First Southbound - Starting May 2 - the frontage road will be closed. They're getting it ready to take the Seward Highway traffic for when it gets closed down, later.
Then they'll do the same Northbound. From DOT (with some reformatting):
The Department of Transportation, in partnership with QAP, is working to
improve the New Seward Highway, from Dowling Road to Tudor Road.
Improvements will include
added lanes,
resurfacing and
Campbell Creek
bridge replacement.
The Homer Drive and Brayton Drive frontage roads
will also be improved with
resurfacing and
the addition of multi-use
trails.
We will do our best to keep you informed as work continues, and
appreciate your patience and cooperation during construction. This
project is scheduled to be complete by June 2014.
In addition to the highway work - the bike trail along Campbell Creek under the Seward Highway is scheduled to be completed. Here's a picture from 2007. You have to walk your bike and duck low. They also say they will have trails along the frontage roads when they are done.
There will be a public hearing Thursday night at Dimond High
A PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE will be held at the Dimond Center Hotel (700 E.
Dimond Boulevard), on Thursday May 3, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Project
teams will be available to review the scope of work and provide detailed
information about the project.
Wednesday night I went to the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the Alaska Quarterly Review. The new volume includes a remembrance of the two stellar photojournalists who died in Libya Tim Hetherington, and Chris Hondros almost exactly one year ago. Anchorage raised photographer Benjamin Spatz coordinated the collection of photos representing With Liberty and Justice for All from 68 outstanding photographers who knew the two men. At the event at the Anchorage Museum were two of the photographers who submitted photos, original Good Morning America host Dave Hartman and two time Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Barbara Davidson. This event deserves a longer post of its own, but it's late and so I'm just putting up these two photos of Hartman and Davidson with the photos they submitted. You can get a copy of the 30th Anniversary issue of the AQR - truly a nationally and internationally recognized literary journal published right here in Anchorage - here. Or try some local bookstores. Or a good out of state bookstore. They sold all the copies they brought Wednesday night.
Then Thursday I went to the radio day of the Alaska Press Club. I finally decided I should join this organization and go to their conference so I could learn something about what I'm doing here and how to do it better.
Not sure how much I'll improve, but it won't be from lack of great discussion from masters of radio. OK, I don't do radio, but much of the wisdom imparted can easily be adapted to video. It was good timing for me because I've been thinking about my rather raw style and why I think it's appropriate here. While I'm not backing off, I did get some good ideas to at least modify my ideas and maybe improve my technique.
And then came Neal Conan. It was quite eerie when he opened his mouth and this voice floated out - a voice I know so well from Talk of the Nation and other shows he's done on NPR. And now it was attached, so to speak, to an actual physical human being. I'll post more about this later, but just want to explain why I've been so busy.
I'll get back to this. But I was a bit confused and went to hear Howard Weaver in the bookstore. It turns out he'll be there at 4pm on Friday. But Thursday there was a talk by Chinese Fulbright Scholar Wei Jaijiang on A Contrastive Study of Chinese and English Emotional Metaphors. I have to go to bed now, it's after 2am and there is more Press Club starting about 9am. So I won't get into details of the talk. But I got to meet the director of the Confucius Institute and the instructors and I may have committed myself to try to pick up on where I left off in Chinese. There's quite a bit in my brain, but it has a great deal of difficulty getting out of my brain via my tongue these days. Possibly I can dislodge some of that vocabulary and syntax, not to mention the characters.
