How much is $54.84 * 16?

Do the math before you read further.

Linda at Celtic Diva wrote last week that she was being charged $65,706 for her request for public records. She posted the following response she got to her request:

To provide complete responses to the email portions of your request, we will need to electronically search the email accounts of the 71 current and former employees who have worked in the Governor's Executive Offices since December 2006. For that electronic search, we will need the assistance of the State Security Office in the Department of Administration, Division of Enterprise Technology Services (ETS). ETS estimates that each email account retrieval, search, and record production will require 16 hours to complete. The ETS hourly rate is $54.84, so ETS estimates its costs per email account will be $925.44. Based on that estimate, ETS's estimated costs for obtaining records from 71 employee email accounts total $65,706.

I have a search function on my email. I can get the list of emails I've received and sent to someone up in a couple of minutes. Why should it take computer experts so much longer?

I asked someone I know and trust on technology issues. Here's my source's response to the question whether it should really take that long to do such a search:

no. it's stonewalling. it's not impossible that it took 16 hours the
first time, if they spent 15.5 hours screwing around, but for all
future times, it ought to take 5 minutes.

Aside from that, am I missing something? Let's see:

$54.84 * 16 hours = $925.44

How did they get that? When I do it by hand I get $877.44. When I do it again on a calculator I get the same. If they can't even multiply correctly, how can they be expected estimate the time correctly, or even do the programming they need to find the emails?

But $877.44 is still outrageous and $62,297.24 ($877.44*71 searches) is still way too pricey.

I also looked up ETS on the web. They have a link to a page of consulting rates. There's no position listed at $54.84.






















Maybe Sarah Palin is beginning to understand why Randy Ruedrich was so irritated with her when she made ethics complaints against him. Do you think she's apologized to him?

Grand Opening of Anchorage's Newest Stairwell

There's been a lot of hoopla about the grand opening of the new addition to the Anchorage Museum. We've been watching the building take shape for a couple of years now. And you can probably tell from the title that I wasn't captivated.


It was a chilly, blustery day, but people swarmed all over the outside and inside of the museum. There was entertainment out in the street and in the auditorium.





And some people were outside eating despite the chill.









Here's where you go in. OK so far. On the left of the front counter you can see the Library and Archive. Unfortunately, that wasn't open yet. Behind me are the Muse Cafe (I wonder how many museums have cafes with that name - [the first ten pages on google only found one at the Palm Springs Museum]) and the gift shop. We didn't look at them until later. But then you go into the museum. Or so I thought.

The first gallery you enter features a four story stairwell. The room is windowless, with dramatic lighting so that you get the full effect of this grand work of art.


The stairwell!! This is positively and totally avant garde. And you thought we were some hicktown whose museum would feature items of local artistic and historical significance. No way. Our grandest new work of art, with a four story gallery all to itself. is an homage to Anchorage fitness - a stairwell. No wimpy escalators for us.


The second floor galleries were closed off still. Who needs a gallery when we have this incredible stairwell?






There was a traveling Gold exhibit on the third floor to the left. But fortunately, the tickets had all been given away so we didn't have to get off the stairwell.


It seemed a bit strange that they had such a nicely printed sign to tell us this. If they knew in advance, why advertise it in the newspaper? It wasn't just this sign, there was another one behind the front desk that said it was sold out and that sign wasn't one you could easily get reprinted the last day.







<


Looking away from the gold exhibit, you could see these frosted windows. When we got to the fourth floor, we got a possible reason for the frosted windows.


The stairwell ended on the fourth floor.
I think there was another closed gallery to the left as we reached the top of the magnificent stairwell. To our right we saw that the fourth floor windows were clear.

Looking at the view - the roof of the existing museum building, a roof that doesn't fit the glitz of the new addition - offered a possible explanation for the opaque windows below. How about a roof garden? I know, I know. All these clever ideas cost money. And if I donate $5 million they would be happy to put in a roof garden with my name on it.





But there was a small gallery on the fourth floor. Appropriately, it was dedicated to the new addition to the museum.







And here is where my sense of the importance of the stairwell was confirmed. There, in blood red, was the stairwell marked out on the sketch of the museum. It is the centerpiece, the masterpiece, the piece d resistance, of the addition. I always allow for the possibility I'm wrong. But what else could that red zigzag be?



In this gallery you can learn about the architect, David Chipperfield, stairmeister.












Unfortunately, all these descriptions are in the laudatory tone of book jacket covers. Usually museum curators are more objective, but I guess this is their baby, not their exhibit.












Now really what does this actually say? I'm starting to feel bad now. I sat next to the author of these words at the Tuesday Dr. Brokenleg breakfast. It's much easier for me when I don't know the people I write about. I wish, though, that I'd seen the museum before the breakfast. Then I could have asked the director some questions. But these words could be written about any museum anywhere. There is nothing specific about Anchorage or the building here.







Function, in the shape of a stairwell, absolutely drives form, but they don't mention that. And now back to the centerpiece of the new addition. This stairwell isn't just on the left and the right, part of it goes up the middle too.


There was also a choice of an elevator. An elephant sized elevator. I understand they need a giant elevator to get crates with large pieces up to the galleries. Probably there was another elevator somewhere. I didn't see it. But no one would build a wing with just one elevator for four stories. I know we Alaskans are tough and will want to only take our magnificent stairs to get to the galleries. But some of the tourists are a little older and they might appreciate an elevator. But if there were only one, how long would they have to wait?


Once we got back down to the bottom and marveled anew at this spectacular new piece of functional art, we wandered to the old section of the museum and into the theater where we were just in time to hear Gabriel Ayala of the Yaqui people of southern Arizona. The video is short, and the audio is from my pocket Canon Powershot, but it will give you an idea of how sweet his sound is.

We then went back out the new main entrance. On the way we checked out the new cafe. There were about five items for eating and about five pages of wines, beers, and other alcoholic beverages. There was no shortage of $40 and up bottles of wine. When we finally got to order, it turned out they were out of what we wanted. No problem. This was their first day with real people and will probably be the busiest day they will have for the next five years at least.







I got the basic overview of the new addition and the park from the fourth floor gallery. I've added a bit to help flesh it out. I was really looking forward to all the birch trees, but at this point there's nothing there but dirt. Somewhere I read it would be landscaped this summer.


OK. I'm a bit taken aback by what's inside the museum. I recognize that the second floor and fourth floor galleries aren't open yet and we couldn't get into the Gold exhibit because the tickets were snapped up already. And presumably there will eventually be art pieces in the lobby. But to walk into a room that has nothing but a giant staircase left me feeling flat. There's an awful lot of space taken up by stairs. And there is nothing to see from the stairs. No view outside, no overview of a gallery. You really have to hike a bit before you ever see anything that resembles art (ok, it is a very nice staircase) or history or science. And today, if you didn't have a gold ticket, there was no art to see in the new building, unless you count the drawings of the building on the fourth floor. A little history in there too.

Unlike the last museum addition which is human scale and whose stairway (on right) complements the room, the new stairwell exists in isolation and the size dwarfs humans. I'll withhold further judgment until the other galleries are opened up, but I still don't see how they will get around having this giant stairwell at the center of the new addition.

The outside of the building looks fine. Though this picture of the Figg Museum in Davenport, Iowa shows that Chipperton used leftover ideas in Anchorage.

Garden - Aphid, Phlox, Narcissus, Forget-Me-Not, Hosta

How do so many of these critters show up so suddenly on one particular plant? I didn't quite find the exact answer, but here's something from the Horticulture website of the University of Wisconsin

The life cycle of most species is rather complex. In Wisconsin aphids spend the winter as eggs. When these hatch in the spring, they produce only wingless females that give birth to live young (without mating = parthenogenetic reproduction). Each female aphid reproduces for a period of 20–30 days, giving birth to 60–100 live nymphs. The nymphs look like the adults but are smaller. The nymphs mature and can produce offspring within a week when temperatures are high. Eggs within these females start to develop long before birth so that a newly born aphid can contain within herself not only the developing embryos of her daughters but also those of her granddaughters which are developing within her daughters. This 'telescoping of generations' means aphids can build up immense populations very quickly. Under ideal conditions, one cabbage aphid could produce 1,560,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 offspring by the end of a growing season. (Obviously this doesn't happen, since natural controls – such as weather and predators – eliminate significant numbers of aphids.)

From Backyard Nature, a little more on the life cycle of the aphid:

An "average" aphid life cycle would be something like this:

In spring an egg hatches, producing a wingless female aphid who soon begins parthenogenetically producing new wingless females. Generation after generation of wingless females survive one another until hot weather comes or maybe the plant on which they are living dies and then suddenly some of the females grow wings and fly off. At the right you see what a winged aphid may look like, though they come in many colors and shapes. This new generation of female winged aphid very well may at this time find a plant host of a completely different species from that on which their spring generations have developed. For instance, Green Peach Aphids overwinter as eggs on peach and related trees but in spring they move to various weeds and agricultural crops, and then still later they move to potato crops, only in the fall returning to peach and related trees.

Typically late in the year when it's time to move back to the plant species on which the aphid overwinters, finally some aphids develop into males as well as females. Sexual reproduction then takes place and when the mated females return to the winter plant-host they lay fertilized eggs. Then next spring the females hatch from the eggs and the cycle begins again, with no males in sight.

Last year I didn't clean these guys off frequently enough and they seriously stunted the growth of the Thalictrum and its flowers. So I just keep wiping or hosing them off.

Dr. Brokenleg Lecture - Belonging, Mastery, Independence, Generosity

On Tuesday, Dr. Martin Brokenleg, in Anchorage through the work of a new coalition of groups including Healing Racism in Anchorage, called Anchorage Community Diversity Project, began his week of work in Anchorage with a breakfast talk that I covered here.

