What's a Film Festival?

This is Part 2 of a three part post.
Part 1 was What is a scam?
Part 3 will evaluate the authenticity of the Anchorage International Film Festival and the Alaska International Film Festival.


What's a Film Festival?

I've gone through about 15 on-line definitions after googling variations of "What is a Film Festival?" I've posted eight below representing an array of perspectives:  the non-film related Wikipedia, several film festivals, a screenwriters' website, a state film commission, a major British newspaper's film blog, and a book on European Cinema. 

I'll pull out the basic characteristics that are represented in these definitions.  The actual definitions I used are
 below. You can skip down to see them.   But here I'm going to try to summarize the key points that seem to make up a film festival. 

WHAT?

1.  A film festival is a festival.  This seems pretty obvious, but nearly all the definitions stress it is a  gathering of people coming together - film makers, the public, industry professionals, producers, distributors, actors, various other film talents such as makeup, camera, lighting, etc., critics.

WHY? 

2.  To show films.  Again, they all emphasize the key focus is "an organized, extended presentation of films" (1 below); "films are screened" (2); "short or feature length films are shown" (3);  "Film festivals show films" (4);  "chance to see the latest movies" (5);  "a cinematic festival that features films"(7);  "filmmakers get their movies in front of a real live audience"(8)) 

2a.  Exposure for films ("to gain exposure and critical buzz and, in many cases, distribution."(3); "allowing their films to get some exposure"(5))

2b.  Market films ("To market completed film projects and scripts to distributors"(7);"get valuable press attention and exposure to prospective agents and buyers" (8))

2c.  Feedback/Networking ("audience making contact with filmmakers"(4);  "opportunity to schmooze producers, distributors and critics" (5); "an opportunity to network with filmmakers, directors, producers, writers, actors, investors, comedians, musicians, entertainers, politicians, and others who share an interest in the arts"(7); "have their films reviewed by professional critics."(8))

2d.  Education/Training ("sometimes panels or workshops related to film and the industry"(2); "Before or after each film there will be someone who will talk about the making of the movie."(4);"To learn new industry technology and to educate professionals and non-professionals"(7))

2e.  Prizes.  Awards were only mentioned in one of the definitions:  "sometimes sizeable cash award if they win" (8)  I found Christopher Holland's book Film Festival Secrets just as I was finishing this.  He covers pretty much these same why's (filmmaker goals) of film festivals but adds parties and travel.  He has a succinct overview of prizes:

It’s common for festivals to offer cash prizes for the best work of the season. . . Other festivals get sponsors to kick in prize packages worth more than the cash prizes . . . Even if there’s no cash involved, festival awards are a nice way to draw attention to your film.  More media coverage is given to award winners and you can draw future festival audiences to your film with some laurel wreaths on your poster. (pp. 8-9) 

2f.  To market the filmmaking possibilities of the festival location (" To provide funding for The Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office whose primary function is economic development by using the film and television industry as the vehicle. "(7))  This issue also comes up in a doctoral dissertation on a Korean film festival mentioned under "Some other longer discussions" below.)

WHO?

3.  Film people, money people, and the public. ("audience making contact with the filmmakers behind the movies . . . producers, distributors, and actors as well as film directors"(4); "producers, distributors and critics" (5); "the physical presence of large numbers of people"(6); "gathering of show business industry professionals and non-professionals. . . an opportunity to network with filmmakers, directors, producers, writers, actors, investors, comedians, musicians, entertainers, politicians, and others who share an interest in the arts." (7))

WHEN?

4a.  Duration from a day to two weeks. ("in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality."(1); 
4b.  Frequency usually annually. ("Film festivals are typically annual events."(1))

WHERE?

5.  Usually in several venues in one city.

WHICH?

6.  A wide variety of types of films.  Different festivals have different focuses.  ("The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., gay and lesbian film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length."(1))

Summary:  A film festival is a gathering of people to show and watch films in a single location (city) using one or more venues.  The main purposes are to get an audience for filmmakers and to let the public and critics see a wide variety of new films (and some older), particularly genres that normally aren't theatrically released.  There are opportunities for the participants to meet, discuss the films, filmmaking, and distribution of the films.  It also is a networking opportunity that can lead to connections for future work.  Festivals have awards for the best films in different categories.

