Anchorage Press 11/24/16 by Wick Communications

ANCHORAGE PRESS • ANCHORAGE’S GLUTTONOUS NEWSPAPER • NOVEMBER 24 - NOVEMBER 30, 2016 • VOL. 24, ED. 45 • FREE

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540 East 5th Avenue Anchorage AK 99501 (907) 561-7737 Fax: (907) 561-7777 www.anchoragepress.com Publisher Nick Coltman publisher@anchoragepress.com Editor Susy Buchanan editor@anchoragepress.com Staff Writer Ammon Swenson ammon@anchoragepress.com Calendar Editor Alejandra Buitrago alejandra@anchoragepress.com Business Manager Maggie Balean Art Director Stefanie Vigoren art@anchoragepress.com Contributors Aurora Ford, Bex Farleigh, Brendan Joel Kelley, Bridey Heing, Charlie Earnshaw, Chloe Chaobal, Chuck Shepherd, Cody Liska, Dan Savage, David Fox, Debra McKinney, Ernest Turner,Geoff Kirsch, Hope Broecker, Indra Arriaga, James ‘Dr. Fermento’ Roberts, James R. Evans, Jonathan Bower, Katie Pesznecker, Kerry Tasker, Kris Farmen, Kyle Clayton, Lee Harrington, Lisa Fox, Lisa Maloney, Matt Iverson, Matt Jardin, Megan Zlatos, Mike Gordon, Ned Rozell, Nicholas Raffuse, O’Hara K. Shipe, Quinn White, Rachael Peltier, Rachel Kenshalo, Rob Brezsny, Rosanne Pagano, Sam Buchanan, Tiger Tasker, Tom Tomorrow, Young Kim, Zack Fields and Zakiya McCummings. Advertising Account Executives Bridget Mackey | bridget.mackey@anchoragepress.com Cyndi Ramirez | cyndi.ramirez@anchoragepress.com Karen Edes | karenatthepress@gmail.com Zach Menzel | zach.menzel@anchoragepress.com Circulation Alfredo Samoy, Andrew James, Billy Goodwin, Corena Bell, John Bell and Leslie Farrell. The Anchorage Press is an Anchorage-wide news, features, arts, entertainment and recreation paper. Established in 1992, the Press is printed weekly on Thursdays and distributed at over 500 locations. Copyright: the Anchorage Press is published by Wick Communications Co. With the exception of syndicated features and cartoons, the contents of the Anchorage Press are copyright 2016 by Anchorage Press. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means including electronic retrieval systems without the express written permission of the publisher.

PAGODA SILHOUETTES

A Thanksgiving prayer in Fairview

FAST TIMES

Watsky Redux

EDITORIAL BY SUSY BUCHANAN

MUSIC PREVIEW BY O’HARA K. SHIPE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

6 #NODAPL

The implications for Alaska

EVENT CALENDAR POSITIVE SPIN

Williwaw presents the Mowgli’s

MUSIC PREVIEW BY BRIDEY HEING

COMMENTARY BY KIRBY SPANGLER

POLITICS IS ISN’T A SPECTATOR SPORT

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

All aboard the genius of Tennessee Williams

Taking back a stolen election

FILM REVIEW BY INDRA ARRIAGA

COMMENTARY BY LOIS GILBERT

THE ACCIDENTAL BROADCASTER

On the brink of retirement, longtime TV newsman Steve Mac Donald looks back on his career

BY BRENDAN JOEL KELLEY

NARNIA ON FAST-FORWARD

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

THEATER REVIEW BY LEE HARRINGTON

ALASKA RANGE: EXPLORING THE LAST GREAT WILD

Explorers reveal hidden Alaska at book launch and slide show

FAST FOOD AT THE MOVIES

Will french fries replace popcorn? BY KYLE CLAYTON

BY INDRA ARRIAGA

GETTING ICED IN TEXAS

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A BIAS FOR ACTION OPINION BY JULIE DECKER

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PRESSING EVENTS

A HELPING HAND

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ART LISTINGS AND COMICS SHOPPING SMALL: IT’S BIG

Anchorage entrepreneurs, shoppers rally around small business Saturday BY KIRSTEN SWANN

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Photo by Kerry Tasker

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November 24 - November 30, 2016

EDITORIAL BY SUSY BUCHANAN

LIVE IN FAIRVIEW WITH TWO YOUNG DOGS that need exercise. In the summer, the LaTouche tennis court is home to volleyball games played by Pacific Islanders, full of laughter and family. But once the weather changes and the asphalt ices up, the court is abandoned. It’s a great place for my pups to chase sticks and each other in a fenced enclosure. The tall, chain link cordon makes the court feel like a prison exercise yard to me, but for the dogs, it’s freedom. As the winter sets in, the past several nights I’ve seen a couple huddled together under the pagoda just outside the tennis enclosure, seated at the metal picnic table with bags and backpacks between them. They are either poised and stoic—staring out at something that might be moonlight— or slumped over asleep. These are not dangerous people, I tell myself each evening. I should approach them and offer a bit of human kindness … a smoke, a call to CPS if they are impaired, a connection to Facebook’s Forget Me Not on my smart phone, a granola bar. But I don’t do anything but watch them. Because it is dark in Fairview and nights lately are full of fear. Also, I’m self-conscious and feel my attention might seem condescending. I want to do good but not be a do-gooder. And in this neighborhood strangers scare me. I struggled with this inner conflict as my dogs trace a path up and down the court. I tell myself I don’t have courage enough to approach them because I’m a woman out alone

and my husband isn’t home, and then I feel furious with myself that I would use the absence of a man as an excuse to doubt my strength. I tell myself I shouldn’t disturb the couple’s solitude. I worry any help I could offer them would be offensive; after all, I don’t know their story. Each of the three nights I saw them there I moved a bit closer to the pagoda, hoping the couple would say something to give me a chance to acknowledge them as human beings and offer what solace I could, but they never turned around. When I finally got up my nerve, it was a black night with a toenail clipping of a moon. I had stayed at work late, only to come home to one of my crackhead neighbors getting into it with another neighbor, hurling racial slurs. I leaned out the window listening and watching what I could through the trees, ready to call 911, not for the first time in this neighborhood I love and rue. I walked the dogs out on calm streets later than usual, took them to the tennis courts and threw balls and sticks. Wan streetlights glowed through the fall gloom, and I glimpsed a single figure under the pagoda this time. I played with my dogs and kept peering behind me at the silhouette. I was thinking about violence in our city, the folks I regularly see on the streets in my neighborhood, and how maybe just a bit of compassion could turn a cold night into something that gave them validation, that showed them that someone else saw them as a human being. I worried and I kept one eye on the pagoda as my dogs frolicked. Had their partner abandoned this person involuntarily? Were they planning on sleeping here in the park, and

what could happen to them if they did? Shootings and stabbings are common in my troubled neighborhood. I resolved to finally do the right thing that had been nagging at me, gathered up my dogs and made my way to the pagoda. I had a cigarette in my pocket, as well as a five-dollar bill. I had leftovers in the fridge and I could be back within five minutes, with food or a blanket. I was ready, now, to be a compassionate human being in real life and not just on paper. But as I approached, I realized that the dim light had tricked me. The figure I had perceived was nothing more than a garbage can stuffed with cast off clothing. It’s Thanksgiving, folks. Time to give other people—as well as ourselves—things to be thankful for. We can’t view those less fortunate than us as discarded people, we can’t pretend to not see them on our street corners or in our parks. We can choose compassion, we can choose interaction, we can give them a reason to say, “thanks.” n

We can’t view those less fortunate than us as discarded people, we can’t pretend to not see them on our street corners or in our parks.

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November 24 - November 30, 2016

Dear Editor,

My name is Geewon Anderson and I own Urban Sushi in downtown Anchorage. I am trying to co-exist with Brown Bag Sandwich Company (BBSC). After I read your November 10, 2016 article about Brown Bag, I am disappointed and concerned with the message your reporter, Aurora Ford, is sending to the community. Our dispute with Brown Bag has escalated to the point that it has become hideous. On numerous occasions we have tried to communicate our concerns and they agreed and promised to follow through. BBSC’s position has remained the same; either we do not have the evidence that the problematic patrons are BBSC customers, or the neighbors are not accepting the fact that this is a new culture and we need to accept this as normal behavior. Once the neighbors provided evidence, one of the owners, Brynn McLeod, dismissed us; “Our patrons are not much different than other bar establishments with a liquor license,” she said. Simply because the McLeod’s have sold their home and invested a large sum of money into renovating a bar, does not grant them the right to allow illegal activities. The property owner, Mr. Swalling, proudly announced that the McLeod’s are the best tenants he has ever had. Of course they are, he is collecting rent again. Meanwhile, other property owners are not able to find renters to fill up the empty spaces. BBSC’s accountability is shot at this point. They have caused the problems with immediate neighbors, but the neighbors must “embrace” new culture that is now on 3rd Avenue. They claimed that their kind offers were denied many times. They tried to clean their mess with someone else’s water. No genuine offer was ever made to any neighbor. I suggest that BBSC simply clean up their own garbage. I agree that we need to invite young, responsible professional citizens in Anchorage. The only way to attract quality clientele is to provide a quality professional atmosphere, which is what we expect living and working downtown Anchorage. The video footage clearly reflects what type of young people are attracted to the current BBSC atmosphere. This atmosphere invites a young generation with no morals and no public edict, people who feel comfortable urinating in public. Not only do downtown business owners have a desire to attract locals, but we also have to provide an attraction that is safe and inviting to the tourist industry as well. I agree with Ms. Ford’s solution. Personalities have never been an issue, being nice or not nice was never questioned. The BBSC owners have intentionally disguised real issues that they are facing and Ms. Ford is validating this deception. The only topic I wish to discuss is whether or not BBSC is following municipal laws. Geewon Anderson

Geewon Anderson Anchorage

Lament for a Lost America Donald Trump, “The Donald,” is not a nice bloke I wish he weren’t serious, just a really bad joke He’s a racist and a bigot, a groper and a jerk There’s nothing, less than nothing, behind his smirk But people go for his bluster; they love his sass They don’t see he’s an idiot, just a nasty jacka ss He won the Electoral College but not the vote Just thought I’d say that; it’s worthy of note Now he’s “elected” as President, the worl d will pay With a nuclear winter, another Great Depr ession, day upon misbegotten day He’s a charlatan and a liar His pants are on fire You can smell the stench as the fabric burn s The world is so ignorant it never learns: Look at the character; find the soul With Trump there’s no doughnut, not even a hole. Toby Widdicombe

Toby Widdicombe Anchorage

Dear Editor,

President Obama is taking a break from the Trump transition to pardon two turkeys. Every one of us can exercise that presidential pardon power on Thanksgiving by giving thanks for health and happiness while skipping gratuitous violence. The 235 million turkeys killed in the U.S. this year have nothing to be thankful for. They are raised in crowded sheds filled with toxic fumes. At 16 weeks, slaughterhouse workers cut their throats and dump them in boiling water to remove their feathers. Consumers pay a heavy price, too. Turkey flesh is laced with cholesterol and saturated fats that elevate risk of chronic killer diseases. Package labels warn of food poisoning potential. But, there is good news. Annual per capita consumption of turkeys is down by a whopping 35 percent from a 1996 high. A third of our population is reducing meat consumption. Food manufacturers are developing a great variety of healthful, delicious plant-based meat products. My Thanksgiving dinner will include a “tofurky” (soy-based roast), mashed potatoes, stuffed squash, chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and carrot cake. An internet search on vegan Thanksgiving and a visit to my local grocery store will provide me with heaps of recipes and delightful plant-based turkey alternatives. Sincerely, Alexander Durbin Alexander Durbin Anchorage

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COMMENTARY BY KIRBY SPANGLER

Y NOW, everyone knows that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is putting up one hell of a fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). I won’t go into the details. Instead I want to use their struggle as a lens to help us imagine our own power as Alaskans—how might we dismantle the hegemony of big oil and create a more equitable and enduring future for all. For Alaskans, both Native and non-Native, the future is extremely uncertain. Our economic lives are bound by the chains of fossil fuel dependency. Even as oil production inevitably declines, the climatic changes that result from fossil fuel dependence are already wreaking havoc on Alaskan communities. The physical reality is grim: Coastal villages washing into the sea, permafrost melting, forest fires on the rise, sea ice melting, subsistence food sources disappearing and the ocean acidifying. Add to this the political reality we now face: Authoritarian, racist, misogynist, climate change deniers are about to take control of the military, surveillance and security apparatuses of the United States. Many people are justifiably terrified. It is easy to imagine the current reality proceeding into some hellish dystopian future. For many right now, it is much harder to imagine a future where we work together across the lines that divide us to address the

most critical issues of our time. Enter the Standing Rock Sioux. The stand they have taken is the continuation of 500 years of Indigenous resistance in North America. It is a fight for the survival of their people and the land and water upon which they depend. It is a stand against the rogue and ecocidal fossil fuel industry. It is a stand that illuminates and embodies a vision of a different future for all of us. Indigenous resistance has a long history.

When indigenous people stand up and demand that their rights be respected, they deserve support from the rest of us. The bigger the base of support for indigenous resistance, the harder it is for governments to ignore indigenous rights, and the more powerful they become in the defense of people, culture, and land. The resistance of the Standing Rock Sioux has been an inspiration to a great many Alaskans. Dozens of Alaska Native peoples have joined indigenous people from all over North and South America in traveling to Standing Rock. They are spending time on the front lines of resistance. They bring this experience home when they return. On the streets of Anchorage and other Alaska cities, non-Native and Alaska Native peoples have been coming together in significant numbers to show their support for the Standing Rock Sioux. When the Sioux called for a national day of action on November 15, a diverse group of about 50 Alaskans staged a sit-in inside the Fifth Avenue Mall in downtown Anchorage to block the entrance of a Wells Fargo bank; a major funder of the Dakota Access Pipeline. By coming together with one voice, participants in this action amplified their collective power. There were similar actions in several other Alaska cities and more than 300 actions across the nation that day as well. It is important to know that the stand-off at Standing Rock is not happening in isola-

tion. It is currently the most visible example of a phenomenon that spans North America and beyond. Indigenous people—fighting for their survival—are leading the way to a better future for all of us. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in Standing Rock, but I’m even more curious to see how it plays out in Alaska. I’m standing with the Sioux. n

On the streets of Anchorage and other Alaska cities, nonNative and Alaska Native peoples have been coming together in significant numbers to show their support for the Standing Rock Sioux. What is changing now, is that more and more non-indigenous people are recognizing that the fight is essential not just for the survival of indigenous cultures, but for all of us. Our fates are bound together on this runaway train. This understanding is forging powerful new forms of collaboration. Indigenous rights, including treaty rights, the right to self-determination, tribal sovereignty and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples are powerful political tools. For centuries the United States government along with corporations—and the State of Alaska—have been ignoring these rights in the quest for land, resources and profit.

Liquor License Transfer Notice C&H Corporation d/b/a Today’s Pizza located at 4608 Spenard Rd #D, Anchorage, Ak 99517 is applying for transfer of a restaurant/eating place AS 04.11.090 liquor license to Y2HK Inc d/b/a Today’s Pizza. Interested persons should submit written comment to their local governing body, the applicant and to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at 550 West 7th Ave Suite 1600, Anchorage, AK 99501

Kirby Spangler is an organizer with Alaska Rising Tide. Based in Anchorage, Alaska Rising Tide is an all-volunteer group dedicated to confronting the root causes of climate change (and having fun doing it.)

APPLICATION FOR TRANSFER OF LIQUOR LICENSE

LIQUOR LICENSE NOTICE Transfer of Stock Ownership

Pasta Avanti, LLC d/b/a Pasta Avanti located at 302 G St. Anchorage, AK 99501 is applying for transfer of a Restaurant Eating Place AS 04.11.100 liquor license to Lahn Pad Thai Downtown Express, LLC d/b/a Lahn Pad Thai Downtown Express located at 302 G St. Anchorage, AK 99501

Reilly’s Alaska, Inc. d/b/a Reilly’s located at 317 West Fireweed Lane, Anchorage, is applying for transfer of a beverage dispensary AS 04.11.090. The change in ownership involves the stock transfer from Jeanne Reilly to Jeanne Reilly 2007 Family Trust in the amount of 100%.

Interested persons should submit written comment to their local governing body, the applicant and to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at 550 West 7th Ave, Suite 1600 Anchorage, AK 99501.

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Application for New Retail Marijuana Store License Denali Dispensaries, LLC is applying under 3 AAC 306.300 for a new Retail Marijuana Store license, license #11411, doing business as DENALI DISPENSARIES, LLC, located at 225 E 5th Ave, Anchorage, AK, 99501, UNITED STATES. Interested persons should submit written comment or objection to their local government, the applicant, and to the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office at 550 W 7th Ave, Suite 1600, Anchorage, AK 99501 or to marijuana.licensing@alaska.gov not later than 30 days after this notice of application.

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Cannaxiom, LLC is applying under 3 AAC 306.400(a)(1) for a new Standard Marijuana Cultivation Facility license, license #11375, doing business as Cannaxiom, located at 12721 & 12691 W. Western Drive, Houston, AK, 99694, UNITED STATES.

Interested persons should submit written comment or objection to their local government, the applicant, and to the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office at 550 W 7th Ave, Suite 1600, Anchorage, AK 99501 or to marijuana. licensing@alaska.gov not later than 30 days after this notice of application.

