When we walked home from the Farmers' Market Saturday morning, we passed this garage with bikes. Brian, it turns out, is an out of work carpenter who told us that he's always worked on bikes. With the economy so bad, he's now getting old bikes, fixing them up and selling them. Since we'd been thinking about getting some bikes to use while in LA, we looked around. Here's his office. He checks various sources for bikes and then gets them back into shape. J rode her 'new' bike home. He was still working on the one I chose.
I told Brian I had a blog and got his ok to post this. This is one veteran's way of eating during a recession. And it's a great service for people looking for a reasonably priced bike AND it's great for recycling. (Pun intended.)
When you bike you see things you miss driving. This poster was right next to me as I waited for the light to change. I couldn't help but wonder, "What happened?" "Did they find him?"
So, when I got home I called. The woman said, "Oh, yeah, we found him, you can take the poster down."
Short story: Someone went missing. People cared enough for him to post signs all over. They found him.
If you see one of the posters, you can take it down.
We went to Campbell Airstrip yesterday for a walk because it's close and it's flat. This is my favorite cross country ski trail. You can see what it looks like in winter.
Lots of people and their friends were out today.
No sooner were the horses almost out of sight and the bikers came by.
While today it was in the high 60s F (@20C) there have been some cool nights and some plants are already hinting at fall
Can anyone tell what these are?
Rose hips have lots of vitamin C. And I love picking them and eating them along the way. It's an acquired taste, but this time of year when they are soft and almost sweet they are great. So how much vitamin C do you think they have per 100/mg? The chart below from naturalhub.com shows the amount of vitamin C/100 g of some other fruits. (The column that shows green kiwi has 98 mg/100 g.)
Kiwifruit, green
Actinidia deliciosa
98
74
exceptional
Kiwifruit, yellow
Actinidia chinensis
120 to 180
108 to 162
exceptional
Lemon juice
Citrus limon
46
3*
-
Lime juice
Citrus aurantifolia
29
1*
-
Orange
Citrus sinensis
53
70
excellent
Papaya
Carica papaya
62
47*
excellent
**Pawpaw/Asimina
Asimina triloba
14
28(estim)
good†
Passionfruit, purple
Passiflora edulis
30
5
-
Peach
Prunus persica
7
6
-
The answer is at the bottom of the post.
Most of the devil's club was still green. This one is a little ahead of things.
Some of the dogwood (no, not the tree) is still green.
Finding a good patch of dogwood to photograph
allowed me to see this seven legged spider.
And some dogwood is already red.
While I stop to take pictures, J goes on ahead. Why was I not surprised to see her waiting for me in a sunny spot?
A great young boleta.
Even a fly fisher in the creek as we went over the bridge.
And this is Blake from Glenallen. He works for the BLM there, but is going to UAA, so he was doing their survey of people using BLM land.
Here's the rosehip vitamin C answer. Compare the third column numbers here with those in the table above. For Alaskans, they are out in the woods waiting to be picked and eaten now, or stored away for winter.
Monday night at the Bear Tooth we saw Burma JV - a movie about a handful of Burmese video journalists (VJ) who took it on themselves to document what was happening in Burma using video cameras. So, when the monks began a demonstration in 2007, the group had contacts outside of Burma and was ready to send their video images of the demonstration and the government crackdown to the world via internet and satellite phones. For this blogger who sometimes dabbles with video reporting, this was an inspiring film. This is what journalism in the extreme is all about - informing the world and your fellow citizens what is really happening. They all did this at great personal risk. It's a compelling movie mostly narrated by one of the journalists who had to flee to Thailand because the government had clearly seen him filming at one of the demonstrations. You see the actual footage and his phone communications with his colleagues still in Burma. The Anchorage showing was sponsored in part by the Alaska Immigration Justice Project which gives legal support to immigrants, including some Burmese. The movie helps show the sort of political oppression that many refugees in Anchorage are fleeing and why the AIJP's work is important.
I have a friend who doesn't like to go see political movies or other movies that have depressing scenes. Movies, for him, should entertainment and uplifting. I like genuinely good uplifting movies too. But they are far more than that. Well made movies are the most compelling way to learn connect emotionally to what is happening around the world. They can, of course, be used to mislead as well, so video literacy is an important skill that needs to be taught along with reading.
Now we see that even Burma's ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) neighbors are putting on pressure over Aung San Su Kyi's sentence. A post at ThaiVisa.com by John LeFevre reports:
Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anifah Aman said: "We were hoping that the junta will release her unconditionally and will hold an election to enable Suu Kyi and other political detainees to participate in that election.”
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said: "They don't want her to be out before the election."
India refrained from denouncing the outcome, but foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said New Delhi, "has emphasised to the government of Burma the need to expedite the political reform and national reconciliation process".
