From Bike Racks to Mt. View to More Biking - Why Blogging is so Hot and so Cool

I discovered Clark's Mt. View Forum tonight because he left a comment on my bike rack post. From what I've read on his site, I'd describe it as a local activist site that is keeping track of what's happening in Mt. View. He's got posts on the Heritage Land Bank's plans for the old Native Hospital grounds, debates over the lighting at the Bragaw and Glenn Highway intersection, pictures of the new Clark Middle School construction. This is a real service to the folks in Mt. View and perhaps a great model for other community bloggers to emulate. Great blog Clark!

His blog also sent me to a couple of commuter biking blogs that have thought about this sort of stuff much more thoroughly than I have.

You Just Don't Want To has some tips for experienced commuter bikers when giving advice to the new $4 a gallon bikers:

I suspect that most people wanting to give this bike commuting thing a try will more or less load up the old bike in the garage and head out instead of researching things a little. They probably don't read blogs like this until they get hooked. So I say to you, the knowledgeable, don't let your neighbor go forth to wreak havoc in the public arena alone with his inexperience. Engage him. Offer him your experience and wisdom. Avoid telling how much he needs to buy because his stuff is junk. Avoid pressuring him to ride every day, and under no circumstances make light of his fear of riding in traffic. Make sure he has the tools and knowledge to repair a flat tire. Failing that, make sure he knows where the buses go and how to use the front bicycle rack.

There's some wisdom here, but I also sense a bit of bike snobbism and no consideration at all that my neighbor might be a she. I seem to be doing ok on my ten or 15 year old piece of junk, but then I don't have too far to ride to get downtown or most places I want to go. But the patch kit advice is good, but I was able to get a bus with a bike rack home.

Discovering new (to me) Alaskan blogs raises a dilemma. I only have a few Alaska blogs listed in my links. The whole idea of exchanging links to increase your various blog ratings makes sense at one level, but then you get such a long list of blogs that it really doesn't mean anything. Maybe I could have a section that says "Blogs I check regularly" and one that says "Blog Link Exchange List". There are some Alaska blogs that are listed in almost every Alaska blog I go to. I started out by linking to blogs I read regularly and/or thought were unique and that (at least at the time) didn't get much attention. We're learning the 'rules' as we go, which is perfectly fine with me.

As a kid I despaired that I would never be able to read all the books in the library. But we accept the fact that we can't be friends with everyone in the world, or even all the people we really could spiritually connect with in the world, or even keep up with all the people we have met and do truly connect with. So, it's ok if we can't read all the blogs, or even keep up with the ones we've started reading. There's our own lives to live too. So, hi Clark, it was great to run into you tonight. And Smudgemo in Berkeley too. And Philip who went skinny dipping at Harbin Hot Springs today. Harbin is Anchorage's sister city in China, but Phil was in at a different Harbin - in Northern California.

How Many Days Does it Take to Clean a Street?

Day 1: We hear loud truck noises outside. Check the window. The street cleaner went by. I move the van out of the street and into the driveway. A little sweeper truck goes by and whirls dirt in circles. Oh well, guess we missed that one. Still lots of dirt in the street. The picture is after the last pass on Day 1. Mind you at this point I had no idea there would be a day 2, so I parked back on the street. The curb is on the left, the street on the right.







Day 2: Get home and see that the street cleaners were back. Who knew there would be a Day 2?

Day 3: What? They're back? Get out of bed, get on some pants and move the car again. No pics this time. It's cleaner than it was.


But I want to know:

1. Why three days to clean the neighborhood?
2. Why not have a system to notify people when they are going to clean? I know the maintenance drivers can't be happy when there are cars parked on the street, but how is anyone supposed to know they are coming? It's not like other cities where they clean once a week and there are signs saying "No Parking Tuesdays 9-11". But there is the internet. The city has a website. They do have a system of sorts for plowing after snow, but it has problems too. And just like the street cleaning, there's no way to figure out when they are coming to clear the berms.

