How Safe Is Loussac During Construction?

I voted at Loussac Library Wednesday.  Here's the atrium with the original steps removed.  The whole atrium is blocked off.  (From the Alaska Collection silo.)

This next shot shows the wall that's been created to block off the atrium from the inside on the second and third floors.

The library was packed Wednesday, even though it was sunny and nice out.

But there was only one working elevator.  When I was ready to go, the first time the 3rd elevator door opened, it was too full to get in.  (Well, I suspect New Yorkers would have been able to squeeze in, but Alaskans like a little more personal space)  You can see people waiting for the elevator on the right.

There is a big staircase from the second to third floor, except it's in the atrium area that is currently blocked off.  So you can't walk from the second to the third floor.   You have to take the elevator.  And passage ways are much narrower than normal.  With the entrance and checkout on the ground floor, it's disorienting.

While I was waiting for an elevator, I asked a librarian whether there were stairs.  She pointed to the far corner and said there are emergency stairs, but an alarm will go off if you take them.  I pointed out that there weren't any obvious signs leading people to the exit stairs.  "We've mentioned that at staff meetings,"  I was told.

I suspect that the fire marshals assumed there would be two working elevators, but even then, it seems to me that the lack of stairs between the second and third floor is a serious problem.  At the very least, they could open the emergency stairs between those two floors so people who'd rather walk, could do that.  People around me didn't know if there were stairs from the first to the second floor either. (The steps and elevator in the old entrance are obviously - from the top picture - gone now.)


Here's a before and after picture of the steps from February 4 and today.

(Careful readers will note that I said it was a nice sunny day today.  There were clouds and this picture was taken while a cloud blocked the sun.)

Loussac Steps Starting To Go

I went to the library Saturday and was surprised to see the steps still intact.  They shut the library down for ten days, but it seems that was to set up the new library entrance on the west side.





The stairs and their covering were still there Saturday.

But I went back yesterday - Wednesday - and they'd started chipping away (literally.)  It looks like those steps are pretty solid.

"Hold on, Millie Martindale (Raven Bonniwell)! You got some ‘splainin’ to do."

"You’ve just tried to break a date with your husband’s boss’ awful wife Kitty Sunderson (Karen Lange) by pretending you had an appointment with a butcher on U Street – and now Kitty wants to go to the butcher with you! How are you going to get out of that?!!
And not so fast, Bob Martindale (Andrew Keller)! You got some ‘splainin’ to do too. You’re in charge of the State Department program to root out communists on the payroll, and your boss Ted Sunderson (Zach Brewster-Geisz) has just put you in charge of a new program to get rid of all the sexual deviants in the State Department – and you’re one of them yourself!
Although you have a sham marriage to Millie, you actually live in unholy bliss with your neighbor Jim Baxter (Kiernan McGowan), who is legally married to your secretary Norma (Natalie Cutcher) – who is in reality Millie’s lover! How are you going to get out of that?!!"

So begins a 2013 review of Topher Payne's play Perfect Arrangement in the DC Theater Scene.

I knew nothing about the review, but I did know the play was coming to Anchorage, when I stopped by Out North to see about tickets for next Thursday's  (March 19) opening of the play.    The box office wasn't open, but two of the producers (and actors) were inside, the set was ready, and Krista Schwarting and Jay Burns told me about the play. 




In the video they briefly discuss the play - a West Coast premiere.  Maybe you can hear some hints of playwright Topher Payne's Mississippi childhood in this post's title.  The story takes place in the 1950s as homosexuals, following the purge of communists, were being rooted out of the State Department.  We're getting the play here in Anchorage because Krista knows a friend of the Topher Payne.  And  Topher Payne will be here for the opening.

This was happened in the early 1950's - about the same time that Alan Turing (see Imitation Game)  was arrested in England for being a homosexual.   A commenter on the review that opens this post wrote:

"The man sitting next to me said “Young people have no idea … Everyone should see this play.” I totally agree, and only wish these people could also be there: the woman I know who was an Army nurse in Korea and had to stand by, with her lover, and watch her friends being routed out and dishonorably discharged, and the woman who was the best record promoter in Chicago in the 60s who got caught trying to escape from a police raid of a second floor lesbian bar and lost her career. This is a fabulous comedy that touches on their tragedies."

People growing up today have trouble grasping what 'in the closet' meant back then.  And perhaps they can better understand the negative reactions many in the older generations against gays because of what they were taught when they were young.   This trailer for a movie about the time gives a little sense.  (I was way too young at the time to be aware of any of this.)





The Reemergence of Out North

I'm delighted this enchanted piece of real estate at Primrose and Debarr is coming back to life. The building started as some sort of electrical station. When we got to Anchorage in 1977 it was Grandview Garden library, a wonderful funky old library. When Loussac library opened in 1984, Grandview was scheduled to close. The community kept it open a bit longer, but eventually it was shut. But the building was reincarnated as Out North by Jay Brause and Gene Dugan.  And Jay and Gene (and their successors) always brought thought provoking performances - whether from Outside or from Anchorage or around Alaska - to their stage.  Stuff that made you rethink things you thought you knew.  You can read some more of the history here in the description of the Out North now housed at the University's Archives and Special Collections.

AIFF 2014 - Saturday - What To Do?

I'm throwing up my hands here.  Lots of good things and some I really want to do are at the same time.  And the alternative times conflict with something else.  But that's the nature of festivals like this.  More than anyone can see.

I'm going to try to get to Global Village Shorts Program which has four films in competition and to Rocks in My Pocket.  I hate to miss The Homestretch at Loussac and will try to get to the discussion at least.  But I may change my mind.  The grid below will get bigger if you click on it.  Or go to the original at Festival Genius.  There, if you mouse over a film, a popup will give you more detail.

Note the Frost Drive-In.  And there's a family friendly drive-in, in the Loussac Parking lot (I think that's what someone told me, the program just says Loussac.)  That's at 7pm.  You'll use your car radio to get the audio I was told.  