November 24 - November 30, 2016

MERICANS HAVE HIT THE STREETS protesting President-elect Donald Trump’s ideology and yet another election determined by the Electoral College and not the popular vote. David Duke—former head of the Ku Klux Klan—cheered when Donald trump named Steve Bannon campaign CEO. Trump just appointed Bannon chief strategist. Republican John Weaver—presidential candidate John Kasich’s top strategist—tweeted “The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office.” While running the Breitbart website, Bannon said he wanted it to be the platform for the Alternative Right, or Alt-Right, which advocates white nationalism, religious bigotry and trashes women and nonwhite immigrants. Bannon said: "Birth control makes makes women unattractive and crazy." His second wife said he pulled at her neck and wrist. She said Bannon threatened her and their children. Domestic violence charges were dismissed when she didn’t show up for his trial. She accused Bannon of anti-Semitism, also shown on his website. Trump—who built political support questioning President Obama’s citizenship and promising jobs he knows aren’t coming back—is normalizing racism, non-consensual fondling of women and religious bigotry. The struggle for civil rights has been long and hard. Do we want to go backwards? Award-winning journalist Chris Hayes showed how the Alt-Right portrayed Hillary Clinton as sharing their views to suppress non-Caucasian and Muslim votes. Emails of John Podesta—Clinton’s former campaign manager—show racist spam sent to him not from him. Stories that appeared on bogus news sights at Alt-Right outlets with headlines like “October Surprise,” and “Wikileaks Bombshell: Wikileaks Reveals Hillary’s Racist Remarks About Blacks.” Chris Hayes called it the “weaponized use of disinformation online,” and the “most destructive and successful act of criminal political sabotage conducted against one campaign probably in the history of this country.” We have a 14th Amendment right to equal justice, including the right to free and fair elections. Those rights have been violated. What are we going to do about it? Our history shows reformers uniting, springing into action, winning despite special interests. Americans of the 19th century faced far more formidable obstacles than we do. Some abolitionists died trying to free enslaved people. Exploited workers formed unions to get higher wages, safer conditions, an end to child labor and a 40-hour work week. Exploited farmers formed the grange movement to fight railroads’ monopoly, beginning the populist movement. The progressive movement followed, leading to Republican “trustbuster” Teddy Roosevelt, and his Democratic cousin FDR’s reforms, like Social Security and unemployment insurance. Women went out in public to speak, organized—and gained the right to vote. “Nellie Bly” wrote exposés, even feigning madness to be committed to an insane asylum so she could expose conditions there. “Muckrakers” exposed

filth in slaughterhouses. A horrified public demanded action and got the Pure Food and Drug Act passed. The fledgling environmental movement helped establish our great system of national parks. Working and middle class Americans fought to take control of their government away from party bosses, leading to reforms such as the direct election of senators, initiative, referendum, recall of state officials and the primary. Reformers of the 19th and early 20th centuries educated themselves and others, organized and took action. They didn’t expect to involve high percentages of the country. A few organized before the telephone existed and moved mountains. We have far more powerful tools than they did: Not just the free press, but the internet and social media. Today, committed people go to lots full of horses bound for slaughterhouses—take photos and get histories—and post on rescue websites. If doomed horses can be rehabilitated with hard work, caring and a little money, isn’t democracy worth as much? What’s the alternative? The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t supposed to choose the president. They did. In Bush v. Gore, they prevented a ballot recount. Remember how many Republicans said they had to support Trump because the new president would choose so many justices? Some Michigan cities lost the right to self-government. The Governor appointed “emergency managers” to bypass elected mayors and city councils. Managers gave private developers parks for a pittance. In 2011, Pontiac’s manager put City Hall and all other municipal property up for sale. Think it can’t happen here? Alaska’s far more isolated, we’ve given oil companies billions of dollars worth of our oil and we’re on the verge of bankruptcy. Another emergency manager tried to save money by changing Flint’s water source from good Lake Huron water to the notoriously polluted Flint River. Lead and other pollutants made people sick, and can retard children’s brain development. So Much corrosion ruined pipes. Some Flint people drive their children to another city for weekly baths; they’ve been drinking bottled water for two years now. President Obama said: "The American people have spoken.” Yes, we did. Most of us voted against Trump. The President’s doing his job trying to ensure a smooth transition. But it isn’t over yet. The Electoral College doesn’t meet until December 19. Trial for the fraudulent Trump University was delayed time and again. Trump settled two California class action suits for $21 million plus $4 million to settle with the New York Attorney General. Plaintiffs waited six-and-a-half years for justice. Most people are willing to give Trump a chance. I’ve seen who he is all through the election. He’s the same person as a Republican that he was as a Democrat. He lies and manipulated for money and power and chose the Alt-Right to run his campaign because he shares their values. Most have given up. Our founders didn’t when the world’s greatest empire tried to run roughshod over their rights. Sons of Liberty organized economic boycotts and other protests, and the fledgling press protested the Stamp Act. When General Gage tried to seize Massachusett’s stores of powder, Minutemen faced Redcoats at Lexington, chewed them up from

Most people are willing to give Trump a chance. I’ve seen who he is all through the election. He’s the same person as a republican that he was as a Democrat. He lies and manipulated for money and power and chose the Alt-Right to run his campaign because he shares their values.

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Concord to Boston and won at Yorktown. That’s why we have a Second Amendment right to bear arms, for the purpose of organizing a militia. Folks, we know how to organize and protest. None of the democracies we inspired has an Electoral College—their elections are determined by popular vote. Almost four million have signed a Change.org petition asking electors to abstain or vote for Hillary. If they did, Congress could refuse to recognize the result. But major public pressure could still be applied, including a reminder that they’ll be accountable for theirs and Trump’s decisions in the next election. And, we need to have longer memories—remembering how they’ve thwarted public will in the past, giving us the greatest depression since the Great Depression—and vote. We can remind them that Trump and the Alt-Right have tarred the Republican Party with their racism and misogyny and hold them accountable. We can tell them, in writing, that we don’t want our presidents chosen by the electoral interference of Russia’s Putin and the Alt-Right; we don’t want our government shut down and the financial consequences of that little power play, and remind them of the ruinous financial consequences of George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. We can demand national health care for everyone‚ including our injured veterans—and vote for it. We could have it for the same price as our currently vastly overpriced health care system and not pay such high rates for car insurance. Politics isn’t a spectator sport. We have to become active if we want to keep the freedoms we have. When Ben Franklin came out of the Constitutional Convention, he was asked what kind of government was created. He sad: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Can we?” n

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COMMENTARY BY LOIS GILBERT

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BY BRENDAN JOEL KELLEY N WEDNESDAY, November 2, KTUU-TV announced the December 2 retirement of Steve Mac Donald from Channel 2 News. After 20 years as a reporter, anchor, news director and currently as special projects manager—not to mention 15 years before that at KTVA Channel 11—he’s been part of the familiar team who’ve cemented the news organization’s longtime dominance in the market. Alongside John Tracy (who left Channel 2 in 2008 to work in advertising, and now appears on KTVA), anchor Maria Downey and Jackie Purcell, Mac Donald’s visage deserves to be chiseled into Alaska’s Mount Rushmore of TV news. Not quite a founding father of the TV news business in town—though he worked for the two giants who really did establish the industry here—Mac Donald’s career has seen the evolution of local broadcast news from when he ran a reel-to-reel tape at a local radio station to the digital age; from the boom and bust of the pipeline’s early days through former coworker Sarah Palin’s ascent in politics up to the present day. He’s beloved by viewers, so much so that a tumultuous incident in 2009 where he was fired lasted barely more than a week before public outcry helped force his reinstatement. But Mac Donald didn’t intend to be a broadcaster or even a journalist. Along with his innate rapport with people and a genuine capacity for kindness and levity—priceless character attributes for a reporter—he was often in the right place at the right time. Shortly after his beloved Cleveland Indians lost the World Series, Mac Donald took the time to tell the Press the story of his remarkable career in TV news.

great. I had the time of my life. Then I came back in [to the KNIK studio] and stayed through the night. Pretty exciting … total adrenaline. That’s how my broadcast career started.”

NIK AND KBYR also shared a home with KTVA Channel 11—Alaska broadcast pioneer Augie Hiebert’s station—the first TV station to broadcast in Alaska in December of 1953. In 1982, Channel 11’s sports guy was going on vacation, and they had no one to fill his slots. “What about the new guy at KNIK? He knows a lot about sports,” someone asked. Would Mac Donald fill in for the sportscaster’s vacation? Of course. “I’d never wrote copy,” Mac Donald says. “I was a big sports fan, so I knew sports, but that was it. I’d never been in front of the camera, and I certainly didn’t know anything about producing a sportscast.” But he showed up that Monday, wrote his scripts, gathered his video highlights, read the scripts, and it went well enough. “Everybody lived and it wasn’t deplorable,”

TEVE MAC DONALD graduated from Kent State University outside of Cleveland with a degree in public relations and a minor in political science. Not long after, his wife Jan accepted a theoretically temporary assignment with BP in Alaska in 1981. Instead of commuting back and forth between Anchorage and Cleveland, the couple decided they’d spend six months in the state and enjoy an Alaska adventure. Mac Donald had been advised that for a career in public relations, you should have some media experience under your belt after you’ve got the degree in-hand. So, once in the state, he began volunteering for KABN, a small radio station in Big Lake, playing songs by artists like Neil Young (who he calls “a hero”) off vinyl records over the airwaves. “It was the coolest radio station,” he says. “You could play anything you wanted. You could play Frank Sinatra and then come back with Van Halen, whatever you felt in the mood for.” Steve and Jan fell in love with Alaska and decided to stay; that meant he needed a gig that came with a paycheck. He applied at KNIK radio, “which played beautiful music on reel-toreel tape,” as a part-time board operator, “making sure the reels were spinning, everything was on the air, and once an hour I’d read the AP wire—a little newsbreak, so that was exciting.” He arrived for his job interview mid-afternoon on a Friday. The KNIK program director liked him, and asked if he could start that night, on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift and Mac Donald readily agreed. KNIK had a sister station, KBYR, and just as Mac Donald’s interview concluded, the KBYR sales manager called the KNIK program director, explaining that they had a problem—there was no announcer for a high school football game out in Palmer that evening. The program director couldn’t do it; he hated football, but told the sales manager to hold on, and asked Mac Donald if he knew anything about the sport. “I love football!” Mac Donald replied. “I’ve got an announcer for you,” the program director told the sales manager. Just a few hours after his interview for the board operator position had commenced, Mac Donald was in a car with an engineer on his way to Palmer headed to the field to call the Palmer versus Wasilla game. “I’ve never done anything like this at all, but this is great,” he remembers. He’d grown up a Browns fan in Cleveland, and did his best to emulate the team’s legendary play caller, Gib Shanley. “I channeled my inner Gib Shanley and tried to do this game—I’m sure it was horrible, but I thought it was really

he laughs. Soon he was the regular fill-in reporter for sports on Channel 11, and as he’d started reporting news on KBYR radio, soon he was asked to contribute to Channel 11’s TV broadcast as well. “There was a big learning curve,” Mac Donald recalls of those days in the early 1980s. The pipeline was new and money flooded into the state. People were moving to Alaska, and with oil prices rising the infrastructure for the new population— roads and homes and sewer systems—was trying to catch up. The first Permanent Fund Dividend arrived in 1982. “The state just had all this money coming in and was debating what we should do with it,” he says. When oil prices dropped in 1986, all of that unraveled. “The boom and the bust—those were the stories in the 1980s. The economy deflated in a heartbeat, it seemed like.” Augie Hiebert, Channel 11’s owner and founder, was an early influence on Mac Donald (and many other broadcasters). “I remember most, the thing he instilled in me is that we were public servants,” Mac Donald says. “The airwaves are sacred, basically. You are speaking to the public—whether it’s news, weather, sports, you take this seriously. This is very important; you don’t waste anybody’s time. When that mic opens up or that camera goes on, what you’re doing counts.” Channel 2 was led by a similar figurehead in Al Bramstedt, Jr. KTUU Channel 2 was established in 1981 when Zaser and Longston—a Washington company—purchased KENI-TV, and Bramstedt, Jr. was its general manager for decades. In the 1980s, Channel 2 wasn’t even close to the ratings powerhouse it is now. KIMO Channel 13 was the number one station, with Channel 11 after it and Channel 2 in third place.

Mac Donald recalls Bramstedt, Jr. telling him about Channel 2’s strategy at the time. “Al basically felt no one really was doing a good, solid job of doing the news in Anchorage. He said, ‘I think what you need to do is you need to start investing in news. He was really so astute, a brilliant guy. Slowly but surely they started investing in the news product: more people to cover the news, better equipment and very gradually all the pieces of that puzzle started coming together. Toward the end of the 1980s, Channel 2 was number one and it never changed.”

FTER THE ECONOMIC CRASH of 1986, Channel 11 combined news operations with KBYR and KENI, and Mac Donald became the news director of the consolidated newsroom. “I had been doing television for Channel 11 for a few years by that time, so I knew what TV was about and how it worked, to a degree,” he says. “I think it was an efficiency by the president of the company, and for some reason he chose me to be news director—it might be because I made less money than the other guy.” As the years progressed, Mac Donald became friends with John Tracy, then news director at Channel 2. They’d hang out at conventions and seminars and see each other socially, occasionally mentioning how it would be “neat,” in Mac Donald’s telling, to someday work together. “It was just talk,” Mac Donald says. “We found through those visits we had very similar news judgment. I was brought up under Augie Hiebert and he was brought up under Al Bramstedt, Jr., and Al and Augie are cut from the same cloth. We serve the viewers; never forget that. It’s a philosophy that I think we both were brought up with and felt very comfortable with. ” In 1996, Mac Donald had been at Channel 11 for 15 years. Channel 2’s assistant news director left the station, and John Tracy invited Mac Donald over to his house for a conversation that culminated in Tracy offering Mac Donald the position. “I loved Channel 11 very, very much,” Mac Donald says. “It was family and I never thought I could leave there, but there was also part of me that felt that we had gone about as far as we were going to be able to go. I wanted to compete with Channel 2 and we just didn’t have the resources to make the run at Channel 2.” Channel 2 had a live satellite truck, but Channel 11 had no live capability, for example. And Channel 2 was long dominant at the time. It took Mac Donald a month before he finally accepted the job as an anchor/reporter and assistant news director, he says. “It felt really good,” Mac Donald says. “I knew John [Tracy] and Maria [Downey] and John Carpenter and Jackie [Purcell] and it felt really comfortable there. It was also—because the staff was so large, we did so many more newscasts at Channel 2 than at Channel 11, all these different technological capabilities here at Channel 2 that 11 just didn’t have—there was a transition. It felt like I had gone to a bigger market. It should have just been an even swap, but then there was more news—more technology—that took some time to get used to.”

AC DONALD describes Channel 2 News’s dominance in the market as an incremental process, like assembling a puzzle one piece at a time. “Alaskans realized there was this investment being made in news. They hired really good reporters and photographers and put an emphasis on storytelling, and slowly but surely the audience gravitated to Channel 2 over the years.” He attributes much of the success to paying attention to the viewers and what sort of news stories they wanted. “I think that was the advantage we had being in Alaska,” he says. “None of us really knew exactly how to do news—these are our instincts, and we took our cues from the audience as well. They kind of dictated what kind of news coverage Anchorage really wanted.” A high point for Mac Donald came in December 2006. He traveled with a crew to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to broadcast the launch of the space shuttle Discovery, piloted by the first Alaskan in space, Bill Oefelein. After a weather delay, on a Saturday evening, he laid his microphone on the grass about 10 feet away from him as the voices of Mission Control took over the broadcast, so as to avoid a hot mic incident. “I knew I November 24 - November 30, 2016

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Donald says, despite their previously having discussed that Ross would do the updates and Burke would anchor. Mac Donald argued his case; that the matter had been settled, the plan outlined in a written note. “She said, ‘Well, you’re not very good news director material,’ and I said, ‘I’m sorry you feel that way, what are you saying?’” Mac Donald asked if he was being fired and Lucas said yes. “I think if I hadn’t wanted this clarification to this crazy remark she made, nothing would have happened but the difference of opinion,” he says. Mac Donald began gathering his things from his office, while the newsroom reacted. “Some were mad, some were sad, some were asking questions— I’m just standing there going, ‘I need a box!’” Word spread fast. Mac Donald retreated to his friend John Tracy’s downtown office to regroup and discuss his firing with Tracy and (via phone) Bramstedt,

Georgia, purchased KTUU from Schurz.