I also noticed that there is some concern that some festivals have become too commercial or too elite.  For short films and experimental films, festivals seem to be a key way to get people to see their films.


Online Festivals

But another venue mentioned by one of the animated filmmakers at last year's Anchorage International Film Festival was online.  He mentioned he had over a million hits for his films at YouTube which he would never get at festivals.

So what about online film festivals where people don't come together in a single place and mingle with others to watch films?   This is a relatively new phenomenon.  Babelgum Online Film Festival states its purpose:

The Babelgum Online Film Festival was created to celebrate and reward the very best in international independent short filmmaking by providing exposure and cash awards for emerging talent. With its non-restrictive submission guidelines and international visibility, the festival supports and encourages talent and continues to provide a unique venue for filmmakers to showcase their craft.

CologneOff started as an online festival, but became a physical festival with an online component.

Shortsnonstop is a Canadian online festival.

These and others clearly state their online nature and post films for anyone to watch online.

What these online festival provide is exposure for film makers - perhaps a little more focused than simply putting one's film up on YouTube or on one's own website - and a chance to win a prize, though depending on how many submissions there are, this might be pretty remote.  They do not provide the face time one could get at a film festival and live audience reaction or the chance to meet producers and publishers and other film makers.  Though presumably they could see the films on line and contact the filmmaker via email.


So that's my relative novice overview of film festivals.  Below are the definitions I found online and are the references for the quotes above.


1.  Wikipedia:

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., gay and lesbian film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

2.  From the Revolve Film Festival in North Carolina:

Q: What is a Film Festival exactly?
A: It’s an event where films are screened over the space of a few days. Usually there are visiting celebrities, parties, and sometimes panels or workshops related to film and the industry. Each festival cultivates its own personality, reflected by its size and programming.

3.   From Screenwriting's glossary

Film Festival

A festival of short and/or feature-length films shown over the course of between a few days to a few weeks. Festivals are places for films and filmmakers – particularly in the case of independent films – to gain exposure and critical buzz and, in many cases, distribution. Perhaps the two best-known festivals in the world are Sundance and Cannes.

4.  From New Jersey State Film Festival's Film Festival 101

1. What is a film festival and what makes it different from going to see the latest blockbuster?
   Surprise: a film festival is not just about seeing films (although there are over 50 films showing between Thursday and Sunday). It is about the audience making contact with the filmmakers behind the movies.We have two “sidebars”—which are special film programs brought to the festival from other festivals. This year there are a host of famous producers, distributors, and actors as well as film directors. Before or after each film there will be someone who will talk about the making of the movie. You will come away with the kind of insider information you can’t get in the lobby of a megaplex.
2. Film festivals show films that you may never get a chance to see anywhere else.
   For example, on Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM at the Beach Four you can watch dozens of short films—animation, documentaries, experimental, and short fiction—all for just $10. That’s 7 hours of wild, beautiful, funny, moving, crazy, and sometimes just plain weird independent films made by over 100 New Jersey film artists. You won’t like all of them, but you will remember many of them because they will make you think, see different images, and open up parts of your imagination you didn’t know existed.

5.  From The Guardian's Film Blog:

As a regular film festival-goer, I often find myself asking: "What is a film festival for?" The replies vary depending on whether one is a film-maker, critic or member of the public. Film-makers may answer that it gives them an opportunity to schmooze producers, distributors and critics, while allowing their films to get some exposure. Critics and film-goers may say it gives them the chance to see the latest movies before anyone else in their country. Alas, the biggest draws at a festival are usually films that will most likely be shown sooner or later at the local multiplex.

6.   From Thomas Elsaesser's book European Cinema  (p. 94)

What is a (film) festival?  As annual gatherings, for the purpose of reflection and renewal, film festivals partake in the general function of festivals.  Festivals are the moments of self-celebration of a community:  they may inaugurate the New year, honor a successful harvest, mark the end of fasting, or observe the return of a special date.  Festivals require an occasion, a place and the physical presence of large numbers of people.  the same is true of film festivals.  Yet in their iterative aspect, their many covert and overt hierarchies and special codes, film festivals are also comparable to rituals and ceremonies. . .

