HUGHES YOU CAN USE: A historical figure achieves true significance when the film of his or her life wins Best Picture. Mozart, Mahatma Gandhi, Gen. George Patton, William Wallace, Emperor Pu Yi — an elite group indeed, capable not only of building nations and winning wars but also of doing it in an entertaining two hours and ten minutes of screen time. All entered the ranks of the truly noteworthy on Oscar night.
Howard Hughes and Ray Charles now have the opportunity to join this select company, per last Tuesday’s nominations. The envelopes remain sealed until February 27, giving us all about a month to bone up for the Oscar party. Recommended: Howard Hughes: The Real Aviator, a documentary not nominated for anything and not starring Leo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett. (It did however win Best Documentary at the 2004 Berkeley Video & Film Festival.) Also a couple of (yawn) books: Richard Hack’s Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters : The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire, the foundation upon which The Aviator was built; and Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness, by award-winning investigative journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele.
For Ray Charles, only one source necessary: Brother Ray, his autobiography.
THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: Speaking of nominations and awards, Colorado Preservation Inc. will unveil its new Endangered Places list on Thursday night at the state preservation conference, Saving Places: Bringing Preservation Home. To get the full list, hit this link Friday morning.
THIS OLD TAX SHELTER: We just stumbled across this multi-part Washington Post series published in late December about historic facade easements. A handful of D.C. homeowners apparently (or allegedly) are abusing the privilege, occasioning a few natterings of outrage. The same law applies here in Colorado. Still curious? Colorado Preservation Inc. answers some FAQs, and a lawyer weighs in.
Monday
JANUARY 25 2005
EVERY DIG HAS ITS DAY: Per Monday's Denver Post, the long-awaited dig at Goodman Point Pueblo outside of Cortez commences this spring. The site has been patiently awaiting investigation since 1889 --- so there are 115 extra years of dust and sand to trowel through. Volunteers needed; info at Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, which is sponsoring the project.
Sunday
JANUARY 24 2005
THE PLAINS TRUTH: Weekend papers included another one of those voguish "emptying Great Plains" articles. A worthwhile read, but add'l perspective and data are in order --- and available through the Great Plains Population and Environment project, run jointly by researchers from CSU and the University of Michigan. Also see the Great Plains Population Symposium's website, the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Great Plains page, and the Colorado Rural Development Council.
And while you're at it, check out Keith Cook’s "A Whiskey Train and a Doughnut a Day: Coming of Age on the Colorado Plains" in the Society’s Western Voices: 125 Years of Colorado Writing.
CLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: In case you missed Sunday’s Denver Post article, the wise fathers of County Meath, Ireland, have proposed a freeway through the historic Tara/Skryne Valley, aka "Valley of the Irish Kings." The construction would befoul a site of great mythic and spiritual value, with monuments dating back 5,000 years or so. Opponents are running a petition campaign to halt the project, and the Archaeological Institute of America is on the case. Also see recent BBC coverage, and an angry rant from a vexed Meather.
BILL ME LATER: Senator Wayne Allard will pick up the ball that Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave dropped late last year, introducing a new bill to authorize Sand Creek National Historic Site. Long overdue, honorable ladies and gents; let's get on with it.
HAIL TO THE BEEF: Friday’s near-record auction bid for Flush, the 2005 National Western Stock Show Grand Champion Steer, and the beast’s subsequent appearance in the Brown Palace lobby call to mind the celebrated 1945 show, which drew prominent coverage in Time and Life magazines. That year future governor Dan Thornton sold two bulls for the stupendous sum of $50K per and showcased them the following day at the Brown Palace, inaugurating the hotel’s long-running tradition of champion steer exhibition. Rodney Preston, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University, details the ’45 show in the forthcoming Volume 11 of Colorado History. And the just-issued Winter 2005 edition of Colorado Heritage takes readers all the way back to the infamous stock show / barbecue / food fight of January 1898.
And while you're at it, check out Keith Cook’s "A Whiskey Train and a Doughnut a Day: Coming of Age on the Colorado Plains" in the Society’s Western Voices: 125 Years of Colorado Writing.
CLANNED OBSOLESCENCE: In case you missed Sunday’s Denver Post article, the wise fathers of County Meath, Ireland, have proposed a freeway through the historic Tara/Skryne Valley, aka "Valley of the Irish Kings." The construction would befoul a site of great mythic and spiritual value, with monuments dating back 5,000 years or so. Opponents are running a petition campaign to halt the project, and the Archaeological Institute of America is on the case. Also see recent BBC coverage, and an angry rant from a vexed Meather.
