Loving my new Tribe tee-shirt!

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...and styling in it as the three birds (an African Grey and two Green-cheeked conures) travel with me from Alaska to Hawaii via Seattle during the next 24 hours. The Anchorage house is 99.9% packed up already and shipped but last night I was going through a box of what I had thought was all junk mail and discovered inside a discreet white Tyvek mailer envelope (postmarked 26OCT2009, so it has been laying in the box alongside my desk for awhile now) this wonderful tribal teeshirt -complete with oddly assorted birds flocking together! How appropriate. Nice colors, too. Ah, the perks of supporting tribe.

This is my last message to 'yal from Alaska. After posting this note I'll be signing off and shutting down the computer for shipment. I am not sure how long it will be before a new system is up and running in Hawaii, but I'll say hi from the Big Island once online again there.

Be well!

Alaska Departure Imminent

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After almost twenty years of life in Alaska (with some short stints overseas and in the Black Rock Desert sprinkled throughout) the magnificent arctic feels very much like home. So beautiful, really. It has been my good fortune to live and work (hopefully making a worthwhile contribution) in a number of American Indian and Alaska Native (Eskimo) villages along the Yukon River and Bering Sea as well as in Fairbanks and Anchorage during these last two decades. Many civil rights issues have waxed and waned during this time, which has meant countless Letters To The Editor, rallies, demonstrations, marches, and instances of giving testimony to the state legislature. Good friends have made their transitions onward and it has been a blessing to see newborns come to others. We have done our best with raising our own kids and appear to have gotten them off to a good start; they are doing great so far, making us proud.

The nest here being empty, finally, and winter having come at last we have decided to fly south.

The doggies and other animal family members have run across the rainbow bridge already, but my three birds are departing Alaska with me very soon on a flight for Hawaii; my partner will be following soon after when some pending paperwork is concluded. It is always a bit daunting to start anew in a completely different place, yet there is also a quickening in the blood which rises to a fresh new tempo and sense of adventure when new horizons are crossed. We will miss many friends and aspects of life here in Alaska; we look forward to not only visiting back here in the northlands again as often as we can, but also to seeing folks as they come and visit us in Hawaii, too.

Alaska --the aurora, night sky filled with stars, land, fauna, flora, and people-- will always have a very special place in my heart and spirit. I will always feel very thankful for the many enriching gifts this special place has so liberally bestowed upon me.

enLight(e)ning Antimatters

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Did you know some lightning flashes produce particles of antimatter? This is news to me. Apparently some lightning bolts generate positrons, which are electrons with a positive instead of negative charge to them. When the positive (antimatter) and negative (regular matter) electron particles meet one another they mutually annihilate such that a burst of gamma rays arises from the event.

Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning
www.sciencenews.org/view/gen...lightning

How interesting. Moves the whole matter-antimatter topic much closer to regular Earthly phenomena than off near the center of the galaxy or in the abstract space near black hole event horizons. Which, in turn, could matter (har, har) if it turns out the effect can eventually be produced at will; there would be implications for everything from food sterilization and preservation to weapons (gamma rays are potent) to--perhaps--energy supply. We indeed live in interesting times.

There's insane and then there's INSANE

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One type of insane is the sad sort which resulted in a fellow afflicted by schizophrenia stabbing my friend Eric in the heart. Uncool, yet as an organic disease this malady does not seem to be quite as hideous as another sort of crazy about which I've recently been noticing more and more reports: willfully batshit-crazy insane behavior on the part of those who have no reasonable excuse for such.

For example:

"Body parts of albinos are sought in some regions of Tanzania and other African countries, where some believe they bring wealth and good luck. Attackers chop off limbs and pluck out organs, selling them to witch doctors. Killings have gone up in the east African nation, which has an estimated 200,000 albinos, according to the Tanzania Albino Center...'People believe that albino body parts mixed with traditional medicine can make people rich,' said Franck Alphonse, the center's director. 'It is a thriving business ... witch doctors are asking business people to bring the body parts of albinos, who are not considered human beings.'"
www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/a...ns/index.html

Where does irrational belief cross the line into insanity? And where do many completely paradigm-bound religious zealots around the world fall in this continuum?

Sita Sings the Blues

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Having missed being brained by a chunk of steel and whipping cables on the Bay Bridge (which snapped and collapsed into the exact lane I'd passed across only 35 minutes earlier) I made it through to SF just before the resulting emergency closure. So thankful to not have been stuck in the monster traffic jam which immediately piled up solid for miles and miles, spending hours working around the Bay to either the Golden Gate or San Mateo Bridge; it would have been midnight before reaching SF. Instead, I arrived in time to connect with a friend on staff at the temporary Headquarters of the Burning Man Organization and enjoy the tour there before going off to dinner with Eric's mom. What a kickass great job that would be- working with the Burning Man Organization, facilitating such a fun and rich fruition of artistic and musical synergy.

