Depot in downtown Cheyenne

Cheyenne Winter Farmers' Market

Inside the Cheyenne Downtown Depot

Saturday, Feb. 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Winter Farmers’ Market offers products grown, raised or crafted within 150 miles of Cheyenne. It will provide an opportunity to purchase locally grown all-​​natural beef, lamb, turkey, bison, farm fresh eggs, honey, along with locally crafted artisan breads, jams, jellies, tamales, empanadas, tortillas, soup and chili, jewelry, natural skin care, baskets and much more.

Come and stay for lunch. I do.

For more information, call 307-649-2430.

Planet JH News: "Don't get sick...if you're poor in Jackson"

Artist and writer Aaron Wallis writes about his experiences seeking affordable care in Jackson in Don't get sick...if you're poor in Jackson. Funny, and not so funny.

I'm just a border guy in Wyoming

I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, area code 82009. My house is located less than ten miles from the Colorado border. It might as well be a million miles.

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.

In Colorado in 2008, voters voted for Obama 53.5% to 45 percent for McCain. Five of Colorado's seven U.S. House seats went to Dems as did the open U.S. Senate seat. In the 2010 Tea Party tide, four of the seven House seats went to Repubs, including the seat in Larimer County that Betsy Markey won in 2008. Another Democratic Governor was elected in 2010.

Despite the set-backs in 2010, one never knows what will happen in Colorado, especially in the northern counties of Larimer and Weld. The state overall trends blue but really is closer to purple.

Wyoming, on the other hand, is reliably red.

So, in 2012, us Red-State Dems will be crossing the border to convince Coloradans to vote for Pres. Obama.

It irritates me. I want Wyoming to be more liberal in its outlook but that will never happen. It may happen, but I won't be around to see it. I'll be retired in Colorado. Or just retired, period.

Last night at the Laramie County Democrats meeting, we heard from the new director of Obama for America/Wyoming, Bob Vernon-Kubichek. Bob is a Casper native and UW grad. He worked on Democrat Gary Trauner's 2006 campaign which came within 1,012 votes of unseating wacko Repub Barbara Cubin in the U.S. House race.

"That still stings," said Bob.

That definitely still stings. I worked on that campaign. Trauner walked the state while Cubin didn't. Gary Trauner was ahead on early returns but then came the rural votes in northern Wyoming, always reliably ultra-conservative.

Sting, stang, stung.

Bob will be bringing some high-tech weaponry to our battle against the Republicans. OFA/WY will have new and improved databases, mailing lists, strategies, phone-banking, training techniques.

In the end, though, here's his mission:

"We're here to build volunteer structures to help northern Colorado," he said. "We're not going to win Wyoming."

Ouch!

I'll be down there in Colorado, working for Obama for America/Wyoming in northern Colorado. It will make a big difference. We need Colorado to put Obama over the top and keep us from the clutches of the eventual Republican candidate (probably Romney).

We will win. Obama will be re-elected.

And Wyoming stays red.

Robin van Ausdall to Laramie County Democrats: "Remember who you are"

We had an extended meeting of the Laramie County Democrats last night at the IBEW Hall in Cheyenne. A reception began at 6. We welcomed the new executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, Robin van Ausdall, and the new Wyoming coordinator for Obama for America, Bob Vernon-Kubichek of Laramie.

It's an election year. A biggie. A presidential year in which the Republicans will be throwing every crazy arrow in their quiver at President Obama. They already rounded up all the most extreme candidates they could find to run in the Repub primaries. Today we find out the results from Florida, the state that made me what I am today. The Sunshine State has its own set of nuttiness, which I have neither the time nor inclination to go into here. Back to Wyoming...

To be a Democrat in The Equality State already makes your sanity suspect. We're radically outnumbered, you see, and can't seem to get anyone elected. When we do, as with Dave Freudenthal, he has to campaign and govern like a Republican. So what's the point, right? Van Ausdall puts it simply: "People vote for Democrats because we're right on the issues." Our stances for working people, health care, a living wage, universal equality, education, the environment, etc., put us on the side of the angels.

