Nancy Wilson Was The Soundtrack Of My Life

I'm not sure exactly when Nancy Wilson came into my life.  Maybe the end of high school or the beginning of college.  I was even in an elevator with her before a concert at UCLA once. I couldn't say a word.  Her albums lifted me out of whatever problems I was facing.

They still transport me to another world, even if I have to move the arm when the needle his a scratch in my 50 year old vinyls.

It's hard to believe that golden voice has been silenced.  This is just a sampling of a few vocal jewels.



Here's more factual stuff from the LA Times.

Some Of The Best Things In Life Are Free

After a beautiful sunny Southern California day yesterday, it was grey most of the day today.  But by 4:45pm as the sun was setting, it made a colorful appearance.   It went from cheery glow to















dazzling in about 15 minutes.  The fact that Night Market Sahm doesn't open until 5pm, meant we were out on the street to watch the show.

We ate here at the beginning of this year when we were working on my mom's house and it hadn't been open long.  The laab was so hot I had to take breaks.  But J, whose tongue is more sensitive than mine, also kept eating it because it was so good.  This time, while it was still spicy, it wasn't nearly as hot and I don't think it was as addictively tasty either. But we did finish it.  We ordered way too much, plus they gave us a complimentary salad.  So we have snacks for the next few days.

[Laab is a northeastern Thai dish.  When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 60's, you could get laab, barbecued chicken, and somtam (very spicy green papaya salad) along with sticky rice (all northeastern dishes) in Bangkok if you went to a Thai boxing match.  'Sahm' means three in Thai.  There's also a Night Market and Night Market Song in the LA area.]

Aural Earthquake Flashbacks

I realized today that I'm randomly re-hearing the earthquake.  It's an ominous sound that includes a low (in frequency, not volume) rumbling sound which I assume is the earth shifting and the wrenching, crunching, creaking sound of the wood of the house being bent, I think there might also be a bit of rattling of the windows, but I'm not sure.

I don't think I even thought about the noise after the earthquake.  My initial thoughts were visual and kinesthetic.   The crooked pictures and toppled shelves in the garage.  And my body being shaken as I brace myself against the door frame.  My sciatic muscle seems to have absorbed the force of the quake and the pain comes and goes like aftershocks, down my leg.  (The physical therapist has given me exercises to deal with this, but it's almost two weeks later, so I'm guessing this isn't going away soon..)

And as I thought about how I could describe these sounds I realized I never even thought about my camera - which wouldn't have done a very good job, I don't think, of capturing the sounds of the quake.  And the only video I've seen of the quake online was footage caught by security cameras.  I'm guessing few people had time to think about capturing the quake on their phones.  It just happened too suddenly and strongly. Whipping out my camera didn't occur to me until after I was reasonably sure the quake was over.

Strange how the human body processes these things.

How Not To Do An Online Survey

I had to call a company yesterday, and during the call I spoke to two different representatives.  The first one was very good, listened, understood my issue and said she would fix it and then check to be sure it was really fixed.  She could not, however, do anything about my other issue.  That had to be handled by a different department.

That person said he could change the setting on the computer.  I'd had the same problem last year with the company.  He said I should fill out an online form. I looked at it.  It wasn't short and required that I look a number of things up.   (I had earlier, before this call,  filled out paper work online for the rental car accident payment. Our rental car in October had been hit in a parking lot while we were eating lunch.  I was fed up with all the paper work and not receptive to doing more work like that just then.)  I asked him to do what the other rep had done - fix it and then check in a few days.  His response was, I told you a way to fix it, but you don't want to take it. (He was n't wrong, but his tone of voice was.)  I said, look, if your company can't fix this over the phone without me filling out the whole form over again, then maybe I'll just have to take my account elsewhere.  "But I gave you a way to do it ('you dolt' wasn't said, but was in his tone.)

So today I got an email asking me to take a survey about my phone call with the company.  It wanted me to rate 'the representative' I'd talked to.  I couldn't find a way to ask, "Which one?"  I couldn't find a way to leave a comment.  I couldn't go on (to see if there was a place for a comment somewhere else, without rating the representative.  I didn't want to rate the good rep poorly nor did I want to rate the poor rep positively.

So, they didn't get my feedback.  I just closed that window and went on to other things.

