Jalan Crossland visited the Wyoming PBS studios in Riverton a few weeks ago so I could interview him for Wyoming Chronicle to be aired this coming Friday evening, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. I was really looking forward to interviewing Jalan because I am such a fan of his music. I also think he is a very good guy. Jalan walked into the studio with his guitar and banjo, wearing his signature black hat. My son, Marc, was also in the studio to meet Jalan, because, like me, Marc is a fan on his music. During the interview, Jalan plays both his guitar and his banjo. He is an amazing musician and you will enjoy watching his masterful and unique “picking” styles close up! Since we don’t edit Wyoming Chronicle, my son Marc was recruited to stand in the wings and hand Jalan his banjo or guitar as needed. Marc was very happy to be up close to his hero and be Jalan’s “roadie” for the shoot. So, all Jalan Fans tune in! You will see Jalan play some of your favorite songs including, “Don’t Taze Me Bro!” You will also hear the stories behind his music and career from the man himself! Margaret
Some of my favorite TV shows might be calling it quits for the season, but Wyoming Chronicle is still going strong. Just today I filmed two episodes with two Wyoming originals.
Dr. Ted Vlahos helps horses with leg injuries that would have most equine vets recommending euthanasia. With the help of custom prosthetics, Dr. Vlahos has saved the lives of dozens of horses at his Sheridan Equine Hospital.
Meeteetse Chocolatier Tim Kellogg might have first gained notoriety because he sold his truffles to fund his rodeoing. Today though, his truffles and chocolates – especially his sea salt caramels – can hold their own against the treats made by the country’s best. Check the Wyoming Chronicle website to see when these two episodes will air.
This coming Friday Evening (March 26) at 7:30 p.m. on Wyoming Chronicle my interview with Wyoming Supreme Court Justice, Marilyn Kite will air. I have known Marilyn for many years, so I was pleased to talk with her about her 10-year career as the first female to be appointed as a Wyoming Supreme Court Justice. We did the interview in the basement of the Hathaway building in Cheyenne on a very snowy day. Justice Kite took her lunch hour off to conduct the interview. She spent the entire rest of her day (and week) sitting “on the bench” listening to cases in the newly remodeled Wyoming Supreme Court Building.
Now Justice Kite has acheived another female first in Wyoming history! This past week it was reported that she is the new Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court. She is the first woman to have that distinction. Apparently, the job entails a lot of administrative responsibilities, including being head of the Judicial Nominating Commission and as chairman of the Board of Judicial Policy and Administration, which includes district and circuit court judges. Congratulations to Justice Kite on this new milestone in her career!
The public is able to sit the Wyoming Suprement Court room and watch the Supreme Court Justices in action! Just visit the official web site at http://www.courts.state.wy.us to obtain information about what cases are scheduled to be heard. You can also read about past opinions handed down by the Wyoming Supreme Court. Very educational!
So I could easily spend a day chatting with — and just plain ogling — the Meeteetse Chocolatier – but I want to know what you would ask him if you get the chance.
It’s difficult to believe my first season at Wyoming Chronicle is coming to an end –time really does fly when you’re having fun – but I am filming my last two episodes of the season at the end of this month. (I’ll be filming in Cody.) Chocolate visionary — because what else can you call a man who thought to make Coors truffles?? — Tim Kellogg will be one and Sheridan vet Dr. Ted Vlahos will be the other. I’m starting to prepare for both now.
So, if you had the chance to sit down with Tim or Ted, what would you ask them? And what would you like to ask me about chocolate truffles or the use of prostheses in animals? As nice as it would be to just sit down and chat with the guests we have on Wyoming Chronicle, all of us hosts do quite a bit of behind-the-scenes research. Although Mayans were drinking chocolate drinks 2000 years ago, it wasn’t until the 1840s that it was discovered how to make solid chocolate. And then in 1879 Swiss entrepreneur Henri Nestlé developed an exclusive recipe known as “milk chocolate” by combining the solid chocolate with a powder made of dehydrated milk and sugar? The French took Nestle’s invention and ran with it. Their experimentation led to the development of ganache, which is the center core of the modern truffle. Ganache was, and remains, an ultra-smooth combination of solid chocolate and cream that has a velvety, liquid-like texture. Chocolate truffles began to be made using this confection, and were often flavored with other ingredients such as dark or white chocolate, cocoa powder, or almonds or other chopped nuts. Or, in Kellogg’s case, Coors.
