Biking Stories This Week - Moose, Innocence, Post Cards, Bike Lanes, Big Leaves

 The moose are out this week.  Tuesday, walking toward Goose Lake we ran into a cow and calf.  Two bikers and a runner had already alerted us, as they were looking for alternate routes.  We got close enough to see them through the trees and walked back.  

Thursday, biking to up Campbell Airstrip Road, I passed a young bull with a nice growing rack.  It was the part of the trail that separates from the road.  Where I'd been warned by a driver a couple of years ago that they'd seen a bear on the trail.  So when I get to this part, I ring my bell a bunch to no one is surprised I'm there.  And down below the trail was the moose.  On the way back, I looked for him down below and there was nothing there.  Then there he was right next to the trail.  Turned back and took the road down.  Where I was able to get this picture.   You can see he's almost on the bike trail.

Then I stopped in the Botanical Garden.  They have a great plant sale.  Well, they sell plants all summer.  There's a good selection of interesting plants - local and not - that do well in Anchorage.  The plant sale is right at the front so I think you can buy plants without paying admission.  But the whole garden is worth some exploration.  And things change in there every week as different flowers start to show.

Here's some Shieldleaf Rogersia at the Garden.   These are very large leaves - the sign says China, Korea.  

They grow in the shade and my yard has lots of shade so I bought one about three years ago.  Bugs have been eating at it each year before it gets real big.  But this year it's looking better.  

Friday I had a couple of stops to make downtown.  First I dropped in at the Alaska Innocence Project.  They help prisoners who claim they were wrongly convicted and have evidence to back their cases.  They helped get the Fairbanks Four freed several years ago.  

I took an Óle course  several years ago, taught by Bill Oberly the (now retired) director and was highly impressed with their work.  

Prisoners don't get a lot of sympathy from the public, and innocent people behind bars is one of the biggest injustices in our society.  Since

Since it was a beautiful day we met in their conference room on the roof.

That's Francisco on the left and Jory on the right.  Here's a short video - under 2 minutes - that I recommend.  It talks about why people are wrongly convicted and how many there are.  

On the way to their office I found the new protected downtown bike lane.  I'd read about it in the Anchorage Daily News, but forgot about it until I came across it.  What an improvement.  No dodging pedestrians on the sidewalk or cars in the street. I could relax and just ride.  But there's not much of it - less than 1/2 mile I'd guess.  And then to get to the office I had to go back to the streets.  It even has its own street light with red and green bikes.  

Next stop was at Tim's to pick up some postcards to mail to voters.  This is probably the least painful way for introverts to be actively working to save Democracy.  [If you think I'm being alarmist, let's talk.  The mainstream media are treating the election as if Trump were a normal candidate.  He's not. Mainstream media only look reasonable in comparison with Fox.  With the Far Right capture of the Supreme Court, a Trump presidency would be the end of democracy in the US.] In this case the Environmental Voters Project combined with the Citizens Climate Lobby.  Tim's in a log cabin downtown, but this one has been modernized a bit.  It even has a touchpad to unlock the door.  

I have some work to do.  

Today was a spectacular day.  I picked up a book that was on hold at the library for me.  I think I requested it six or more months ago - The Sympathizer by Viet Thang Nguyen.  It won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and the first 15 pages pulled me right in.                                           I'm still working on Many Things Under a Rock - a book about octopuses.                                                           From the library to the post office to get post card stamps and to mail a letter to my grandson who is away at camp.  The post office was closed, but I could mail the letter.                                                        Finally I could bike on.  As I said, it was a beautiful day - our warmest of the year I'm sure.

                                                                                      I doubt  the official temperature,
which is measured at the airport, was 77˚F (26˚C), but it was a nice, nice day.  

I went up Arctic to the Campbell Creek bike trail near Dimond and then back down the  trail past Taku Lake and eventually home.  I've gone, as of today, 475 kilometers, this summer.  (That means since the trails were clear enough of snow to ride.)

We had salmon on the deck this evening - with loud rumbles of thunder in the background.  That's not something we get often in Anchorage - sometimes none in a year or three.  

So keeping it fairly light today.  Happy Fathers' Day to all of you lucky enough to have this awesome responsibility. 

