Nutcracker – Magical Christmas Ballet 2023

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November 6, 2023

Coming to Great Falls, Wednesday, November 22, 2023 – 7:00pm at The Historic Mansfield Theater.

NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet boasts award-winning principal dancers and a corps de ballet of 40 Vaganova-trained ballerinas and danseurs who make the Holiday tradition for families across America uniquely special.

Averaging 100 performances during November and December, this phenomenon combines the highest caliber ballet with historic international theatrical traditions, 10-foot tall playful puppets, 9 intricately hand-painted backdrops and hundreds of exquisite costumes.

The ballet company has historically been made up of the top artists from around the globe, including Ukraine, Tokyo, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Germany, and more.

All seats are reserved and tickets are required for all ages.

Get your tickets today. https://nutcracker.com/buy-tickets/great-falls-mt/

Reserved seats:

$82 Gold Circle* (dark blue seats)
$72 (bright green)
$52 (dark red)
$42 (orange)
$32 (turquoise)

For more information about this or other events, you can contact Jack Allen at the Mansfield Box Office ticketing@greatfallsmt.net

You can also call: (406) 455-8514

The Mansfield Center For the Performing Arts Theater is located at 2 Park Drive South, Great Falls, MT 59401

Hunter numbers lower but success rates good in north-central Montana

By

Alan

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November 6, 2023

From the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks (FWP)

GREAT FALLS – Although the number of hunters stopping at FWP’s Region 4 check station in Augusta this season is lower than average, success rates for those hunters have been good, and substantially better than the success rates at this point of the season last year.

Through the second weekend of the general rifle season, 551 hunters passed through the station which is approximately 20% below the ten-year average. Almost 28% of those hunters had success harvesting game, compared to the ten-year average of 20% hunter success.

While opening weekend saw warm, dry weather, a significant winter storm during the middle of last week brought areas of heavy snow and sustained temperatures well below freezing. Hunters who braved the weather and took advantage of the cold and snow enjoyed good success, and as of Sunday evening Oct. 29, a total of 145 deer and elk had been checked at the station, which is about 10% above the ten-year average, and a 50% increase over the number of animals checked at this time last year.

Mule and white-tailed deer harvest numbers are both very near recent average, but also well above the harvest numbers of last year. 35 antlered and 31 antlerless elk have been brought to the station this season, which is approximately 27% above recent average, and 65% higher than last year. Most elk checked have come from the Sun River herd, largely due to weather conditions causing an increase in their movement toward winter range.

Elk quotas tied to hunting districts 424 and 442 remain open to antlerless harvest. If those quotas are reached, antlerless harvest will close, but the brow-tined bull season will remain open through Thanksgiving weekend for those hunting districts. Hunters can check the status of the hunting district quotas by calling the check station at 406-562-3467.

The general deer and elk seasons run through Nov. 26. The check station along Main Street in Augusta is the only biological check station operated by FWP in Region 4 and operates seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends. Biological check stations like the station in Augusta are intended primarily for biologists to gather trends and statistical information about animals and hunters. Hunters are reminded that they must stop at any check station they pass while hunting, regardless of if they have harvested game.

Productive Chill Music — Night at Work Mix

By

Alan

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November 3, 2023

Sometimes I’ll set the mood for the music and sometimes the music sets the mood for me.

Some of the music that sets the mood can be found here, from the Chill Music Lab over on Youtube.

Some nights late, I’ll be at my desk working on Reddwebdev projects and I’ll flip over to this channel and just listen.

Here is the perfect soundtrack to play in the background during late night sessions. The neutral mood of the tracks, deep reese bass plus the slow rhythm will help to calm down after a long day, forget about the daily stress and anxiety, and concentrate on your project.

Tracklist:

00:00 Future Skyline – Silent Moon
04:33 aLone – come
08:02 VonnBoyd – La Luna
12:43 Diedlonely – Neoma
16:00 VonnBoyd – Monarch
18:43 Fox3r – Dive
21:07 Athene – Sorrow
24:47 Barefoot – Murmurs
26:41 Samuke – Prairie
28:50 Owlong – Coming Home
32:06 Rushkeys – Sand Dance
35:15 Glo – Perfect Love
38:55 Himalia – Timing
41:45 Foxer – Natural Light
45:58 Nomyn – Tenderness

Gone Wireless

By

Alan

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October 30, 2023

After digging to a depth of 10 feet last year outside Buffalo, New York, scientists found traces of copper cable dating back 100 years.

They came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a Los Angeles, California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet somewhere just outside Oceanside.

Shortly afterward, a story in the LA Times read, “California archaeologists, reporting a finding of 200 year old copper cable, have concluded hat their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.”

One week later, a local newspaper in Butte, Montana reported, “After digging 30 feet deep in his pasture near the community of Bozeman, Montana, Caleb Olson, a heck of an engineer and a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Caleb has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Montana had already gone wireless.”

Just makes a person proud to be from Montana.

Trying out my new DSLR EOS Rebel T7 18-55mm camera

By

Alan

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October 29, 2023

A while back I bought a new camera.

Nothing real fancy of course — A mid range DSLR EOS Rebel T7 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 is II.

Figured I’d try it on some of our recent road trips to see how it all worked out. Still not real good at all of this picture taking stuff but I’m sure that I’ll eventually get the hang of it.

I’ve got a list of lenses I want to buy for it, but in the meantime, here are some photos I took with the lens it came with.

… from our travels around to places like Canyon Ferry, Neihart, and Elkhorn.