I just want you to know I'm not goofing off here. Oh yes, the Redistricting Board put up the responses to their latest submission. I only barely opened one and haven't had time to read it yet. Here are the documents:
Here's what's scheduled tomorrow at the press club:
9 – 10:15 a.m. Telling stories through photography
Barbara Davidson will discuss long-form photo storytelling and ways to use narrative and storytelling in shorter-form daily journalism. Rasmuson Hall 101
Carolyn Ryan critique
Carolyn Ryan, metro editor at the New York Times, critiques stories written on deadline. Three works will be reviewed. Stories with multi-media components will be given priority. Rasmuson Hall 111
One-on-one coaching (radio)
With NPR’s Jason DeRose, APRN’s Lori Townsend and Annie Feidt, CoastAlaska’s Ed Schoenfeld, UAA’s Elizabeth Arnold and others. Rasmuson Hall 316
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Covering religion
The nuts and bolts of covering religious issues and institutions, from sex-abuse scandals to denominational conflicts to involvement in local politics. With Jason DeRose, NPR Western Bureau chief and former religion reporting instructor at DePaul University and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He also holds a master’s degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Rasmuson Hall 101
Personal photojournalism u u Richard Murphy, long-time photo editor at the Anchorage Daily News and Atwood Chair at UAA, will show recent work made with an iPhone and talk about what he’s discovered about the tool in a reprise of his popular lecture
“Professional photojournalism to personal photojournalism or how my cell phone set me free.” Rasmuson Hall 111
Polling the pollsters: It’s all in the numbers
We’ve all seen pre-election numbers, approval surveys and other statistics offering public opinion information. But where do they come from and how do they work? How can two polls sometimes offer such different results? Get the lowdown on polling and information research— and find out how to best use these numbers in your reporting — at this panel featuring some of Alaska’s top specialists: Jean Craciun is CEO of Craciun Research, where she helps businesses and organizations deal with changing environments and reforming industry sectors. David L. Dittman (Dittman Research and Communications Corporation) is widely recognized as Alaska’s senior public opinion analyst. Ivan Moore, Ivan Moore Research, is a public opinion pollster based in Anchorage who works with both Democratic and Republican candidates. Moderated by UAF Journalism Professor Lynne Lott. Rasmuson Hall 316
1:15 – 2:30 p.m. Covering the military from the home front
Kimberly Dozier shares the lessons she learned the hard way when covering the military – how to learn how troops see the world, and the media, how to win their trust – and most importantly, represent both them and the U.S. public in reporting that pulls no punches. Rasmuson Hall 101
Simple videos for websites
Shooting and editing simple videos that can be easily used on media websites. This session is for reporters with limited background in video production. With Ted S. Warren, Associated Press. Rasmuson Hall 111
Notebook to page u KTUU’s Jason Lamb, ADN’s Kyle Hopkins and APRN’s Annie Feidt share tips and tricks for writing accurate, compelling stories quickly. Moderated by Julia O’Malley. Rasmuson 316
Sorry the formatting got messed up, but I really have to go to bed or I'll sleep through all this.
Rain drops washing fallen mountain ash leaves the other day,
but the sun's out again.
Not all Canadian geese have left for warmer climes.
And the water flows freely along Campbell Creek as it tumbles wildly under one of Anchorage's most busy roads - the New Seward Highway. Cyclists have to negotiate the rocky banks to get past this spot still, but a memo from Rep. Berta Gardner tells us that a real bike path is scheduled here by September 2013.
The Seward Highway Upgrade Project,
Dowling to Tudor, will also go to bid in October with groundbreaking
in spring 2012 and scheduled completion in September 2013. We
continue to confirm that sound barriers along the freeway are included
in the plan, as well as the long-awaited connection of the Campbell
Creek Bike Trail under the Seward Highway. This connection will give
neighborhoods safe and easy access between east and west portions of
the trail, opening up miles of trail to surrounding neighborhoods.
"We continue to confirm" sounds less than certain. And I've ducked my head negotiating my bike over the rocky and sometimes wet path under the highway often enough that I might just miss it when it's paved and civilized here. And will it be open the year they are building? Who knows?
But we can be certain that winter is on the way. It's the end of October and so far the snow's stayed in the mountains. But the word is creeping into the weather forecasts for us lowlanders.
There's a meeting tonight to talk about 'improvements' to the Seward Highway between Dowling and 36th. According to Rep. Berta Gardner's November 11, 2010 email to constituents
I spoke yesterday with Jim Amundson of the Department of Transportation and confirmed that sound barrier fencing (36th Avenue to Dowling) and a bike path at Campbell Creek under the Seward Highway both remain in the project. DOT plans to begin "turning dirt" in Spring 2011!
