Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Meet Me at the Dev...


Well, here we go with the last installment of Jane's 1976 photo spread. New Year's Eve in Vancouver, B.C. at the Hotel Devonshire. But first, a brief discussion of the role of Vancouver in our collegiate lives is in order.

Babes in the city. Jane Ellis, and Terry Harrigan at the Devonshire Hotel in Vancouver, B.C. on December 31, 1976.

A number of us attended Western Washington University in Bellingham. For late-teen/early twenty-somethings Bellingham in the 1970's was a fine community; but not what the doctor ordered when one was racked by Boogie Fever. Fortunately, Vancouver, B.C. is only a short drive from Bellingham.

Vancouver then, as now, was a thriving cosmopolitan city with frequent big-name concerts, theaters, museums, nightclubs and fine dining. Oh yeah, I almost forgot - the drinking age was nineteen.

For many of us living in a dorm and without a car, transportation was a serious problem in those days and the lights of the city might have remained out of reach but for the innate creativity of disco-deprived freshmen and the entrepreneurial spirit of Greyhound Buslines. It was very common on late Friday afternoon to see a Greyhound bus parked in front of a dorm with "Charter" or "Vancouver B.C." in the destination window and rapidly filling-up with kids in their boogie togs.

A quick hop across the border and before you know it - cocktail time in Vancouver - almost always beginning at the pub in the Hotel Devonshire. Cocktails at this time of our lives meant schooners of good Canadian beer...and lots of them...followed by supper, often in Chinatown, and then dance, dance, dance. Then back to the bus for nappy time as our intrepid bus driver hauled us back to the dorms.

And intrepid is not an exaggeration - since returning to Bellingham necessarily meant crossing the U.S./Canadian border with a busload of mostly intoxicated persons most of whom were minors in the eyes of U.S. Officialdom. Greyhound bus drivers take their responsibilities very seriously, however, and these guys were silver tongued devils with the Customs guys. I never heard of any of these boozy sorties coming to grief although, upon further reflection, the Greyhound legal department was certainly asleep at the wheel for countenancing these trips in the first place.

As we got older and some of us obtained wheels, Vancouver nonetheless retained its allure. And the Hotel Devonshire was always our headquarters. Such was the case on New Year's Eve 1976 when Jane Ellis, Terry Harrigan, Carl Swanson, Tim Wilson, and I rang-in 1977 with great enthusiasm.

Ready for a night on the town. I have absolutely no recollection of where we went. Terry remembers it well, however, particularly the part where the gal with the 4 inch spikes impaled her big toe on the dance floor. Ouch!

New Year's Day follows New Year's Eve just as the inevitable hang-over follows the night on the town. We were pretty subdued the next morning - I believe we are watching cartoons.

All of Jane's 1976 photos (including some not posted on the blog) are available for your viewing at: http://www.kodakgallery.com/elmerlindstrom/jellis

Also, check out the 1970's quiz on the right of the blog.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

McKinnon Behrends 1986-2008

I’m so sad.

Today, I attended the memorial for Dick and Candy Behrends’ son McKinnon, “Mac” Behrends. Mac was 22. He died in Portland, Oregon earlier this month.

The celebration was held at the old Armory Building next to Centennial Hall. There were hundreds of folks in attendance.

Dick is my “cousin” by marriage. His father’s first marriage was to my father’s sister Ingaborg.

Dick and I were more than cousins at Western Washington University. When I first arrived at WWU he was my mentor on the ways of University life and best friend. We were living together in Bellingham when he met his future wife, Candy. I have a dim recollection that the initial meeting was at a Bellingham “Mexican” cantina – Candy was there with several friends for some special occasion. A wedding perhaps.

Candy’s hometown is Bothell – and Dick became a commuter from Bellingham to Bothell on a very regular basis.

Sadly, I have not remained close to Dick and Candy over the years. They have a very successful plumbing business in town.

The ceremony today was quite moving. Doug was the Master of Ceremonies. He did a very good job. Several very talented folks sang songs. One of Candy’s brothers recited a very moving poem written by one of Candy’s sisters.

Mac’s sister, Amanda, and Candy put together a beautiful slideshow accompanied by some of Mac’s favourite songs.

Tears flowed down my cheeks the whole time.

I resolve to rekindle my relationship with Dick and Candy and their delightful daughter, Amanda.

Condolences may be sent to Dick and Candy at: candybehrends@yahoo.com

Mac’s Juneau Empire obituary is at: http://juneauempire.com/stories/072308/obi_308369875.shtml

McKinnon Behrends – rest in peace.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Young, Stupid, and Drunk

Now where were we? Ah, yes, - Juneau in 1976.