During the day he worked with school district folks and in the evening there was a long session at UAA. For me there wasn't anything startlingly new, but I appreciated his way of presenting it. He was extremely open and supportive and his approach offered model of what young people need to grow up whole that was based on his own Native American heritage, yet also had hints of Maslow, Covey, Myers-Briggs, and other models of behavior used, say, in mainstream management programs.

I'll offer a few things he said that I found useful and then post some slides of his basic model.

He repeated some key ideas from the morning session:

"We meet on the basis of our sameness and grow on the basis of our differences."

"No one can grow up in America and not be taught racism. Whites too are negatively influenced. If you are white and you feel you have to be careful about what you say so as not to offend someone of a different race, then you are a victim of racism." (somewhat paraphrased)

In the evening he focused on how people need lots of people to be raised right. In his culture, all his parents brothers and sisters are considered his parents. All his cousins are considered brothers and sisters. And all his nieces and nephews are considered his grandchildren. The nuclear family - mother, father, and children - living alone and seperated from the rest of the family is a unique development of the modern world, spurred on by capitalist system's need for consumption. With each nuclear family, you need a separate house, separate washer and drier, stove, televisions, cars, etc.

But you lose the support of all your family in raising your children, in helping out when you're ill, and in supplying wisdom and diversion. A husband cannot fulfill all his wife's emotional needs and vice versa. Sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, all offer unique forms of social and emotional support. Sure, we can recreate such communities, but we need lots of people for our emotional growth and health.

My wife has observed that whatever strange behaviors one has, there is at least one other person in the family who shares those traits and understands you and can offer you support.

Dr. Brokenleg went on to talk about what a person needs to be spiritually strong. He
identified four factors we all need:

• To be important, Significance
• Competence
• Sense of Personal Power
• Knowing one's own Goodness

He then said that in the modern world these factors had been substituted:

Significance substituted by Individualism
Competence substituted by Winning
Power substituted by Dominance
Goodness substituted by Affluence

He himself offered a slightly different terminology for the four and put them around a medicine wheel. (I didn't get a picture of his medicine wheel, this one I got from Cherokee Indian Art. Dr. Brokenleg is Lakota I believe.)


First, one must belong, must have significance. He gave a story about how his aunt walked four miles through a snow storm to see him and say goodbye to him when he was leaving for college. An act like that was a demonstration to him of his significance, his belonging.






Mastery (competence) comes after the belonging. It gives you the skills you need to function in life.





Mastery makes it possible for independence (power). At this point you know who you are and are not susceptible to peer pressure. In getting to independence, he said there is a difference between discipline and punishment. Punishment doesn't work. Punishment simply leads to obedience, you do it because you are forced to and someone is watching. Discipline gives one choices to learn and improve. Discipline leads to an ability to make good choices. (I should have taken better notes here so I could better explain the difference.)



Finally, when you have mastery and independence, you must share that with others. This is generosity (knowing one's goodness.)




I think there is a lot of wisdom here. I believe that raising children is the most important place we can put our energy and attention. If we raise them right, all the interventions we have created (police, drug rehabilitation, etc.) would be unnecessary. And this is as good a guide for raising children well as any I've seen.

Healing Racism in Anchorage Discussion Group Tonight

A compass piece by Grace Jang, a journalist at KTVA, was published in today's ADN. She wrote about being at a local talk radio show.

As part of the discussion, the talk show host brings up race and begins to imitate an Asian accent: "Ah, you like, ah, you know, you like a rice."

Both his guests, neither of whom is Asian American, groan disapprovingly.

Seconds later, he interrupts his guest with another Asian imitation.

And then again:

"I can dog Koreans because I'm married to one."

She goes on to write that the manager apologized to her (she's Korean-American) and she told him it was no problem. But later...

I discuss the issue with my co-workers and the response is almost unanimous: Why didn't you say something right then and there?

My response: I'm a reporter. I was there to observe. Never in my decade-long career in journalism have I ever been the story, been in the story or been part of the story -- nor do I wish to be.

But wasn't I offended as a Korean American? The host disrespected you personally and professionally.

Honestly, I respond, I hear that kind of stuff so much, it becomes white noise. Especially from a conservative radio talk show.

Later, at home, I wonder: What would I have done had I been a listener in my car? Would I have said something? Was I hiding behind my profession?

This the sort of incident that requires us to have organizations like Healing Racism in Anchorage (HRA) where people have studied the issue of racism and understand the various forms of denial. Where we have searched for techniques to gently, but seriously, explore the issue and help people learn skills to interrupt racism. (I have been on the steering committee of HRA for a number of years.) HRA was one of the sponsors of Dr. Brokenleg's week here in Anchorage.

Tonight, HRA is beginning one of our six week courses. It will meet

Thursday nights from 6:30pm - 9:30pm

at UAA's Rasmuson Hall 207A

until July 2. If you are interested you can register at the door, subject to space.


It will look at the word racism and the various meanings people attach to it. It will look at how racism in American history - from slavery to the displacement and slaughter of Native Americans to the internment of Japanese Americans in WWII - all leave a legacy that affects not only the descendants of victims, but also of the perpetrators.

The discussions are hard, but the ground rules require everyone to be respectful, and encourage everyone to honestly explore their beliefs and feelings on this topic. There is a structured curriculum based on research done on racism and the healing of racism.

The charge is $25 for members of Healing Racism Anchorage and $50 for others. (Membership costs $25)


I tend not to read the ADN online because the comments are so uncivil. I went there today to get the link. In this case though, the comments help make the point that racism is alive and well in Anchorage. People have strong beliefs and don't even realize that what they are saying reveals an ignorance about people who are different from them. There are also some more enlightened comments. Here are a few of the comments:

#
jjmichaels wrote on 05/28/2009 01:15:14 PM:

I'm very offended by these comments, because who, who, who will speak for the rice. Maybe it was offended for being likened to a Korean. And what about the Chinese? They love rice. And how can you "dog" Koreans without a barking buffet? Maybe if people weren't so thin skinned when it comes to satire and the mere use of words, there would be no racism. Your wounds are all self inflicted. Perhaps you should spend you time concerning yourselves with things that actually HURT people. I think you would have more than enough to keep your simple minded selves busy.

A little blaming the victim here. It's your fault that you're so thin skinned. Where's your sense of humor?

cafeina wrote on 05/28/2009 01:22:05 PM:

I grew up in multi-cultural neighborhoods, went to diverse schools and have always had friends from diverse backgrounds (both ethnic and social). As a child, I thought that people viewed others as individuals not as stereotypes. I didn't really know what racism was. Then I grew up.

There are many people who understand that there is only one race: human. There are people who respect and celebrate cultural diversity. Then there are those who see skin color and stereotypes only. There are those who make racist remarks without remorse. And most frighteningly, there are those who fully believe the stereotypes, racist beliefs and preconceived notions.

You absolutely have to pick your battles in order to survive in this world. But as humans, we need to speak up whenever we see injustice. That is the only way that this world will become a better place. Racism is a learned behavior. It is spread from generation to generation. The only way to end racism and hate is to spread a new message for

aabco7 wrote on 05/28/2009 01:26:10 PM:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

The concept of Americans being first and foremost something else "_(fill in the blank here with say Martian--American is divisive. We are all Americans. Or not.
Americans are indivisible according to the pledge of allegiance, not divided by color, origin etc. To continue to use this terminology is in itself horribly damaging and offensive. Stop with the hyphenated name calling!

valleydrummer wrote on 05/28/2009 01:33:03 PM:

Just to set a few things straight, the Korean people, as wonderful as they are, are not a "race". They are a nationality and have their own distinct culture. I lived there for three years and learned to love and respect their culture. I also learned during that time that they, as a group, are some of the most racist people on the planet.

The idea that cultural diversity is somehow good is nonsense. We have a culture here in the USA. We developed it by taking things we liked from many, many others. When people from other countries view us, they do not make comments about race, they just say, "american", it's too bad we don't do the same.

My experience is that most minorities in the US would be more than happy to blend in. But as Grace Jang says, " I hear that kind of stuff so much, it becomes white noise." The point is that others insist on the difference, that you aren't as American as white people.

And on the positive side, maintaining one's cultural heritage adds richness to the mix that is the United States. Certainly Italian-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans, German-Americans all can be both American and can remember their ancestry as well. I find that it is often people who have no knowledge of where their ancestors originally came from who resent those who do.

It's such a shame that people still harbor such distrust and sometimes even hate for people they don't know or undertstand.

Men Jerry Prevo Would Ban from Anchorage Schools

[Note: The pictures in this post are NOT mine. To see the source of the picture, click on the picture.]

In his ADN letter opposing the addition of "sexual orientation" to Anchorage's anti-discrimination ordinance, Reverend Jerry Provo wrote:

Maybe, worst of all, this ordinance would allow a man who teaches a second grade class or any grade to show up as a woman in the classroom and the School District could do nothing because of this ordinance.

I confess that I laughed when I read this letter last Friday. Phil had a overview of some of the blogs that showed how each point in the letter was dead wrong. The letter is ludicrous. His biggest worry was about men dressing like women. Where are his public crusades against drunk drivers? Against redlight runners? Against heterosexual adulterers? It seems to me that murder and adultery are both prohibited in the Ten Commandments, not in some obscure passage in Deuteronomy along with other obscure prohibitions that we no longer observe. After all, what is the big deal about men who want to dress like women?

Men have a long tradition of wearing clothes that are more like women's clothes than than the "pants of the family" we associate with men in the US.

Religious men, particularly, seem to like to wear gown like clothing. Probably foremost is the Pope who wears some of the most elaborate clothing of anyone in the world. But this trend is dressing in garments more like women's clothing isn't confined to Catholics. Protestants also find this appropriate for the leadership.

Like these Episcopalians.