7.   From the South West Georgia Film Commission:

What is a Film Festival? 

A film festival is a cinematic festival that features films.  It is a gathering of show business industry professionals and non-professionals.  The JOKARA Family Film/Video Festival will provide its attendees with an opportunity to network with filmmakers, directors, producers, writers, actors, investors, comedians, musicians, entertainers, politicians, and others who share an interest in the arts.

 The Purpose of a Film Festival

Each town in Southwest Georgia is uniquely different and has much to offer to the film and television industry in terms of locations.  In addition to the beautiful topography and possible location sites, the state of Georgia has great tax incentives and offers extra incentives to those who will shoot their projects in the Southwest Georgia region.    

 According to the Southwest Georgia Film Commission Director, Ralph Wilcox, who is also the festival’s director and a 30 year veteran actor in Hollywood and on the New York Broadway stage,  this festival is multi-purposed:http://www.kylegilman.net/2007/01/11/why-make-short-films/

 §          To market completed film projects and scripts to distributors, whether major studios (i.e. Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Sony, Paramount) or independent distributors (i.e. Wal-Mart, Blockbusters)

§          To learn new industry technology and to educate professionals and non-professionals in the areas of acting, cameras, lights, sound, scriptwriting, hair and makeup, and wardrobe 

§          To provide marketing and exposure opportunities, whether one is a writer, director, actor, editor, etc… 

§          To provide funding for The Southwest Georgia Film Commission Office whose primary function is economic development by using the film and television industry as the vehicle. 

8.   Entertainment.howthingswork explains film festivals this way:

What are Film Festivals?
Film festivals are events staged by universities, private organizations, local governments, arts associations and/or film societies. They provide an opportunity for unknown filmmakers to get their movies in front of a real live audience and to have their films reviewed by professional critics. Filmmakers whose movies get accepted into a festival also get valuable press attention and exposure to prospective agents and buyers, not to mention a sometimes sizeable cash award if they win.

Some other, longer discussions:

1.  Shorts filmmaker Kyle Gilman discussing festivals and short films and the potential online market for short films.

2.  A Korean film industry veteran, SooJeong AHN's, doctoral dissertation (pdf) for the University of Nottingham on the Pusan International Film Festival and the role of non-Western film festivals in national identity, marketing of regional films to the West, and other somewhat different perspectives of film festivals.

Protesters Invite BP to Join Oil Addicts Anonymous

As I was riding home - fortunately, just before it started to rain hard - I came to this scene at New Seward Highway and Benson in front of BP Alaska's  headquarters in Anchorage. 

Since I was on my bike, it was easy to stop and ask what was going on.  They pointed to Josh as their spokesperson.



[Viddler was having trouble so I uploaded to YouTube today.]

HA! Brave New World: It Looks Like Being Too Clean Can Hurt You

Despite my flip title, this piece from Nature [this comes from the Nature News section and is not from the actual scientific report in Nature by Alejandro Reyes, Matthew Haynes Nicole Hanson, Florent E. Angly, Andrew C. Heath, Forest Rohwer, & Jeffrey I. Gordon] says there's a world of bacteria and viruses living inside us that do work for us we couldn't live without. 

These findings, preliminary as they might be, demonstrate that despite all we do know about how the human body functions, there is still so very much more to know. 

More than 10 trillion bacteria normally inhabit the gastrointestinal tract, where they synthesize essential amino acids and vitamins, produce anti-inflammatory factors and help break down starches, sugars and proteins that people could not otherwise digest. Within and among these bacteria live bacterial viruses, or bacteriophages, which affect bacterial numbers and behaviour as they either prey on bacteria or co-exist with them, shuttling genes from one bacterium to another.

This microscopic dynamic ecosystem affects our lives in ways we still do not fully understand. Indeed, the rise in the incidence of food allergies in Western societies has led to hypotheses that extreme hygiene disrupts the ability of microbes to colonize human guts, resulting in a lack of tolerance to usually harmless foods. 

. . ."This human ecosystem is quite important because it determines what we can do and what we can eat," says [Edward] DeLong [at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.] "That's why we should care about this." 

A brief NY Times editorial alerted me to this article.   Though the original Nature News article isn't that long or technical itself.  The actual scientific article requires payment if you aren't a subscriber to get more than the abstract.

