Christmas lights on the Internet

Courtesy Ken and Rebecca-Ellen Woods, everyone out there in Internet-land is invited to play with their Christmas lights via the Internet. I am re-posting that invitation here:

As part of our Christmas tradition, Rebecca-Ellen and I have onceagain connected our Christmas lights to the internet. This year we'rein a new house and have a new baby!

http://christmasinfairbanks.com

This project started in 2010, when we connected our Christmas treelights to the internet and allowed visitors from around the world toturn the lights on and off.

The lights moved outside in 2011, as it was quite annoying to have thelights blink on and off ALL THE TIME inside the house.

The 2012 season offered more lights, but Christmas 2013 brought pressattention. We received over 6.5 million visitors after beinginterviewed by NPR.

We moved into a new house in February 2014. And Kenny and I welcomedour son, Axel, to the world in July. You'll likely see all three of uscoming and going as you turn the lights on and off! You're not goingto break anything by messing with them, so don't be shy.

There might be some delay depending on the number of current userstrying to view the lights. The site works best with Chrome, Firefox,and Safari (it's operational with Internet Explorer, but it takes awhile for the site to load because IE is an awful web browser).

Feel free to send this far and wide. Post on Facebook, twitter, writeit in your Christmas card, whatever you wish. The site will remainactive until mid-January 2015.

Have fun, and a merry solstice to all!

Letter to the Editor: A is for Armed

March 6, 2014

To the Editor:

In the news is “Campus gun bill before committee.” There is nothing more important in the world for a student to get an A in their class. An armed student is in a much better position to negotiate with the teacher to get an A in class than an unarmed student. A student has to do whatever they have to do to get that A in class. Alaska needs their students to get as many As as possible and if that means arming students to get an A, well so be it.

John Suter 

Chugiak, Alaska

Lost Dog String Band and a masquerade fundraiser

This weekend, Mardi Gras gets celebrated on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Ken Kunkel Community Hall in Goldstream.

Below is the party poster. Lost Dog Old Time String Band, with Lynn Basham as caller, is going to provide some Applachian-style dance tunes, and there will be all kinds of goodies at the potluck. Here's the program of events.

The purpose of the festivities is to provide The Ester Republic with some funds to make the transition to a nonprofit organization (and, of course, to have a lot of fun—any excuse for a party is a good one!)

I'll be the Purple Publisher, and since I'm making an official Introduction Speech (short, I promise), I'll be easy to recognize even with a mask and costume. We'll have masks for those who couldn't get one in time, and we're encouraging mining-related costumes (but really, anything goes!). Ronn Murray Photography will be providing professional-quality portraits so you can immortalize your appearence in costume, too.

Bring a dish and a donation for the hat, and there's toasting and speechifying and a costume and mustache/beard contest (gents' and ladies' divisions)! Prizes and books and back issues, too!

We're not dead yet!

That Monty Python reference holds true: it may be months since Madame Publisher has posted on this blog, but she's still kicking. It's been a far-too-exciting fall and winter (a seemingly never-ending cold, a broken wrist, and serious debt in RepublicWorld), which interfered in the publication schedule. However, the Republic is heading for some pretty cool changes, some of which have already begun:

Twitter: yes, the Republic (although not really the Publisher of same) has joined the modern sound-bite era with a Twitter account. @EsterRepublic (the Publisher doesn't quite understand this esoteric 140-character means of communication, but she has the skilled help of two web-savvy teenagers).

Facebook: the Facebook page now has two new additional admins (the aforesaid web-savvy experts). Actual news may begin appearing.

Website redesign: after an editorial/marketing meeting yesterday, in which several excellent ideas were aired, the assembled group decided that it was time to redesign the website--to make it more functional, take advantage of all the nifty things that the web offers, and easier to find stuff. I actually have a team of people at work on this! Hoo!

Fundraiser: A massive fundraising shindig is being held at Hartung Hall on Feb. 25, 7 pm (that's a Saturday night): the Miners Masquerade Ball. That means costumes! There will be a toasting and speechifying contest (pay attention, Toastmasters!), a beard and moustache contest (men's and ladies' divisions), potluck food (bring edibles), live music (Lost Dog Old-Time String Band!), and DANCING. This will replace the Birthday Bashes, but there will likely be awards for the Publisher's Picks, and certainly prizes and games and other fun things. More info on this festival soon.

