Ester Trekker Redux

Readin' and watchin' during the holiday season

2011-12-28T09:13:00.004-09:00

I had been steadily working my way through three books and I finished each of them in the last week:

Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis: This is the first Lewis book that I have read. I also bought his second book, The Money Culture.
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough.
Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson. I read about this book on Bill Gates' website, The Gates Notes, which is a fun website to visit every now and then.

In November, I plowed through The Sun Also Rises in a few evenings.

While on the subject of the City of Lights, Keri and I purchased and watched Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris on Christmas Eve Eve. I agree with the reviewer who called it "Magic." Seen it?

From Netflix, we also watched a fun movie about the font, Helvetica, a couple days ago.

Picture Perfect Xmas

2011-12-25T22:01:00.005-09:00

Without spending a penny, Keri managed to offer me some wonderful Christmas gifts. She checked out a bunch of books from the public library, gift wrapped them in a variety of different-sized boxes, and put them all under the Christmas tree.

We had really hoped to go to the other side of the North American continent to see the de Kooning retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), but that was not in the cards for us this year -- and the show ends on January 9. These three library books about de Kooning will scratch that itch.

I did chance upon Diebenkorn's "Ocean Park Series" when I was at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth a few weeks ago. Since I had never heard of him before then, it's good to get the book -- even temporarily -- to learn more.

During a 60 Minutes interview that I saw recently, Wynton Marsalis talked about his obsession with "Matisse Matisse Matisse." The jazz trumpeter was so enthusiastic about the French painter that, ever since then, I have wanted to learn more, as I don't know much.

On my recent trip to Hot Springs, a friend showed me a book about Chuck Close. Apparently, I mentioned that to Keri, she remembered, and grabbed the book for me when she saw it at the library. Like Aunt Susan says, "you don't have to tell her twice."

Finally, Gene Davis (like nearly every other artist) is new to me. He painted vertical stripes of color.

As usual, Keri knows just exactly what I like.

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And, on the lighter side of Jesus' birthday ...

I was reading the Best and Worst of Everything in 2011 earlier today. Coming across You Are Not So Smart was the best of the bests. Here's a promo for that book, which was included in one website's Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of the year:

In case you didn't quite catch all that, the narrator said,

"Some things in life seem too amazing to be coincidence, too odd to be random, too similar to be chance. When you desire meaning, when you want things to line up, you see patterns everywhere. Order makes it easier to be a person, to navigate this sloppy world. You're born looking for clusters where chance events have built up like sand in the dunes. Picking out clusters of coincidences is a predictable malfunction of a normal human mind and it's just one of the many ways you are not so smart."

Duh.

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Pretty Please

2011-12-18T20:08:00.005-09:00

I stole away from Austin last week and drove eight hours up to Hot Springs (Arkansas) to see my dear buddy, Billy Spunke. He and Shea were great hosts and showed me as many of the Hot Springs hot spots as they could in just a couple of days.

To be fair to the good people of Hot Springs, the sign above is part of a museum exhibit and not currently posted in one of today's active spas; however, I am sure that such consideration is still appreciated by modern patrons of the steam baths.

During my short visit, I finally had the opportunity to see Spunke's Low Key Arts building, soaked in the baths at Quapaw, toured the Hot Springs National Park, feasted at McClard's Bar-B-Q, and wandered through the historic Arlington Hotel.

I also enjoyed spending a little bit of time with Bill and Shea's two kids and meeting a handful of their friends.

Most of all, I got to hang out with Bill, talk about his Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival, and see his new band rehearse.

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Bill and I also watched Never Make It Home, a documentary about our late friend, Kirk Rundstrom, who we both spent time with during a Split Lip Rayfield tour of Alaska in 2001.

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Finally, I took a detour so that I could see the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. It was the first time that I saw, in person, the paintings of Motherwell, Pollack, Rothko, Gottleib, and Still (from top to bottom below). Goosebumps -- and well worth the extra couple of hours.

Return to Texas

2011-12-18T19:31:00.002-09:00

After attending SXSW almost annually for over a decade, I had not been to Austin since Keri and I last visited Texas in 2007. On that trip, we ate our way through hill country (especially Cooper's Old-Time Pit BBQ in Llano), rocked SXSW, and then ventured to Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast for a few glorious days of relaxation on the beach, which I will forever associate with my reading of Larry Brown's novel, Fay.

Last week, I had the opportunity to return to the Lone Star State to participate in an energy conference in Austin. The conference wasn't as much fun as the Bloodshot Records' annual SXSW party at the Yard Dog Gallery, but it wasn't bad. Presentations that I especially enjoyed were:

Realizing the Potential of North American Oil and Gas Reserves
A Norweigan Perspective on Global Energy Markets
Policy Dynamics for North American Gas
Competing for Energy Investments in the North American Market

Conference registrants, myself included, also enjoyed a field trip to the Texas State Capitol (which is where I took the photo of the flag above) and the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum.

I stuck around Austin for a few days and managed to enjoy good music, including:

Carper Family Band at the Driskill Hotel
CD Release Party by The Memphis Strange at the Mean Eyed Cat
Happy Hour with Hot Club of Cowtown at the Continental Club

And good eats, especially:

Sentimental favorite, Guero's Taco Bar
Polvos Mexican Restaurant (highly recommended -- and for good reason -- by a dear friend)

A couple other Austin highlights were:

A top-notch haircut at Avenue Barber Shop on South Congress (Hot Rods and Hair Cuts)
One night of rest at the Hotel San Jose'
Music exploring at the expansive independent record store, Waterloo Records

Suddenly, Summer is Almost Over

2011-08-28T22:39:00.003-08:00

This evening, Keri and I are watching more Elizabeth Taylor -- and it's a sizzler.

We've also been watching some documentaries about art and architecture lately.

Who Gets to Call it Art?
Milton Glaser -- Inform and Delight
I.M. Pei – First Person Singular/The Museum on the Mountain
Louis I. Kahn – My Architect: A Son’s Journey
Frank Lloyd Wright – A Film By Ken Burns & Lynn Novick
Sketches of Frank Gehry by Sydney Pollack

Enjoyed them all.

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"I cannot understand why human beings should be so little individualized, why they should behave with such great collective uniformity. I do not understand why when I ask for a grilled lobster at a restaurant, I’m never served a cooked telephone.” ~ Salvador Dalí

Modern Architecture in Columbus, Indiana

2011-08-28T22:08:00.002-08:00

Earlier this month, Mom, Dad, Ellen and I took a field trip to Columbus (IN). We hoped to see the Miller House, but the tours were booked for the entire month of August -- and there is no other way to see the house and gardens. We went anyway, because there are plenty other treasures to see.

The city has a perfect slogan: "unexpected. unforgettable."

Going to the Chapel

2011-08-28T21:47:00.000-08:00

During summer travels, we saw a few shows:

U2 at Angel Stadium (Anaheim, CA) on June 17
Jason Isbell at The Casbah (San Diego, CA) on June 20
Bright Eyes and The Mountain Goats at Old National Centre (Indianapolis) on August 4
My Morning Jacket and Neko Case at The Lawn (Indianapolis) on August 7

Also saw old buddy Tim Easton right here in Fairbanks on August 19.

Great music with good stories.

It never rains in ...

2011-06-16T23:04:00.003-08:00

We arrived in Southern California last night at 8pm.

This morning it was raining, so we decided to abandon our plans for sand and surf. Instead, we ventured into downtown LA.

Today's highlight was a trip to the Los Angeles County Art Museum. We were razzled and dazzled by the Tim Burton exhibit, which "brings together over 700 drawings, paintings, photographs, moving-image works, storyboards, puppets, concept artworks, maquettes, costumes, and cinematic ephemera, including art from a number of unrealized and little-known personal projects." The show was even better than advertised.

The image below is from the exhibit and was copied from the museum website.

Along the way to the museum, Keri got to see the Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive for the very first time.

We spent the latter part of the day at Venice Beach. Since we were outside, we habitually swatted at mosquitos but, alas, we haven't seen any of the blood suckers. It also gets dark here this time of year, which is nice.

Tomorrow, more beach and then U2 at Angel Stadium.

Hello Again

2011-05-28T11:52:00.001-08:00

This article, Why Do Pop Culture Fans Stop Caring About New Music As They Get Older?, rang my bell:

What I don’t get is the hostility that new music sometimes engenders among aging fans. I’ve chided friends who grew up on punk and indie music for turning into what they always hated—nostalgia-happy, past-worshipping hippies—because they can’t consider the latest buzz band without going into the same tired rant about how artists today don’t have “edge,” “relevance,” or “originality” by comparison with some overly idealized group from their past. I find that this opinion tends to say more about the listener than the state of contemporary music, which is too vast to be summed up by such sweepingly reductive statements.

I think this whenever I read yet another broadside about how today’s indie rock “doesn’t really rock” or whatever. Based on what? Based on your inability to locate bands that make you feel exactly the way you did when you were 15? Let me save you some time: You aren’t going to find those bands, okay? Because you changed. I guarantee you that somebody somewhere is making a record just as transformative as anything you grew up with; it’s just that you have lost the ability to hear(figuratively and perhaps literally) those records for what they are.

Read the entire article here.

Men Who Swim and Noodle

2011-01-04T21:50:00.000-09:00

I thought I'd seen it all when I watched Okie Noodling, but Men Who Swim might be my favorite water sport film of all time. Fiction? Nope. Satire, at least? Nope.

My new documentary film fantasy: Okie Noodling meets Men Who Swim.

Bare-handed catfishing or synchronized swimming? It's a toss-up for me. You?

Hot and Cold in Interior Alaska

2011-01-02T20:30:00.000-09:00

Record warmth in Interior Alaska

Jan 02, 2011

FAIRBANKS - An unexpectedly strong chinook blew into Interior Alaska on Saturday, bringing record warm temperatures and slick roads.

Delta Junction reported a record high of 52 Saturday and 51 today, while Fairbanks reached a record high of 41 this morning. Temperatures in the 30s and 40s were recorded in other areas. Temperatures are expected to dip below freezing tonight, but remain well above normal through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

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Coldest December in 30 years

Dec 28, 2010

This month has been the coldest December in 30 years. So far.

The average temperature at Fairbanks International Airport has been 20 below, which is 15 degrees cooler than normal, the National Weather Service said.

With 2.5 inches of snow this month, it has been dryer than normal. Total snowfall this winter is 21.8 inches, which is about two inches more than last winter and about half of what we usually get.

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Elia Kazan and Old Movies

In the past few days, we have watched a couple of Elia Kazan-directed movies: A Face in the Crowd (1957) starring a young Andy Griffith and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) starring, well, you know who. Also watched Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter (1955) and we're about to start Bonnie Clyde (1967). Coming soon from Netflix, more Kazan/Brando in On The Waterfront (1954).

Xmas Day 2010

2010-12-25T23:55:00.001-09:00

Christmas Day is winding down just the way it began ... with Fiddler on the Roof. We watched the first half of the movie on Christmas Eve and we are finishing it this evening. Tradition! If I were a rich man. Miracle of miracles. Sunrise, sunset. Do you love me? All favorites.

Grandma made the little snowman on our Christmas tree (picture above). It must be 30 or 40 years old. Her Christmas tree was always decorated with her own designs -- knitted, crocheted, sewed, etc. Mom and Dad still have a nice collection of Grandma's Christmas decorations. I wish that I had more of them, but this little guy made of yarn is it for us.

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Keri -- er, Santa -- gave me some very nice presents today, including the music and book at the top of my Wish List: Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story box set (3 cds and 3 dvds) and a book about photographer Herb Ritts called The Golden Hour. In the technology department, she selected a Kindle for me and Santa brought us Apple TV. Our parents also gave us very nice gifts (thank you!).

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For most of the week, we kept various editions of Derek Cantrell's annual Christmas cds loaded in our juke box. His selections of holiday hits are hard to beat, but today we also enjoyed Elvis' White Christmas, The Temptations The Christmas Collection, Mojo Magazine's Festive Fifteen and an Ultra-Lounge compilation called, Best of Christmas Cocktails (Peggy Lee, Dean Martin, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, etc.).

Your Christmas faves?

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Before it got dark this afternoon, we took the dogs for a walk in the Winter Wonderland (photos below). It is still chilly -- 20 degrees below zero today -- but now that winter solstice has passed, our days are getting a little longer:

Date

Sunrise

Sunset

Length of Day

Dec 27, 2010 -

10:59 AM -

2:46 PM -

3h 47m 15s

Dec 28, 2010

10:58 AM

2:47 PM

3h 49m 22s

Dec 29, 2010

10:57 AM

2:49 PM

3h 51m 46s

Dec 30, 2010

10:56 AM

2:51 PM

3h 54m 28s

Dec 31, 2010

10:55 AM

2:53 PM

3h 57m 29s

Jan 1, 2011

10:54 AM

2:55 PM

4h 00m 44s

Los Alamos, New Mexico

2010-12-18T21:57:00.001-09:00

When I was in New Mexico for the conference last week, we took a bus from Santa Fe to Los Alamos. 35 miles, I think. Along the way, our driver pulled over so that we could take some pictures (above). Santa Fe is about 7,000 feet above sea level and Los Alamos is even a little higher.

We were on a field trip to the Bradbury Science Museum, where we learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

Although it's set in Texas, No Country For Old Men was actually filmed around Santa Fe.

Santa Fe and Our Lady of Guadalupe

2010-12-17T23:04:00.001-09:00

Last week, I traveled to Santa Fe to attend The Energy Council's winter conference. I enjoyed walking around town (photo above) and also purchased the Museum of New Mexico's Four Day Pass (for just $20). I saw some wonderful stuff at the New Mexico History Museum and Palace of Governors, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the Museum of International Folk Art.

I had no idea at the time, but when I took this photo of Our Lady of Guadalupe (above) it was actually her birthday. Later that same evening, December 11, I joined her birthday processional through the streets of Santa Fe and then attended an evening celebration with the local folks at -- you guessed it -- the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church service was presented in Spanish and I didn't understand a thing they were saying, but the people were friendly, the music gorgeous, and the feast ... oh, the feast. This was certainly the highlight of the trip (photos below).