And Russian Orthodox.

Muslims clerics don't wear trousers either.

Nor Buddhist monks. They wear robes.

Nor Hindu priests

Even rabbis.

All the religious leaders I know of are also considered teachers. Would Rev. Prevo protest any of these people teaching in an Anchorage school wearing their work clothes? (I know some people are thinking "separation of church and state," but it's ok. If they are teaching ABOUT their faith and NOT teaching their faith, it's ok. And most such religious leaders also have expertise in other areas they might teach.)

And it's not just religious leaders who wear clothing that would be more closely associated with women than men.

Surgeons wear gowns at work.

And academics also have a tradition of wearing gowns. Even our former President whom Rev. Prevo supported so strongly.






And would Rev. Prevo prevent these two gentlemen from coming to class dressed this way to talk about Scotland?


OK, these men aren't exactly dressed as women, but my assertion that what they wear is more like women's garments than men's is much closer to the truth than Prevo's various assertions about the 'horrible' things that would happen if the ordinance passed.

And what should we do about all the women teachers who come to school already wearing pants? Prevo doesn't raise this 'serious' problem. My belief is that in our society it's less of a problem for a woman to dress like a man, because it's natural for people to want to be mistaken for the people who have the most power. But it seems perverted, to some people, for people with power, to try to be like those with less power. So men shouldn't dress like women. It's giving away their male based privilege.

Sorry I can't let go of this quite yet. I suspect Prevo knows this is ludicrous, and he probably knows that those who introduced the ordinance did so because they think they have the votes to pass it. Last December, Frank Schaeffer was interviewed on National Public Radio. You can hear the interview at the link. From the NPR page:

Frank Schaeffer's parents, Francis and Edith, were best-selling authors who were instrumental in linking the evangelical community with the anti-abortion movement.

But after coming of age as an evangelist and helping to organize religious fundamentalists politically, Schaeffer had a crisis of faith: Though he is pro-life, he decided that abortion should remain legal.

One of the things he says in the interview is that abortion and gay issues were no big deal with his father when Frank (the son) was little. They became big issues for evangelicals because whenever they talked about them, they got lots and lots of donations.

So, I'm guessing that Prevo has a knee jerk reaction to the word 'gay'. It's less about stopping the ordinance than it's about raising money. This letter isn't aimed at the vast majority of people in Anchorage. It's far too silly. It's aimed at the rabidly ignorant who will open their wallets to fight the 'perverts.' So when Prevo writes:

It would allow any man to dress like a woman and use any public women's restroom. Ladies, do you want that to happen?

it's to alarm those folks who don't think into supporting Prevo's high lifestyle.

Of course, thinkers would shake their heads in disbelief. What's to stop men from dressing up as women now and going into women's bathrooms? The law? It's illegal to go through red lights, to litter, to beat up women, yet people do these things every day. And when the ordinance has passed and is law, I promise you that it won't prevent the police from arresting men who dress as women to get into women's restrooms.

First, the ordinance says:

The assembly finds that invidious discrimination in the sale or rental of real
property, financing practices, employment practices, public accommodations, educational institutions, and practices of the municipality, based upon race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, marital status, age, veteran’s status, or physical or mental disability, adversely affects the welfare of the community. Accordingly, such discrimination is prohibited.

Only the bold is new language. It is already illegal based on sex. So using Prevo's logic, men already can't be prevented from using the women's room. But simple practical logic tells us that since men already have an equal, alternative place to wash their hands, they aren't being discriminated against. In fact at big events, the lines are usually longer at the women's restrooms, not the men's. Sexual orientation doesn't change the fact that gay men are still men. So the same logic that applies to "sex" will apply to "sexual orientation." If it didn't happen when 'sex' became a protected class, it won't happen now.

Second, even if the ordinance did what Prevo asserts, the sexual orientation clause wouldn't save men who dress up as women to get into the women's room. Why not? Simple. Gay men aren't sexually interested in women. It is only straight men who would try to see women's private parts exposed. And they couldn't claim they were being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

There is one serious issue here though. Transgender folks. Despite what we've been taught, the distinction between men and women is not as clear cut as we tend to believe. This topic is far too complicated to start after I've already written so much here. My advice is for people to read Eugenides' Middlesex. Wikipedia says:

Middlesex is a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides. It was published in 2002 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003.

The narrator and protagonist, Calliope Stephanides (later called "Cal"), an intersexed person of Greek descent, has 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. The bulk of the novel is devoted to telling his coming-of-age story growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the late 20th century.

I'm not an expert on this topic, but this novel gives at least one view of the topic in a way that makes the issue understandable to people who otherwise might dismiss people having a sex change as crazy. And it is a well written and interesting story. I would say this is the easiest way to get a good understanding of the topic.

I raise this because there are people who, as they are transitioning from one gender to another, will be using new restrooms. (I notice that Prevo isn't worried about women coming into men's rooms.) If someone reads Middlesex, and their mind isn't totally shut down, they will understand that these people pose no threat at all to women in the restroom.

I'm not satisfied with what I've found on the topic online for those who want to know more, but are not ready to get Middlesex from the library. Here's the Mayo Clinic's take on ambiguous genitalia.

Dr. Brokenleg Breakfast

Dr. Martin Brokenleg spoke at a breakfast meeting (ugh) this morning, and I managed to get there in time. I'm writing this because

• He was a very good speaker
• He lived the tolerance he talked about - at least the way he talked
• He has an important message about race (and class) that I think is the best approach I've heard about (and is closely related to the Healing Racism in Anchorage approach)
• He was funny.

And because he is going to talk again tonight for free at UAA from 5:30-8:30pm. Even if you can't get there on time, I'd say come anyway. There will be some light refreshments first. It will be at Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

I'd note, he did mention that he told the deaf interpreter that he wouldn't watch her, because his brother is deaf and watching her is like hearing an echo and totally distracting.

A note on the quality of the photo above. My pocket sized Canon allows me to take the camera anywhere unobtrusively. I've found a number of hotels do a terrible job about lighting for speakers. Dr. Brokenleg spoke in a dark spot in the room. I like the more natural feel of not using a flash. And I also feel as a blogger, I want to get an audience eye view of things and I don't usually want to go up in front of everyone to take a picture.

Morels are Back

Our backyard seems to produce more morels each year. Or maybe we're better at finding them. I spotted a total of about ten this morning.
Alaska is a great place to find mushrooms, many delicious. When we first discovered the wide array of mushrooms in Anchorage (a particularly rainy summer) we also discovered mushroom field guides. So I would warn that there is something called a false morel that you shouldn't eat. I'm not sure they grow here but know your mushroom before eating. From the Missouri Department of Conservation:

Every mushroom hunter should be familiar with the three most dangerous groups of fungi. These are the amanitas, the false morels and a catch-all category known as little brown mushrooms (LBMS). Mushrooms in these groups cause virtually all the fatal mushroom poisonings in the United States, with amanitas alone accounting for 90 percent of mushroom-related deaths. The pictures and descriptions on the following pages will help you avoid them.

But we also learned that summer, that "poisonous" in mushroom books is often a euphemism for "halucinagenic". But even they can make you pretty sick if taken in too large a dose. For two different recommendations on Amanitas, check out a post from two summers ago. It's down in the middle of the page. You can't miss the bright red mushrooms.

It seems morel hunting is becoming a popular sport. Here's a northern Michigan site with lots of morel information.

And here's a morel recipe page. Some of these recipes would seem to totally hide the flavor of morel with batter. I agree with the "less is more" approach. Saute some onion and garlic in little olive oil, then add the morels.

Dogs, Therapist, and Autustic Kids

I think the last post was called "Catching Up." It's not going to happen. I'm back from Seward, J1 should be in LA by now, meaning she felt J was going to survive without her around. I know that various nearby friends of his, of ours, of his sister have volunteered to help out.

So I'll break these down into discrete posts. I called the therapist Thursday to see if I could get my exercises before the long weekend. She squeezed me in and it's a short walk from home. So I have a page of exercises and the splint is gone. Just this minimal way to keep the two finger buddy system working, and I can slip it off for washing, typing, etc.

Therapist has two dogs in the office. They checked to see if I was ok with them - after I was sniffed. I am ok with them. I asked something about dogs and therapy and sensing the injuries of the patients. What I got in response was stories about how the dogs work wonders with autistic kids in for physical therapy. The dogs know immediately that these kids are different and instead of playing with them as they do with other kids, they just lie down and get real calm, often with a head in the kid's lap.

And the kids who normally are off the wall suddenly calm down too. Seems there is some research to do here. The news had stuff about dogs demonstrating moral thinking last week, so when will this come out?

Of course I can't ask that question without going to google. Here's the first thing I found at Pet Palace: (Pet Palace is also paying for at least part of the study)

Program Uses Dogs to Help Autistic Kids

By: Susan Rubinowitz

Dr. Francois Martin sought parents who wanted to place their autistic children in a program of therapy sessions with a counselor and a dog. Martin is a doctor of ethology (someone who specializes in studying behavior) who also studied human psychology. He wanted to see if a close rapport with an animal and a therapist would help the children learn to express their feelings and interact spontaneously with another being – socialization traits that are lacking in children stricken by the devastating neurological disorder.

The article goes on to describe the research that is in progress with 12 kids. You can get to it at any of the the links above.

And North Star Foundation has service dogs for autistic children.

Creating a service dog placement for a child with autism differs from creating placements between service dogs and physically challenged adults. From puppy hood on, the philosophy of training the dog and the timetable for placement has to be tailored to the unique needs of the child and move in tandem with the dog's natural development. [more at the link]

Catching up again - Broken Ribs and Dislocated Finger Mending, Dr. Brokenleg Coming

I've been a little unfocused. I had another post to put up from the Energy Conference Monday, but the video wouldn't work right. But here's a picture of the Chester Creek Bike Trail, somewhere between New Seward and Lake Otis.Going places by bike has given me some much needed outdoor, exercise, and nature time.