Y 2011, Mac Donald was burned out in the news director position. When John Tracy left the station, he advised Mac Donald to continue anchoring the 5 p.m. newscast, to maintain that connection with the newsroom. Yet the news director gig was administrative and bureaucratic, N JULY 1, 2008, Indiana-based and becoming more so all the time. “I Schurz Communications purrealized the only connection I had with chased KTUU, and longtime journalism was the morning meeting or news director John Tracy departed the if I proofread a script in the afternoon,” station the Friday before, leaving for an Mac Donald says. ownership stake in Bradley Reid + AsMacLeod, who continues in the role of sociates, an advertising agency (now KTUU president and general manager known as Brilliant Media Strategies). today, sensed Mac Donald’s dissatisfacMac Donald was named his successor tion with the news director gig. So in the as news director. fall of 2011, Mac Donald was offered a Al Bramstedt, Jr., was retiring as genrole in the news department as special eral manager, and Schurz brought in its projects manager, making documenown person from out of state to replace taries and doing special series, as well him (though Bramstedt, Jr. would conas town halls and debates. Mac Donald tinue to offer advice). “[Schurz] resisted initially, but realized it hired a person in Susan [Luwas his dream job. cas, the replacement] who they Mac In that role, Mac Donald visDonald’s retirement felt was more philosophically ited his “favorite place on the aligned with the way they did from Channel 2 News re- planet,” Denali National Park, things,” Mac Donald says. moves a wealth of experience for a live hour-long special, The relationship between on a then-new transand Alaska knowledge from predicated general manager Lucas and portation plan for the park. “We news director Mac Donald the airwaves appreciated by made three or four trips to Dedidn’t start well. The newsroom nali, hung out in the park, had a viewers for 35 years. had openings for a reporter and pass to be there all hours, it was three photographers when Lujust amazing.” cas was submitting her first budget, and Jr., while—unbeknownst to him—a Another highlight was “The Night of she’d told him she’d advocated for the Facebook page demanding he be re- Hope,” a live discussion with Alaskans in positions and they’d be filled. He says turned to Channel 2 was created. When Anchorage, Bethel, Juneau, and Barrow he later discovered she’d actually cut the he left Tracy’s office, he heard talk radio about the state’s high rate of suicide and positions. “She wasn’t very honest at all,” commentator Dan Fagan blasting Lu- its causes. “People got up and told these Mac Donald says. “She did a number of cas’s decision and encouraging listeners heart-wrenching stories and humanized things to try and cut down the size of the to call the station and object. it so much. We got wonderful notes from staff, and they were very—in my opinReporters were calling, but Mac Don- people afterward.” ion—very dishonest things that she did.” ald wasn’t talking. Staci Feger-Pellessier, And a story that will always stick with The antipathy was apparently mutual. then news director at Channel 11, offered Mac Donald is the tale of the Fairbanks KTUU was carrying the Super Bowl in him a job. The phone calls and emails to Four, the four Native men falsely con2009, between the Pittsburgh Steelers KTUU were pouring in. Schurz sent a victed of a 1997 murder in 1999 and only and the Arizona Cardinals. Planning for vice president from Indiana to Anchor- released in December of last year. “That the broadcast, Mac Donald asked Lucas age for a meeting with Mac Donald. changed a lot of things for me,” Mac for a few brief spots for Channel 2 news Despite the firing, Mac Donald want- Donald says. “I still have great faith in updates during the game. She secured ed back and Channel 2’s mass of An- the judicial system, but it is run by hufour spots, and asked to have one of the chorage viewers concurred. The meeting man beings. As journalists we need to be primary anchors do the updates. Mike with the vice president culminated in vigilant with them like we would with Ross agreed to handle the updates, and MacDonald’s return to the station just anyone.” Jill Burke would anchor the post-game over a week later, and he went on to work Mac Donald’s retirement from Channews edition. Mac Donald says he de- with Lucas for another two-and-a-half nel 2 News removes a wealth of experitailed the plan in a note to Lucas. years before her departure from KTUU. ence and Alaska knowledge from the Channel 2 also aired a documentary “It’s an episode …” Mac Donald fal- airwaves appreciated by viewers for 35 that night the news team had made ters. “I love and appreciate and I’m to- years. But he won’t disappear completely. about World War II veterans in Alaska. tally humbled by the reaction of my fel- “Even in retirement, Mac Donald will reMac Donald was elated. “I was so happy low Alaskans. On the other hand, it’s an main available to KTUU for fill-in work that night—what a great night for Chan- episode I want to push in the far reaches and special projects,” the station’s press nel 2!” But on Monday morning, Lucas of my memory bank and not go back release regarding his retirement says. popped her head into the morning news there.” “I’m incredibly loyal to Channel 2,” meeting and asked Mac Donald to come Longtime employee Andy MacLeod Mac Donald says. “I love what it stands to her office when he was done. replaced Lucas as general manager of for. We’re entrusted with these airwaves. Lucas said she had expected Ross to KTUU in July of 2011. In February of We are not to abuse them.” n anchor the post-game newscast, Mac this year, Gray Television, of Atlanta,

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would get excited,” he says. “It fired off— the most amazing sight I’ve ever seen, watching it go up, feeling it go up, and listening to it go up … it was the most amazing sensory experience.” Just a couple of years later, Mac Donald’s career would be shaken by a rocketforce incident, causing a viewer rebellion of sorts for Channel 2.

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of timing issues, we had to go to each theater on consecutive nights—meaning we ate complete shit for dinner two nights in a row and spent several more nights suffering the consequences. My assignment for this story was to compare food options between the two theaters; but let’s be honest, there’s really no difference. If you and a partner plan to eat a meal and go to the movies, plan on spending in excess of $50 (not including the price for the Pepto Bismol or the unquantifiable cost of mental and physical anguish) and receiving your entire daily caloric intake requirement in the space of less than two hours. While it’s convenient to have expanded dinner or lunch options when you go to the movies, be prepared for your wallet and nutritional well being to take a hit. On the other hand that’s what a trip to the movies is all about. There’s something satisfying and comforting about shoveling handfuls of delicious popcorn, not French fries, in your mouth as the theater darkens and the previews play. But if food enters the equation of theatergoing decision-making, just go to Bear Tooth. I’ll continue to eat popcorn when I go to the movies and dispense with the corn dog bites and chicken sandwiches. In short, I’ll let the movie not the food options dictate the theater I attend. n

Because of timing issues, we had to go to each theater on consecutive nights— meaning we ate complete shit for dinner two nights in a row and spent several more nights suffering the consequences.

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they type these greasy words, and I’ll spare myself the calorie count. Before you judge, know it was my job to inform you, dear reader, of what is available to you! Of course it all tasted salty and fatty and good like fast food is supposed to taste. So there you go. I hope you’re happy. Do with this information what you like.

Century 16, while it did expand past the basics, didn’t have as many meal options or list the calorie counts. The concession stand offered basic snacks such as pizza, bratwurst, hot dogs, a pickle in a bag, nachos, apple chips and pretzel bites. The prices were all reasonable compared to the inflated cost of popcorn, candy and drinks. The quarter pound Black Angus hotdog is $5.50, a small personal-sized pizza is $6.65 and the pickle is $2.50. Century 16 has the advantage of a Starbucks café along with a Dreyer’s ice cream stand. Most of the lattes cost between $4 and $5 and a single scoop or cup of ice cream cost $4. It also has a bulk candy stand where you can choose the volume of sugar to consume. In total, we spent $23.25 for package of M&Ms, medium popcorn, the Black Angus hot dog and nachos. Because

If you and a partner plan to eat a meal and go to the movies, plan on spending in excess of $50 and receiving your entire daily caloric intake requirement in the space of less than two hours

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ONE ARE THE DAYS of heading off to the movies to simply stuff $15 worth of popcorn down your gullet chased by a handful of M&Ms and soda. Movie theaters now offer myriad ways to spend at least $50, wipe excess grease on your pants and discover more than just bits of popcorn stuck to the fibers of your shirt as you emerge from the darkness. I checked out the food options at two Anchorage theaters—Century 16 and Regal Tikahtnu Stadium 16—to see how to do it best. Tikahtnu without question has the most variety. Besides the standard popcorn and candy, the theater offers a cheeseburger or a spicy chicken sandwich with fries, corn dog bites, chicken tenders, fiesta poppers, cheese sticks, onion rings and churros. While the prices for popcorn are still high ($7.95 for a medium), the other options are only slightly more expensive than what you would shell out at a fast food restaurant. Both the burger and chicken sandwich with fries cost $7.99, without a drink of course. You’re still shelling out more than five bucks for a small soda. Tikahtnu also lists how many calories are packed into each item. And when I say packed, I mean calories are stuffed into a kernel of popcorn like the singularity of the Big Bang. Here’s a fun fact: Let’s assume, conservatively, you consume a medium popcorn, small drink and small candy. That old-fashioned combo consists of 1,780 calories. A large popcorn alone is 980 calories. Add a burger or chicken sandwich and fries; toss another 850 plus calories into the mix. At Tikahtnu my girlfriend and I ordered a medium popcorn, chicken sandwich, M&Ms, water and corn dog bites for a grand total of $30.55. Shame and regret weigh down each finger as

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HE LAST time I drank beer in Texas was in 2013. I recently returned to San Antonio on a business trip and not much has changed. With few exceptions, the beer’s still uninspiring; there’s just more of it now. During my weeklong stay I drank a lot of mediocre beer in too many bars while looking for an epiphany. Despite doing my homework before I left Alaska. I found weak beer, poor service—in the form of uninformed servers with little knowledge or passion for the brewer’s product—and consistently greasy bar tops, even in the best of places. I have some tolerance for regional palate differences. Climatically, lighter beers are in order due to the Texas heat, but it doesn’t come at the expense of flavor. In particular, pale ales and IPAs lack our signature Pacific Northwest hop zing. Instead of the full-on alluring aromatics and flavors, the beers I discovered were less dimensional with coarseness as a defining feature. Some of the golden ales, lagers and pilsners were pretty decent, and saisons are finding a lot of favor these days. The region hasn’t fully discovered sour or Brett beer yet. Worse yet, bigger establishments with nice bars don’t feature local craft beer, but Shiner Bock and Lone Star are the inevitable staples in. I glossed over responses to my Facebook post asking for recommendations on places to visit, but it wasn’t until one of our corporate lawyers offhandedly said “if you want some real selection in an incredible setting, walk about 30 blocks up to the Friendly Spot. It’s an ice house in a neighborhood. It’s dog friendly, kid friendly and beercentric; you’ll feel right at home,” he advised. I took the hike a block back off a main thoroughfare and into a heavily-treed neighborhood. Up ahead, I saw what looked like a combination of a park and a day care center. Parents with strollers moved about and a dozen or so kids were climbing around on a park-sized, enclosed play ensemble. Black birds hopped among the branches of the large trees. Dogs pattered around on hardpan dirt between the multi-colored retro tables and chairs where most of the adults were whiling away the afternoondrinking pints of beer with kids running around and playing at their feet. In the background were two bars, both under low-slug overhangs attached to weathered, non-descript shed-like buildings. Here, I discovered 72 beers on tap and another 250 in the bottle. Texas does care about craft beer after all; you just

need to know where to find it. I bellied up to the back bar where most of the local craft beer was featured. Ross Diaz—a self-described “neighborhood denizen”—says “bring your kids. Kick back and have a beer while they play. Let the dogs run around. It’s all about feeling like you’re hanging out with your neighbors.” And that’s by design. “All over Texas, the ice house was like the town hall of the neighborhood. You’d stop in there to get your block of ice. They offered snacks, beer and soda and sometimes people would enjoy it right there. It became communal,” says owner Jody Bailey Newman who opened The Friendly Spot in 2009 with her husband Ryan. “We really liked the concept. We thought it aligned with what we thought of this neighborhood. It was something we were thinking about doing at retirement, but when my husband lost his job, we got into this because we were broke. It’s definitely not a retirement job,” she says with a sweeping gesture to the expansive, casual, well-maintained grounds surrounding the two bars. The Friendly Spot is another success story in the slow gentrification of the Southtown area in San Antonio. Think Spenard and you’ll know what I mean. Increasingly upscale venues are moving in and pushing out urban blight a block

I discovered 72 beers on tap and another 250 in the bottle. Texas does care about craft beer after all; you just need to know where to find it. at a time. I really got this feeling when visiting the Spot. Along the avenues and roads in the area is a juxtaposition of the decrepit and renewed. A melange of revitalized and razed structures compete for space with new construction. Nicer establishments in what might be considered seedier areas are filled with a mix of suit-and-tie and street grunge; friendlier places are definitely popular here. The Friendly Spot isn’t the first ice house in Texas—not by a long shot. The concept goes back to the 1920s when ice houses supplied block ice to ice boxes before electricity and refrigerators. the concept grew popular again in the ‘70s when the gasoline price crisis had people walking to the ice houses to get ice instead of driving to filling stations to get it where both block and cubed ice were offered, according to Ross. San

Antonio has at least five of the new concept venues and there are dozens more around Texas. It was tough finding a decent variety of local craft beer at the city’s larger venues. San Antonio’s River Walk beer venues are mostly a joke. The big chain, Hard Rock Café had a scant three local beers on tap during my brief visit. The BierGarten tries really hard to impart an authentic German feel and is well appointed, but service misses the mark there. My buxom dirndl-dressed waitress improperly identified one beer and couldn’t even tell me what beer from St. Arnold—a long standing craft beer legend in Texas—they had on tap. A number of local beers accented the tap line, but no one could tell me much of anything about them. The folks that frequent the Friendly Spot know more about craft beer than the average patron elsewhere. At least a quarter of the draft line at the Spot is devoted to Texas craft beer, so the opportunity for a palate changing experience is greater. Beers from Karbach, Freetail, Guns and Oil, Pedernales, Busted Sandal, Real Ale, Southern Star, Ranger Creek and Branchline were a few of the many temptations there. I did my best to drink through most of them but didn’t get too far, which is a good predicament to be in for a serious craft beer drinker in a foreign land trying for local saturation. Still, the Spot isn’t 100 percent about craft beer. “Sure, we like to keep a lot of beer, but it takes management,” says Newman. Jody and Ryan didn’t know a lot about craft beer and learned as they went. Jody doesn’t drink the stuff. Ryan quickly became a draft system expert and craft beer manager by default. Craft beer has its place, but not always at the head of the table. Texas isn’t ready for that yet. “We aren’t a craft beer bar. Everyone that buys a Bud Light is a beer supporter, too. You have to support all beer. The average person doesn’t come out of the womb drinking Lagunitas,” quipped Newman. My new friends at the Spot directed me to other foamy destinations that further reinforced my notion that although the craft beer scene isn’t as vocal or visible as it is in Alaska, a strong undercurrent exists and once you’re on the inside, craft beer’s easy to find and plentiful in Texas. In a week, I managed to plow through 45 local beers in three breweries and countless venues and came away with the feeling that I need more time. Sometimes, I guess you just have to go somewhere to find the local vibe. I won’t consider Texas a beer badland anymore; I’ll be back with an open mind and great expectations. n

BY JULIE DECKER [EDITORS NOTE: No matter how you voted in the presidential election, there is no doubt that the results demonstrated a political and cultural rift in our society; a tear in the fabric that many Americans—and Alaskans—are searching for ways to mend. The Anchorage Museum has been safeguarding and celebrating Alaska’s cultures for decades, and has grown into a vibrant, dynamic and constantly evolving force in our community. Here, we reprint remarks Anchorage Museum Director/CEO Julie Decker shared with her staff on November 1 of this year. Her words inspired us, and we hope they will you, too.]

WENTY-TWO YEARS ago I had just moved back to Anchorage and started working with small nonprofits while running a small business. I was struck at the time by the lack of community around the arts. I was leading a small art gallery, serving on the board of another and saw that big efforts by artists here generated very little audience. So I worked with the two galleries (at the time, the International Gallery was in a space above Sack’s Café in a building that has since been torn down) and talked to a coffee shop about starting something we called First Fridays. The first event drew 1,000 people. Crammed into a tiny gallery, this felt like something. People were hungry for a sense of common good and effort and camaraderie.