Kate Gale Leaves Gnawed Bones for Peggy Shumaker

Last Thursday we walked over to the Arts Building at UAA to hear poetry.  Kate Gale, who created and runs, as I understood it, Red Hen Press, read red hot poetry.  Her poems are in your face and challenge the listener on themes not usually rendered so directly in poetry or elsewhere.   (I found the Red Hen website to be visually interesting - the icon of the hen is white, though the words are red - and incredibly slow to open.)

She read in one about luring someone out of the prison of his high rise office, to fly out the window to freedom.  It was a powerful poem.  She did preface it by explaining that she wrote it when she was trying to convince her husband to leave his secure job with a good salary.  Just leave it and join her in pursuing poetry and making the Red Hen Press work.  In a poetry reading you can get such context from the poet that you normally wouldn't get in a book of poetry.  But without the preface, a reader has more freedom to interpret the poem more personally.

It wasn't like one imagines a poetry reading.  Rather it felt as though she was exposing her heart with just the thinnest veil of words between herself and the audience.

Then Peggy Shumaker came to the podium.  We'd all been given copies of her book Gnawed Bones at the beginning of the reading and she told us now, that they were only on loan so we could read along.  She asked audience members to pick a poem for her to read.  Someone would call out a title, then she'd ask what page, and read.  By the third of fourth poem people were calling out page numbers, which is a lot less poetic, but it moved things along faster.  I liked the idea of this - involving the audience more - but somehow it was less intimate. It was like the audience members were fetching a ball and then dropping it at her feet waiting to be petted.

And each time, Peggy would go to the page, see the poem, and smile as she recognized it.  Then she read it.

I'd read one of the poems in the book before things started.  It was about visiting a sick relative in the hospital.  Since a good friend is sick in the hospital, it particularly hit home.  But I didn't ask her to read it.

Shumaker's reading was much more like I used to imagine poetry readings.  I don't have her poems in front of me so it's hard to say exactly what it was about them, but the poems and the delivery sounded very much like 'poetry' in the sense of something distinct from real life.  She read everything in a voice and rhythm that one associates with teachers reading poetry.   

It was unfortunate that Shumaker didn't proceed Gale.  I think that would have worked much better.  As it was, it really felt that after Gale, all that was left for Shumaker, was gnawed bones.

But don't take my word for it.  You can listen to podcasts of Thursday evening and many of the other presentations this week. Note:  the link goes directly to the podcast for Gale and Shumaker.  For the others look for July 2010 podcasts.   There is one more reading Tuesday night July 20, 2010. 

What's a Scam?

This is the first of what I think will be a three part series looking at

1. what's a scam?
2. what's a film festival?
3. A comparison of the authenticity of the ANCHORAGE International Film Festival to the ALASKA International Film Festival.

So, what is a scam?

[Note:  I am not an attorney and what I write here represents the facts I have been able to gather and my interpretation/opinion of those facts.]


The answer seems to boil down to deception.  A scam is an activity in which one party deceives another party to gain some advantage.  Another factor seems to be that this tends to be more elaborate than a simple lie.  There is a scheme of sorts in which a person is seduced through misleading representations into an agreement.

One issue that comes up is whether an activity has to be illegal to be a scam.   From what I can tell, the answer is no.

It is like the relationship between unethical and illegal.  Something can be unethical (seen as morally wrong by most people) without being illegal (in violation of the law) and the same seems to be true of a scam.

A 1987 Appeals Court Decision (McCabe v. Rattiner) said:

". . .we observe that the word "scam" does not have a precise meaning. As the district judge said in his bench ruling, "it means different things to different people ... and there is not a single usage in common phraseology." While some connotations of the word may encompass criminal behavior, others do not.2 The lack of precision makes the assertion "X is a scam" incapable of being proven true or false. Cf. Buckley v. Littel, 539 F.2d 882, 895 (2d Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1062, 97 S.Ct. 786, 50 L.Ed.2d 777 (1977) ("[t]he issue of what constitutes an 'openly fascist' journal is as much a matter of opinion or idea as is the question what constitutes 'fascism' or the 'radical right' ").

Scam versus Fraud

In common usage the words tend to overlap, but fraud is the term defined in the law.   From Fraudlaw.org, a site aimed at residents of Washington and Oregon:

 Most people think of fraud as a [sic] evil practice.  But “fraud” as used in law means simply action or lack of action that is punishable by law.  Fraud is defined by the legislature and the courts.  It includes outright deception, and sometimes almost “accidental” misrepresentation.  In some circumstances (like investments) fraud includes failure to disclose or to tell the whole truth.  Sometimes the law makes people like officers and directors and those who assist in furthering the fraud liable even if they did not know about the fraud. 

The discussion goes on to distinguish levels of fraud based on intent:

1) Fraudulent Misrepresentation (Deceit);
2) Concealment and Non Disclosure;
3) Negligent Misrepresentation; and
4) Innocent Misrepresentation. 

It goes on to list:

The 9 elements of Oregon fraud are:

1)  A representation; [I'm assuming this means what was represented to the hearer?]

2) Its falsity;

3) Its materiality; [Again, I'm assuming this is whether a point in the representation is relevant or important to the action taken.]

4) The speaker's knowledge of the representation's falsity or ignorance of its truth;

5) Intent that the representation be acted on in a manner reasonably contemplated;

6) The hearer's ignorance of the falsity of the representation;

7) The hearer's reliance on its truth;

8) The hearer's right to rely on the representation; and

9) Damage caused by the representation.

Musgrave v. Lucas, 193 Or 401, 410, 238 P2d 780 (1951); Webb v Clark, 274 Or 387, 391, 546 P2d 1078 (1976).

On the website GeorgeSMayScam, the writer offers a long example where something can be legal, but still a scam.  He claims to be a former employee who left in good standing:

The George S. May International scam is elaborate [sic] scheme focused on small to medium sized businesses that have some difficulty making a profit or enough profit among other issues.  The most important thing that GSM wants to know is how much money is in the client’s checking account.  If there is not enough money in the checking account, the question is how much does the client have in securities or other quick to liquid assets.  They then tailor a plan to take ALL of the client’s available money.
Everything is done legally and is therefore protected by law.  The forms are long, detailed, and lawyer proof.  The signatures are all in place before services are rendered or one cent is collected.
So, you may ask, “What is your problem?  If it is all legal, why are you calling it a scam?”
The definition of the word scam, according to Webster’s dictionary, is a "deceptive act".  See http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scam.  This is how the term is used here.  If a company has a practice of getting clients to sign a contract without completely informing and explaining verbally all of the zingers in the contract, it is deceptive. 

 He then goes on to detail the many ways the legal contract was designed so that the customers couldn't get out of the requirement to pay George S May.  I can't vouch for the person who wrote this post or the facts about the George S May company (though I was directed to the site by a friend whose company hired May and says the description is accurate in his case, though he thinks in some cases a business might benefit from such an audit, though probably not from the way they are charged), but the mechanics he describes help show how a legal scam might work.

There are a lot of types of fraud (Wikipedia has a list of about 22).  Personally, I would argue that it's a scam when

• a customer is asked to sign a lengthy contract 
• that has lots of 'gotchas' hidden in the small print 
• that the seller knows 
• the client would likely not sign if he understood them all

I would include in this hidden fees and penalties etc. in credit card contracts, cell phone contracts, and car and home loan agreements.

Wikipedia also distinguishes another related term:

A hoax also involves deception, but without the intention of gain, or of damaging or depriving the victim; the intention is often humorous.

What is the buyer's responsibility?

Surely,  buyers have a responsibility to pay attention to the agreements they sign.  But in this day and age we know less about the people with whom we do business.  Many aren't local.  Some products are hard to live without (credit cards are often required say to rent a car or buy airline tickets online where they are cheaper) but they come with long complicated legal contracts.  I guess I would just ask readers,

"Before you signed or clicked 'agree' did you read all the fine print in your...

1. credit card contracts? 
2. bank accounts contracts?
3. the agreements that come with software downloads?

To what extent do our schools teach people to be savvy consumers?  US college students' literacy has declined rapidly.  The Washington Post reported in 2005 that in a test that

measures how well adults comprehend basic instructions and tasks through reading -- such as computing costs per ounce of food items, comparing viewpoints on two editorials and reading prescription labels. . .  Only 41 percent of graduate students tested in 2003 could be classified as "proficient" in prose -- reading and understanding information in short texts -- down 10 percentage points since 1992. Of college graduates, only 31 percent were classified as proficient -- compared with 40 percent in 1992.

One might argue that if most college graduates (not to mention non-college grads) aren't  proficient in reading, how can their signatures on such contracts be considered informed consent?  And changes in laws regarding credit card agreements and lending practices suggest that Congress agrees that conditions in these contracts are unreasonable.


However, at some level, consumers do have to take some responsibility to be informed when they make decisions.


So, next comes Part 2:  What is a film festival?

[UPDATE Sept 2, 2019 - Here's a link to 2017 DasKurzFilmMagazin ShortFilm.de post on film festival scams.  It links to this post which is how I found out about it.]

3 Jing Si Aphorisms by Master Cheng Yen

OK, I'm stalling.  I've got a couple of posts I'm working on but they aren't ready yet, so this is just to post something.  But it should be a relaxing and reflective break.

I'll share a little from a book I was given while on an overnight layover in Taiwan.  The link shows some pictures of the Tzu Chi Foundation temple I stumbled on where I was given this book, written by a Buddhist Nun.

"Master Cheng Yen has always led a simple and virtuous life.  In her frugality, she made candles and bean powder to maintain a living.  In 1966, she established the Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, and over the years this organizations has concentrated its activities in the major areas of charity, medicine, education, culture, international relief, bone marrow donations, community volunteerism, and environmental protection."

The book has the aphorisms in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.  Here are a couple:

To regard ourself lightly

is prajna (wisdom).

To regard ourself highly

is attachment. (p. 22)

El vernos a nosotros mismos con modestia

es Prajna (sabiduría).

El considerarnos altamente

es aferrarse a uno mismo.

We must carry out our tasks 

according to principles,

and not let our principles be

compromised by our tasks. (p. 38)

Debemos llevar a cabo nuestras tareas
de acuerdo a nuestros principios
y no dejar que nuestros principios
se vean comprometidos por nuestras tareas.

Each time we forgive others, 
we are, in fact, sowing blessings. 
The more magnanimity we show,
the more blessings we enjoy. (p. 182)


Perdonar una vez
es ser bendecido una vez.
Cuanto más perdonemos,
más seremos bendecidos.

The title of this post is the title of the book and there isn't Western publication information in the book.  However, there is a link to the tzuchi.org for those want to know about this Eastern humanitarian organization. 

Why Do People Have to Spend So Much?

The Anchorage Daily News had an AP story Monday entitled, "More Americans' credit scores sink to new lows" By Eileen AJ Connelly.

Figures provided by FICO Inc. show that 25.5 percent of consumers — nearly 43.4 million people — now have a credit score of 599 or below, marking them as poor risks for lenders. It's unlikely they will be able to get credit cards, auto loans or mortgages under the tighter lending standards banks now use.

 The unemployment rate is only around 10%, so this isn't just people out of work.  And there are situations where people have emergencies that get them under water.  But I look around at all the people driving new cars and trucks, talking on i-Phones, buying daily lattes, and I'm sure you can add to the list.  

People seem to forget the advice that David Copperfield got from Mr. Micawber.

"My other piece of advice, Copperfield," said Mr Micawber, "you know.  Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, results happiness.  Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. . . "***

 Of course, Mr. Micawber knew this well because he was just out of debtors' prison.

There are lots of ways to get by for much less. As Micawber's advice suggests, it's not just poor people who are in debt, but people at all levels spending more than they take in.

To help such people, I would note that there is a fair amount of free entertainment in Anchorage these days.

At the University of Alaska Anchorage's   Summer 2010 Author Readings  various authors from Alaska and beyond are giving readings from their work. It goes on for another week.  Details are in the link above.  The parking at the University for summer evenings is free.  But walk or bike if you can and save on your gas bill.  Here are the speakers for the rest of the event.

