Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/culture/page/22/)
With a calm, collected and often playful attitude, Northern Hotel Executive Chef Tim Freeman took on celebrity chef Bobby Flay in a culinary showdown and came out the victor. The Food Network show, “Beat Bobby Flay,” aired Thursday evening, and the Northern held a special screening party to celebrate Freeman’s victory. As Freeman was declared the victor on national television, the audience belted out cries of enthusiasm and congratulations. (more…) Continue Reading →
Michael Ludlam had been thinking of opening a used-record store for a couple of years, but when a storefront went up for rent at South 27th Street and Minnesota Avenue, he wasn’t sure he was quite ready to start a business. No matter. The location was too good to pass up. “I felt I had to jump on it when it was available,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
Scott Wagers doesn’t like to stay home. You’ve probably seen him on the sidelines of your favorite music venue, snapping photos. In the years Wagers has been enjoying local music, he’s amassed many tens of thousands of images. “I have always liked photography, and I love the local music scene here, so I decided to blend them together,” Wagers said. “I never thought I’d be doing it to the extent I do today.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Former Montana Film Commissioner Gary Wunderwald was adept at finding what directors and producers needed, including dated cars, railroad beds, carnivals and waterfalls. One August afternoon in 1986, he fielded an especially challenging request. He was asked to find a 1930-period bridge—but it couldn’t be just any 1930-period bridge. On this bridge, Prohibition-era whiskey runners would clash with lawmen as part of Paramount Production’s “The Untouchables.” (more…) Continue Reading →
BUTTE—On a visit to Butte early last fall, I heard two things over and over again. One was that Danny Wong’s hot mustard at the Pekin Noodle Parlor would clear your sinuses. The other was that the Chinese in early-day Butte had built tunnels under much of the Uptown and used them for a variety of nefarious purposes, including drug-running and kidnapping. (more…) Continue Reading →
So many rumors have been flying about the future of Harper & Madison, a popular café and bakery on the edge of downtown Billings, that owner Joanie Swords thought it was time to spill the beans. But about those rumors: “The biggest one is that we’re closing,” she said. “I also heard I sold it. But no one knows who I sold it to, and I haven’t seen a check.” (more…) Continue Reading →
Chan Romero is pleased with a new double-album (yes, vinyl!) compilation of early Montana rock ‘n’ roll. Romero has the first song on “Long Time Comin’—Lost Sounds from the Treasure State,” a 27-song collection painstakingly assembled by Dave Martens, a 32-year-old Havre resident. The album covers the period 1958-1969 and features bands from across the state. (more…) Continue Reading →
David Gessner’s new book, “All the Wild That Remains,” is at once a celebration, biography and comparison of two of the West’s seminal writer-conservationists—Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner. (more…) Continue Reading →
I have never met Robert Staffanson, but I am prepared to answer “yes” to the question in the headline above. I base my opinion on having just read his autobiography, “Witness to Spirit: My Life with Cowboys, Mozart & Indians.” His story follows an arc that seems almost unbelievable. (more…) Continue Reading →
What sort of person leaves a kegger? Well, apparently we do. As much as we love our friends, it’s time to admit that keg parties stop being fun when one of the following happens:
♦ You enter a monogamous relationship and are no longer into drunken hook-ups. ♦ Latent knee injuries make keg stands problematic. ♦ You learn the hard way that you can’t drink your dinner. Continue Reading →