First Fridays, of course, grew into something that now involves dozens of venues, hundreds of artists and many thousands of community members. But, I remember those first days when it was only a need and an opportunity. We went

through complaints—about First Fridays not having a structure, about competition (restaurants and bars tried to prevent it because it was seen as competition for dollars). Venues jostled for press coverage. Some gallery owners and artists complained First Fridays were too social in nature, with too few serious collectors and too few sales. We had to work with Municipal Assembly members to provide ways for it to continue. I learned early that change always comes with friction, that building community requires 1,000 conversations about values and value. But, working with those small nonprofits taught me so many things I will always treasure. I learned that positive change requires 1,000 considered conversations along with the intent to communicate. It was about working hard—putting your whole self into something in order for it to succeed. It was about taking risks because otherwise you don’t survive. It was about caring for the mission, because that’s the only thing that really inspires people to give and risk. It was about a belief in something beyond itself and beyond self, the idea that the work will make the city better, make our place better, make our future better. I learned a bias for action, because it’s better to do it than not do it. Every person involved had to do everything—there were no departments. I was marketing and installation and fundraising and special event planner and janitorial and accounting for those small organizations. I only knew “all-in.” When I was working on my first major exhibition here at the museum I hung some artwork and watched a scene unfold because I had broken protocols about who had the authority to install artwork. I had to prove myself in countless ways here. Because we are an institution and institutions do things one way. In those really early days of First Fridays we

watched the museum start doing First Fridays and it annoyed us little guys to see the big institution with all of the resources ride the bandwagon. We saw the museum as the establishment—too removed from the community—not on the ground, not gritty, not with their whole selves invested. This month the museum was named “Best First Friday Venue” in the annual Anchorage Press “Press Picks” competition—a populist exercise polling readers about who and what is the most popular. It’s not the first time the museum has “won.” I read on Facebook all of the comments in artist strings railing against the mainstream, bemoaning the International Gallery coming in second to a monolith like the museum. I can’t help but think about the cycle, the history, the trajectory, the full circle, and to think about how many ways there are to think about our future, our role, and our impact. Three years ago, I signed a five-year contract to be your director and CEO. Two years before that I took the position of chief curator and the manager of the exhibitions department. In both positions, I started with the same values I had 22 years ago. I wanted to see how an institution could matter to a community—how it could build something bigger than itself—how it could make a place feel better. How it could help others feel opportunity. I wanted to apply some of the things I’d learned in small organizations— that to do good things requires every person’s energy and focus and goodwill and generosity. When the readers of the Anchorage Press say we are their First Friday venue of choice, does that mean we are populist or does that mean we are providing something of deeper value to the community, to artists, and to audiences? I think both

Anchorage Museum Director/CEO Julie Decker. COURTESY PHOTO

are true. When I double-check my gut to see if we are taking the risks we need for social good, I think: We have an artist essentially living on our 4th floor. We burned giant masks on our lawn. We facilitated tattoos. But, at the same time, we are an institution that needs to hold tens of thousands of objects in the public trust and needs to think about 40 years from now and not just the next Friday. Also, because we have the infrastructure, because we have the resources, because we have the public trust, because we have members, because we are the big guy, we also have an obligation to constantly remind ourselves that we are here not for our own good but for the social good. We have an obligation to offer as much access and as many programs as we can to the community. It’s imperative. It’s a big responsibility to be the big guy. We have to be mature leaders while finding the edge. We have to adapt to a changing world—not just once, but over and over again. It’s not about one community or one discipline—we have people who want us to do more for history, more for science, more for art and more for culture. And so we do. We aren’t content because we can’t afford to be irrelevant. n *Reprinted by permission from the Anchorage Museum

STARTING SOUND-ALIKES

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEK’S “CHAIN LINKS"

ALASKA SUDOKU By John Bushell

2 7

5 4 6

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REAL ESTATE

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marketplace house that was built in the rampGup to the pipeline years, and changed it to look more like one built by a true craftsman of the 1930’s. I even painted it the same shade of green that I remember my grandmother’s house being. A sort of sage color that represents both life and peace to me. It’s just a fiveGminute’s drive to my office. And the neighbors on all sides are friendly and respectful. The kind that will linger by the fence and talk about what’s happening in their lives while we both take a break from raking leaves. The kind that will notice if your sneaky dog is running loose and will call you to alert you. I like good neighbors. They’re the foundation of good neighborhoods in my opinion.

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Q: Where did you grow up? A: I was born in rural Wisconsin, the third son and fifth

Q: What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working? A: I like to read and write. And I like to take walks around

child of couple who met in high school and married within a year of graduation. Looking back it wasn’t hard to imagine spending my entire life like my parents did on the northern edge of our nation’s heartland with its cottage and prairie style homes. And with its aromatic forests and freshwater lakes just a tank of gas away. It seemed like all I would have needed to do was play by the rules and I could have had a pretty good life there. But things changed about the time I was entering my junior year of high school. And within a year I was living here in Anchorage. It’s been 36 years. I’ve never left. I really love it here.

the neighborhood with our sneaky dog. And of course I like outdoor activities that get me out on the water or into the woods. These things ground me. Which is especially important in my line of work. So often we real estate people forget that we deserve free time or down time. We need to turn off our cell phones once and a while.

Q: What area do you live in now? What do

Realtor.

Q: How long have you worked in Real Estate? A: December will mark my fifteenth year as a full time

you like most about it?

Q: What did you do before that? A: Prior to that I had a real estate magazine and concur-

A: My wife and I live in midtown now. In a home much like my parents and grandparents had. It’s sort of a cottage style home you could say. I took a boxy, functional looking

rently a real estate cable TV show here in Alaska. So you could say that I’ve been in the business of marketing homes

4156 N Cambric Cir, Wasilla

for quite a while now.

Q: What is your specialty? A: If you asked me what my specialty is, I’d

have to say that I’m very good at identifying needs and then helping people fulfill those needs. Its like the old saying where a problem well stated is a problem half solved. Give me a clear understanding of what your needs are and I’ll create an action plan to predictably fulfill your needs. I have a good understanding of the business of marketing real estate. It’s not rocket science. And the legal or mechanical aspects of the business come with a few years of full time experience. Many agents have that. But getting it right in this business is really more about identifying your client’s needs, then fulfilling them without them even having to ask.

Q: What do you see in the future for real estate sales or prices?

A: We have enjoyed moderate growth in property values for

several decades because of our moderately growing population. People coming here needed housing. And building new housing to address those increasing needs got more expensive every year. It wasn’t price gouging- its simply that new building materials and worker wages went up. Resale homes tend to follow new construction prices upward. That clearly happened. So what comes next? Well, if all we do is replace some of the housing that desperately needs replacing in Anchorage, we will see some increase in sales prices in the next few years. We’ve got some real eyesores in Anchorage, and we really can’t depend on them for much longer to house people. The cost (or sales prices) for

housing needed to replace the deteriorating stock that came to us during one of Anchorage’s boom cycles will be set based on the cost of tearing down an old building, coupled with more competitive labor prices, and then add in higher materials costs. This should result in prices being just a bit higher than what we have now for new construction. What’s more, I expect the trend we’ve seen where rural Alaskans are moving into Anchorage will continue. So we shouldn’t expect much in the way of vacancies or vacant properties languishing on the market any time soon. Whatever gets built to replace some of the junk we have now will slowly get absorbed. There still will be sales happening all over this city. But if you think it’s a get rich quick kind of market we’re in - you’ll be sorely disappointed. Slow and steady will be the name of the game for the next 3-5 years. Don’t invest in Anchorage real estate thinking you’ll cash out big time in just 3 or 4 years. It isn’t going to happen for you, unless its sweat equity you’ve otherwise earned.

Q: Why should someone choose you as their real estate agent?

I have a lot of experience to share with people----and not just the twenty years of real estate marketing thing. Although that’s important. I also have the kind of experience you only get from living with your pedal to the frosty metal here in Alaska. Its challenging living in a northern city. And I have had a busy 36 years! It’s helped me to focus on what’s important in a home and in life. Family, friends, good neighbors. Good memories. That’s what’s mattered to me. If that’s how you think- we’ll not only get along just fine- we’ll both benefit from the experience. Just please… don’t make me interview. Just call and tell me I’ve got the job already.

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Jerry Moses (907) 232-1578

Lakefront Estate, nearly 10 acres with frontage on Little Cottonwood Lake. 1500 ft Airstrip. 2000 Sq Ft Insulated Hanger. 6200+ sq ft custom home. 1596 sq ft of garage/shop space. Full size tennis court. Price slashed $120,000. Listed at $775,000.

Get pre-qualified at aileendimmick.com before you begin your home search.

Easy Commute Location XNLV289981

Aileen Dimmick EASY COMMUTE LOCATION - This 3BR, 2BA Palmer home w/ family room and 2 levels of decking with a fully fenced yard is just a short drop to the Glenn Highway. Upgraded appliances, carpet and storage areas. Only $250,000. MLS# 16-4409

Lee Realty, LLC

Team Fread - Bill & Beth Associate Broker, GRI, SRES Direct 907-354-7759

5050 Dunbar Drive #F Wasilla, AK 99654 Beth@BethsValleyViews.com www.leerealtyllc.com

5331 Bishops Castle Circle - Anchorage

Shane Blattler (907)240-0034 MisterLister@Alaska.net

High quality home in a serene setting on over an acre in Forest Ridge ShaneSellsAlaska.com with inlet views! Features a 2 story living room with focal fireplace, a good cook’s kitchen with wall ovens, cabinet pull-outs, nook, and a formal dining room. Two large master suites including one on the main living level. Also a large den or office, Super 3 car garage, and top schools. Paved toy parking and lawn areas like a groomed park!

MLS#16-8280 - $599,000 November 24 - November 30, 2016

Mortgage Loan Originator NMLS #198492 (907) 646-8756 3230 C St., Ste. 100, Anchorage

COMMUTE BY AIR! This air strip lot is right on the taxi way and minutes (by air) to Anchorage. Build your daylight basement home next to your hangar. Gas, electric and phone on the street. A can’t-miss buy at only $37,000! MLS# 16-4465

Lee Realty, LLC

Team Fread - Bill & Beth Associate Broker, GRI, SRES Direct - (907) 354-7759

5050 Dunbar Drive #F Wasilla, AK 99654 Beth@BethsValleyViews.com www.leerealtyllc.com

OPEN SAT / SUN 1-4 Brand new townhouse style condos with garage. Close to JBER. Washer, dryer and refrigerator included. Only $199,900. Call for More Information Brant Heidlebaugh 907-230-1766 brant@ myanchoragehome.com

Connie Yoshimura 907-229-2703 cyoshimura@gci.net www.cyalaska.com

12000 Lilac Drive - Anchorage - $840,000 421 Donna Drive - Anchorage - $354,000

Shane Blattler 907.240.0034 MisterLister@Alaska.net ShaneSellsAlaska.com

Exquisite Lilac Park home with aspects of a grand estate: rolling green lawns, circular drive, Italian marble statuary and fountains, sparkling glass entry, 12 ft ceilings, towering windows, 3 fireplaces, granite & marble counters, high end appliance group, hand crafted millwork in every room. Lean back on the sun deck or soak placidly in the hot tub room. Built for comfort and bound to impress. Lots of Extras! 5 Bed, 4.5 Bath, 3 car garage, 5,100 SF. MLS # 16-8411

Shane Blattler 907.240.0034 MisterLister@Alaska.net ShaneSellsAlaska.com

Dare to Compare! You’ll save many thousands. Desirable features like granite style SS counters, custom wood trim, formal dining, breakfast nook, office or workout room, dbl sinks in all baths, vaulted ceilings, and large bedrooms. Master has direct bath entry. Also has jetted tub, view deck and RV parking! Seller is The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Acquired property sold in it’s as-is condition. 5 minutes from JBER! MLS# 16-14618

107 Homes for Sale /Wasilla

2380 N. PROSPECT DR WASILLA, AK Beautiful Alaskan property for sale by owner in Meadow Lakes area, 2,460 sq.ft, 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath on 2.5 Acres. The propery features an artesian well, man made pond with dock, slab port for future garage, and horse ready space complete with ground cover. $257,000 OBO Call 373-8005 to schedule a viewing. 150 Lots/Acreages VAIL ESTATES 1 AC LOTS All Utilities, Paved roads, 5 minutes from Trunk & Bogard $52.5K Owner Fin. Avail. 354-1215 200 Apts. for Rent/Palmer

LARGE 2BD APT.

Newly Remodeled! Gas/Water Included. No pets and No smoking $900.00 mo. and $600 sec. dep. 746-4512 205 Apts. for Rent/Wasilla

For Rentals in the Valley Call 352-1824

LOOK! Spacious 4-Plex, 2BR, W/D, D/W. Avail. December 1. Lower Unit, has Southern exposure & very quiet. No Smoking. No Pets. $875 mo + utilities and deposit Call 907-242-8100 One- Two Bedroom Duplex Apartment, available now. $1155.00 + $1155.00 Deposit One -Three Bedroom Duplex Apartment, available December 5th. Fully carpeted, washers and dryers. All utilities paid except electricity. No pets/smoking or Alaska Housing. Near Wasilla HIgh School. $1175.00 + $1175.00 plus deposit. 907-373-5115 245 Duplex for Rent/Mat-Su area DUPLEX FOR RENT 1,100 SF Townhouse. Convenient to Downtown Wasilla, 2 BR,1.5 BA, Includes Washer / Dryer in unit, Carport/Driveway, Storage, Garbage P/U, & Snow removal. No Smoking, No Pets. $950 + Utilities(Gas, Electric, Water) Call (954) 529-3269 for an appointment. 300 Business Financial

Valley Business

Come to where the shoppers are!

Matsu Events Office and Sales Staff Days & Eves. Fun work & Easy$! 907.631.6011

Between the hours of 9am-pm. Mondays-Fridays I will offer $20/Hr. Your resume should be forwarded to dontaehaw@gmail.com 400 Employment

Cashiers G&G/Party Store Apply@Shell Station Hyer Rd/Fairview Lp Program Officer Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) in Wasilla, AK seeks a full-time Program Officer to advance MSHF goals related to its Healthy Foundations For Families focus area. The person selected for this job will work collaboratively with organizations, individuals, funders, and state agencies towards supporting healthy, resilient families in the Mat-Su. Annual salary range is $60 to $90K DOE with full benefits package. Job description and requirements are posted at healthymatsu.org. To apply, send cover letter, resume, and 3 references to mshfjobs@gmail.com. Open until filled. 626 Guns & Ammo

485-2847sf from $1.35/sf

2016 FALL GUN SHOW

Carr’s Shopping Ctr.

visit www.carrgottstein.com

Please Check Your Ad: We ask our customers to check their ad on the first day of publication. If you have any questions please call us at 352-2250.

Mat-Su Veteran Foundation

633 Firewood

325 Legals

FIREWOOD & LAND CLEARING

This bid document may be available on the internet at www.matsugov.us. A document fee of $10.00 will be charged for materials picked-up and $15.00 for materials mailed.

MSBSD. Proposals are due on or before December 9, 2016 at 2:00 p.m., Palmer Alaska Time. Sealed proposals must be submitted and received by the MSBSD Purchasing Department, 690 Cope Industrial Way, Palmer, AK 99645, on or before said date and time to be considered. All proposals must be marked “RFP #B17-14”. Proposal documents can be viewed in the Purchasing section of the MSBSD web site at www.matsuk12.us and are also available at the Purchasing Department, 690 Cope Industrial Way, Palmer, AK 99645. For information call 907.861.5120.

Birch and Spruce Cut, Split or Log length for sale 907-242-2529

HOUSEKEEPER OR CLEANER NEEDED

Wasilla

Contact Cycelia Gumennik Call 376-6300 or traceybrewington.org

399 Help Wanted

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XNLV301865

marketplace

11/26 & 11/27 10am - 5pm Admittance - $5 Lumen Christi HS 8110 Jewell Lake Rd., Anchorage 232-8873 Michael 441-4770 Craig

FIREWOOD Tree length Birch Saw log Spruce Contact Bond Bros Logging at 715-4019 695 Misc. for Sale Solid Oak Teachers Desk With 3 drawers. Valued at $600.00. Only $25.00 907-631-3773 695 Misc. for Sale Adjustable Leather & Suede Office Chair. Top of the line. Valued at $300.00 $35.00 907-631-3773 325 Legals MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH BID #17-058B Yoder Road Bridge Repair The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is soliciting bids from qualified contractors to supply labor, materials, equipment, and supplies for bridge repairs as specified in the Scope of Work. Bid documents are available November 23, 2016 in the Purchasing Division, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 350 E. Dahlia Ave., Palmer, AK 99645. For Information: ( 9 0 7 ) 8 6 1 - 8 6 0 1 , Facsimile:(907)861-8617, emailpurchasing@matsugov.us.

Bids open: December 13, 2016 @ 3PM in the Purchasing Division Bids must be received in the Purchasing Division prior to the time fixed for opening of the bids to be considered. Time of receipt will be determined by the time stamp in the Purchasing Division. Persons needing accommodation in order to participate should contact the borough ADA coordinator at (907) 861-8687. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, waive any and all technicalities or informalities it deems appropriate. Award of this project is subject to the availability of funding. FR#6113 November 23, 2016 MATANUSKA-SUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL RFP #B17-14 LOBBYIST SERVICES FOR THE MATANUSKASUSITNA BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT Notice is hereby given that the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District (MSBSD) will consider proposals from qualified individuals or firms for Lobbyist Services for the

The MSBSD reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids and waive any minor technicalities, informalities, and/or irregularities as it deems appropriate. FR#6112 Publish: November 23, 25, 2016 PUBLIC NOTICE You are hereby advised that the personal property stored by or for you at VALLEY TRANSPORT AND STORAGE will be disposed of on November 25, 2016 at 10am at Valley Transport 7745, Palmer Wasilla Hwy, Palmer Alaska to satisfy storage charges. #14 Jenna Armstrong #8 Jessica Tankansley #6 Mike Peterson FR#6106 Publish: November 16, 18, 20, 23, 2016

Alaska’s Biggest Book Fair for 24 years !

ReadAlaska 2016 www.readalaska.org

Special sales, new releases, continuous signings

More than 100 authors represented

including Shannon Cartwright signing her new book Alaska’s Animals You and I Jon Van Zyle Iditarod Memories Tom Brennan Dead Man’s Dancer and many, many more!

Held jointly with Crafts Weekend at the Museum

Free Admission !

Friday, Nov 25 – 10 am to 6 pm Saturday, Nov 26 – 10 am to 6 pm Sunday, Nov 27 – noon to 5 pm

Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center

November 24 - November 30, 2016

S.H.E. Solutions Presents

Alaska Maslow

Collection Benefit

SELF ACTUALIZATION ESTEEM

LOVE, BELONGING SAFETY PHYSIOLOGICAL

Saturday, December 17th 6-10 pm $ 50 RSVP in Advance $ 65 at Door $ Children 6-17 25 Under 5 Free Anchorage Museum 625 C Street

Food, Live Music, All Ages Entertainment Call (907) 268-8053 for Early Discount www.safetyhealthenvironmentalsolutions.com Bring a Generous Donation for a $10 Discount Help Those Less Fortunate This Holiday Season

We Need Diapers, Formula, Warm Clothing, Bus Passes, First Aid Kits, Items for Physical Well Being

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Generously sponsored by

November 24 - November 30, 2016

Wüsthof® Stainless 8 pc Steak - Black Box Sale

Le Creuset® 2.75 QT. Enameled Cast Iron Shallow Dutch Oven Sale $130.