BILL ME LATER: Senator Wayne Allard will pick up the ball that Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave dropped late last year, introducing a new bill to authorize Sand Creek National Historic Site. Long overdue, honorable ladies and gents; let's get on with it.
HAIL TO THE BEEF: Friday’s near-record auction bid for Flush, the 2005 National Western Stock Show Grand Champion Steer, and the beast’s subsequent appearance in the Brown Palace lobby call to mind the celebrated 1945 show, which drew prominent coverage in Time and Life magazines. That year future governor Dan Thornton sold two bulls for the stupendous sum of $50K per and showcased them the following day at the Brown Palace, inaugurating the hotel’s long-running tradition of champion steer exhibition. Rodney Preston, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University, details the ’45 show in the forthcoming Volume 11 of Colorado History. And the just-issued Winter 2005 edition of Colorado Heritage takes readers all the way back to the infamous stock show / barbecue / food fight of January 1898.
Friday
JANUARY 21 2005
STEAMS LIKE OLD TIMES: When the Georgetown Loop reopens this Memorial Day, two former Colorado and Southern engines will do the looping.
CHS and Railstar Corporation, the historic line’s new operator, announced the acquisition of C&S Engine 9 and C&S Engine 74/30, along with about a dozen other pieces of rolling stock. Negotiations are pending on three additional steam engines.
CHS and Railstar will discuss the new acquisitions and introduce the railroad's new management team at an open house Monday, January 24 from 6-8 p.m. at the Georgetown Community Center (corner of Argentine and 6th Street). In attendance: Ron Trottier, general manager of Railstar Corporation; Peter Gores, general manager of the Georgetown Loop for Railstar Corporation; Georgianna Contiguglia, president of the Colorado Historical Society; and Phillip Karsh, chairman of the Colorado Historical Society’s board of directors.
ANTIQUITIES AT 100: Of the 150 or so sessions listed for the 2005 American Association of Museums Conference and Expo in Indianapolis, we were most intrigued by this one: 100 Years of the Antiquities Act, moderated by NPS chief curator Ann Hitchcock. Inspired in part by the discoveries at Mesa Verde and intended to preserve archaeological sites, the law in practice granted presidents a potent tool for unilateral land set-asides. It was invoked at the Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Glacier Bay, and elsewhere, including a recent (and highly controversial) application by Bill Clinton in creating Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Read the Park Service’s short history of the law, or this longer treatment by historian Ronald Lee.
FOUL PLAY: A century of mining poisoned Leadville’s soils and water — but the place got really toxic in the late 1980s, when the EPA showed up and tried to clean things up. Or so says author Gillian Klucas in Leadville: The Struggle to Revive an American Town, published last month by Shearwater Books. She speaks and signs in Denver at the Tattered Cover LoDo next Tuesday, January 25, at 7:30 p.m.
CHS and Railstar Corporation, the historic line’s new operator, announced the acquisition of C&S Engine 9 and C&S Engine 74/30, along with about a dozen other pieces of rolling stock. Negotiations are pending on three additional steam engines.
CHS and Railstar will discuss the new acquisitions and introduce the railroad's new management team at an open house Monday, January 24 from 6-8 p.m. at the Georgetown Community Center (corner of Argentine and 6th Street). In attendance: Ron Trottier, general manager of Railstar Corporation; Peter Gores, general manager of the Georgetown Loop for Railstar Corporation; Georgianna Contiguglia, president of the Colorado Historical Society; and Phillip Karsh, chairman of the Colorado Historical Society’s board of directors.
ANTIQUITIES AT 100: Of the 150 or so sessions listed for the 2005 American Association of Museums Conference and Expo in Indianapolis, we were most intrigued by this one: 100 Years of the Antiquities Act, moderated by NPS chief curator Ann Hitchcock. Inspired in part by the discoveries at Mesa Verde and intended to preserve archaeological sites, the law in practice granted presidents a potent tool for unilateral land set-asides. It was invoked at the Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, Glacier Bay, and elsewhere, including a recent (and highly controversial) application by Bill Clinton in creating Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Read the Park Service’s short history of the law, or this longer treatment by historian Ronald Lee.
FOUL PLAY: A century of mining poisoned Leadville’s soils and water — but the place got really toxic in the late 1980s, when the EPA showed up and tried to clean things up. Or so says author Gillian Klucas in Leadville: The Struggle to Revive an American Town, published last month by Shearwater Books. She speaks and signs in Denver at the Tattered Cover LoDo next Tuesday, January 25, at 7:30 p.m.
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