Some history. Lanie Fleischer, who was one of the key people to get the bike trails built in Anchorage over 30 years ago and whose name is on the bike trail sign at Goose Lake, told me that the engineer in charge of building the Seward Highway, way back then, told her they were going to build the highway low enough that they could never have the bike trail go under it. Non-motorized vehicle riders in those days were considered anti-capitalist, pinkos. So now, at far greater expense than necessary, we are finally getting that part of the trail completed. If the trail stays in the project. So get down there to let them know you want that bike trail finally done.
If you can't go, call them up and email and tell them you support the bike trail. Contact information below. It's not a done deal until they have it in the plans, in the works, and finished.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Sourdough Mining Company
5200 Juneau St.
Anchorage, AK 99518
Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road
The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) invites you to a public open house regarding the Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road project. DOT&PF has completed the environmental phase of this project and is proceeding with design.
Why should you attend this meeting?
The meeting will provide information on the project and solicit public comments for consideration during the design phase.
The meeting will be in an open-house format, so you can stop by at any time during the scheduled hours. Staff from the project and DOT&PF will be available to discuss, answer questions and take your comments regarding the project.
Contacts:
Project Manager, Derek Christianson
CH2M HILL [This is the company that bought VECO from Bill Allen.]
Phone: 762-1358
sewardhwy.comments@ch2m.com
Project Manager, Jim Amundsen
DOT&PF
Phone: 269-0595
jim.amundsen@alaska.gov
In 1990 we were in Hong Kong for the World Cup in Rome. That meant the games began around 2 or 3 am. For the three or four weeks of the World Cup, Hong Kong workers came to work sleepier than normal. My son was part of this obsession.
Since we don't have cable at home, I don't watch much sports, but after being in Berlin on a couple of football Saturdays in May, I did pay attention to the world cup this year and even saw bits of games if they were on while we were out somewhere.
Since about 700 million were reportedly going to watch this game around the world, it seemed like I should join in on this communal world activity. The ADN said it was free at the Bear Tooth, doors opening at 10. So I got there at 10.
The line already went all the way around the building.
Someone was passing out tickets as I looked for the end of the line so I took one.
The man sitting next to me was from Barcelona and he overheard me when I called my son and answered Holland when he asked who I was rooting for. J was too, I think because Gus was rooting for Spain. "Are you from Holland?" the man asked. Then he told he he was from Barcelona and he'd met the Spanish players from Barcelona because they were friends of friends.
Then it began. A few people in front stood up for the Dutch national anthem and it was clear there was a Dutch contingent - even a woman wearing a very Dutch white cloth hat.
Choosing the Dutch was pretty arbitrary. I didn't really have a reason to go either way and after a while it sure looked like Spain was playing much better ball and the Dutch were pretty rough. And in American sports, male players are supposed to act very macho and not show any signs of pain when they're down. I'd been hearing about the acting talent of the World Cup players, and today I got to see it. Every fall was a life threatening injury of great agony until the ref called the penalty (or not), then the player was up and fine.
Until the Dutch player de Jong kicked Xabi Alonso in the chest. Watch it yourself on this YouTube. (It's only ten seconds.) It was terrible.
I'd already found that my body, despite my decision, was rooting for Spain, and with this kick to the chest, my body and my head got back together.
So, when Andres Iniesta scored a goal for Spain with about two minutes left in extra time, I cheered loudly with the other Spain supporters.
Then I retrieved my bike from the crowded rack and rode home.
I met Dean Franklin when I took a picture of his (I assumed) wife and daughter at the Peking Opera presentation by the Confucius Institute last November. He told me about Ignite - a program he's working on that gets community people talking about things they're passionate about. I was interested, but as it turned out, it's happening the day after we leave for Juneau. But he emailed me some information about it and I can certainly encourage you to go and send me your report so I can post it. (Luckily, I didn't delete my junk file tonight, cause that's where the email was. ) It's another free Anchorage event that promises to be worth more than a lot of stuff you have to pay for.
The next Ignite Anchorage conference will be held at the Snow Goose Theater one week from tonight, on Thursday, January 14th at 7pm.