A Good Day At The Renaissance Faire

We went to the Three Barons Renaissance Faire Sunday at Russian Jack.  For us Russian Jack is the southern section with the Chalet, golf, and the greenhouse.  But there were only a couple of golfers there.  

Things were happening behind a playground  at Pine an 8th.  It was a cloudy/sunny day with the possibility of sun, rain, both, but it turned out just perfect for going to the Faire.  Lots of people were in costumes.  

I sent this picture to a much younger friend who tends to know lots of anime characters. 

He immediately texted back:  Lucifer, Hazbin Hotel.

So I looked Lucifer up and got this picture.  (Apparently his wings aren't always visible.)

From Aminoapps

So I sent him so more pictures to see if he could ID them too.  

The sorcerer's hat from Fantasia.  Well he said Mickey's hat, but this one is my generation and I knew that Mickey used the sorcerer's hat when the sorcerer was away to make his chores easier.  It didn't work out the way he intended.    

From Reactormag

This one he couldn't identify. They're own selves maybe.

He wasn't sure.  Hazarded it might be the Valkyrie Gunnr

Maybe she's another Valkyrie.

From Creator

And Gandalf.

From USAToday

Lots and lots of people.  Some long lines at the food booths especially.  We got to see Fractured Fairy Tales - a production of Hansel and Gretel with a narrator  (to the right), 

The woodcutter and his wife (she also played the wicked step mother in the same outfit) and Hansel and Gretel.

And a bunch of other characters, some, like the Big Bad Wolf, from other fairy tales - had to be shooed off the stage by the narrator for being in the wrong play.   It wasn't high drama, but it was cute and we enjoyed it a lot.  Sitting out in the warm sunshine didn't hurt.  (For people in parts of the country where the temperatures are above the 90s, warm sunshine here means high 60s, maybe low 70s.)

This, as I understood it, was a slippery fish, who kept interrupting the play and had to be chased off the stage.  

And this (woman on the left) was the witch, who insisted she was being maligned.  Not a witch, a widow.  And the children were destroying and eating her house that she spent so long to bake and build.  

As I said, a lot of people dressed special (very special) for the occasion.  

We bought a turkey leg.  More like an ostrich leg, it was so big (and delicious.)  

We sat out on the grass and watched jousters take each other on with big foam clubs.  

And the turkey made me sleepy so I lay back an watched the clouds roll by.  

A good day.  

Sometimes A Car Repair Shop Is A Community - Ralfy At Culmination Motorsports

I got my 1971 VW Westphalia serviced by Kurt Schreiber in Wasilla for nearly 20 years until he retired.  Around that time our 25 year old van had holes in the floor and we got wet when we went through puddles.  I worried we might lose a passenger if we hit a bad bump.  Kurt said, "Steve, you've gotten your money's worth.  Time to let it go."

Sticker shock kept us from replacing the old van.  The new one was ten times what we paid for the first one new.  But since I wanted to be in a tent and my wife wanted to be in a hotel, the camper was the compromise that we needed.  It took two years to take the leap.  

Our kids were Outside.  M, at school in Boston said the dealers laughed at her when she inquired about VW campers.  They didn't sell them.  J, in Seattle, found a new one for $5,000 less than the Anchorage price.  He drove it up to Vancouver and we flew down for a family week there, then drove it back to Anchorage.  

Since then,  getting maintenance was more like a business deal than dropping it off with a friend who knew how to fix my car and I knew I could trust.  

But when I called Arctic Imports to schedule a maintenance this year, they said they no longer

worked on VW vans.  But when I asked, they gave me the name to two places who would.  Arctic is a little funkier than most businesses, but at Culmination it seems like everyone cares about you and your car.  

Culmination Motorsports sounded a bit ominous, but their website said they specialized in German cars and did everything from general maintenance to restoration.  Perfect.  

I think this is going to be more of a community than a business relationship.  Listen to owner Ralfy talk about his business in the video below.  Why the name Culmination?   The difference between 'new', 'classic', and 'vintage.'  Who his customers are.  The 'cult' of Culmination.  Why repair shops no longer have brand names in their names.   Toward the end he explains that Eurovans are sort of like the neglected step-child of VW. 

