I do not know where the time has gone, and can't believe that it's been since before Labor Day that I last posted something here. A lot has happened since I was last here.

I went back East to see family and to go to a conference in Cleveland. In some ways it was a good trip and in some ways I'll never do something like it again. There were a few people who I got to see that I haven't seen in over a decade. It was good to see the two college friends that I saw, and just missed an opportunity to see a third. It was good to see them, and could have spent much more time with each of them. It was the folks who I went to high school with and really had not kept in touch with until facebook came along that shocked me. I was surprised by the anger, the bitterness, and the meanness that they possessed, about Obama, politics, the media and life in general. Of course they all wanted to know about Sarah Palin and how were we going to survive without her as Governor here in Alaska. They got all pissed off at me when I told them the truth, we'll be just fine, if not better, without her. Many of them were appalled that I did not share their world-view and beliefs. There was one person from high school who I saw that I had not really spoken to or seen since then, and it was nice to see her and we got on just fine, but that was the exception and not the rule.

I've been plugging along in my first semester of Grad School. I've been taking the Intro to Public Admin class and really enjoying it. It's a lot, and I mean a lot of work, but I've been keeping at it and I believe that I will stick with it and take another class next semester. Every week I find something that I take out of the discussion and put in my every day life.

Last week I went to Whitehorse in the Yukon with a group of people from here to play in a Broomball Tournament. We drove 1900 miles round trip and played 5 games in less than 24 hours. The ALCAN is a lonely road this time of year. There is a lot of nothing between these very small crossroads and at times we drove for long stretches without see other people/cars. I liked what little of Whitehorse that I got to see, and would like to make that drive again this summer. It was 12-13 hours just from Tok to Homer, and close to 8 hours Whitehorse to Tok. It was all quite something and I saw my first ever Caribou.

I am going to Cairo, Egypt right after the first of the year. Even though I have been keeping a very low profile, staying away from the bars and the crazy people, It will be good to get away as this place and these people are wearing on me a bit, and it's not even February yet.

I hosted Slack Tide this morning

Slack Tide      Friday 9/4/09       9-10am

Song                                                    Artist                           Album
Sentimental Heart                             She & Him                   She & Him Volume One
Go Now                                             Antje Duvekot             Big Dream Boulevard
You Were Right About Everything   Erin McKeown              We Will Become Like Birds
715 (for Hank Aaron)                       Peter Cooper               Mission Door
When the Coast is Clear                  Jimmy Buffett               Floridays
Long May You Run                           Neil Young                    Unplugged
Jesus, etc.                                       Wilco w/ Andrew Bird   Funny People Soundtrack
I Keep Faith                                     Billy Bragg                     Mr. Love & Justice
Fields of Gold                                   Sting                             Ten Summuners Tales
America                                           Paul Simon                    Concert in Central Park
Blackbird                                         Paul McCartney            Unplugged
Doctor My Eyes                              Jackson Browne           The Next Voice You Hear
Going Home                                   Mark Knopfler                Screenplaying

It was a portent of Fall. Last Monday broke upon us wet, gray and cold, it was the first day of school. I look at the calendar and see that Labor Day is a week from this Monday, I do not know where the summer has gone. It has been a while since I was last here and I better get a quick recap and update together.

The official end of summer comes for me with the annual KBBI camping trip to Yukon Island, which is happening a week from today.

( I feel it in the air, read on... )

I got to host our Faking Friday program tonight from 7-9pm. The playlist follows.

Amos Lee                                                   Listen                                                   Last Days at the Lodge
Antje Duvekot                                             Go Now                                                 Big Dream Boulevard
Erin McKeown                                            You Were Right About Everything    We Will Become Like Birds
Aimee Mann                                               Freeway                                                Smilers
David Bowie & Pat Metheny Group       This is not America                            Falcon and the Snowman Soundtrack
Bruce Hornsby & the Range                  Mandolin Rain                                    The Way it Is
Jeff Buckley                                               Hallelujah                                            Grace Around the World
Arlo Guthrie                                               City of New Orleans                           Ben & Jerry's One World One Heart
Randy Newman                                       Dixie Flyer                                            Land of Dreams
Indigo Girls                                               Midnight Train to Georgia                 1200 Curfews
Todd Snider                                             The Last Laugh                                   The Excitement Plan
10,000 Maniacs                                      Noah's Dove                                         MTV Unplugged
Wilco                                                        Solitaire                                                  Wilco (the album)
Jackson Browne                                   The Pretender                                       The Next Voice You Hear
John Mellencamp                                 Key West Intermezzo                            Mr Happy Go Lucky
Bruce Springsteen                               Brilliant Disguise                                  The Essential Bruce Springsteen
Sting                                                       Tea in the Sahara                                 Bring on the Night
Talking Heads                                      Road to Nowhere                                 Little Creatures
The Pretenders                                    My City Was Gone                                 Learning to Crawl
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros     Johnny Appleseed                                Global A Go-Go
Feist & Ben Gibbard                           Train Song                                             Dark Was the Night
The Hold Steady                                  Atlantic City                                           War Child presents Heroes
Three Legged Mule                            Fisherman's Blues                             The Best of Concert on the Lawn vol. 2 (2004)