On the way to Santa Fe, I read No Country For Old Men and on the way back I read All The Pretty Horses, both by Santa Fe resident Cormac McCarthy.

More scenes from the Icepocalypse

2010-11-24T20:08:00.000-09:00

A Hard Ice Is A-Gonna Fall

2010-11-24T19:56:00.002-09:00

We weathered the storm that people are calling Icepocalypse.

Unseasonably high temperatures and the heaviest November rainfall in the recorded history of Interior Alaska downed over a dozen trees in our yard -- two of which landed on our shed -- and led to a power outage that lasted over 12 hours. The public schools experienced their first full day closures in over 30 years and the Governor called off work for all State employees in Interior Alaska.

We have a wood stove that kept our house warm during the power outage. By candle light, I read Keri nearly all of Basil Moore's Lincoln ... "Oh howdy Master Jesus. How's your Pa?" We wandered around the woods listening to tree limbs and tree trunks snap from the weight of the ice build-up.

This evening, all is well. The News-Miner reports that temperatures are going to nosedive and we'll be back to more seasonable weather (i.e. 20 degrees below zero) by Monday:

The slush and running water won't be around for long as the National Weather Service says we can expect another dramatic change from Wednesday night through Friday, with low temperatures of 20 below by Monday.

Read More: Breakup in November to be followed by 60 degree drop

Freezing Rain

2010-11-22T16:07:00.001-09:00

Read all about it:

Ice storm brings Interior Alaska to a standstill; schools closed

FAIRBANKS - Authorities advised people to avoid unnecessary driving as freezing rain turned the roads of Fairbanks into a giant ice rink Monday morning.

Fairbanks police have called in extra officers to deal with the high volume of traffic accidents, which have involved cars, buses, semis and even a garbage truck.

“It’s terrible,” Fairbanks Police Department Deputy Chief Brad Johnson said. “If people can stay in, they should.”

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Ice storm brings Interior Alaska to a standstill schools closed

Ice storm unprecedented in Interior Alaska, meteorologists say

FAIRBANKS - Meteorologists described Monday’s widespread rainfall as an “epoch winter rain event” and it’s not over yet.

Two-tenths of an inch of rain had fallen at Fairbanks International Airport by noon Monday and forecasters at the National Weather Service said more than an inch of rain could fall by the time it stops, which is expected to be sometime Wednesday.

“We haven’t ever seen anything like this in the Interior,” hydrologist Ed Plumb at the National Weather Service in Fairbanks said Monday as the rain continued to fall.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Ice storm unprecedented in Interior Alaska meteorologists say

And then there's this ...

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
in effect until Wednesday, Nov 24, 12:15 PM

...UNUSUAL WINTERTIME RAINFALL TO PERSIST THROUGH WEDNESDAY...
AN EXTREMELY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS MOVING AROUND A LARGE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE NORTH PACIFIC WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN TO INTERIOR ALASKA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS EXCEEDING ONE INCH ARE POSSIBLE IN FAIRBANKS AND THE REMAINDER OF THE CENTRAL INTERIOR THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT COMPACTING AND MELTING OF THE LOCAL SNOWPACK OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT RUNOFF FROM RAIN AND MELTING SNOW WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS AND OTHER POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND LOW SPOTS. SIGNIFICANT OVERFLOW IS ALSO EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ON LAKES AND RIVERS...AND SOME SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS MAY EXPERIENCE ELEVATED WATER LEVELS.
COOLER AIR WILL SLOWLY FILTER IN TO THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE BACK TO SNOW.

THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT FOR INTERIOR ALASKA. RAIN DURING THE WINTER IN FAIRBANKS IS UNUSUAL...BUT WHEN IT DOES OCCUR AMOUNTS ARE TYPICALLY VERY LIGHT. HOWEVER...RAIN AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF A QUARTER INCH OF RAIN...EVEN OVER SEVERAL DAYS...ANYTIME BETWEEN MID-NOVEMBER AND EARLY APRIL ARE EXTREMELY RARE.

THE LAST TIME FAIRBANKS HAD THAT MUCH RAIN DURING THE WINTER WAS IN FEBRUARY 2003...WHEN 0.29 INCHES OF RAIN FELL BETWEEN THE 8TH AND 10TH. THE ONLY OCCURRENCE DURING THE SECOND HALF OF NOVEMBER OF SO MUCH RAIN WAS ON NOVEMBER 24 1936...WHEN 0.42 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. THE GREATEST WINTER RAINFALL OF RECORD IN FAIRBANKS OCCURRED ON JANUARY 20 1937...WHEN AN AMAZING 0.99 INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON TOP OF THE 25 INCHES OF SNOW THAT HAD FALLEN ON THE TWO PREVIOUS DAYS. IT IS LIKELY THAT OVER AN INCH OF RAIN WILL FALL IN FAIRBANKS BEFORE THE RAIN CHANGES BACK TO SNOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

Fresh Eggs Fresh Muffins

2010-11-22T15:44:00.000-09:00

Our neighbors have been raising chickens since last spring. I went over to their coop this morning to grab a few eggs (photo) so that we could make some Cardamom Spiced Apple Muffins. The recipe is courtesy of Clabber Girl's Email Newsletter, which we signed up for when visiting their Terre Haute (IN) store/museum last spring. Good stuff for a cozy stay-at-home day.

After finishing Just Kids the other night, I am in a NYC mood. Since we can't travel to the Big Apple today, I'll have to settle for a soundtrack of early Dylan, Leonard Cohen (for "Chelsea Hotel", which provides a colorful setting for some of the book), Velvet Underground and, of course, Patti Smith herself.

This evening's double feature: Taxi Driver and Network. Or maybe Network then Taxi Driver.

Andrew Warhola in Anchorage

2010-11-19T22:47:00.001-09:00

I was in Anchorage for a few days this week. After the first day of the conference, I slipped away and went to the Anchorage Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol Exhibit. As I mentioned the other day, I am reading Just Kids by Patti Smith ... Warhol figures prominently in that book about the 70's NYC art and music scene; therefore, it was very timely to see the exhibit. In addition to the paintings, prints, and photos, some of Warhol's movies were being looped at the exhibit, too.

I was in Alaska's biggest city to participate in the Resource Development Council's annual conference (see the agenda here), so I was especially moved by Warhol's quote (pictured above): "Being good at business is the most fascinating kind of art." It brought the two worlds together for me. Thanks, Mr. Warhola.

While in Anchorage, I stayed in the wonderful Hotel Captain Cook. Though the elevator told me I was sleeping on the 14th floor, I was not fooled. I also had a great time at a little tavern called Phyllis's -- where I enjoyed crab cakes and clam chowder -- and visited my favorite outdoor statue, which is lit up all night long. All pictured below:

Lila, Lucy, Brian, Elton, and Leon

2010-11-13T21:13:00.004-09:00

Tonight, we are listening to Brian Wilson's Reimagines Gershwin and Elton John & Leon Russel's The Union. These current albums are great listenin' and sound best when turned up to 11. Love 'em ... These old guys make me feel young again. Long live rock.

"Hope springs eternal when flags and bullets start to fly."

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I have been reading Just Kids by Patti Smith.

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As soon as Elton and Leon are done serenading us (and this album is too damn good to stop before it's over), we're going to watch The Hangover. Haven't seen it yet. If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by.

CA$H for XMA$

2010-11-11T23:02:00.000-09:00

It's not even Thanksgiving and my nephew (age 11) is already thinking about Christmas. He distributed this message yesterday:

Family,

    I think I'm gettin too old to ask Santy Clause for Christmas presents. So the best present for this year would be ca$h. I've got permission from my dad this year to buy an iPod touch. So, in order to buy this awesome $224 item, I need as much money as possible.
    I'm not saying I don't want any actual presents. Last year I wanted a Nintendo DSi and I ended up with an electric guitar (thanks Granma Julie and Grandpa Jim). I'm saying cash would be good. But so would anything else.
                                                Thanks,

Victore Day

2010-11-11T21:59:00.001-09:00

On Tuesday evening, we went to the Blue Loon to hear James Victore talk about art. The graphic designer has a new book available, Victore or Who Died and Made You Boss? Irreverent book. Irreverent presentation.

The talk was hosted by Alaska Design Forum (thank you!), who is bringing Faythe Levine to AK in January.

Dudes at 40

2010-11-07T14:44:00.000-09:00

Last month, I met a few buddies -- Derek, Brian, and Johnny V -- in Las Vegas for Matador's Lost Weekend (i.e., Matador Records 21st birthday party). Three nights of shows at the Palms with an audience dominated by dudes who look like Derek.

The schedule looked like this:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st
Pavement: 12:00am - 1:00am
Sonic Youth: 10:40pm - 11:30pm
Fucked Up: 9:35pm - 10:15pm
Chavez: 8:30pm - 9:10pm
Guitar Wolf: 7:30pm - 8:10pm
Doors: 7:00pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2nd
Belle & Sebastian: 11:45pm - 1:00am
Spoon: 10:25pm - 11:15pm
Superchunk: 9:20pm - 10:00pm
Cat Power: 8:15pm - 8:55pm
Perfume Genus: 7:55pm - 8:15pm
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: 6:50pm - 7:30pm
Come: 5:45pm - 6:25pm
Girls: 4:40pm - 5:20pm
Doors 4:00pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3rd
Guided By Voices: 11:30pm - 1:00am
Yo La Tengo: 10:10pm - 11:05pm
Liz Phair: 9:50pm - 10:10pm
The New Pornographers: 8:40pm - 9:25pm
Ted Leo: 7:35pm - 8:15pm
Shearwater: 6:30pm - 7:10pm
Doors: 6:00pm

Here's a video of Matador at 21 in 10 Minutes:

That's about all I can say about it 'cause, you know, what happens in Vegas ...

Sunday Snowy Sunday

2010-11-07T14:18:00.000-09:00

Watching the grass grow ...

2010-09-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

I distributed grass seed and fertilizer on our yard exactly three weeks ago today. We saw our first sprouts on Friday -- nine days ago -- and these photos were taken this afternoon. So far, so good. With a little luck, the lawn will have plenty of time to establish itself before the first snow ... which can happen any time between mid-September and mid-October.

Moose on the Loose

2010-09-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

I just downloaded some pictures I took when Mom brought Jonas and Brooke last month. Moose season opened on September 1 and I hope this big boy has found a good hiding place.

Searching for the Sunset, Jesus

2010-09-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was over at my friends' house at sundown (photo above). I took this photo with my little ol' iPhone and I don't PhotoShop. The whole sky was pink.

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Last Sunday, I was invited to spin some tunes on the very last Eat At Joe's radio show. Joe, the host, has been spinning roots, folk, country, and bluegrass tunes on KSUA 91.5FM for two hours every Sunday morning since 1999 (555 consecutive weeks). For several years, I was a frequent co-host; for several other years, I was an infrequent co-host.

The demise of Eat At Joe's is to our local music scene what the loss of No Depression magazine was to the entire Americana music community a few years ago (i.e., bad news).

In addition to Joe and me, there were a handful of other periodic co-hosts who joined us in the studio. Given the opportunity to play a single five-song block of tunes on this special occasion, I chose the following:

Time to Switch to Whiskey by Corb Lund Band
The Whiskey is Gone by Scroat Belly
She Took A Lot of Pills (and Died) by Robbie Fulks
Honky Tonk Heroes by Shaver
We Ain't Never Gonna Change by Drive-By Truckers

Since Joe played tunes by Jim White, the Handsome Family, and Sixteen Horsepower, I was reminded of one of my favorite music documentaries of all-time, Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus:

Spice Rack and Sailboat

2010-08-29T23:11:00.000-08:00

I have a new project. It's a blog called Spice Rack and Sailboat. See here.

Beware of the Dog

2010-08-27T22:16:00.005-08:00

Interior Alaska's summer is winding down already and -- as always -- it went fast. A couple of weeks ago, we experienced a record high temperature of 91 degrees, but this morning thermometers at lower elevations dipped below freezing. It seems like just yesterday, we enjoyed daylight all night, yet as I type now it's beginning to get dark at 9:30pm.

We've been doing a lot of home improvement projects for the past several weeks that have drained a lot of our energy and depleted our savings account, including the installation of a new water tank.

Because much of our ground in Interior Alaska is permanently frozen and water pipes can't be placed in solid ice, there are no city water pipes outside of downtown Fairbanks. Up here where we live, we have our water delivered to a buried (and well insulated) 1500 gallon water tank. Our H2O costs 9 cents/gallon, so we take short showers.

You can see from the photos above that we also had to plant grass seed. After waiting 11 days, we saw our first sprouts today. I am going to sit around this weekend on my (brand new) front deck and watch the grass grow!

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Mom brought Jonas and Brooke to visit us a few weeks ago and we couldn't have had a better time. We went panning for gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine, hiking in Denali National Park, and much more.

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I can't think of too many new albums that I have purchased lately: Arcade Fire, Black Keys, The Sadies. I also picked up a few DVDs: Nirvana, Live at Reading; Springsteen, London Calling; and, most impressive, T.A.M.I Show (click here to see the preview!) featuring the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, Rolling Stones, Chuck MF Berry (see below!!!), and more:

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Keri is still out at the golf course with her girlfriends. I am listening to Hound Dog Taylor's Beware of the Dog.

Goldpanners and the Ultimate Fantastic Elsewhere

2010-06-27T23:41:00.003-08:00

Keri and I are proud season ticket holders for the Alaska Goldpanners baseball games this summer. On Tuesday, June 21, we attended the 105th Midnight Sun Baseball Game here in Fairbanks, which is one of ESPN's "baseball must-sees of summer":

Fairbanks, Alaska. Celebrate the summer solstice by staying up late to watch the Alaska Goldpanners ... First pitch is slated for 10:30 p.m. and the game, which has ended as late as 2 a.m., is played entirely under the sun. Wrigley Field caved and installed lights back in 1988, but artificial illumination remains blissfully unnecessary during baseball season in Fairbanks. Only in Alaska.