Locally, Thailand, as the revolving head of Asean, issued a statement saying it was with "deep disappointment" it had heard of Suu Kyi’s sentence.
The statement, issued by the Thai Foreign Ministry further said the Chair of Asean reiterates “the calls by the Asean Foreign Ministers attending the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 16th Asean Regional Forum held in July 2009 for the immediate release of all those under detention, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, with a view to enabling them to participate in the 2010 General Elections”.
The statement said Asean “stands ready to cooperate with the Myanmar (Burma) Government in its efforts to realize the seven steps to democracy and remain constructively engaged with Myanmar in order to build the Asean Community together.
“We also continue to support the ongoing good offices of the United Nations Secretary-General and urge Myanmar’s (Burma’s) full cooperation with the United Nations.
In May a war of wards broke out between Thailand and Burma over the detention of Suu Kyi after Thailand, the current rotating chair of the 10-member regional block, issued a statement saying Asean had "grave concern" over her situation.
The statement also said, “the honor and the credibility of the (Burma government) are at stake.”
Burma quickly fired back, attacking Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and accusing its neighbor of meddling in it’s internal affairs.
Thailand responded saying the original statement was made with the “best of intentions towards (Burma) Myanmar and reflects the desire for the process of national reconciliation in (Burma) Myanmar to move forward on the basis of inclusiveness, with the participation of all sectors of society.”
Below is a list of where it will be showing in the US next. Note: The Anchorage showing was not on the website's list of US showings, so it may be showing in other locations not on the list:
21-Aug – Hilo, HI – Palace Theater 28-Aug – Seattle, WA – NW Film Forum 28-Aug – New Haven, CT – Criterion 06-Sep – Albuquerque, NM – Guild Cinema 23-Sep – Tucson, AZ – The Loft 04-Oct – San Francisco, CA – Red Vic 08-Oct – Utica, NY – Utica College 09-Oct – Pleasantville, NY – Jacob Burns Film Center 24-Oct – Boulder, CO – UC-Boulder Int’l Film Series
And because I have way more to post than time, I'll add this picture of the bike rack at the Bear Tooth Monday night. The number of bikers keeps going up this summer.
Sunday after dropping off our houseguests at the train, DZ and I rode Campbell Creek trail out to the end near Dimond and Victor, then found our way to Kincaid and rode the Coastal Trail to Westchester Lagoon and back home via Chester Creek. I'm hoping to put together a guide to how to get from one trail to the other where there are still gaps. Here we checked where this long bridge at Taku Lake went (to Foxridge/76th and C.)
Here's a peaceful little spot right off of Minnesota and Dimond. You can see Minnesota in the background. One of the things I love about Anchorage's bike trails is that right in the middle of the city and busy intersections, you are in a quiet oasis lined with trees as though you were way out in the wilderness.
After the Campbell Creek trail ends around Dimond and Victor, we wandered through neighborhoods until we got to Jewel Lake Road and Strawberry. It's been interesting to see when DZ pulls out his camera - generally to get pictures of cars like this one. It turns out I got part of it accidentally while documenting the street. His picture when the car turned left didn't come out.
Finally we are getting back to dedicated bike trail. (When you double click to enlarge these, the pictures are much sharper.)
What should you do when you see people this close to moose and starting to get even closer? Last summer I tried to tell my visiting British friend that he was too close (and he was twice as far away as these people) when the moose charged at him and the others next to him. They ran and the moose stopped. When these folks began to walk toward the moose from where they are in the picture, I shouted to stay back, this was a wild animal with a baby. They did back up but when they finally walked on they muttered something to me. One might say it was their choice and the natural consequences would be more effective than anything I might say. But I remember the man who got killed by a moose at UAA after people had harassed it all day. These people might not have been hurt, but there would have been an irritated moose on the trail with lots of Sunday bike and pedestrian traffic going by. Someone else might have been the victim of their foolishness. On the other hand, we don't hear many stories about people getting hurt by moose so maybe I was out of place to interfere. I have to admit this moose looked extremely mellow.
Not far later we saw this mother with two calves. (#2 is still in the bushes here.)
DZ hadn't eaten much and was extremely happy to be able to get a hotdog from this vendor at the parking lot with the view of downtown near Earthquake Park.
I'd heard about some new outlet for fish at Westchester Lagoon, but hadn't seen it.
This is from a Federal Site where the links don't work right on my Macbook using Firefox, but I tried what I did at the ABC site to find this:
Chester Creek is one of several small salmon-producing streams in the Anchorage area. Chester Creek and its outfall (Westchester Lagoon) are heavily urbanized. Westchester Lagoon is maintained with an obsolete water control structure that is a barrier to fish passage. A new water control structure is under design and scheduled for construction. Anchorage Fish and Wildlife Field Office staff coordinated assessment of coho salmon passage into Westchester Lagoon (Chester Creek, Anchorage) with Alaska Pacific University. College students installed and operated video equipment to count coho salmon escapement through the old outlet structure for Westchester Lagoon. A new outlet structure to provide better fish passage is under construction and passage through the old structure will serve as baseline for evaluation of the new structure.
