I extended my stay in Montana so I could have a little more time with my family and friends before really diving into life in Chicago. I was glad I did.
Chris hard boiled some Easter eggs and dyed them Martha Stuart style in red cabbage and turmeric. He and I took Bannack a little way up Mount Helena to collect some grass for his basket and I made a little Easter nest.
The Hunt!
This was the first year Bannack was able to attempt an Easter egg hunt and he did very well! We took him to the one hosted by the Hibernians at Memorial Park. Bannack was raring to go at the starting gate and held his own against the six year olds towering above him.
After long last Sgt. Butler is back home in Montana.
We celebrated, how else!, by heading up to Rimini for a little militia training. He taught Teal and I sling transfers, the proper Special Forces shooting stance, and how to rescue a hostage in a vehicle take down. The SF shooting stance is pretty ridiculous looking and feels awkward as hell. “Try it in the heat with body armor,” Kenny says. Apparently that’s worse.
Here’s the stance:
With your feet shoulder length apart and facing forward, bend deep at knees, and stick your butt out—way out—lean forward and hold your gun with your elbows up by your shoulders. You should look something like like the Mouse Trap Game diving man with a gun in his hands. It’s ridiculous looking, but surprisingly stable and it immediately improved my aim.
Teal (who keeps a delicious blog) has the Hipstamatic app on her phone and took these rad vintage looking photos. She also got to try out her brand new cap and ball revolver. (You can see it in the upper left photos.) It took forever to load and regularly misfired, but when it would shoot it made a terrifically satisfying cracking POP! and threw out a cloud of white smoke.
A NOTE TO THE WORRIED
Don’t worry. We’re not really a militia, but I was curious about what Ken learned during some Special Forces training he received in Afghanistan. Ken and I have been shooting together forever, and despite of what it looks like in these photos, we’re very careful to be as safe as we know how to be. We’ve handled guns for many years and we only shot at the snow.
In the summer of 1995 I spent two weeks in Red Lodge, Montana with my friend Kurt and our families filming a movie. I was Dougy and Kurt was Ralpho, we were the school yard bullies in a feature called Amanda. This week I watched it for the first time.
AN INSTANT CLASSIC?
Amanda stars Kiran Culken who plays a Montanan and a pipsqueak, Biddle Farnsworth, who starts to go blind in one eye after falling from a horse. That is, until he meets Seven, a magical black blacksmith and his horse Amanda, a massive (18 hands) animal who may be an angel. Seven forges Biddle a pair of magic metal eyeglasses that improve his vision.
Kurt sent me some of his recollections of the time:
I definitely remember our production assistant, Michael who smoked all the time. I remember that we ate in a separate tent from the “extras” and had catered hot food where they had only sandwiches. I remember the problems with recording my line that I spoke in that scene, far away from you and the boom, and they had to wire me with a mike which kept malfunctioning. I remember Kieran and playing video games next to Macauley in our hotel. I remember how our moms were sitting talking with this woman about how stressful it was to be a stage mother, and then an assistant came over and said, “Mrs. Culkin, they’re ready for you.”
WORLD PREMIER
The whole experience was incredible and overwhelming in all the best ways, but for all these years, if ever the subject came up, the story ended with a big question mark because the movie was never released in the US.
Thanks go to my brother-in-law for finding the DVD. After hearing the stories my sister* and I had about the filming he refused to believe that it was still unavailable on video. After a quick search he found it for sale from this reputable online store. Easy as that. *You can see Sara in pink dress waking away from Jenny in the outside scene.
I’m thinking of trying that hairstyle on again though, I think it suits me.
It was a real shock to touchdown in Great Falls on a runway swept with ribbons of dry snow. My mom and dad and (who else?) my beautiful nephew Bannack all braved the icy mountain pass between Helena and Great Falls, passing a 5 semi-truck pile up along the way, to greet me!
They had bad news though, the road home was closed until the trucks were removed and the plows had a chance to clear the snow away. So we had some time to catch up.
My first concern though was to insure that the massive quantities of hot sauce I had haphazardly packed had not all burst in transit. Fortunately they had not, but I got a polite little note from the TSA informing me that they HAD searched the bag and found nothing alarming. Looking only for bombs they left my precious pugua alone.
The road home
We got on the road and got as far as Wolf Creek where we waited, delicious Montana beers in hand, for news of the road opening. The snow kept falling though so we settled in and had a greasy bar lunch at the Frenchman and Me. Just as our orders were up we got news the accident was cleared away and the plows were running.
We rolled into Helena a little after 6PM and met with Sara at the Blackfoot for a few rounds and stories. Then to her and Chris’ place (Chris, unfortunately, is in Bozeman until the weekend) for pizza, unpacking and betel nut!
