Of The People

Most of you know that I do not always agree with the most vocal critics of our municipal government - I am far more inclined to give our elected officials the benefit of the doubt, perhaps naively.

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February 29, 2008 | Filed Under civics | 1 Comment

What’s In A Name?

I suspect that anyone who is not from Montana would be slightly puzzled by the headline highlighted in red below.
Rocky versus Sandy
Or assume that it was some sort of a boxing match between two fighters with descriptive names.

February 28, 2008 | Filed Under media | Leave a Comment

Better Living and Big Sky

Here it is: a shameless plug for my two other blogs, Better Living Thru Blogging and the Big Sky Blog! First up is the Big Sky Blog, which sadly got hacked over the weekend. I lost - at least temporarily - everything, but am in the process of re-building it. In the meantime, there is some fresh content: news that Montana is the only state that is NOT represented by a large Navy ship, and big-shot magazine The Economist is blogging from Big Sky Country this week.

And over at BLTB, some whimsy, some politics, and some critters: RIP, WFB; very annoying commercials and a talk-radio host; some soulful sleestaks; and goats and sharks! And we’ll wrap it up with what Bill O’Reilly might call the Most Ridiculous Item of the day.

February 27, 2008 | Filed Under blogging | Leave a Comment

You Must Remember This

“My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants.” Nonsense, you say? Not at all - it’s the new mnemonic device to help kids remember the name (and order) of planets and “dwarf planets” in our solar system! And here’s the cool part - it’s the whimsical creation of Great Falls’ very own Maryn Smith, a 10-year old student at Riverview Elementary. She beat hundreds of other students to win the contest. In addition to being enshrined in educational materials, Smith’s memory-helper will also be incorporated into a song by pop artist Lisa Loeb. Way cool, Maryn!

February 26, 2008 | Filed Under people, education | 3 Comments

Starbucks Closing for 3 Hours

If you want to grab a Venti Quad Skinny Latte (or even just a plain cuppa joe) this evening between 5:30 and 8:30, don’t head to Starbucks: all Starbucks stores will be closed today (Tuesday) for three hours in order to complete some “refresher” training.

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February 26, 2008 | Filed Under business | 1 Comment

Larry?

Heard from two people today that Larry, our semi-famous homeless guy, was spotted without his trusty cart and headed due west, walking near Exit 0 (Marketplace) towards I-15. Does anyone know if he is OK?

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February 25, 2008 | Filed Under around town | 1 Comment

Park-n-Ponder Update

Nifty - one of my favorite places has a new look! The Park-n-Ponder has updated their look, somewhat, and now sports some spiffy new booths and some fresh paint. The booths provide just enough “privacy” to make a difference, as opposed to the previous all-open seating. Much cozier. And after enjoying some banter with manager Fred and lead server Lionel yesterday, I learned that the Park-n-Ponder has a MySpace page!

And here’s two friendly reminders: first, if you like Lobster Bisque, you absolutely won’t find any better than at the Park-n-Ponder. Second, there is no restaurant with more entertainment value in Great Falls!

February 25, 2008 | Filed Under restaurants, business | 1 Comment

Warm Pix

As we prepare for a good chance of some more snow and colder temps, you might enjoy browsing through some pictures from some warmer times:

Farmer’s Market, downtown Great Falls, June 2006
“What The Hay” festival, around Stanford/Utica, Septeber 2007
Montana State Fair, Great Falls, August 2007
Newfoundland Dogs, Lewis & Clark Center, June 2007
Alive @ Five, downtown Great Falls, June 2007
Cornfield Maze, Vaughn, October 2007
Welcome Home, RED HORSE, around Great Falls, June/July 2006

Which reminds me…here’s a picture that I took yesterday - I just love pictures that include both the Energy West tower and the Milwaukee Station tower!

great falls montana!

February 24, 2008 | Filed Under around town, outdoors | 1 Comment

Police Academy

No, not the awful movies from the 80s…this is a program sponsored by the Great Falls Police Department to give citizens a “behind the scenes” look at the how and why of law enforcement in our community.

The next Academy begins March 12, 2008. Classes will be held on Wednesday evenings. Participation requires a commitment of one evening a week and two Saturday afternoons for a 9 week period. Participants will meet on Wednesday evenings for three hours, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Saturday afternoon sessions will be from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM. In addition, at the participant’s convenience, ride-alongs with a patrol officer may be scheduled.

Participants will learn about patrol functions, street crime, detectives, weapons, and more. This sounds like a great idea - if you’re interested, you can apply right here.

Have any of you participated in one of the previous courses? If you have, drop a comment here and let us know more about it.

February 23, 2008 | Filed Under civics, crime | 1 Comment

Belly Up

If you’d like to enjoy a great meal and some unique entertainment, this sounds promising: belly-dancing at Dimitri’s! I’ve written about Dimitri’s Greek restaurant and how good the food is (try the fried cheese!), and if you couple that with professional belly-dancing, you’ve probably got the makings of a memorable evening.
The entertainment is courtesy of Aithne and her team of dancers; the performances are at 6:30 pm and 7:45 pm tomorrow night (Saturday). By the way, Aithne also teaches belly-dancing, if you’re interested.