This year, the game started at 10:30pm (as always) and was played without any artificial lighting (as always) ... but lasted for FIFTEEN INNINGS (first time ever). The game ended at 2:59pm, exactly one minute after the sun started to rise in the eastern sky on the longest day of the year.

You can see the final 1/2 inning here (and keep in mind that it's nearly 3am):

We attended a game this evening, too, and watched the Goldpanners shut out the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, 2 - 0.

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When we were in Illinois last month, I went to Parasol Records in Champaign to look around. I picked up a few records and purchased my first copy of the 33 1/3 series, Dusty In Memphis, by Warren Zanes.

Dusty In Memphis (2003) was the first book published in the series that now totals sixty, with each book being about a single album, each written by a different author (including John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats writing about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality). Of those sixty books about sixty albums, I have forty of the albums on my shelves ... and I am tempted to read each and every one of the books, especially if they are half as good as the Zanes book about Dusty.

Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the book, which explains in a few sentences why someone from England (i.e., Dusty) might be drawn to record an album in Memphis back in 1969:

The South was, like the American West, a fantastic elsewhere. But because it was also the place of incubation for the most crucial American music, the South was, for many who were drawn to its sounds, the ultimate fantastic elsewhere. The place had the best soundtrack.

Have you read any of the 33 1/3 books? What do you recommend?

Sights and Sounds

2010-06-12T22:14:00.009-08:00

Like I have mentioned on here before, Siskel & Ebert was my introduction to film criticism back when I was a kid (and probably yours, too, if you're over 30). Several weeks ago, I said after reading Ebert's beautiful review of Broken Embraces, it was at the top of my list of movies to watch. I finally saw it last night. That Ebert ain't no dummy.

On his blog, I also read Ebert say:

Fifty years ago, the Palme d'Or winner at Cannes was Fellini's La Dolce Vita. More every year I realize that it was the film of my lifetime.

Say what!?! The film of his lifetime?! That comment cannot -- should not -- be taken lightly. Dude's seen a lot of movies. La Dolce Vita is locked and loaded in my DVD player at this moment. Keri and I are going to watch it tonight.

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I will say it again, each and every post on Roger Ebert's blog is wonderful (Don't believe me? See Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!).

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While grilling (and then eating) Copper River salmon and shishkabobs this evening, and sampling a few different Malbecs, we listened to new releases by Broken Bells, MGMT, and The National. Also in heavy rotation lately are the new albums by the Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and The Sadies -- and an old one by Guided By Voices, Half Smiles of the Decomposed.

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And, now, for your feature presentation ... La Dolce Vita ...

Rainy Day with Spector, Ike and Tina

2010-06-05T15:35:00.002-08:00

This morning, while cooking eggs and making Rex coffee in the French press, I dug out a couple of records to keep me company. Ray Charles' Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music was over before the skillet was hot and I dropped Phil Spector's Greatest Hits on the turntable. And played it over and over and over. Still listenin' to it.

John Lennon once said, "Phil Spector is the greatest record producer ever" and George Harrison, commenting on the Ike & Tina classic that Spector produced, opined that, "River Deep Mountain High is a perfect record from beginning to end." Hard to argue with those two guys.

Spector made Ike & Tina sound great on a piece of vinyl. In concert, however, they did it on their own:

Ike & Tina also made an appearance in my life on Thursday night when Keri and I were watching the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter. Ike & Tina opened for the Stones at Madison Square Garden during the filming of that documentary and there is an extended clip of their performance of "I've Been Loving You Too Long." Tina sizzles and, despite the footage of a murder during the Stones' performance at Altamont, her performance may be the most memorable moment in the movie.

This performance isn't from Gimme Shelter, but it's just as hot (maybe even a tad nastier):

With music like this to light up the house, I hope the sun don't ever shine.

There Will Be Blue Meanies, Blood, and Oil

2010-05-29T23:46:00.005-08:00

Today, I ran across a reference to the Troma Entertainment film, The Toxic Avenger, and it sparked an old memory.

About 12 or 13 years ago, when I was managing the Blue Meanies, the band recorded the title song for a Troma film called, Sucker: The Vampire. The band wrote and recorded the song in their own basement studio in a very short amount of time and the song was called, simply, "Sucker." (The song is available on the band's Pigs LP at iTunes.)

Sucker: The Vampire is hard to find but worth it if, you know, you're in the right mood. Don't believe me? Try this plot summary from the Internet Movie Datebase:

Working as henchman to the lead singer of the vampire rock group "Plasma", Reed Buccholz's job has definite high points, like finding sexy girls to bring home for Anthony and being able to photograph and have sex with their blood-drained bodies prior to disposing of them in the morgue of the hospital where Reed holds a daytime job as a nurse. Vampire hunter Vanessa Helsing has dedicated her life to destroying vampires, in particular Anthony, the vampire who killed her famous father. So far, she has managed to destroy Seth and Tobin, the band's lead guitarist and drummer, but she hasn't gotten to Anthony yet.

One day, Vanessa runs into Reed at the hospital. Recognizing him as Anthony's manager, she follows him to Anthony's house. Fortunately for Anthony, he hears Vanessa sneaking around and lays a trap for her. With her dying breath, Vanessa instructs Anthony to look in her backpack where he finds a bottle of AZT pills, a medication used to fight the AIDS virus. Worried that he might have contracted AIDS from Vanessa's blood, Anthony asks Reed to get him a blood test. It comes back positive...a real blow for Anthony, who sinks into a grand depression. He feels even worse when Lenore, his maker, explains how he will slowly waste away until someone finds his bald, shriveled body and pronounces him dead (no heartbeat), and he is buried alive to live the rest of his life in the dark with the worms gnawing on him.

See the trailer here. C'mon. Vampires. HIV/AIDS. Troma. Think of the possibilities.

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Speaking of the Blue Meanies, and on a much more serious note, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has me thinking about their song, "Pave the World" all over again (... pave the seas / everyone on your knees). The song may be more relevant than ever.

Whole Wide World

2010-05-28T00:26:00.001-08:00

(LAWRENCE, KS / Saturday, May 22) The last full day of our vacation was spent in Lawrence with Keri's sister, Kim. The girls went shopping and I went to Festy Fest to see Truckstop Honeymoon.

Earlier that afternoon I had heard through that grapevine called Facebook that our Alaska friend who now lives in Austin, Beth, was also at Festy Fest to perform with her band, The Carper Family. Very nice, and completely unexpected, to see her in Kansas.

Speaking of Beth, just about exactly four years ago she and another friend, Jessica, drove from Austin up to Danville (IL) to sing some songs at our wedding reception. Beth and Jessica performed a few of our romantic favorites, like "Hungover Together" by the Supersuckers.

And speaking of our wedding reception, the headliners of that joyous evening -- Kelly Hogan and Nora O'Connor (who surprised Keri by performing our song, "Don't Blame Me," by the Flat Duo Jets) -- just performed with Jakob Dylan on the Craig Ferguson Show last week. Check 'em out:

Honkytonk Heroes

2010-05-28T00:00:00.002-08:00

(KANSAS CITY, MO / Friday, May 21)

Knucklehead's runs an efficient concert and by the time we arrived at 8:20pm, Dallas Wayne had already finished his set. Too bad, as I am a big fan, especially of "Rock Bottom, Pop. 1" and "If That's Country" (both of which he co-wrote with Robbie Fulks).

Still, with the remaining talent that was going to grace the stage, the concert was almost too good to be true. No filler, all honky tonk thriller! Everyone delivered the goods, but I thought that Billy Joe Shaver stole the show. The last time I saw him, he had recently survived heart surgery and was under doctor's instructions to stay seated during his set (which he could barely do). On this night, he energetically sang his classics including one of my very faves, a beautiful ballad called "When the Fallen Angels Fly" ... he flapped his arms throughout most of the song ... followed by "Live Forever." Goosebumps. Tears. Beer.

And Ray Price can still sing better than damn near anyone ... And Dale Watson signed my poster, too ...

Since we missed Dallas Wayne at Knucklehead's, I'll post him here:

Show Me!

2010-05-27T23:28:00.001-08:00

(JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI / Friday, May 21) After our late night in Charleston, we headed cross country with stops at the Missouri state capitol in Jefferson City and a concert in Kansas City before ending the night at Kim's in Lawrence, KS.

Along the way, we departed from I-70 to venture down to the capital of the Show Me State, Jefferson City. Keri had done some research and wanted to see their capitol building, especially the dome ... and it was impressive. We arrived just before 5pm and were told we had only a few minutes to run upstairs to peek through a window if we wanted to see the Senate chambers. The legislature had adjourned the week prior, so there was no action in the building.

As we were stepping off the elevator on our way to the Senate chambers, we ran into a small group that was being led on a tour of the building by Missouri State Representative Mike McGhee. The legislator graciously invited Keri and me to join him and the group of his constituents as they headed upstairs -- narrow, winding stairs -- for a behind-the-scenes tour of the capitol's DOME! We went all the way to the top, baby.

We were so thrilled with this once-in-a-lifetime experience that we barely minded that the dome tour would most likely make us late to the 8pm concert in Kansas City, which was still a 2.5 hour drive away.

Big, big thanks to Rep Mike McGhee.

Chuck Vegas

2010-05-27T23:03:00.000-08:00

(CHARLESTON, IL / Thursday, May 20) Just like old times.

Rock and Roll in the Hoosier State Capital

2010-05-27T22:52:00.005-08:00

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN / Friday, May 14) Keri and I rode over to Indy with my sister Ellen and her boyfriend, Chris. We went to see our many good pals and a few of our favorite bands.

The evening kicked off on the deck above Brian's condo on a beautiful evening (photo with Ellen and Keri) with a feast from Santorini Greek Kitchen and some of our very best friends. From there, the whole gang proceeded to The Vogue, where we saw Split Lip Rayfield, Cracker, and the Reverend Horton Heat. It was all good 'till we lost Keri in the mosh pit during The Rev's "Big Little Baby" (the video below is not from the concert we saw but, hey, The Rev is The Rev ...)

Keri and I stayed that night with Derek and enjoyed his Southern grits & shrimp and bread pudding with bourbon sauce in the morning ... along with the good company of Brett, Brian, Joel, Amy, and Johnnie V.

Yep, Terre Haute

2010-05-27T22:22:00.003-08:00

(TERRE HAUTE, IN / Thursday, May 14) Dad and I drove the 15 miles from Marshall over to the Hoosier State for a little adventure. I was never a big fan of Terre Haute, but have started to better appreciate the city where I was born, in no small part due to the history of the place:

The Swope Art Museum. The photo that I took above is of a late '60s painting; however, there is an equally impressive collection of paintings and sculpture from 19th and early 20th century artists. Among the many featured Hoosier artists was Gilbert Wilson, whose "visionary murals adorn several public buildings in Terre Haute. Trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and imbued with the spirit of his hero Diego Rivera, he returned to his hometown to paint, because of his passionate belief that 'great art ... must have its origins in a locality.'" Very memorable experience with good ol' Dad, who fancies beautiful art as much or more than I.

Home of Eugene Debs. When I was but a small child, Dad was a resident hall director at Indiana State University. We spent a couple of years living there in Hendricks Hall, which still towers over the monument to Socialist, union organizer, presidential candidate, and Terre Haute native, Eugene Debs. Strangely, the student housing next to Hendricks was named Fairbanks Hall. Like Fairbanks, Alaska, the resident hall at ISU was named after Charles Fairbanks, a Senator from Indiana and the 26th Vice President of the United States, serving under Teddy Roosevelt. My playground as a toddler was, literally, smack dab between landmarks celebrating America's most prominent Socialist and a Republican Vice President who inspired the name of my current hometown, which is located several thousand miles from Terre Haute. Weird, eh?

Clabber Girl Museum and Rex Roasting Company. In another strange twist of fate, my soon-to-be brother-in-law (June 18), Chris Weber, is the Roast Master at Clabber Girl's Rex Roasting Company. Chris recently moved from Lawrence, KS -- where, during his stint as the roaster for PT’s Coffee, they were recognized as the “2008 Roasting Company of the Year” by the Specialty Coffee Association of America -- and my sister-in-law, Kim, will be joining him to live in TH in a couple weeks. Chris is, indeed, a coffee expert, and he gave Dad and me a roasting demonstration (photo).

Keri and I brought a couple of bags of his Rex Coffee back to Fairbanks, the original blend and Sumatra. Mmmm.

Coming Soon ...

2010-05-25T23:30:00.003-08:00

Keri and I enjoyed an event-filled two more weeks in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kansas since my last post on May 12 ... including a return visit to Moonshine where, this time, I took pictures of my perfect double cheeseburger (above), the cook and fellow patrons (below).

More details and photos from the trip coming soon.

Now, we are back in Alaska. The sun will set in just a few minutes at 11:48pm and will rise tomorrow morning at 3:47am. 64 degrees right now.

Burgers in Moonshine

2010-05-12T14:36:00.004-08:00

(MOONSHINE, IL) Mom and Aunt Sue took me to experience Moonshine today. Burgers, not booze. Located in the middle of nowhere, even by Clark County standards, the Moonshine Store's hamburgers have been featured on CBS' Sunday Morning Show, the Travel Channel, the Food Network, and in the book, Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America (read the short chapter on moonburgers here.)

Today, there were at least 40 or 50 people on the premises when we arrived at 11:30am; some folks in the store and some sitting outside at the picnic tables. According to the store's own count, between 1992 and 2006, they served 414,342 sandwiches. According to my own count, that's about 83,000 burgers per year; therefore, since 2006, they have served over 250,000 more sandwiches.

Although Mom and Aunt Sue had enjoyed moonburgers before, none of those 650,000 burgers served between 1992 and 2010 were ever served to me until today.

After being served a single plate that held all three burgers, Mom took the last tomato from the condiment bar. The next fella in line politely requested more tomatoes, but the matron snapped back, "Gotta get here early to get 'maters." And that was that. No more 'maters.

The burgers -- which you can see being cooked in the video below -- are the best burgers that I have eaten since the good ol' days at Friends & Co. in Charleston, IL (and, heavens knows, I ate a LOT of those!).

Just goes to show that real treasures are often located right in our own backyards.

