December Anchorage Sun and Snow, Copying 8mm Film

I found some 8mm film labeled Thailand a while back. I wanted to transfer it to digital and put it on a DVD so I could take it with me to Thailand when I return in a couple of weeks. I'm not even sure what's on it, I just know it was taken around 1967-68.
Someone lent me an old 8mm projector and a Copy Kit - a mirror that projects the image onto a plastic screen. Then I'm supposed to video tape the screen. I tried just running the film.



But the projector chewed up my 3 foot leader. Then I got some of it to work, but then the film broke. Again the film was being crumpled up somewhere in the process. I mentioned this to a friend the other day who said he had an old projector that probably wouldn't eat the film. So today I went over and interrupted him clearing his driveway and street to borrow it.



It snowed yesterday and today the sky is clear. These were shot between 10:25am and 10:30am this morning. The sunrise here in Anchorage was officially 10:15am. The picture with the bike crossing the street is looking south on Lake Otis, at 36th. There's enough trees and whatever to hide the just up sun rising from the south.



Here's a peek to the left (east) at the mountains. This is where 36th changes its name to Providence.











Now, later on, about 2:30pm, you can actually see the sun, maybe 6˚ or 7˚ above the horizon. But solstice is past so every day now we're gaining some light.

I'm setting up this new projector and let's see if I can get some of this film digitized without destroying too much of the old film.

Ahhhhh. Fresh Snow

It was a bit chillier today - about 10˚F (-12˚C) when I walked to class today, but the sun was out. It's getting lower on the southern horizon, so if there are any big trees or hills south of you, you end up in the shade. Here's a bit of woods as I walked the bike trail across campus.










The creek is moving fast enough to keep flowing and doesn't usually freeze up unless it stays really cold for a long time.







But I wouldn't want to dip my foot in it.






See, there's the sunlight, up in the tree tops.







And there were several bikers taking advantage of the well groomed trail on campus.





Finally, I got to the Art/Theater building. My fingers getting pretty cold from pulling off the gloves to take pictures.



Some of the other students are doing really spectacular animations. One has a hummingbird flying - he's really nailed it. I guess I just have to do a lot more frames so the movement isn't so jerky. Someone else has a woman walking/dancing. It's sketched out and really looks natural. Well, mine isn't nearly as polished. I need to do more work, but it will never be like theirs. But the point will get across.






On the way home, a few hours later, I chose the indoor route. You can get most of the way across campus inside. There's also a shuttle bus - I should have gotten a picture - but I figure I can walk almost as fast and I need the exercise. Anyway, as I was taking this picture of the hockey team practice (it's for you especially Ropi) I heard a voice asking, "Is that going on the blog?"





And there was PJ, still getting used to being retired, who was moving books. So, this one is for Mimi.

Fresh Snow

We've had more snow since I cleared the driveway Wednesday.Yesterday the snow plows cleared the street and I had to do a little more shoveling - not a good idea - to get the van off the street and into the driveway. Since then we've gotten a few more inches. Here's the deck - then and now -

and the trees in the back yard. There are still a few stubborn leaves.

View from Lake Otis and Providence Friday Afternoon

Slow Cool Run

I haven't run since I got back from the LA-Portland trip. It took a while to adjust from 90˚+ to 20˚ (32˚C to -6˚C) and I found a lot of reasons why I couldn't run. But then I read Theresa's post on her -10˚ (-23˚C)run in Fairbanks and I decided that I couldn't hold out any longer. It may be 70˚ colder than it was in LA, but it's still 30˚ warmer than Fairbanks. So today I took a slow lazy run (3 3/4 miles) in the light snow dust. It feels good now that I'm back. Part of the way I thought about being close to the waves at Venice Beach and that warmed my hands a bit.

10 Below

I was all ready to run early this morning. The sun wasn't over the mountain yet, but it was light. But I foolishly checked the thermometer. And the storm door was covered in ice crystals. Maybe if it gets up to five I might go run. After three days in a row in LA, I'm itching to be out moving again.

[The details are better if you click on the picture.]

Border Cafe

We don't know much about Iran. TV gives us the images that quickly convey "Iran" in our minds - women covered head to toe in black, people demonstrating, etc.

Movies made by local nationals is one of the best ways to get past those kinds of images. Even if they are making propaganda movies, they unconsciously show us bits and pieces of everyday life that tell us more than a year's worth of tv stories.

So getting to see Border Cafe - it also shows up as Transit Cafe - at the museum tonight was a double treat. We saw a good movie and got a bit of a vaccine against American media Iran stereotyping.

Yes, there were women with just their faces showing, there was family pressure for the widow to move into her brother-in-law's place to protect the family's reputation. But here the brother-in-law explained, cajoled, begged his foreign sister-in-law to move into the new apartment he built for her in his family compound. Meanwhile she reopens her husband's cafe near the Turkish border and creates a community of her own.