On the flights back up to Alaska I was surprised and pleased by remarkably friendly treatment on both Horizon (from SFO to PDX) and on Alaska Air (from PDX to ANC). In recent years on flights--especially domestic flights--I usually feel like livestock being herded on and off an Aeroflot cattlecar; the glamorous days of PanAm are long gone. Even the dignified pampering of Thai and JAL airways has declined from its former glory. These flights, though, were actually pleasant. There was a complimentary glass of merlot (which may have assisted to influence perceptions favorably) and a tasty chocolate, but the sincere friendliness of the staff was the biggest change from the last couple of rather surly years. It was also a big treat to find a delightful film available on the digiplayer: Sita Sings the Blues.

The music and animation in this film are excellent. Sita Sings the Blues is available free online for viewing and download but in sincere support of the artists I went ahead and bought the DVD, soundtrack download, and a couple of prints. Good stuff, this, and they raise some solid points about copyrights too.

Watch it:
www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html

Original music available for download:
www.toddmichaelsen.com/index.cfm

Enjoy!

Eric's Memorial Service

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Today in San Francisco a huge turnout of hundreds attended Eric's memorial service; it overflowed the mortuary. The memorial was not a religious service, nor was it a "celebration of life" per se but rather a somewhat somber commemoration. After the formal setting and heartfelt addresses given at the funeral home many of the family and friends gathered at Eric's old high school nearby, which had kindly opened the cafeteria for a gathering with food, his favorite music playing, and his favorite brew: St. Pauli Girl beer.

It was good to reconnect with folks. I made sure his wife, daughter, and mom know we are sincere in wanting them to come spend time with us in Hawaii at our place whenever they want a break. A vacation on the Big Island every now and then should assist to ease things a bit, I hope, from time to time. Moreover, if Eric's daughter wants to attend the University of Hawaii Hilo when she reaches that age then we'll make sure she can do so.

Last night Eric's mom called and told me the police caught the guy who murdered him. SFPD told her it was 100% sure that they had the fellow. They must have compelling evidence to make such a strong assertion. It still all sucks, but at least this is now confirmed as a random act of an insane person rather than some vile gang-initiation or somesuch. Here is an article which came out today with the details:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi

Eric sure did make a difference for the better in so many people's lives. He will be missed.

Hero

Several years ago I heard him speak at the annual gathering (at Asilomar, every year) of the United Centers for Spiritual Living. Bishop Spong has only grown stronger as he has grown older. Admirable.

walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/2...ml

In Shock

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Rarely have I felt this taken by surprise and rattled. Upset. Saddened. The family of my old best friend from college days just sent word that he was murdered in an apparently random act of violence. Here are the details:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi

Dismaying! Whoever would harm Eric, kind and inoffensive as he was? The guy who committed this craven and cowardly act must have been mentally ill or mistook Eric for someone else, or both. This is just awful and I am filled with grief and outrage. Eric was a total prince.

Eric's mom says there will be a memorial service on Saturday the 24th.

Just so this awful news is doubly-fucked, on Saturday the 24th I am scheduled to be en route somewhere in Canada between Alaska and Oregon driving my sister-in-law (sort of, if my partner and I were not prohibited from marriage then she'd be my sister-in-law) down the AlCan Highway in a truck filled with her dogs and cat.

I want to drop everything and fly down to SF to be there for the family--especially for his mom, wife, and little kiddo--but promised my sister-in-law I'd drive with her down the AlCan (for safety, since it is getting into winter now) and she is depending on me for this. Crap. Double crap. How do you figure out what to do in such a situation, especially when you are so in shock that your brain is not working?

Taking Woodstock, in Anchorage

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At 5:30pm this coming Wednesday, 21OCT, my better half and I will be enjoying Taking Woodstock at the Beartooth cinema. Anyone who cares to join us in this pleasant experience is welcome to do so. If you are not nearby Anchorage, then here is a site which will at least allow you to transform a photo into a psychedelic Woodstockian icon; at
www.filminfocus.com/focusfea...oodstock/
click on "Psychedelic Self" at mid-screen just right of center.

Be there or be square!

What was your first LP?

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Do you remember? A friend asked about first 45s and so started me remembering. The 45s I had available to me were all Disney film tunes and generally of little interest; in consequence the phonograph was rarely used. This all changed, though, when I was in 4th or 5th grade and my aunt gave me a gift of several LPs. My life was never the same afterward. This 1966 recording of The Mamas and the Papas started me on the road to enthusiastic musical appreciation ( www.youtube.com/watch ). Such a huge difference a certain specific gift at a particular moment can make in a child's life. Oddly, rather than more of the same style and sound the second and third LPs to sweep me away (both acquired at random, by blind chance, bought without knowing what I was buying at yard sales) were the "Breakfast at Tiffanys" soundtrack by Henry Mancini ( www.youtube.com/watch ) and an LP of Strauss waltzes ( www.youtube.com/watch ).

What was your first LP (...or, at least, the first one worth mentioning), do you recall?