I turned 40 yesterday. I'll try not to do that again.

I am getting worse and worse at keeping up with this blog. It's a combination of lack of motivation, lack of anything really happening worth writing about, and the general busyness of summer here. The weather has been incredible, which has led to just being out in it, even if I'm not doing anything specific.

I have been getting some sun on my face, and in the last month I have gone sailing for the first time ever (and got a HUGE sunburned face for my trouble), been over to Halibut Cove for the first time (what an oddly quirky little place), and on back-to-back days this week had grilled fresh Halibut and Salmon (along with Scallops), as it IS grilling weather. Yesterday also included horseshoes and bocce ball. I need to figure out when I can take some time off and take the ferry to Kodiak this summer and do some traveling and camping here on the Kenai.

 got to host Slack Tide again today, this time I knew it was coming, so I spent a little bit of time pulling a playlist together. 

John Vanderslice               Tremble and Tear                                        Romanian Names
Evan Phillips                       Been Down                                                   Chickaloon
Blind Faith                           Can't Find My Way Home                            Blind Faith
Kate Bush                           The Man with the Child in His Eyes          The Kick Inside
Emily Kurn                          Piano Hands                                                 Things Change
Robin Hopper                    Salmon Song                                                North Country Living
Radoslav Lorkovic             Sail Away                                                       Blue Parade
Willie Nelson                     Bring Me Sunshine                                      Naked Willie
Shelby Lynne                     The Look of Love                                          Just a Little Lovin'
Erin McKeown                   You Were Right About Everything              We Will Become Like Birds
Edwin McCain                    Solitude                                                         Honor Among Thieves
Tom Waits                          Ol' 55                                                              Closing Time
The Beatles                       The Long and Winding Road                     Let It Be

I've been getting my inner DJ on as of late. Sunday night I filled-in for our jazz program, Fringe Benefits


Vince Guaraldi Trio                                   Cast Your Fate to the Wind                  Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus
Grant Green                                                Idle Moments                                          Idle Moments
Horace Silver                                              Que Pasa?                                              Song for my Father
Cannonball Adderley Quintet                  Mercy, Mercy, Mercy                                Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
Nina Simone                                              Trouble in Mind                                      To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers        Moanin'                                                    Moanin'
Dave Brubeck Quartet                              Take Five                                                 Time Out: The Legacy Edition
Miles Davis                                                 Flamenco Sketches                              Kind of Blue: The Legacy Edition
Jimmy Smith                                              Prayer Meetin'                                         Prayer Meetin'
Lee Morgan Quintet                                  The Sindwinder                                     Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz
John Coltrane                                            My Favorite Things                                My Favorite Things
Diana Krall                                                 How Can You Mend a Broken Heart  Quiet Nights
Brad Mehldau                                           Solar                                                         Art of the Trio 4: Back at the Vanguard
Donald Byrd                                              All There is to Love                                Jazz for When You're Alone

I got to host Slack Tide again today, this time I knew it was coming, so I spent a little bit of time pulling a playlist together.

Lyle Lovett                          If I Had a Boat                      Live in Texas
k.d. lang                              Helpless                               Hymns of the 49th Parallel
Nancy Griffith                     The Flyer                               Flyer
Arlo Guthrie                        City of New Orleans           Hobo's Lullaby
Randy Newman                Dixie Flyer                            Land of Dreams
Lindsey Buckingham       Don't Look Down               Out of the Cradle
10,000 Maniacs                Noah's Dove                       Our Time in Eden
Mary Chapin Carpenter   Passionate Kisses           Come On Come On
Simon & Garfunkel          Mrs. Robinson                    Live 1969
the 11:20's                        Asylum for One                   Good News First
Johnny Cash                    Hurt                                       American IV: The man Comes Around
Warren Zevon                  Mutineer                               Mutineer
Mark Knopfler                  Going Home                       Screenplaying