Of course, I don't know if they really wanted to know, or whether this was a gimmick to make me think they cared how I felt.  If it was a gimmick, it didn't work.  If they really wanted good feedback, it didn't work.

Surveys should always have comment options because:

• People may not understand the question, and comments let the surveyors know that.
• The options offered may not include what the responder actually experienced.
• The question may not be appropriate.   (my case here - which rep did they mean?)

So, if any of these things happens, and there is no comment option and no 'skip the question' option, then the respondent has two choices:

• Answer the best she can, knowing the response isn't really right
• Quit the survey

I understand the companies that do surveys for other companies want to do things as quickly and easily as possible.  Just run the survey responses through the computer and provide the client with whatever statistical analysis of the numbers they need.

Comments, for that sort of surveyor, just get in the way.
They can't be so easily quantified.  And if they actually point out flaws in the survey instrument, then everything would have to be thrown out and started over again.  Data you've already collected are now suspect (how many other respondents had the same problems, but just answered the question anyway?), so you have to ask those people again (not what anyone wants to do) or keep the bad data or start over.  And it would be hard to do that without telling the client that you - however you sugar coat it - screwed up.

So who is this post for?  I guess

• First it's for me, to just get this off my chest.
• Second, for others facing frustratingly bad survey questions - just quit if they don't  give you a way to point out why the question doesn't work for you.
• Third, for companies that hire people to do surveys for them.  Don't trust the survey consultants..  Take the survey yourself.  Have a number of other people test out the survey - perhaps even actual customers.  Require the survey company  to allow people to comment throughout the survey.
• Fourth, for ethical surveyors, who perhaps didn't learn all they needed to learn, but are willing to listen because they want to do it right.

AIFF2018: Awards Brunch - OK, I've Got The List Now

OK, finally, I've got the list of the winners including 2nd and 3rd Place.
NOTE:  This afternoon there's more - including

On The Tip of the Tongue - A World Premiere about the Young Frenchman who helped save Eyak Language  2:30pm at Alaska Experience Theater
Don't Be Nice at 4:30pm E Street (Audience Choice)
1945 - This should be good.   4:30 Alaska Experience
Julia Blue - Feature Winner - 6:30pm  Alaska Experience




This year's award ceremony is in the conference room at Alaska Experience Theater from brunch - catered by Organic Oasis.  I'm trying to get ready and I've set up the categories in advance so I have time to fill in the names of the winners.

I'm not sure what order these will be in, but I'll keep updating this post.  The sun is out and we
have a great view of the port.

Shorts
Winner:  Fauve
2nd Place:  Sirene
3rd Place:  About the Birds and Bees

Screenplay Winners

Screenplay 
Winner:  Stan and Mary "221 Broadway"




Audience Choice Awards:
Documentary:  Don't Be Nice
Feature:


FEATURES
Winner: Julia Blue
2nd Place: Funny Story
3rd Place: Rich Kids


Feature-Length Documentaries 
Winner:  Rodents of Unusual Size
2nd Place: Afghan Cycles
3rd Place:  Anote's Ark

ANIMATION

Winner: Sail
Runner Up: Everything Changes
Honorable Mention:  Playtime


MADE IN ALASKA
Winner: Wellaway  (It won, I think it was this category)
2nd Place:  Rocket
3rd Place: And Now We Rise

These categories don't seem to have been in the festival this year.

Documentary Shorts
Winner:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:

Super Shorts
Winner:
2nd Place:
3rd Place:

AIFF2018: Alaska Related Docs - Lowell Thomas and Five Important Alaskans

We went to the museum yesterday and saw Voice of America:  Lowell Thomas and the Rise of Broadcast News and then Magnetic North Series - Alaska Humanities Forum portraits of Alaskans.


Maybe I'm stretching it a bit about the Lowell Thomas movie - most of it was about his life and about the beginnings of broadcast journalism, with just a bit taking place in Alaska.  However, his son, Lowell Thomas Jr.,  settled in Alaska and was our Lt. Governor for a while and his his daughter (Sr's granddaughter) was in the audience and spoke after the film.

This film documents not just Lowell's life, but also the beginnings of broadcast news.  We see him first in his round the world travels - including 'discovering' T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) and trekking three weeks (was it four) into Lhasa to record - for the first time ever - the Dalai Lama and Lhasa just before the Chinese invaded Tibet.

