Big Sky Blog

Woohoo! The design for the Montana state quarter has been chosen, and it’s the one that I was rooting for: the bison skull! Sure, it would have been cool if one of my two designs (or some of the other good designs) had been chosen, but the bison skull is the perfect design to represent Montana.
[tags]montana quarter, state quarter[/tags]
(click for large size)

Poking around over at Epinions and stumbled across the category of “Montana!” The “reviews” of our state are pretty interesting: this review of the Pioneer Bar in Hilger, for instance; this one says that the “Pros” of Montana are “Isolated, remote, and quiet,” while also noting that the “Cons” of Montana are “Isolated, remote, and quiet!” And apropros of the post earlier this month about Butte comes a review that says “Pros: interesting history, many attractions; Cons: an ugly town with a rough reputation.” This review, however, doesn’t ring true to me: it claims that the biggest “Con” of Montana is “the cold people.” Harumph! On balance, though, it looks like Montana comes out a winner in the reviews, with virtually all of them noting our state’s breathtaking scenery.

Anyone know of anyone in the area that does a good job catering? It’s for a smaller party (8-12) and a pretty casual affair (my birthday!). We might even only do appetizers. I just want something a little more special. Thanks in advance for any info!

I received an e-mail from a fella named Nate the other day; he’s in New York, has a band, and grew up here in Montana. Here’s what he wrote:

Hi Big Sky Blog,
My name is Nate Schweber and I sing in an NYC-based band called the New Heathens. I also grew up in Montana. We just put out our first record, called Heathens Like Me and on it is a song about teenage pyromania meeting alien paranoia called “July 1, Near Helena, MT.” I recently wrote a letter to Gov. Brian Schweitzer asking him to make “July 1, Near Helena, MT” the “Song of the State of Montana” for July 1, 2006. The online mag New West got a hold of it and wrote this I haven’t heard from Mr. Schweitzer yet, but we’ll see. Regardless, I think you’ll get a kick out of the tune. If you can’t hear it on the New West site, go to our MySpace site. It should pop right up.
Might you consider it the topic of a blog on Big Sky Blog? Cheers, and thanks for your time.
Nate

According to the New West article, Nate apparently was something of a semi-legend when he lived here in Montana: “Nate, the famous ‘gyrating,’ feather boa-ed, sequined University of Montana tuba player, left Missoula amidst much fanfare several years ago (his farewell was actually covered by the Missoulian and a few local TV stations at the time).” He still writes “home” periodically at New West, too.

One of Montana’s most famous (infamous?) sites is about to hit prime-time: the Berkeley Pit is going to be featured on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. The focus of the brief segment is the idea of turning the Pit into a genuine tourist attraction by charging a modest admission fee to view it. Most folks in Montana know about the Pit, and this is sure to be a water-cooler topic beyond our borders within a few days. Based on the post-interview assessment from the folks featured in the story, all bets are off regarding whether this will improve the image of Butte or not.
[tags]berkeley pit, butte, montana[/tags]

…Miss Montana 2006! Well, in a few hours, anyway. The competition is going on right now in Glendive. Find out what it’s all about: the mission of the pageant, the prizes, the sponsors, and more. Miss Montana 2005, Sophia Steinbeisser, will hand the crown she has worn for the past year over to one of these lovely young ladies. See what Sophia has been up to during her reign in this photo album. For 2006, there are contestants from Glendive, Polson, Terry, Billings, Cut Bank, Kalispell, Boulder, Bozeman, Helena, Lewistown, and Great Falls. There’s also an announcement about Miss Montana Outstanding Teen 2006.

Don’t forget to stroll through the list of Miss Montanas of previous years, too!
[tags]miss montana[/tags]
UPDATE: Christie Hageman of Billings has been crowned as Miss Montana 2006!

Aight, I’ve not heard much of anything lately; so unless someone tells me otherwise here’s the Official Lo-Down on the June MBB:

When SATURDAY JUNE 17th, at 6pm.
Where Pug Mahon’s, 3011 1st Ave. North in Billings
Why Because it’s what all the cool kids are doing
Who (tentative!) Randy, Sarpy Sam and His Darling Wife, Moos, Pandora, Craig and an undetermined number of family, Irish Boy and me!

Obviously, if you’re in the area and craving for some Montana Blogger Bash Goodness then stop on by! And if you have a question, contact me. I’m leaving for Billings around 2:30-3pm today, and after that my internet is kind of sketchy. I’ll do what I can, though.

(sorry if you’ve already read this on Revolving Duck. And doubly sorry for the lack of linky love. Look at the time, for crying out loud).

1. The “did you pass math?” spam-blocker was giving some folks a headache, so I tossed it and am now using Akismet on this site. In theory, it should be transparent to anyone who leaves a comment…but if you have any trouble leaving a comment, please let me know at bigskyblog @ gmail.com – thanks.

2. Does anyone know how I can get rid of the “bullets” that precede each comment in the “Recent Comments” section of the right-column sidebar?

George has some questions that he left in a thread about moving to Bozeman:

Thanks for this feedback. It is very helpful. I just finished another interview for the job I’m chasing in Bozeman and it’s looking very likely that I’ll land the position. I’ve got a few more questions:

1) Is a salary in the mid-30’s adequate to live on in Bozeman?

2) I’ll probably live in apartments during the first year or so. Can anyone recommend any apartment complexes in the area?

3) What’s the tax burden like in Bozeman? I understand, for example, that Montana has an income tax. What are property taxes like? Any other taxes, fees, etc. that I should know about?

Headline: Tester beat Morrison for the Democratic nomination to compete against Senator Conrad Burns in November.  Voter turnout was 34%, not too shabby for a non-Presidential primary election.  If you’re looking for tallies of the primary election, check out the Secretary of State’s election webpage.  It’s a bit cumbersome and slow to load, but it has all of the races listed, with county-specific voting totals.  For some analysis of the Tester/Morrison contest from the D side of the aisle, take a look at New West, and here’s how one of Montana’s most popular bloggers felt about casting his vote.  Personally, I think that Tester’s haircut – and the commercial that highlights it – put him over the top.  Whether you agree with Tester’s politics or not, that is a pretty clever ad.