J1 did get to San Francisco from Seattle to take J home from the hospital Monday and to look after him for a while. Local friends there have come by and offered help. As of this evening he can walk up and down the stairs, he walked a bit outside today, but he has a lot of abrasions all over and a few missing chunks that the doctor said would heal themselves eventually. The police report won't be available for ten days, but we can talk to the police officer who took the report on Saturday. I think J1 said she has a name and a commercial license plate. Apparently no word from the person who hit J, but then I suspect he may not be easy to track down. No, I'm being generous, you can get his blog easily through google.

I woke up too late Tuesday to go to the second day of the conference and so I took advantage of the continued good weather (it's clouded over somewhat tonight) and ran and did garden stuff. Then in the afternoon I went to my Thai class. These started at Wat Alaska (the Thai Buddhist Temple near C and Fireweed) on Tuesday afternoons soon after we got back. I'm hoping to not only keep where I am, but make some progress. It's been a lot of fun. And I'm learning a lot more about monks and Thai temples and words that go with that as well as other things. We're also going back and doing some basics I skipped when I started learning to read Thai.

My regular teacher said he would be in Juneau this week and I would have a substitute - a visiting monk from Thailand. Long story short, I'm taking him to Seward tomorrow and Friday we'll try to see whales. He can't eat after noon, just drink. But he doesn't have to get up at 4 am to chant when we're in Seward.

After Thai I went to the steering committee meeting of Healing Racism Anchorage. Dr. Martin Brokenleg will be in Anchorage on Tuesday - HRA is one of the sponsors. There will be a community discussion Tuesday night at Wendy Williamson Auditorium from 5:30 to 8:30 - yes there will be some snacks, and it's free. Here's UAA's announcement.

Tuesday, May 26, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Wendy Williamson Auditorium

The community is invited to participate in a meaningful and authentic dialogue about race and diversity. Participants will also gain an awareness of the ethnic and cultural experiences that are in Anchorage and explore how to interrupt racism. For 30 years Dr. Brokenleg was a professor of Native American studies at Augustana College of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has consulted and led training programs throughout North America, New Zealand, and South Africa. Dr. Brokenleg will present and facilitate the participatory, community dialogue. How can Anchorage as a community comfortably explore, interrupt and address racism?

Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

Healing Racism's next six week seminar, "Building Alliances to End Racism" will begin May 28 and go through July 2 on Thursday evenings. You can
email me for more details.




This afternoon I had new x-rays and the physician assistant said they were good and now the buddy finger is free and the splint is just on the recovering finger. I'm even typing normal, or somewhat normal. You can't touch type if you can't feel and the splint is over the tip of that finger. I'm supposed to call a physical therapist tomorrow. I think that's overkill for the finger, but she's a two minute walk from the house, so I'll do it. but it is straight and normal looking.

Business of Clean Energy in Alaska Conference 2

1:30-3:00pm
Industry Perspectives: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Capital Investments
A look at the capital market for the EE/RE sectors. panel will include industry and investment experts. Panelists will discuss how policy incentives impact their business decisions.

• Moderator: Justin Klure Pacific Energy Ventures

• 
  Ed Feo Partner, Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, LLP, Los Angeles CA
• Alan Kirn Director-Renewable Energy Solutions, Johnson Controls, Inc, St. Louis MO
• Dorthe Nielsen Manager of Government Relations, Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc, Portland OR

Dorthe is reading her company's commercial. Very disappointing after two info rich presentation. But she will have succeeded in making people aware of wind company Vestas.

But my impression from the earlier panel was reinforced by the first two speakers. The first, an attorney, talked about the radically changing financial market and incentives that support energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and cleaning the environment. The model, according to his talk, is definitely changing toward green, in fact has changed.

The second speaker, from Johnson controls, also emphasizes how fast things have changed in just the last year. "I've never seen as much change as in the last year." He went on to talk about things like how decision making on projects used to be 90% based on economics, and now often more than 50% of the decision making criteria relate to social and environmental impacts.



Alan Kirn had this slide showing Alaska to be the be the highest energy using state per capita in the US. But a questioner at the end pointed out that the oil production on the North Slope had a lot to do with that level of consumption yet that oil isn't for Alaska's consumption, but everyone else's. He also said that our high carbon production was associated with all the cargo jets that merely stop here to supply others in the world.

It would be interesting to separate that out and to see how much Alaskans consume in a more appropriate comparison to other states.

[Click on pictures to enlarge.]

And Kirn also offered this slide suggesting ways Alaska could improve its record.

If it wasn't clear before, it is now, that our Governor is so lacking in understanding of these issues. I don't know where she is today (for all I know she opened the meeting when I wasn't here). But it's a shame she hasn't been here listening.

Business of Clean Energy in Alaska Conference 1 -

I came into as the panel had just started:

10:45-12:15pm
Attracting Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Businesses: Effective Policy and the Impact On the State’s Economy
A discussion of the means by which Alaska can attract EE /RE businesses to the state through policy design.

• Moderator: Larry Flowers National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

• Lori Bird Senior Analyst, NREL, Golden CO
• Noah Long National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), San Francisco CA
• Thomas J. Tuffey Director, PennFuture Center for Energy Enterprise and Environment, West Chester PA

The pictures show the speakers in order. The moderator is on the right of the podium.


Here's what I got out of this session:

Three key terms we should know:
Feeding Tariffs
Net Metering
Decoupling

I'll try to put links up to these later.







The basic issue is mental. People are so used to the old way of doing things, plus large traditional energy companies have set up regulatory environments that favor themselves and the status quo. But these panelists convinced me that there are very feasible alternative futures if we can let go of the old models.





And that's happening everywhere. California was Noah's subject. He said his presentation was online, and I'll try to link to it later.





Tuffey impressed me the most. He talked about the nitty gritty work of getting organized, getting credibility through expertise, and working with the key players, including businesses to help them understand their opportunities. Go to all the utility rate setting meetings and be involved in all work on regulations and lawmaking. He spoke without slides and spoke with conviction and with connection to the audience the other two speakers didn't have.

As always, this is just a snapshot to give you a sense of what is going on here at the Denaina Center in Anchorage. Given my bandaged together fingers I decided to had write my notes (right hand is ok).

J's Bike Accident Update

J was hurt more than the first call indicated, which I didn't learn till his roommate called after 9pm here. He spent last night in the hospital for observation. Everything should heal fine, but he's got some adjusting to do. Broken clavicle, four broken ribs and lots of abrasions. But he had his helmet on and his head and neck are fine. It turned out a car swerved onto the highway shoulder and hit him from behind. He went onto the hood and ended up about 20 feet away. But there were lots of people around. And help apparently was there fast. Then I had to find my wife - J1 - in Seattle and then I worked on changing J1's ticket from Seattle to LA into Seattle-SFO-LAX.

I won't bother you with details, but I had to call AK airlines at 4am when they open, but their solution was about $250 more than I eventually could do myself online. And my body is numb with the possibilities of what could have happened. As it is he could go home today or tomorrow. He'll just have sling so his arm doesn't weigh down on his clavicle.

So, knowing J1 should be with J this afternoon, I'm here at the "Business of Clean Energy in Alaska Conference" now, later than I intended. And if you ever wanted to visit Alaska, today is the day. The weather is spectacular. And I was glad I could bike downtown away from traffic here in Anchorage.

Broken Bones and Abrasions

Just got a call for my wife (who's visiting our daughter in Seattle).

"I'm someone, mumble (radio's on can't hear it that well) emergency mumble."

Must be someone asking for money. Or someone J met.

"Wait, WHO ARE YOU?"

"From the Stanford Hospital Emergency room, her son's been in an accident, but he's ok."

"I'm his dad."

"He has abrasions and maybe some broken bones. Nothing too serious."

"On his bike?"

"Yes. You can come and visit him if you like now."

"I would, yes, but I'm in Anchorage. He's fully conscious right? He can tell you who can pick him up right?"

"Yes he'll call his roommate when he's done."

Having merely dislocated one finger - and some abrasions - on Wednesday I can really feel for the poor boy. I hope you get better quickly! Sorry I can't drive over and offer some comfort. If it helps any, my finger's feeling much better already. I'm tempted to take off the bandages, but I'll wait til I see the physician assistant Wednesday afternoon.

Get better, being banged up isn't fun. I'm really sorry it happened. I won't be mushy on the blog, but I'm thinking it.

I don't even know what happened. Accident with a car? Just the bike? Which bones? My gut short circuited my brain and I didn't think to ask or even get a phone number.

Finally Got Some Rain

But the sky is blue again now.

Alaskan Among Google Doodle Finalists

Google's put up a link to their doodle contest for school kids. Normally I wouldn't promote such a blatant attempt to brainwash kids and get cheap art work, but there's an Alaskan among the finalists.
Geordey Sherrick from Juneau Douglas High School was the Region 10 winner in the grades 10-12 category. From what I can tell from the contest rules, he has already won a trip to New York on May 20.

But now the voting is open to the public, so if you want to vote for him, or any other regional finalist, you can vote here. I happen to think Geordey's is the best of his grade level - simple, clean, and elegant.

There were two state finalists for each level.

The other Alaska 10-12th grade winner is Alexandra Crowder.

The Alaska 7-9th grade winners are:

Kyra Laulainen and

Katherine Seeman

Alaska's 4-6th grade winners are

Michael Parnaell and

Malia Transue

And the Alaska K-3rd grade winners are

Elijah Griffin and

May Geml

Contests with two winners per state are great opportunities for people living in states with small populations like Alaska.

Dennis Zaki's Alaska Bird Video

Here's a sampler of Alaska spring migration through Southcentral Alaska.