Some suggestions:
1. The ASD has a way to call neighborhoods - they left us a message once about a situation in our nearby school. Why can't the public works have automated phone banks for when the snow plows or the street cleaners will be in a subdivision?
2. Or they could put it on the web - with plow and clean neighborhood list serves to email people when their street will be clean.
3. They could notify the tv and radio stations about their web sites and they could give snow plow and clean up information along with the weather.

I certainly want my car out of the way when they come to get the berms and when they come to clean the street. But I have to know when they are coming to do that. It's not that hard to do this. Please.

The Visitor

We haven't been to a movie almost forever - well since we left for Thailand in February. J wanted to go to a movie. The Visitor got the got the highest rating (4*) and had a bizarre enough description in the Anchorage Daily News that we decided to go.

A man sleepwalking through life discovers a way to open his eyes with the help of a Syrian man, his Senegalese girlfriend, an African drum and the myriad depths of friendship.

I guess that's all true, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) also play a big role in this. Anyone with an interest in immigration issues should see this movie. While it doesn't have anything good to say about ICE, it also raises some uncomfortable truths about the immigrants in the movie as well. But basically it tells the story from the perspective of the immigrants.

As a movie, it was a gem.

There were no actors - well, yes, there were. What I mean is that they were all totally the characters they were playing. The camera work was sublime. So much of what we needed to know unfolded naturally. Partly this was through the scenes the writers offered. Partly this was beautiful camera work and editing. We learn a lot about Walter in the scene in the office with the student. We learn his academic discipline through a poster at the conference.

I don't know how much longer it will be in Anchorage.

Elton John in Anchorage Video

Hughman pointed out in a comment on the Commissioner Irwin video AGIA post, that Viddler does NOT have a ten minute limit like other video sites, so I didn't need to divide that video into two parts.

Elton John fans benefit from that - if they can bear the few seconds where the sound breaks up do to the decibel levels - because I didn't force myself to keep this video under 10 minutes. (It's 11:52). I also took advantage of John's over-the-top lighting to rationalize that it was ok to experiment with some different transitions and video FX. BTW, one of the neat features of Viddler is that you can make comments right on the video. Click on the little plus (+) sign on the bottom to the left of MENU. It will give you an option to comment anywhere on the video!

Also, as you watch the video, keep in mind Jay's comments to the Elton John v. Talis Colberg post which concluded:

Anchorage should not give itself a pat on the back for having a fun night out. They should reserve that for themselves when they again fight the all too readily justified prejudice that still exists, so strongly, so widely, in the town I grew up in and know so well.

Blessings on you all, but one night does not make it all different. Not at all.

Watching the video should remind us that Elton John, if he lived and worked in Anchorage, would be Constitutionally forbidden to marry the man he loves, and that there are still plenty of people out there that would deny him spousal health benefits if he worked for the state. It seems ironic, if not hypocritical to cheer him on for his singing ability and yet deny him pretty basic rights were he a resident of Alaska. But I'm sure that the people at the concert all voted against the Constitutional amendment in 1998 banning same-sex marriage. (Is there an irony smiley face?)






Notes on the concert goers. I'd guess the average age was about 40 or more. There were some feather boas, big sun glasses, glasses that lit up, and fancy hats. People were incredibly loud, but also very compliant and cooperative with security.


I also wondered if Elton John gets such enthusiastic responses in Las Vegas. People here were completely unpretentious. They were appreciative that John came here and they had themselves a great time. And I suspect the concert was better and longer than it might have been because the audience and the artist fed each other. Thanks, Elton, for coming.



Here's the red shoe Elton John signed in the last part of the video. Patent leather is a bitch to get a good picture of if you want the signature and you don't have a polarizing filter. Anyway, if you move your screen around, you should be able to see it better.



Other posts related to this concert.

Bike Racks

When the price of oil hit $3 people groused, but didn't seem to significantly change their energy use patterns. But now that it's flirting with $4, I'm seeing friends who are reconsidering whether they can use their bikes to commute to work, at least sometimes.