Road Trip

2010-05-10T10:20:00.008-08:00

(MARSHALL, IL) After spending most of the previous four months in Juneau, where there are no roads in or out of town, Keri and I were looking forward to a long drive across the Midwest. On Friday, we departed Lawrence, Kansas, bound for my hometown of Marshall, Illinois. It takes just six hours to cover that distance but with our frequent side trips and an overnight stay it took us almost exactly 24 hours.

After a hearty breakfast at the Mirth Cafe, we drove the half hour from Lawrence, Kansas, to Kansas City, Missouri, intending to make a short detour to the Negro League Baseball Museum. We ended up spending about four hours there and at the American Jazz Museum ... and we could have stayed a lot longer. Top notch facility with top notch presentation of the baseball and jazz narratives. Very highly recommended.

Of course, we could not be that close to Arthur Bryant's without making a return visit, so we loaded up on more barbecue before hopping on I-70 for the journey east.

Along the way to Marshall, we stopped at (1) the Iron Horse Hotel and Restaurant in Blackwater, Missouri; (2) NostalgiaVille in Kingdom City, Missouri (photo above); and the Old State Capitol in Vandalia, Illinois (photo below), where we also spent the night, toured the capitol where Abe Lincoln served in the state legislature, bought some old vinyl records for Dad (original broadcast of War of the Worlds, Dusty in Memphis, and a Jean Shepherd album) and I got trimmed up at the main street barbershop.

The highlight of the road trip, though, was spending about 90 minutes at a roadside restaurant just south of St. Louis talking to old buddy, roommate, and SpankWagon bass player, Ben "Bubba" Jarrett. He and I lived together when I met Keri back in 1992. I dumped him for her and, even though we remain good friends, I had not seen Ben for at least 11 or 12 years. He seems better than ever, as you can tell from this picture.

Rock N Roll and KC BBQ

2010-05-06T21:51:00.018-08:00

(LAWRENCE, KS) A long time ago, Kirk Rundstrom recommended three different two-person acts that would do well in Alaska: (1) Truckstop Honeymoon, (2) The Believers, and (3) Jeff and Vida.

(By the way, if you, like me, are a Rundstrom fan, then you should read this article.)

I brought Truckstop Honeymoon to Fairbanks in February, 2004, for two gigs at The Pub and one at the Tanana Valley Campus (in the middle of the day in the middle of the student lounge ... yikes). Brent Sass took Mike and Katie for a sled dog ride on that trip and we also went to Chena Hot Springs. I had not seen them since 2004 and today Keri and I had the chance to catch up with Katie and kids at their Lawrence home. Katie fixed us British tea and then we took the kids for a walk to the riverfront park.

Folks in bands always offer great travel and music tips. Truckstop Honeymoon recently toured in the Southern Hemisphere and Katie very highly recommended visiting

New Zealand

, especially the south island. Her description makes it sound heavenly. She also mentioned two bands to check out: Two Man Gentlemen Band and C.W. Stoneking.

I also picked up a copy of the recently released movie about Truckstop Honeymoon, Won't Let the Angels Take You Away:

After our wonderful visit with Katie and Co., we zipped over to Kansas City to meet our old friend, Brandon Phillips, at Arthur Bryant's for some legendary KC BBQ.

Brandon was in a band that I brought to AK a couple of times, The Gadjits, and now performs in The Architects. Smart dude who knows as much about politics as music. While we slobbered over our pork sandwiches, he turned me on to the FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right website and told me about canvassing for Barack Obama in some rough KC neighborhoods during the 2008 campaign.

To cap off an already fantastic day, we headed across Kansas City to see a 7pm performance by Alligator Records' The Holmes Brothers at one of the coolest venues I have seen north of Austin, Texas, Knucklehead's Saloon.
The band opened with "Amazing Grace," closed with "May God be with You" and, in between, rocked in the way only three brothers who have performed together professionally for over 30 years can rock.

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By the way, in the photo above, that is Buck O'Neil painted on the side of the building to the left of Brandon's head. Buck was a Negro League batting champion, first black manager in the Major Leagues, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He also figures prominently in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed documentary, Baseball. O'Neil's autobiography, I Was Right on Time, is now on my reading list.

Barn Again, Baby

2010-05-06T20:55:00.001-08:00

(LAWRENCE, KS) Keri's sister, Kim, is a historic preservation specialist at the Kansas State Historical Society. She's leaving the Sunflower State soon and, much to her chagrin, will depart shortly before the National Barn Alliance's annual conference here in Kansas. The NBA "provides national leadership for the preservation of America's historic barns and their rural heritage."

Kim took the barn photos here and gave me an "I Brake for Barns" bumper sticker.

Kim also told me that Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, one of my very favorite books, was recently doing research in their state archives and library for his next book on, you guessed it, JOHN BROWN. That guy (Brown not Horwitz) is everywhere here in Kansas!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2010-05-06T20:34:00.002-08:00

(LAWRENCE, KS) Keri's sister, Kim, took us to a nifty little restaurant, La Parrilla, last night for dinner. We celebrated Cinco de Mayo -- not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day -- by stuffing ourselves with:

Barbacoa de Chivo: Mexican style BBQ goat tacos on corn tortillas with cilantro, onions, salsa roja, rice & beans ($7.95)
Taco Carnitas: Braised Pork Tacos with Pico de Gallo ($7.50)
Pitchers of margaritas ($12.00)

I also learned that they don't really celebrate this "holiday" in Mexico.

John Brown was an Angry Man

2010-05-06T20:14:00.004-08:00

(LAWRENCE, KS) In the waning days of the Kansas legislative session, we sat in the gallery and watched the Senate debate their budget bill. Tough economic times here in Kansas, with the Senate passing a $314 million sales tax increase to balance the budget, requiring the average family to pay an additional $266 per year.

Coming from a state with no statewide sales tax or income tax -- and the distribution of the annual permanent fund dividend to every Alaska resident (approx. $1,000/each) -- it's difficult to contemplate asking residents to actually help finance the government. In fact, one Alaska State Representative was lampooned last month after making this (very logical) remark:

"Personally, I think the worst thing we ever did was abolishing the state income tax," he told reporters. "I think if we'd been taking money out of the back pockets of people all along, we would have been able to have a little bit better interaction with the public as to what it costs to do government." (read more here)

In the capitol, we saw the famous, big ol' John Brown mural on the second floor of the building:

When we got back to Lawrence, I stopped into a used record store and picked up the Grizzly album from the "Local Bands" section. I have the album back in Fairbanks (and it is one of my favorites of all time) but it was well worth the $5 purchase so that I could hear Kirk Rundstrom sing "John Brown" while actually here in the land of John Brown:

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Frontier in the Last Frontier

2010-05-04T20:18:00.002-08:00

(KANSAS CITY, MO) I took a peek at the Fairbanks News-Miner website after arriving here in our Kansas City hotel room tonight. An article caught my eye: Frontier Airlines starts Denver flights next week

This is good news, as we just flew from Fairbanks to Seattle to Denver on Alaska Airlines; then, from Denver to KC we flew on Frontier. And here's the good news: Frontier offers individual television screens mounted on the back of every chair ... with about 20 cable channels ... and they fire it up before take-off and keep it available until after landing.

For a person with a little bit of flight anxiety, the TV was a very welcome distraction (e.g., Glee, The Office, NBA Playoffs, and a Hank Gathers documentary on ESPN) from my usual irrational thoughts (e.g., the plane crash scene of Cast Away, during which I had to leave the theater) -- and reason enough for me to choose Frontier from now on when leaving Alaska during the summer.

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Tomorrow, we rendezvous with Keri's sister, Kim, in Topeka and tour the Kansas State Capitol, where I am looking forward to seeing the wild John Brown mural (photo below from the Capitol website).

Home Sweet Home

2010-05-02T22:01:00.001-08:00

(FAIRBANKS, AK) Keri and I love a road trip ... it's also good to be home again.

We departed for Juneau on January 9, worked the Legislative session, and just returned to our home this evening. Our renters kept our place in tip top shape and it looks great. We had completed some home improvement projects just before we left and we now have the opportunity to enjoy them ... well, at least for 36 hours.

On Tuesday morning, we'll be flying back to the Midwest. We'll spend a few days in Kansas with Keri's sister before driving in a rental car to the homes where we were raised back in East Central Illinois. We look forward to spending time with family and friends, enjoying rock-n-roll and baseball, and reconnecting, in some small way, with a few of the area's favorite sons: Abraham Lincoln and Eugene Debs , James Jones and Ernie Pyle.

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On the 13-hour drive from the ferry terminal in Haines to Fairbanks, we listened to a lot of tunes. For the first day, we listened to shuffle on the iPod because the cds were mistakenly buried in a suitcase on the bottom of the pile in the back seat of the car -- it was 5:30am when we packed and it was done in a frenzy. At the hotel that night, we corrected the mistake, unpacked the cds, and spent the second day on the road listening exclusively to selections from the Merge Records' Score! Box Set. Good drivin' music.

Now that we are settled and cozy, we have George Harrison and Friends on the big screen to welcome us back.

Did I mention that it's good to be home?

M/V Fairweather

2010-04-30T21:30:00.006-08:00

(DESTRUCTION BAY, YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA) We popped up at 5:30am this morning to finish packing and cleaning the apartment before rushing to board the ferry, M/V Fairweather, at 7am. We departed right on time and saw humpbacks, porpoises, sea lions and hundreds of puffins on the two-hour ride to Haines.

We didn't fool around in Haines, just long enough to grab a cup of coffee, and then set out for Canada. After a two hour delay at the border, we zipped through a sliver of British Columbia, unceremoniously entered the Yukon Territory, and now rest in Destruction Bay on the shores of beautiful Kluane Lake.

Tomorrow, we drive nine hours to Fairbanks. Our Home Sweet Home is still occupied by renters, so we (and the dogs) will crash with friends for a couple of nights until we depart for the Midwest on Tuesday (... the cats, in case you were wondering, are at a kennel back in Juneau).

We have a wireless signal and cable television here in Destruction Bay (pop. 59). Right now, we are watching Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show. Funny. Very, very funny with a honky-tonk-jukebox soundtrack (including an appearance by Dwight Yoakam in Bakersfield), behind-the-scenes nuggets about the experiences of touring comedians, and travelogue featuring many of the South's finest cities and attractions ... oops, now they are all the way up in Cleveland.

This is an old movie and maybe everybody but me has seen it already. Eh? Anyway, highly recommended.

Journeys

2010-04-27T18:10:00.004-08:00

(JUNEAU, AK) Keri and I visited with dear friend Laurent and his family yesterday evening. We originally met in Fairbanks about 8 years ago when we were both affiliated with the Yukon Quest. Photography is among Laurent's many talents and skills and I have two of his photobooks on my bookshelf at home: Climb Denali: A Reflective Journey and Yukon Quest: Photo Journey.

Laurent's newest book chronicles his expedition to Antarctica. He showed it to us last night. Beautiful. Stunning. Fascinating. See each of his three books here.

Laurent took the photo above earlier today from atop a mountain here on Douglas Island and emailed it to me this evening. (Thanks, L!)

Yesterday evening, Laurent and I talked about a mutual friend, Karl Bushby, whom we met in Fairbanks when Karl was walking around the world. Karl had started his walk in Chile and we got to know him a little bit (Laurent better than I) as Karl was preparing to walk, ski, and swim across the Bering Strait (i.e., from Alaska to Russia).

You really have to see this BBC footage of Karl's Bering Strait crossing to believe it (and then go to YouTube to see parts 2, 3, and 4):

Karl's website about his journey is worth checking out, too.

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Keri and I are off to see Ira Glass at Centennial Hall.

Apps, Crabs, and Baseball

2010-04-24T23:32:00.005-08:00

(JUNEAU, AK) I have hesitated to write about my favorite iPhone apps, as that seemed a little too ... predictable. Or, perhaps, too trendy. Whatever. With my recent discovery of the Hipstamatic camera app (photos above), I gotta squeal.

Camera-wise, I also love the ColorSplash:

And the CameraBag, which offers many features, including the Fish Eye:

Of course, I also have my favorite apps for music (Wolfgang's Vault), travel (Yelp), sports (MLB At Bat 2010), news (NYTimes), and more (TED). What about you? Any tips?

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Our friend, Tyson, pulled up 10 Dungeness crabs in his crab pots today. He gave us 5 of 'em and we promptly ate them this evening. We wanted to get to 'em while they were fresh. Yummy.

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I have had baseball on my mind and my friend, Mike Sica, gave me Summer of '49 to read. I started it last night and I think it's going to be a quick read. This summer, Keri and I are looking forward to attending some Goldpanners' games in Fairbanks, visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and we hope to attend a MLB game -- St. Louis or Chicago (Cubs not Sox) -- when we are visiting friends and family in Illinois next month.

I also picked up a Jackie Robinson biography, Great Time Coming, at the used book store today that I am eager to read. What are other great baseball books? Any favorites out there?

Adjournment Sine Die

2010-04-24T23:11:00.004-08:00

(JUNEAU, AK) The legislative session ended last Sunday, April 18 ... well, actually it was a little after 12:30am on Monday, April 19. The State's business wasn't quite done by the time we were supposed to adjourn on the 90th day, so we extended the session a little into the 91st day.

The final act of the legislative session is for the youngest member of the body to make a motion to adjourn sine die, which means:

Adjournment sine die (from the Latin "without day") means "without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing;" to adjourn an assembly sine die is to adjourn it for an indefinite period. A legislative body adjourns sine die when it adjourns without appointing a day on which to appear or assemble again.

The legislature will not meet again until January, 2011.

Our computers, files, and office contents are boxed up and en route back to Fairbanks. We, too, will be heading that direction in about a week.

My Favorite Folk

2010-04-24T22:48:00.004-08:00

(JUNEAU, AK) Easton arrived in Juneau just a few hours after Mom departed on April 7. He took a bus from the airport into town and I was sitting in a House Resources Committee hearing when I saw my favorite folk star waltzing through the first floor hallway of the Alaska State Capitol.

Tim was here to perform during the Alaska Folk Festival for the second consecutive year. Although Tim stayed at our house for five nights, we only laid eyes upon him when we were at his gigs.