Spring Birds of Alaska from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.

New Understanding of Torture Debate

The xray tech said he couldn't interpret for me, but it was pretty clear the finger the socket wasn't where it belonged.

After medication to numb it, the doctor pulled the finger back into place.

There's also a tiny crack, so my finger's been immobilized. He called this a buddy wrap - two fingers together. The typing isn't good, but using one finger on on my left hand and the right normal, it's better than I expected.

But I think there may be more pics and fewer words for a while.


Hit a crack in the sidewalk running. And don't tell me what they did in Gitmo et al wasn't torture. I have a new respect for pain. Fortunately I was a couple of houses from home when I fell.

Catch Up Post

We've had almost three weeks of sunshine and warmth. Hard to stay in and post. So here are some pictures from the last week or so.

Police car finds a way through the traffic on New Seward by
driving up on the bike trail and then across Benson. Fortunately I'd chosen to take the BP bike path instead of the path on New Seward.

We had dinner with Frank Gold and his wife. We originally met Frank in Bangkok two years ago, where he spends part of the year. But he's a Fairbanks oldtimer.

Our cottonwoods are shedding their sticky, but sweetly fragrant leaf covers. I've been sweeping the deck every morning, but they still manage to slip into the kitchen by sticking to the bottom of my feet. At least it smells great.

A view of Mt. Spur and Fire Island from friends' house on the hillside where we had dinner last night. Redoubt wasn't visible and this picture was late in the evening after things had cleared up somewhat.

And our great weather has brought out lots of bikes,
but there were more than bikes out.

We went to a birthday party Saturday that included a pinata.

Ripples abstract the the birch reflections at Goose Lake.

The Man in the Attic - Out North - Acting a Different Culture

In the first post on this world-premiere of Timothy Daly's play, The Man in the Attic, presented at Out North Theater in Anchorage, I said there were parts I liked and one I didn't. In the first post I discussed the part of "Speaker" which I liked a lot.

In this post I want to talk about the issue of producing a play where the language and culture of the actors and audience are different those from the those of the characters in the play. In this case the play, by an Australian playwright, was put on in English in the United States. The play was about Germans at the end of World War II.

The first time I can remember thinking about this issue was long ago watching American movies dubbed in Thai. Imagine John Wayne or Steve McQueen speaking Thai. It was a joke, which destroyed the mood of the movies. I also recognize that Thais didn't react as I did.

But many people don't want to read subtitles in a movie. I suppose there are people who simply can't read that fast. I know trying to read Thai subtitles was totally out of the question for me. I just couldn't read that fast. It is often difficult to impossible to read the subtitles through the gaps between the heads in front of you. Opera has found a way to scroll the words being sung in 'surtitles' above the stage.

But switching languages can change everything. Language is more than content. Language is a major conveyor of culture. Even if you don't understand the words, you learn something about the other culture, experientially, by hearing it. Language also affects how people's tongues and lips move and how their whole body moves. Language affects who you are and what you do.

When I asked Thai teachers, long ago, to write in English on topics like "The Most Important Day of My Life" they wrote very personal, often tragic stories they would absolutely never have told me out loud in Thai. I always hypothesized that something about writing in English freed them to say things they normally would never discuss. As though English wasn't quite real. Certainly, when you learn profanity in another language, it doesn't have the same emotional impact as the equivalents in your mother language.

When I talked about this with friends, a married couple - he's from Romania and she's from France - they started exploring this idea. She immediately said that she is a very different person in French than in English; she's much more sarcastic in French. He said he was glad they met in English. He recounted an incident in Paris recently where he was dropping off the family in the middle of traffic and they were taking their time getting out of the car and he was feeling pressure from the other drivers. He finally shouted "Get Out" in English. He said he would never have said anything like that to his parents in Romanian. (In another cultural insight, his wife said Paris drivers don't worry about the horns of other drivers at all.) I'm convinced that language is important to who we are and how we behave.

If anyone is still with me, I'm ready to get back to the play.

When you are putting on a play in which the characters speak a language (here German) different from the audience (in this case English,) you don't have a lot of choices. Putting on this play in German wasn't an option. The play itself was written in English. The audience would miss too much if it were all in German. You can't use subtitles, and opera's LED surtitles were certainly too expensive for this little theater. I did find one post on surtitles for traveling productions of plays. Of course subtitles and surtitles distract the audiences from watching the actors closely. One solution - at times with dreadful results - is to have the actors use German accents. Or you can just go with English (in this case). So, with all this background, I can explain the problem I had with this play.

The actor who played the Nazi husband had a strong American twang in his voice. It just did not work for me at all. The only time I thought he was right was the 30 seconds or so when he played the role of an American military officer - then he fit perfectly. It wasn't just the voice. Americans talk and walk and move with a freedom that is very different from how Germans - especially at the end of WW II hiding a Jew in their attic - talk, walk, and move. (My parents were refugees from Germany and I spent the school year of 1964-65 in Germany.)

The other actors also spoke English, but with much more neutral accents. And their body language was much more subdued so I could believe their parts - particularly the wife who looked hungry and timid. The man in the attic looked a little too well fed for his part, but otherwise carried his part off well as did the neighbor.

I do thank Out North for making plays like this available in Anchorage, for taking risks, and for challenging our local actors to higher levels. I'm sure the director, Dick Reichman, had a lot to do with this.

The Temple by ...

One of the unintended consequences of having a blog is that occasionally I get a flurry of google searches for a topic that alerts me that something is going on. Generally it's not anything particularly important, but some group of people somewhere are suddenly interested in a topic and the search words they are using get some of them to my blog. It happened in mid-March when the Oregon farmer Steve Keudell was electrocuted. The search terms "Steve" and "blog" got them here. In that case I actually posted about it to try to redirect traffic to a site where they might actually get the information they wanted. And people sent me his site url. And, I'm pleased to report that he seems to be recovering well. Friday, the following was posted on his blog:

Steve is continuing his recovery at Emanuel Hospital at the Burn Center in Portland. He will be there possibly through Monday before he gets moved to the Rehab. Institute of Oregon (RIO) at Good Samaritan Hopsital. One of the reasons for the delay in the move is the nursing/medical side of his condition. For now, Steve still needs medical attention to his arm wound. Family visitors are keeping Steve company and he is still having physical therapies every day.

Yesterday, Steve composed the following message:

"I thank all of you who have been following my progress on the blog. Your concern and prayers have overwhelmed me. My recovery would not have been possible without all of your love and support. I am anxious to get on with my physical therapy and continuing recovery. I'm looking forward to giving all of you a handshake and a hug after I get home."

When I suddenly got a lot of people searching for Mary Beth Kepner I knew that something new must have happened in the Ted Stevens case.

And recently I began getting people searching for Elizabeth Gloria Pounds. I'd mentioned her in a post about the memorial for her mother Toni. When I asked a friend why, I learned that, sadly, Elizabeth had died too.

So last night, and again this morning, I started getting people searching for things like

• find birthtown of poet, author of the temple, born in 1909
• poet born 1909 the temple

What was this all about? Looking at the result of one of the google searches that got them to my post on Famous People Born in 1909, I found this link to the Times:

Win a week’s holiday for two on Rhodes,
as the guest of On the Beach.

Read the article below and answer the questions at the end of the text. Clues to the answers can be found within the text:

Letter to Puzzle-loving Friend: "Guess where I am: the land of a favourite television programme, where many outdoor scenes were filmed. Indeed, if you read this note carefully, you will find the first letters of a certain number of consecutive words. When joined (without rearranging), they make a catch phrase for which it is known. The centre for outdoor filming was this town, once capital of an ancient kingdom.

It was also the birthplace, in 1737, of an author; writings include Common Sense...

Included, further down, is this clue which got people to What Do I Know?

My search for televisual nostalgia has already taken me further afield — 40 miles north-northeast to a village station. It’s just west of a second town, where a poet (born 1909; works include The Temple) spent part of his childhood.

The answers the contest is looking for are to these questions:

1 Name the programme and catch phrase

2 What is the name of the second town?

Well, it turns out that there are a few poems called "The Temple." The first poet that comes up in google is George Herbert, but that turns out to be a book of poems called "The Temple" and he was born in 1593 anyway.

Next I found

The Temple by Amy Lowell

Between us leapt a gold and scarlet flame.
Into the hollow of the cupped, arched blue
Of Heaven it rose. Its flickering tongues up-drew
And vanished in the sunshine. How it came
We guessed not, nor what thing could be its name.
From each to each had sprung those sparks which flew
Together into fire. But we knew
The winds would slap and quench it in their game.
And so we graved and fashioned marble blocks
To treasure it, and placed them round about.
With pillared porticos we wreathed the whole,
And roofed it with bright bronze. Behind carved
locks
Flowered the tall and sheltered flame. Without,
The baffled winds thrust at a column's bole.

But she's a women and the clue refers to the poet as 'he.' And she was born in 1874.

Next came:

Kenneth Patchen - The Temple

To leave the earth was my wish, and no will stayed my rising.
Early, before sun had filled the roads with carts
Conveying folk to weddings and to murders;
Before men left their selves of sleep, to wander
In the dark of the world like whipped beasts.

I took no pack. I had no horse, no staff, no gun.
I got up a little way and something called me,
Saying,
'Put your hand in mine. We will seek God together.'
And I answered, 'It is your father who is lost, not mine.'
Then the sky filled with tears of blood, and snakes sang.

But he was born in 1911.


Next:

THE TEMPLE

WHAT of Louvain and of Rheims
Made for God by man? What then?
Here be temples more than man's
Wrought by God for His own men.

Scattered in the rain and frost,
Marred of beauty, there they be,
Temples of the Holy Ghost,
Broken, ruined piteously.