I'd note that I haven't done much video in the last few years (and YouTube has lots more options and requirements than it used to) and I don't often blog about businesses.  Only when I'm impressed.  And, of course, there's no payment from the business in return.  

Can you find the 'bright golden 160' Ralfy mentions in the video?  For people who know where the Fire Island Bakery South Anchorage location was - that's now Rafelito's and Culmination Motorsports.  I couldn't find addresses on any of the businesses on the short stretch of 91st west of King Street when I first went there.  The street turns right and dead ends.  It was the VW vans in the parking lot that told me I was at the right place.  

So, now I'm waiting for other VW vans to honk and wave.  (Well, that sort of happens anyway.)

My Bike Season Has Begun

This is no April Fool's post.  While the bike trails through the greenbelts still have a decent amount of snow and ice, the sidewalks/bike trails along the major roads in Anchorage are pretty much clear. 

Here I am on Providence headed toward Elmore (formerly known as Bragaw).  No snow, but lots of post-snow debris.  And riding along the streets still means watching out for cars hitting puddles and splashing anyone on the sidewalk at that point.  

Here's were the Elmore bike trail dips down to let folks use the tunnel to get over the the UAA dorms.  Still clear, but the retreating snow leaves a much narrower path.  

And here I'm up from the dip looking back at the snow my tires couldn't get a grip on.  But it was all clear except for this stretch.

I've now completed the first 5.6 km of my Anchorage summer biking expedition.  

In previous summers I've imagined routes in other places as I plied the Anchorage bike trails.  I've gone from Santiago, Chile south to  Conception; Chiangmai to Bangkok;  and from Istanbul to Cappadocia.  Last  summer I didn't pick a foreign route.  But this year I've decided I'm going from Kyiv to Mariupol.  

That's 868.9 km according to Bikemap.com.  That's not quite as far as I hope to go.  Last summer I did about 1200 kms total.  Sorry the map isn't quite clear enough to read the details, but you get the point.

I'm hoping this will give me a better sense of the geography of Ukraine.  I was thinking I could go another 300 or 400 kilometers past Mariupol.  But maybe I should start in Mariupol and after Kyiv I can head west toward Poland or south toward Moldova.  .  

Seward's Day Begins With Fire Trucks

Before the fire trucks, in fact yesterday, Sunday, we were at the Anchorage Botanical Garden Spring Conference downtown at the Dena'ina Center.  I'd never been to one of these before.  I was a bit underwhelmed, but I did get some ideas and tips and inspiration.  In this session (on the right) we learned how to make a liquid to spray on plants to get them the calcium, and boron they need to flourish.  

Most useful, I think, was meeting someone from the Anchorage Soil and Water Conservation District who will come to my house next fall and test the soil and make suggestions.  We've got some areas where only the hardiest plants survive.  I'm hoping that can be changed.  

But today I woke up to see two fire trucks across the street.  I was worried that a neighbor was having an health emergency, since there didn't seem to be a fire anywhere.  When I went out, I saw there were actually four AFD vehicles.  

Since I was out, I decided to walk around the neighborhood and get some blood moving in my veins. I kept wondering about why they needed so many vehicles for a paramedic call.  When I got back, the firefighters/paramedics (there are far more paramedic calls than fire calls) were walking back to the vehicles.  Not from the building across the street, but from around the corner.  

I asked one of them what was happening and he told me they had been viewing the house around the corner that had burned.  Which was when I realized that I'd read about a fire nearby while we were visiting out granddaughter Outside, but had forgotten about it.  And I was reminded again that it's always good to ask rather than assume.  

I also found out today that my very low carb diet, of the last four months, did indeed make a difference on my A1c blood test.  That was gratifying.  I'd thought that it hadn't made a difference based on another test result I got last week.  But this test wasn't in among the results until today.  

I also went to pick up a book on hold at the library.  The door I normally go in was locked, so I went over to the main entrance where I saw the sign that said the library was closed for Seward's Day.  I had gone to the library website to see how long they were going to hold the book, but there was nothing there that I saw to say the library was closed.  Oh well.  