I spent the summer of 1976 back in Juneau working for the State to save money to go back to school. It took me five years to get my degree. I'd work for the State for six months or so, go back to school for three quarters, back to Juneau for another cash infusion, and so on.

Jane and Julia at what I assume was our 1976 Halloween Party. Weren't they something?

All of the various stints in Juneau kinda run together. In retrospect, I cannot say that my time spent in Juneau in the 70's contributed much to the betterment of mankind - or the betterment of myself, for that matter. On the other hand, they were certainly fun...in a blurry, boozy sort of way. Many of my pals were on the same sort of schedule. Someone was always going to or coming from school.

Yours truly and Jill Halsted.

My work for the State was not exactly challenging - basically clerical. This was a good thing given my state-of-health on more mornings than I care to remember.

In the summer there were many parties on the beach out North Douglas. When the weather was inclement and in the nine months of the year beach parties were NOT on the agenda, there were often Happy Hours downtown after work. On the weekends, there was frequently live music - Yancey Derringer's (where The Hanger is now) the Baranof, and the Hilton (now the Goldbelt Hotel) were twenty-something hangouts where we would dance the night away.

Left to Right - Jim Larson, Eric Swanson and Mitch Hogan. Ken Barkey in front.

And then there was Louie's Douglas Inn which was the unofficial headquarters of our crew. God knows how many of Louie's trips to Hawaii we financed...

We also had house parties - typically in honor of a birthday or other special event. Jane's pictures from 1976 capture several of these festive occasions.

Left to Right: Terry Harrigan, Doug Rickey, Jill Halsted, and Yours Truly.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Shake Your Booty

The year was 1976. Yours truly spent a quarter at school in London. Most of my associates were in school in Bellingham or elsewhere in the Great Northwest.

The top ten singles of the year included Disco Lady (#1), Play that Funky Music, Love Machine (Part 1), and Shake Your Booty.

Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley were the top rated television shows.

It was a simple time populated by simple, no, make that innocent youth. Failing eyesight, enlarged prostates, hypertension, aches and pains, and the other ravages of middle-age were, if we noticed them at all, strictly the province of our parents. Life was good and had every prospect of getting even better.

And the defining motion picture of our college years was under production.


The producers of Saturday Night Fever missed the boat when they failed to cast Disco Terry, Disco Jim, or Disco Carl for the film.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

A truly crappy weekend weatherwise. And of course plenty more where that came from...

I spent most of the weekend reading and watching the British Open. A couple of workouts. Yesterday morning dad got about a cord-and-a-half of firewood so I spent a couple of hours hauling it in the wheelbarrow and stacking it in the woodshed. I normally enjoy (or at least don't mind) hauling and stacking wood; but the pouring down rain detracts from the firewood experience as it does most everything else. I was one wet indentured servant.

Dad believes he now has between seven and eight cords of wood on-hand and that will hold him for the winter. Based on previous experience, however, I am predicting another cord or so in September to top-off the supply. The National Weather Service is predicting continuing cooler than normal temperatures for the remainder of what the calendar assures me is summer. Of late, Dad has been burning between six and eight good sized pieces of wood a day. In the winter that rises to twelve to fifteen. That's lots of wood.

The right side of my face is still largely numb; but this morning I noticed that when I smile there are faint crows-feet by my right eye which, I suppose, is a good thing. I'm confident I will have a full recovery.

I really enjoyed the book I just finished - John Adams by David McCullough. The author is very readable (his Path Between the Seas about the building of the Panama Canal is one of my favourite books) and President Adams was a fascinating character about whom I knew very little.

Adams was intelligent, educated, extremely well read, and the quintessential eighteenth century New England farmer - puritanical, frugal, and often irascible. He was completely devoted to his wife, Abigail, and the correspondence between the two that survived is amazing in both volume and content. The relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was fascinating - Jefferson was both Adams' greatest rival as well as good friend.

Benjamin Franklin wrote of Adams:

"He means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes and in some things, absolutely out of his senses."

As someone who spent a good many years working the halls of the legislature dealing with individuals I would not care to invite into my own home, I found Adams' comments regarding the necessity of concealing one's dislike for persons with whom one must work very apt:

"There are persons whom in my heart I despise, others I abhor. Yet I am not obliged to inform the one of my contempt, nor the other of my detestation. This kind of dissimulation ... is a necessary branch of wisdom, and so far from being immoral ... that it is a duty and a virtue."


I came across a number of other passages in the book that I found appealing and have marked for future reference.