None of us is advocating (as are Republicans) that Medicaid and Medicare be severely cut or eliminated, Social Security should be privatized, children should work as school janitors, the rich are job creators so it's OK that they pay lower taxes than the middle class, teachers are overpaid and the root of all of our education problems, Obamacare is a socialist plot, there should be no gays in foxholes (or on aircraft carriers or in fighter jets), college liberal arts degrees are a waste of time and money, public workers are bums, fracking chemicals are yummy and are not a hazard to the environment, and moon bases must be established immediately so Luna can become our 51st state.

You can see how rational we are when compared to Republicans. However, once Rush and Fox News commentators filter our message, it's the Democrats who sound like loonies. Van Ausdall encourages Dems to speak out loud and proud and not be afraid to show our true selves. "Remember who you are," she said. "If the only thing people know about Democrats comes from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, of course they're not going to vote for Democrats."

Noting that "Wyoming hasn't always an overwhelmingly Republican state," she urged us to "stand up, push back and connect" with those around us.

The "connect" part is probably the most important. This native of Basin, Wyo. (pop. 1,238) guessed that many of us were known by our Fox-watching neighbors as the first one on the block to bring over a casserole when someone was in need. What if they knew us as those nice Democrats next door who care for their neighbors?

That may seem silly but we are all known as good or bad neighbors. I have good neighbors. I share gardening tips with the Mormons to the north -- and they bring us treats each Christmas. Our neighbor to the south is a public school teacher who likes dogs. Our neighbors to the east are fundamentalist Christians from India -- we play bocce ball with them in the summer. Our neighbors to the west work for the school district and their grandson is a nice kid who is learning how to drive in the jalopy that gramps bought him. Most of them are Republicans or Indies. Whenever I get walk lists for registered Democrats, only one-half of one of those households is on them (just Grandma across the street). They should know my loyalties by now by my yard signs. We still say hey when we meet.

Van Ausdall calls herself a wonk and she may be. She also cares deeply about her home state (as a good Democrat should) and plans to bring some life to the moribund party. You can contact Van Ausdall at robin@wyomingdemocrats.com or by calling her at 307-473-1457. Connect with Robin on Facebook. Check out the Wyoming Democratic Party web site for more info.

Update (and new graphic) for "Defy the Hate" photo shoot Feb. 14 at LCCC in Cheyenne

You are invited!

Laramie County Democrats hold reception for new state director Jan. 30

From Linda Stowers:

The Laramie County Democrats will be meeting on Monday, January 30, at the 
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Hall, 810 Fremont, Cheyenne. There will be a reception at 6 p.m. for the new Executive Director of the State Party, Robin Van Ausdall, with the 7 p.m. business meeting to follow. Everyone welcomed.

Tropical heat wave strikes Cheyenne

I got tomatoes out the ying-yang and it's only January 28!

I exaggerate. But not by much. Cheyenne is now officially in a warmer zone in the USDA's "Plant Hardiness Zone Map." Our high-and-dry-and-cold climate once was in zone 4, which could be described this way: "Don't put your mater plants in the ground until after Memorial Day. And be prepared for frost the day after Memorial Day. And raging hailstorms the day after the day after Memorial Day."

Now we're in zone 5. Planting before Memorial Day is now permitted, even encouraged. Not so fast, says Shane Smith at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. This is from the CBG web site: 

Cheyenne used to be solidly in zone 4 is now one full zone warmer, zone 5. “Because this map is mostly based upon temperature, it doesn’t account for Cheyenne’s extreme winds and lack of winter snow cover. Therefore, I would caution people to not jump blindly into growing zone 5 plants and instead look at what is proven to do well here,” said Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Director Shane Smith. Cheyenne gardeners should instead stick to following the colder, zone 4 designation especially when selecting trees and shrubs, stated Smith.

I trust Shane's judgement. High Plains gardeners have to be cautious. However, as global warming continues -- and if I live long enough -- outdoor tomatoes in January may be possible.

New from Bruce: "We Take Care of Our Own"

Open Mic Night at Paramount Cafe Feb. 3

Open Mic Night at The Paramount Café, 1607 Capitol Ave., in downtown Cheyenne, will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, 6-9 p.m. If you would like a slot that night, call the café at 307-634-2576!