For people to use bikes more, we have to have infrastructures that make bikes more convenient - like good and plentiful bike racks. Portland has lots of bike racks and they are often interesting designs.

Friday afternoon I used this bike rack at the Court building when i went to the wedding.

At the Sullivan Arena for the Elton John concert, we couldn't find the bike racks (I'm assuming there are some somewhere.) Neither could these folks.










Or these folks.




Trees and parking meters and no parking signs are fine right now, but when more people start using bikes, non bikers are going to get tired of bikes tied up to everything strongly fastened to the ground.


















And then I always wonder when I see a lock like this. Was the bike stolen? If so, why didn't they at least take the lock home? Or maybe these reflect people who lost the keys for the locks.

Alaskans Cheer Man Married to a Man While Attorney General Fights Same-Sex Marriage

The same week that the Alaska Attorney General

joined conservative legal groups in urging the California Supreme Court to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage

approximately 22,000 Alaskans spent around $2.5 million to see a married gay man and to cheer him wildly.

[My tiny Canon Powershot SD550 was totally overwhelmed by the noise level at Sullivan Arena and didn't catch many of the decibels flying around.]


Perhaps these 22,000 were among those 71,631 people who voted against Prop. 2, the 1998 Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriages. Perhaps some of these people voted for the ban. Or perhaps they didn't vote at all.

The Amendment passed 152,965 yes to 71,631 no. It wasn't even close. But that was ten years ago. The evidence that sexuality is basically genetic and not a choice has grown, but this isn't something that lends itself to . this clear proof. Logically, to me at least, it makes no sense for so many people to 'choose' desires that result in their being so strongly condemned by society. And why would people who could 'choose' their sexuality commit suicide because their choice was condemned? Wouldn't it be easier to just choose a different desire if they could?

Given the wildly enthusiastic response of the Elton John audience last night, I suspect that today the vote would not be so lopsided. It might not even pass. Especially if the people who went to the concert campaigned against the amendment with 1/10th of the enthusiasm they showed at the concerts. And if they all contributed half what they paid for the tickets to see a man whose married to another man perform.

BTW, $2 from every ticket was earmarked for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, so that would be around $44,000 that Alaskans contributed.


Calculations:
The exact figures really don't matter as long as we are reasonably close. Calculations for the number of people who attended the concert were based on reported seating capacity of the arenas for the three sold out concerts (2 in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks)
and an estimate of how much they paid given the prices. For this I calculated one figure based on there being as many 'cheap' seats as expensive ones. Then I figured it again with 70% of the seats being expensive and 30% being cheap. Then I split the difference.

The Sullivan Arena's Seating Capacity

• Table seating: 1500
• Concerts: 8,751
• Basketball: 7,987
• Hockey: 6,290
• Boxing or wrestling: 8,935 for
• 5' crowd barrier available

Fairbanks (for Hockey)
Name of Home Arena: Carlson Center
Capacity: 4600 or so Dimensions: 200x100

The largest meeting and exhibition facility is the Carlson Center, which features a 35,000-square-foot arena and several meeting rooms, for a combined total of 50,000 square feet of space that can accommodate more than 1,200 meeting participants, 200 trade show exhibits, or 4,000 people for a concert or sports event.

While I suspect the first website is more accurate, and concerts should have a larger seating capacity than hockey (as in the Sullivan Arena), I'll be very conservative here and round it to 4500 between the two different sources.


Bent Alaska tells us the prices were:
$56.50 to $116.50 in Anchorage
$75 and $115 in Fairbanks

The image of Talis Colberg in the video comes from the State Website.

Elton John Wows Anchorage

Here are a couple of blurry shots to at least give you a sense of the concert. John came out about 8:10pm to a standing, well ovation is to applause what the crowd actually did is to ovation. It was loud and sustained.








We left Sullivan Arena about 11pm. He played non-stop, except for a couple minutes off stage before an encore and about ten minutes of signing albums, t-shirts, pieces of paper, hats, and a red shoe.










Here he is up on the big screen.
Some video and more comment tomorrow.




