Trump Made SNL Relevant Again
I’ve actually started watching Saturday Night Live again. That’s a statement I didn’t think I’d say ever again. Thanks to the very timely death of the Jon Stewart’s Daily Show and Steven Colbert being bought out to move to his desperately unfunny standard late night show and several lame imitations (Samantha Bee, namely) there is a huge gap for politically orientated comedy shows. Now of course we have John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight which is a blessing – but honestly it’s already come to be a news program that is funny – not a comedy show that talks about politics….
John Brown’s Body
This week in 1859, John Brown and his small band of abolitionists took the arsenal in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Howard Zinn explained his importance: “John Brown, more than any other white American, devoted his life, and finally sacrificed it, on behalf of freedom for the slave. His plan, impossible and courageous, was to seize the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia with a band of black and white abolitionists and set off a revolt of slaves throughout the South. The plan failed. Some of his men, including two of his own sons, were killed. John Brown was wounded, captured, sentenced…
What took you so damn long?
We all have different breaking points. I realize mine may be very different than yours, and Sens. Lisa Murkowski’s and Dan Sullivan’s, when it comes to our tolerance levels of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Both Murkowski and Sullivan recently came out condemning Trump after a tape came to light with the candidate bragging about sexual assault. He was quite proud of grabbing women in their genitalia and thought it was funny they wouldn’t do anything about it. Not all U.S. senators share the disdain of Trump’s statement. Alabama’s Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions thought the language used by Trump was…
Bird of the Week – Dunlin
The Dunlin is larger than most sandpipers but at 8.5 inches, still pretty small. It’s understandable if you don’t recognize it. Dunlin has two very different plumages. In the winter it’s a drab grey bird. In the summer, in breeding plumage, it’s a striking rusty-backed, black-bellied fellow. During courtship season, on the edge of western and northern Alaska, it can be hard to sleep for the incessant courtship song, a rolling harsh trill that sounds something like jrrre jrrre jrrreijijiji jrrr jrrr jrrr. Dunlin males are extremely enthusiastic about their courtship song. WC has used the alarm display of Dunlin on…
Alaskan’s Aren’t Buying Dunleavy theater
This week, on the eve of Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Day, Mat-Su Sen. Mike Dunleavy, staged a hilariously bizarre news event at an Anchorage Fred Meyer. Not since Sarah Palin was interviewed on TV while turkeys were being butchered in the background has there been a more awkward setup. Flanked by a beauty shop sign offering waxing, and several store managers wondering why the hell a state senator was holding a press conference on their private property, Dunleavy said he chose the location because it is a “small business” and lots of people shop there. Fred Meyer, for as lovely…
Bird of the Week – Northern Saw-whet Owl
We haven’t looked at an owl for a couple of years. Here’s a tiny little owl found in southcentral and southeastern Alaska, the Northern Saw-whet Owl. This little owl is even smaller than the Boreal Owl, just 8 inches long. Males weigh about the same as an American Robin. Like the Boreal Owl, it’s a cavity nester, and accepts nest boxes like this one. You won’t often see a Northern Saw-whet Owl; they are nocturnal, secretive and shy. But the strong white eyebrows you see here are a distinctive field mark. In the open, the bird looks top heavy with…
America: love her when she’s right. Right her when she’s wrong.
In 2006, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq. The Westboro Baptist Church picketed his funeral because according to them ‘God Hates Gays’ more than he hates war. Albert Snyder, Matthew’s father, sued the “church” and it went through the courts. Snyder lost his case and was ordered to pay all court costs. When the ruling came down I was sitting in the radio studio and I was livid. “What the hell is wrong with this country? This isn’t justice!” My producer, Dave, just shook his head at me through the glass. We went to a break. He opened…
Bird of the Week – Red Knot
One of the parts of this weekly column that WC likes is that sometimes WC is lucky enough to photograph new Alaska birds. Milo Burcham, a terrific nature photographer based in Cordova, Alaska, allowed WC to tag along on boat trip out to the mudflats west of the mouth of the Copper River in May 2016. The target was Red Knots, a handsome, but very spooky, shorebird. We found them. Handsome birds. And maybe even more spooky than advertised. There are big numbers to begin with, and if you get closer than 200 meters, they are gone. This photo was…
Bird of the Week – Pacific Golden Plover
Until 1993, American and Pacific Golden Plovers were thought to be one species. In that year, the Bird Gods – the American Ornithological Union – split them. In breeding plumage, it’s pretty easy to tell them apart: the Pacific’s white stripe extends all the way down the side, where the American Golden Plover’s ends at the shoulder. If you’ve been to Hawai’i, you’ve seen these birds on the lawns and golf courses. They are distinctly more approachable there than breeding territory. Pacific Golden Plovers are awesome migrants. They fly directly from Hawai’i to Alaska, for example; nonstop. The next time…
Driving To Alaska’s Political Madness
My parents first came to Alaska in the ’60s, driving a red and white Volkswagen bus. They came from Virginia and like so many Alaskans, they came for one year – that was almost 50 years ago and they never left. I’m happy to report I’m making the trip they did, though by a more northerly route. It’s a bit of a shock to my Alaskan mind to drive through four states in a day without going through a foreign country. There is so much to take in on open road and border crossings. You can drive for days on…