This evening I walked over to see which house had burned.  It was an apartment building.  What is odd is that another house almost next door, burned down in  March 2016.  The red circle is the recently burned house.  The purple circle is the new house built where the 2016 house burned.  

Here's the building a little closer up.  Another neighbor came out to see what I was doing near the

burnt house.  He said he'd called the fire department that night and helped to get another family out.  There was a man who went back in to get his wife.  Both died. It was arson he said.  

I noticed that both news articles were written by the same reporter.  I'm guessing that he didn't visit the site this time because he should have noticed that it was practically next door to the previous fire.  

Hope you had a good Seward's Day and thought about the man who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from the Russians - who actually only occupied a relatively small portion of the land.  

Thoughts On The Anchorage Mayor's Race

The only thing I know for certain, the current mayor needs to be retired.  He was the surprise winner last time in a runoff.  He was a candidate because of the pandemic and homelessness.  He was backed by those who opposed masks and the decisions to quarantine in Alaska and Anchorage.  A key group supporting him live in Geneva Woods, a neighborhood of large houses in mid-town, where his supporters were strongly opposed to the Municipality buying a Best Western Hotel that had seen better days and turning it into a shelter for the homeless.  Easy walking distance to their snooty neighborhood and that was unacceptable.  

His supporters have disrupted Assembly meetings, yelled epithets are LGBTQ and Jewish Assembly members, wore yellow stars and compared the restrictions due to COVID to be like the Holocaust (which they normally would deny even happened.)  

Many of his appointees have long gone.  One of his former City Managers is suing the city for about three quarters of a million dollars,  His approach to homeless folks was a mass shelter in a giant tent.  I'm still fairly certain that if we track down why he wanted to buy that tent, we'd find some sort of financial or political connection.  Snow removal has been a disaster.  

So, the mayor is not on my list.  

Suzanne LaFrance was on the Assembly for much of the Mayor's tenure, chair part of that time.  She early on announced she was running for Mayor.  This is a non-partisan race and I'm not sure if she is even registered as one part or another.  She's done a reasonably good job and certainly knows the details of what's gone on in Anchorage.  I even interviewed for six or seven years ago when she was a first time candidate running for the Assembly.  She was pretty raw, but dedicated.  She's learned a lot over the years.  

But then Chris Tuck announced he was running. Tuck is a Democrat who has been on the Anchorage School Board, but then spent more time in Juneau as a representative - including stints as minority and majority leader.  I met him when I blogged the legislature in 2010 and he's a very personable guy and has a reputation of being able to work out compromises across party lines.  He's got strong labor connections, yet LaFrance has garnered a lot of union support.  I was told he voted for legislation that labor opposed (or vice versa) but I have no details.  

Tuck's entry into the race threw the liberal challenge against the incumbent mayor into confusion.  Both were good candidates.  LaFrance supporters started pointing out that Tuck was anti-abortion.  He's never denied that, but he's also said he votes for what his constituents want, and to my knowledge, as a politician has gone along with the other Democrats on abortion issues.

Then Bill Popp joined the race.  Popp has been head of the Economic Development Council for many years and says he's never registered in either party.  Before Trump hijacked the Republican party, Popp's interest in business and economics would have aligned him with more traditional Republicans, at least with the Chamber of Commerce,  though I do not know his stance on social issues.  He has good knowledge of Anchorage.  

This race requires a candidate to get at least 45% to win.  The sense I get is that those who follow politics closely don't expect any of the candidates to reach that number.  

The question then is who will be in the runoff.  An article in the Anchorage Daily News today says the candidates suspect that Mayor Bronson will face one of the above three in a runoff.  

So, who to vote for?  I think LaFrance and Tuck would both make good mayors.  They're both level headed and decent people.  I suspect the same could be said for Popp, but I don't know him really, and my perception of him as part of the Chamber of Commerce crowd takes him out of my top two.  (Lots of people join the Chamber of Commerce, not because they are politically aligned with their fairly conservative business view of the world, but because that's where many of the key players gather weekly.  My uninformed sense is Popp probably fits in with the Chamber crowd comfortably.)

So, LaFrance or Tuck?  