The Legislative session was counting down the days to adjournment on April 18, so Keri and I were working long days, weekend included. We were at work each morning before Tim awoke and we were in bed long before he got in after his shows.

Keri and I went to see Tim perform at the Red Dog Saloon and The Alaskan (photos). As always, he rocked and he rolled.

Mommy Dearest

2010-04-24T22:11:00.002-08:00

(JUNEAU, AK) Mom visited for a week back around Easter and we had a great time. We hit most of our favorite beaches, toured the Capitol, ate at our favorite restaurants, and spent a lot of time just hanging out. Mom also rented a car and enjoyed her own excursions while Keri and I were at work, including a solo hike to the beautiful Mendenhall Glacier and an accidental trip to the Shrine of St. Therese (i.e., she was lost).

2010-03-21T22:15:00.000-08:00

Blue skies have been too far and few between this year in Juneau, so we decided to seize the day. We didn't see the historic health care debate or Cornell upset Wisconsin, but we did spend most of the day on a few different beaches. (Photos)

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If you hadn't noticed, I added a few new music blogs over there on the right hand column under Tunes. They're good ones and I've been looking for more. Let me know your favorites.

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I spent some time at the used book store on a rainy day last Saturday and picked up a few books:

Patsy: The Life and Times of Patsy Cline by Margaret Jones
Wanted Man: In Search of Bob Dylan edited by John Bauldie
The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia by Michael Gray
Bob Dylan: In His Own Words (Updated and Revised Edition) by Christian Williams

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We had a coupon for 20% off any CD at Fred Meyer's in our Sunday paper today. I couldn't find many promising options in their electronics department (the only place to buy music in this town ... besides Mal Wart). Something in my head told me to buy Carole King's Tapestry and it is, indeed, a gem.

Into the Wilders

2010-03-06T01:43:00.000-09:00

A couple of the dudes from The Wilders, Ike and Nate (guitar and bass), are in Juneau for three nights of shows at the Alaskan Bar. We saw 'em tonight. Lots of great local musicians played with 'em. We'll see 'em all tomorrow, too.

Here is a shot of The Wilders at one of their gigs somewhere back in The Lower 48:

Flaming Lips, White Stripes, and Northern Lights.

2010-03-04T00:57:00.007-09:00

Almost three years ago, my favorite band of all time, the Flaming Lips, released a live concert DVD called U.F.O.s at the Zoo. In the liner notes of that DVD, Wayne spoke about his experience with the northern lights while touring in Canada. I wrote about it way back then on another blog of mine.

Lo and behold, the White Stripes are soon releasing a limited edition box set called Under the Great White Northern Lights, which contains a DVD that documents their 2007 tour of Canada. I just ordered it this evening/morning:

Keri and I had purchased tickets to see the White Stripes in Anchorage in 2007, but received this message less than two weeks before the scheduled concert:

Anchorage Daily News

Published: September 12, 2007

Citing a drummer with mental health problems, The White Stripes has canceled its Sept. 24 rock concert at Sullivan Arena.

"Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time," stated a press release from the arena's management company, SMG Management.

The band's latest album, "Icky Thump," debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and is approaching 1 million in sales.

We missed the concert in Anchorage but look forward to receiving the DVD and will, no doubt, rock it.

Encore: Easton to Juneau

2010-02-28T22:48:00.009-09:00

Tim Easton will be returning to Juneau in April to perform at the Alaska Folk Festival. He'll also play a few gigs around town while he's here:

Thursday, April 8 at the Rendezvous
Saturday, April 10 at the Alaskan Bar

You can probably count on a Friday show, too. Stay tuned for that info.

Maybe he'll even return to the Capitol for an encore:

Also, Tim recently contributed to the very cool blog, Letters from the Road. His entry begins like this:

Dear Young Songwriter Who Wrote Me on MySpace or Facebook and asked for advice:

I have so much to tell you but I should probably distill it down to the basics. This is what I would tell any young artist or student who stands in front of me wondering what to do in this massive and confusing world of art and commerce.

Basically, I can explain it in three chunks:

1. Read and listen to everything that came before now. Films too.

2. Leave home. Travel.

3. Bring something new to the tradition of your craft.

Read the rest of his Letter from the Road here (very good!)

... and look for him coming to a joint near you in the very near future.

(P.S. I took the top photo of Tim at Chena Hot Springs a few years ago.)

UCB & Ebert

2010-02-20T23:03:00.006-09:00

Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company performed in Alaska last night. Anchorage. While we are located in the same state, Anchorage is over two hours away from Juneau ... by plane ... and you cannot drive there from here because there are no roads from Juneau to anywhere. So, I missed it.

I brought UCB Tour Co to Fairbanks several years ago and then saw them again in Nashville in Feb 2007. In Nashville, we were playing cards late at night and they were distributing funny name tags to all the players at the table. After the card game, I stuck my name tag in my wallet (photo).

Then, when Keri and I went to the UCB Theater in New York City in May 2007, my friends at UCB told me in advance to simply flash the name tag in my wallet when we reached the theater and we'd be granted entry ... and the VIP treatment. It was one of our most memorable nights of all-time. Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers (of Saturday Night Live fame) were among the cast members that night ... and we were given front and center seats for the show, all the canned PBR that we could drink, and UCB stocking caps. (Thanks, Eli!)

I carried that MFB name tag on the inside of my wallet for three years. It finally lost its last bit of adhesiveness just a couple of weeks ago.

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On a more serious note, I just read the great feature on Roger Ebert in Esquire.

If you read that article, too, or Ebert's blog, you know that his passion for movies is as strong as ever, despite his considerable health problems. His description of Almodovar's most recent film, "Broken Embraces," put it at the top of my must-see list:

Pedro Almodóvar loves the movies with lust and abandon and the skill of an experienced lover. "Broken Embraces" is a voluptuary of a film, drunk on primary colors, caressing Penélope Cruz, using the devices of a Hitchcock to distract us with surfaces while the sinister uncoils beneath. As it ravished me, I longed for a freeze-frame to allow me to savor a shot.

Reading about Ebert reminded me how much Dad and I loved watching Siskel & Ebert when I was a kid ... but we never saw this:

Finally, to tie everything together on this entry of EsterTrekker, you can read the best interview Ebert ever wrote for Esquire, "Saturday at Lee Fucking Marvin's."

20 Years of Merge and 200 blog posts

2010-02-14T12:23:00.006-09:00

A few weeks ago, Derek sent an email that enthusiastically endorsed the Score! 20 Years of Merge Records box set, so I promptly ordered it from mergerecords.com. It arrived on Thursday and according to a note in the package, I received #962 of a limited edition of 1,250. Score, indeed.

I have only worked with a handful of the Merge bands. Two memorable concerts include:

(1) Polvo in The Dungeon (Charleston, IL) in the early '90s. Ralph, our beloved soundman, was attempting to dial-in Polvo's levels. Ralph was wearing headphones and tweaking the dials when Polvo's lead guy requested a sound adjustment. Not yet ready for feedback from the band and without looking up, Ralph casually raised his middle finger in the direction of the stage.

(2) Paul Burch at the Malemute Saloon in Ester, Alaska, in 2004. On a Sunday afternoon, Paul headlined a hootenanny that I had put together, with four or five local bands opening the show -- and Brett, Brian, Joel, and Johnny V visiting from Indianapolis. Beer, free peanuts, and sawdust floors, too. I said to a friend right after the concert, "I'd pay $500 to see Paul Burch in the Malemute. And I just did."

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I started this blog in January, 2006. This is my 200th post.

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Here are a couple photos from our hike yesterday at Outer Point on Douglas Island:

Latin Rock in The Last Frontier?

2010-02-06T22:10:00.021-09:00

Back in the spring of 1999, I organized a fundraiser in Mattoon, Illinois, for a women's shelter that featured a great Latin roots rock band called The Blazers. Also on the bill that afternoon: bluegrass demons Split Lip Rayfield.

As great as the concert was -- outdoors under a circus tent next to a corn field -- the real highlight of the day was the party after the concert in Chuck Vegas. The Blazers from East LA and members of Split Lip Rayfield from Wichita, Kansas, fused their different styles together into a glorious -- I wish I could think of a better word -- jam. Jeff Eaton played the gas tank bass and Eric Mardis worked his banjo while Manny, Ruben, and Jesse strummed their Mexican guitars. Those of us who were watching this show in Kit and Graham's living room, well after midnight, knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime treat.

Nearly a decade and thousands of miles later, Dad and I went to Memphis to see our friends Kilborn Alley Blues Band perform at the Blues Music Awards. The day after the awards show, we ventured on down to Clarksdale, Missippi, to visit the Delta Blues Museum and other blues attractions. In the process, we happened onto the Ground Zero Blues Club which was hosting an all-day blues festival.

On the Ground Zero front porch, I recognized Jesse Cuevas (accordian) and Mike Molina (drums) -- formerly of The Blazers and current members of Los Fabulocos (photos from the band website). We visited for a few minutes about Manny and Ruben and Alaska, reminisced about their jam with Split Lip, and went our separate ways.

Fast forward a couple more years to yesterday: The phone rang in my office and the name "Mike Molina" was on the caller ID. I did not ask how he tracked me down -- it's simple with google. We had a short chat that ended with me offering to do my best to bring his current band, Los Fabulocos, to Alaska.

I am looking forward to a Los Fabulocos jam with with some of Alaska's bluegrass players ... maybe in Ester.

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The Yukon Quest started today in Fairbanks. We'll be rooting for our friend, Brent Sass.

I met Brent shortly after moving to Alaska. He hosted a radio show at the college radio station, KSUA, right before my show. We like a lot of the same music. At the time, he had no experience dog mushing; now, just a decade later, he is a serious contender in the 1,000 mile race from Fairbanks to White Horse, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Go Brent!

Jon Campbell Superstar

2010-02-02T22:27:00.001-09:00

I don't think about too many things that I have lost, but I do think about the cassette tape that my cousin Jon Campbell gave me for Christmas in 1991. If there is one thing that I have lost, that tape is the one thing that I wish I could have back.

I cannot remember all of the bands and certainly not all of the songs that were on that tape. I lost it a long time ago. However, here is my best recollection: X, Sex Pistols, Minutemen, The Clash, The Pixies, REM, Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, The Ramones, XTC, Talking Heads, Dead Kennedys, Thin White Rope, Camper Van Beethoven, Public Image Limited, The The, The Church, House of Freaks ... and more that I am always trying to remember.

I, and only I, can look back and see very clearly how that 90-minute cassette led me from one place to another place to another place to another to another to me today.

... Actually, it's not the tape, but Jon that I would have back, if I could.

Aunt Sue is hosting Tuaca shots tomorrow at 8:15pm (Mountain Time). Join us?

Happy Birthday, JC.

(February 3, 1967 - July 2, 1993).

Eagle Beach, Klosterman, and BJ

2010-01-31T19:18:00.009-09:00

We took the dogs out to Eagle Beach this evening (photos). We watched the sun set and the tide roll out.

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I finished reading Klosterman's Killing Yourself To Live a couple of weeks ago. Here is a passage from the beginning, when the author is trying to decide what music to take on his epic roadtrip:

I have 2,233 CDs ... I have more CDs that 99 percent of America, but fewer CDs than 40 percent of my friends; if an acquaintance has more CDs than me, I feel intimidated and emasculated. I think about my CDs a lot. I find it oddly reassuring to look at them when I'm intoxicated. Right now, my eyes are scanning their alphabetized titles, and I'm wondering how many will make the cut for my drive across America. This decision will dictate everything. Space will be limited, so I can only select those albums that will be undeniably essential.

I elect to bring 600.

I think about these things, too.

I brought 32 individual CDs to Juneau -- including two 2-disc compilations that were wedding gifts from Derek Cantrell and Kelly Hogan -- and 9 multi-disc box sets: City of Dreams: A Collection of New Orleans Music, Box of the Blues, The Devil's Music, Roots of R&B, What It Is: Funky Soul and Rare Grooves, Big Star: Keep An Eye on the Sky, The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!, Roy Orbison: The Soul of Rock And Roll, Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition, and The Beatles Stereo Box Set.

More than enough.

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On Friday evening, Keri and I were watching TV after a long week of work, trying to decide if we were going to be able to muster the energy to attend a political fundraiser later in the evening. Then, all of a sudden, old friend and high school classmate BJ Livingston exploded onto the screen:

And then on Saturday BJ (or Ben, as he is now called) posted this extended remix on Facebook:

Derek just went to visit BJ in NYC and had a chance to see him star in Our Town, one of the most highly acclaimed plays currently being performed in the Big Apple. Here is BJ's bio from the play's website:

BEN LIVINGSTON (Doc Gibbs). Broadway: Mamma Mia. Regional: Man From Nebraska (South Coast Rep.), Gross Indecency (Mark Taper), Measure for Measure (Ahmanson), Love’s Labours Lost (Old Globe), Dr. Faustus (Utah Shakes.), Henry VI (Oregon Shakes.). Film: Bruce Almighty, Unrest, Freeloaders. TV: “The Good Wife”, “CSI: Miami”, “Frasier”, “ER”, “Ally McBeal”, “Spin City”, “Freaks and Geeks”, “Star Trek Voyager”.

Not bad for a small town boy, eh?

My Honky Tonk Habit

2010-01-24T17:35:00.008-09:00

Last night, Keri and I sometimes felt like we were back at the Broken Spoke in Austin, Texas.

Local band Honky Tonk Habit performed plenty of their own songs and covered the likes of Shaver ("Georgia on a Fast Train"), Willie ("Whiskey River"), Johnny Cash ("Folsom Prison"), Robert Earl Keen ("The Road Goes on Forever"), The Wilders ("Honky Tonk Habit," of course), and many other Texas-inspired jukebox classics. I liked 'em enough that I put $30 in their tip jar (photo). In fact, the only thing missing at the Alaskan Bar last night was the The National Beer of Texas.