DZ's bottom was getting sore, so we skipped the loop around Goose Lake and came home through the neighborhoods near Lake Otis.
Cut outs for buses at bus stops are good. It means the bus can stop and pick up/drop off passengers without blocking traffic. But at some points, like the southwest corner of Lake Otis and 36th, the cutout meant that the sidewalk/bikepath was cut down to about 3 feet wide. That may sound like a lot, but if someone was waiting for the bus there, a bike rider pretty much had to go out into the street, unless the bus waiters moved down to the wider part of the path. And there have been times when the bush - which is visually much nicer than just the chain link fence - wasn't trimmed back, that you had to push against the bush or go into the street.
They are working on the sidewalk here. Although I live nearby, I don't recall any notices. It would be nice if they gave local folks a chance to give some input in case there are a good ideas about the improvement that could be incorporated for little or no extra cost.
But the good news is that, according to one of the workers I talked to, when they finish the path, the narrowest part will be 60 inches. That would be a significant improvement. I'm not sure how they will do that. We'll see it when it's finished. They've been at it for almost two weeks already.
Falling behind on some things here, so here is a quick catch-up post.
BS called to see if I wanted to bike on Wednesday and we had a great time riding from Bird Point (Seward Highway mile 99) to Girdwood and back on the bike trail made from the old road that clung to the cliff and I was always behind an RV going up at 15 miles an hour. Much better as a bike trail.
Bear scat- terd along the trail
On the way back we stopped at the view point that looks up the valley. We'd seen gulls and a raven harassing an eagle on a tree top, but I waited too long to get my camera out of my pocket trying to get closer. It flew off and over us before I had it ready.
But we did watch the green-violet swallows. In Thailand I gave up on trying to identify the swallows. They fly too fast to catch in the binoculars and would never land where I could see them. But this one in the tree was sitting in the sun with the green and purple iridescently brilliant. But of course it turned around when I was taking the picture.
There were a couple of free to use binoculars at the rest point, so I tried out my camera in the eyepiece.
The tree trimmers came by Thursday morning. We'd planted trees long ago to have a screen between us and the neighbors, but the birch have gotten so tall that we're getting less and less sun in the yard. I've read the Cooperative Extension pamphlet on why you shouldn't top trees, but Scott Gage promised to do it in a way that wouldn't kill the trees or look weird. He said those rules of trimming came from the midwest and east where they had 100 year old oak trees that people wanted to top and people get carried away with the rules. Anyway, they did it so well that the before and after pictures are too hard to tell what they did.
And last night we went to see episode 3 of midnight soap scum. I thought last week's episode better. It seemed there was less satire and more farce last night. I still don't know why the swimming pool scene was there, but maybe it will be revealed next week. There was a program this time so I can recognize some of the actors that particularly impressed me. Rebekah Franklin is close to Tina Fey in her spot on portrayal of Sarah Palin. Steve Deloose, well, I've never met him out of character, so I don't know how much he's acting here. But his character of Phillipe-Auguste is a kick. And Mama Rose Mary, the narrator is my favorite. She takes over between the scenes. Last week she had a huge blond wig and red outfit. Last night, despite the relatively normal dark wig and Alice in Wonderland dress, her incredibly bitchy and attention needy persona made her the star of the show for me. (People who were there will all agree, because they know if they don't, she'll embarrass them in front of everyone next week.) She's on the far left in the picture.
Riding a bike means you're going slower and can stop easily to check out the changing landscape. Last night (Monday,) coming home from the Bear Tooth we noticed - how could we not? - that Providence was tearing down its old building at 36th and La Touche. I think at one point it was part of the Neighborhood Health Center, but I'm not sure.(If you double click the pictures the get a little bigger.) This afternoon I passed it again. They got quite a bit more done today.
Also today, I noticed this sign on Northern Lights across from Blockbuster and PowerHouse Gym. Is Greek Corner moving? Or does the 's' on corner mean they will have two? I called and they are moving. One of the few little restaurants in a building that has some bit of charm, and they are moving. Let's see how well they can Greek up this spot. Oh, and "late summer" means first week of September, but you know how well remodeling stays on schedule.
And I have to mention that the ADN had a front page story Sunday on roads that was mostly from the perspective of bike riders!!!!!!!
Rosemary Austin, author of "Mountain Bike Anchorage," commutes on a road bike from East Anchorage to her sales job at Paramount Cycles off Huffman Road. She said a number of state-owned roads are dangerous with dirt, gravel and glass. She often rides along the new Elmore Road, which has bike lanes, but the DOT told her it's not even on the list to clean.