AIFF 2014: Tony Sheppard Heading To Anchorage - Things Start Tomorrow With Free AM Discussion of Alaska Film Industry

I just ran into Anchorage International Film Festival Founder Tony Sheppard at SEATAC - headed to the festival to staff the hospitality suite.  He's moved to Bellingham, in part to be near is dad.


I've scheduled my return so I'll be back for the festival too.

Tomorrow (Friday) morning at the Bear Tooth  at 11:30am there is  free discussion  of the state of the Alaska Film Industry.  Here's the list of panelists:

Frank Hall Green, Director of WildLikeD.K. Johnston, Executive Producer/Director of Alaska FilmmakersDeborah Schildt, President of the Alaska Film Group & Production Manager at PiksikDave Worrell, Development Specialist at the Alaska Film Production Promotion ProgramKelly Mazzei, Executive Director of the Alaska Film Office
* Free Event *

 WildLike is the opening film Friday evening.

Like last year there will be some interesting off-the-radar events people should consider.  It's really hard with so many things happening at the same time.

Saturday at Loussac at 3:00 there will be a (FREE)  film called The Homestretch followed by a discussion with local folks who work with the homeless.

The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious teenagers - Roque, Kasey and Anthony - will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. 

Stay after the free screening at the Loussac Library of "The Homestretch" for a panel discussion of the problem of Youth Homelessness in Anchorage . The panel will consist of Josh Louwerse, Outreach Case Manager at Covenant House Alaska; Benita Stepp, Charlie Elder House Program Director; Amanda Metivier, Facing Foster Care In Alaska

This may sound depressing (go see Rocks In My Pocket if you want to learn about depression) but I have to say the most exciting event I went to last year was an interactive film and discussion on the death penalty.


My advice now is to check the schedule at Festival Genius - click on the grid for each day.  There are some problems on my computer - some of the names of the films are obscured - but it gives you a good overview of what's playing and there are useful popups to see about each film/event.

Go to schedule, then click on grid.  Click here for Saturday's grid.

AIFF 2014: Questions (and Answers) People Should Be Asking About The Festival

A lot of people don't even know what questions they should be asking.  So I'm listing them out here (with the answers) to help you find out what's happening at the Anchorage International Film Festival and how to take advantage of all the great films that will be in town Dec. 5-14, 2014.

Below are links to posts with general information about the Anchorage International Film Festival.  This is a revision and update of a post I first put up about five years ago and updated again last year.  I've been checking the links to be sure they too are current for 2014.  But it's still a work in progress.


Q: Where's the official Anchorage International Film Festival website?  Click the AIFF2014  link here.


Q: What do all the categories mean? ("official selection;" "films in competition," etc.) This post defines key festival jargon you'll see in the program or on here..  It also covers the process for how films get selected for the Festival and how the winners get chosen.

Q: What  films are the best films this year (2014)?
Films in Competition are the ones chosen  to compete for the Golden Oosiker awards.  I'm working on lists of the films in competition for each category - something about each film and when and where they will play.  [For the film categories I have up for 2014, you can find the films in competition posts listed at my  AIFF 2014 tab.  Films in competition are marked with a check (√) on the Official AIFF website.]

Films in Competition  - Features 2014
Films in Competition -  Documentaries 2014
Films in Competition -  Shorts 2014
Films in Competition -  Animation 2013  (2014 never made it to a list)
Films in Competition -  Super Shorts 2013  (2014 never made it to a list)

But often there are other films that I thought were as good or better than the films in competition.  And there are some films, which for various reasons, are not eligible for prizes, so they aren't 'in competition, but they're good.

Q: Who won in each category?  None yet this year, but here are the previous winners.
2014 Winners - Official Winner list compared to my list (with my comments on the Features)
2013 Winners -  Official Winner list
2012 Winners - My 2012 winners Official compared to AIFF 2012 Winners Page
2011 Winners -  My 2011 winners (none) - Official AIFF 2011 Winners Page
2010 Winners -  My 2010 winners post -  Official AIFF 2010 Winners Page
2009 Winners -  My 2009 winners post -  Official AIFF 2009 Winners Page
2008 Winners - My 2008 winners post  -  Official AIFF 2008 Winners Page
[Note:  'My winners' are films I liked best.  Sometimes I've only discussed one category, sometimes more than one.  Sometimes my comments on a particular film  are buried in posts even I can't find.]


Q:  Short films are grouped together into 'programs.'  How do I find which short films are playing together in the same of program?
Animation Programs  2014 [There's only one program for 2014. There's also an animation in the Mexican Consulate's films- Eskimal.]
Made In Alaska  2014 (I guess this replaces what used to be called Snow Dance.  There are eight programs)
Short Docs 2014
Super Short Narrative 2014  (There are four programs, including one of Mexican films)
Family Program 2014


Q:  What is FG?  
The short answer:  Festival Genius.
The longer answer:  It's a film festival software program that AIFF has acquired that makes it much easier to find out when and where the films will be shown.  It takes a little bit of time to figure out how it works.


Step 1:   You click on the blue FG icon  on the AIFF website, or  you can click here.
Step 2:  Then you can choose films.  That opens up four more choices.  For starters look under category, then click the blue box (see green arrow) and a drop down window will give you a long list of choices.  Or you can pick countries.  If you leave three of the boxes at their starting setting ("all ...) then you'll see all the choices.  You can combine settings in boxes - say animation category and Mexico for country and that should pull up just one film.  If you know the name of the film you want, you can put it into the Film Search window on the right.

Step 3:  If, instead of films, you pick schedule, you can see what will show for that day or that week.

click to enlarge 

If you click on schedule, you'll get screening choices (red box) by week, by day, or grid.   Week and Day give you a list of films for the time period.  Grid will give you a table.