If you’re interested in doing some truffle research of your own, I highly recommend Paul Richardson’s book Indulgence, One man’s selfless search for the best chocolate in the world.
But agian, it’s my job to do the research, so if there’s anything you’re dying to know about truffles, or about Tim Kellogg, let me know.
–Dina Mishev
Dr. Ted Vlahos treats everything from cancer to fractures, neonates and toothaches. He takes x-rays, performs arthroscopic surgery and designs prosthetics to replace limbs that have been amputated. Every so often he even does embryo transfers. Dr. Vlahos is a modern-day country doctor through and through … especially since his patients usually have four legs rather than two. Since 1997, Dr. Vlahos and his team have given animals – mostly horses – access to pretty much the same type and level of medical care available to humans.
While horses used to be shot if they broke their leg, Dr. Vlahos has proven that doesn’t have to be the case. Take Lakota, who had a problem in the lower part of his front leg that was bullet-worthy if anything was. But Dr. Vlahos went with A(mputation) before B(ullet). Lakota was very much alive, not to mention up and walking around, on a new custom prosthetic leg, only a few hours after Dr. Vlahos amputated his lower leg. Dr. Vlahos is one of the few animal surgeons who does prosthetics and the Sheridan Equine Center is a pioneer in the field. In less extreme cases, Dr. Vlahos can also fix broken bones with plain pins and screws. Even these are revolutionary when applied to horses though.
Wyoming Chronicle will be interviewing Dr. Vlahos in late March and the episode is scheduled to run mid-April. Not that I’m lacking in questions to ask him, but I’d love to hear what you’d ask Dr. Vlahos if you had the chance. I can tell you now though that the answer to whether he can bring one of his patients into the taping is, “no.” It’s already difficult enough for us to find suitable places to tape when we’re on the road. If we needed one that was horse friendly, I fear we’d be out in a field. And that’s just not a good idea in Wyoming in March. Sorry.
– Dina
Other than me, that is. I’m even skipping out on a Christmas party — one that has much better food than I usually cook up for dinner — to watch it.
I’m just hoping I did justice to these two amazing musicians. Even if I couldn’t convince them to sing their cover of one of my favorite Prince songs.
If you’re inspired to share their music with others after tonight’s show, you can buy CDs on their website, http://www.anneandpetesibley.com/. For those in the Jackson area, their next concert is at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 9 at the Teton County Library. I can’t remember if I asked Anne this in the interview or not, but the Teton County Library is actually where she was “discovered.” While working there, she often sang to kids. Of course adults heard her too and suggested she perform at the weekly Hootenanny at Snow King Center. And tonight her and husband Pete are on Wyoming Chronicle.
I am looking forward to my debut on Wyoming Chronicle this coming Friday night, Dec. 11 featuring an interview with Susie and Mick McMurry of Casper. We had a great time visting the McMurry household to tape the interview and they were very gracious hosts. Mick and Susie McMurry have an amazing and huge house in Casper. For the interview we chose the room I think they use as their own TV room (pretty appropriate I guess!) The McMurry’s were relaxed and both told me they enjoyed the experience. It was fun and interesting to watch the crew set up for the interview. Kyle Nicholoff and Virginia Moore from the Wyoming PBS staff participated as the camera crew, director, sound etc. Geoff O’Gara, our Wyoming Chronicle Executive Producer was there with us as well. This is the first time I have done any “on location” work for Wyoming PBS. (My other show, Wyoming Perspectives is all done live in the Wyoming PBS studio on the CWC campus). After we were finished with our interview, Mick and Susie took us out to one of their multiple garages to see Mick’s Corvette collection. This car collection is his one of his favorite hobbies. Susie told me that Mick has not received any speeding tickets (yet)! Anyway, hope our viewing audience enjoys our McMurry interview. Let’s hear what you think about the episode!
“I vaguely remember hearing Anne and Pete at the Hootenanny years ago; I totally remember them playing at a friend’s wedding three years ago and doing a cover of a Prince song for the recessional. It was the coolest thing I had ever heard, and not only because it was so unexpected. I tried to get them to do that during this interview, but they were understandably more into doing the folk-sy, bluegrass-y stuff that won them the Prairie Home Companion Sing-off. You’ll have to take my word for it that they can do Prince better than Prince can do Prince.”