We've got some great speakers lined up to give some fascinating presentations:
We are also holding a food and fund drive for Food Bank of Alaska at this event. We are asking all attendees to bring a donation of food or a monetary donation to help Food Bank of Alaska restock their warehouse for the new year. Food Bank of Alaska is typically running low on food and funds in January due to their generous contributions to our fellow
Alaskans over the holidays. If you are bringing a donation of food, please see Food Bank of Alaska's shopping list to find out what they need. If you plan to make a monetary donation, please bring a check made out to "Food Bank of Alaska".
If you haven't already done so, register to attend now (click that big red button just below). It's free, it will be fun and you'll be supporting a good cause.
I have way too much video from last night's Peking Opera presentation by National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and sponsored by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Confucius Institute. So I'm going to offer more than one post of the evening. The performance was more of a music education evening with an explanation of movements, stories, music, etc. and then vignettes from famous operas performed. The presenter brimmed with charm and knowledge and skill that came through even though he spoke in Chinese. The translator, unfortunately, captured only the words, not the charisma of the speaker who occasionally demonstrated movements in a way that suggested to me that he'd spent a fair amount of time on stage as an actor.
The actual vignettes were accompanied by recorded music, but at the beginning of the evening we were given a demonstration of percussion, stringed, and wind instruments. You can see the demonstration in the video. Which ends with part of the first opera vignette where you can see and hear the use of the percussion instruments.
For more, Philmulti gives a nice overview of Chinese traditional stringed instruments with pictures and a video.
Music accompanies singing. reciting. actions and acrobatics in Chinese operas. It also helps develop the story. personalize the characters. expose their thoughts and feelings. and create a special atmosphere.
http://china-corner.com/images/pics/2006426123021.jpg
The orchestra of a typical opera is composed of two parts -- the Wenchang. or Civil Section. of string and wind instruments; and the Wuchang. or Military Section. composed of percussion instruments. The former section accompanies singing. and the music is Qu (tunes). The latter accompanies the performers` body movements. reciting. singing. dancing and acrobatics.
The beats clearly mark the beginnings and the endings. Led by the main drummer. the music adjusts and controls the rhythm of the opera. The instrumental music is produced by various kinds of stringed. wind and percussion instruments. and each has its own functions and timbres.
The first time I saw Chinese Opera was sometime in 1967 or 1968. I was teaching English at the Boys High School in Kamphaengphet, Thailand and the Chinese community had hired a group from Singapore to perform for some special occasion. There was a trailer that converted into a stage that was set up in a public area in town. The folding chairs were set out for the members of the Chinese community who sponsored the opera. The rest of the town could stand behind the chairs and watch. In a small town like that I got to visit backstage and meet with the actors. [I started this on Saturday and turned the house upside down trying to find some pictures of that first encounter with Chinese opera. In vain. But when I find them one day, I'll post them. This picture here is from UAA's website.]
Chinese opera is like asparagus. It's an acquired taste that requires small samples over time. I've had various opportunities over the years, to see bits and pieces of Chinese opera. Several more times in Thailand. Then when we lived in Hong Kong for a year, at the night market there were always small groups of actors/singers who would perform a scene or two on the street.
In China, Chinese opera was on television every night and once when I was there for a conference they took us to a performance for tourists. It was interesting because they explained things in English and they only showed short scenes. I'm sure the tourist agencies had discovered that most tourists couldn't last through too much Chinese opera. Besides the fact that it is all in a foreign language, the screechy singing and scratchy sounds of the stringed instruments, well, that's the part that takes getting used to.
Now it's a relatively familiar sound that brings back good memories.But I'm confident that at this performance they will give short glimpses of different operas with English explanations so that it should be easier for novices to understand what is happening.
So, come Tuesday, November 3, 2009
UAA's Wendy Williamson Auditorium 7pm (doors open at 6:30) Free!
Well, nothing is free. This is offered by the Confucius Institute at UAA. As I've said in an earlier post, this is sponsored by the Chinese government to promote Chinese language and culture around the world. And people speculate less savory agendas, but no more, I'm sure, than the US and other governments promote with their cultural outreach into other countries. If the Confucius Institute is merely a cultural exchange or a branch of the Chinese takeover of the world*, your taking this opportunity won't have much of an impact on their agenda, but you'll get to experience an art form that has been around for a thousand years or more. [*I'm mostly joking. Even if the worst fears about Confucius Institutes as outposts to monitor overseas Chinese is true, they will play only the tiniest role in China's increasingly important role in the world. And if you take the threat seriously, consider this an opportunity to get to know your enemy.]
