You’re all clear, kid, now let’s blow this thing and go home! – Han Solo

On the morning of September 11, 2001 I was asleep in a cozy little cabin in the beautiful high country region of Yosemite National Park.  Giant redwoods loomed nearby.  My world was serene and revolved around climbing massive granite blocks when not working as the “maintenance guy” at an environmental education center.  Frantic knocks on the door raised me from bed followed by the entry of a close friend and cups of hot coffee.
“I’ve got good …

Jackson, WY resident Travis Walker has orchestrated a vortex of artistic energy and eco-activism.  In addition to being a talented artist, he’s become a pioneer for choreographing a community project of passionate and creative people.  Hard work, determination and dedicated volunteers like Tony Birkholz have transformed a dilapidated building on Gregory Lane into the new incarnation of the Teton Art Lab and Factory Studios.

.01: What prompted your relocation to 1255 Gregory Lane?

The Teton Artlab has been on the move since our inception in 2007, and it has been due to …

“The pioneers of a warless world are the young men and women who refuse military service.” – Albert Einstein

A few weeks ago I sat atop a gigantic jumbled pile of granitic boulders amongst an ocean of ever reaching Joshua Trees. I listened to wind rushing over rock and the occasional “cluk-cluk”of a curious raven. All was serene, basking in the warm desert sun, until a series of sonic booms ripped across the surreal landscape.
 
The thudding drone of military helicopters soon followed like a swarm of annoying industrial gnats. …

The following letter to the editor was originally printed in the Planet JH Weekly, July 27, 2005:

Vive la difference!

My personal vehicle sports a “Boycott France” bumper sticker which has elicited strong opinions with varying degrees of civility from all sides of the political spec- trum. However, this evening [July 18] when an enthusiastic Francophile and apparent supporter of the pre-war regime in Iraq placed an anonymous message on the windshield of my parked and empty vehicle, every person has expressed their opinion proudly, face to face or by name.
…

Ben Roth is a Jackson Hole based artist and sculpture who is on FIRE!  It’s been exciting to watch his career accelerate over the last few years, but he’s earned it through hard work, calculated risks and hyper-motivation.  He’s recently relocated his studio over to the emerging art district being established by the nice folks at the Teton Art Lab and Igneous Skis.

Ben’s work explores a wide spectrum, both fun and functional, from fine art to furniture, with inspirations from from Nature to NASCAR.  Next time you’re soaking in the …

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience” -Teilhard de Chardin

The link between creativity and insanity, specifically Bipolar Disorder, has been well documented, but never fully understood.  There’s a long list of exceptional people who have struggled with this unexpectedly altered reality, from Ernest Hemingway to Abraham Lincoln and Kirk Cobain. This mental disorder, often like an accidental waking dream, for perhaps not so mysterious reasons has been exponentially increasing in our society since WW II. Scientists currently believe the affliction …

[Click here to listen to Sam Petri's archived radio show, Deep Sea Vent]
.01: How has the birth of KHOL community radio altered the musical experience in Jackson Hole?

When I get up in the morning, I turn on the radio and make some green tea. Typically, it’s my friends, or someone I know on the air, bouncing killer music off the valley walls. This is a HUGE improvement from the pre-KHOL days. It makes life a lot better. You don’t even need to think about what you might want to listen …

This past Memorial Day evening found me regrouping from a hectic road trip at a motel in Burlington, VT.  Scanning the TV channels I came across a ceremony on CSPAN at the Vietnam War memorial in DC.  A military chaplain gave a solemn speech meant to sound significant.  This was followed by a drab discussion about the importance of refurbishing the foreboding monument.  It was all very official.

What these military officers failed to mention, however, is the declassified documents confirming that the “gulf of tonkin” incident, which was the primary …

If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people.  -Timothy Leary

Wage Peace: the non lethal weaponry solution
Bee keepers use puffs of smoke to pacify angry insects.  If the U.S. Military hopes to win their current struggles against justifiably enraged insurgents who have had their homelands wrongfully invaded then we need to apply a similar non-lethal strategy to the arena of Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond if necessary.  It’s debatable, however, if the goal is to win the deceptive “war on terror” or …

There are some hundred billion galaxies, each with, on the average, a hundred billion stars… ten billion trillion.  In the face of such overpowering numbers, what is the likelihood that only one ordinary star, the Sun, is accompanied by an inhabited planet?
-Carl Sagan

There is no greater “drug free” reality shift then experiencing your first UFO sighting.  Mine was back in 2003.  A reassuring voice was sensed inside my head that calmly said “go outside, go outside” and so I did.  It was in the evening an hour or so after …