Bodies all so finely wrought,
Cunning deftness shaped them well;
These, God's ultimate, loving thought
For His Spirit's citadel.

Beautiful from head to foot,
Young, dear darlings all unflawed
For their mother's kiss. What brute
Dares deface the image of God?

Oh, the Temple's down! all marred
Gay and golden boys must lie:
Bitter-sweet as spikenard
Is the old name we called them by.

Hush! God's Temple in its fall
Breaks to set the spirit free
From the golden cage and thrall.
Into heaven-winged liberty.

From the cage the bird is flown,
Sings so high above our sphere.
Hush,--be never a sigh or moan:
The fledged bird flies without fear.

All our loves are gathered in,
Every gay and golden lad;
On new raiment, white and clean,
They behold God and are glad.

But the name attached is Tynan, Katharine. Another woman. Nothing against women, but they were looking for a male poet here. And just so I don't leap to conclusions about the gender based on the name, I checked.

Katharine Tynan (23 January 1861 – 2 April 1931) was an Irish-born writer, known mainly for her novels and poetry.

The date doesn't work either.


There's another book:

God on the Hill: Temple Poems from Tirupati
by Velcheru Narayana Rao , David Shulman

This clue isn't going anywhere. It's easier to start with the birthplace of the author of Common Sense, which I had to read in school. So where was Tom Paine born? Wikipedia says he was born in January 29, 1737 Thetford, NorfolkGreat Britain.

Using google maps we can easily find what's 40 miles northeast of Thetford (A on the map):








Norwich seems too big to be a village station. (According to Wikipedia it was the second largest city - after London - in the 11th Century. So I googled "the M&GNR, heritage railway. Norwich" which got me to this list of historic railways in Norfolk (Norwich is in Norfolk):

Norfolk is home to several Heritage railways and preserved stations.

North Norfolk Railway

The North Norfolk Railway operates a five mile route between Holt and Sheringham on the Norfolk coast. It was preserved in 1964, and the extension to Holt opened in 1987.^[1]

Mid-Norfolk Railway

The Mid-Norfolk Railway operates an eleven and a half mile route between Dereham and Wymondham Abbey. A further six mile extension to County School railway station is planned. It is also proposed to connect the line to the National Rail main line at Wymondham railway station.^[2]

Bure Valley Railway

The Bure Valley Railway is a 15 inch gauge railway that runs for nine miles between Aylsham and Wroxham.^[3]

Wells and Walsingham Light Railway

The Wells and Walsingham is a 4 ft 8½ in gauge railway which runs for four miles from Wells-next-the-Sea to Walsingham.

Checking each of these was tedious and not giving the information I was looking for - a station built in 1901. But as I was doing all this the name of Stephen Spender popped up.

Well, back on my list of people born in 1909 is a British poet - Stephen Spender. But when I checked on him earlier I saw that he was born in London, so I was looking for a different poet. But as I double-checked the contest clues, it doesn't say that he was born in this village, but spent time there. It pays to read carefully the first time. So I quickly looked up Stephen Spender and Wikipedia says

Spender was born Kensington, London, to journalist, Edward Harold Spender and Violet Hilda Schuster, a painter and poet.^[2] He went to Gresham's School, Holt and later Charlecote School in Worthing, but was unhappy there.

Worthing is in West Sussex, so that leaves Holt. Holt is on the list of historic railways. Back to google maps.


Holt is five miles west of Sherringham which is also on that list. So, Holt seems to be the answer they want for question 2.

[Update 4pm - Something's not right here. The village station that's "now part of a heritage railroad" is "just west of a second town, where a poet..." But Holt (where the Spender spent part of his childhood) is west of Sherringham. "Just east" would work fine since Sherringham is five miles east of Holt. But after a bit more checking, there are two towns on the Mid-Norfolk Heritage Railway line that look to be under 10 miles west of Holt - Fakenham and Wells-next-the-Sea. So Holt can still be the answer to question 2.]

So, why couldn't I find the poem "The Temple" by Stephen Spender. Googling "Stephen Spender The Temple" gives us the answer. Those puzzle makers are very sneaky. Yes, Spender was a poet. But his work "The Temple" was a novel. From Wikipedia:

The Temple is a novel written by Stephen Spender.

This novel was written after Spender spent his summer vacation in Germany in 1929 and recounts his experiences there. It was not completed, however, until the early 1930's (after Spender had failed his finals at Oxford University in 1930 and moved to Hamburg). Its frank depictions of homosexuality made it impossible to publish in the UK though, stopping it from being published in the UK until 1988.

It would have really been embarrassing if I had done all this sleuthing and it turned out that The Temple was mentioned in my short bio on Spender in the Famous People Born in 1909 post. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. There I listed his novel "World within World."

So, if anyone reading this wins the trip to Rhodes, the least you can do is send me a postcard.

The Man in the Attic - Out North - Role of the Speaker

Anchorage's Out North Theater was the setting for the world premiere of Australian playwright Timothy Daly's play, The Man in the Attic. I think it’s neat when we get to see world premieres (of non-Alaskan) plays here.

This is not a review of the play. I haven’t had enough time to process it, nor, having seen it just once, am I sure I can make any serious pronouncements without going back to see if my recollections are accurate..

The premise is an interesting twist on an old familiar theme - the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. What is it about Nazi Germany that fascinates writers so much more than other human persecution and suffering around the world? (I write this aware from the program that Black Cockerel of Africa - another world premiere - is up next at Out North.) Is it because both the persecutors and persecuted are white? Is it because the context is already so familiar that the audience already understands who the good guys and bad guys are?

I realize that when I say I haven’t processed the play yet, I’m really stalling. Overall the play kept my attention. There were a few things I really liked, one I didn’t, and that while there were moments - like the man in the attic’s debate with God - of above average interest, for the most part the script was ordinary. The language conveyed the content, but the words didn’t dazzle me, say, the way they do in a Tom Stoppard play.

But let’s also remember that the cast was local Alaskans with acting experience, but not world class actors. I’m reminded of this because Bernie Blaine, the actor who played “Speaker,” did manage to elevate all her lines into riveting speech.

But I’d like to explore two ideas that came from the experience of the play. The first is about acting in a play that is set in a different culture and language. The second is about the device of “Speaker” the part that combined the roles of Greek chorus, narrator, alter ego, and a few more. Bernie herself, after the play, described her part as "the literary device."

I’ll do Speaker first and language in a second post.

The basic set was a small house and attic that were open to the audience. To the right were two chairs where one or two actors sat when they were not in the scene and where action in the neighbor’s house took place. On the left was “Speaker” sitting at a table with electronic equipment. She confused me at first. She began, if I remember correctly, as a narrator giving the audience asides. “This is a story” I remember her saying. But she also said things that the actors echoed. And this was done so well it seemed totally natural. Later in the play she actually got up and gave one of the characters a prop. At other times she would prod a particular actor into examining something more closely. And all the while she was controlling the music and other sound effects. This latter role I think was the director’s idea, not the playwright’s.

This part grew on me as the play went on. I think in part it was because of the actor’s great voice and persona. She was a bit like the lion tamer at the circus - keeping the actors performing, prompting them now and then, seemingly in charge (controlling the music added to this sense) but trying to keep out of the spotlight as much as possible.

Why was this role in the play? Was it merely to make sure the audience understood the story line? Did it have some greater metaphorical meaning, perhaps intended to mimic the way the Germans controlled the stories the man in the attic heard? Or the way the Nazi’s controlled the stories the Germans heard? I don’t see direct parallels.

In any case, it was nicely done and added greatly to my playwatching experience.

Part II is here.

Biking Good and Bads

First the bad. Dimond Blvd. between Old Seward and King Street. The shared trail along the street was thick with dust, sand, gravel and whatever else they used on the snow this winter. This makes riding - particularly if you have to make a sharp swerve or sudden stop - hazardous.





But there was an exception on this strip - all along where the Red Robin was. Someone from the Red Robin came out as I was taking the picture so I thanked him and confirmed that they did clean the sidewalk/trail. He said yes they did. Then added that he rides a bike. A little reminder that we see what we know and that people who bike see the parts of the world differently than people who don't. Again, thanks Red Robin for cleaning the path.


And now the good. I rode over to the Alaska Mac Store near the Dimond Mall (it moved from Old Seward and Tudor) for a Garage Band class via Lake Otis because I was cutting the time a little close. It took about 25 minutes from right near UAA. The trail along Lake Otis was nicely cleared of grit and sand, though on Lore Street and other streets much of the sand/gravel has just been pushed into what ought to be the bike lane. Also, to be clear, there are four Apple stores I know of in Anchorage. There's also the Mac Haus across the street from REI on Northern Lights, the Tech Zone upstairs at the UAA bookstore (their website is particularly lame), and the Apple Shop at Best Buy (their website is marginally better than UAA's, but it's not local) on Dimond.

After the class, I took the Campbell Creek trail home. I got on the trail from King Street at Taku Lake.




The feasibility of biking places is really in people's heads. If you're like most people, you just assume it's not possible. If you have two kids and a dog and need to stop at Costco it probably isn't, but if you're by yourself and need to go five miles or less each way and don't need to carry more than you can fit in a backpack (or bike basket) it is feasible. OK, if you haven't ridden a bike in ten years, maybe you should take a weekend leisurely ride to get your body accustomed first. But in Chiang Mai, we didn't have a car and it was bike or walk for most things. We even got good riding in Chiang Mai traffic. There are almost no bike paths and the sidewalks are hard enough to walk on let alone ride on. And back in Anchorage we've moved into assuming we're going by bike unless we have a good reason why that won't work.

In Anchorage, if your trip is in the right direction, you can do part of your ride in the woods. Mentally, riding along Campbell Creek, listening to the birds and the water, is much better than driving on any street in town. It's like a hidden wonderland, no cars allowed.

And for these short distances - even on the way back with lots of stopping to take pictures it was only about 35 minutes - it's not that much slower than driving. And definitely faster than waiting for the bus.

1 is near the Red Robin on Dimond.
2 is where I got on the trail at Taku Lake
3 is the Seward Highway. Here you get on a dirt trail and have to walk - even carry - the bike to get under the four bridges (a frontage road on each side and one bridge for north and one for southbound traffic) (This is scheduled for a real trail, but I don't know when.)
4 is Lake Otis where I left the trail and headed home. (The map is a creek map, not a bike trail map. 3-4 you don't go along the creek, but at 4 you get back to the creek.)

It then goes on a loops around over Tutor at Bragaw and connects to the Chester Creek trail and downtown. I'm hoping to post a guide for how to find the trail at the missing parts to do the whole loop including the Coastal Trail.

Bob Poe and Other Guests on CC 4pm Today KWMD

I never thought I'd be putting up advertising here. Well, this is an announcement for a non-commercial community radio talk show.

Cutting Edge with CC today from 4 - 7 pm on KWMD

104.5 FM and 87.7 FM in Anchorage,
90.7 Kenai.
92.5 Eagle River
107.9 Wasilla

Guests include Cary Carrigan, Patti Higgins, Bob Poe and The Demo Memo with Sen. Johnny Ellis!

Phone in at 771-0205.

They'll have an 800 number to give out at 4:00 pm.

Dennis Zaki is Getting His Brother Married in Georgia

Dennis Zaki of the Alaska Report is in High Falls, Georgia for his brother's wedding. He says he's totally out of internet contact and his time is fully booked getting ready for the big day anyway. So I'm posting this for people wondering why his site hasn't been updated or people trying to get hold of him. He'll be back next week.

The photo is from atlantacorvetteclubs.com.

A Stop at the Bookstore

We managed to slip into Barnes and Noble Tuesday night after dinner with a friend. There are bookstores in Chiang Mai, but most didn't excite me and we didn't get around to them often. But I remembered at B&N why dropping into a bookstore for an hour now and then is healthy. Bookstores remind me of how much I don't know. And, usually, in an hour, I can pick up a few ideas that are either totally new or that renew something my brain's flirted with briefly and forgotten about.

This book title - Throw Out Fifty Things. What kind of society do we live in that people have to buy a book to help them get rid of things? Clear evidence of society where at least some people have too much.






Would this book have caught my eye if I hadn't been to hear David Chalmers recently? I don't know. Looking at this quickly, it does seem to extend Chalmers notion that the mind is more than just inside our heads.











And I hadn't noticed before that you could buy a book and get to also read it online AND get an audio version. In this case, I don't even know what the book was about at all. I was just interested by how it was delivered.






This is just one tiny section of the bookshop. So much to know! There really is something different about unplugging from the distraction of a computer connected to the internet and finding a nice chair, a spot on a beach, or even a seat on a bus or an airplane, and getting deep into a book. One book. On one topic. Focused so that you actually learn something about the topic, rather than skipping around to get tidbits of lots of things, but nothing in depth. You really can become relatively expert on some subjects by reading a few books on it. Though some blogs - like Maddy's Ramblings and Empty Wheel which I've listed in the "Links Worth a Look" on the right - do go into great detail and give a more than basic level of expertise. (I've updated Empty Wheel from the old The Next Hurrah on the right of the page.)


And then yesterday, in an article called "Ear Plugs to Lasers: The Science of Concentration" John Tierney reinforced that theme:

“People don’t understand that attention is a finite resource, like money,” she said. “Do you want to invest your cognitive cash on endless Twittering or Net surfing or couch potatoing? You’re constantly making choices, and your choices determine your experience, just as William James said.”

And while non-fiction often seems more solid than fiction, I've found that good fiction has as important and potentially life-changing content as non-fiction. Good fiction deals with those ineffable issues such as interpersonal relationships that science has so much trouble 'proving.' And it's often much more readable.

Oh, and yesterday, when Jim emailed and asked if I'd subscribed to Sun yet, I followed the links and subscribed. I have to be really impressed to subscribe to anything more coming into our house, but having read several copies of Sun, thanks to Jim, I think it is worth my time. And I have a few more books on my list to pick up at the library after my trip to the bookstore.

Getting books at the library not only saves money and prevents more clutter in our house, but it also gives me a deadline to finish the book. Because of that, I tend to be much better about reading books from the library than ones I buy. But before I borrow or buy, I've got several books I'm still working on.

CC Back on air Friday - 4pm KWMD

There was enough positive response to Monday's broadcast on KWMD (picture includes CC, Jeremy of KWMD, and Cary Carrigan at Monday's broadcast)that CC will be back on the air tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm, with a special guest(s). Not sure where they will be broadcasting from this time, but you can hear it on:

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

And this time the Eagle River translator should be working too:

Eagle River 92.5

4pm Friday, May 8

Call in at 771 0205.

This could become regular if enough people listen and call in. There's even been interest in linking in from a radio station outside of the general Anchorage/Matsu/Kenai area. And they are working on the streaming too, but probably it won't be up for tomorrow.

In some ways this is something of a breakthrough for Anchorage audio media. Bloggers have broken the dependence on a publisher. CC mentioned Monday how dependent a radio person is on a station to give her airtime. KWMD is still radio, but it's a non-commercial community station that should be doing this sort of thing. But it also used internet technology plus it had a group of blogs publicizing the fact that CC would be on so that interested listeners could catch it.

People have been doing video-blogs and podcasting for a while now, but we haven't had (to my knowledge) any regular video-bloggers covering key issues in Alaska. (OK, I'm sure they are out there, so let me know. I do know about the video guys in Juneau - can't find them right now but they make funny videos - but that's slightly different from what I'm talking about.) Let's see how this evolves. Meanwhile, in a post Monday, I mistakenly posted a photo of a piece of equipment and said it did the phone calls. (I thought it was lighting up whenever a call came in. So it isn't just in other languages that I can get into trouble by making assumptions.) Jeremy has done a long comment on that post explaining in technical detail how the phone calls were handled. I told him at least two people would be interested.

Would Anyone Be Troubled if They Had to Vote in a Mosque?

We had a mayoral runoff election in Anchorage yesterday. My polling place is in a church. As I walked in to the building, the door was open into the sanctuary with all the religious trappings appropriate for a church.

But is it appropriate to have to enter a religious house of worship to vote in a government election in a country where people are supposed to be free to worship or not as they choose? Since most Americans are Christians, perhaps they don't understand how a non-Christian feels having to pass all those religious symbols in order to vote.

So how many Christians would be completely comfortable walking into a mosque with all its religious symbols on full display as you pass by to vote? And then I had to be reminded again as I put my ballot into the ballot box.

I don't have a problem going into a church to attend a wedding or even as a guest at a service. But I'd like my civic obligations in more secular settings. Like the fire station across the street where we voted for years and years. Now that they've torn down the old station and built a new one, perhaps we can move back there.

At least I have the options of absentee or early voting.

Our Early Spring

A warm spell at the end of April and beginning of May really woke things up early. I posted shots of early green poking up a few days ago. And now there's more. It was only May 5 when I got this picture of the greened up birch. It was a bit cooler yesterday and the clouds are in today. So the trees may stay in suspended animation until it warms up again and the leaves fully pop out. But this is definitely one of the earlier displays of birch green in our 30 + years here.

Some sedum peeking out.

The thalictrum is spreading. This one will get to about five feet high. But the aphids love it so I have to water them off frequently. Last year they stunted it significantly so I'll be more vigilant this year. The plant can take a pretty strong stream of water - enough to get the aphids off.

I don't know how this rose got here. It's not an Alaska wild rose, it's a 'real' rose. But it hasn't bloomed over four or five summers.

And the iris are rapidly growing too.

And it sure seems like there isn't much snow left on the mountains. This was May 4. The ADN says that 'snowfall season to date" is 93.4 inches and "Snowfall normal month to date" is 69.5 inches. I remember there being snow on the mountains all the way until fall, but my old photo albums aren't dated well and a 2007 late August digital picture doesn't show any snow at all.

And I finally got close to some Canada geese.

Cary Carrigan is Here Too

Cary was momentarily out of the studio when I took the last set of pictures, so here he is now. CC and Cary are on the air live now here:

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in.

More Pictures from the Two Bay Studios

This is a bit unfair. These folks are radio people who assume that you can't see them.
But there isn't much I can say that they aren't saying on the air now.

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in.

Jeremy responding to CC

The machine that takes the phone calls

The feet and wires

More Jeremy

Jeremy and the computers

CC, Cary, and Jeremy Preparing to Go On-Air

At five o'clock, if all goes well, CC will be broadcasting again. A few minutes away. You can listen at KWMD

Anchorage: 104.5 and 87.7 FM
Wasilla: 107.9 FM when it works
Kasilof: 90.7 FM

771 0205 if you want to call in. This is seat of the pants radio in an undisclosed location.

For more info on what this is all about, see the previous post.

CC Back on the Air - At Least Today at 5 on KWMD

Progressive talk show host Camille Conte (CC) was let go last week from KUDO. Phil discusses that story in his account of the changes at KUDO.

But today, for one more show, CC will be back on the air. KWMD is a community FM radio station run mostly by Jeremy Lansman. Jeremy is a national hero to people who know about community radio. Phil's blog covers a lot of topics and here's his piece on Jeremy from November 2007. Also, if I understood it right, Cary Carrigan may also be on. He too was let go from KUDO.

Today is a chance to hear live local radio on KWMD and to hear CC again until she gets another paying gig.

5pm

90.7 FM Kasilof,

104.5 & 87.74 FM Anchorage

107.9 FM Mat-Su

So, turn on the station now so you can find it. Set it on one of your buttons. And make sure you're back there at 4:55 pm so you can hear CC.

