Judy and I went to the Snow Goose in Anchorage last night to hear the band, Static Cycle. Our son Alex has been playing with them since early May. It was our first time to hear them since Alex joined. You can hear some of their stuff from their album, When We Meet Again, here, at their myspace site.They had a decent crowd, many of whom had all the lyrics memorized. Jared Navarre, the singer and band leader, was a student of mine this past year at UAA. Drummer/vocalist Dennis Smith was a theory student of mine there a few years back. They head off on a U.S. tour in the fall.
They'll be playing next Friday at Players House of Rock in Anchorage, and just got signed up to perform at the Alaska State Fair.
speaking of kids named Alex, Ishmael at Kodiak Konfidential brought my attention to this anti-McBush youtube, done by MoveOn.org:
Ishmael also alerted me to something I had sort of suspected. One of the most brash, outrageously humorous and progressive blogs on the web, according to Ish, is "up there in the Great White North. Well, Fairbanks." The blog recently changed its name, adding asterisks, to become f*cking f*unts.
Several Alaska bloggers are going to be attending the Democratic Party National Convention in Denver, late this August. Last month, Celtic Diva was chosen by the Democratic National Committee to be our Alaska blogger for the convention. This past week, she announced that she'll be helped at the convention by new Alaska blogger, Writing Raven, from Alaska Real.
And Dennis Zaki from the Alaska Report will be there. He's bringing the Anchorage Press's Brendan Joel Kelley along, so we've got at least four fine Alaskan writers who will be covering this, perhaps the most important Democratic Party Convention, since 1932.
The quality of reporting and writing at Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis has been very good for a long time. The site has grown enormously, though, in quality and depth of content, this past spring. CD, even before being chosen to go to the Democratic Convention, has continued to bring more outside writers into the mix - most notably in recent weeks, State Representative Johnny Ellis with his bulletins.
Some of the issues CD tackles, like racism and sexism, are important to me, and I've written about them. But as a male, an aging white one at that, my writing doesn't have the same depth or perspective as does CD's.
Celtic Diva asked me to go to a reorganizing meeting last Tuesday, involving the spin-off of Precinct1080 from KUDO-AM radio. I couldn't go. They'll be holding another meeting on the 27th. Here's how Donovan explains it:
All of this will be explained in full at the kick-off event and election for board members on June 27, 2008 at 5:00 PM. This event will be at Peppercini's in the University Center Mall, 3901 Old Seward Hwy, Anchorage, AK. Sandwiches, Wraps, Soda's and what not will be available and this will be a very momentous event. Come join the fun.
I don't think I've commented yet about the addition of Alaska Real to the Progressive Alaska blog blogroll. I'm really excited about this blog.
As the site's writer, Writing Raven, says, describing her motivation for the upcoming trip to Denver, "To be able to report back an Alaska Native voice from the convention is a huge opportunity, especially at such a historic convention to begin with.
"I want to really focus on issues and topics important to the Alaska Native people. This election is historic for many reasons, but one I am most excited about is the focus on the Native people of this country. The campaigning in Indian Country is one thing, however, it's what happens after November that will really be important."
erin and hig are on Unimak Island now, finishing the last leg of their journey from Seattle to the Aleutian Islands, relying solely on muscle, wind, and luck. What can they ever do to top this trip?
Steve at What Do I Know? has gone beyond what I try to do here every Saturday with this roundup: He's provided capsule descriptions of several Alaska blogs, and now has a widget on the right-hand side of his blog that lists the most recent posts by several of us. I'm sure other sites will be picking up this feature too.
Steve also has tackled several aspects of the ongoing changes at the Anchorage Daily News over the past few weeks. This week, he began analyzing a speech by McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt in Anchorage last April. Steve also posted the Charlie Rose Show segment from a week ago featuring the three Emanuel brothers. I've been very critical here of one of the brothers, Illinois U.S. Representative and current House Whip, Rahm. The interview of these three dynamic, fascinating men is far better than the usual Charlie Rose fare.
image of guy podcasting Static Cycle concert by me
image of Unimak Island from False Pass by erin
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