An evening with Red Hen Press (Los Angeles)
Alaskan poet Peggy Shumaker and Kate Gale, founder, Red Hen Press
Thursday, July 15, 8 p.m
UAA Fine Arts, room 150

MFA Students open-mic reading
Friday, July 16, 9-11 p.m.
UAA Gorsuch Commons, room 106


Special event: "Things I Didn't Know I Loved"
Saturday, July 17, 8 p.m.
UAA Rasmuson Hall, room 101


Nancy Lord and Valerie Miner
Sunday, July 18, 8 p.m.
UAA Fine Arts, room 150

Anne Caston, Rich Chiappone and Sherry Simpson
Monday, July 19, 8 p.m.
UAA Fine Arts, room 150

Jo-Ann Mapson, Derick Burleson and David Stevenson
Tuesday, July 20, 8 p.m.
UAA Fine Arts, room 150

Careful, the rooms and times change.

And Sunday I saw the World Cup final game free at the Bear Tooth.


The Anchorage Press is also free and has long lists of events going on in town and how much they all cost.

I imagine that students these days who face impossible college bills and graduate with $20,000 or more debt might simply give up on trying to save.  Many of them grew up without having to scrimp to get by and never learned how. 

Doughroller has 75 tips for saving money. 


***  From Wikipedia, before the British went to the decimal system in 1971:

the pound was divided into 20 shillings and each shilling into 12 pence, making 240 pence to the pound.

Learning Something's Up Through Sitemeter

I'm not sure I even want to post about this.  I suddenly got a lot of hits today for the "helen louise mcdowell sanctuary, anchorage." I did a photo post on the park last year April when it first opened to the public as a sanctuary.

I have had people getting to this blog googling for the sanctuary every now and then, but never three in a row, and then more, and more, and more.  Something's up, I thought.  So I  googled to see what else comes up with that search.

The lovely park bordering the New Seward Highway just before it gets to 36th (headed north), it turns out, was where a young woman's body was found this morning. Not the sort of news I generally cover. But being alerted to news by google searches is a blogging side effect to note for the record. My sympathies go out to the family. I can't think of much worse news for them.

Trailer Park Foreclsoure Sale = Opportunity for Trailer Condos

This blog's basic theme is about how we know what we know. We all tend to hunker down and protect our own view of the world, most of us believing it is the only truly correct one.  It's easier not to have to think too much, but it also leads to lots of problems when we can't see alternatives to our own truths and possibilities.


Here's the plan.  

I did a recent post on a trailer park in Anchorage that is shutting down.  There were even a couple of comments from people who had lived in trailers saying it was just what they needed at the time. 

Then I noticed this foreclosure notice in the Anchorage Press.

Here's a trailer park with 24 occupied trailers, valued at $1 million (land only.) Minimum bid is $850,000.  Though the trailers aren't included in the appraisal, it says they are included in the sale.  So I'm thinking. . .

One million dollars.  Divided by 24.  That comes to about $42,000 for each trailer plus the land.  Who really wants to buy a trailer park full of tenants?   Collecting rent from 24 tenants in trailers probably isn't the most profitable use of 2.4 acres of land in town.  But if you want to develop this land, you're going to have to kick 24 families out of their homes, families who are living in low cost housing they aren't likely to be able to replace.

People in the trailer parks aren't homeless and most aren't unemployed.  They just don't earn enough to buy more permanent housing.  So, what if Alaska Housing were to bid on this property and then set up a kind of trailer condo association?  The people in the trailer parks, for $42,000 each, could buy their trailer and the land it sits on like a condo.

Using an online mortgage calculator, we get:

1. $2,500 down  (Permanent fund checks are coming in October, so any trailer with two Alaskans in it will be able to come up with most of that amount.)
   
2. I've heard interest rates are down to 4% now, but that wasn't available on the mortgage calculator I used.
   
3. A ten year loan makes more sense than 15 for a trailer, but they didn't have that option.
   
4. So $422.61 per month (obviously a rough estimate) and these people are in their own place with a cooperative arrangement with the neighbors to maintain the trailers and the property.  I'm guessing that's less than they pay for rent now.

And the minimum bid was $850,000 so there's a chance it might go for less than a million.

It would also need a condo fee (though taxes were in the calculator.) It seems Alaska Housing could work out a deal so that people have the option of contributing manual labor as part of their condo fee.

So, these low income folks would be able to afford to own their own place and develop some equity - not just in the trailer, but in the land itself.  They would have an incentive to keep up their property and to work cooperatively with their neighbors to maintain all the common land and everyone's property value.