You don't have to sign in (I don't because they want too much personal information for me), but if you do, you can make your own schedule and review films, etc.



Q:  I'm not interested in the festival, but if there are any films on my favorite place, food, sport, etc.,  I'd go.  Are there any?

Festival Genius - see above -  allows you to look at a list of countries  and then see what films are being shown from that country.  Click on the blue spot for the country window and it will open a list of countries.  Then pick a country, and wait until it loads the films from that country.  Make sure you have "all events" and "all films" in the event and film windows.

Also note the red box in the lower left.  The film festival (2014) spans two calendar weeks and so you have to check for each week.  Just click on the week and it changes.

To find out about films of special topics, you need to look through the films themselves. I'll try to make some lists of topics if I see any patterns and I'll link here.  There are family films,  Alaska films, Mexican films sponsored by the Mexican Consul, Chinese films sponsored by the Confucius Institute at UAA, and the Gayla films.

How do I find your blog posts on specific films or film makers?  In the AIFF 2014 Page - It's a tab under the orange heading at the top of my blog - I'll have an index of posts by category and an index of posts in reverse chronological order.  Here's a link to that tab.   You can see them in the archive on the right side.  They'll mostly be in December, with some in November and I try to start them with AIFF2014.


Do you have videos of the Festival? - I'll add the video posts as I get a chance to make and edit them.   I'll list the posts with video in the AIFF2014 Page.  I already have some video of Attila Szasz, the director of The Ambassador to Bern,  which I got in a Skype interview with him in Budapest.   It's not edited yet.



Where will the films be shown?
Locations:

 Bear Tooth, is the main venue.

1230 West 27th Avenue (West of Spenard Road) - 907.276.4200

Alaska Experience Theater
333 W 4th Ave #207, Anchorage, AK 99501 (907) 272-9076
There is a large and a small theater there

Anchorage Community Works** This was a new venue last year

 349 E Ship Creek Ave

Anchorage Museum
625 C Street

Marston Theater (Loussac Library) Family Programming on Saturday Dec. 14
3600 Denali St.

There are special events at other venues.  You can check all the venues next to window where you check the countries (see screenshot above).

Q:  What workshops are there?
There are five workshops with film makers.  These are chances to interact with film makers and learn some aspect of the movie craft and industry.

Q:  What are your criteria for a good movie? When I made my picks for the 2008 best films, at the end of the post I outlined my criteria. The link takes you to that post, scroll down to second part.  I also did a post in 2012 on what I thought makes a good documentary.


Q:  Should I buy a pass or just buy tickets as I go?  

Tickets are still only $8 per film.  "All films passes" are only $100.  So, if you go to twelve films, the pass is cheaper. But there are other benefits to the pass.   You also get priority seating with your pass.    That means you go into the theater first at the Bear Tooth.  You do have to get a ticket (free when you show your pass) for each film at the door and only a certain number of seats are held for pass holders.

And if you have a pass, you'll go see more films because you'll think "I've paid for them. I should go and get my money's worth."
All Films passes get you into Workshops, and discounts for a few extra events, like the opening night film (which is actually $30 a ticket) and the awards. These extra events also have food.

Another option is to volunteer and get a pass to a movie.

You can buy tickets at the venues.  You can also get advanced tickets at the venues.
You can also buy them online.  Tickets are already available.

Q:  What about family films? 
Saturday, December 6, at 11am at Loussac Library - in the Marston Auditorium..  This is a free event.  You can see the family program here.  (As I'm posting this, there is no list of films yet at this link, just the time and place.)

Q:  Any free events?
Yes, there are.  Besides the family films (right above), Made in Alaska, and two of the workshops.  You can see them all here.

Q:  Who Are You Anyways? - who's paying you to do this? does your brother have a film in competition? What is your connection to the festival? From an earlier post here's my  Disclosure:

 I sort of accidentally blogged about the  2007 festival  and the AIFF people liked what I did and asked if I would be the official blogger in 2008. They promised me I could say what I wanted, but I decided it was better to blog on my own and then if I write something that upsets one of the film makers, the Festival isn't responsible.  The Festival has a link to my site.  They also threw in a free pass for me in each year since 2008.

I probably won't say anything terrible about a film, but I did rant about one film in the past that I thought was exploiting its subject as well as boorishly demeaning a whole country. I mentioned in an earlier post that if I sound a little promotional at times, it's only because I like films and I like the kinds of quirky films that show up at festivals, so I want as many people to know about the festival as  possible so the festival will continue. Will I fudge on what I write to get people out? No way. There are plenty of people in Anchorage who like films. They're my main target - to get them out of the house in the dark December chill when inertia tugs heavily if they even think about leaving the house. But if others who normally don't go out to films hear about a movie on a topic they're into, that's good too.

I did a post a couple of years ago for Film Festival Skeptics who might be sitting on the fence and need to be given reasons to go and strategies to make it work.

Q:  How Does One Keep Track of What's Happening at the Festival?
I'll be blogging the film festival every day.  The link below will be my festival posts only, starting with the most recent.  There should also be printed programs in the Anchorage Press you can pick up around town as well and go to the Festival Webpage.

My blog will update every day.  My Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF 2014)  tab on top will have an overview of what's happening each day.


Q:  Are there other Alaskan Film Festivals?  
There are some events called 'festival' that I know of in Anchorage, but they aren't major film events like this one.  There is another organization,  that puts Alaska in its name and used to rent a postal box in Alaska, but has no other connection that we can find to Alaska.  You can read about that at  Comparing the ANCHORAGE and ALASKA International Film Festivals - Real Festival? Scam?

Anyone who knows of other legitimate film festivals in Alaska, let me know.  I've heard stuff about Sitka Film Festival  in February. And there's also an Indigenous Film Festival in February and  there's been an Alaska Native Film Festival.  And there's the Farthest North Jewish Film Festival in Fairbanks.

