Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/category/diversions/page/15/)
The other day, a funny thing happened on the way to kitchen. I walked past our pet tarantula’s terrarium, prepared to offer my morning greeting—“Hello, handsome”—when I noticed the tank’s lid was missing. Huh. (more…) Continue Reading →
Michael Muirhead’s first brush with the James Beard Foundation Awards came in 1998. It was his first day on the job at the famed Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills, and he was hoping to meet the owner-chef, Wolfgang Puck. But Puck was not there that day. He and two of his top chefs were finalists in different categories of the James Beard contest that year, and they were off attending the awards ceremony. (more…) Continue Reading →
After moving to Missoula from Atlanta in 1989, photographer Neil Chaput de Saintonge did a lot of exploration in his adopted state. “I probably covered half the paved roads in Montana in my first five years here,” he said. (more…) Continue Reading →
Walking down the steps to Greg Aldrich’s basement workshop, one enters a kind of wonderland filled with ornate and elegant Norwegian woodcarvings and countless tools. The air is scented from the piles of basswood ready to be carved into beautiful pieces. A group of woodcarvers studying under Aldrich gather around their works in progress—small, decorative, oval containers known in Norway as tine (pronounced tee-nah) boxes. Aldrich sits quietly in a chair, watching their progress intently. Aldrich, born and raised in Billings, started practicing the craft only 10 years ago. Continue Reading →
So there’s this Valentine’s Day dinner coming up and I realized I didn’t have any decent jeans to wear . . . and oh crap, I can hear my mother’s voice now! “You’re taking your best girl out for a special occasion and you’re going to wear jeans? Continue Reading →
It wasn’t like Harvey Singh didn’t already have enough to do. In 2013 he started Singh Contracting, a successful business that mostly works on roofing projects. Just about a year ago he and Levi Adams started Outward Media Group, a digital marketing company. (more…) Continue Reading →
Donald Trump is eligible to play soccer for Scotland. The rules of the sport clearly state that a player is free to represent the country of either parent’s birth. As his mother is Scottish, there is nothing, technically, to prevent Donald John Trump scampering around the world’s soccer fields while proudly wearing the dark-blue shirt of his maternal country. (more…) Continue Reading →
A new restaurant is going into one of the oldest buildings in Billings. Melody and Tammy Fletcher are planning to open Mel’s Lunch Box, a breakfast-and-lunch cafe, on Wednesday, Feb. 1. The restaurant, in the old L and L Building on the southeast corner of Minnesota Avenue and South 27th Street, will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (more…) Continue Reading →
Kevin Rose, who manages the Western Art Forum gallery in downtown Billings, says Jerry Cornelia will be the featured artist during the Feb. 3 Winter ArtWalk for two reasons. One is that gallery owner and painter Kira Fercho is a big fan of the Sidney artist. “He’s like a superstar,” Rose said. “Kira calls him her first art crush, when she was 16 years old.” (more…) Continue Reading →
I didn’t march this weekend in the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. I swam. Swept into a sea of compassion, dense with weight, I connected to hundreds of thousands of strangers. As a Montanan, I crave open space. I like to see large distances of nothing. My favorite towns consist of a bar and a post office. Continue Reading →