THIS JUST IN: Dougie just sent me a most amusing story from the The Sun of London - headline: "They're Britain's dogs of war." http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/article1447714.ece

"Fearless German Shepherds are being trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000 ft wearing their own oxygen masks and strapped to special forces assault teams.


Once down in hostile terrain in Iraq or Afghanistan, the dogs will be sent in first to seek out insurgents’ hideouts with tiny cameras fixed to their heads."
COMING SOON... That 70's Show: Jane's Party Pics. Here's a sample. Stay tuned...

I believe this was Jane's 19th birthday party. August 27, 1976.

Friday, July 18, 2008

BBQ Fun

A good time was had by all...


Mother Julia and Son Devon


I am no expert at reading body language; but this strikes me as falling somewhere between "skeptical" and "amused."


Don't tease 'em while they're eating...

Last Sunday Alison and Doug were the most gracious hosts for a BBQ honoring our esteemed Portland guests. Alison made her classic Chicken Marbella, Dougie his famous ribs, and I played the role of Side-Dish Elmo. A good time was had by all...

As the evening wore on folks gravitated outside to Doug's fire pit. The bullshit got pretty deep. Many lies were told - some old, some new.

Jane has loaned me twenty or so snapshots of various get togethers in the 1970's that are highly amusing. I will be scanning and Photoshopping them shortly and I expect a number of them will find their way into the blog. Think overalls, bell bottoms, and leisure suits. Oh yeah, and there are some pics of a costume party too.

I REALLY enjoyed the company and the weekend. I most fervently hope we can continue our annual reunion tradition.

I WILL BE POSTING ADDITIONAL REUNION PICS ON MY KODAK SITE LATER THIS MORNING.

In other news, yesterday morning I woke-up to discover the right-side of my face was largely paralyzed. Scared the hell out of me. After I took Leah and Chris to the airport I legged-it over to my doc's office and they saw me immediately. Took the doc on duty about 30 seconds to diagnosis the affliction as Bell's Palsy - a temporary condition caused by an unknown virus. Treatment is with steroids and the efficacy of the treatment is marginal, at best. So I have yet to decide whether or not to take the meds. I already take too damn many pills so am inclined to simply let nature take its course. The condition will improve on it's own over a period of three weeks or so (MAYBE a few days less with treatment). In the meantime, I will drool when I eat or drink. On the bright side, I look much younger on my right side - no wrinkles.

Yesterday was my folk's 63rd anniversary. I believe Miss Manners has designated 63 as the "carrot cake anniversary" and I acted accordingly. Dad eats carrot cake for breakfast.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Hit the Beach



The Sandy Beach Crew! (Click on pics for a larger view).

Last Saturday we had a traditional Sandy Beach party for our Portland guests - a keg of beer, hotdogs, hamburgers, and such. A number of old high school chums showed-up and a good time was had by all.

It has always amazed me that in Juneau, a burg of 30,000 souls, it is possible to go for years without seeing another person. Indeed, there are friends and acquaintances who, like me, have lived in Juneau their entire lives; and yet I have not seen them since graduation day.

This is largely due, no doubt, to my widely acknowledged capacity to be oblivious to my surroundings. And it is possible that the "see you later/not if I see you first" dynamic is also in play - when folks see me coming they run in the other direction. Or perhaps some of these people live under the docks and only come out at night

Regardless, it is always a pleasure when one comes across an old friend one has not seen for a good long time. And Saturday provided several of these opportunities.


Bern Savikko and Jim

Take Bern, for example. Bet I haven't seen him more than a half-dozen times in over 30-years. He would be a good candidate for the "see you later/not if I see you first" category. In our freshmen and sophomore years at JDHS, Bern, Jim, and I were in the same math classes. Jim was good at math. Bern was excellent at math. Elmer - not so much.

It is possible that from time-to-time I took advantage of Bern's expertise in the math homework department. In fact it is possible that wholesale cribbing went on...all in one direction, of course

I note for the record that the end result of all of this was entirely predictable. While copying someone else's homework does provide immediate gratification by freeing-up time that can productively be used for other pursuits (like smoking pot); it has the definite drawback of resulting in one's failure to actually learn the subject matter. Bern got "A's" in math...and I got gentlemen "C's" and (gulp) the one "D" I ever received before or since.


Bern was very easy going 35 years ago and it is apparent he remains a good egg. I hope to see him and his delightful wife more often.



Jim Larson and Soc Kruezenstein

Bet I haven't seen Soc more than twice since high school. And yet he, like me, has thirty years of State service - all in Juneau, I believe. I recall Soc best from several high school trips and I have several slides somewhere I need to scan to prove it. One of the most fun high school events I participated in was a week-long biology class trip to Glacier Bay. I recall Eric as a participant too.