Some info from our pals at the Paramount:

“The café lacks a PA system but our acoustics sound great and the sound carries well. We are so excited to hear some local artists! Our only request is no profanity or vulgar language!”

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle: Downtown "hole" plan gets mixed reviews

Eight years and counting for downtown's "hole" (WTE photo).

Build a spec building at the hole site in downtown Cheyenne? The idea is to add the building's cost to the sixth-penny tax vote later this year. Not everyone likes the idea, but who's got a better plan? Anyone? Anyone? Read the WTE story: Downtown "hole" plan gets mixed reviews

Latest fiction manuscript off to the publisher

Sent my latest short-story manuscript off to the publisher this morning. The publisher is reviewing the manuscript to see if it merits publication. After reading each story 20 times looking for continuity breaks and sneaky typos and awkward punctuation, I have my doubts about its readability.

But who can tell? I would reveal the name of the publishing house but that could spell doom. So many things can curse a manuscript. Talking about it before it's finished. Talking about it on your blog. Reading it aloud to your spouse or other loved one. Reading it while drunk. Not writing it in the first place.

If you feel compelled to read one of my previously published stories, you can go here or here. Alas, you'll have to buy a book. To read one of my essays in a new anthology, go here. And feel free to read anything on hummingbirdminds. A little bit of snark, some humor, ruminations on the state of our disunion, and a few videos thrown in for fun.

Wish me luck with my book, dear readers!

Is it art or is it Occupy -- or both?

On Sunday, The Denver Post's Ray Mark Rinaldi reviewed some of the first alarming outbreaks of Occupy-themed art in the city. An excerpt:

"As an artist you have a responsibility to be relevant, to put something out there that has meaning," said Denver hip-hop artist Molina Speaks, explaining why he feels connected to Occupy. 

Molina talked at a community forum Monday [Jan. 16], at RedLine gallery/studios in downtown Denver, an event that literally brought art and Occupy into the same room. The afternoon of speeches, performance and workshops, coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, was a smashing success, at least in spirit. 

More than 300 people showed up, and many had never stepped into the high-end gallery before. The Occupiers brought their message, the artists had their work on display, and the two meshed quite naturally. 

One workshop, about using music as a community-organizing tool featured Dee Galloway of the Spirituals Project and Jonny 5 from Flobots. Music met politics, and the singing could be heard down the street. 

"We are really beginning to break down those artificial walls between art and community," said RedLine's executive director, P.J. D'Amico. "Art has the power to radically reframe the conversation." 

--snip-- 

OCCUPY ART: View excerpts from the Civilians' cabaret show "Let Me Ascertain You" at thecivilians.org. The Lockerpartners have posted "The 99th Problem" on their website, lockerpartners.com (see video above). 

Read more: Rinaldi: The fine art of the Occupy movement shows stripped-down, naked anger.

Zen Cowboy Chuck Pyle performs March 3 at Nellie Tayloe Ross banquet in Cheyenne

Chuck Pyle, Colorado's "Zen Cowboy," will provide the music and humor at the Wyoming Democratic Party's Nellie Tayloe Ross banquet March 3:

Chuck Pyle has won high praise from both fans and peers alike throughout an inspired performance career of over 40 years. When reviewers first gave him the "Zen Cowboy" moniker, he decided to, as he says, "Always ride the horse in the direction it's going," and took the nickname to heart, shaving his head and blending his upbeat perspective with old-fashioned horse sense. He mixes infectiously hummable melodies with straight-from-the-saddle poetry, quoting bumper stickers, proverbs, world leaders and old cowboys.  

An accomplished songwriter, Chuck's songs have been recorded by John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Suzy Bogguss. Country fans know him best for writing, "Cadillac Cowboy", recorded by the late Chris LeDoux, and "Jaded Lover," recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker. 

Clip from Chuck’s song about Wyoming, “Wide Open:” http://www.chuckpyle.com/audio/the_spaces_in_between/wide_open.mp3