I can't think of honky tonk without thinking of the late great Don Walser, who we saw perform at the Broken Spoke back in March of 2001 when we were in Austin for South by Southwest. And then I can't help recalling that later that same evening we saw Shaver perform at the Continental Club, which was memorable because Billy Joe spoke about his son (and lead guitar player) Eddy, who had died on New Years Eve just a few months prior.

I had teared up a little watching Don Walser at the Broken Spoke because it was so damn awesome to see him there, but a few hours (and more than a few Lone Star Beers) later when Billy Joe started talking about Eddy at the Continental Club, I started to sob. I'll never forget some guy asking me, "Did you know him?" I didn't, but I was a big fan and feeling more than a little sentimental at the moment.

Less than two years before the show at the Continental Club, I had booked Shaver to play our going-away party in Charleston (IL) before Keri and I moved to Alaska. The show was scheduled for July 31, 1999, and Billy Joe's wife -- Eddy's mother -- passed away on July 30. Of course, Shaver did not play our party.

We were also going to have a BBQ at Graham's before the concert and I have always wished that I would have had the chance to hang out and eat chicken wings with both Billy Joe and Eddy -- and the opportunity to see them shred the stage in The Dungeon.

Split Lip Rayfield, who I had scheduled to open for Shaver, instead headlined our going-away party. After I had lived up here for a couple of years, I booked Split Lip a four-gig tour of Alaska (Fairbanks, Talkeetna, Homer, Fairbanks). I have always thought that if I had also met Billy Joe Shaver that day, I probably would have brought him to Alaska to play a few shows, too.

I reckon I'll think about all that every time I hear Honky Tonk Habit sing "Georgia on a Fast Train."

Back to the Beach. Wise Blood.

2010-01-23T21:23:00.002-09:00

It was 40 degrees in Juneau this afternoon. The dogs and I drove out to the beach near the Sheep Creek Hatchery to run around for about an hour. There were a few other folks out there with dogs, so I had to keep Rosie on a short leash, as she tends to attack rather than play nice with other mutts.

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I finished reading Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood last night.

I also brought my copy of the movie to Juneau, directed by John Huston and starring Brad Dourif (aka Billy Bibbit, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). Although I have owned the movie for several months, I was waiting to finally read the book before watching the movie. Done. I am going to watch the Wise Blood DVD as soon as I get an RCA cord to connect the DVD player that was here at the apartment with the TV that I bought last week.

Here is what The Guardian said about Wise Blood, the movie: "John Huston's hellfire burlesque is one of the great lost films of the 1970s and a movie to stand alongside his Maltese Falcon or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." Read the whole movie review here.

You might want to watch it, too.

And, if you still want (wise) blood, you can watch a two-part lecture from a Yale University literature class about the novel at Academic Earth. Check it out here (very, very good).

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By the way, the only other two movies that I brought here (out of 101 in my movie cabinet) are Searching for the One-Eyed Jesus and Vernon, Florida (thanks, Derek). There is, indeed, a theme.

Beaver Creek to Haines and Bluegrass to Honky Tonk

2010-01-23T21:09:00.001-09:00

Shortly after the day began on Saturday, January 9, we crossed the Canadian border into Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. There were very few cars on the road, so we stopped every few hours to let the dogs run (and me walk). It was usually too cold for Princess Keri to get out of the car, so she took photos. Mostly, we drove through whiteout conditions on icy roads, but we drove slowly and never felt unsafe.

After driving over the pass from Haines Junction (Canada) to Haines (USA) on Sunday, January 10, we drove out to Chilkat State Park for a walk, ate halibut at the Pioneer Bar's Bamboo Room, and then boarded the ferry for the ride to Juneau.

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We went to the Alaskan Bar to see the Great Alaskan Bluegrass Band last Saturday night and we are headed back there in a few minutes to see Honky Tonk Habit. (Click on the links to see YouTube clips of the bands.)

The bands are very literal with their names here in Juneau, Alaska.

30 Degrees Above/Below

2010-01-13T18:40:00.005-09:00

Since departing Tok, driving through Canada and now arriving in Juneau, I have had very little access to the internet and, thus, the blog. Sorry to both of you.

It seems anti-dramatic to report now, but we have arrived in Juneau.

Here are a few things that I had hoped to write more about but, now, probably won't:

Listened to every single album by The Beatles while driving from Tok to Haines on January 9 and 10.

Lots of snow in Haines (photo).

As always, loved the 4.5 hour ferry ride from Haines to Juneau.

On the first couple of days in Juneau, contributed to the local economy by circulating my money at a few of my favorite places: Douglas Cafe, Island Pub, Douglas Inn, Rainy Day Books, Capital Barbershop, and the Alaskan (Hotel &) Bar.

It cost $170 to fly the two cats from Fairbanks to Juneau on Alaska Airlines and then another $320 for the good people at the Pet Nanny to pick up the cats at the airport and keep 'em for a few days until we arrived to pick them up. The State does not re-imburse feline travel costs.

No internet service at our new Juneau home until next Tuesday.

It's good to be here again.

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It's 30 degrees above zero here in Juneau and 30 degrees below zero back in Fairbanks.

Fast Eddy's and The King

2010-01-08T22:44:00.003-09:00

I like Fast Eddy's because it's better than it has to be ... not a little better, way better.

We left Fairbanks today 15 minutes after sundown. 3:30pm. This time of year, I prefer to make the drive towards Juneau in the daylight; however, it wasn't in the cards today. I still had to finish a few house projects this morning before the renters arrived at 10am. After we showed our new tenants (very nice people!) the ropes, Keri and I had a quick oatmeal and eggs breakfast prepared for us by our neighbor, Cecile; then a quick visit and shot of Tuaca with Donna; and then errands to the post office, service station, bank, and legislative office before heading east.

We made it as far as Tok, Alaska.

I never drive through Tok without stopping at Fast Eddy's to eat. Located 200 miles east of Fairbanks and 90 miles west of the Yukon Territory, travelers would eat cardboard by the time they arrive here, myself included. However, two onion rings garnished my baby back ribs and the server brought me a steaming hot, wet towel in a large bowl with two lemon slices to keep my hands clean and un-sticky. This is a classy joint.

Tonight, we are staying at Fast Eddy's sister business, Young's Motel. We'd like to depart here about an hour before the 10:40am sunrise for the seven hour drive to Haines Junction, Yukon Territory (Canada).

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When we were passing through Tok one year ago, we made our routine stop at Fast Eddy's to eat, but we did not turn off the car ... because it was 65 degrees below zero! Just a few days before we drove through Tok it had been even colder. Think I am kidding? Check out this NPR feature from January 9, 2009: Life at Negative 78 Degrees in Alaska.

This evening in Tok, one year later, it's a balmy 6 degrees above zero, which makes traveling much more pleasant.

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On the road today, we agreed that we'd like to listen to both discs of the recently released From Elvis In Memphis (Legacy Edition). It was only after we had listened to Disc 1 that I remembered that it was Elvis' birthday ... then a few minutes later that I remembered it was his 75th birthday.

Happy Birthday, Elvis.

Water Wagon and more of The Beatles

2010-01-05T23:47:00.008-09:00

Since we have lived here in our house, we have had Water Wagon deliver water to our buried 1,500 gallon water tank about once every 5 or 6 weeks. However, about six weeks ago during a cold snap, the intake pipe that runs underground and brings water from our tank to our house froze and burst. Since the ground will be frozen solid until spring, we cannot dig up and fix the water pipe until then; therefore, we have been hauling water ourselves from town to our house.

We have five 6.5 gallon jugs and four 5 gallon jugs. We can haul 62.5 gallons in the back of our car. We go to The Fill, which resembles a gas station but is really just a coin-operated self-serve water station, and fill our nine jugs about every two or three days (photos).

Once we get home, I -- and usually it is me -- carry the jugs inside. We set up a 35 gallon cistern in our bathroom closet and ran a hose from our water pump directly into the cistern. We use our jugs and manually fill the cistern throughout the day as we use water.

When water is delivered by Water Wagon, it costs 8.5 cents per gallon; when we haul it in our jugs, it costs us 2.25 cents per gallon. So, in addition to being more frugal with our water supply -- i.e., shorter showers, less flushing, etc. -- we are paying much less for each gallon.

All in all, not a bad situation.

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We are preparing for the annual move to Juneau for the legislative session. We'll probably shove off on Friday or Saturday. More on that soon ...

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While doing some work around the house, we were listening to The White Album from The Beatles box set. Now, we are watching The Beatles: First U.S. Visit. It's late and we ought to be in bed, but there is no way that we can stop watching this movie. There is no narration, just constant footage of the band on and off stage ... including each of their historic Ed Sullivan appearances (New York, Miami, and then New York again). Lots of laughs from The Beatles and LOTS of screaming girls:

Where were you in 1964? Did you see The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show?

Best of the Best of Year Lists

2010-01-03T00:07:00.006-09:00

I have always looked forward to the Best of the Year lists and, even better, the Best of the Decade lists. In the past couple of weeks, I have read dozens of 'em -- best albums, bands, concerts, books, films, directors, actors, etc. -- but might have been most entertained by a young friend of mine here in Fairbanks who recorded his 100 favorite films and 100 favorite albums on his blog, Art So Troublesome.

On Paste Magazine's The 20 Best Books of the Decade list, I was reminded that I want to read Chuck Klosterman's Killing Yourself To Live; in fact, it fits in with a lot of things that have been on my mind lately, including Klosterman himself. So, even though it was 25 degrees below zero, I ran to Gulliver's today and picked it up, along with the following used books:

Blues People: Negro Music in White America (which was written in 1963)
R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, and Country (a steal for $4.00)
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas (I have already read this one, but the hardback edition was available for just $7.00 and I will read it again.)
Cuba and its Music: From the first drums to the mambo (It's a dream of mine to watch live music in Cuba from sundown to sun up; till then, might as well get educated.)
Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads (Greil Marcus' Mystery Train is one of my all-time faves and it's about time I read this one, too.)

Speaking of Paste, they know that those lists make people spend money. That's why they have a List of the Day.

New Years Eve

2010-01-02T23:45:00.003-09:00

We followed up our Christmas Eve viewing of The Godfather with a New Years Eve viewing of The Godfather 2, which is especially appropriate with the film's New Years Eve scene in Cuba when the rebels disrupt Hyman Roth's Havana dream and Michael figures out that he was betrayed by Fredo. Remember?

I cooked an angel hair pasta dinner to eat during the movie and, just for fun, we enjoyed a Claret from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. (I think this might mean that we are old.)

After dinner and the movie, the two of us huddled around a bonfire in our yard. We did not see any fireworks, but were just as entertained by the big ol' blue moon. (Yes, I am convinced. Old.)

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Quote of the night: (Wistfully, by the campfire, staring up at the moon, Keri sighed) "Man, I really thought there'd be flying cars by now ... I'm bummed."

Rest In Peace

2009-12-27T22:57:00.009-09:00

On Christmas Eve, Keri wanted to light a few candles in memory of the people that we have lost. Mom sent us a remembrance candle years ago, specifically for Jon Campbell, and we lit that candle the other night in memory of Jon and many others who are special to us; including Keri's mom Janice, her grandmother Jane, each of my grandparents, good buddy Graham, and too many other family members and friends.

Christmas Day our remembrance candle welcomed another when we learned that Vic Chesnutt died. Vic was not a friend of ours like Jon and Graham were friends; not even like our late friend Kirk Rundstrom who, like Vic, was a traveling musician that we didn't know real well but was someone with whom we had enjoyed a more personal relationship.

I had promoted just one single Vic Chesnutt concert about 15 years ago (give or take) at The Dungeon in Charleston (IL). Vic and I didn't spend a lot of time together, but we had the obligatory performer-promoter chat and a couple drinks. Keri was there, too, and said she remembers that night just like it was yesterday. It was a vividly memorable evening for many reasons that don't really matter now; more importantly, it kicked off a lasting appreciation of and relationship with Vic's music. We only saw him one other time -- several years later opening for Wilco at The Canopy in Urbana (IL) -- but his records line my shelves.

In my cd player now is his North Star Deserter, which was released in 2007 and I have 7 of his other albums going back to his very first, 1990's Little. I have not yet purchased his most recent, At The Cut. If you know Vic's music, you know that if you spend time listening to that many of his songs for that many years, you consider him some kind of friend.

Also, on December 1, less than one month before he killed himself, Vic gave Terry Gross a deeply personal interview on NPR's Fresh Air. If you're interested, you can listen to the interview with samples of his music here.

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I was also remembering Graham this evening by playing a mix cd that he gave me the last time I saw him. He titled it Fuck Nashville and here is the tracklist:

Fuck This Town - Robbie Fulks
Nashville Rash - Dale Watson
Family Tradition - Hank Jr.
Longhaired Redneck - David Allan Coe
Country Trash - Johnny Cash
A Real Country Song - Dale Watson
Murder on Music Row - George Strait
Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes - George Jones
Trashville - Hank Williams III
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way - Waylon
Solid Country Gold - Shooter Jennings
Honky Tonk Has-Been - Cornell Hurd
She Took A Lot of Pills (And Died) - Robbie Fulks
Legends (What If) - Dale Watson
Willie, Waylon, and Me - David Allan Coe
Drug Store Truck Drivin' Man - Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
Countrier Than Thou - Robbie Fulks
The Dick in Dixie - Hank 3
Country My Ass - Dale Watson and Hank 3
I Won't Back Down - Johnny Cash
White Trash Boy - The Starkweathers
The Death of Country Music - Waco Brothers
If That Ain't Country - David Allan Coe

Let me know if you'd like a copy and I'll send it to you.

A Very Merry Xmas

2009-12-25T23:54:00.008-09:00

On Christmas Eve, after watching a Blue Meanies concert DVD (The Metro, 12/23/04), I looked through our movies trying to find one with a Christmas scene and remembered that it's Christmastime when Don Corleone gets shot and Michael subsequently goes to protect him in the hospital. So, we stayed up late watching The Godfather and waiting for Santa.

