Cabin Fever

A somewhat early Spring-like weekend. Wet roads and temps in the mid-thirties during the day and cold crunchy nights. Sounds like more of the same all week.

I took Dougie and Alison to supper on Friday evening in celebration of Alison's birthday. We went to Zephyr, the Mediterranean joint on Seward Street. It was good - by Juneau standards. I've now been there four times in the past month. Time to give it a rest...

I collected Joan at the airport on Saturday afternoon. I think she was tired - a grueling three weeks in Boise. It's now 8:30 AM on Monday morning so I'm sure she's already up to her eyeballs in accumulated Department of Public Safety budget stuff - I think all departments are going through budget close-outs in Senate Finance this week.

The rest of the weekend was the normal routine. Visit and chores at the elders, long workouts (my back is still a bit sore; but exercise does not seem to aggravate it), grocery shopping, reading, and TV. If I lived in America I could be Spring cleaning in the yard. Walking outdoors. Golfing too.

On the other hand, at least I don't have to spend the week in the State Capitol...

I guess I have got cabin fever in a serious way. I want OUT NOW!!!! As soon as I finish this post I'm going to track down my new found pal, Sean, at Holland America. See if there's any news on the cruise front. It's getting within about a month of sailing time...so I'm going to have to make a decision since I will also need to get air reservations which won't likely get cheaper as plane-time approaches.

I will keep you posted. In the meantime enjoy the following class picture - Mrs. Flory's 4th Grade Class in 1966. I have no particular recollections of 4th grade. For some reason the class size was the smallest of my elementary school career. Anybody know why? Wonder if we had three 4th grade teachers?...

As always, assistance in identifying kids who have dropped-out of my never too keen memory will be appreciated!

Mrs. Flory's 4th Grade Class - Click on image for larger picture

Front row left to right: Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, David Day, Sandy Kendler, Unknown

Middle row: Mrs. Flory, Scott Spickler, Bob Chapman, Unknown, Jim Brown, Leona Unser, Unknown

Back row: Jim Trucano, Donna Wright, John Shakespeare, Unknown, Margaret Harris, Cyd Dwyer, Elmer Lindstrom

Fall Down Go Boom

A bad day yesterday. I was shoveling the stairs to my apartment when suddenly I found myself sitting down. Fell right on the ol' butt bone. It hurt like hell and I was couch-bound for the rest of the day - found some old pain killers in the medicine cupboard which took the edge off.

I'm still quite sore today; but better and I'm sure it's going to be OK...just a bruise.

Unfortunately my indisposition caused me to miss Alison's surprise birthday party last evening at her mom's place. Happy belated birthday, Alison!

In other news, I offer the following from the Guardian regarding a chimp named Santino who was apparently fed-up with life as a zoo specimen in Sweden: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/09/chimp-zoo-stones-science

Chimp who threw stones at zoo visitors showed human trait, says scientist

...The loutish behaviour of a stone-throwing chimpanzee at a zoo near the Arctic circle has challenged scientists' beliefs about human beings.

Santino, a 31-year-old male at Furuvik zoo in Sweden, may be the first animal to exhibit an unambiguous ability to plan for the future, a behaviour many scientists argue is unique to humans. Forward planning takes considerable cognitive skills, because it requires an animal to envisage future events it will have to deal with.

Santino would get agitated when the first groups of visitors arrived at his enclosure in the morning, and would start hurling stones at the spectators. When the zookeepers investigated, they found that, while the zoo was closed, Santino had been busy making piles of ammunition, and returned to them to resupply.

...

The zookeepers recently decided that an operation was the best way of controlling Santino's behaviour.

"They have castrated the poor guy. They hope that his hormone levels will decrease and that will make him less prone to throw stones. He's already getting fatter and he likes to play much more now than before. Being agitated isn't good for him," said Osvath.

Meanwhile, winter continues unabated here in the Capital City. Looks like about six inches last night. And I need to go shovel those damn stairs again.

If I don't post again after a couple of days...someone call the Coast Guard...

In Memoriam

Sad news from Joan Kasson - her mom passed-away on Sunday evening in Boise after a prolonged illness. Joan will return home this weekend. Our thoughts are with you, my friend.

Also, Karyn Bogan Price, one of my favourite high school teachers, died in Seattle last week. An obituary will follow in the Empire shortly. I will post a link on the Blog when it is published.

We had a beautiful winter weekend here in Juneau. Lots of blue sky - but pretty chilly at night with temperatures below zero in the valley. I took a drive out the road on Sunday. It was blowing northerly down Lynn Canal - but not too bad. Took a few pics and have been playing with some of the filters in Photoshop.

The Chilkat Mountains

The Shrine of St. Theresa

Yet Another Winter Storm Watch

It's snowing like crazy this morning and we're scheduled for another 8 inches or so before the day is out. Enough already!

It's nice to be home however. My bed felt real comfy last night - although I do miss my doggie footwarmers. After the morning elder chores, I took the rest of yesterday off...lounged around watching golf, reading, and catching-up on laundry. The first day I haven't been to the Club in about a month! And a big T-bone for supper last night.

In other news, there is an interesting story in the Fairbanks News Miner this morning describing a meeting of something called the Second Amendment Task Force convened by State Representative Mike Kelly. Representative Kelly plans on introducing the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act which would allow someone to own firearms or components thereof restricted by federal law so long as they are built and kept in-state.

Kelly said he resents such infringements on gun rights as having to go through a metal detector to enter a courthouse and said he fondly remembered his college days when he could go hunting and return to his dorm room with a firearm without any problems.