For all the posts on the Elton John concert, including videos click here.

J and K Get Married

Last week when I had to take the bus home because I got a flat on my bike, I ran into J on the bus who told me he was getting married. Well that was today. Here's J and K waiting to go into the courtroom.







And here they are listening to the magistrate during the ceremony.
















And now they are married and checking the rings. Let's all wish them a very happy life together.

Casting Call

It gets better. Suzi, the director of Dear Lemon Lima wrote back in answer to some questions I had:

I'm still trying to find the lead character (in the short, the blond girl). I would
like tocast a 13-18 year old Alaska Native actor. Any help spreading the word on that
would also be amazing.

Any female Alaska Native actors in the 13-18 year old range?

Calling Fairbanks - Let's Get this Movie Made in Alaska

At the Anchorage International Film Festival last December I saw Miss Lemon Lima. It was a short but with the intention to make it into a feature. I remember lush summer color and very compelling young characters. Some over the top controlling parents, and an ice cream cone that falls to the ground. In fact, I'm surprised at how well I remember it now - the images were so compelling that I can see them clearly.

Why am I seeing Miss Lemon Lima in my mind now? Because I got an email from the director:

Hi Steve - I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding my feature film Dear Lemon Lima - I believe that you saw a screening of the short during the Anchorage Film Festival. I am currently prepping to shoot the feature this summer and I am desperately trying to figure out a way to film in Fairbanks. I have accepted that filming the entire film is financially impossible, but am still trying to work out a way to film for 2 days. It has been impossible to find in-kind accommodations, so I thought I would touch base to see if you had any ideas of who might be empathetic with my cause. I've tried to call many bed and breakfast lodges, the tourism office and local hotels, and I'm hitting a brick wall. We are looking for someone to put up 15 people, 12 for 5 days and 3 for two days and hoping someone could lend us a truck, car and passenger van for 5 days. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciation * Thanks in advance for your thoughts, Suzi

So why is she emailing me about this? Because the story is set in Fairbanks. And I fussed in my review of it that the feature was going to be shot in Seattle. In the same post I'd written about a French movie where they actually came to Alaska and went from Valdez to Barrow with horses. Here's what I wrote:

The director - I think that was her role - was there after the film to talk. She also talked about a feature to be filmed next summer that is set in Fairbanks. To her credit, she's been to Fairbanks - after writing several chapters of the screen play - but it will be filmed in Seattle (did she really say Seattle? How can you do Fairbanks in Seattle?) because, you know, it's really expensive to do it in Fairbanks. You know, I think that people in Fairbanks and Anchorage would put the whole crew up in their houses to help you keep the costs down. If those other guys could walk their horses across Alaska, you can surely shoot your film that takes place in Fairbanks, in Alaska. Imagine a movie, "Crossing Alaska with Horses" filmed in the Alps, because, you know, going to Alaska would be so expensive.

To her credit, she's trying to do at least some of it in Fairbanks. Flying fifteen people to Fairbanks isn't cheap. Does she know that there are some really good film people in Alaska? I talked to some at the Film Festival. Maybe she can fly ten up and get five from here. Well, the actors will have to be the same actors. Anyway, let's put our heads together and get some of this done in Fairbanks!

So, to my Fairbanks blogger mates - can you help get a Fairbanks based story at least partially filmed in Fairbanks? It might be too much to get the whole crew in one place, but perhaps in four or five. And maybe you can't get her everything for free, but at least for prices equal to Seattle or less. And get them some salmon and make them tell everyone back home how fantastic it is to actually do the shoot in Alaska.

We've got this fantastic backdrop for films, let's try to get more actually made here. Especially when the story takes place in Alaska. There's an email link to Suzi in the link above to the movie.

Can Alaskan bloggers pull this off? I could handle this in Anchorage, but this is a Fairbanks film. My Fairbanks Life, Fiery Blazing Handbasket, Ester Republic, Fairbanks Pedestrian, Murphy Dome Diaries, Subarctic Mama, Radio Icebox can you folks help out with this?