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Keri picked up a few new Christmas albums this year and we listened to these this morning while we were waking up, cooking breakfast, and opening presents:

The Temptations - The Christmas Collection

Various Artists - Ultra Lounge: Best of Christmas Cocktails

Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart

Also in heavy rotation this season:

Elvis - White Christmas

Derek Cantrell's Annual Christmas Mix from 2002, 2006 Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and 2007

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Just a few of the many Christmas day highlights: Conversations with Mom and Dad, text messages and emails from lots of friends, prime rib dinner with dear friends this evening, and all the time spent with Keri. I did miss some phone calls and need to catch up tomorrow.

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Christmas presents? Good ones (thank you!), including one of my favorite movies of the year, Let the Right One In:

I was sick and missed a couple of days of work last week, so I also watched Gran Torino, Wings of Desire, and Persepolis while I was at home.

I also received (and watched) The Killer (Criterion Collection version; see the trailer) last week, which is now out-of-print but easily found online. The Hong Kong gangster movie was one of Graham's favorites and I could hear him cackling throughout the film, just like when he showed it to me for the first time over a decade ago.

All great.

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P.S. Very much enjoying the 20th Anniversary Legacy Edition of The Stone Roses debut album, especially tracks 7, 8, and 9.

Sunrise on the Tanana River

2009-11-22T19:25:00.003-09:00

Yesterday morning when I took this picture of the sun rising over the Tanana River, the temperature was 33 degrees below zero.

Thankfully, it's much warmer today; especially up where we live. The elevation of Fairbanks is about 400 feet above sea level; however, our house is up in the hills at about 1,400 feet above sea level. Due to the temperature inversion, it's usually 10-15 degrees warmer up here at our place than down in town.

That temperature difference between the hills and Fairbanks is exaggerated today, thanks to a chinook wind blowing up from the Pacific Ocean. It was 20 degrees below zero in town, but 10 degrees above zero at our house.

Geo in hibernation

2009-11-11T19:05:00.004-09:00

This afternoon, I parked the Geo for the winter. The car is just too small to drive around Fairbanks during the cold, dark winter. She'll stay in hibernation until we return from Juneau next spring.

I have now been driving this car for over 15 years. Mom co-signed the loan for the Geo in August, 1992.
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It has been a very pleasant fall, as far as Alaska temperatures go. However, the cold is coming and in a couple of days the high temp will be below zero:

THU Hi 15 / Lo 4
FRI Hi 4 / Lo -2
SAT Hi -2 / Lo -11
SUN Hi -6 / Lo -12
MON Hi 0 / Lo -15
TUE Hi -7 / Lo -13

How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin

2009-11-09T22:38:00.003-09:00

At first, I thought this TV show, How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin, was a parody to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall; some sort of Spinal Tap meets A Hard Day's Night meets Mikhail Gorbachev. I was impressed with PBS' sense of humor, but slowly began to figure out that it was no joke.

The show, "tells the extraordinary and untold story of how Beatlemania punctured the Iron Curtain. In a personal journey through Russia, award-winning director Leslie Woodhead relates, through first-person accounts, a secret revolution that contributed to the fall of communism."

Seriously.

Read more about it here.

And here is the preview:

Music and Basterds

2009-11-07T22:42:00.005-09:00

We've spent most of the evening listening to new tunes:

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (Deluxe Limited Edition)
The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (40th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set)
The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
The Builders and The Butchers - Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well

Lots of highlights here. The Flaming Lips' artwork and packaging is, well, vintage Wayne. Opening sets by B.B. King and Ike & Tina (especially a sizzling version of I've Been Loving You Too Long) add depth to the classic Stone's concert at Madison Square Garden. I'll never get enough of The Avett Brothers and their new album warms me up on a cold Alaskan night. Promoted as a band from Portland, The Builders and The Butchers frontman, Ryan, went to college here at UAF before moving to the Pacific Northwest. His college band, The Born Losers, opened for Flogging Molly in FBX back in 2002.

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Finally saw Inglorious Basterds on Thursday night at the Blue Loon. After it was over, I told Keri that I thought that it was the only Tarantino movie that I never cared to see again. However, a couple days later I can't stop thinking about it and already want to see it again.

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Up above is a picture that I painted on a piece of 12-inch vinyl and thumb tacked to my wall.

Noah Purifoy, Joshua Tree (CA)

2009-10-21T22:15:00.004-08:00

On Saturday, Keri and I were watching our favorite television show, Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations and saw a feature on Noah Purifoy's Outdoor Desert Art Museum. We visited the place when we were in Joshua Tree last month (photos). In fact, it's just down the dusty road from our friend Tim's desert hacienda.

The outdoor art museum is "7.5 acres of open land displaying Purifoy's assemblage sculptures, all created on-site between the years of 1989-2004. Visitors must drive on dirt roads to access the site, where they'll be greeted with a hand-painted 'Blair Lane' street sign and dozens of large-scale sculptures made from materials such as castoff metals, burnt wood and blown-out rubber tires."

Read more about it here and be sure to visit if you're ever in the area (I'm talkin' to you, Woody). It's free.

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Most recent Netflix movies: The U.S. Versus John Lennon and Concert for George (which made us both cry).

Alaska Day on Murphy Dome

2009-10-19T22:37:00.004-08:00

Today is a state holiday for us, Alaska Day, which celebrates the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States. The US purchased the Territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, or less than 2 cents per acre, on October 18, 1867. (... And, if you're keepin' track, Alaska did not become the 49th state until 1959.)

We drove about an hour from home to hike up on Murphy Dome (photos). Cold, windy, and overcast. Still, it was fun to tromp around on the alpine tundra with the dogs for a couple of hours.

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I picked up The Beatles' Stereo Box Set with each of their 13 albums re-mastered and in stereo (plus a few bonus discs). We also watched A Hard Days Night last weekend. All The Beatles all the time around here.

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New book: The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power by Daniel Yergen. Pulitzer Prize Winner. 773 pages. I begin that epic journey tonight ... (By the way, the Las Vegas book that I just finished kept me on the edge of my seat and prompted me to order Seymour Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot. That book will arrive LONG before I finish The Prize, I am sure.)

IGLOO

2009-10-01T20:42:00.006-08:00

Last week, I drove down to Anchorage on Thursday (350 miles) and spent the night with a buddy. Then, on Friday, I rode on a bus with legislators and legislative staff down to Seward (120 miles) and back (another 120 miles) to participate in a legislative tour of the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC).

Keri flew down to Anchorage on Friday afternoon and that evening, after I returned from Seward, we went to see The Lion King at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts. The six-week run is not even over, and the performance has already sold more tickets than any show in the theater's history.

We drove home to Fairbanks on Saturday. Six hour drive with frequent sight-seeing stops. For the last hour, we were in a mild snow storm. There are still some leaves on the trees, but they won't be here for long. Winter is rapidly creeping toward us ... maybe galloping.

I took these pictures of the IGLOO (above), which I have seen featured in a couple roadside attraction books. From what I understand, it was built to be a hotel but was never completed and never opened.

Hoover Dam

2009-09-27T22:01:00.004-08:00

We didn't realize that Hoover Dam was so close to Las Vegas, so on our way out of town we decided to take a quick detour to see the massive project. We were so impressed with the dam and -- especially -- the nearest town, Boulder City (NV), that we decided to stay the night.

After walking on the big dam, we returned to Boulder City for a great evening. After five nights in Sin City, the artsy little town of Boulder City offered a pleasant re-entry to a more normal way of living.

Highlights included our cozy hotel (photo), Milo's Wine Bar, Boulder Dam Brewing Company, and -- for breakfast on Saturday morning -- the World Famous Coffee Cup, which has been featured on the Food Network's show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Cap Rock

2009-09-27T21:44:00.005-08:00

While in Joshua Tree National Park, we paid a quick visit to Cap Rock, which is where Gram Parsons' body was taken (i.e., stolen) and set ablaze by a couple of his buddies after his death. If you're not familiar with the story, here is a short excerpt from Wikipedia:

Parsons' body disappeared from the Los Angeles International Airport where it was being readied to be shipped to Louisiana for burial. Prior to his death, Parsons stated that he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there; however, Parson's stepfather arranged for a private ceremony back in New Orleans and neglected to invite any of his friends from the music industry.

To fulfill Parsons' "funeral" wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole his body from the airport and in a borrowed hearse drove it to Joshua Tree where they attempted to cremate it by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. Police chased them, but according to one account they "were encumbered by sobriety," and got away. The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 (or $700) for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving 35 lbs of his charred remains in the desert.

Pappy and Harriett's Pioneer Palace

2009-09-27T21:09:00.005-08:00

On separate nights, we saw Rosie Flores (9/3), Tim Easton (9/4), Cracker (9/12), and the Thrift Store All Stars (9/13) at Pappy and Harriet's Pioneer Palace: "Best Honky Tonk West of the Mississippi."

All great shows.

Loved LOVE

2009-09-22T22:41:00.003-08:00

We were drawn to Vegas to see the Cirque de Soleil production of the Beatles' LOVE. I cannot relay much about the show, other than to say it was well worth the trip. Keri and I were both in awe throughout the entire show -- which we saw on Labor Day weekend -- and I wish I could see it again and again and again, each time from a different angle.

This short promo clip is good, but cannot begin to convey the impact of sitting in the theater with the music and actors (watch it anyway, eh):

NOTE: Cirque de Soleil is also putting the finishing touches on an Elvis Spectacular that will open in Vegas in December. Anyone want to meet in Sin City for that? I think that it cannot be missed.

Readin' in the Desert

2009-09-22T22:03:00.003-08:00

In Vegas, I picked up several books at a thrift store and read bits and pieces of each of 'em during and after the trip. Mostly, I have been stuck on The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America.

I have also read parts of Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey, Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, and Liberace: An Autobiography.

Keri and I read aloud from the Edward Abbey book after we reached the oasis on the 49 Palms Oasis trail in the Joshua Tree National Park. Here is a typical passage from the introduction:

"Do not jump into your automobile next June and rush out to the Canyon country hoping to see some of that which I have attempted to evoke in these pages. In the first place you can't see anything from a car; you've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk, better yet crawl, on hands and knees, over the sandstone and through the thorn brush and cactus. When traces of blood begin to mark your trail, you'll see something, maybe. Probably not."

These photos (above) are from the Mojave Desert National Preserve, which is located on the California-Nevada border. We took a short hike at some sand dunes; otherwise, we blasted right through. It would be a great place to go spend some time.

Northbound

2009-09-16T12:51:00.004-08:00

We are sitting in the Palm Springs airport; ready to head home sweet home. I had originally hoped to post pictures and notes from the road, but couldn't muster the enthusiasm to crack open the computer.

These photos are a couple of weeks old already and were taken at the site of our first few days of vacation: the pool at the Joshua Tree Inn. We spent a lot of time in the water and were usually the only two people in sight.

Trip details (and lots of photos) to follow in a day or two.

GP, RIP

2009-09-05T22:15:00.003-08:00

Listenin': Gram Parsons (of course), Hacienda Brothers, Tom Russell (especially "Ballad of Edward Abbey"), U2's Joshua Tree (why not?), and Elvis.

Readin': Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'N' Roll Music

Desert Livin'

2009-09-05T21:25:00.003-08:00

We arrived in the California desert on Wednesday and have been having a blast. On the evening that we arrived, we ran into the legendary rocker, Rosie Flores, at our hotel in Joshua Tree and ended up watching a movie with her. This was a thrill for me because I have been a fan of hers for a long time and Rosie's version of "God May Forgive You (But I Won't)" is one of my all-time favorites.

On Thursday evening, we went to see Rosie perform at Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace, a place I have wanted to visit for years. Then, on Friday night we returned to Pappy's to see our good friend Tim Easton play for 2.5 hours on his hometown stage.

Today, we balanced the the rock-n-roll with the spiritual and visited three places on our must-see list: the Institute of Mentalphysics, Integratron: The Fusion of Art, Science and Magic (where we took a sound bath), and Noah Purifoy's Environment of Sculptures.

We have still found time to visit Joshua Tree National Park (photos) and intend to spend much more time there before we are done with this trip; however, tomorrow we head to Sin City to see LOVE, Cirque du Soleil's celebration of the Beatles.

Unalaska / Dutch Harbor

2009-09-05T20:46:00.005-08:00

This time last weekend I was visiting Unalaska / Dutch Harbor. I found out that the city is called Unalaska and the harbor and airport are officially called Dutch Harbor. This creates a little confusion when talking about visiting Unalaska and/or Dutch Harbor. Basically, they share the same geographical place but have two different names.

Unalaska is in the Aleutian Islands; a three-hour flight from Anchorage. In other words, it's a long way out there. Located in the Northern Pacific, the Aleutians were a battleground during WW2 as the Japanese attempted to control both the Southern and Northern Pacific. You can see WW2 ruins in these photos (with one photo taken from inside the bunker).

Long before WW2, Unalaska was occupied by the Russians and you can also see the old Russian Orthodox church in these photos. It was a fascinating building to tour, as it is filled with hundreds of priceless icons and artifacts.

2009-08-12T23:23:00.003-08:00

I spent the last few days in Anchorage. I drove down there with my boss to attend the special legislative session, where the legislature overrode the (former) Governor's veto of stimulus money and confirmed a new Lt. Gov. (a situation created by Palin's abrupt resignation last month).

Tomorrow, I'll be attending a health care town hall meeting hosted by our Senator Lisa Murkowski. As she's a Republican, I don't expect too many fireworks, but you never know up here.

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Upcoming Trips: I'll be going out to Unalaska, in the Aleutian Islands, in a couple of weeks. Shortly after that, Keri and I will be going to Joshua Tree, CA, for a little vacation.

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Lately, I have been listening to a couple of duet albums:

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, "Rattlin' Bones"

Buddy & Julie Miller, "Written In Chalk"

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We watched a great movie last week, Young at Heart. Highly recommended. Check out the trailer:

Happy Birthday To Me

2009-08-06T21:32:00.003-08:00

Last week, Keri surprised me with some great birthday gifts to help get us through the winter. The Criterion Collection was on sale (50% off) and she picked up these movies for me:

Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
Rashomon (Kurosawa, 1950)
The Burmese Harp (Ichikawa, 1956)
Ikiru (Kurosawa, 1952)
Amarcord (Fellini, 1973)
Ace In The Hole (Wilder, 1951)
The Third Man (Reed, 1949)
Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones, 1969)

The Criterion Collection's special features make these collections more than just a movie, but film-school-in-a-box.