Foundation: The Republic is going to be working on creating a long-term support structure for the paper, etc. This will involve creating a nonprofit foundation (as discussed long ago and now revived): the People's Endowment for the Ester Republic, or PEER.

So that's the quickie update. More shall be appearing here in due time.

Independence Day in Ester

It's that time of year again! The Ester Fourth of July Parade will start at noon (ish) in the village square, pass the Judicial Review Booth (don't forget your judicial discernment enhancements, a.k.a. "bribes") in a semi-orderly and goofy fashion (after the veritable flock of youthfully driven and wildly decorated bicycles zooms past the judges at high speed), take a breather to impress the judges suitably, march (or jog or dance or stroll or drive or jig) down our illustrious and tree-lined Main Street, take a left (of course) onto Village Road, saunter past the Ida Lane Gazebo and the Ester Post Office, take another left onto the Old Nenana Highway, and trudge in the hot sun or rainy fog or clouds of mosquitoes or whathaveyou to the Ester Community Park, where said parade participants will turn left for a Final Time, there to participate in an Excellent Picnic & Party put on by the Ester Community Association, and receive Fabulous Prizes Recycled from Years (and Dumpsters) Past!

There will be GAMES and QUANTITIES OF WATER (most if it NOT in a glass but all over you if you don't move fast enough) and LOTS OF FOOD (if you bring donations or picnics) and loads of your neighbors and friends and dogs and kids and FUN FUN FUN!

If you would like to be one of the gaily-dressed and irreverent Paraders Extraordinaire, show up in the village of Ester at 11 am and heed the Directions of the Parade Director, who shall be recognizable by A Booming Voice (or maybe a loudspeaker or just a pointy finger) and (probably) A Silly Hat. Be Prepared to Sign In (this is so the judges and the Ester Republic newspaper publisher can tell who you are later, after all the notes and whatnot have been obscured by chocolate, water, beer, ice cream, and barbecue sauce), and award said aforementioned FABULOUS PRIZES.

Jest don't ferget that bribagery. And Food for the Picnic (bring extra to support the hungry paraders around you). And donations for the Pig Purchase, and to help out the Ester Community Association, which puts on this silliness every year.

As per usual, Do Not Expect Political Correctness. We like our parades Irreverent, Political, Punny, not necessarily Mature, and Not Too Long. Also Loud (the Ester Fire Department will be there, and the Red Hackle Bagpipe Band is coming again, YAY!). And with LOTS OF CAPITAL LETTERS. (Bring a sign.)

If you would like to be a Designated Spectator, be sure to Cheer and Clap a lot, because most of the parade participants are amateurs, and need encouragement. It takes a lot of chutzpah to make up a costume and a theme the night before and get all those drill team moves sorta down in the 24 hours before the parade. Spectators are also encouraged to bring Food, Beverages, and dogs and kids and their Uncle Ned.

Skating down the Parks

Joe Geiss took a video of some firefighter zipping down the Old Nenana and onto the Parks on skates. Yesterday, Katrina and another firefighter were skating on the Old Nenana--the highways had a nice thick glaze of ice for a while, but now there's gravel on it. The ice rink, on the other hand, is pretty well liquid. We went skating in our little Green Box on Wheels the moment we got out of our driveway, kiboshing any plans to head to the university (which was closed, at any rate). Depending on what happens overnight, I may or may not go in to campus tomorrow. Lots of cars off the road, schools closed, etc. First time I can EVER recall school being closed because it was too warm....

At some point I need to get myself a pair of skates (like, when it freezes up again).

Marathons and fun runs

Hoo boy.

Today, for the first time perhaps ever, I ran in a race, Readers on the Run, for the John Trigg Ester Library. Sort of. I more or less jogged and walked. Mostly walked, especially by the last loop. Readers on the Run is a five-kilometer fun run, a benefit for the library, and I helped start it (2008) and publicize it for the library (2009), but this is the first time I've ever entered it. It was fun! We had some GREAT silly costumes this year, especially the two pink fairies (Brook and Shiway) and the green-faced stick guy (Darwin). Oh, yes, and the poodle out walking her dog (Lisa). I came dressed as Her Editorship the Green Queen, and managed, through skill and clever strategy, to come in last. I did not, alas, receive a prize for Red Lantern finisher. Oh, well, you can't have everything. I did get a big rousing cheer from the crowd.