OK, eventually the restaurant gets shut down, but partly because it is so successful that it is badly hurting the other restuarants in town. The traditional male hierarchy that reinforces the brother-in-law's power isn't a good thing. Yet it wasn't that long ago that husbands had the legal right to make the decisions in the US, and women here still face a lot of discrimination. Seeing the movie puts a whole different face on life in Iran. It's not THAT different from ours - different in degree, yes, but the movie protrays an Iran that is a lot more decent and humane than are shown usually.

I also never thought about all the foreign truck drivers who carry goods into Iran everyday - Russians, Turks, Greeks, and who knows where else. Watching people who had no common language communicate was also a pleasure.

So how many of you even knew that Iran had a border with Turkey?



Louise Kennedy of the Boston Globe has a thoughtful review.


The winter twilight sky is staggeringly beautiful as it flows from a deep velvet indigo to pastel blue. This evening we had one of those great skies. You can just see a touch of it in the picture above as we were going into the museum for the movie.

Bohemian Waxwings return to the Mountain Ash

The waxwings live through winter harvesting mountain ash berries and similar fruit stored on trees around Anchorage. Swarms of up to 100 or more birds perch on the telephone lines or giant cottonwood. Then small groups swoop down into the tree an pick at the berries. Then fly back as another group takes over. Later, with berries all over the snow below, they return to get what's left.

The video is a compromise between what's reasonable for normal people, and all the video I actually captured for the hard core bird freaks. Well, it's only 3:25 minutes altogether. So view as much as you can take. Catherine and Dianne, enjoy. The slow motion is for you.




The quality is much worse than the original. It's hard because our windows look south, into the light. But the birds are right there. But I'll eventually learn the technical necessities of getting better quality onto the web. This was January 5, 2008. I would have loved to get the natural sounds of the birds, but I was inside and there were in the house noises, so I added the Chinese flute music.

Backyard Snow Dragon

with thanks to:

www.xtremesled.com/newtemplate/catalog/images
http://www.freewebs.com/doragon15/snake%20eyes.jpg

Jury Got Filled Without Me

I caught the 7:19 bus (well it came at 7:29) and got to court with 15 minutes to spare.






Here's the jury waiting room. It got packed. The 12 jurors called today for Judge Volland were told at 9 that we could have a break til 10. So I went out and walked in the snow.



There were ice sculptures in the town square.





I stopped in the Hilton to warm up a bit and shake off the snow. I know this guy must be tremendously proud of shooting these bears. And I'm sure some biologist could make an argument about it being ok with the balance of nature. But personally I don't understand why he thinks killing this bear and having it stuffed is a great thing.


Well, sure, I remember the thrill of proving my power by breaking windows and other destructive acts, but I got over that when I was nine or ten. I understand it more when they actually eat what they kill. And I'm sure there's a hunting gene or two that helped humans survive when we had to hunt. But I can't help but think its a sign of arrested moral development when grown men spend tens of thousands of dollars to kill magnificent wild animals for trophies. Do you think he has a trophy wife too? (The sign is in the lower left corner of the bear case)






We had to wait until 12:15 before they told us we could go. But the twelve of us (minus one or two who weren't there) were pretty much the only ones left in the waiting room. And this clock. While being on the jury would have been interesting, this wasn't the right time for a three work trial as we're getting ready to head out for Thailand. So I was glad they were able to fill the jury without even calling us into court.




Well, the next bus wasn't for 30 minutes. I figured I could walk home in an hour, so off I went to the bike trail.





I saw a robin several times around the house last winter, but it is always a little strange to see them here in January. The second one was a little camera shy. It is a Robin, right Catherine? It isn't some bird I never heard of is it?


















Well, I didn't quite make it home in an hour. An old friend, PM, skied past me and then looped back and we talked for nearly half an hour.

[double click on a picture to enlarge it]

Sun and Beauty and Cold

White heat 93 [92,955,820.5]
million miles later lights sky
becomes white cold.

The blue is outside. Red inside. Converting from Fahrenheit to Centigrade
0 Fahrenheit = -18 Centigrade

Fresh Snow

out back

out front

Ski Break

The jury recording last night said numbers 1-125 should come in today. I'm closer to 500. So I went off to Campbell Airstrip to go cross country skiing. With three extra minutes of daylight today (over yesterday) I need to take advantage.






























And on the way home going west on Tudor at 4pm, I got to see the left lanes backed up at least 1/4 of mile to turn left at the new Elmore Road.

Meetup.com Anchorage Beach Hike

I haven't been on a meetup.com hike since spring - too busy, too lazy, wrong time, wrong hike, lots of excuses. The concept is great - a website where people who want to meetup for some activity. But walking along the beach near Kincaid sounded just right and the time was fine.











We did ok coming down the steep embankment from the Jodphur parking lot. This big piece of driftwood was at the bottom, on the beach.








































We were eight people and eight dogs, all of whom will sleep well tonight.


















The strong tides in Cook Inlet tend to jumble the sea ice and leave a lot on the shore.

















Doug Van Etten, the mastermind behind the meetup.com adventurer group.






















The clouds were heavy, but there was a break on the western horizon all afternoon giving us a peak of the Alaska Range. I think this is Mt. Redoubt.