Alaskans Need To Act Like Grown Ups And Sit Down With A Competent Financial Planner

Instead, we will probably stay willfully ignorant and go on spending until the money runs out with a battered Permanent Fund our only nest egg for the future.  We have lots of excuses:

• "My vote doesn't make a difference"
• "The politicians are all corrupt"
• "The cut in oil taxes will produce more revenue"
• "Don't interrupt, I'm in the middle of the game."

And our legislature is only slightly better informed because they have to attend hearings where experts speak.  But they are skilled - as we all are - in hearing only those things that reaffirm what they already believe.  And the Republicans don't have to listen to anyone else anyway because they have big majorities in the state house and senate and they have the governor's mansion. 

Alaskans have been wallowing in oil money since a decade or so after oil was discovered in Prudhoe Bay in 1968.  Our population two years later - from the 1970 census - was 302,853.  The 2010 census put us at 710,231. 

That means that over half our population came after the oil boom began and doesn't know the times when Alaska had an income tax, tight budgets, and no Permanent Fund (whose $1884 dividend checks this year are making their way to every Alaskan as I write.)

But the oil revenues are going down and our spending is going up.  Despite the rhetoric of our so-called fiscally conservative Republican dominated legislature and governor, they've passed the biggest budget deficits in Alaska's history.

We have serious issues to face, such as:

• What is the range of potential future state oil revenues?    
• What have been the drivers behind the increases in the state budget over the past decade, what upward pressures are likely in the future and what are the constraints to cutting state spending?    
• How might big-ticket capital projects like the proposed large-diameter natural gas pipeline/LNG export project, the Susitna-Watana hydroelectric project and the Knik Arm Crossing affect future state spending and revenues?    
• How much revenue could Alaska raise from new taxes, and what are the pros and cons of different taxes?    
• What is the Permanent Fund for? How are our uses of Permanent Fund earnings including dividends related to our other fiscal choices?    
• What would a sustainable fiscal system look like, and how could we get to it?   

These issues will be discussed Saturday, October 4, 2014 at Loussac Library from 9am-5:30pm in a public forum hosted by

Alaska Common Ground, a non-profit whose mission is:

To cultivate Alaska’s common ground for “government of the people, by the people, for the people” by engaging diverse citizens in active pursuit of informed mutual understanding and agreement on vital issues of public concern.

and UAA's Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) - the foremost social science research unit dedicated to studying current issues in Alaska.


My guess is that between 100 and 200 people will attend.  The crowd will be predominantly white, over 50 years old, and already politically active. 

Where will the other 224,000 registered Anchorage voters be?   They'll have plenty of excuses because they don't want to think about this stuff.  This is grown up stuff and Alaskans like playing with their toys - their guns, their snow machines, their video games, their fancy running shoes and $2000 bicycles.  Hey, life is good, don't disturb me. 

The LA Times had an article Sunday about a 67 year old retired school teacher whose annual income from her pension and investments is $58,000, but she has been spending at a rate that puts her in jeopardy of being homeless in seven years.  The article discusses her shock after having her budget examined by a financial adviser.

Alaska  is that school teacher - we've had money to burn for the last 40 years and we've gotten accustomed to doing just that.  We aren't poor and we could easily live within our means, if we have a heart to heart with a good financial planner and follow the prescribed path.

But we're so busy coming up with ways to spend that money - with lobbyists in Juneau concocting all sorts of bridge and dam projects to get state money spent on mega-projects that will benefit their construction company clients - that we aren't seriously looking at what we're going to do when all the reserve funds run out and we find that our schools are lacking and our state - like the school teacher - can no longer pay the rent. 

Unlike the teacher who can make all the decisions necessary to secure her future on her own and who will have to live with the consequences, Alaskans have to get together and talk this stuff through.  And just as many Alaskans came here for the jobs oil wealth made possible, many will leave when those goodies are gone.

We have an opportunity to be grown-ups and make the hard decisions we need to make.  But I bet fewer than 200 will take the time to start facing the future on Saturday. 

And Alaska Common Ground, whose members I admire and who have good hearts, is going to have to figure out new ways to reach out to Alaskans.  An all day face-to-face forum is a great way to learn.  But that won't make a dent unless they have a plan of mobilization for after the forum.

They need to start involving more than the same old people.   Common Ground needs to get young folks to help plan how to use social media and popular culture to reach the people whose future will be most affected.

We need to develop a Grand Theft Alaska game to teach Alaskans how to save the oil wealth for future generations of Alaskans. 

Alaska Is Number 1 - Spending Per Capita

Here's a cute video advertising Common Ground's Oct 4th forum on Alaska's Fiscal Future.   It sets out quickly and with wit, the way Alaska's spending its oil wealth and the forum that will discuss it at Loussac's Marston Library on Saturday October 4. 




A Crude Awaking for Alaska from Ian Laing on Vimeo.

Blogging Payoffs - Getting Help On Details Of Anchorage Ice Sculpture For French Book On Carl Nesjar

I've learned that blogs can get bits of information out into the world where others can find them.  I don't have to write a book, I can just post tidbits that others sometimes find useful.

Yesterday I got an email from Dr. Thierry Kozak in Paris.  He said he is writing a catalog of Carl Nesjar - who is now 94 - ice fountains and he found my pictures and brief description of the Anchorage ice sculpture and asked for help getting more documentation.

Nesjar Fountain Anchorage - Winter

So, I'm posting this in hopes that others who know about the sculpture and its origins and history might email me to make contact with Dr. Kozak.

The book will have two parts:

Part 1:  An overview of all of the 20 Nesjar fountains in the world.  (Four are in the United States.)

Part 2:  A history of each individual fountain.  (This will be the bulk of the book.)