"I don't want to get flat tires and I don't want to wash out in sand and gravel," Austin said.
Ann Reed, a cyclist who is eight months pregnant, took a spill Monday on a gravelly section of sidewalk on DeBarr Road at Pine Street. She was pulling a Chariot bike trailer with her toddler aboard.
She saw the gravel and slowed down, but it was so deep "there was no way I was not going to wipe out," she wrote in an e-mail. She broke her fall with her hand and was scraped up a bit but not really hurt, she said in an interview. The Chariot stayed upright and she thinks the baby she's expecting is fine.
Amazing. I've been bemoaning dirt and gravel since I've had my bike out. Northern Lights and Benson are HORRIBLE. Walmart, can't you clean up the sidewalk around your parking lot???!!! But they aren't the only ones. And that was followed up by an editorial Monday.
The state department of transportation has made a total hash of this year's contract for sweeping a winter's worth of sand and gravel off state roads and sidewalks in Anchorage. . .
This isn't just an aesthetic issue. Loose sand and gravel is a hazard to bicyclists on trails and streets. Road traffic stirs the winter leftovers into the air, making breathing more difficult for people with sensitive lungs. Heavy rains can wash the sediment into storm sewers, many of which empty into local streams. That's bad for stream life, since the sediment is tainted with oil, grease and heavy metals left behind by months of traffic.
It seems the DOT went for the lowest bidder - someone who doesn't have much experience doing this. (Maybe they know someone from church.) Nevertheless, a new world is dawning when a bike rider's point of view is a front page road story and editorial. Thanks ADN.
And when the State Department of Transportation gets some bike riders in positions of authority, maybe they'll remember bicycles when they contract for road cleaning as well as road design. But that's another post.
A lazy run in the warm weather today. Caught at the light, took a picture of this poster for the ordinance scheduled to be voted on Tuesday at the Assembly meeting. At least that was my assumption. I sent an email to one of my Assembly reps last week - Dan Coffey - asking how he planned to vote and whether he was still listening to constituents on it. Haven't heard anything back. My other rep is supporting it. Then on to the bike trail.
This evening we biked over to meet friends for dinner and passed the fence that surrounds Mcglaughlin Youth Center. Sounds so wholesome, but if it were that wholesome, it wouldn't have this razor wire to keep the youth inside.
J was hurt more than the first call indicated, which I didn't learn till his roommate called after 9pm here. He spent last night in the hospital for observation. Everything should heal fine, but he's got some adjusting to do. Broken clavicle, four broken ribs and lots of abrasions. But he had his helmet on and his head and neck are fine. It turned out a car swerved onto the highway shoulder and hit him from behind. He went onto the hood and ended up about 20 feet away. But there were lots of people around. And help apparently was there fast. Then I had to find my wife - J1 - in Seattle and then I worked on changing J1's ticket from Seattle to LA into Seattle-SFO-LAX.
I won't bother you with details, but I had to call AK airlines at 4am when they open, but their solution was about $250 more than I eventually could do myself online. And my body is numb with the possibilities of what could have happened. As it is he could go home today or tomorrow. He'll just have sling so his arm doesn't weigh down on his clavicle.
So, knowing J1 should be with J this afternoon, I'm here at the "Business of Clean Energy in Alaska Conference" now, later than I intended. And if you ever wanted to visit Alaska, today is the day. The weather is spectacular. And I was glad I could bike downtown away from traffic here in Anchorage.
We've had almost three weeks of sunshine and warmth. Hard to stay in and post. So here are some pictures from the last week or so.
Police car finds a way through the traffic on New Seward by driving up on the bike trail and then across Benson. Fortunately I'd chosen to take the BP bike path instead of the path on New Seward.
We had dinner with Frank Gold and his wife. We originally met Frank in Bangkok two years ago, where he spends part of the year. But he's a Fairbanks oldtimer.
Our cottonwoods are shedding their sticky, but sweetly fragrant leaf covers. I've been sweeping the deck every morning, but they still manage to slip into the kitchen by sticking to the bottom of my feet. At least it smells great.
A view of Mt. Spur and Fire Island from friends' house on the hillside where we had dinner last night. Redoubt wasn't visible and this picture was late in the evening after things had cleared up somewhat.
And our great weather has brought out lots of bikes, but there were more than bikes out.
We went to a birthday party Saturday that included a pinata.
Ripples abstract the the birch reflections at Goose Lake.
When we walked home from the Farmers' Market Saturday morning, we passed this garage with bikes. Brian, it turns out, is an out of work carpenter who told us that he's always worked on bikes. With the economy so bad, he's now getting old bikes, fixing them up and selling them. Since we'd been thinking about getting some bikes to use while in LA, we looked around.
Here's his office. He checks various sources for bikes and then gets them back into shape. J rode her 'new' bike home. He was still working on the one I chose. 