The UAA website has a detailed description of the scenes they will be playing so I encourage you to visit that, even print out some of the descriptions before you go. If you take kids, and by all means do, letting them act out the scenes before you go would be great preparation. Let them watch some Chinese Opera videos on line (there are two below). The makeup and the costumes will be spectacular. I think kids can relate to the music better than adults who already have formed notions of what proper music is.
The first video looks like a Chinese television show about modern kids who are studying Chinese Opera. It's all in Chinese, but it shows practicing, putting on makeup, some performances. I think kids can relate to other kids even if it isn't in English. If they don't like this one, find another one and let them dance to the music and play one or two of the scenes described on the UAA website. They'll be a lot more interested when they see the real thing.
From the Illuminated Lantern, a site that reviews Asian movies, I've excerpted this description of the form of Chinese opera, but the whole piece, which is a description of the historic forms of Chinese opera is well worth a peek.
Although there are many different regional styles, they all share many similarities. Each have the same four role types: the female, the male, the painted-face, and the clown. Performances consist of singing, poetry, music, dance, and gesture. Emphasis is on costume and makeup rather than props or scenery. The operas often tell the same stories, though with various regional differences, such as alternate endings or additional characters. The information described within this article will, unless otherwise noted, pertain to Peking Opera specifically, and the regional operas more generally.
We can see four roles here in this description of one of the pieces to be presented Tuesday (from the UAA website.)
Autumn River 京剧《秋江》片段
This story happened during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). Scholar Pan Bizheng is staying with his aunt at a Taoist temple when he falls in love with the Taoist nun Chen Miaochang. His aunt finds out and forces him to leave his love behind and go to Beijing to take the imperial examination. When Chen Miaochang learns that Pan is leaving, she runs to the bank of the Autumn River and hires an old fisherman to follow him. The two meet on the road, travel to Beijing and get married. The role of Chen Miaochang is played by Hua Shan.
Clearly Scholar Pan is the male role and Taoist nun Chen is the female role. I'm guessing the old fisherman is the clown and that leaves the aunt as the painted face, but I'm just guessing.
Don't miss this. Bring the kids. Sit as close as you can or bring binoculars. And since it's free, if you tire quickly, you can leave without feeling you've lost your money. And you'll forever be able to say you've seen Chinese Opera live, and if you're lucky, you'll get hooked.
If you've never heard it before, it is a bit of a shock to Western ears, so check out this video of Teochew dialect opera (the kind I first heard in Thailand) so it will be a bit familiar when you come Tuesday night. This is from yeohts8192289 at Veoh, he's from Penang, Malaysia.
Yesterday afternoon I invited the daughters of friends to go to the Chinese Fair at UAA put on by the Confucius Institute. In the end, their parents came too. I was a little underwhelmed after the quality of Thursday night's performance. But even though the Student Union hadn't been transformed visually into a Chinese village fair, it turned out that the activities were good ones that got the kids and the adults involved.
Each table had some aspect of Chinese culture. This one was called Chinese toys and this was a game where you had to use chopsticks to move tiny beans from cup to cup.
This kid was really getting into the chance to learn some Chinese calligraphy. You can see the character for river (the three vertical lines) and below the character for mountain.
There was also origami - I didn't think to ask about the Chinese claim to what I thought was a Japanese artform.
There were also people who would write people's names on these tags using Chinese characters.
I was hoping to add something about Confucius Institutes in general but if I'm going to get this up, I'll have to leave that part for later. They are sponsored by the Chinese government through the Ministry of Education and they are a way for China to promote Chinese language and culture. There has been some criticism that this is a means of Chinese propaganda and even espionage. But I think the same claims can and have been made for Western organizations that do the same thing. One particular issue with universities is the extent to which the funding agreements give control to the Chinese over curriculum of regular university classes on language and China. One way universities have dealt with this is not by having the CI within academic units - such as the language department or other departments which might cover aspects of Chinese politics, history, etc. in their courses. My understanding of how this works at UAA is that the CI is NOT housed in an academic department, such as Languages, but separately with International Programs which has taken the place of the old American Russian Center.