For Anchorage, he only has, so far, my 2009 blog post.  Below I've paraphrased some of the things he'd like to know from us about the Anchorage sculpture:

If there are:

• drawings
• preparatory studies
• maquettes (Carl often made little models of his fountains)

Also: 

• the name of the owner of the fountain [I think the Municipality owns it]
• the name of the agency who commissioned the work
• the sizes of the fountain
• the dates (commission, completion, inauguration, restoration of the monument...)
• official letters between Nesjar and the organization
• list of the authors who have written about the work

In my original post, artist Catherine Senungetuk mentioned in a comment that she met Carl Nesjar when he was in Anchorage working on the sculpture because her friend Robert Pfitzenmeier helped Nesjar build the fountain.  Unfortunately, Catherine is no longer with us, but I'm trying to contact Pfitzenmeier.

Nesjar Fountain Anchorage - Summer

I'm sure there are people in Anchorage - at Loussac Library, the Municipality, the 1% for the Arts program, the museum, other artists, the group that raised funds to restore the fountain - who can offer bits and pieces of information that would be helpful to Kozak.








Here's a bit of video with Carl Nesjar, some of his fountains, and there's even a bit with Dr. Kozak. Don't worry about it being in French. They don't say much. It's got lots of
pictures. 

 


I'm hoping people reading this will alert them about this so they can respond.  This is good for Nesjar, for awareness of northern art, and for Anchorage too.  People travel for many different reasons - to see famous sights, to see birds, to climb mountains, etc.  I imagine that there will be people who come to Anchorage to see the Nesjar sculpture when the read about it in Kozak's book.  At least it will be one of the reasons they come here instead of somewhere else.



It's always rewarding to learn that someone, somewhere finds the scraps I'm posting to be useful. 

Blogging Payoffs - Getting Help On Details Of Anchorage Ice Sculpture For French Book On Carl Nesjar

I've learned that blogs can get bits of information out into the world where others can find them.  I don't have to write a book, I can just post tidbits that others sometimes find useful.

Yesterday I got an email from Dr. Thierry Kozak in Paris.  He said he is writing a catalog of Carl Nesjar - who is now 94 - ice fountains and he found my pictures and brief description of the Anchorage ice sculpture and asked for help getting more documentation.

Nesjar Fountain Anchorage - Winter

So, I'm posting this in hopes that others who know about the sculpture and its origins and history might email me to make contact with Dr. Kozak.

The book will have two parts:

Part 1:  An overview of all of the 20 Nesjar fountains in the world.  (Four are in the United States.)

Part 2:  A history of each individual fountain.  (This will be the bulk of the book.)

For Anchorage, he only has, so far, my 2009 blog post.  Below I've paraphrased some of the things he'd like to know from us about the Anchorage sculpture:

If there are:

• drawings
• preparatory studies
• maquettes (Carl often made little models of his fountains)

Also: 

• the name of the owner of the fountain [I think the Municipality owns it]
• the name of the agency who commissioned the work
• the sizes of the fountain
• the dates (commission, completion, inauguration, restoration of the monument...)
• official letters between Nesjar and the organization
• list of the authors who have written about the work

In my original post, artist Catherine Senungetuk mentioned in a comment that she met Carl Nesjar when he was in Anchorage working on the sculpture because her friend Robert Pfitzenmeier helped Nesjar build the fountain.  Unfortunately, Catherine is no longer with us, but I'm trying to contact Pfitzenmeier.

Nesjar Fountain Anchorage - Summer

I'm sure there are people in Anchorage - at Loussac Library, the Municipality, the 1% for the Arts program, the museum, other artists, the group that raised funds to restore the fountain - who can offer bits and pieces of information that would be helpful to Kozak.

I'm hoping people reading this will alert them about this so they can respond.  This is good for Nesjar, for awareness of northern art, and for Anchorage too.  People travel for many different reasons - to see famous sights, to see birds, to climb mountains, etc.  I imagine that there will be people who come to Anchorage to see the Nesjar sculpture when the read about it in Kozak's book.  At least it will be one of the reasons they come here instead of somewhere else. 

It's always rewarding to learn that someone, somewhere finds the scraps I'm posting to be useful. 

Untangling The Oil Tax Wars - Wednesday July 23, 2013 7:30pm Loussac

One side would have you believe that the oil companies are great corporate citizens who love Alaska, generously provide lots of jobs and funding to local organizations and would reluctantly have to leave the state if the old tax regime were to continue.

The other side would have it that the oil companies are just to profit, could care less if it comes from Alaska or Nigeria, will grab the oil at the least possible cost, protect the environment only to the extent they're forced to,  and will do whatever it takes to buy politicians to pass legislation that helps their bottom line.

As I see it, the pro-oil company faction does its best to hide that discussion by focusing the debate on whether ACES or SB 21 will more likely produce oil and revenue for Alaska.

You can hear some of the most knowledgeable speakers from each side in a debate next Wednesday, July 21 at Loussac Libray.  It's an ISER (Institute for Social and Economic Research) event.  Here's from an email I got the other day.

Invite someone who disagree with you on Prop 1 for dinner first, then the debate.

Forum On the Oil-Tax Referendum: Hear Both Sides

Sponsored by Alaska Common Ground

Co-Sponsors: Institute of Social and Economic Research, UAA 

League of Women Voters of Anchorage • League of Women Voters of Alaska

Anchorage Public Library • Alaska Integrated Media

Last year the Alaska Legislature made a controversial change in the oil production tax, which is the >state’s largest source of revenue. In the primary election scheduled for August 19, Alaskans will vote  on whether to keep or repeal the new tax system—commonly known as Senate Bill (SB) 21. Alaska Common Ground and several co-sponsors (including ISER) are holding a forum on the oil-tax referendum on Wednesday, July 23, in the Wilda Marston Theatre of Anchorage’s Loussac Library, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The forum is free and open to the public. Speaking in favor of repealing the new tax—a “yes” vote to repeal—will be Bill Wielechowski, a state senator from Anchorage, and Gregg Erickson, a long-time Alaska economist. On the opposing side, supporting the new system—a “no” vote to keep the new tax—will be Brad Keithley, an oil and gas policy consultant, and Roger Marks, a veteran petroleum economist. Gunnar Knapp, the director of ISER, will moderate the forum.