$49.

MSRP $230

MSRP $120

Savings $70!

Wüsthof® Classic 3.5” Parer Sale $39.99

Holly Jolly Savings

Woll® 8” Diamond Plus Induction Fry Pan Sale $49.

hurry while supplies last!

MSRP $78

Savings $38!

Savings $100!

MSRP $79.95

Savings $30!

99 Classic Sale $49.

Wüsthof® 5” Santoku

MSRP $135

Savings $85!

Wüsthof® Gourmet 18 pc Block Set Sale $199.

Wüsthof® Classic IKON 7 pc Block Set Sale $299.99

MSRP $658

only at

Savings $458!

MSRP $700

Savings $400!

METROCOOKS.COM /metrocooks

570 E BENSON BOULEVARD • 279.4455

@metrocooks

opening novembeR 24! liFts open 10:30Am - 5:30pm conditions peRmitting.

stAy & ski FRee includes 1-night stAy & 2 FRee liFt tickets! stARting At $139 midweek. Available Sunday - Thursday. Based on double occupancy. Subject to availability, taxes and fees.

907-754-2111

©RAlphkRistopheR

AlyeskAResoRt.com

decembeR 30 & 31

AndeRs osboRne live At the sitzmARk | 10pm | $30

©Jtp photogRAphy

AndeRs osboRne conceRt pAckAge

best place to après | 21 & over | food ‘til midnight

includes A 2-night stAy, tickets to both shows, t-shiRts, tRAm tickets & $50 ResoRt dining cRedit. book online with pRomo code: nye

best place to après | 21 & over | food ‘til midnight

thesitzmark.com

thesitzmark.com November 24 - November 30, 2016

NOVEMBER 24 - NOVEMBER 30 THU NOV 24

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FRI NOV 25 COURTESY IMAGE

SAT NOV 26

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4TH ANNUAL FREE THANKSGIVING DINNER Kriner’s Diner, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Kriner family cordially invites you to Kriner’s Diner for a free Thanksgiving Day meal. All tips and donations will be donated to the Children’s Lunchbox. Free. (2409 C St.)

AT&T HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY

Town Square Park, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Join your hosts AT&T Alaska and Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. for the annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. Enjoy free cookies, hot cocoa, holiday music, Santa and his reindeer and last but not least, the lighting of the Holiday Tree. There will also be music from the Anchorage Concert Chorus and Salvation Army Band. Free. (551 6th Ave.)

BEARD AND CONTEST

MUSTACHE

House of Harley-Davidson, noon to 3 p.m.

Beards, mustaches and motorcycles. Celebrate No Shave November at the House of HarleyDavidson. Pop-up barber shop by Cut & Caliber. Free. (4334 Spenard Rd.)

SAT NOV 26 PANTS OFF DANCE OFF Taproot, 10 p.m.

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Join TapRoot for a new once-a-month event with Alex the Lion. Each month Alex will feature a special guest. This month’s special guest is YO HEY! Hot pants, daisy dukes and tutus are strongly encouraged. (3300 Spenard Rd.)

SAT NOV 26 SHOP SMALL SATURDAY

Anchorage Downtown Area, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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Join the Anchorage Downtown Partnership as they host Small Business Saturday & Scavenger Hunt. Start at the 4th Avenue Marketplace for free coffee and cookies, and grab a map of all the local shops to hit. Don’t forget to catch a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, playing every half hour in the Alaska Experience Theater. For more information visit anchoragedowntown.org

November 24 - November 30, 2016

Candelight Vigil for homeless youth on Nov. 17. PHOTO BY KERRY TASKER

BY AMMON SWENSON

T CAN BE EASY TO write off homelessness as someone else’s problem, but there are ways that we as community members can contribute to the wellbeing of the less fortunate in our community. We at the Press wanted to know what, specifically, the average person could do to help, so we asked an expert on the subject. Lisa Aquino is the executive director of Catholic Social Services (CSS) in Alaska. She said that CSS, the Municipality of Anchorage and other organizations have the goal of preventing and ending homelessness, but they can’t do it alone. “If we’re going to do it, the public has to get involved,” Aquino said. While it’s all well and good that people seem to come out in droves to volunteer around the holiday season, she said that CSS struggles to keep volunteers staffed the other months of the year. There are the usual ways to help out—like serving food—but another valuable resource is when people not only volunteer their time, but also their specific skill set. If you’re knowledgeable about something, you can teach a class. If you’re a musician, you can entertain folks at a shelter. Maybe you’re not comfortable getting up in front of a crowd, but you can do data entry. If you want to help. They’ll find a use for you. “If you have something that you are good at and you want to bring—whatever that is—we could use that,” Aquino said. Donations are always welcome and if you’re part of an organization that wants to help, clothing and food drives not only supply needed resources, but also increase awareness. Aquino thinks that one of the most important things we as community members can do is to keep a dialogue going

about the issue. She said that while she has seen a great deal of support from the community, there is also a feeling of frustration and helplessness. A way to mitigate this is by continuing to talk about it so we can find solutions to various aspects of the issue. “Even though I know this community so well, I’m constantly surprised at the creativity and the spirit that we have,” Aquino said. “People in Anchorage really want to help and they want to figure this out and work on it together.” If you don’t have the time, but still want to contribute somehow, the C.S.S. website has lists of specific items that their various programs need. Essentially, if you want to know how you can help, just give them a call. There’s plenty do do. According to Aquino, one thing that people can do to help those in need on a regular basis is just having empathy for their situation and never forgetting they’re human beings. She says that Brother Francis Shelter sees over 3,600 people a year from all sorts of backgrounds. “They run the gamut in terms of who they are and what their needs are and where they’re coming from,” Aquino said. While many people who are homeless struggle with substance abuse issues, untreated mental illness or a combination of both, some people just stumbled on tough times. “For so many of them, this is an acute problem. This was bad luck. This was bad timing,” Aquino said. “This isn’t everything that they are.” She told the story of a man she knows whose life fell apart after his wife died. They had been living off two incomes and had an apartment, but when her death caught him by surprise, he was devastated. Everything about his life changed. He became severely depressed and eventually lost his job

“For so many of them, this is an acute problem. This was bad luck. This was bad timing. This isn’t everything that they are.”

and his home. Before becoming homeless, he had never even considered that as a possibility. He had always had a job and never thought that he would end up in a shelter. Aquino said that it’s not uncommon for those experiencing homelessness to have had a medical issue that put them into debt and caused them to lose everything. “When a life event like that sends you reeling, it’s really hard to cope and if you don’t have a lot of social supports that are really reaching out to you, it’s hard not to lose track,” Aquino said. “There’s a lot of people at Brother Francis Shelter that are like that and they really just need some support right now and if we can give that to them, they can get on track.” While some of the most visible aspects of homelessness tend to be people like panhandlers, Aquino said that it’s important to remember the people who you don’t see. Many of the individuals that CSS works with are families or single mothers. According to Aquino, the fastest growing population of people experiencing homelessness are children and seniors. She said that the amount of people using the Brother Francis Shelter who are 65 and older has increased by 250 percent over the last decade. It’s easy to assume that people in need should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and solve their own problems, but when someone is struggling to have even the most basic of needs met, it can be extremely difficult to climb out of an ever deepening pit of troubles. “If you don’t have safe shelter, you can’t think about anything else,” Aquino said. “If you’re a mom and you have a baby, you’re maxed out.” In the long run, preventing and ending homelessness will require a lot of work. According to Aquino we need more housing as well as different kinds of housing, staffed and funded shelters so those people experiencing homelessness can maintain a foothold and more case workers who can help those in need lift themselves up. Her biggest piece of advice though is one that we can all use a little more work on in every aspect of our lives. “We can just connect more,” she said. n For more information visit www.cssalaska.org

November 24 - November 30, 2016

(L-R) Daja Scroggs and Tom Christensen of the Feed me Hope Bakery. PHOTO BY ALEJANDRA BUITRAGO

Thursday, December 1, 2016, 7pm ALASKA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DISCOVERY THEATRE Tickets are available by calling 263-ARTS

BY ALEJANDRA BUITRAGO

T WAS JUST BEFORE 11 a.m. on a recent Wednesday morning, and the industrial sized space at the Downtown Soup Kitchen (DSK) was bustling with volunteers. The doors open at noon to feed 500 to 600 homeless or underserved individuals from the Anchorage area, and lining the stainless steel tables were trays and trays of plastic wrapped tuna fish sandwiches. As I made my way through the maze of boxes filled with food donations, I found The Feed Me Hope Bakery, nestled in a small corner of the kitchen. Buzzing with a handful of women filling baking trays with holiday cookies, sticking them in the oven and embueing the large, echoey space with the smell and warmth of good tidings and cheer. The bakery, located within the soup kitchen at 240 E. 3rd Ave., opened its doors in March of 2016. The bakery, a bite-sized nook of the kitchen space began with only four disadvantaged women eager to learn a new skill that could give them job opportunities. Since then, the program has grown and continues to offer more opportunities to women in need in the Anchorage community. The bakery was funded through generous donations from the Anchorage community and beyond, and was created after DSK became a shelter for women, alleviating the overflow at Brother Francis shelter. DSK is a women-only shelter and they wanted to do something more to help these women get back on their feet. “We thought, what can we do to give these ladies kind of a hand out of homelessness? So we started the bakery program,” explained Nicole Decker, development director for the DSK. The idea is part of a nation-wide movement known as Catalyst Kitchens, an innovative program created to “incubate, launch and scale food service-based social enterprises that help people develop skills for a life-changing career,” according to the Catalyst Kitchens website. “We basically have taken their program and built a program that works best for us,” explained Decker. The DSK is a member of the national network of Catalyst Kitchens, who are all committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness. Breadline Inc.—a soup kitchen in Fairbanks— is also a member of this new initiative to break the chain of joblessness, poverty and hunger. The baked goods range from cookies of all varieties, to more decadent desserts like cream puffs and German chocolate cakes. The soup kitchen has become a home for this small-butmighty group of women, and they are welcome to stay in the building 24 hours a day so long as they participate in the baking program, and abide by rules laid out by the DSK. Under the guidance of Chef Tom Christensen, these women are learning a new trade November 24 - November 30, 2016

they can take with them beyond the shelter to find work in the community and get back on their feet. Christensen has been baking for years, and use to own a restaurant on Spenard, Cafe Croissant, which he sold about seven years ago in hopes of retiring. An experienced baker, Christensen says the women who are interested in the program have to commit to it for a minimum of 12 weeks. “And the whole objective is to give them skills so they can go get jobs.” They’ve had success with this goal already; one woman who went through the program has now been hired by the soup kitchen as the assistant baker. Daja Scroggs, 33, was homeless from December 2014 until March 2016 after leaving her husband, and today she is living in her own apartment. She lived at Brother Francis, but when she got kicked out, she moved to sleeping on the streets for two weeks until a bed at the the women’s shelter at DSK opened up. She was one of the first women to join this new baking program. “With my last job, the only baking we did was with pre-schoolers, so it was, you know, little hands on cooking crafts with them.” Scroggs says she knew nothing of measuring and baking large amounts, but hopes to continue learning. “I like the creating of the cakes because they’re so plain and you can do anything to them, they can have layers and textures and you can decorate them so many ways.” Christensen says he loves to see the transformation in these women from when they come in to when they finish the program. “Apparently we didn’t use to smile when we came in here,” said Scroggs, but Christensed says now you can see the women laughing and enjoying themselves. Scrogg says she hopes to stay at DSK for a while. “I got back to work, it’s been six years—almost seven years—since I’ve had a job and been able to go back to work.” It’s new, living by herself rather than living with 29 other women at the shelter, “it’s quiet, and it’s weird,” she says, but overall Scroggs feels the program has been extremely beneficial, and hopes to continue to learn more. They hope to have a functioning food truck within the next few months, and a storefront for retail sales within the next year. They have accounts with Side Street Espresso, and the Alaska Railroad Depot’s coffee shop, and as they start to get more equipment they can do more. “The ladies are ready to bake cool stuff, but it’s hard to find a place for it to go,” said Christensen. The expansion of this program, and others that the DSK is launching—such as the culinary arts program—all depend on donations from the community. n For more information, or to donate visit downtownsoupkitchen.org.

Our free performance is brought to you in part by a generaous grant from Atwood Foundation

SHOW

! m #1

DOWN:

I’

NO I’ m #1!

D FRENCHE THE

rger u B . S V TH

TELL US THE WINNER! Lisbeth Berge, MD Lisbeth Berge, MD Family Practice:

Family Practice:

· Women Women • Men • Children · Men ·Accepting Children New Patients Accepting New Patients 2211 E. Northern Lights Blvd

907-279-8486

Lisbeth Berge, MD

HOURS: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm HOURS: Saturday 9:00am - 4:00pm Monday - Friday 7:30am - 6:00pm Saturday 9:00am - 4:00pm

2211 E. Northern Lights Blvd.

Voted Best of Alaska for Family Physicians 2009 -2015

(907) 279-8486

www.mpfcak.com

1 (888) 382-8486 - Locally owned for over 40 years!

www.mpfcak.com

1 (888) 382-8486 - Locally owned for over 40 years!

HolidayCelebrate Cheers! the flavors

A BENEFIT FOR BEANS CAFE AND THE CHILDRENS LUNCHBOX

of the season!

Wines, Craft Beers, Hors d’oeuvres, Live & Silent Auction and more!

Tickets:

Early Bird $65 After Nov. 1st $75 www.beanscafe.org

Thursday, December 1 | 6 - 9 Alaska Native Heritage Center

907.433.8603 Thank you to our sponsors!

a program of Bean’s Cafe

COMING SOON

up and will have a full bar and champagne toast.

PINKALICIOUS THE MUSICAL Fri. Nov. 25 through Tue. Dec. 20/ Cyrano’s Off Center Playhouse/ $28 - $30/ centertix.net for tickets and showtime info. See how she gets out of her pink predicament and pink indulgence of eating pink cupcakes, ending up with pinkatitis, which turns her pink from head to toe. Of course, there will be pink cupcakes, but warning: it’s best not to eat too many.

FIRST TAP DECEMBER FEAT. WATSKY X INFINITY TOUR Thur. Dec. 1, 8 p.m./ Bear Tooth Theatrepub/ $35 - $55/ beartooththeatre.tunestub.com. George Watsky is a rapper, writer and performer from San Francisco now living in Los Angeles. A versatile lyricist who switches between silly and serious, technically complex and simply heartfelt, Watsky won the Brave New Voices National Poetry Slam in 2006. Immediately after, he appeared on the final season of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry in 2007 while a college Freshman and subsequently performed at over 150 universities across the country.

THE NUTCRACKER Fri. Nov. 25, through Sun. Nov. 27/ $37 - $81.50/ centertix.net for tickets and showtimes. The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without The Nutcracker. This extravaganza is a timeless tradition for the whole family. Clara’s dreams will transport you to the Snow Kingdom and the Land of the Sweets with the Sugar Plum Fairy. Drift away into this beloved story as a 45-piece symphony orchestra sets the tone for magical sets and exquisite choreography. You’ll even see locally cast youth dancers. There’s no better way to kick off the holiday season with your family. It’s an experience that can be enjoyed by all ages. The Nutcracker will capture your heart and create holiday memories for years to come.

ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Fri. Dec. 2 through Sun. Dec. 11/ anchoragefilmfestival.org for more information. The Anchorage International Film Festival is a non-profit organization founded in 2001 and committed to independent filmmaking. HEALTH Fri. Dec. 2, 8 p.m./ Williwaw/ $26 - $56/ tixr.com. It’s been over half a decade since HEALTH released a studio album, and Death Magic is a bold—albeit occasionally jarring—step forward. The band finally embraces the pop impulses that seem to have always been lurking in their DNA.

THE MOWGLIS Sat. Nov. 26, 8 p.m./ Williwaw/ $25 - $28/ etix.com. If you’ve been to a big music festival in the past few years you probably have heard of or seen The Mowglis, an alternative rock band that is taking over the nation. In 2012 iTunes named their single “San Francisco” Single of the Week. They performed on various late night shows including The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Conan.

360 ALLSTARS Sat. Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m./ Atwood Concert Hall/ $26.75 - $35.25/ centertix.net for tickets. 360 Allstars is a phenomenal theatrical performance exploring all forms of rotation. A stellar cast of world class breakdancers, basketball freestylers, BMX flatlanders and cyr wheel artists connect the street with the elite and reinvent the traditional circus in a show like nothing you have seen before.