The benefits, if this works out as hoped, will be extra resources to improve opportunities to study Chinese language in the Anchorage School System and the university and help for the business community that want to tap Chinese markets and resources. If this is going to be more than a symbolic presence, I suspect there will need to be more resources and a clearer focus on a few things that can be done well.
That's actually the gist of what I had to say. Perhaps I'll get up a post with more details another time.
Thursday night I walked over to the Wendy Williamson Auditorium at UAA to see the performances celebrating the opening of the Confucius Institute. I've been busy with a number of things today - including computer problems following the installation of Snow Leopard which I think may now finally be over - so I had trouble getting the video completed. [Update Oct. 3 - see this later post for what the Snow Leopard problem was for me. Doesn't mean it will work for you, but it seems to have solved my problem.]
I'll try to do another post or two - one on Confucius and one on Confucius Institutes - but in the meantime here's a glimpse of the celebration. There were entertainers from Anchorage, other parts of the US, and some brought over from China.
This really did have a Chinese feel to it. I was particularly interested in seeing the 'change of face' act. This is a particularly Chinese art form handed down from generation to generation. There's a great film about such an artist who is looking for an apprentice to teach his art to. And as part of the Opening Week celebration, the Confucius Institute will show the movie Saturday night. This is an amazing skill and Thursday night was the first time I saw it in person. It's at the end of the video.
The following is what UAA's website had about Thursday's show (there's a bit of all of the acts on the video)
A Celebration of Chinese Performing Arts
Thursday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m. at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium
Dr. J.D. Zhang, Sichuan Opera “Change of Face” artist and master of traditional Chinese magic [top picture]
Guoming Sun, Asia International Martial Arts Champion performing double Chain-whip and Drunk Sword [right]
Weiguang Dang, Famous Chinese Baritone
Dr. Yuxiang Wu, Classical Chinese Flute
There will be choral singers, dancers and other performances by members of the Alaska Chinese Association.
There was also some formal stuff. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences [left] spoke as did the director of the Institute and the the Vice Consul General from the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco [picture above.]
All the events are free. Friday night there was a talk on "Overcoming the Global Economic Crisis: The Chinese Gamble" which I missed because our (originally from Taiwan) guests got back from their trip to Kennecott Mine this evening.
Here's the Saturday schedule from the Institute website. I expect this too will be pretty genuine and worth attending. And it should be good for kids and it's free. This is not your every day fare, the Chinese government is using these Institutes to put a good face forward in the world, so this is probably as close to being in China as it gets at a public event in Alaska.
Chinese Adventure: A carnival of activities, games, performances and prizes
Saturday, Sept. 12, Noon to 4 p.m. at the UAA Student Union on the 1st Floor [parking is free on Saturdays, and if you don't know where the student union is, this is a good time to go looking for it (it's on Providence between Providence Hospital and Lake Otis) next to the sports center].
Come witness and participate in traditional dance and martial arts performances, calligraphy, paper cutting and folding, Chinese games and more. These opportunities made possible with assistance from the Alaska Chinese Association and the UAA Chinese Language Club.
And then in the evening the movie I mentioned above. This is a really interesting movie and if I recall right, appropriate for kids. [Let me amend this thought. It's probably good for mature kids about 12 or over. It probably has subtitles, but if you are one of those anti-subtitles people, try not to pass that prejudice on to your kids. It helps them improve their reading and gives access to many great films.] One of the key characters is the kid who is being trained. The Fine Arts Building is on the far east side of the campus. The street that comes out of the Providence Hospital onto Providence Dr. goes right into campus there. Turn right at the first corner.
Film Presentation: The King of Masks (1999) Sunday, Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building 150 Directed by Wu Tian-Ming, The King of Masks is set in 1930s Sichuan Province and tells the tale of an aging master of the traditional Sichuan Opera art of Change of Face, rapid mask changes to display the emotions of varied players, and his quest to find a protégé to carry on his art. This is a simple, moving and well-acted film starring Zhang Zhigang and Xu Zhu.