We heard from Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather about how Lowell set the mold for broadcast news - neutral, fact based, and with a story.  NPR broadcaster David Folkenflik was also featured.  Lowell Thomas is a name that seems I've always known, but I didn't know the details.

The screen writer and biographer Mitchell Stephens was there to answers questions afterward.  At one point an audience member seemed to be nostalgic for the 'good old days' of broadcast news where 'both sides' were fairly represented.  Stephens jumped in to point out there were problems then too, that we saw and heard a limited amount of news compared to today. [UPDATE SUNDAY:  I'm sitting here with Rick Moulton, the director at the Awards ceremony and he clarified it was Mitchell, not Rick, who talked after the film.  So I fixed it.]


Later, the Humanities Forum presented their Magnetic North Series.  With funding from the Rasmuson Foundation, they are capturing on film key figures in Alaska's history.  They've got five 30 minute films done already - on Roy Madsen, Nathan Jackson, Arliss Sturgulewski, Jacob Anagi Adams, Sr., and Clem Tillion.  The Bill Sheffield movie isn't yet completed.
The film makers - Marla Williams and Kyle (the photographer - I can't find his last name) were there to talk about the films.
Actually, for last night's film they had picked a theme - which they asked the audience to guess afterward - and edited parts of the five films with the intent of focusing on their chosen theme.  The audience picked themes somewhat related to theirs - resilience - but didn't use that word.

I was interested in how the film makers were going to deal with issues in the Sheffield film about his impeachment, the Alaska Railroad depot at the airport, the significant problems with the port when he headed it.  This is more about personalities than investigative journalism, Marla told me afterward.  But, she pointed out that all the subjects talked about their flaws.  My concern was that these films will probably be the main film sources of information on these people.  Marla said these were not intended to be tributes, but more portraits (I think that's my word not hers.)  The Humanities Forum wants to make these widely available and I'm concerned they do seem more like tributes and they will become 'the truth' about these people.  While I suspect with Sturgulewski and Tillion 'the truth' will be reasonable close to who these people are.  With Sheffield, there's a lot of baggage that I suspect will not be raised enough for people unfamiliar with him to be alerted to the serious problems.  I know I'm asking a lot, but, again, I suspect these movies will be the main source for Alaska students to know these people.

And you could accuse me of leaving out things - like that the director of the Alaska Humanities Forum was there as well - but this blog will not be distributed in the same way, and did not use nearly as much time and resources to produce.

These film are intended to be available online eventually.  You can check back at the Alaska Humanities Forum website.

AIFF2018: Saw Lots Of Good Shorts, Including Animation, Like Aaron Dunbar's The Train AND Tomorrow's Schedule

The film festival goes on full steam ahead.  Bear Tooth is open - don't have to bring snacks or starve anymore.  You can find Friday's schedule here.  That link will get you to all the days actually.  You can see different versions of the schedule - the expanded gives you all the info you could want - by putting your cursor over the word schedule.  The the options drop down.

Here's their simple schedule for Friday.  You can link from each of the colored bars to get more info about the event.  Colors relate to the category or kind of activity.

I'd note the first one is a workshop by Ida Description: Ida Theresa Myklebost and John Gamache. They'll talk about what they've learned from the last 40 festivals they've been to - including her short film last year about refugees in a Greek refugee camp.  It should be interesting to film makers, but also as a way for us locals to think about how our festival compares to others.

I'd note - there was one cancelled program tonight - the shorts scheduled at the Inlet Towers.  I was planning to go, but someone mentioned it was cancelled.  So keep checking the schedule page - that seems to be the most reliable guide.  I'm not sure when the Inlet Towers show disappeared from there.  It was up when I left for the Bear Tooth.

Friday, December 7

1:00pm

"How to Festival: Useful Notes From the Film Festival Circuit" 

3:00pm

Not Your Typical Short Docs 

4:00pm

Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Rise of Broadcast News 

5:00pm

Julia Blue Rich Kids 

6:00pm

Magnetic North Series - Alaska Humanities Forum 

7:00pm

Don't Be Nice Life Coach - Short Docs 

9:00pm

Rodents of Unusual Size Be My Cat: A Film for Anne 

You'll have to check which of these you want to go to yourself.  I still haven't done my homework. 