They would use the skills they have (these people may be poor, but it doesn't mean they're unskilled) and learn what they need (the Housing Authority or the local Community Council could help here) to run the condo associations.  These activities might well lead them to take a more active part in larger community politics.  

Sure, there are lots of details to work out.

The people working for the State of Alaska on public housing and homelessness have rules to follow, but wouldn't it be nice if we had a Governor and Legislature that could work quickly and cooperatively to take advantage of unexpected opportunities and allow an agency to do something innovative and beneficial? It isn't impossible.  It's just that we haven't demanded this from the people who we elect as our representatives.  They really do respond to voters.  It's just that most voters don't ask much of them. 


Or, in the meantime, someone with an extra million dollars (there are such people) could do a really good deed, by making this investment in the people in these trailers.  Remember, she wouldn't be giving them the million, but would be selling them their homes at a price most could actually afford.  

What Color is his Parachute? Remote is Relative

Andrew Sullivan has a guest blogger posting from Dutch Harbor.

by Dave Weigel

UNALASKA, AK -- When I agreed to blog here for a week I gave a quick word of warning: I was set to spend a week in Dutch Harbor, the remote fishing town made globally famous by 1) the series "Deadliest Catch" and 2) fish.

"Remote" is a word we like to misuse, like "awesome" or "ironic" or "electable." You go to a hunting cabin in West Virginia and you say you're in a remote location. But I am about as far from the great mass of humanity as I could be right now. This is obvious if you open a map and notice that the island is closer to Pyongyang than it is to Seattle. . . [it goes on here]

He parachuted in from DC and thinks he's remote. Of course the people who come from Dutch Harbor think DC is remote.   And maybe being far from the great mass of humanity gives one a chance to connect with the earth and life as most humans knew it before they all moved to the big cities.  But as long as he can get to Dutch Harbor's bars and internet, he's still far from where he can truly bond with nature.  And by the way, most of the guys with the Alaska T shirts aren't from Alaska.  [You have to read the rest of his post to get that.]

The center of the universe is where ever 'home' is. If you look at a map of the US and draw a line down the middle, Chicago is clearly to the right, or east, of that line. But as the settlers all started on the East Coast, they thought Chicago was in the Mid West.  And they still call Chicago the Mid West even today.  They think the East Coast is the Beijing of the New World.  Growing up in LA, I was always confused by references to us in 'the Far West.'  I lived there.  It wasn't far at all.  It seemed that New York was more appropriately the Far East.


So what is Dave Weigel doing in Dutch Harbor?  I guess he was trying to get as far away from his known world as he could.  The Washington Post reports:

David Weigel, who was hired by The Washington Post to blog about conservatives, resigned Friday after leaked online messages showed him disparaging some Republicans and commentators in highly personal terms.

Weigel, whose tenure lasted three months, apologized Thursday for writing on a private e-mail exchange that Matt Drudge should "handle his emotional problems more responsibly and set himself on fire." He also mocked Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, by referring to the "Paultard Tea Party."


The Daily Caller reported more inflammatory comments on Friday, with Weigel writing that conservatives were using the media to "violently, angrily divide America" and lamenting news organizations' "need to give equal/extra time to 'real American' views, no matter how [expletive] moronic." When Rush Limbaugh, who has called for President Obama to fail, was hospitalized with chest pains, Weigel wrote: "I hope he fails."[to continue reading the post]

I guess the editors don't read too many blogs.  Weigel probably assumed that it was ok to    write like that in private since most bloggers do it publicly on their blogs.  But if this was supposed to be "Inside the conservative movement" why did they have someone who doesn't sound at all like an insider.  Or maybe this is a glimpse into what it looks like on the conservative inside.

The Washington Post Ombudsman, on a story about the firing, raises a similar point.

. . . But his departure also raises questions about whether The Post has adequately defined the role of bloggers like Weigel. Are they neutral reporters or ideologues?

And, given the disdainful comments in his e-mails, there is the separate question of whether he was miscast from the outset when he was hired earlier this year. . .

So Dave, if you have some time in Anchorage on your way home, give a shout and meet some not very remote Alaskan bloggers.