I got interviewed by Channel 11, which apparently knows a fun feature when they see it (it's supposed to be on during the 6 o'clock news tonight). I don't think the News-Miner came out this year, although Molly Rettig, who is a reporter for them, was in it, so maybe they'll have something too. The Republic, of course, plans a major tale of terror on it.

Nancy and Ed and Jeff and Stanley worked hard on the event, and Amy Cameron made some beautiful posters and t-shirts. Here's the basic graphic:



Monique took photos of the poems and racers, as did Trey and Hans, who also helped out during the race. We had 42 people enter the race this year! That means we're adding about 10 people a year, although next year's increase may be bigger, because Running Club North says they'll put the event on their calendar next year.

Now on to the marathon:

the library board (Monique, Nancy, and me, especially) have been working our buns off and our eyeballs out on library stuff. Monique has been plowing through the Nolo Press book on setting up a nonprofit, How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation, to write up our proposed revised bylaws. They're very thorough, and very good, although (as I told Monique) I squawked when I first saw them, because it makes 22 pages' worth. But they cover what they need to cover, and they're clear, and they provide a good solid operating manual for the corporation. She's also working on the usual minutes and a business plan for the library. Oh, and trying to work a full-time job in her spare time, so to speak.

Nancy has been meticulously going through the receipts, invoices, donations, t-shirt sales, bookshelf sponsorships, memberships, et al., making sure that not only are we on the dot for this year, but for previous years. I was not a very good treasurer, and Margaret was much better, but Nancy's cleaning up and backtracking, which is a time-consuming job that requires a strong orientation to detail, and I don't envy her! She definitely has my gratitude.

I've been working on grantwriting and the annual meeting packet. We have five positions up for election on the JTEL board this year, so we've all been soliciting potential board members. We're preparing for the annual meeting on October 24th (only two weeks away! gadzooks!). I spent better than ten hours yesterday working on the website, writing up a timeline and a task list for the next four years (organizational structure tasks, design and construction tasks, and program tasks and ideas), working a little on the President's Report, . Greta and I also did a teleconference with a couple of the people at the Alaska Community Foundation to discuss the possibility of setting up a foundation for the library.

Greta's been working on the board biographies, duties, officer positions, etc., along with the endowment. Eric's been working on the insurance and the power pole, and Melinda is working on the community revenue sharing program and the Fundraiser Report for the annual meeting.

It's a marathon, to be sure. And we've still got two weeks to go!

Ye Olde Independence Day Celebration and Hoo-Roar

Yes,it's that time of year again. The annual 4th of July parade & picnic is about to deluge Ester with gazillions of people who aren't into the militaristic display at Pioneer Park or the (now not-happening) Fairbanks parade. Folks who like a bit of political and social satire (well, okay, a LOT of satire) with their floats come out to Our Fair Republic for a lot of beverage-through-the-nose-snorting fun on Independence Day here where Progress Is Our Least Important Product. For those unsuspecting innocents who don't realize that off-color and politically incorrect silliness is the usual fare at this event, consider yourselves forewarned.

After the parade comes the Park Picnic, put on by the Ester Community Association. A large roast beast (usually a pig) is served up to the public, purchased and cooked by the Ester Volunteer Firefighters' Auxiliary, along with the usual hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, et cetera, from the ECA. Be prepared to bring a large side dish full o' your most succulent potluck food, and to shell out a donation. The money raised at this event (also known as Organized Eating and Fun & Games) is used to help Ester firefighters in the aftermath of a fire, keep the park ship-shape, and pay for all that food and beverage and flatware provided to the public.

Details: parade check-in (for participants) 11 am, Main Street & Ester Loop. Kids on bikes should wear a (preferably wildly decorated) helmet. Getcher paper plate when you sign in so the judges can tell who you are so's to give you a Fabulous Award. Don't forget to bribe the judges early, well, and often.

The parade starts at noon for all you Designated Spectators, and the picnic starts after the parade reaches the park. Be prepared for Silly Games and Water Sports (willing or non).

Rumor has it that the Red Hackle Bagpipe Band will be back and in surprising costume. The Banana Girls will return but may not be as organized as last year. There is also a rumor that actual Republican candidates will walk this year. Let's hope they're not as serious as the Democrats have been. Other than that, the Publisher has no word of the contents of aforementioned parade.

See you there!