Aaron Dubar, The Train

But I want to briefly comment on today.  We saw lots and lots of good shorts and all the animated films were winners.  So many different styles.  But they all had good content and artistic qualities.  I'll just mention one - The Train, because the film maker, Aaron Dunbar, was sitting next to me.  He's from Ohio and a bit shy, he says, but that's not what we saw tonight when he answered questions.  

It's always tricky - what if I don't like his film?  But in this case I really liked it.  It was about an artist drawing in his notebook, and the scenes he drew would show up out the window.  Then a young woman comes into his compartment, dragging a big suitcase.  He just sits there drawing.  She looks at what he's drawing.  It had its own unique look and muted colors.  

He told me I could find it on line, so you can all see it and judge for yourself.  

Book Club Members Check In On Earthquake and Other Updates

We had another aftershock - Alaska Earthquake Center says it was a 2.5.  Actually, we've had quite a few aftershocks, this is in the list on their page right now:

Latest Earthquakes
M2.5   at 01:26 PM, 12 mi NW of Anchorage
M2.0   at 01:25 PM, 12 mi NW of Elmendorf AFB
M1.8   at 01:24 PM, 10 mi N of Anchorage
M1.0   at 01:23 PM, 13 mi NW of Anchorage
M1.7   at 01:20 PM, 13 mi NW of Anchorage

My book club members live all over town.  Here's what people reported about Friday's big quake:

• I just want to send out the hope, belated but sincere, that all of you, your families, and houses made it through the quake ok.  The damage and experiences are so varied.   (I left town for Portland on Saturday, as planned  But I was home on Friday, got under a table for the first time, had a few fragile things fall and break but nothing serious.  Toilet water sloshed on the floor, bookcases emptied, pictures all crooked.  Neighbors three doors down lost the whole brick facing of their fireplace into their living room.)  Let us know how you did?  And aren't you glad we read the earthquake book so we know why this happened?
• Like all of you the damage was minimal. I had just started my car when the quake hit and I was at first annoyed because the car had just been serviced. Of course I quickly realized my error.   Hope that’s the last big on for at least another 60 years 
• Our little house that survived the '64 quake did fine. We had one broken bowl.  P was in her car in Sand Lake area and had a wild ride.  The tail fell out of our loon mask.  [Dog] and I were shaken, but did not stir beyond the back deck.  All in all, we are glad we survived November, and that it's over!
• All OK here and with extended family. Broken stuff.
• Music and musical instruments survived. Lucky for caring neighbors.   As they say, “moderate” damage. 
• All OK here and with extended family. Broken stuff.
• We were in Talkeetna visiting friends. Strong there but no damage. Then started get texts and calls from friends and family all over the country. Drove back into town in the afternoon past Vine and thankfully the detours on Glen were in place by then. Relieved to find house was just fine. However, Took couple days to clean up everything fell off high shelves and out of closets, fridge & pantry. Much Broken glass from stemware, China, crockery, lamps, bulbs, pictures, desktop computer, etc. Humbling experience, and especially as reflect on  the fact that ‘64 quake was 2,000x more powerful! Yikes. Kind of enjoy the little after shocks now..
• Grateful that we rode it out with (almost embarrassingly) minimal damage.  Glad you are all well. 
• I sent in a link to my blog post.  If you missed it, here it is

And since we're doing books, here's a message from the Anchorage libraries today:

Thank you to each and every one of you who have sent notes of support for our library. We've received messages from across the city, the state, the country and around the world. We feel truly loved by our community and we're sending good vibes right back at you. As of Tuesday, December 4th, Loussac, Muldoon, Mountain View and Girdwood have re-opened with normal business hours. Eagle River will remain closed until further notice and staff across the system have been deployed there to assist with clean up. Please see our earthquake info page for details on fines, holds, special programs and other resources; then be sure to follow us on social media for the latest updates. #ShookBooks #AnchorageStrong

AIFF2018: Interpreters, Afghan Cycles, And Festival Thoughts

The second two films took us to Afghanistan, Iraq, and France.