“It was absolutely as normal as can be, and I look forward to when those times return,” the Fairbanks Republican said.

In these troubled times we all long for a return to normalcy, Mike; but I have to confess that I find the Fairbanks version unconvincing...

Wing-Nuts

I continue to entertain myself by following-up on various aspects of the recently concluded CPAC convention. The Daily Beast piece includes several videos that are quite amusing. It can be found at: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-02/the-wildest-moments-from-cpac/

I was particularly taken with the interview of a Mr. James Hutchens, founder of something called The Jerusalem Connection International, described by the reporter as a Christian Zionist group. These are the folks who support Israel - believing that the re-founding of the Temple being a necessary precursor to the Second Coming of J C, the End Times and so forth.

Mr. Hutchens is quite charming in a bizarrely naive sort of way. He is apparently incapable of thinking abstractly in the slightest degree. Irony is not his thing nor, apparently, is 20th century history. Mr. Hutchens takes everything quite literally as demonstrated by the following exchange:

Inside CPAC’s exhibition hall, I met James Hutchens, founder of the Christian Zionist lobbying group, The Jerusalem Connection International. Hutchens told me his group favored forcing the Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan and from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. I asked him if he thought cattle cars would be an efficacious means of transporting the Palestinians to their new homes. “Certainly not cattle cars,” Hutchens said. “I mean, you can ride a bus across the Jordan River to Jordan.”

In other news, I will return to the comfy confines of my apartment tomorrow as Joan's friend, Bobbie, will be spelling me on 10th Street. Joan continues on family duty in Boise.

Yesterday I stocked the pet larder with groceries from the Wee Fishie Shop. Skelter the Cat eats Science Diet Senior Hairball Formula - a name that for some reason just puts me in stitches. All four-legged friends are doing just fine and I will miss their company.

From the Archives:

Tim Wilson dressed for success at the rock dump where we had a great time driving his go cart.

Jim Larson makes his point by brandishing a chicken drummie at the cast party for Fiddler on the Roof. Photo Courtesy of the Doug Rickey Gallery

Sarah Lynn Plotnick circa 1974. She's still a cutie in 2009.

Good ol' Soc Kruezenstein.

Spa Day

A busy morning. We got three or four inches of fresh powder last night so I had to do a little shoveling at Joan's, the elders' place and my apartment's stairs. I need to chop ice at Joans. It is now warm enough in the sun that the snow melts during the day and then freezes solid at night so their is lots of glaciation that needs to be removed. Borrowed the ice chopper from my folks.

Also, today was Spa Day for the old coot. He takes a shower twice a month whether he needs it or not (and it is his personal belief that he does not). I have to help him out of the shower and between mom and I we get him more-or-less presentable. He's never been real big on the personal hygiene thing...I remember as a youth being appalled by some of his behavior - particularly on the boat when mom was not present to give him hell. Still, he's 94 so maybe there's something to be said for cultivating lots of personal tiny livestock. His immune system seems fine.

The ol' boy is spending lots of time watching Fox News. He is deaf as a post but Fox thoughtfully provides a ticker at the bottom of the screen that runs headlines based on their own peculiar take on the news of the moment. I have considered programming the TV so he can't get the Fox channel - but I guess that would be unkind. This morning he was thoroughly pissed-off that Hillary Clinton was giving money to the Palestinians.

Fortunately, baseball season starts in a couple of weeks and that will keep him entertained. Occasionally he manages to find something else on the tube that suits his tastes - Laurel & Hardy, the Three Stooges, or an old episode of Benny Hill. I've been over for supper frequently of late and we both have a cocktail before dinner. Booze & Seven-up. His mind still seems perfectly fine...his flirtation with Fox News notwithstanding.

I've got feelers out all over the web for sweet deals on a spring cruise...but so far the news has all been discouraging in terms of single occupancy. Still, hope springs eternal...

And Now for the Rest of the Story

Long-time radio commentator Paul Harvey set-sail into the Great Unknown yesterday at age 90. Paul had been an irritating presence in our local Juneau radio market for as long as I can remember. His chirpy opening line "Stand-by for News!" a heads-up to reach for the radio dial whenever possible.

By today's conservative talk show standards, Paul was simply quaint - his conservatism more of the Farmer's Almanac, Reader's Digest, corn-fed mid-westerner variety. And although a great admirer of good ol' Senator Joe McCarthy, he never advocated the jack boot or theocratic government as is the wont of some more modern so-called conservatives. A nice story on the recently departed Mr. Harvey can be read at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2008797939_apobitharvey.html

Meanwhile...Mr. Harvey's heirs have been whooping-it-up at CPAC 2009, the annual convocation of wing-nuts convened under the auspices of the American Conservative Union. This freak-show spectacular has been covered by Fox News with all the enthusiasm until recently reserved for the departed Administration of George W. Bush.

Mr. Rush Limbaugh was apparently the key note speaker and certainly did not disappoint the assembled activists. The conservative base is indeed fired-up to defend the status quo. No talk of universal health care or energy independence for this crew!

Take a look at the CPAC 2009 sponsor list: http://cpac.org/sponsors.html

I must find the time to research some of these sponsors. Do you think I am too advanced in years to join the Youth for Western Civilization?

As an Alaskan, I also note with pride that the exhibitors list is headed by the 2012 Draft Sarah Palin Committee.

UPDATE! Just got home and had an email from Lauren (Cutler) Smith who provided me with some more names for my 1st and 3rd grade class photos. Check 'em out below....