We're screwed

Yep, that's what the headline reads in the New York Post. Well, the edition published by the Yes Men, that is. From the press release:

Early this morning, nearly a million New Yorkers were stunned by the appearance of a "special edition" New York Post blaring headlines that their city could face deadly heat waves, extreme flooding, and other lethal effects of global warming within the next few decades. The most alarming thing about it: the news came from an official City report. [74-page PDF]

Distributed by over 2000 volunteers throughout New York City, the paper has been created by The Yes Men and a coalition of activists as a wake-up call to action on climate change. It appears one day before a UN summit where Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will push 100 world leaders to make serious commitments to reduce carbon emissions in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate conference in December. Ban has said that the world has "less than 10 years to halt (the) global rise in greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," adding that Copenhagen is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity."

Although the 32-page New York Post is a fake, everything in it is 100% true, with all facts carefully checked by a team of editors and climate change experts.

Climate change is no joke, folks, and it's stunts like these that are attempting to get through the massive cultural denial we have about it. Humor is often effective at reaching people so they can bear to think about a horrible thing—and maybe do something about it.

Alaska, like the city of New York, is actually looking at the effects of climate change, rather than pretending it's not happening. Alaska, of course, is already feeling the effects—the Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning at UAF has produced several reports and projections on climate and how things like hydropower projects, water availability, growing season length, and permafrost will be affected by it.

The Editors' Revenge: hilarity at the expense of politicians

It's an occupational hazard: editors, if the ones I know are representative of the field, compulsively edit. And that includes the often poorly composed political speech. We do it for money, we do it for amusment, we do it because we love picking nits. Vanity Fair decided they couldn't stand it, and provided this priceless edit of Sarah Palin's sayonara speech.

Say I: HAH HA HA HA HA HOO HOO HAR HAR HEE HEE HA HA HA!

Ahem.

Big tip o' the hat to Ross Coen for forwarding this link to me.

The Banana Girls posing in front of the Golden Eagle

Here we are on Saturday morning, shortly before heading over to Mali's for yet another practice session in her little house before heading into the parade lineup on the 4th. A kind gentleman took lots of stills for us while we got everyone together and in the proper place. A good deal of giggling went on.



From left to right, top to bottom: Cameron Carroll, Hannah Hill, Mel Durrett, Amy, Sarie Birch Brainerd, me, Kate Billington, Melinda Harris, Leah Hill. Kate, Melinda, and Leah are holding the spangled Mahalo bribeage presented to the judges on our behalf by Kate's friend Anita, who also took a bunch of photos of the parade with my camera. Thanks, Anita!

Addendum 7/17/09: our ukelele player-in-training (har! as if we all aren't in training) is Amy Russell (with the banana on her head).

A little Fourth of July problem

Her Editorship made a tactical error regarding the reportage on the Ester Fourth of July Parade: no lists.

Every year, the volunteers at signup create a big long list of who got what paper plate number. They give this to the judges, who assign prizes and make up names for the awards. Then they award them, hilarity is had, much bribery imbibed, and a lot of chaos ensues. Then, if the Publisher has been on the ball and asked them nicely ahead of time, they hand this precious information over to her and she publishes a story with the list of who and what in The Ester Republic.

Alas, Her Editorship, being preoccupied with playing her ukelele, FORGOT about this all-important detail. So she has no lists to work from. Which means the story in the Republic is going to be awfully short. If you know which award went to who, please let me know. The judges only have a hazy, incomplete memory of the event....

The Fourth of July Parade

Jesse Hensel made this excellent little slide show with interviews about the Fourth of July parade in Ester.



This is an intriguing and very positive contrast to some of the comments that were posted on the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's blog in reaction to Rebecca George's article about the parade. I thought her article and the background piece on the Ester Community Association's role in the picnic were overall very good, although the Ken Kesey reference at the beginning played right into the stereotypes associated with our village, as exemplified by the Hippie Chick character in the Malemute Saloon variety show. Funny that Ester used to be considered a redneck area, and now is considered an Evil Liberal Nest of Perversion. Sheesh.

Anyway, I've been receiving some excellent photos; I'll be posting some here and on the Republic's Facebook page as soon as I make sure it's okay with the photographers.

I, as readers of this blog may know, was in the Banana Girls Marching Ukelele Band, and had a heck of a good time, although my coordination on singing, playing, and marching suffered somewhat in actual performance as opposed to practice.

Ester Fourth of July information

Every year this time, I get lots of people calling me wanting to know when the parade starts and how they sign up. I'm not sure why folks are under the misapprehension that I know what's going on, but they keep calling, and I am afraid that I have not clearly qualified well enough that I don't (or didn't) know what was going on.