This event will differ from a number of others that have been held on this issue, because it will focus on getting each side to answer the other side's questions. Please join us to hear what both sides have to say.

When: Wednesday, July 23, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Where: Wilda Marston Theatre, Loussac Library

3600 Denali Street, Anchorage

Alaska Common Ground is a non-profit organization that works to engage Alaskans in conversations about major public policy issues facing the state.

For more information, go to www.akcommonground.org or call (907) 952-3353.

Election Mechanics At City Hall Go Smoothly As Assembly Power Appears To Have Shifted

Last year I worked in a polling place for the Municipal election and reported on the election from that perspective.  Things went fairly well until we tried to take the ballots to city hall where things were terribly backed up.  This year I worked at city hall.  Things went much more smoothly.

Station one was at the guard's desk - people signed in (and were marked off on a master list of precincts) and got a checklist that they took to the other stations.

Station 1 near entrance from parking lot

I think this is the first precinct to arrive - Elmendorf's Mt. Spur.  They're fairly close to downtown and they said they didn't have many voters.  They were there about 8:30 pm - 30 minutes after the polls closed.








Station 2 was at the other end of the lobby in City Hall.  Last year there were people lined up outside in the cold waiting to get in (see picture here).
  This year there was much more room inside the building to go to Station 2 where they cut off the metal seals from the Accu-Voter machines and removed the card with the data on it.  The workers wrote down the number of the seal on the checklist and initialed that they'd been checked in.
 

The picture shows them setting up with Station 2 by the third elevator bay.  From there they take their cart back and down a long hallway - which kept things from backing up outside.

Station 3 was the door to the room where the contents of the bags were checked.  I think they took the black bags with the voted ballots and got them stacked up. 

Station 4 was right at that point as well.  At 4 they took the box with the unused ballots.

Finally Station 5 was where they checked and sorted the contents of the big blue bags and the green and red bags inside.  This included things like the tally of the number of voters, number of ballots used, any spoiled ballots, and left over ballots.  All the numbers are supposed to match.  The people at the desks were not asked to check all the math, but to see that things were filled out.  Other items included payroll sheets for poll workers and miscellaneous items like death certificates for people who needed to be purged from the rolls.  (I saw that one had been brought in by someone.)

Station 5 getting ready

Station 5 once things began

Station 5 when things got busier

I worked mainly in the room with Station 5.  There were five desks (two workers per desk) where people could check in their materials. A sixth desk was opened when it got crowded.  But even then I don't think anyone had to wait more than 30 seconds to 45 seconds.  The flow was pretty fast.  None of the long lines from last year.  People were in a good mood, though some were clearly tired from having worked since about 7am.

By about 10:15pm there were only six precincts still out - mostly from the Hillside.  The Alaska Zoo was one.  I think Rabbit Creek was the last one in.  Aside from being far from city hall, they had seven or eight different ballots for people in different road and other districts.  So counting through all their stuff took longer.  By the time I went home - about 10:45pm, all the precincts were in.  All the ballots in the black bags had been moved to the vault upstairs.  All the white boxes with unused ballots had been transferred into the downstairs 'vault.'

It all went smoothly.  There were no rumors about precincts running out of ballots.  No long lines.  That doesn't mean all the paper work is actually correct, but there were no signs of problems that emerged, and I'm guessing there won't be any serious issues.  

And The Results?

While we were busy, we had no news about how the election was going.  It wasn't until I got home that I heard some results.  Even now, a little after 1am, I am only getting results marked 10:23pm.  It says 122 precincts reporting out of 124 (98%).  [UPDATE 6pm: I need to check with the election folks on how to read these reports.  Nathaniel Herz in the ADN reports there were only 122 precincts altogether.  And that there are 6000 outstanding early and absentee votes to count.] Of the two Assembly seats that seemed to be in play, Pete Petersen is ahead of incumbent Adam Trombley by about 300 votes and Bill Evans was about 200 votes ahead of Bruce Dougherty in the south Anchorage seat.  You can see all the Assembly and School District results details here.   For the propositions, you can look here.   If the numbers hold, the conservative 6-5 edge over liberals would be flipped to a 6-5 liberal edge. 

Everything seems to have passed except Proposition 3 which would have fixed the steps and entrance to Loussac Library and done work around Mulcahy stadium.  That was behind by about 300 votes.  It would have added just under $2 per $100,000 property value per year.  The library was packaged with the sports complex at Chester Creek and improvements to the Anchorage golf course. 

MENO, ewok, Bisco, and Will - Graffiti Artists At Innovation Lab

I've been posting now and then about graffiti and graffiti artists.  The film Exit Through The Gift Shop gave me some sense of graffiti artists and I've paid more attention to what I see on the streets.  I get curious about who the people are, why they are using public

spaces to put up their messages. 

When I went to the Innovation Lab to meet its director Darla Hane, she told me that graffiti artists were coming.  While I was there they began showing up carrying work.


Arielo Taylor (Bisco)  and ewok were the first two to bring stuff in - their own and others.

Arielo (Bisco) Taylor's spider and wolf

ewok's work

There was some talk about what graffiti actually is.  Is it still graffiti if it's done on wood or canvas and hung on a wall  instead of spray painted on?  What about stencils?  Stickers?  Tags? 


This isn't the first time these artists have had their work displayed indoors like this, but they thought this was probably the biggest collection of graffiti art in Anchorage.

MENO's work

I recognized the name MENO immediately.  I'd seen it around town.  And there was a MENO piece at an Out North event, and I asked if he were around.  But he wasn't.

MENO showed up later at the Innovation Lab. 