Mom and Dad sent a lovely present, too.

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We are watching 30 Rock for the very first time.

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I am officiating a wedding this weekend. Ben and Cody. Outside (i.e., very smokey) wedding.

C'mon, baby, light my fire.

2009-08-06T21:14:00.003-08:00

We enjoyed a little bit of rain today, but not nearly enough to put out any of these fires. They continue to grow rapidly. The last couple of days have been almost unbearable, with dense smoke enveloping Fairbanks and Interior Alaska.

Now, we have fires to the north, south, east and west. As the News-Miner reports, "The largest blaze in the state is a trio of close burning fires south of Fairbanks called the Railbelt Complex, which had grown to more than 900 square miles." NINE HUNDRED SQUARE MILES AND GROWING.

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Dense smoke cancels flights at Fairbanks airport

Staff Report (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

Originally published Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 1:50 p.m.
Updated Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 3:29 p.m.

FAIRBANKS -- Smoke has brought air traffic in and out of Fairbanks nearly to a standstill.

Pete Buist, a fire information officer, said Fairbanks has "serious smoke issues" because no matter what direction the wind blows, the town is downwind of large fires.

Read the rest of the story here.

Let The Games Begin, America

2009-07-26T20:33:00.008-08:00

Today was the Big Day in Fairbanks.

The old Governor and new Governor were both here at Pioneer Park, "Alaska's Only Historic Theme Park," to address the mainstream media that they love to hate and, oh yeah, a crowd of over 5,000 people, 95% of whom love the outgoing Governor.

My highlight of the day was not the former Governor's farewell speech, but watching Jason Jones from The Daily Show with John Stewart interview some Fairbanks residents, like this woman (see photo) who had never seen the program.

Jones told me that he and his crew from The Daily Show just arrived in Fairbanks yesterday afternoon and were heading back to the East Coast this evening. We don't have cable TV here at the house, but we will definitely find a way to tune in tomorrow night to watch The Daily Show make good clean fun of us in Alaska. (Maybe we'll just watch on the Series of Tubes, but it would be more fun to watch on TV. Right?)

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There was one very interesting report about the recently retired Governor in the Anchorage Daily News today:

Citing a "very reliable" real estate dealer, a NYC blog is reporting she and Todd have been looking at houses around Hampton Bays on Long Island. "It seems that she started looking at smaller houses and has now graduated to looking at larger homes. Her husband is said to like the good fishing on Long Island. Perhaps the speculation about her planning a position with right wing Fox news is correct too," writes Lily Loring on www.Gothamgirl.info.

Interior Alaska wildfires continue to grow

2009-07-26T20:19:00.005-08:00

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Originally published Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 5:26 p.m.

FAIRBANKS — Smoke and haze can be expected to linger over the Interior into next week as a series of wildland fires builds.

The Railbelt Complex of three fires southwest of Fairbanks grew more than 3,000 acres on Friday to 269,477 acres, coming within about four miles of Doyon Drilling’s Arctic Wolf rig, which is exploring for natural gas.

See the rest of the story -- and some great photos -- here.

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Keri and I drove to an overlook a few miles from our house and took the photos above. It looks like thunderclouds are covering Interior Alaska, but it's a thick cloud of smoke from the forest fires burning near here.

Although the air quality can harm infants, seniors, and people with respiratory problems, we are not at any risk from these fires.

However, it's just as dry here as it is down there. One lightning strike or careless mistake could set Fairbanks on fire, too.

The forecast next week calls for more record high temperatures and NO rain.

Interior Alaska Bakes and Burns

2009-07-14T09:06:00.005-08:00

The Governor was in town to sign some bills the other day. I took these pictures of her.

She looked much better (i.e., healthier, happier), I thought, than when I saw her on Memorial Day. Then again, I'd be happy, too, if I had put in my two-week notice, was on my way to appear on local radio's "Firearm Fridays" talk show with a scheduled call-in from Ted Nugent, and had a multi-million dollar book deal on the near horizon.

The Governor will be back in Fairbanks to swear in the Lt. Gov. as Gov. on July 26. The national media and at least five thousand people are expected to attend the event, which will take place during the annual Governor's Picnic during our town's annual Golden Days celebration.

My boss told me the ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." Indeed, we are.

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Interior Alaska Bakes and Burns

By Tim Mowry, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Published Tuesday, July 14, 2009

FAIRBANKS — The number of acres burned by wildfires across Alaska crept closer to the 1-million acre mark on Monday as the Interior continued to bake in a mid-summer heat wave that is fueling more than 70 active fires around the state.

As of Monday morning, a total of 393 fires had burned approximately 765,573 acres, a number that is increasing daily as a result of a two-week heat wave around the state.

Read the rest of the story here.

C'mon, Good God!

2009-06-12T01:12:00.003-08:00

We had the honor of seeing the Blind Boys of Alabama at the Blue Loon tonight. It's a pretty small joint and there were probably only about 200 people at the show.

Couldn't have been better. C'mon, good God!

I heard a lot of friends say that they weren't going to the concert 'cause the show cost $40. I would have paid forty dollars to see any one of about a dozen of their songs ... and I would pay more than that to see them sing Amazing Grace / House of the Rising Sun.

I know, I know. Times are tough. I have been there. I will always regret not paying $75 to see James Brown in Fairbanks shortly before he died.

Anyway, the Blind Boys still got it. If you get a chance, wherever you are, dig it.

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We had a few friends over to the house after the concert. We had some The Show wine (label artwork by Hatch Show Print) and watched excerpts of a few concert DVDs turned up to 11: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Bruce Springsteen, Flaming Lips (which we are still watching long after our friends have departed).

Hallelujah: SpankWagon vs. Rufus Wainwright

2009-06-07T00:01:00.006-08:00

On June 6, seventeen years ago, Keri and I met at a SpankWagon (photo) concert in The Dungeon drinking cheap draft beer out of plastic cups.

All these years later, we are sipping red wine and celebrating our Special Day by watching a couple of concert videos in the comfort of our own home: first, our romantic fave Leonard Cohen's brand new Live In London and, now, Rufus Wainwright's Live at the Fillmore (click on the links above to see both Leonard and Rufus perform "Hallelujah" ... and, while you're at it, go ahead and watch Jeff Buckley's mesmerizing version of the same song here.)

It's a long fall from SpankWagon (1992) to Rufus Wainwright (2009). "Fall," I guess isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. Different experiences and we treasure them both.

Rufus is a sentimental favorite 'cause we saw him perform at the Gramercy Theater in NYC on this very day in 2007. Speaking of Rufus, here's a YouTube clip from the concert that we saw exactly two years ago (see below). It was a sold out show and we didn't have tickets; however, we walked to the box office a few hours before showtime to see if there was any way possible to get tickets. We begged and, to make a long story short, saw this:

I have some VHS recordings of SpankWagon concerts. Maybe I'll have those transferred to DVD so that I can post 'em on YouTube. Eh?

Shake, Rattle, and Burn

2009-06-04T22:12:00.003-08:00

It's after 10pm and still 80 degrees outside, which is nearly a record high. The sun sets tonight at 12:15am, dips below the horizon, and rises again at 3:20am. No darkness whatsoever.

We have fires burning on the edge of town and downtown :

Wildfire threatens North Pole homes
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A rolling column of smoke with flames reaching 20 feet and higher flashed through a tinderbox of black spruce Thursday afternoon, threatening homes outside North Pole.

Aurora Energy power plant on fire
FAIRBANKS — Firefighters are battling a coal fire at Aurora Energy’s downtown power plant in Fairbanks, and at least one person has suffered burns from the fire.

And we were just falling asleep last night when we felt yet another earthquake shake the house:

Small earthquake rattles Fairbanks
FAIRBANKS -- At 11:54 p.m. Wednesday, an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.09 rattled homes and businesses in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. No damage has been reported. The quake was centered three miles south-southwest of Ester and is part of a swarm of small earthquakes that began May 23.

Speaking of earthquakes, here is an excerpt from today's newspaper editorial:

In recent days, Interior Alaska has been tickled by numerous minor earthquakes, none of which has reached magnitude 4. However, no one can say with absolute certainty whether the quakes have reached a peak in magnitude or are foreshocks to a larger event.

Given our experience, neither possibility should be discounted. Residents should take these earthquakes as friendly reminders to prepare for larger quakes that could disrupt essential support structures in our communities. Electricity, fuel supplies, roads, railroads and airports all could be interrupted for days by a serious quake.

Earthquake Central (and a Volcano Oozing Lava)

2009-05-31T22:53:00.007-08:00

I intended to let you know about our earthquake last week (the jolt made me sit straight up in the middle of the night). Then we felt another one a couple of days ago. And we had another earthquake tonight that rattled the house. The epicenter for each has been within a few miles of our home.

Here is the News-Miner story that was posted online immediately after the earthquake this evening:

Another earthquake rocks Fairbanks

FAIRBANKS — Yes, you felt it again. At 9:35 p.m. Sunday night, a 3.98 magnitude earthquake rocked the Fairbanks North Star Borough, as recorded by the Alaska Earthquake Information Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. No damage has been reported.

This latest earthquake was centered two miles southwest of Ester, just north of Goldhill Road, and was the largest of a series of noticeable tremors that began May 23 when a 3.6 magnitude shaker trembled homes and businesses across the borough. A magnitude 3.72 quake was felt in Fairbanks on May 29.

Several small aftershocks followed the quake, and these could continue through Monday.

For up-to-the-minute information about local earthquakes, visit the AEIC Web site at www.aeic.alaska.edu/

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Just this morning in our Sunday paper (i.e., before this evening's quake), this was the feature story:

Earthquakes continue around Fairbanks

Published Sunday, May 31, 2009

FAIRBANKS — The belly of Fairbanks continues to rumble as several small earthquakes rolled through the Ester area Friday night and throughout Saturday ...

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center recorded more than 120 earthquakes across the state since 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The central region of Alaska housed more than 50 of those recorded since Wednesday, though many of them were under a 2.0 magnitude ...

“It’s not uncommon for the Fairbanks area to have occasional earthquakes,” Viggato said. “All of these have been occurring near Ester, where the epicenter is. The aftershocks have been occurring in exactly the same area.”

When Viggato was asked if the recent rumblings meant a larger one was possible sometime soon, she said that while one never knows when an earthquake will occur, it’s not necessarily probable that a larger earthquake is on it’s way.

See the whole article here.

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Oh, and don't forget our volcano. This story was also in today's newspaper:

Alaska's Redoubt volcano quieter but still busy

Published Sunday, May 31, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Mount Redoubt has been quietly busy since the last explosion in April.

The volcano has quietly continued to ooze lava from its vent, creating a massive hardened dome that could blow at any moment and unleash another ashfall on Southcentral Alaska.

The volcano's dome is now roughly the size of nine football fields. Scientists say it has formed a plug over its steaming vent. That has kept ash from spewing into the atmosphere and has perhaps led many to believe the volcano's rumblings are over.

Scientists estimate the amount of lava comprising the hardened dome is so massive it could fill 11 Louisiana Superdomes. It is roughly as thick as a 65-story building.

Read the rest of the story here.

Fallen Heroes and Honky Tonk Heroes

2009-05-25T19:01:00.005-08:00

The Governor was in Fairbanks today to sign some bills that were passed during the legislative session, including three that were sponsored by my boss (photos). If you're interested, those bills are Senate Bill 114, Senate Bill 142, and (the biggie) Senate Bill 133. It was definitely an honor to be present for the ceremony and to spend a few minutes in the company of the Governor.

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Today is Memorial Day and I attended the community celebration this morning. It is always humbling to be in the presence of those who have served. WW2. Korea. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq.

Of course, I spent six undistinguished (i.e., non-combat) years in the Army National Guard. I did have the privilege of serving with many veterans and I remember many nights spent listening to their stories. That, indeed, was a learning experience for which I will always be grateful.

Oh, yeah, and boot camp at Fort Knox. Grateful for that, too.

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Back in Charleston, Kit and Graham always kicked off the summer with their annual Memorial Day picnic and we've been thinking about those good ol' days all day long.

That was the first place that I ever heard El Vez, The Mexican Elvis, and many other of my all-time favorites -- and where I discovered the world's greatest chicken wings and pork steaks.

In Kit and Graham's honor, we fired up the grill and the tunes this afternoon. Remembering Graham, we have listened to:

El Vez, How Great Thou Art
Shaver, Live at Smith's Olde Bar
Supersuckers, Must've Been High
Texas Tornados, Best Of
Robbie Fulks, Country Love Songs
Dale Watson, I Hate These Songs

Many more Graham-inspired albums to follow before our heads hit the pillow tonight ...

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Speaking of Robbie Fulks, Derek sent a link to Robbie's website the other day. Robbie, it seems, is writing a lot (see his website for some real short story treasures!). Keri and I saw Robbie at the Hideout in Chicago back in December (in fact, Robbie had not yet heard that Graham died and we, regrettably, shared the news) and Robbie previewed his new album, which I pledge to purchase online tonight.

Robbie's first-person narratives rival his songwriting and I guarantee that you'll enjoy 'em.

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Speaking of Shaver, I will always regret -- selfishly -- that he had to cancel his scheduled gig at the Dungeon on July 31, 1999. If you remember, Split Lip Rayfield was set to open for Shaver for our going-away party, but Shaver's wife died on July 30. Therefore, of course, Billy Joe Shaver did not sing and Eddie Shaver (RIP) did not shred the guitar in Charleston, Illinois. Split Lip then headlined an unforgettable show ... but I will always wonder what it would have been like if Split Lip had opened for Shaver on a sweaty July night in the Dungeon in Charleston, Illinois.

I suspect that many things would have been different for many of us if Shaver had performed that night. Kinda like if that kicker could've made a field goal for the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl. It was one of those turning points that never turned.

(Of course, I am mindful that Billy Joe's loss was much greater on that day than ours. I think that goes without saying but, obviously, I feel compelled to say it anyway.)

Here is a great clip of Shaver. Imagine this in The Dungeon, 1999: