What's Going To Happen To Totem Theaters?

On my bike ride back from the Muldoon Saturday Market at  Chanshtnu Park, I rode through the parking lot of the Totem Theater.  I've passed by several times this summer and noticed that while things look dead, once in a while I see someone go in.  And two weeks ago they said they were showing Freaky Friday on the marquee.  

And today again I saw someone going in..  So biked over to the entrance and the man came out.  I asked what was
happening and he said he didn't really know.  But Totem was pretty much closed down.  I asked about the possibilities I've thought about as I've come by here over the summer.  The individual theaters could be used for church services, for musical events, theater, speakers, weddings, all sorts of things.  Even showing movies.  

He said it was a Regal theater - like the Dimond Mall theaters and Tikahtnu.  That the company is owned by a corporation in England.  

When I got home I looked it up.  Wikipedia has a long piece on them.  

"Regal Cineworld Group (trading as Cineworld) is a British cinema chain and operator. Headquartered in London, England, it is the world's second-largest cinema chain (after AMC Theatres), with 9,139 screens across 747 sites[3] in 10 countries:[4] Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[5][6] The group's primary brands are Cineworld Cinemas and Picturehouse in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Cinema City in Eastern and Central Europe, Planet in Israel, and Regal Cinemas in the United States."

There's a long history including being bought by Blackstone private equity company and then later being sold, buying Regal, COVID, bankruptcy, not necessarily in that order.  

Regal, by the way, is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

"By 2001, Regal was overextended, and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It became the namesake for the theater chain in which it would be merged into with the Edwards and United Artists chains.[10][11]

When all three chains went into bankruptcy, investor Philip Anschutz bought substantial investments in all three companies, becoming majority owner.[18] In 2002, Anschutz consolidated his three theatre holdings under a new parent company, Regal Entertainment Group.[19] Regal's Mike Campbell and UA's Kurt Hall were named co-CEOs, with Campbell overseeing the theatre operations from Regal Cinemas' headquarters in Knoxville, and Kurt Hall heading up a new subsidiary, Regal CineMedia, from the UA offices in Centennial, Colorado. The Edwards corporate offices were closed."  (from Wikipedia)

The movie theater business has had tough times since Blockbuster came on the scene.  Then streaming video added to the problem and bigger and bigger home screens, and of course, COVID.  

But what happens to a community like Anchorage when big pieces of real estate are owned by far away - Knoxville and London - corporations?  What say do we have?  Who do we talk to and why would they even care?  It doesn't seem to be for sale, yet.  The building and the parking lot are pretty big.  But at the moment we're losing population.  Who locally would buy it?  A developer?

The man I talked to said that the Totem theater was his first job when he was 16 years old.  He stayed with the company until he was 19, when they first got bought out.  That there were a lot of changes all at once so he decided to leave and try something else.  

One day, he said, the general manager, who was also his good friend, called and jokingly asked if he wanted to work at the Totem again, and the he surprised his general manager friend by saying yes.  That was when he was 21. 

He said he is 26 now and that he literally 'grew up here" in the building and that he's sad to see it go.  

"I'll always appreciated the buiding and what it stood for."

Talking to him I was convinced - vibes as much as words - that he's a serious worker, takes the job to heart, and if I had a position, I'd hire him in a minute.  

Then I went over to get a picture of the marquee and I see that across the street from the Totem,  the Wayland Baptist University, has a For Sale sign up.  If you want to buy it, the number is 907 762 5801.

An Alaska Business magazine article begins:

"Texas-based Wayland Baptist University (WBU) is emptying its Alaska classrooms and transitioning to online instruction only. The school’s campus in Anchorage will be sold, its leased location in Wasilla vacated, and classrooms at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base returned to military service."

How many low cost housing units could be built on the Totem's big parking lot?  How many empty buildings like WBU do we have now?  I say we should look at these as opportunities to reimagine how they can be used and not just let them rot.  

[I had almost finished this last night, but left it for today.  I noticed that the Anchorage Daily News mentions the closure of the Totem in its story today on businesses that have recently opened and closed.]

 

One Rumor Is True - Russian Diplomats Staying at UAA Dorms [UpDATED]

At the protest this afternoon [see pics in the previous post], someone said that they heard that Russian diplomats were staying in UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage) dorms because of the shortage of hotel rooms - August is part of the summer peak tourist season.  

So when I got home, I did a blog post with pictures of the protest, had dinner, then biked over to UAA dorms.  Even though it had started raining, I figured the bike gave me easier access.  

I go this way on my bike frequently, but they never have the lights on.  And so at about 10pm it's getting dusky.  

As I approached the building to the left two young men were walking and I asked if they'd heard anything about Russians being in the dorms.  Oh yes.  Not this one, but East - just around the corner - and some on the other side.  

So a minute later I'm approaching East.  

Looks pretty quiet.  I pull up to the front door.  There's someone sitting at a reception like desk.  The door isn't locked, but there's a second set of doors and as I try to pull it open - it is locked - I see a campus police car outside and a campus police officer is asking me what I'm doing.  I tell him I heard that Russians were staying at the dorms.  He didn't exactly say yes, but he did say I couldn't be there and he wanted to see my ID.  I gave him my Wolfcard (the UAA mascot is the Seawolf and a Wolfcard is an a campus ID card) that shows I'm a professor emeritus.  He asked me if I had a real ID (that's not exactly what he said, but that's how I took it) and I gave him my drivers license.  He asked what I did at the University.  (I just looked at the card again now and it only says "Emeritus" and most people don't know what that is.)  

In the conversation he also said to stay away from the Alaska Airlines Center.  "You mean people are sleeping there?" I asked.  (It's a sports center with a big basketball court, training rooms, and I'm not sure what all else is there.  I hope ICE doesn't read this and get ideas.)  The campus police officer - his name was right there above his pocket and he wasn't wearing a mask, and when he figured I was pretty harmless, he got pleasant and smiled a few times - declined to go into specifics.  

My next destination was the Alaska Airlines Center.  I had no need to get close, but just wanted to get a look.  

[UPDATE August 15, 2025, 1:02am

Here's a video of what looks very much like the inside the Alaska Center apparently by a Russian journalist. (I can only understand "President Trump") posted by a Ukrainian an hour ago.

❗️🇷🇺Russian Propaganda Journalists Are Housed in a Local Stadium in 🇺🇸Alaska Because All the Hotels Are Full Russians Complain of ‘Spartan Conditions’

[image or embed]

— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 11:26 PM]

Nothing unusual from this distance.  Then back through where the other dorms are, but didn't see any signs of anything unusual.  UAA student looking people were going into one of the dorms. 

These two pictures show both sides of the street.  Nothing unusual.  

And then as I started back, I ran into the two students I'd seen at the beginning and told them their info was good and my adventure with the campus police.  One then said something like, "The email we got didn't mention the Alaska Airlines Center.  So I asked if he could sen me the email.   

August 13, 2025

Dear Resident, 

We are informing you of an increased presence of law enforcement and diplomats on the residential campus in advance of the U.S.-Russia summit being hosted in Anchorage Friday, Aug.15.  

This week, representatives from the U.S. and Russian governments will be housed in UAA’s residential facilities due to a lack of capacity in Anchorage hotels. While the summit will not be held on campus, residents should expect increased traffic and security beginning Wednesday, Aug.13 and through the weekend. Students with meal plans should also anticipate an increase in the number of patrons in the Creekside Eatery during this time. 

We are working to minimize the impact of the summit on the residential community. At this time, we do not anticipate that the presence of the delegates and law enforcement will restrict traffic or access to any campus facilities. Should that change, we will  communicate that information to you as soon as possible. 

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this evolving situation. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Department of Residence Life at (907) 751-7202 or via email at uaa_residencelife@alaska.edu. 

Sincerely,

Ryan J. Hill 

Director of Residence Life

University of Alaska Anchorage

rjhill4@alaska.edu

David Weaver

Executive Director of Campus Services

University of Alaska Anchorage

dweaver@alaska.edu 

So American officials are in the dorms too!  I hope they can have cordial interactions on campus.  

And then, off to home with this confirmation of the rumor.  

Except that as I headed home I saw four men walking down the street from Tudor - there's a small mall there with several places to eat and a bar.  

I approached them and asked if they were Russians and here for the meeting.  "What meeting?"  Was he being coy or did he think I meant here on the street, not here in Anchorage.  But then he said, "Oh the meeting between Russia and the US? " 

Yes they were.  We talked a bit and they relaxed.  I told them that I'd heard Russians were in the dorms and that I'd come to check it out.  

I did ask permission to take the picture, but I realized I forgot to tell them I wanted to post it.  So I've blotted out their faces.  They were friendly and I don't want to get them in trouble, but I suspect blotting out the faces probably doesn't hide their identity much.  One spoke English.  And then told the others what I said.  They agreed to a photo.  I've met a lot of Russians over the years, but these were the first I've seen in Anchorage for the Putin-Trump talks. If any higher up Russian officials see this - really, we had a nice talk and this was part of international exchange.  Don't discipline them for this.  Thanks.  

Anchorage Stands With Ukraine As Trump and Putin Seem To Be Heading Here

I say seem because so many people think that one or the other or both will pull out at the last minute.  But the first protest (that I know of) was this afternoon.  Lots of peoples, lots of rumors, lots of questions, lots of noise, lots of cars and trucks honking with the protestors, cars with Ukrainian flags. 

You'd think that Putin and Trump meeting in Alaska to discuss a cease fire in Ukraine would be at the top of the news, but Trump leaves so much debris in his wake, that there are a dozen stories competing.  And so none get the attention and outrage they deserve.  

• Texas redistricting and California's response.  
• Federal troops taking over Washington DC.  
• Masked and armed thugs claiming to be ICE continuing to sweep up dark people without regard to their legal status, including US citizens, and shipping them off to distant detention centers, and possibly off to countries which apparently are getting payoffs to take them from Trump, 
• The massive wealth vacuum in the White House, cementing the Rose Garden and making the East Wing of the White House into a glitzy ballroom
• Shaking down universities and other institutions that pursue truth
• Firing the head of the BLS because he doesn't like her employment data
• Leaning on institutions to erase all history of people who aren't white

I could go on, but you get the point.  But much of what Trump does these days is terrible by itself, and a distraction from releasing the Epstein files.  Is that what this trip to Alaska is?  

It was supposed to go from 4:30-6;00 on one of the busiest corners in rush hour Anchorage - Northern Lights and Seward Highway.  I got there about 5:20 after picking up our weekly CSA vegetables at Grow North Farm in Mountain View.  

I couldn't tell you how many people were there altogether - 500?  1000? 1500?  Couldn't say.  Lots.  Planning really started at a meeting on Monday!

There were lots of rumors flying and I'm going to check out one right after I post this.  That rumor was that the Russian delegation asked for 400 visas and then for rooms.  They finally got put up at the University of Alaska Anchorage dorms.  I'll go over there shortly and see if I see any Russians.  

Rooms are scarce.  It's high tourist season.  So pictures for now and I'll fill in when I get back from the UAA dorms.  

[UPDATE: 11:10pm - Back from campus. The rumors are true.  See the next post for more details and pictures.]

This is an Estonian journalist.  Estonians have a strong interest in what happens in Ukraine.  They have lots of Russians and are a very small country that borders Russia.  

And below a Polish journalist asked my friend John some questions.  

Her 

I understand that this flag was sewn here in Anchorage this week.  It has a lot of smaller pieces sewn together sort of like a quilt.  

This guy was still there well after six when most folks had gone home already.  

This is Erin Jackson-Hill who heads Stand Up Alaska and was the driving force at the center of this rally.

 

Going To The Dogs In A Good Way

The Anchorage Museum has a dog exhibit this summer.  I thought about the dog pictures people put up on social media platforms and skipped it.  I was more interested in the famous artists: 

"historical images, contemporary art, and major artworks on loan from the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Art Bridges Foundation, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, the Nevada Museum of Art, and the Stanley Museum of Art. 

Artists included in this exhibition include: Rebecca Lyon, Daniel Martinez, Ken Lisbourne, Jessica Winters, Adolph Gottlieb, Grace Hartigan, Theodore Roszak, Kurt Riemann, Conrad Marca-Relli, Trevor Paglen, Peter Ermey, Amy Burrell, Annie Murdock, Mark Rothko, Vera Mulyani, Franz Kline, Charles Stankievech, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Ben Huff, and Dan Deroux."  

I was particularly looking to see the Mark Rothko paintings.  Okay, it takes a certain kind of person to be excited about Rothko's art.  And standing before one is a very different experience than looking a pictures of them.  Unfortunately, there was only one piece of his - not a particularly exciting one - and all these artists' paintings were somehow used to illustrate an installation on 

"COLD WAR TO THE COSMOS: DISTANT EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS AND THE ARCTIC"

The best part as I cursorily walked through it were the parts related to Peter Dunlap-Shohl's Nuking Alaska.  I had been expecting a great art exhibit, but the paintings were used to illustrate the Cold War.  I probably should go back. (Generally I like the juxtaposition of unexpected things, but I was looking forward to the Rothkos and was disappointed there was only one.)

But this recent visit was to see what they did with dogs.  And they did very well.  A thoughtful exhibit.  

There were plenty of sled dogs.  But they were given a bit more context than they usually get.  

The scrimshaw, and this James Albert Frost's The Sleigh Team on the right.                                       "The Sleigh Team is one of a series of illustrations by George Albert Frost for Tent Life in Siberia, a travelogue of George Kennan chronicling their 1885 travels across Kamchatka.  Keenan's writing identifies the attributes of the Siberian Husky (enduring, disciplined, and observant), indigenous sled technologies such as the oersted - a 4-foot wooden stick with an iron spike - used to slow the dog team and his own knowledge about the difficulty of mushing:  "The art of driving a dog-team is one of the most deceptive in the world. . . [one is] generally convinced by hard experience that a dog-driver, like a poet, is born, not made."

And we have more modern images.  From Alaska Natives themselves.  

Rosie Charlie, Basket c1972

Pootoogook, Composition
(Woman with Dogsled) 1991

 

But there are lots, maybe more, depictions of dogs from a whole array of artists.  A few examples:

This is a quilt by Chichi and Giannone called Coleccionistas de trapos [Rag collectors] 2022.   "Argentine artistic duo Leo Chichi and Daniel Gannon portray themselves in an everyday moment with their children/pet dogs.  Created from collected and salvaged textiles, the artists use their materials to transform and re-inscribe stories that celebrate "Cuevas configurations familiars, en este case una familia lgtbq multi specie, rodeados de un mundo de telas que representa los recuerdos, tiempos y memorias de quienes han pertenecido pestos trapos."/"new familial configurations, in this case, a multi-species LGTBQ family, surrounded by a world of textiles that represents the memories and times of those who formerly owned these 'rags.'"                     

Gordon Parks, Woman and Dog in
Window, Harlem, New York 1943

And this dreamy picture is by Shona McAndrew  "Oh, To Be Loved"  2023

Sesse Elangwe, A Different Kind of Love, 2022

"Texas-based Cameroonian artist Sesse Elangwe frequently paints his subjects with bold colors and patterns to celebrate their individuality and confidence.  Reflecting on this work, which also features three pet dogs, Elangwe shares, 'We look so different but so alike;  you're my soul's true counterpart.'"

There is a lot more to see in the museum.  A good reason to get an annual membership that allows you to go as often as you want so you can look at one small part on each visit.  Or you can go free on the first Fridays of the month.    

And I want to call people's attention to the exhibit in the atrium - photos, large photos, by Roman Dial of the trips he's taken, often cross country for miles and miles, through Alaska's wild lands with friends and family.  Here's one picture I found amazing - both the picture itself and how it is presented.  

I didn't catch the title, but there's a packraft at the bottom and then folks way up on top of the ice.  And it's displayed right on the wall, over a door with the handle right there.  

 Again, I encourage folks to go.  Get distracted, get your brain stimulated, or your heart.  

SUMMER HOURS (May - September)
10 A.M. to 6 P.M. Monday - Sunday
*Extended hours through 9 p.m. on First Fridays with free admission after 6 p.m.

MUSEUM Admission & Tickets

$25 Adult (18-64)
$20 Alaska resident (18-64)
$18 Ages 13-17, senior (ages 65+), military, and students 
$12 Ages 6-12*
FREE Children age 5 and younger, museum members, and enrolled members of federally recognized tribes.

*Children age 12 and younger must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older. 

There are a number of times when there are free or discounted tickets which you can see here.

Or find a friend with a membership who can take you as a guest.  Or get your own membership.  

 

Why Truth Is So Illusive? Braun- Blanquet Scale

[I found this draft post from July 2012.  It appears never to have been posted.  But it's interesting to see how what I wrote 12 years ago is still relevant today.  Probably more so. And posting it today - August 3 - is fitting as you will see if you read it.]

Getting the facts right - whether it's in an old sexual abuse case or an attempt to see how ground vegetation has changed over a period of time - is the first step.  Once the facts are established, then models - whether scientific theories, religious beliefs, or the unarticulated models of how the world works we carry in our heads - are applied.

For example, did your son lie to his teacher about his homework?  If the answer is yes, then you must go through various models you have about topics such as lying, education, changing the behavior of young boys and apply them to this situation to get the desired result.  It's not as easy as you might initially think.  You may have a clear value that lying is never good.  Or you may think there are times it is ok.  Do you think his teacher is wonderful and working hard to teach your son to be a great human being with all the necessary skills?  Or is he part of a corrupt educational system that expects all students in the class to be at exactly the same level at all times and finds fault with your son because he's brighter than most and bored in class, or slower than most and having trouble keeping up? Or do you think he is picking on your son because he's a different race from the teacher?  And finally, will you talk this over with your son?  Restrict his internet access for a week?  Or whup him with a belt to help him learn this lesson?  Or maybe you'll go to the school and defend your son and attack the teacher. 

Things get much more complicated when we deal with the collective problems of a community.  If king salmon aren't returning to their rivers in the numbers expected, how should state fish and game authorities deal with this?  First, is their method of counting salmon working right?  Perhaps the salmon are getting through without being counted?  Then, do you restrict subsistence fishers?  Which models do you use to explain the shortage?  Is it climate change which is affecting the water temperatures?  Is it overfishing by commercial ocean fishing vessels?  Is it that these salmon are being caught as by-catch by bottom trawlers?  And when you think you know, what model do you use to decide whether subsistence fishers are allowed to catch any?

All this is introduction to Josias Braun-Blanquet who in 1927 devised the Braun-Blanquet scale.  The Botany Dictionary tells us about the Braun-Blanquet scale.

A method of describing an area of vegetation . . . It is used to survey large areas very rapidly. Two scales are used. One consists of a plus sign and a series of numbers from 1 to 5 denoting both the numbers of species and the proportion of the area covered by that species, ranging from + (sparse and covering a small area) to 5 (covering more than 75% of the area). The second scale indicates how the species are grouped and ranges from Soc. 1 (growing singly) to Soc. 5 (growing in pure populations). The information is obtained by laying down adjacent quadrats of increasing size. One of a number of variations of Braun-Blanquet's method is the Domin scale, which is more accurate as there are more subdivisions of the original scale. The Braun-Blanquet scale also included a five-point scale to express the degree of presence of a plant. For example, 5 = constantly present in 80-100% of the areas; 1 = rare in 1-20% of the areas.

So, essentially, this is a measuring device to calculate the percentage of an area that is covered by different plant species.  Measuring is just the first step.  Once you have the measures, then you can apply your models. (OK, I know some of you will point out that you can't measure anything unless you have models that tell you what to measure.  True enough.  But once you have the measures - in this case of percentage of species of vegetation in a certain location - you have to interpret what that means using a model or several.)

But one problem is that the measurements might not be accurate or might not be used right. 

A 1978 Study in  Environmental Management found the Braun-Blanquet scale to be adequate and more efficient than another method of measuring species in an area.  Here's the abstract:

To document environmental impact predictions for land development, as required by United States government regulatory agencies, vegetation studies are conducted using a variety of methods. Density measurement (stem counts) is one method that is frequently used. However, density measurement of shrub and herbaceous vegetation is time-consuming and costly. As an alternative, the Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale was used to analyze vegetation in several ecological studies. Results from one of these studies show that the Braun-Blanquet method requires only one third to one fifth the field time required for the density method. Furthermore, cover-abundance ratings are better suited than density values to elucidate graphically species-environment relationships. For extensive surveys this method provides sufficiently accurate baseline data to allow environmental impact assessment as required by regulatory agencies.

 So, fifty years after Braun-Blanquet's scale went public, it was still being used.  And apparently it is still in use today.  And people are writing about some of the limitations of the model.

In Monitoring Nature Conservation in Cultural Habitats:: A Practical Guide and Case Studies, (2007) by Clive Hurford and Michael Schneider, the Braun-Blanquet scale is compared to the Domin scale and both are found to have two sources of error.  First, is the observer bias that could affect the initial estimate of the percentage of species coverage that is then used to identify the appropriate cover class.  The second problem arises when the vegetation is at or near a vegetation boundary.  This is, apparently, more of a problem in the Domin scale. (p. 82)

And a February 2009 (online) article in Journal of Vegetation Science warns that the Braun-Blanquet abudance-dominance scale cannot be used with conventional multivariate analysis techniques because the Braun-Blanquet scores use ordinal numbers. 

I bring this up for a couple of reasons.  First, today, August 3, is Braun-Blanquet's birthday.  He was born in Switzerland in 1884 and died in France at 96 in 1980.  Second, and probably of more general importance, has to do with science and truth.

We are at a time when science is under severe attack by a combined force of right wing politicians and fundamentalist religious groups.   They pounce on what they call scientific errors and publicize them to 'prove' science isn't trustworthy.  The emails about global warming data is a good example. 

Now, there are scientists who for various reasons (fame, money, revenge, you know the usual human failings that lead to compromises) do cheat.  But the beauty of science is that one's work must be made public and when others try to duplicate your work and can't, then your work becomes suspect. 

But the pursuit of truth is and will always be imperfect.  Data collection and interpretation will always be dependent on the ability to observe and measure and interpret.  And the Braun-Blanquet scale shows, in a small way, that even a technique that's been around over 70 years, is not perfect.  But in science no one holds all the cards, no one proclaims truth for everyone else to accept. 

Scientific truth is always being tested and challenged.  That's its strength, but absolutists see it as a weakness. 

DePaul University Professor of Environmental Science and co-director of DePaul University's Institute for Nature and Culture, has an interesting story about a project  to rid the oak woodlands of Rhododendron ponticum, an invasive shrub that was encroaching in the understory of this habitat in Killarney National Park in Ireland.  It talks about the use of the Braun-Blanquet scale.  It's posted at his blog Ten Things Wrong with Environmental Thinking.