I was happy when LaFrance announced her candidacy.  I was thrown into a conundrum when Tuck announced his interest in the race.  LaFrance seemed to be more intimately knowledgeable of City dealings because of her position on the Assembly and dealing with all the issues for the last six years from there.  

Tuck seemed like an interloper, though he represents Anchorage and is an astute politician who has paid close attention to the city in which his district lies.  I'd note that when Elvi Gray Jackson announced her US Senate run in 2022, Tuck announced he would run for her Alaska State Senate seat.  That avoided a run against fellow Anchorage legislator Andy Josephson.  Both had been redistricted into the same district.  But when Gray-Jackson saw what was developing in the US Senate race, she pulled out and signed back on to run for her State Senate seat.  At this point, Tuck pulled out altogether - choosing not to run against either fellow Democrat.  I think that reflects positively on his moral compass and willingness to support his fellow Democratic legislators.  

It also suggests to me that he didn't make the decision to run against LaFrance for mayor lightly.  

As I watched the lists of people signing up to support LaFrance or Tuck, it appeared to me that people who knew LaFrance the Assembly member, supported her.  Those who knew Tuck from his rule in the State legislature supported him.  

I think they'd both do a good job.  My biggest concern is that they'll cancel each other out and Popp ends up in a runoff with Bronson.  And, again, I think Popp will be a competent mayor, but not necessarily someone aligned with a forward looking stance.  (By that I mean, someone who recognizes that Climate Change is the biggest challenge facing humanity and business has been a prime supporter of policies that have brought us to this climate crisis.)

I've picked one of the two.  My absentee ballot is still in the house.  I've got some time yet before I have to turn it in.  I'm on pause just in case something happens to sway me toward the other candidate.  I'm not expecting anything to change, but just in case.  

The only conclusion I have come to firmly is that Anchorage should switch to Ranked Choice Voting.  Then folks can vote for the first and second (etc.) choices.   

Mail-In Ballots And Moms For Liberty Candidates - Anchorage Elections

This was going to be a quick post just showing that we got our mail-in ballots for the Anchorage election coming up April 2, 2024.  

But then it got more complicated when I started writing about the School Board candidates challenging the three incumbents.  Two of them are Moms for Liberty candidates.  I had indications and an allegation of this in yesterday's draft.  But I got a bit more evidence today.  So keep scrolling down and do check the Moms for Liberty link which takes you to the Southern Poverty Law Offices listing of Moms for Liberty.  

These candidates have won elections because they hide their real objectives until they get elected.  Instead they spout generalities that we're all in favor of.  That's why I decided to make this more than simply a post on the ways to get your mail-in ballot in to election central to be counted.  

The Municipality of Anchorage moved to mail-in elections several years ago.  Basically that means that ballots are mailed to all registered voters about three weeks before the election and that on election day there aren't 100 or more polling places all over the Municipality where people can vote.

BUT, if you don't want to figure out and pay for postage, there are lots of drop boxes around town where you can take your ballot.  

And if you want to actually vote in a voting booth, there are places for that too - at City Hall, Loussac Library, or the Eagle River Town Center.

If you want more information, go to the Municipal Election website.  

School Board Alert

I'm trying to think back to how often I've actually recommended candidates on this blog.  My sense is that it's not normal, but that in times when I felt strongly, I probably have.  Or maybe I just did blog posts about candidates which gave factual information that made clear my preferences. 

We are in extremely perilous times in 2024.  Nationally, the Republican candidate for president has done so many things to signal that he will use the office of president to further his personal interests and abandon the Constitution.  He already tried, ineptly, the first time round, but he'll be better prepared the second time.  If you haven't looked at Project 2025  (you can start with the policy agenda, but every item is a blueprint for an authoritarian dictatorship), then you should, and share it with everyone you know.

But this is a Municipal election, so I won't dwell on national issues yet.  Except to say that the Republicans not only had a 30 year plan to take over the Supreme Court - which they have now accomplished - but also to take over state and local legislative bodies, including school boards.  

Are they doing that in Anchorage?  It appears so.

 Moms for Liberty has officially had their first meeting in Anchorage and has at least two school board members in Mat-Su.  