And he was ok with me taking a picture.  He doesn't work on public walls since he was arrested and paid a fine of over five thousand dollars.  His signature is very distinct and easy to read.












One of the other artists there was Will.  The eye was inked on paper and then Will cut out all the white areas.  I've seen very good Chinese paper cut art, but this was something else altogether. [Note, font for "Will's Eyes" from fontmeme.]

Here are some of his works there (in addition to the eye).  I immediately assumed the picture in the lower left was a self-portrait and Will confirmed that.


It's clear to me that these guys aren't just guys with spray cans.  They have a real sense of art.  I'd encourage Anchorage folks to drop by the innovation lab at Loussac - 4th floor where audio/visual used to be - while this stuff is up.  And it's for sale.

And try to find Darla and see how you can use or be of use to the lab. 

Maker Space - Fab Labs - Darla Introduces The Innovation Lab At Loussac

I'd heard of Maker Space, but hadn't been to one.  The closest, conceptually, I think, was at Off The Chain and Bikerowave, do it yourself bike repair shops with all the tools you need, most of the parts, and someone telling you how to use them.  But those are aimed pretty much making an existing technology work.

Maker Space, as I understand it, aims at creating things that don't exist yet.  It brings together creative people in a lab space with tools and equipment to make what you can imagine with folks willing to help.  Fab labs I'd never heard of, but Darla, on the video, explains they are MIT related.

Darla's an Americorps volunteer in Anchorage for three months so far, whose job it is to create a maker-like-space at Loussac's old audio/visual room on the fourth floor.








Is this a Maker Space?  Not exactly.  It can't handle some of the tools you'd find in other maker spaces - like blow torches.  And it's not a fab lab.   So what is the Innovation Lab then?

After talking to Darla, I'd say it's an idea that is evolving and that she wants as many folks as possible to help make this a space that will help connect people and ideas that go beyond the mundane.  Given all one can find online, I'd say this space has to take advantage of what you can't do online - have people getting together in person.  It's a great space - the old audio visual room of the library.  And Darla's got a 3-D printer on order.

In the back, there are different projects like this TEDx sign for the Anchorage TEDx day in the Marston Theater at Loussac on March 30.  [29 - noon to 7pm]  [I didn't notice that the Anchorage TEDx page is for 2013.]









When I was there, some local graffiti artists were bringing in work that will be on display in the lab for the next month or two.  I'll do another post on that. 

If you have ideas on how to use the lab, give Darla a call.  The basic requirement is that what you do is open to the public.  And, I assume, priority goes to people promoting the exchange of innovative ideas.

When you're at Loussac, go up to the fourth floor and check out the space.  And say hi to whoever is there and talk to them about how they use the space and what they would like it to be.

Think of this as a piece of social community art that we are all going to create. 

Words, Symbols, and Meanings - Some Examples

Reinterpretation of Jesus' Words

From a bumper sticker I saw today:

Almost, but not quite, painting pictures with words.

Cloudstreet  is this month's book club choice.  I couldn't find it at Loussac in Anchorage, but they had an Australian tv series that someone said was good.  I watched the six episode DVD, and as interesting as the visual experience was, there was a lot missing.  Aside from some more character development, I wanted to enjoy Winton's prose.  I'd read a previous Tim Winton novel - Dirt Music - which I enjoyed thoroughly.  So, when I found it in the library here on Bainbridge Island, I asked my daughter to check it out for me.  Here's why I like the writing.  Rather than just say, "no one in the hospital room moved for a long time"  he writes

"The woman and the daughter do not speak.  The crippled man does not stir.  The breeze comes in the window and stops the scene from turning into a painting."

Did you see the curtain move?  Or feel the breeze? Or see the painting of the three in the hospital room? 



When It Helps To Have Slow Witted Authorities

In the Foreword to an English version of Between Man and Man, philosopher Martin Buber wrote:

". . .The book appeared in Germany in 1936 - astonishingly, since it attacks the life-basis of totalitarianism.  The fact that it could be published with impunity is certainly to be explained from its not having been understood by the appropriate authorities."

Diaper Fashion

I did complain about the vapidity of baby clothes last year and even found an Ai Weiwei t-shirt for Z online.   But when I changed her diapers this afternoon, I looked a little more carefully at the pattern.  This is definitely not vapid, but skulls and crossbones?  OK, why not?

AIFF 2013: Saturday- Oh Dear Too, Too Many Choices

First, sorry for pointing people toward the Inlet Towers yesterday for the Martini Matinee.  It was at the Bear Tooth and well attended, including a number of film makers.

There's a lot on for Saturday that I haven't seen.  The links and times and locations are on the schedule below from the Festival site.  I'll try to point out films that I've seen and that I've liked:

Family Program 
If you have kids:  Go to Loussac either at 11 or 1 for the family program.  Actually, I'd say it doesn't matter when you get there after 11 because the program repeats at 1.

Lion Ark
Also at Loussac will be Lion Ark which I saw in LA.  A good action packed (in a good way) story about rescuing lions from illegal Bolivian circuses.  You can see the short video I did in LA with the director Tim Phillips here.

Tales From The Organ Trade
This documentary looks at the world market for human kidneys.  See a whole post on this film here.  This film shows a lot of sides and raises the ethical dilemmas that make this so tricky.

Jonah and Life are two shorts that made an impression on me in the Global Village Shorts Program at 1:30pm.

Coffee Time, Slomo, and The Words I Love are all the kinds of films you want to see at a film festival.  They're in Quirky Shorts (a good descriptor) at 2 pm at Anchorage Community Works - 349 E Ship Creek Ave.

Reel Life and Life are in the Reel/Real Life Short Narrative Fiction program at 3pm at AK Exp. theater.  I'm trying to get up some video with Laurence Relton I did today. [It's up here now.] He directed Reel Life which is definitely worth seeing.  I haven't seen the rest of this program so I can't comment.