So I found out. For those curious folks out at Fort Wainwright, Fairbanks, et cetera, here's the skinny:

The Fourth of July Parade: starts at noon. This is an irreverent, sometimes risqué, off-beat, and pretty impromptu event. DO NOT EXPECT: glorification of anything except a good time; child-safe language or G-rated requirements of any kind; tastefulness; respectfulness for ANY institution or individual. ON THE OTHER HAND: don't rule it out, either. Anything goes. We've had Revolutionary War soldiers, a Visqueen statue of liberty, leather-and-whip wielding fishnetted literati, giant puppets, men in drag and mops, dogs in costume, pigs in porkmobiles, fake politicians with real bribes, real politicians with fake bribes, dance troupes, couch potatoes, marching bands, gaggles of kids, horses, extremely loud firetrucks, etc. You're going to get a huge range if you come to watch our parade. It is never a serious or somber event, although the lampoons may be pointed at serious issues.

Parade check-in time: 11 am. Sign in up by Hartung Hall to get a paper plate with your number. Be prepared to give your name and the name of your character, float, or whathaveyou. This is so that once the judges have been properly bribed and made up the awards, they can identify you down at the park and present the award. Also, so the publisher of the local paper can list you and your award in the next edition of The Ester Republic!

Suggested bribes: Ester parade judges, usually drafted the night before, are eager and willing to accept bribes of all sorts. Cash is always useful, but it's a little, well, crass, so it is not often provided (and it's a little embarrassing when it is). Fine beverages, power tools, and inventively appropriate widgets or other items are the rule. (Well, I'm not actually sure that power tools have ever been used for bribes, but I've seen everything from root beer floats to books to radishes to poetry recitals by short pirates—not your typical bribery.) NOTE: one perennial award is the Best Bribe (sometimes also the Worst Bribe) award. Another coveted award that has been given several times is the Golden Banana Award. The other prizes vary hugely from year to year, and are made up on the fly.

Picnic at the park after the parade. This is a fundraiser for the Ester Community Association. It's our biggest fundraiser all year, and helps the ECA maintain the park and the community hall, pay the heating and electric bills (not cheap these days), buy goodies to feed people when they come to work parties or Cleanup Day, and so on. It is a potluck. We ask that you don't just help yourself to the food without donating something to the meal (and chips or dip don't count--please bring an actual dish of food) and/or to the ECA. The ECA sets up a table every year with a big sign and people man it to take donations; please contribute! That nice soccer field takes a lot of work and moola to keep up.

Banana Nah Tonite!

Marching band update

Our band appears to consist of Kate, Hannah, Leah, perhaps Cameron, maybe Debbie Rimer, and myself. (So far.) We've chosen two songs (two genres) with two more yet to be decided on. Next practice: Sunday at 1 at the Golden Eagle Saloon porch. The first practice was great fun, with two baritones, a tenor, and two regular ukeleles. Who knows what will be there next weekend?

Sex with Ducks

The California Supreme Court, if you haven't noticed, has decided that unequal treatment under the law and oppression of a minority by the majority are just ducky. So to speak.

This musical commentary and video by Garfunkel and Oates puts this stupid attitude in the right perspective. Not sure how to embed it, but believe me, it's worth a look-see.

Hat tip to Monique Musick!

Ukelele marching band: first practice

Sunday at 1 at the Golden Eagle Saloon, a trio of crazed ukelele afficionadoes will be meeting to practice for the Fourth of July parade. Join us if you have a ukelele, will travel, and aren't afraid of making a fool of yourself with a bunch of other people in front of silly (but bribeable!) judges. Not to mention the entire population of the west end of Fairbanks, which seems to be crowding the sides of the road these last few years for a look-see at what those Esteroids are going to get up to next.

I know that there's at least fifteen ukes in the village alone, so I expect to see at least ONE other person besides us ringleader types.

Flamingo Man

The mysterious Flamingo Man was last spotted at this weekend's birthday bash (theme: Pink) for Raz, held in the deep woods off Chena Pump Road. While ordinarily he'd stick out like a fuscia bird in a flock of white, he was relatively tame in comparison to some of the other guests, and so was able to mingle unobtrusively.

Ahoy, mateys! The Deadline's coming alongside!

You may have noticed a recurring theme, here…it's that time of month, if you'll pardon the bloody reference. Three days, and then the good ship Publisher's Deadline will have passed you by!