These candidates are not making it easy for people to see what they stand for.  

While I can't verify [actually, while writing this I did get verification, see below] that the candidates opposing the three incumbents are from Moms for Liberty, there are indications that one or more are.  But that's how they get elected - by speaking in generalities at forums and then when they get elected they push book banning and LGBTQ+ bashing, and erasing Blacks from history lessons.

There are three incumbents running for school board.  They all showed up for the Alaska Black Caucus candidate forum.  Only one of the challengers - Angela Frank - was there.  Frank answered a number of questions with "I don't know" and expressions of cluelessness on her face.  But I admire her for showing up and putting herself through this.  

The other two challengers - Chelsea Pohland and Kay Schuster - didn't show up before this audience at all.  You can also see, in the video below, that the three incumbents didn't answer in platitudes and generalities.  They answered in detailed specifics about programs, with numbers, and with programs they want to keep improving.  

Are the three challengers MAGA and Moms for Liberty?  It does appear that Chelsea Pohland and Kay Schuster are, at least, in agreement with Moms for Liberty ideas.

In terms of what they say about themselves, it's hard to tell.  Chelsea Pohland has a Facebook page for her campaign.  It doesn't really tell us what she's for, but it does have 

• pictures of her with Mayor Dave Bronson and fellow candidate challenger Kay Schuster
• fundraiser announcements which include Jamie Allard and Dave Stieren among the sponsors

The FB page also had a link to a campaign website (which I couldn't find via Google) which offers general platitudes that tell us nothing about her actual values or the programs she'd push for:

"My vision for the Anchorage School Board is built on a commitment to excellence, inclusivity, innovation, and transparency. I aim to bring my experience as a business owner and a community leader to bring together a collaborative approach to decision making, ensuring that our schools are equipped to offer every child a chance to thrive in an ever changing world. 

As we look to the future, my message and drive is clear, to be a champion to the cause of education in Anchorage with passion, integrity, and a solid foundation built on transparency. I am here to serve as a voice for our children, our families, and our community, advocating for a brighter, more inclusive future for all."

Inclusivity, transparency, and collaboration are NOT how Jamie Allard (a Pohland supporter) has operated as a State legislator.  

And here it is from an Anchorage Daily News story that was posted online a few hours ago:

"Two of the challengers — Pohland and Schuster — are supported by some prominent local conservatives, and Pohland said she is a member of Moms for Liberty, a national nonprofit focused on “parental rights” that has vowed to get more candidates onto school boards nationwide."

(I'd note that Governor Dunleavy has cited Parental Rights at least since 2015. See this post I wrote about his attempt to sabotage Erin's Law (a bill to require kids get taught how to avoid being victims of child abusers).  Dunleavy constantly cited parental rights as his reasons and that's when I discovered there was a national organization with that name whose goal is to move public money to spend on private schools. Knowing that helps one understand his continued cuts to public schools and his strong support of charter schools.) 

 I did have other such indicators that I had already in this post:

Anchorage needs well prepared school board members who will work for all students and not a MAGA / Moms for Liberty agenda. Chelsea Pohland has been endorsed by Jamie Allard, who has locked down the Ed Committee for the past 2 weeks and she received a donation from Judy Eledge pic.twitter.com/NGqI1JVOoU

— Alaska998 (@seinerak) March 11, 2024

And here's Blue Alaskan's post about Pohland supporter Jamie Allard.

So, I'm posting this information while people are just getting their mail-in ballots so that they know that:

• one of the challengers (Chelsea Pohland) has said she was a member of Moms for Liberty
• another's campaign (Kay Schuster) is closely aligned with Pohland's campaign 
• the third challenger (Angela Frank) really knows nothing about the school board based on her answers at the Black Caucus candidate forum (see video above), and she's supported by someone who supports the other two challengers. 

I thought I could add the Mayor's race in here too, but this got much longer than I expected.  (That happens often enough that probably I should start expecting it.)