I believe Soc could have retired last fall; but has remained at his post in DOT. He is the Supremo on the Switzer Creek interchange project and I got the distinct impression it has been a challenge indeed. I admire your dedication Soc; but remember - it's a job - not a suicide pact!

Monday, July 14, 2008

But what will the Children think?




Jim Larson and his delightful daughters Emma (left) and Megan.

A wonderful weekend...notwithstanding some pretty mediocre weather.

Leah and Chris got in on Thursday afternoon. I took them over to the Smith's where they are housesitting and I think they are managing to tough-it-out. Beautiful home in the meadow by Brotherhood Bridge. Huge deck with a hot tub and great grill. Fantastic garden. The use of a car.

Jim and his daughters Emma and Megan got in on Thursday evening and on Friday we all walked up Perseverance Trail to the glory hole. I am optimistic that Jim's gals will look back on the hike fondly - at some point in the hopefully not-too-distant future. However I am ethically bound to report that their initial reaction was more like "Why is this guy taking us on this Death March?"



Leah and Chris on the Perseverance Trail. They like to hike!

On Saturday we had a picnic at Sandy Beach and last night a BBQ at Doug and Alison's place. It was all great fun and I've got enough pics for several installments on the blog.


John and Shelly Manguso's daughter, Genoa, stopped-by Sandy Beach. She's working TWO jobs downtown this summer!



"And everytime another one of dad's old friends shows-up, they start telling the SAME story all over again. And then they all laugh like they've never heard it before."


Today, I offer a few pics of the kids and young adults in attendance. I start with them for two reasons: 1) The pictures of the youngsters - unlike the pictures of their parents - require little in the way of Photoshop touching-up; and 2) The thing that struck me most about the whole weekend was the delightfully bright, witty, polite and sociable offspring in attendance - under what, for them, must have been very trying conditions.



Eric's wonderful daughter, Clare. I shared lodgings with Eric on several occasions at school. The poor girl...



Julia and Ralph's son, Devon. He is studying aeronautical engineering. I can only imagine what he thought of us...

While each of them is intimately familiar with the foibles and shortcomings of his or her own parents, it must nevertheless be quite a shock to deal with a whole herd of these aging boomers at the same time. All the youth demonstrated tremendous patience.

Can you imagine what they're going to have to put-up with twenty years from now? God help them...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Company Coming!

I'm getting all excited...the Portland delegations will be arriving tomorrow and Friday. My daughter Leah and her boyfriend, Chris, will arrive tomorrow afternoon. Jim Larson and his daughters tomorrow night and Jane Ellis on Friday evening. Yippee!




Leah and Chris

Event planning has been left to yours truly, Doug, and Eric. Hiring Larry, Curly, and Moe as your event planners is not without some risk; but I think we have a sensible program planned. All events involve food and drink. And I hope to do some hiking with the visitors. The weather forecast is not great for the next few days; however the wind is supposed to switch to the west this afternoon (typically a fair-weather wind) so I choose to remain optimistic.




My old high school chum Jim Larson at last year's Portland reunion



Jane Ellis (left) and Terry Harrigan in Portland last Spring

Leah and Chris just got back from a wedding in Northern California. Leah has a good Nikon camera and she and Chris are quite talented shutterbugs.


Leah and Chris rented a cottage on the California coast

Pretty cute!

Stay tuned! Pics of picnics, dinners, hiking and more will follow (but maybe not until next week).

Monday, July 7, 2008

The Good Old Days

Dougie had a bad cold this weekend and spent his time rummaging through his archives where he found some old pictures of our early days working for the Alaska State Legislature. Doug, his future wife, Alison, Eric, and I were all employed at various times and in various capacities by the Division of Legislative Finance then under the command of Mr. Jay Hogan. My first job - right out of University with a degree in Public Administration - was as a Page during a special legislative session.



Director of the Division of Legislative Finance, Jay Hogan (left) and Milt Barker, Budget Analyst. To the extent any REAL budget analysis occurred - Milt did it. The rest of us were bean-counters.

At that time (circa 1980) the legislature was a very different place than it is today. The legislature employed few personal staff. Members of the finance committees depended on the division for professional staff support and the legislature was a good deal less media savvy and obsessed than it is today. The heating-up of the Culture Wars was more than a decade in the future and "citizen legislator" was still a more-or-less accurate way to describe the typical member. Democrats actually ran things on a regular basis.