As I was near the end of my third mile today, near Lake Otis and Chester Creek, probably the corridor used by the bear hit on Gambell yesterday morning, (Wow, as I searched for the link to that article, I found out that everybody is carrying that story. It was an AP story even in the Anchorage Daily News), I saw a couple with bikes, stopped and looking at a map.
Well, they wanted to do the Loop - Chester Creek to Campbell Creek to Coastal Trail back to downtown. It's a great ride, but there are these gaping holes in it as well as unmarked turns. The visitor trying to patch together these three great trails really faces a challenge. They even said they tried it from the other way, but eventually gave up.
And I feel bad. I tried to explain to them how to
1) make sure they turned right so they could cross the Northern Lights bridge,
then 8) turn the right way on the dirt trail to get to Arctic Road Runner where they'd be home free.
Except, after they left, I realized that, of course, they weren't home free, because that trail doesn't have an obvious connection to the Coastal Trail and they would be lost at the same break they were lost at coming the other way.
Maybe someone will tell them how to get to Kincaid from there. They have till 9 tonight to catch their plane. Sorry, I left out the end. But by Arctic Road Runner I already figured they'd have to be pretty smart and pretty lucky just to get there.
We need:
1. A bike trail map that gets people through the gaps 2. Signs on the trail to help people do the Loop 3. To have the gaps filled in
It's a great ride, but finding it is a much bigger challenge than riding it.
I'll try to post some instructions with pictures when we get back from our trip.
The Anchorage Daily News has an editorial today about completing the Campbell-Chester Creek Trail loop around UAA. That part just needs better signage for people who don't know it. The real key is completing the large loop of the Campbell Creek to Coastal Trail to Chester Creek. And a major problem is Seward Highway and Campbell Creek.
Yesterday I had to go to CompUSA on Dimond from the University. Should I drive or bike? It was a beautiful day, but the bike trail doesn't quite go the way I wanted to go. The big gap in the bike trail is under Seward Highway. The trail to the highway is great and after, but there's this gap. Lanie Fleischer - who was one (and she emphasizes that there were many others) of the early bike trail advocates and whose name is on the trail at Goose Lake - told me once long ago that she talked to the engineers building the Seward Highway. She wanted them to make sure it would be easy to one day build a bike trail under the highway along Campbell Creek. She said they sneered and purposely built it low. Lanie has no reason to make up such a story.
In any case, yesterday I decided to bike it. Here's the obstacle.
I rode south on Lake Otis to 47th, (#1 on the map) I think, where I picked up the bike trail headed west through the Waldron area, past the soccer fields and the small lake. It winds through a small park to Campbell Creek and then ends. There is a dirt path through the woods, but I took the quiet neighborhood street to the Seward Highway. (#2) The pictures below are getting under the Seward Highway - the box on the map by #2.
This is where the little dirt path begins to go down and under the first of the four bridges (one each for north and south of Seward Highway, and a frontage road bridge on each side).
Down under the bridges.
While traffic whizzes by above, down under the bridges it's a totally different world.
And after the last bridge, now on the west side of the Seward Highway, you take another small dirt path and the new bike trail begins again with this wooden bridge. .
Note on this post. The reason I went to Dimond was to buy iLife08 which includes iMovie08 - a totally new way of putting together movies from iMovie06. I did this movie in the new software just by going to help when I had a problem. It is incredibly easy and intuitive. And I saw the other day that there is a new upload video button on blogger, so I wanted to try that out too. It would mean not having to post first on Viddler. But it is taking forever to upload. Let's see what it looks like when it's done. Well, there's the answer. [When I'm making the post, there's a video screen saying "Uploading Video" but I also got a message saying it can't upload it.] It appears that I can't upload it in Viddler, it's too long for YouTube and it didn't upload here. A quick Google shows that a lot of people are having trouble with iMovie. So I'll just post this for now and see what I can do. [And it doesn't come up. I'm guessing it's too big. But the file format doesn't work for Viddler and it's clearly too big for YouTube.]
The next Ignite Anchorage conference will be held at the