Vino Veritas is a feature of the Virginia Woolf genre - two couple have dinner together and start peeling the layers of their relationships.  This one differs from others in this genre in that none of the characters is actually mean.  This is a good serious film that couples ought to see.  I recorded some video last night of director Sarah Knight.

I'm headed for To Be A Man at 8pm, which I haven't seen yet.  I've heard good things.  It's a French movie about the relationship between a 20 year old man and a 10 year old boy.  The film maker is scheduled to be here at 8pm at the Bear Tooth.

Not sure how much that helps.  Lots of good things to see and unless you can clone yourself, it's hard to get it all in.  Though you can sneak a look at the Sunday program to see if what you want to see plays Sunday again. 

• > print my schedule
• > print full schedule
• > print full schedule with synopses
• > print filtered schedule
• help me with this tool

Saturday, December 14th
11:00 AM		Family Film Festival Family Program | 88 min. screens with... Butterfly Dreams | Venkat Krishnan 2013 Hasard | Cyril Eberle 2013 Paradigm | Stephen Boyer 2013 Poison Apple | Dane Neves 2013 Santa's Claw | Mark Thomas-Stubbs 2013 Static | Leslie Langee 2013 The Toothfairy | Rachael Sonnenberg 2013 The Trap | Rio Fitch 2013 Cooking at Iron Dog | Alana Anselment Fun at Iron Dog | Kaden Mwarey, Dios Heath Hanging with the Racers | Sabrina Anselment Iron Dog Volunteers Search for Drinking Water | Thomas Abraham Masks Carved Into Your Soul | Bryan Goodwin Sled Building in McGrath, Alaska | Jett Novak	Wilda Marston Theatre at Z. J. Loussac Public Library
11:00 AM		Death and Dying Docs Documentary Program | 95 min. screens with... Let Us Begin | W. Brandon Bray 2013 Tales from the Organ Trade | Ric Esther Bienstock 2013	Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater
11:30 AM		War Docs Documentary Program | 98 min. screens with... Fatigued | Kyle King 2013 Gold Star Children | Mitty Griffis Mirrer 2012	Alaska Experience Theater - Small Theater
1:00 PM		Harlem Street Singer Trevor Laurence, Simeon Hutner 2013 | Documentary | 77 min.	Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater
1:00 PM		Gay-La II Gay-La | 120 min. screens with... Door Prize | Zsa Zsa Gershick 2009 Lambing Season | Jeannie Donohoe 2013 Route of Acceptance | Heather Tobin 2012	Mad Myrna's
1:00 PM		Family Film Festival Family Program | 88 min. Same as the 11 am showing - see above	Wilda Marston Theatre at Z. J. Loussac Public Library
1:30 PM		Global Village Shorts Shorts Program | 92 min. screens with... The Fusion | Ulrich Witt 2012 Gaspé Copper | Alexis Fortier Gauthier 2013 Jonah | Kirill Modylevskiy 2013 Life | Lasse Lorenzen 2012 Maybe Another Time | Khris Burton 2013 Separation Sonnet | Andressa Furletti 2012 Suspended | Damian Walshe-Howling 2013	Alaska Experience Theater - Small Theater
2:00 PM		Quirky Short Docs Documentary Program | 68 min. screens with... Cardboard Titanics: Smart People Being Stupid | Sam Frazier; Jr. 2012 Coffee Time | Maria Fredriksson 2013 Slomo | Joshua Izenberg 2012 The Words I Love | Thanachart Siripatrachai 2013	Anchorage Community Works
3:00 PM		Reel/Real Life Shorts Shorts Program | 98 min. screens with... The Anatomy of Injury | Danielle Lessovitz Damn Girl | Kira Richards Hansen 2012 Good Men | Brian Connors 2011 Great | Andreas Henn 2013 If We Were Adults | Michael Fitzgerald 2013 Life | Lasse Lorenzen 2012 Reel Life | Laurence Relton 2013 Stalled | Shannon Kohli 2012	Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater
3:30 PM		Lion Ark Tim Phillips 2013 | Documentary | 97 min. ** Note: Filmmaker attending	Wilda Marston Theatre at Z. J. Loussac Public Library
4:00 PM		The Frozen Ground Scott Walker 2013 | Feature | 105 min.	Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
4:00 PM		Vino Veritas Sarah Knight 2012 | Feature | 96 min.	Alaska Experience Theater - Small Theater
4:30 PM		Snowdance Docs Documentary Program, Snowdance | 90 min. screens with... Baking Alaska | Kari Barber 2013 Mike's Migration | Adam Kunz 2013 Open Season | Mary Katzke 2013 Seward Harbor Flipbook Vol. 1 | Kristopher Peck 2013	Anchorage Community Works
5:30 PM		Delinquent Dancers samit kakkad 2012 | Feature | 94 min.	Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater
6:30 PM		Mountain Climbing Docs Documentary Program | 96 min. screens with... The Grand Rescue | Jenny Wilson, Meredith Lavitt, William A. Kerig 2013 High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 | David Morton, Jake Norton, Jim Aikman 2013	Alaska Experience Theater - Small Theater
7:00 PM		Art House Docs and Film Slam & Jam Shorts Program | 240 min. screens with... Art Docs	Anchorage Community Works
8:00 PM		Destination Unknown Shorts Shorts Program | 112 min. screens with... 88 Miles to Moscow | Karen Glienke 2012 End of the Beginning | Richard Marshall 2013 Lambing Season | Jeannie Donohoe 2013 Opportunities for Advancement | Thomas Carroll 2013 Pyro & Klepto | Justin Chandra 2012 The River | Sam Handel	Alaska Experience Theater - Large Theater
8:00 PM		You’ll Be A Man Benoit Cohen 2013 | Feature | 87 min. ** Note: Filmmaker attending	Bear Tooth Theatre
10:15 PM		The Great Alaskan Short Film Contest