Other Links about Moms for Liberty

• Wikipedia
• New Republic: Moms for Liberty Is Slowly Imploding, and That’s Bad for MAGA in 2024
• AP:  Moms for Liberty reports over $2 million in revenue, with bulk of contributions from two donors
• Wired:  Moms for Liberty Is Tearing Itself Apart

AIFF: Great Alaskan Shorts/Amazing Narrative "Ariel: Back To Buenos Aires"

 The Alaska Shorts at noon was a great four film program.  All the films were technically well made and all told important stories.  I thought I'd given up on staying up late to post about the festival, but I feel compelled.  

All of these were worth watching and you can learn more about them all here.

 I'm going to focus on True Colors -  Film maker Brad Hillwig said he wanted to do a film about Anchorage having the most diverse schools in the country.  He focused on Bartlett High School,  its diversity, how the school works to make that diversity part of the curriculum, and highlighted two of the outstanding students - a Filipino/Pacific Islander football player and the daughter of an African, Muslim immigrant.  It was an inspiring film in lots of ways.   One of the students - Oumi - was there which was exciting too.  

There were film makers representing all the films there  

The afternoon and evening films at the Museum were also good to outstanding.   Below is Tora Johanna Turøy again, talking festival director Ida Myklebost after her film was shown at the museum.

Ariel: Back To Buenos Aires was amazing.  It was beautifully filmed - with the tango scenes and the Buenos Aires street scenes not just adding color but meaningfully adding to the story.  A few times the camera goes around and around the subjects in a way that is beautiful and heightens the emotional pitch of the scenes.  

The content is powerful!  A sister and brother in their 30s, fly to Argentina where they were born.  The older sister, on the plane, tells her brother she suspects he was adopted because she doesn't remember her mom being pregnant with him.  Anyone who know the history of Argentina will quickly figure out where this is leading.  

A powerful film, made even more powerful by the cinematography and editing so good you don't even think about it.

I'm sure this will be one of the top films at the festival and they will show the award winning films again the week after the festival.  Be sure to see it!!

Citizen Sleuth was also interesting.  A film maker making a film about a Crime podcaster.  We see a sincere podcaster digging deep into a car accident death that she suspects was murder. 

My Body Knows I've Been Shoveling Snow and Peace Corps Recruiter

So, this is what it looked like Tuesday after the clouds cleared after Anchorage's first snow of the year.  A bit late, but it's here.  I'd gotten the driveway and the deck cleared of snow.

Then it started snowing again Wednesday and by Thursday there was over a foot of new snow in the driveway.  Wet, heavy snow.  In this picture I've got some of the driveway shoveled.  

I was going to leave the rest for the next day, but I remembered I'd said I'd go to a Returned Peace Corps Dinner to meet with Alan Yuen, a South African national who works in the Peace Corps office in Pretoria.  The Peace Corps has contracted him and about 15 other foreign nationals to come to the US to recruit Peace Corps volunteers.  The idea, as I understand it, is to let people from countries that have volunteers give their perspective on how their countries benefit.  

So I kept on shoveling.  Got to talk to a couple of neighbors doing the same.  

And the sun even pinked the sky as I was shoveling.  

While I got the driveway cleared, the roads were something else again.  Lake Otis was awful.  Parts of Northern Lights were ok, but parts were a mess.  From Mike Garvey's Twitter account

Garages gonna be repairing a lot of broken axles pic.twitter.com/SS3mZsCVe2

— Mike Garvey (@mpg167) November 11, 2023

 But we made it safely, if bumpily, to the gathering.  

Here's Alan listening to a couple of the RPCVs talking about their experiences and asking how they can help Alan out.  

Then this morning I looked outside and the snow was coming down just as heavily as it did yesterday.  

But it didn't last as long, but it dressed the trees in back in a dreamy white.  

Here's what the deck looked like this morning.  But first I took care of the few more inches that had accumulated overnight on the driveway.

I did part of the deck in the afternoon.  The weather app says there will be some partial sun tomorrow, so I'll finish it then.  

My daughter and a good friend constantly remind me that shoveling snow is one of the best ways to get a heart attack.  Normally I don't pay them much attention.  But we had lots of wet, heavy snow, so I scooped the first six inches or so first and then the other 10 to 12 inches below.  And I took lots of breaks.  And I'm doing fine, though my body is pleasantly tired, no real aches or pains.