This is my favorite time of year in Alaska. Yes, the summers are amazing, but February is a really exciting time. We're gaining almost 6 minutes of daylight every day and that means we are rapidly approaching a normal day. If you can make it to February without losing it to seasonal affective disorder, you can make it to summer. But the best part of the month is the Fur Rendezvous Festival.
You'll never see more fur products anywhere. And they are all amazing.
It's been going on for 77 years (longer than Alaska's been a state!) and it's purpose is essentially to keep Anchorage residents from getting cabin fever. It was originally a 3 day event that lined up with the time the miners and trappers came into town but has since spread into a 10 day festival turning Anchorage into a crazy town. There's dog sled races down 4th Avenue, running of the reindeer, outhouse races, snowshoe softball, blanket tosses, a beard and mustache competition, a beer chugging contest, snow sculpture contests, etc etc etc (some of those are sanctioned by the Fur Rondy organization, some aren't. You can probably figure it out.)
Getting ready for the World Championship Sled Dog race
All of the furs being auctioned were illegally poached, from animals that had to be put down, or animals killed in self-defense
At Rondy 2010, I had my very first reindeer dog. Pure heaven.
Wolf pack meeting
Nothing quite like a below freezing scrambler ride.
I love a good cover song. I think the key to a good one is to make sure not to copy the original. Folks, you aren't going to sound as good as Eric Clapton, but if you make Tears in Heaven sound like yours, you have a chance.
One of my favorite covers is Streetlight Manifesto's cover of Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, this week's hot jam. They aren't trying to sound like Paul Simon which is why I think it works. (Not that a multi-piece ska punk band could sound like Paul Simon, but still.)
Want more Streetlight Manifesto covers? Try their cover of former hot jam of the week, Red Rubber Ball.
This week's favorite thing is the Brendan Leonard Show.
I spent the summer of 2003 religiously watching this show. It was on ABC Family for one summer season and I think it's hysterical. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's pretty much a toned down version of Jackass. It started as a cable access show and 4 years later (in 2003) was picked up by ABC Family. It was run completely by Brendan's family and friends. His siblings and parents were regularly on the show and they did all of the filming, lighting, editing, etc. Essentially it was a group of 19 year old boys from Winnetka, IL filming what they did everyday. Nothing fancy or high-tech. Mostly involving duct tape, water balloons, and a lot of falling down. Pretty amazing if you ask me.
There are two clips from the show that make me laugh hysterically without fail. Felix: The Living Embodiment of Boxing Day and BLS Moment of the Day: The Slide.
I think Felix is so funny because it is so unbelievably random. I don't know how they did it without cracking up. I mean, Sal McIronBones? If we kiss through the bubble are we still kissing? To quote Liz Lemon, "What the what?"
Fun fact: Michael Carney (Felix) is now in law school
Ah the slide. Amazing. I love the commentary by Brenden's sisters. I mean, only older sisters could provide that sort of reflection on the moment. The home movie footage is great too, there's nothing quite like having embarrassing moments on film for the world to see. (And I'm once again reminded that I'm glad we never had a video camera when I was growing up.) Am I the only person who finds little kids' voices really funny? "I fell down...like dis....like dat..."
The show only lasted one season, probably because the cast didn't want to deal with the politics of being on TV and I doubt they really cared what would sell, but for that one season it was pure genius. Good work, guys.
Dear World, Stop hatin' on redheads. Bruce Springsteen loves us and you should too. Sincerely, Maggie
This week's hot jam is Red Headed Woman by Bruce Springsteen. I love that is song is unapologetically dirty and, as a redhead, I find it (oddly?) flattering. Bruce wrote it for his wife, and honestly I can't think of a better gift. Smooth, Bruce, real smooth.
I think it's cheap and easy to hate Valentine's Day (and much like cheap and easy women, that's not a good thing). All the moaning about commercialization and cheap candy and forced love drives me insane. Just because "society" says you have to celebrate Valentine's Day one way, doesn't mean you do.
My love for Valentine's Day has only come about in recent years. Before you jump to the "Oh, she must have some one fabulous to celebrate with" conclusion, know that my big plan for Valentine's Day this year was a doctor's appointment. (Thanks, new health insurance!) I think I've mentioned before that I'm not a big traditional romance fan. Even if I did have some big elaborate Valentine's Day date to go on, I would much rather go roller skating than have some fancy, candle-lit steak dinner.
Not my kind of Valentine's Day
I prefer to think about Valentine's Day the same way I think about Thanksgiving. No one forces you to be thankful on Thanksgiving, it's more of a reminder to be thankful and to celebrate what you've got, rather than thinking about what you don't have. Valentine's Day can be the same kind of thing. No one is forcing you to be in love or to only show your love one day a year. Why doesn't everyone use Valentine's Day as a reminder to be loving? To be appreciative of the people in your life, not just a significant other, and to show them you care in whatever way suits you? It doesn't have to involve heart shaped boxes of chocolate and cheap lingerie.
This week's hot jam is all too appropriate for the following reasons:
1) Valentine's Day for me, is about all kinds of love, and I love both Cake, the band, and cake, the food.
2) It's called Love You Madly. Hello? Perfect for Valentine's Day
3) The video is a Iron Chef-style competition and I love Iron Chef
4) It has Rick James, Phyllis Diller, and The Frugal Gourmet in it.'Nuff said
Thanks to some excellent connections, I got to spend the night at a museum on Friday. I got to touch a real-life human skull.
My love for museums extends back a long way. I pretty much grew up in a museum, thanks to my mom's job at SciTech Hands on Museum The museum was closed on Mondays and a lot of school holidays fell on a Monday, which meant I had the run of the museum. (Well, all the exhibits that didn't need to be plugged in.) I played with chromatography and Bernoulli's Principle and that's probably part of the reason I'm such a nerd for science now.
While I was home for Christmas, I went to the Valley Center Historical Society with my mom and dad. I saw the World's Smallest (formerly) functioning post office.
Last summer I went to the Valdez Museum and saw the first barrel of oil to come out of the Alaska pipeline.
I also took kids to the Anchorage Museum. In general, kids are really bad at museums. They don't take time to read anything and their attention span is too short for a lot of exhibits, but they do love heat sensing cameras and tsunami simulations.
This week's hot jam is Work Out by J. Cole. I'm kind of obsessed with this song for 2 reasons. 1) I appreciate anyone who will sample Paula Abdul. 2) It reminds me of hip hop songs from the late-90s. I feel like this song could have just as easily been done by Ginuwine or Nelly, and if there's anyone I like, it's Ginuwine and Nelly. J. Cole is my age, so I'm just going to assume he feels the same way.
Things I learned about J. Cole while looking for his age:
1) He was born in Germany
2) He graduated magna cum laude from St. John's University (DMC, as in Run DMC, also graduated from St. John's. There must be something in the water)