RAZZLE DAZZLE NEW YEARS BALL WITH SLOW MAGIC Sat. Dec. 31, 8 p.m/Anchorage Museum/ $55-$150/anchoragemuseum.org for tickets and information. Ring in the new year and hit the dance floor with Slow Magic at the Anchorage Museum’s Razzle Dazzle Ball. Wear black and white and see how they’ve transformed the atrium into what promises to be the coolest backdrop for ringing in the new year. The event is 21 and

THE REVELERS Fri. Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m./ TapRoot/ $25/ taprootalaska.com for tickets. The Revelers, founding members of the Red Stick Ramblers and The Pine Leaf Boys… “unquestionably the two groups at the vanguard of the Louisiana cultural renaissance”

have joined together to form a Louisiana Supergroup which combines swamp-pop, Cajun, country, blues and Zydeco into a powerful tonic of roots music that could only come from Southwest Louisiana. ANCHORAGE SYMPHONY: VIRTUOSITY Sat. Jan. 28, 8 p.m./ Atwood Concert Hall/ $27 - $52/ centertix.net for tickets. A night of the unexpected with three sensational works, including superstar Black Swan violinist, Tim Fain, playing Brahms’ iconic “Concerto for Violin”—an Anchorage Symphony Orchestra premiere. Now regarded as a masterpiece of the 20th century, “Rite of Spring” so incensed concert-goers at its premiere that rioting broke out in the aisles of the concert hall over this jarring ballet. BREAKING GROUND Sat. Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m./ Alaska Dance Theatre/ $15/ momentumdance.org for tickets. The 7th annual Breaking Ground event features new work by Alaskan choreographers. MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Sat. Feb. 25 & Sun. Feb. 26/ Sydney Laurence Theatre/ $26 - $38/ tickets and showtimes available at centertix.net. Journey with Alaska Dance Theatre into the mystical forest as fairies and nymphs enchant you and quarrelsome lovers entertain you with Shakespeare’s classical story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream brought to life through ballet. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Tue. Apr. 25 through Sun. Apr. 30/ Atwood Concert Hall/ $49.25 - $91.75/ tickets and showtimes available at centertix.net. Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is the classic story of Belle, a beautiful young woman in a provincial town, and her unlikely encounter with the Beast, who is in reality a young prince trapped in a spell. As their story unfolds, we’re introduced to an unforgettable cast of characters—Lumière, Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth and other familiar favorites. With songs by legendary composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is an international sensation that has played to over 35 million people

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MUSIC PREVIEW BY O'HARA K. SHIPE

T JUST 30 YEARS OLD, Watksy has released five hiphop albums, written a bestselling book of essays and was one of three poets who performed live on FOX at the NAACP Image Awards in honor of Russell Simmons’ lifetime achievement award in 2009. Not bad for a skinny white kid from San Francisco. Although Watsky initially made his name as a slam poet, appearing on Season 6 of “Russell Simmons’ presents Def Poetry” and receiving the Sundance Summit Award for poetry on Climate Change, it was a viral YouTube video that thrust him into the national spotlight. Originally titled “Pale kid raps fast” the video amassed over four million views and landed him an appearance on “Ellen” in 2011. A year later, Watsky released a free mixtape, Nothing Like the First Time, and embarked on his first official tour but it was his 2013 follow-up album that put him on the map as a hip-hop artist.

Released under the newly-minted production company Steel Wool Media, Cardboard Castles topped the iTunes hip-hop charts in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The album’s three singles “Strong As An Oak,” “Moral Of The Story” and “Hey,

tour stop—injuring himself and two fans in the process—Watsky managed to rebound with the release of his 2014 album All You Can Do. The highly personal album served as an introspective look into the rapper’s personal life while simultaneously paying tribute to his parents and the music they listened to when they were growing up. In “Tears to Diamonds,” Watsky who was diagnosed with epilepsy, examines the paradox of prescription drugs that make them both toxic and life-saving. The album’s title track “All You Can Do,” unabashedly addresses his infamous London leap: “I try to jump and spread my wings like I’m a bird of prey But I hit the earth and break a mothafucka’s vertebrate (hey) I guess I’m fucking up the blueprint for success.” However, it was “Whoa Whoa Whoa” that garnered the most commercial success, reaching two million YouTube views in less than six weeks. Watsky’s most recent album x Infinity, released on July 8, 2016, has reached number 58 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and sparked a world tour with a stop at Anchorage’s Bear Tooth Theatre on December 1. “My Anchorage show is happening because I met Don Megga from 92.9FM at a festival last year and he worked hard to help me find an opportunity to bring my tour to town. After the festival gig I stayed in Alaska to camp for a week and fell in love with the state, so adding an Anchorage date was something I really wanted to do. I’m sticking around in town after the show at Bear Tooth for a while. I can’t wait to come back,” Watsky said. n

Despite a lapse in judgement that led the rapper to leap 35 feet from a lighting rig into a crowd of fans at a London tour stop—injuring himself and two fans in the process—Watsky managed to rebound with the release of his 2014 album All You Can Do. Asshole” garnered him over 10 million YouTube views and helped cement his spot on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour. Despite a lapse in judgement that led the rapper to leap 35 feet from a lighting rig into a crowd of fans at a London

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Watsky plays Bear Tooth at 9 p.m. on Thursday, December 1. Tickets are $35 - $50 and available at www. beartooththeatre.net. The event in 18+.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE 4TH ANNUAL FREE THANKSGIVING DINNER— The Kriner family cordially invites you to Kriner’s Diner for a free Thanksgiving Day meal. All tips and donations will be donated to the Children’s Lunchbox. Free, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Kriner’s Diner, 2409 C St.) GCI GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT—The first round of the 39th annual GCI Great Alaska Shootout men’s round start at 5:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving. Drake vs. Iona followed by UC Davis vs. Weber State. For a full schedule of the weekends games and to purchase tickets visit goseawolves.com. $10 - $65, 5:30 p.m. through Sat., Nov. 26. (Alaska Airlines Center, 3550 Providence Dr.)

MUSIC IRISH MUSIC, 7:30 p.m. (McGinley’s Pub, 645 G St., Ste. 101) DJ JAMES, 9:30 p.m. (Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House, 610 W. 6th Ave.) DJ MARK, 10 p.m. (Gaslight Lounge, 721 W. 4th Ave.)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE S’MORES AT CHRISTMAS TOWNE—Come warm up by the fire and roast up some s’mores while conducting your Christmas shopping this holiday season at Christmas Towne. The Eagle River Chamber of Commerce is donating all the fixings to keep your tummy warm as Alaska’s winter wonderland encircles you. $10 - $15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through December 18. (Christmas Towne, 23001 Camp Gorsuch Rd.)

AT&T HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY—Join your hosts AT&T Alaska and Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. for the annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony. Enjoy free cookies, hot cocoa, holiday music, Santa and his reindeer and last but not least, the lighting of the Holiday Tree. There will also be music from the Anchorage Concert Chorus and Salvation

Army Band. Free, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Town Square Park, 551 6th Ave.) THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE—Anchorage Community Theatre opens their second show of the 16/17 season with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, directed by David Block. C.S. Lewis’s beloved novel charms us with the tale of four young children sent to an old farmhouse in the English countryside during the Second World War. They fight their boredom with a trip to a magical kingdom through an old wardrobe where they become kings and queens and the animals talk. Playing through Sunday, Dec.11 Thursday – Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. No show on Thanksgiving. $13 - $17. (Anchorage Community Theatre, 1133 E. 70th Ave.) ALASKA ACES HOME GAME—Bring your cowbell and fish heads and cheer on your local Alaska Aces as they take on the Utah Grizzlies with games on Saturday and Sunday. $9 - $25, 7:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3:05 p.m. Sunday. (Sullivan Arena, 1600 Gambell St.)

MUSIC UNDER 21 OPEN MIC NIGHT, 5:30 to 8 p.m. (Middle Way Cafe, 1200 W. Northern Lights Blvd.) PIANO WITH MISHA SHIMEK, 6:30 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.) DJ TONY H, 9 p.m. (Flattop Pizza + Pool, 600 W. 6th Ave.) UNFAITHFUL LOVERS, 9:30 p.m. (Humpy’s, 610 W. 6th Ave.) DJ MARK, 10 p.m. (Gaslight Lounge, 721 W. 4th Ave.)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE FREE COMMUNITY TAI CHI—Cultivate internal harmony while increasing strength and balance. Join LaoShih Holly as she guides you through the principles of standing meditation and Yang-style Tai-Chi. No experience or special attire required. Protect the floors, no street shoes please. Free, 9 a.m. (Jade Lady Meditation, 508 W. 2nd Ave., Ste. 103) SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY AT BELLA BOUTIQUE— Forget the big box stores, come on out and support your local mom and pop shops. Enjoy munchies, mini-sales and enter to win a $200 Bella gift card. Free, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Bella Boutique, 2601 Spenard Rd., Ste. 3) WRITERS CRITIQUE GROUP—A critique group for writers of all genres, at all levels of experience who seek bet-

terment through their peers. Meets at Title Wave Books. For more info, call Mary Edmunds at 569-5075. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Title Wave Books,1360 W. Northern Lights Blvd.) RAGE CITY ROLLERGIRLS CHRISTMAS BAZAAR—Purchase gifts from LuLaRoe, H2O, BeachBody, It Works, Damsel in Defense, Jamberry, Lipsence, Magnolia & Vine, Sew What, Nice & Bella & many more. Please contact ragecityfury@gmail.com for more information Free, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 8100 Arctic Blvd.) SHOP SMALL SATURDAY— Join the Anchorage Downtown Partnership as they host Small Business Saturday & Scavenger Hunt. Start at the 4th Avenue Marketplace for free coffee and cookies, and grab a map of all the local shops to hit. Don’t forget to catch a showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas, playing every half hour in the Alaska Experience Theater. (Anchorage Downtown Area) FAC’S 20TH ANNUAL SILENT QUILT AUCTION— Attendees can bid on an expected 150+ quilts. Winners will be announced around 3 p.m. Free, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (University Center Mall, 3801 Seward Hwy.) SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY MULTI VENDOR SOIRÉE—‘Tis the season. Join in an afternoon of fun and shopping while supporting local small businesses. There will be a variety of vendors—some unique to Alaska and some of your well known favorites—all perfect for checking everyone off your list. Free, noon to 4 p.m. (49th State Brewing Co., 717 W. 3rd Ave.) BEARD AND MUSTACHE CONTEST—Beards, mustaches and motorcycles. Celebrate No Shave November at the House of Harley-Davidson. Pop-up barber shop by Cut & Caliber. Free, noon to 3 p.m. (House of Harley-Davidson, 4334 Spenard Rd.) GALLERY TALK: TILT—Join Amy Johnson as she discusses her work each week which includes themes of transition, unfamiliarity, solitude, endurance and living in the North. For more information contact Amy at amyjohnsonstudio@ gmail.com. Free, 2 p.m. (320 W. 6th Ave.) HOLIDAY POP UP SIP & SHOP—Support small business Saturday at the Anchorage Distillery. One-stop shopping for all your gift needs. Jewelry, handmade mittens and scarves, photography, candles, baskets and more. Free, 2 to 6 p.m. (Anchorage Distillery, 6310 A St.) BOOM TOWN MASHUP: OLD SCHOOL VS. NEW SCHOOL—The Boom Town Derby Dames invite you to their first home game of the season. This is an all ages event. $5 - $12, 6 to 9 p.m. (Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, 1001 S. Mack Rd., Wasilla)

SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER AND DANCE—Enjoy live music, dancing, food, beverages, free dance lessons and good company in a safe, clean and friendly atmosphere every Saturday night. In the spirit of camaraderie and community responsibility, the 35+ Singles Club of Anchorage seeks to bring together adult singles over the age of 35 years, for the enjoyment of dancing, friendship and social interaction. Twitter @35SinglesClub. $15 - $18, 7 p.m. (Carpenter’s Hall, 407 Denali St.) SPEEDSKATING—The Alaska Speedskating Club offers opportunities for people of all ages who have any level of previous skating experience to learn how to speed skate. The first session is free. Skates and protective gear are provided. Bring your own helmet if you have one. Come at 7:45 a.m. to get skates and safety gear. They also meet on Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. $18 - $23, 8:30 a.m. (Subway Sports Center, 11111 O’Malley Centre Dr.)

BEAT 2 BEAT—This musical trivia show tests your knowledge of music ranging across all genres. Join your host, Nicole, every Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8 p.m. Think you can name the song and the artist first? Come try Beat 2 Beat for your shot at awesome prizes and to prove your musical expertise. (Koot’s, 2435 Spenard Rd.) VIVAVOOM ONE NIGHT STAND: CAUCUS-KAZE!— It’s the very first of the all-new VivaVoom One Night Stand shows. Short, intimate peeks at Burlesque and other arts in Alaska through the lens of often-underrepresented sections of our community. After this election season, you deserve a few laughs. Caucus-Kaze pulls apart the craziness with the comic relief you will need. For more information on upcoming shows vivavoomburlesque. com. $10, 8 to 11p.m. (Koot's, 2435 Spenard Dr.) THIS AIN’T FROZEN!:A BIRTHDAY FUNDRAISER— It’s a birthday celebration and a fundraiser for Polar Bear Plunge. There will be cake and fun to have for all. $3+, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Mad Myrna’s, 530 E. 5th Ave.)

REBEL BLUES, 9:30 p.m. (Humpy’s, 610 W. 6th Ave.)

MUSIC

DJ MARK, 10 p.m. (Gaslight Lounge, 721 W. 4th Ave.)

ERIN PESZNECKER, 1 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.)

PANTS OFF DANCE OFF, 10 p.m. (Taproot, 3300 Spenard Rd.) SABROSO SATURDAY, 10 p.m. (LED Ultra Lounge, 901 W. 6th Ave.) UKULELE RUSS, 10 p.m. (Blue Fox, 3461 E. Tudor Rd.)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE AERIAL SILKS CLASSES— Intro to Aerial Silks Class from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. (no experience needed) or for the Sunday Special (experience required) from 1:45 to 3 p.m. at Anchorage Community Works. The Intro to Aerial session is designed to teach you the very basics in aerial acrobatics. If you have never touched an aerial fabric before this is the course for you. Their Sunday Special will vary by demand. Each Sunday they will choose a different challenge: Learning a new climb, practicing a new sequence or introducing a new apparatus. $30, 12:30 to 3 p.m. (Anchorage Community Works, 349 E. Ship Creek Ave.) PAINT A SCARF—Painters can choose from four designs to adorn their very own silk scarves, creating a beautiful personal accessory, or a gift for the holidays. This weekly event also takes place on Tuesdays at 49th State Brewing Co. To register visit paintascarf. com/pub. $49, 3:30/ 4:30/ 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. (Williwaw, 609 F St.) GEEKS WHO DRINK—Simply, a quiz game played in a pub. It’s an Anglo-Irish tradition, but the goal is the same: To foster friendly competition and promote social drinking, a noble cause indeed. Free, 6 p.m. (TapRoot, 3300 Spenard Rd.) NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CLASS—This weekly class will be scheduled for Sunday evenings until May. There will be a beginners class and an advanced class. For more information just call the Viking Hall at 349-1613. $20 - $40, 6:30 p.m. (Viking Hall, 8141 Briarwood St.)

MUSIC SING SONGWRITER SHOWCASE, 7 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.) LOFT BLUES JAM, 7:30 p.m. (Anchorage City Limits, 239 W. 4th Ave.) SASPARILLA, 9 p.m. (The Alaskan Office Lounge, 545 E. Northern Lights Blvd.) LIVE MUSIC, 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. (Flight Deck Bar & Lounge, 842 W. International Airport Rd.)

BYOV—Koot’s Bring Your Own Vinyl provides the turntables and speakers, they just need you to bring your favorites from your collection. Who’s got the best collection? Come show off your vinyl every Sunday at Koot’s. Free, 9 p.m. (Koot’s, 2435 Spenard Rd.)

OPEN MIC NIGHT HOSTED BY JUSTIN BOOT, 8 p.m. (Van’s Dive Bar, 1027 E. 5th Ave.) OPEN MIC, 8 p.m. (Humpy’s, 610 W. 6th Ave.) KARAOKE, 9 p.m. (Gaslight Lounge, 721 W. 4th Ave.) OPEN MIC, 9 p.m. (Al’s Alaskan Inn, 7830 Old Seward Hwy.) KARAOKE, 9 p.m. (TapRoot, 3300 Spenard Rd.) DOMINGOS DE CLASICADAS WITH DJ ZAYY, 10 p.m. (LED Ultra Lounge, 901 W. 6th Ave.)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE POKÉMON CLUB—Get the lowdown on where the best Pokémon are in Anchorage. A $5 tournament starts at 4:30. Free, 4 p.m. (Bosco’s, 2301 Spenard Rd.) ALASKA RANGE BOOK LAUNCH PARTY—Alaska Range book celebration and fundraiser for the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. Presentations by Roman Dial, Clint Helander and Carl Battreal. Free, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Bear Tooth Theatrepub, 1230 W. 27th Ave.) SCRABBLE CLUB—Abaxile, bulblet, celotex, to name a few. Join Scrabble enthusiasts every Monday night and widen your vocabulary skills. They’ll provide the games and you bring the fun. All ages welcome. Free, 6 p.m. (Title Wave Books, 1360 W. Northern Lights Blvd.) PRICELESS PRESENTS: THE GIFT—Come as a family, small group or work crew to pack and put together care packages for the most vulnerable in our community. Then, pack one box for you to carry with you and find that special someone who needs a little extra love over the holidays. Register online at pricelessalaska.org. $10, 6 to 9 p.m. (ChangePoint, 6689 Changepoint Dr.) ALASKA OUTDOORS WEEKLY EVENING HIKE: UNIVERSITY LAKE PARK— Alaska Outdoors hosts easy to moderate social hikes every Monday and Thursday, all year, throughout Anchorage. Monday’s hike is designed for hiking beginners and families with children on established wide and mostly flat trail about 3.5 - 4.5 miles in 1.5 hours. Thursday hikes are designed for moderate hikers. Free, 6:30 p.m. (University Lake Park, 3890 University Lake Dr.)