“As someone who is as tone deaf as a tree — my 3rd grade choir teacher actually encouraged me to lip sync — I’m completely in awe of the way Pete and Anne use their voices. I haven’t seen any footage of this episode yet; I hope it isn’t too obvious that I was dumbstruck for several seconds after they finished each of their songs.”
And a little anecdote: I was playing phone tag and trading emails with the Sibleys for at least three months before we figured out there was actually a date when 1) they’d be in town — their tour schedule this fall was crazy and 2) the crew could come over from Riverton. I think it was worth the wait.
I’m guessing I’m not the only person in the state who ventured away from the reach of Wyoming PBS over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Or so I thought I was away from the reach of Wyoming PBS. But, sitting by the fire with my computer in the home of my brother’s in-laws in Connecticut, I (very) happily discovered Wyoming PBS puts Wyoming Chronicle on its site almost immediately after it airs on television Friday night. I didn’t have to wait to see my interview with Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott after all. (In case you missed it, you can find it, as well as all of the other episodes that have already aired this season, at: http://www.wyomingpbs.org/programming/wyomingchronicle/video/episode108.php.)
Did I really ask Superintendent Scott what her favorite animal is?
As Executive Producer Geoff O’Gara points out at the conclusion of my interview, the only question Superintendent Scott dodged was the one about her favorite spot in the park. Geoff goes on to ask you — the viewers — to reveal your favorite spots in Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Devil’s Tower. Heck, if you’ve got a favorite peak or valley in the Cloud Peak Wilderness I’d love to hear that too. I know that a place doesn’t have to be a national park or monument to be beautiful, especially not in this state. No one seems to have chimed in yet. Perhaps you’re waiting for me to get the ball rolling:
In Grand Teton, I love the moment when hiking up the trail to Garnet Canyon you finally turn west into the canyon itself (this happens a little more than three miles in) and are suddenly face-to-face with the Park’s biggest peaks. They come at you seemingly out of nowhere. One moment you’re in the trees and the next you’re staring at the Black Dike ripping up through the middle of the Middle Teton.
In Yellowstone, I love ice skating at Mammoth in the winter. I lived in Wyoming for over a decade before I knew there was even a rink there. They even let you use rental skates for free. There’s no cost to use the rink either. And then of course, hot chocolate and coffee and sweet treats are only a few steps away in the beautiful Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel.
At Devils Tower, well, I hate to admit I’ve yet to make it to the top of the tower. This wouldn’t be that horrible an admission if I weren’t a climber, but I am. And a climber in Wyoming who hasn’t yet done at least the Durrance Route on the Tower can’t really call themselves a climber. I console myself with the sorry state of my climbing career with the best burger in the state: at the bar next to the town park in Hulett. Their margaritas are pretty amazing too. Hmmm, perhaps these margaritas and burgers are the reasons I’ve yet to make it to the top of Devils Tower.
So there are my favorites. I’m ready to hear yours. Feel free to tell me your favorite animal too.
Many years ago when public television was just a pup, I was one of a small team of people who helped build WGBH/Boston into one of the country’s premier PBS producing stations.
After retirement, I decided to come west. I’d been here as a visitor, but I’d never really flipped the buffalo chip over to see what was beneath it.
I discovered a vast and inspiring place here, and I quickly found a way to live my childhood dream by becoming a seasonal park ranger in Yellowstone’s remote and beautiful northeast corner. Suddenly, my encore career was off and running as I became a boots-on-the-ground ranger with an “office” of 2.23 million acres.
Between my seasonal stints as a ranger, I have become determined to learn more about the west. That’s why I have now joined the team at WYOMING CHRONICLE. It is a unique opportunity to dig into what makes the west so special, and to bring such people into focus on your home television.
I’ve already interviewed two such interesting and inspiring people and have been blown away by what they each have done. My fellow hosts and I will soon be interviewing more.
Please introduce us to people you know — people who are making a positive difference to Wyoming and to the west. Because, when all is said and done, public television is a two-way proposition that depends squarely on its viewers for almost everything that it does.