Of course many legislators then, as now, were flaming assholes; but their loathsomeness tended to be based more on their quirky old fashioned Alaskan personalities rather than the blatant partisanship of the modern era. I don't recall any Republican prayer breakfasts during this period. But I do recall (dimly) lots of late night bi-partisan boozing at the Baranof, Red Dog and other gin joints in which I was a most enthusiastic participant.

Nobody better exemplifies the "old" Alaska Legislature better than Representative Ernie Haugen of Petersburg. Ernie was a contemporary of my dad - in fact they both served in the Aleutians during WWII.


Representative Ernie Haugen (R) Petersburg

Ernie was the classic ol' time legislator- a hard-drinking Norwegian Republican curmudgeon who had fished forever out of Petersburg and served on the House Finance Committee for many years.

Ernie was very protective of the Department of Fish and Game and thought education was a good thing. Beyond that, he claimed he didn't have much use for government. Some Republicans used to actually believe this sort of thing.

I fondly recall the day in House Finance when he hurled a paper plate full of watermelon rind and seeds at the Chairman in his indignation at the threat by the Chair to put money in the budget to subsidize the Little Norway Festival in Petersburg. He was, of course, in his cups at the time.

Indeed, Ernie was usually blowing something well in excess of .08. You could set your watch by his daily trek to the men's room fifteen minutes before the 1:30 PM committee meeting. This regularity had nothing to do with his bowels; but was necessary in order to get a snoot-full in preparation for coming to grips with the affairs of State. We assumed he had a jug hidden in the back of one of the toilets. In his last few years in office he became less discreet - there was always a six pack of beer outside on the window ledge right next to his desk.

Ernie was a veritable fountain of colorful expressions which we collected into a book of "Haugenisms." A particularly egregious Democratic amendment would "make his hair hurt." Once, when asked by the press about a contentious late night budget hearing in the midst of a big Taku windstorm his only comment was "The wind blew, and the shit flew."


Ernie was fond of the Legislative Finance crew and we, in turn, adopted him as our mascot. Dougie christened him Ernesto "Che" Haugen. Ernie would often bring us Norwegian delicacies - he made the best damned pickled herring I've ever had. And pickled crab assholes.


My good friend Pat Williams, Administrative Assistant and general factotum to the division. Pat hired me. The job interview took place at Louie's Douglas Inn




"Wanna go to the Baranof?"

Sadly, I have very few pictures of these bygone days.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Ol' Timey 4th of July Parade


I went to the parade with Doug and Alison yesterday. It was quite fun. I've posted a bunch of parade pics on my website (click on Elmer's Kodak Gallery on the right of this entry).
The Right Honorable Sarah Palin, Governor, State of Alaska.


The Filipino Community knows how to celebrate the 4th!

Juneau's ad hoc community marching band struts its stuff.



Shriners in little cars.



Kids on a firetruck handing-out candy.


The parade was a little drawn-out. In fact, we retreated to the Triangle Club prematurely- there must have been a break-down or something - we thought the parade was over and it wasn't. But I think we saw the highlights.




These lil' Vikings don't look too dangerous.

Had a few beers at the Triangle and then went to Alison's and Doug's for awhile. Then home for a nap! Fortunately Alison was driving. Cooked a good steak for supper yesterday evening and called it a day.

I'm going to a picnic at Auke Rec tomorrow hosted by my former Commissioner Jay Livey. Should be an opportunity to catch-up with a lot of former DHSS associates. Should be fun.

Right now it's off to the folks, then a workout, and then maybe a round of golf - if it doesn't rain.

TallyHo!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Forward March!

Alison and I have been hiking fools the last couple of days. We went up to the Salmon Creek dam on Wednesday and yesterday hiked out the Point Bridget trail. My dogs are yappin' this morning - think I'll take a day off from the trails. I'd never been on the Pt. Bridget trail before. It's pretty neat - muskeg, forrest, wetlands, and the beach. I took a lot of wildflower and bird pics - and as usual about half of them are decent.



Lots of water on the Pt. Bridget Trail. Lots of bear sign too!



Wild Iris, Buttercups, Shooting Stars, Geraniums and more!



Water Lily extravaganza.


Never seen so may wild Iris.


A Yellow something something - Alison told me and I forgot.


A Lincoln Sparrow.


We think this is a Wren of some sort - waiting for Alison's confirmation!
Last night I went to Joan's for an excellent supper. We actually got to dine al fresco - always a treat here in the rainforrest.

Happy Fourth of July everybody. Get out and enjoy it. If the weather holds I will go to the parade tomorrow - so perhaps there will be some ol' timey Juneau Fourth of July pics coming soon!