November 24 - November 30, 2016

$12.95 Per Bag | 50 lb Bags

MUSIC PREVIEW BY BRIDEY HEING

OOKING FOR a way to dance off some Thanksgiving turkey? Williwaw has you covered with a show from The Mowgli’s, an L.A.-based rock band who just released their fourth album Where’d Your Weekend Go? With a sound straight out of California’s classic ‘60s and ‘70s scene (with some fun early 2000s indie flavor), Saturday’s concert will help you work that winter chill out of your bones and get in the summer spirit one more time. The Mowgli’s were founded by high school friends Matthew Di Panni (bass), Dave Applebaum (keys), Andy Warren (percussion), Katie Earl (vocals) and former members Spencer Trent and Michael Vincze. They met Colin Dieden (guitar) in 2009, and soon wrote some of the band’s first songs. Shortly after Josh Hogan (guitar) joined the band after sitting in for a set. One of the Mowgli’s hallmarks is its uniquely large size, today clocking in at six members but at various times running closer to 10. “Before we really did this as a career and we all had day jobs, we’d get off work and we’d go to the bar or the club and we’d play music with our friends and that’s when the number [of band members] would get up to 10 or 12,” Earl told SoundCheck Magazine last year. “We’d say, ‘Hey you want to play horns with us tonight or play keys or whatever you want to do?’ and we would just invite people to play with us.” It didn’t take long for the Mowgli’s to throw their all into getting their sound out there. In early 2010, the band released their first recordings online, rented a house in Venice Beach and started playing shows at a prolific rate. A year later they released their first LP, Sound the Drum and got involved with the Occupy movement. But by 2012, their big breaks were coming in. They appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and recorded a song for “The Sims.” They played SXSW and had more late night TV appearances in 2013, the same year they released their first full length album Waiting

for the Sun with Photo Finish Records. The follow-up Kids In Love came along in 2015, and Where’d Your Weekend Go? was released in September of this year. To put it mildly, it’s been a hectic six years. “We have been playing and working round the clock at this band for going on six years, so it never felt like we ‘blew up,’ and it still doesn’t,” Earl told The Aquarian last year. “We’re just doing our thing— traveling and playing—and we couldn’t be happier about it.” Happiness is at the heart of The Mowgli’s music. The band’s lyrics and sound are upbeat and positive; reminiscent of classic sunny California tunes. Positivity and togetherness is the root of the band’s approach to music as well, as evidenced by their early days of inviting their many friends to take the stage with them. “Even if you’ve experienced something really negative, positivity comes from just knowing that you’re going to get out of it. Obviously everyone feels things that aren’t happy—but you sit with that, you figure it out—and you realize why you’re feeling that way and you write about not wanting to feel that way anymore or what it’s like when it’s over,” Dieden told Soundcheck Magazine. Today, with their growing platform they see this positivity as playing a central role in the band’s identity. “We hope that our message and our lyrics remind people that whatever they’re feeling, they are not alone; that they feel better after listening to our music or going to a show than they did before they put on the record or came to the show,” Earl told Crave The Sound this year. n

Happiness is at the heart of The Mowgli’s music. The band’s lyrics and sound are upbeat and positive; reminiscent of classic sunny California tunes.

November 24 - November 30, 2016

The Mowgli’s are live at Williwaw with Termination Dust opening on Saturday, November 26. The show starts at 8 p.m., with tickets starting at $25. The show is 21 and over. More information can be found at williwawsocial.com.

To Order

Call: (907) 277-0141 or (907) 279-5650 Email: jrobinson@anchoragedowntown.org 333 W 4th Ave, Suite 317, Anchorage, AK 99501 | (907) 279-5650 info@anchoragedowntown.org | www.AnchorageDowntown.org

Please join us at The Kobuk for:

First Friday

with Anchorage artist, Debby Bloom

Opening Reception (with cookies and tea) Friday, December 2, 2016 • 5-7pm

The Kobuk

504 W 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99501• 907-272-3626 www.KobukCoffee.com

At the event, Kobuk will be launching its new tea, called: “Otter-ly” Delicious. Does that otter look familiar?! And, the tea? It really IS delicious!

“Otter-ly” Delicious

“Otter-

Herbal Tea

A sassy tea for the salty souls among us! Ingredients: Sencha, gojiberries, lemongrass, pomegranate arils, cornflower blossoms and flavorings. 504 W 5th Avenue • Anchorage, Alaska 907-272-3626 • www.KobukCoffee.com

504 W. 5th Avenue • Anchora 907-272-3626 • www.KobukC

Original art work by Alaska artist, Debby Bloom. www.DebbyBloom.com

Original art wo ww

Debby paints large-scale acrylics and smaller watercolors. For more info, please visit: www.DebbyBloom.com

Featuring the Eugene Ballet Company

November 25–27 // Atwood Concert Hall

731 E 5TH AVE (CORNER OF 5TH AND GAMBEL) • (907) 276-4829 • MONDAY - SATURDAY 10AM -6PM

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Get Tickets // AnchorageConcerts.org

November 24 - November 30, 2016

FILM REVIEW BY INDRA ARRIAGA

“S

TELLA! HEY, STELLA!” There are few names in cinema that viewers know must be shouted from the rooftops; “Stella” is one (the other is “Elaine!” from The Graduate). Fans of A Streetcar Named Desire and newcomers to the genius of playwright, Tennessee Williams and director, Elia Kazan are in for a treat! This year is the 65th Anniversary of one of the quintessential masterpieces in American film history. The film is based on Williams’ play by the same title. The story takes place in 1950s New Orleans where a weathered streetcar named “Desire” emerges from the shadows just in time to pick up Blanche DuBois as she arrives to live with her sister, Stella, and Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski. “Desire” takes Blanche from her old life at Belle Reve—shrouded in loss and mystery—to the working-class home of her sister where Blanche immediately clashes with Stanley who she perceives to be a brute and an offense to her Southern belle upbringing. By the same token, Stanley is a scoundrel from the get-go, resenting Blanche’s stay and the world she represents. The film—directed by Greek-American Elia Kazan—captures the American class dynamics of the South in the 1950s when bigotry was embedded in the layers of the working class; not unlike today, only then things were on cusp of changing for the better. As an immigrant, Kazan was able to capture the struggle of immigrants and the children of immigrants; first and second generations Americans trying to fit in and get ahead through hard work and by embracing their new nationality. Kazan went on to direct other iconic films like On the Waterfront and Viva Zapata! In A Streetcar Named Desire Kazan couldn’t have asked for a better cast. Marlon Brando is at his best, with a wide range of emotion and the physicality to seduce viewers of all genders and sexual orientations. In 1951 He was up for Academy Award for his role as Stanley. The Oscar that year went to Humphrey Bogart for The African Queen—also a good performance but it paled in comparison to Brando’s. Interestingly, the dichotomy between Bogart and Brando was a reflection of the shift in cinema between old and young, and stylized character development giving way to the characters representing the real and gritty working class. A Streetcar

Named Desire brings forth an aging queen of the screen, Vivien Leigh, as Blanche. By the time the film is made Leigh is seasoned and

titude to embrace her past. When she finally goes off the rails in the last violent scene with Stanley, Blanche is even more engaging. This leaves Stella, played by Kim Hunter, to be the intermediator between her two loved ones, as well as her past life of luxury at Belle Reve and her blue collar existence in New Orleans. Stella is caught between a rock and hard place. A Streetcar Named Desire is a masterpiece from beginning to end, or almost the end; the ending in film deviates from that of the play, and that makes a huge difference to the implication of Stella’s actions. Nevertheless, the film is able to capture the complexity of Tennessee Williams’ virtuosity in creating full human beings who are beautiful and de-

Nevertheless, the film is able to capture the complexity of Tennessee Williams’ virtuosity in creating full human beings who are beautiful and despicable, as radiant as angels and as toxic as tyrants and everything in between. not afraid to play the disturbed and morally ambiguous Blanche DuBois. Leigh solicits empathy from viewers and—as those around her judge her—she has the resilience and for-

spicable, as radiant as angels and as toxic as tyrants and everything in between. This type of character development transcends time and generations because everyone can see themselves reflected, even if it’s to one’s chagrin. If Shakespeare took human nature and separated it into characters, Williams does the opposite, each character is a massive bulk of all things human all at once—it’s simply sublime. n

A Streetcar Named Desire shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, November 28 at 8:15 p.m.

ART HOUSE MONDAY / NOV 28

ALASKA RANGE – EXPLORING THE LAST GREAT WILD. 5:30 PM

1230 W. 27th Ave

907-276-4200

For a complete listing of this week’s movies, visit beartooththeatre.net

November 24 - November 30, 2016

Alaska Range Book launch Party and Celebration! Alaska Range, from the Canadian border to where it collides with the Aleutian Range. This groundbreaking volume is a long over-due tribute to one of the great mountain ranges of the world. Featuring the photography of Carl Battreall, with enlightening essays by: Art Davidson, Roman Dial, Jeff Benowitz, Clint Helander, Brian Okonek, Verna Pratt and Bill Sherwonit. Apercentge of the proceeds benefit the Alaska Mountain Rescue group.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. 8:15 PM

THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION

Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-inlaw while her reality crumbles around her. “Marlon Brando didn’t win the Academy Award in 1951 for his acting in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The Oscar went to Humphrey Bogart, for “The African Queen.” But you could make a good case that no performance had more influence on modern film acting styles than Brando’s work as Stanley Kowalski, Tennessee Williams’ rough, smelly, sexually charged hero”.

THEATER REVIEW BY LEE HARRINGTON

EFT ALONE in the woods by the Maugrim (Shawn Gardner), the faun Tumnus (Boogie Willis) is quaking in its hooves. Told to keep a look out for a son of Adam or a daughter of Eve, Tumnus is perplexed. With ears twitching from side to side and curved rams horns rising out from curly hair, Willis holds the stage with nothing but the sound of the flute. When Lucy (Hadley Earl) finds Narnia, Willis shakes with the fear, and sets the stage with a smile and a call for gentleness as the play unfolds, sometimes at lightning speed. C.S. Lewis’ classic novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—including the theatrical dramatization by Joseph Robinette—is an ambitious project. The first book from the Chronicles of Narnia series, the story tells the journey of four young siblings who magically escape the home they were relocated to during the London bombings in WW2, to a fantastically dark fairyland where hope endures in the depths of winter. Its ambition comes in the scope of the vast landscapes, the number of cast members, costuming and the amount of time it can take to tell the story with the lushness it deserves. The folks at Anchorage Community Theatre (ACT), led by director David Block, were able to rise to some of these challenges. Having let go of the human girl, Tamnus is turned to stone by the White Witch (Mary Claire Letourneau). When Lucy returns to Narnia, she first brings her brother

Edmund (Marcos Lage), who unwittingly teams up with Letourneau, and then her other siblings Susan (Grace Goodyear) and Peter (Matthew Cochrane). Together they discover a prophecy predicting two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam will ascend to the throne when King Aslan (Amahaad Lee) returns, bringing spring back to the land. The plotline of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is one that includes a lot of characters—23 in this production. Block’s casting led to some great choices, such as Teaguen O’Fallen and Kennedy Alexander as Evil Minions whose physicality and sneers helped Letourneau’s White Witch go from seeming pretentious to beautiful, creepy and disturbing. In addition, the choice to have four mice (Ella Grace Bailey, Elena Lage, Lucille Hedman, and Matthew Crocker) appear on stage allowed for much-needed smiles to brighten the mood after one of the play’s darker scenes. Laid out in a horseshoe of seating, the space at ACT might seem like a challenging one for Narnia. However, the lighting and set design teams took minimalism and made it work to their advantage. Beautifully simple projected images for the change in seasons, a wardrobe that converts into a multi-purpose stone slab, a base that becomes the holder of various props and a hidden lamppost all create an engaging ambiance. Using their off-stage spaces to create the additional sense of space also helped immensely. The challenge with a limited stage size—for a cast with mixed levels of experience—is controlling one’s voice for the

intimate space. For those used to projecting from a stage that is separate from the audience, some performances came out as loud and stilted. Goodyear’s performance as Susan, Willis’ Tummus, and Crocker’s Lucy all stood out in their excellence, providing an anchor for the rest of the cast to calibrate. Choreography for the fight sequences was also designed for a more distant stage, making it seem to be a slowmotion battle. Trying to fit the scope of the first Narnia book into this short production did not provide an opportunity for the young actors to shine. Being on fast-forward, they had to breeze through plot segments, restricted by the shape of the stage where they had to literally walk in circles. Luckily, the beautiful costumes and makeup were able to carry us deeper into the plot; helping transport the actors and audience alike into this world that was written in 1950, but still is valid in its messages today. The makeup allowed Maurgim Fenris Ulf’s (Shawn Gardner) eyes to dazzle with madness to full effect, and the costuming elevated all of the forest animals into their roles for the world to appreciate them. When the plot slowed down, the audience relaxed and immersed itself into this transported world. In light of the recent political climate, this play is perfectly-timed as an opportunity to reflect on the need for good rulers, and that those rulers need good people in turn. Let The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe be a reminder to strive toward our own excellence—and for that—a visit to ACT’s production is well worth it. n

(l to r) Kennedy Alexander (Evil Minion), Mary Claire Letourneau (White Witch), Becca Padrick (Dwarf), Teaguen O’Fallen (Evil Minion), Shawn Gardner (Maurgrim). PHOTO BY CHRISTINE MARKIEWICZ

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe runs through December 11 at Anchorage Community Theatre, with a special small children’s matinee on November 26 at 3 p.m. Tickets run $17 for adults, $15 for Seniors/Military/ Students, and $13 for Children. Information and tickets are available at ACTAlaska.org or 868-4913.

November 24 - November 30, 2016

BY INDRA ARRIAGA

Moore Icefall, Delta Mountains. PHOTO BY CARL BATTREALL

LASKA, THE GREAT LAND, is filled with undiscovered wonders. Even for Alaskans, it’s impossible to discover all the magical places and sights across the largest state in the nation. Photographer Carl Battreall had a similar realization during his wedding on Ruth Glacier in 2004. As the couple took refuge in their tent during inclement weather, Battreall poured over maps and noted that there were many places he had never heard of and likely had never been seen by human eyes. This discovery ignited his imagination; perched on the glacier he embarked on two journeys; the first, a new personal partnership, and the second, a search for hidden Alaska that would be comprised of 30 expeditions over a 10-year period. In a brief conversation with the Anchorage Press, Battreall reflected on his experience throughout the years and expeditions of discovery. Most forays were in late winter or early spring, under arduous conditions and in extreme temperatures. Battreal knows better than most the challenges and wonders that the Alaska wilderness offers. He remarked that through his experience he was really struck by the remoteness of the Alaska Range and how difficult it is to reach most places, as well the risks that come with undertaking such adventures. The expeditions were largely funded through Battreall’s professional practice. His book, Alaska Range: Exploring The Last Great Wild was published Mountaineers Books, the publishing division of The Mountaineers, an organization founded in 1906 and dedicated to the exploration, preservation and enjoyment of outdoor and wilderness areas. Battreall considers the tome a collaborative project that brings together about 120 photos of his expeditions, plus six essays and forward notes by seven additional contributors from a variety of backgrounds. The contributors— Alaskan outdoor legends Art Davidson, Roman Dial, Jeff Benowitz, Clint Helander, Brian Okonek, Verna Pratt and Bill Sherwonit—present an assortment of writings that complement Battreall’s images and make the book enticing both, visually and literarily, encompassing the vastness of the Alaska Range, from the Canadian border to where it collides with the Aleutian Range.

Alaska Range: Exploring The Last Great Wild is filled with breathtaking images of Alaska’s pristine wilderness, from wide angles and panoramas of incalculable splendor to the majesty of wild beasts and the tenderness of enduring flora. Each of the writers brings his or her area of expertise and experiences with the Alaskan outdoors to the work. Considering the amount of visual and narrative information, covering an assortment of topics, the book is pleasantly balanced. Some essays are deeply felt accounts of experiences climbing in Alaska in different parts of the range, and of course, Denali. Other essays speak of tragic events and impressive accomplishments, or recount history or experiences when gear—and humans—fail. Verna Pratt, who moved to Alaska in 1966 and founded the Alaska Native Plant Society in 1982 and the Alaska Rock

The Alaska Range: Exploring The Last Great Wild book launch and slide show takes place at Bear Tooth at 5:30 on Monday, November 28.

Garden Society in 1997, contributes the essay, “Reflections on Flora,” which is particularly interesting and filled with details and material on Alaska’s plant like. Pratt is able to talk specifically about the interdependence of flora and mountain ranges—while also giving information on the characteristics shared with other geographies—thus tying Alaska to the world, from seedlings to forests. Slide images and other presentations will be featured at the book launch and celebration for Alaska Range: Exploring The Last Great Wild at the Bear Tooth Theatre Pub on November 28. Joining Carl Battreall will also be contributors Roman Dial, Alaskan scientist, explorer, adventurer and wilderness racer, and Clint Helander, an Alaskan alpinist known for his bold climbs and visionary first ascents in the Revelation Mountains. n The Alaska Range: Exploring The Last Great Wild book launch and slide show takes place at Bear Tooth at 5:30 on Monday, November 28.