Interpreters was a documentary about American government promises to interpreters and other Iraqis and Afghans who worked for the US in those countries and had death threats from the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and ISIS when the US pulled out.  Promises that were long delayed or not carried out at all.   It took me back to another film at the festival years ago - Taxi To The Dark Side.

Afghan Cycles was about the Afghan women's bicycle team and the risks they faced just practicing in a country where women traditionally were supposed to stay at home.

Both films (and the earlier one Exit Music) were very personal stories about the people featured.  And all three had speakers afterward.  After Interpreters we had immigration attorney (and retired Lt. Col) Margaret Stock and another officer (whose name and exact rank I didn't catch) who had been the user of interpreters.  Stock made it clear that the government really hasn't kept its promise - that the responsibility is split between Homeland Security and the State Department, both of which have incentives to not process these applications quickly.  She also pointed out that as potential in-country interpreters learn how the promises were not kept, they are less likely to take these vitally needed positions.

 Sarah Menzies, Afghan Cycles director, answered questions after the film.  One of the more interesting questions was about the interview with the Taliban representative about killing women cyclists.  It turns out, Sarah was in Yakutat on a fishing film when that interview was done.  She got a male colleague to do it.  She said she hoped that she would have done the interview herself had she been in country, but wasn't sure if the Taliban guy would have accepted a female interviewer.  And he didn't know she wrote the questions.

Some general thoughts on the festival so far before I forget them:

• The earthquake made everything even more informal than normal.  Losing the venues the first day of the festival, made for scrambling.  First to get the Alaska Experience useable by the third day, and second to rearrange the schedule given the loss of the Bear Tooth (it will show Martines Matinee and The Miseducation of Cameron Post tomorrow - Thursday).
• It's nice having all the films in one location.  Not so much getting from place to place.  But there's been no food available, not even popcorn.  So it will be nice being back at the Bear Tooth tomorrow.
• There's been a crowd of pass holders who get to see each other a lot this way, and get to talk about the films from day to day.
• Not having so many choices has been nice too.  Not as many decisions and regrets.  Though today I had to decide between going to the Museum for FIVE SEASONS:  The Gardens of Piet Oudolf.  I've heard good things about the film, and there was a reception with food included.  But while my feet are feeling better today, I decided less walking is still better.  
• We haven't seen the kind of AIFF trailer we've gotten used to, with clips from many of the films, playing before each showing.  And names of sponsors are read or displayed on screen like usual.  Only Bear Tooth and Out North have been regularly thanked.  There was one film programmer who read us the list of sponsors yesterday.  
• Communicating with the public, so they'd know what was playing when, and where was spotty.  There seems to have been a problem keeping the website up-to-date and user friendly.  Though the SCHED (the film festival scheduling software) was working before the festival and by Monday or Tuesday was accurate for the post-earthquake revisions.  But if someone went to the website, one had to work to track it down.  Early Facebook posts were vague.  I had to call the Bear Tooth to find out for sure if there were not going to be films.

Things should be more like normal tomorrow and this weekend.  So if you haven't been to a film yet, it's time to show up.  In fact, tomorrow everything I've said above is thrown out the window.  Four different venues - Bear Tooth, E Street Theater, Alaskan Experience Theater, and Inlet Towers.  And lots of films at the same time, forcing you to make a decision.  The decision to stay home isn't an option.

Here's a link to the expanded schedule.

AIFF2018: Exit Music, Bear Tooth Will Open Tomorrow

Quickie - Exit Music turned out to be a very real and intimate movie as we become part of the household where Ethan Rice is in his 20s, and his cystic fibrosis has reached the stage where he is on oxygen the whole time.  We're there with Ethan, his parents, with the doctor, and others as they plan how to take the next steps if things get too painful to continue as they are.  I know that sounds grim, and that's part of this film, but more important was seeing past the illness and the paraphernalia to get to know the human being inside the body.

After the film there was a discussion with the doctor who worked with the family - and has lived in Anchorage.  There should be more films like this that get passed the facades and remind us that every human being basically is, well, another human being with dreams and fears and love.


Earthquake recovery is happening rapidly.  Until today, the restroom near the theater wasn't working and you had to walk through the mall, down the stairs (the elevators weren't working either) to get there.  Today, it's working.

And they announced that Martini Matinee at 2pm tomorrow will be Bear Tooth's grand reopening after the earthquake.  Not even a week.