Jeremy says he's got it set up so CC can take phone calls, but he hasn't done that before with this equipment, so we'll see how that works. The call-in number is

(907) 771 0205

But if that doesn't work, listen for the number they give on the air.

Jeremy has cobbled this station together with his FCC and technical radio expertise and few other dedicated radioheads. But so far, he hasn't had the time and help to make the community part work. He's mostly got downloaded programs from around the country that offer listening opportunities we can't get at any other local radio stations. A week ago Friday when I was showing three African delegates to the Indigenous Peoples Summit snow at Glen Alps, I got Jeremy to set up a spur-of-the-moment live show where we talked about the conference and the three delegates' impressions of what happened.

The Role of Insults and Profanity on Blogs

A blogger friend of mine occasionally writes things like:

Mr. XXXXX, you're a lying sack of shit.

That bothers me. Is it just a difference of style? Is it just that my friend has spent time with fisherman and others who tend to use more colorful vocabulary? Is it just that I'm out of touch with the modern world where profanity is common?

Actually, it's not the profanity per se that bothers me. Though I think that when it is used as frequently as it is, say on The Wire or even Jon Stewart, the words no longer have the power that profanity once had. After all, if every other word in every discussion has 'fuck' as its root, what can you use when something truly worthy of profanity happens? The power of the truly taboo word is gone when there are no taboo words left. But that's a minor part of my concern here.

Probably I'm most disturbed by insults like this in political blogs because they divert the reader from the argument. Wikipedia explains this sort of attack:

Ad hominem argument is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem abusive, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or attacking the person who proposed the argument (personal attack) in an attempt to discredit the argument. It is also used when an opponent is unable to find fault with an argument, yet for various reasons, the opponent disagrees with it.

This isn't much more than a third grade level argument. But there's no teacher around here to explain to the children why this is inappropriate and to get them past being miffed and to go back to playing together.

I think it is also bad strategy for political bloggers for several reasons.

1. Calling others nasty things is a form of venting. It makes the ventors feel good when they are frustrated and feeling otherwise powerless to do something about a situation. (On the other hand it can be like kicking a victim who is already down and out. Perhaps that also is a sign that one knows the problem hasn't been solved.)
   
2. So, as self therapy, being bitchy is appropriate when you are alone or with your close friends. But not publicly. Your friends know that you are using hyperbole and they may even encourage you. Your friends probably agree with you, it's not aimed at them, and they won't hold it against you tomorrow. If it is aimed at them, they know not to take you seriously.
3. In fact, with your ideological cohorts, you may even build up a sense of solidarity and enthusiasm. Sort of like Sarah Palin on the campaign trail riling up all those anti-'them' passions.
4. But when you do this publicly on a blog, everyone else can listen in. This invective is proof of your weak arguments to them. More likely these are seen as fighting words that increase the divide and justify their own counterattacks. This is no longer political, it's personal. I can understand Sarah genuinely feeling that she's being attacked personally by some of my fellow bloggers, that it isn't her actions that are being attacked.
   
5. When someone starts calling you names, it's easy to react only to that and not even see the rational arguments that proceeded or followed. There is no trust for the motives of others. What 'they' say and do is merely strategy to defeat 'us.' So we don't listen to their arguments and they don't listen to ours.
   
6. I believe that people are extremely complex and their behaviors and words are often intended to be masks to hide what they really believe or feel. Rather than call people like Sen. Larry Craig a hypocrite or worse, we should be asking what is it in our society that causes people like him (and countless others - including Bill Clinton) to have to dissemble and even be hypocritical about their sexuality? Or their other socially disapproved behavior? What happened in their lives that causes them to have to escape into alcohol, drugs, gambling, or making lots of money, or having a bigger house? Calling someone a lying bag of shit doesn't help our understanding of the behavior. Understanding might ultimately lead to ways to reduce that sort of behavior in the future. Not just of this individual, but others who have the same behavior patterns.
   
7. In many Asian cultures, losing one's temper is seen as loss of self-control. It's natural to get mad, but it's generally better to be in control when you are dealing with your opponents.

I don't deny that it's important to stand up for what you believe. Standing up to bullies is a way to get them to back off. But one needn't be nasty and brutish. One does need to be firm and have solid facts and a stiff backbone.

I guess on a less important level, I'm dismayed by such language because it reflects a lack of rigor on the part of the writer. For me, a comeback should be witty and unexpected, so that even the recipient has to admire the mind that came up with it. Or it should be couched so that it takes a moment to realize that one has even been insulted. Ideally it should be closely linked to the issue at hand. Studying the words of masters - for inspiration, not for copy - such as Winston Churchill or Oscar Wilde might inspire one to work at it a bit. Here's one from Churchill:

He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.

And Oscar Wilde reflects a theme I've been trying to get at here:

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

Still too nice to blog - So Here's Dennis' Snow Geese Pic

The blue sky and sun and warmth continue in Anchorage. Dennis sent me a link to the snow geese picture he took the other day, so here it is. I'm outside enjoying.

Sun Damaged Sanity - Sandhill Cranity

The sunny, warm weather - better than I can remember at all last summer - has my mind unable to focus much on blogging or anything mental for that matter. So here's a picture from Dennis Zaki's Alaska Report (with his permission.) I was going to post the Snow Geese he had up yesterday, but they are gone and not yet in his galleries. So enjoy the crane.

For a wonderful book that uses sandhill cranes as its metaphoric theme, check out Richard Power's The Echo Maker. The link takes you to an old post on the book with some quotes on the cranes and a description on how the fit into his main topic which has to do with the human brain. A commenter came up with a much better title than I had for the post - Cranes and Brains.

Satruday Forum On the Permanent Fund - Senior Center

Cliff Groh's post today at Alaska Political Corruption reminded me of tomorrow's (Saturday, May 2, 2009) event at the Senior Center:

…you should come to the forum on “Hard Times and the Permanent Fund” from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It’s on Saturday at the Anchorage Senior Center at 1300 E. 19th Avenue. It’s open to the public and it’s free—there’s even going to be coffee, muffins, and fruit.

Here's from the flier:

Annual Meeting and Forum
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, 10 am to 1 pm
Anchorage Senior Center
1300 East 19th Ave, Anchorage
Doors open at 9:30 am

Schedule of Events
9:30 am: Please join us for coffee, fruit and muffins
10:00 am: Annual Meeting

10:30 am: Forum: Hard Times and the Alaska Permanent Fund

Hard Times and the Alaska Permanent Fund
Moderated by Michael Carey

Panelists

• Janie Leask – President/CEO, First Alaskans Institute
  
  
• Larry Persily – Long-time Alaska journalist and former Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Revenue
  
  
• Eric Wohlforth – Former Chair of Alaska Permanent Fund Trustees and Former Alaska Commissioner of Revenue

The Principal: What is the untouchable principal? Can we
better protect it? How?

The Dividend: Can the dividend be made more stable and
predictable? How?

The Rest of the Earnings: Should part of the earnings be
available for public purposes? What are the alternatives?

Co-sponsored by: League of Women Voters Anchorage, AARP, First Alaskans Institute, Resource Development Council of Alaska and Commonwealth North

The event is free and open to the public

Time to be Outside

Yesterday at this time it was 69˚ in the shade (20.5C) according to our indoor/outdoor thermometer. It's a few degrees less today, but just as nice. So after reading the newspaper on the deck, I decided it was time to get the leaves out of the flower beds.









Six loads piled in the back. I was able to get some of last year's compost onto the newly uncovered beds, but down below it was still frozen. The compost heap doesn't get that much sun. So these are temporarily over at the old compost heap. I'll want to get some of my neighbor's lawn clippings to layer in with the leaves. But his lawn has to green up first. When the new solid waste collection system hits our neighborhood, I wonder how many people will start compost heaps?




I certainly don't claim to be an expert here, but I do know what happens in my yard after many, may years.

Some of the plants, like the phlox, stayed mostly green from last year under the leaf mulch.






Some of the lamium did too; some of these might not make it, but most will and others will be out soon. I'm still amazed when these come back. They just don't look like plants that should make it through the winter.




Others don't make it through the winter in plant form, but they send up new leaves as soon as they can. This one has light blue flowers, but I just can't remember their name. Some of these I only know what they are or what they are going to do because of where they are in the garden. If I just saw them at someone else's house, I probably wouldn't know them at this early stage.

These are wild geraniums and will be the first to bloom in the back yard. (The others are all in the front with more sun.)




Posting to the blog gives me a chance to look up a few things and learn something new. According to GardenGuides.com:

Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla spp.) is a traditional perennial herb enjoyed in flower gardens for its attractive yellowish-green flowers, which are small and numerous. The soft-looking foliage has a bluish cast. Named after the Virgin Mary's cloak because of its scalloped leaves, Lady's Mantle is often found in northern European gardens, where it is native. Some species can grow to a height of about 24 inches and most species bloom from late spring until early fall.

The root is edible, as are the leaves, which sheep and cattle are said to relish. The entire plant is normally harvested in midsummer and can be used medicinally for bruises and wound healing. Lady's Mantle tea is said to be helpful for excessive menstruation.

And it spreads.



It wasn't even May yet yesterday, but the birch buds were showing. If the weather stays this way for a week, they could fully open pretty early this year.


You can see what some of these will look like in five or six weeks by looking at some posts from last year and 2007. The blog is turning out to be a good way to keep track of when my flowers bloom over the summer months.

Of the ones on those old posts, a few wild iris leaves are poking up, but I didn't see the chocolate lily or the dandelions yet. Nor the lillies of the valley, and the forget-me-nots. Not sure the lilac will bloom this year. It's hard for me to tell the flower buds from the leaf buds. The mountain ash buds are there, but no green yet.