U P C OM I NG E V E N T S

BEARTOOTHTHEATRE.NET Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Deepwater Horizon .................................... The Magnificent Seven.............................. Storks - 2D ..................................................... Storks - 3D ..................................................... ALASKA RANGE: Exploring the Last Great Wild

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) .......... 1st Tap Concert with Watsky ..................

FRI 12/1 907-276-4200 11/2511/25 - 12/1- THUR 907-276-4200 • BEARTOOTHTHEATRE.NET 25 5:00 7:55 10:15 12:00 2:30

26 5:00 7:55 10:15 12:00 2:30

27 5:00 7:55

29 30 5:30 5:30

8:20 8:20 12:00 2:30 5:30 8:10 8:00

Now Playing

MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN NOV 25-27, 29 & 30

Tickets & All-Films Passes on sale now, online and at the Bear Tooth box office!

November 24 - November 30, 2016

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DEC 2-12, 2016 |

When Jacob discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers.

MEDITATION—In this busy, chaotic world, it is very important for our day-to-day happiness and peace that we learn how to control our mind. This is a class designed to show how to apply simple meditation techniques and basic Buddhist psychology in the midst of a normal, modern lifestyle. $5 - $10, 7 to 8:30 p.m. (Namaste North Yoga Studio, 508 W. 2nd Ave.) GEEKS WHO DRINK AT THE 49TH STATE BREWING CO.—Yes, it’s really at the 49th State Brewing Co. Come get your geek on while having 49th State beer and 49th State food in the theater with quizmaster Warren Weinstein. Tables will be set up to accommodate a plethora of teams. Doors open at 6, quiz at 7 p.m. Free, 7 to 9:30 p.m. (49th State Brewing Co., 717 W. 3rd Ave.) BACHATA DANCE LESSONS—Bachata is a dance from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean islands. Both the music and the dance have been influenced by Cuban bolero, merengue, salsa and cumbia styles. Join ADP on Mondays to learn what this beautiful and intimate dance is all about. Drop-in classes are only $12; all levels welcome. 8 p.m. (Alaska Dance Promotions, 300 E. Dimond Blvd., Ste. 11A)

MUSIC MOTOWN MONDAYS, 5 p.m. (Fat Ptarmigan, 441 W. 5th Ave.) BOB PARSONS & KENNY BLACKWELL, 6 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.) FIRESIDE LIVE FEAT. NOTHIN’ BUT TROUBLE, 9 p.m. (Koot’s, 2435 Spenard Rd.)

KARAOKE, 9 p.m. (Gaslight Lounge, 721 W. 4th Ave.)

SKINNY RAVEN PUB RUN—Join the weekly joggers scurrying around downtown. The runs are approximately 5K in distance which starts at Skinny Raven and finishes at McGinley’s Pub. Product demos and fun prizes every week. Free, 6 p.m. (Skinny Raven, 800 H St.)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE

MAKING WISE FINANCIAL DECISIONS—There are five cognitive processes hardwired into our brains that often make financial decisions challenging. Each roadblock is closely examined in creative fashion to help you understand why our brains manipulate the investment planning process and what can be done about it. Free, 6 to 7 p.m. (Mall at Sears, 600 E. Northern Lights Blvd.)

WEE BE JAMMIN'—Come have fun at the library with music, movement and simple instruments. Introduce your little one to all things music, from shakers to clapping. Good singing voice not required. Ages 5 & under with their families. Free, 11 a.m. (Anchorage Public Library, 3600 Denali St.) ESL CLASSES—Learning a new language can be difficult, but the Mountain View Library is here to help make it easier. They are now offering free ESL classes twice a week for anyone who wants to attend. A play area for children is provided. Contact Sarah at mcbrydes@muni.org for more information. Free, 1:30 to 3 p.m. (Mountain View Library Community Room, 120 Bragaw St.) YU-GI-OH TOURNAMENT AND OPEN PLAY—Born from the game Duel Monsters within the original Japanese manga, the Yu-Gi-Oh card game is a battle-based gameplay where players duel each other using monster face cards. Come and try it out for free, or if you’re a more serious dueler, bring your decks along. Occasional sealed deck tournaments may come with a higher charge. Free for casual play, $6 - $7 for tournament play, 3 p.m. (Bosco’s, 2301 Spenard Rd.) BONNY SOSA TUESDAY NIGHT RACE SERIES—Join in this family tradition of running and learning our beloved trail system. Three separate race courses are set each week in different park locations. Whether you are a competitive runner or just want to get out and see a new trail, this event is for you. Races begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Distances range from 3K to 10K. Register online at muni.org/Active. $2 - $70, 5:30 p.m. (Kincaid Outdoor Center, 1600 Lidia Selkregg Ln.)

STEEP LIFE PROTOCOL— Dean Cummings’ H20 Guides presents the award-winning outdoor education program, Steep Life Protocol, for backcountry travel. Free, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (SkiAK, 530 E. Benson Blvd.)

MUSIC JOE CRAIG AND FRIENDS, 6 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.) AFTER WORK ACOUSTIC SHOW, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. (Pioneer Bar, 739 W. 4th Ave.) FIRESIDE LIVE FEAT. JARED WOODS & ROBB ROOD, 9 p.m. (Koot’s, 2435 Spenard Rd.)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 ARTS, OUTDOORS, ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE PROVIDENCE HOLIDAY BAZAAR 2016—The 28th annual Providence Holiday Bazaar will be in the lower level of the main hospital. All

vendors are Providence people—employees, physicians, volunteers—and are selling their handcrafted items, art items and baked goods. Come and join the fun and shop for your holiday gifts. There is also a silent auction to benefit the Mental Health Unit at PAMC. Free, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Providence Alaska Medical Center, 3200 Providence Dr.) KIDS YOGA (AGES 3 - 6 YEARS)—Why Yoga for little people? Yoga is noncompetitive physical activity which encourages flexibility, strength, coordination and body awareness. In a world full of hustle and bustle, yoga teaches kids how to relax and relieve stress. Yoga helps to bring out kids’ inner self and utilize their unique qualities in a positive way. $75 - $125, 10 a.m. (Open Space Alaska, 630 E. 57th Pl., #2) WATER AEROBICS CLASS— Community water aerobics class in a newly renovated saltwater pool. Great exercise that’s kind to your joints with great teachers and a fun atmosphere. $4.50 - $5, noon to 1 p.m. (APU Moseley Sports Center, University Dr.) LUNCHTIME MEDITATION— Find inner peace amongst a stressful workday. Join Rev. Rachel for a midday quiet meditation in a peaceful and welcoming environment. All experience levels welcome. Free, noon to 12:30 p.m. (Unity of Anchorage, 1300 E. 68th Ave.) ART CLASSES FOR KIDS 6 - 18—Come learn to draw, paint and sculpt. Art Kids Studio classes are ongoing and designed to evolve and build progressive art skills in creative self expression. Art Kids are encouraged to experiment and investigate new creative ideas and a variety of media and techniques. Visit artkidsstudio.com for more information and call 646-7938 to register. $125 - $175, 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. (Art Kids Studio, Fireweed & A St.) BEER MEETS RECORDS: VINYL NIGHT—Bring your records or play some onsite while enjoying a brewski. Vinyl nights every Wednesday at Resolution Brewing Company. Free, 5 p.m. (Resolution Brewing Company, 3024 Mountain View Dr.) TRIVIA NIGHT AT THE

WHALE’S TAIL BISTRO & WINE BAR—Show how smart you are and head down to the Whale’s Tail Bistro & Wine Bar every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for Trivia Night. Enjoy a selection of 32 wines on tap, local draft beers, artisanal cocktails and classic bistro fare. Most importantly, a chance to prove you are the smartest person in the room. Prizes include cash and Hotel Captain Cook gift cards. Plus, keep an eye out for free giveaways. Free, 7 p.m. (Hotel Captain Cook, 939 W. 5th Ave.) SALT BLOCK COOKING CLASS—Pink Himalayan salt blocks lend flavor to your foods as you use them to cook or serve. Go learn how to use them and about their nutritional benefits. They will also highlight other amazing salts of the world and how they give your meal the perfect finishing touch. $25, 7 p.m. (The Spice and Tea Exchange, 10950 O’Malley Centre Dr.) ANCHORAGE INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS— Join in for a free, fun evening learning Balkan, Greek and Israeli folk dances. No experience or partners required. Come ready to be active and have fun. Free, 7 to 9 p.m. (Innovation Lab, Loussac Library, 3600 Denali St.) MEDIEVAL SWORD AND BUCKLER CLASS—Fiddlebow Fechtschule offers a weekly class on the use of the medieval sword and buckler. Each class incorporates the development of fundamental skills, technique exchange and conditioning in a relaxed but mindful atmosphere. No prior martial arts or fencing experience is necessary. Email chris@fiddlebowfechtschule. com to make arrangements to watch or participate. Drop-ins will be flayed. Free, 7 to 9:30 p.m. (Anchorage Dome, 6501 Changepoint Dr.)

MUSIC DIANE HALL AND SANDRA CALVILLO, 6:30 p.m. (Organic Oasis, 2610 Spenard Rd.) SNOW PRO, 8 p.m. (Humpy’s, 610 W. 6th Ave.) LIVE MUSIC, 10 p.m. (Pioneer Bar, 739 W. 4th Ave.) OPEN DECKS, 10 p.m. (Koot’s, 2435 Spenard Rd.)

34TH ANNUAL

NATIVE PEOPLE’S BAZAAR Saturday, December 3, 2016 • 10AM to 3PM Sponsored by ANMC Auxiliary

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ALASKA STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS—Community Arts Development Grants, Career Opportunity Grants, Walker Grants, Workshop Grants, Master Artist and Apprentice Grants and Rasmuson Cultural Collaborations Project Grants Deadline is December 1, 2016. For more information about these grants visit education. alaska.gov. CALL FOR PROPOSALS— Organized by the graduate students within the English department, the Pacific Rim Conference on English Studies invites submissions in literature, rhetoric and composition, linguistics, anthropology, history, journalism, gender studies and other related fields. Deadline is December 1. For more information email uaapacrim@gmail.com. Apply at uaa.alaska.edu. FAIR SEEKS CANDIDATES FOR THREE OPEN BOARD SEATS—Application deadline is December 15 at 4:30 p.m. Application pacts available at alaskastatefair.org or at the Fair Main Office located at 2075 Glenn Highway, Palmer. CALL FOR PROPOSALS—Artists are invited to submit proposals for Solo or Collaborative Exhibits at the APU ConocoPhillips & Leah J. Peterson Galleries for the Fall 2017-Spring 2018 Exhibit Season. For consideration artists must submit an Exhibit Proposal, 15 Digital Images of Current Work and a Current Resume by December 30, 2016 to Jannah Sexton Atkins, Curator of Exhibits at jatkins@ gci.net.

ONGOING EVENTS For a complete list of events visit anchoragepress.com YOGA ON DONATION—Open Space offers weekly yoga, dance and other drop-in classes. Come join a vibrant community and pay what you can. All levels are welcome. Classes include: Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunch hour classes, Ashtanga, Hips and Core Explore, Prenatal, Baby & You, 50 and Fit and much more. Find a full schedule and special events online: openspacealaska.com/calendar. (630 E. 57th Pl.)

SING. DRUM. DANCE. EXPLORE. Shop for Alaska Native arts & crafts, masks, jewelry, dance fans, ornaments, dolls, slippers, carvings and more! Cash or check only • free parking & admission

DUE TO CONSTRUCTION: Be aware of new signage for parking and entrance to medical center.

Alaska Native Medical Center

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4315 Diplomacy Dr • 729-1120 32

November 24 - November 30, 2016

11.24 - 11.30 DOWNTOWN ALASKA CAKE STUDIO— Featuring artist Meg Anderson’s work entitled “Bloomin’ November.” (608 W. 4th Ave., Ste. 102) ALASKA HUMANITIES FORUM—The Forum presents “UPSTART,” an annual youth art exhibit featuring the visual and literary art of emerging Alaskan artists. (161 E. 1st Ave., #15) ANCHORAGE MUSEUM— Featuring “Gender Identity in the North” by Ricky Tagaban. (625 C St.) CABIN FEVER—Romney will be presenting new ceramics for the holiday season. (650 W. 4th Ave.) CAPTAIN COOK COFFEE CUBBY—Presenting “3-D Works on Canvas” original mixed media by Michelle Larsen. (939 W. 5th Ave.) CRUSH WINE BISTRO—Featuring photographer Will Ingram sharing epic moments in Alaska and artist Brent Tumbleson mini-pieces entitled “14.” (343 W. 6th Ave.) FAT PTARMIGAN—In partnership with Sevigny Studio, the art of Erin Chase will be featured. (441 W. 5th Ave., #100) HEART OF THE CITY—Featuring local artists. All art is for sale and proceeds from the kombucha & fizz bar go to support Satellite Heart Records. (411 W. 4th Ave.) INTERNATIONAL GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART—Featuring the “Rarefied Light” 2016 exhibition entitled “Smoke and Shadows” by Greg Hensel. (427 D St.)

SEVIGNY STUDIO—Presenting artist Katie Sevigny, and her completely modern abstract works. (608 W. 4th Ave.) SNOW CITY CAFE—Featuring artist Robson Abbott, a photographer who shoots a variety of Alaskan subjects showcasing the state’s iconic beauty. (1034 W. 4th Ave.) STEPHAN FINE ARTS—Presenting artist Sonia Pullins and her new original acrylics entitled “Birch Beauties.” (939 W. 5th Ave.) TILT—Amy Johnson will be exhibiting new window installations entitled “OUTSIDE IN.” (320 W. 6th Ave.) UPTOWN ARTISTS—Featuring the bright, detailed, whimsical and imaginative art of Hailey Morgan. (417 D St.)

AROUND TOWN APU CARR GOTTSTEIN AND GRANT HALL GARDENS— Through a partnership with The Alaska Humanities Forum, and your sponsorship and purchase of 40 surviving statues, the “100Stone Fund” will be able to continue its investment in Alaskan artists. (4101 University Dr.) APU CONOCOPHILLIPS GALLERY—Scott McDonald is a lifetime resident of Anchorage, Alaska. He makes new art everyday by exploring paint, paper, scissors and glue. (4101 University Dr.) BECKY GALLERY—”Fish Tales and Scales” gyotaku prints by Jerelyn Miyashiro. (701 W. 36th Ave.)

November 24 - November 30, 2016

LEAH J. PETERSON GALLERY—Presenting artist Kay Marshall’s exhibit entitled “Card Tricks.” (4101 University Dr.)

"The Messenger" BY MICHELLE LARSON SHOWING AT COFFEE CUBBY

NORTHERN MADE CREATIONS—Handmade wire and gemstone jewelry created by artist Ben Muth. (1120 Huffman Rd.) OPEN SPACE ALASKA—Artist Whaley Schmoyer will be featuring her work “Complicated Heart,” a compilation of mixed media art exhibit and ballroom dancing demonstration. (630 E. 57th Pl.) ORGANIC OASIS—Presenting the photography of Alaskan artist Daryl Pederson and his exhibit “Alaska’s Prince William Sound.” (2610 Spenard Rd.) RESOLUTION BREWING COMPANY—Kära. Dear. A term of endearment in both Swedish and English, it also signifies the beginning of a message, the beginning of a story. Jessica’s prints are her love letters to the North, to her home, to her people. (3024 Mountain View Dr.) SNOFLO ALASKA—Enjoy artwork from Kathleen Bonnar and Crystal Jackson while enjoying poke bowls or your favorite shaved ice cream flavors. (5905 Lake Otis Pkwy., Ste. D.) TAPROOT—Featuring paintings and tattoos by Reed Leslie. (TapRoot, 3300 Spenard Rd.) UAA STUDENT UNION GALLERY—Featuring the 31st annual “No Big Heads” self-portrait exhibition. (3211 Providence Dr.)

BY KIRSTEN SWANN

ON’T DO all your shopping on Black Friday, because up next is Small Business Saturday. It’s a nationwide initiative with a local focus. Launched by American Express in 2010, the idea is simple: Shop small. Support the local economy. Put your money back into your community. From Downtown to Spenard to South Anchorage and other cities around the state, Alaska has plenty of opportunities to join the movement. “It’s grown and the impact has grown, because there are so many small businesses in Anchorage compared with other places in the Lower 48,” said Penny Smythe, director of marketing at the Anchorage Downtown Partnership (ADP). About 96 percent of Alaska employers are small businesses, according to the State of Alaska. Those small businesses—an estimated 69,000 of them—employ nearly 140,000 people. In Anchorage, the Downtown Partnership serves as one of the city’s official “neighborhood champions,” an organization that promotes community involvement and local events on Small Business Saturday. It all starts weeks in advance. Businesses sign up to take part, offering deals and discounts and advertising their participation with Facebook events and signs in storefront windows. The evening of Nov. 25, at the holiday tree lighting ceremony in Town Square Park, the Downtown Partnership plans on distributing more than 200 tote bags filled with Small Business Saturday coupons. The next day, shoppers can participate in a Small Business Saturday scavenger hunt, gathering clues from local shops and stores for a chance to win a pair of tickets on Delta Airlines. It’s a fun, visible way to drum up interest in the event, Smythe said. Over the years, she’s watched it blossom. Downtown, the ADP lists participating neighborhood businesses on its website: The first year, there were 13. This year, there are 21, Smythe said. That’s just downtown. “I think there’s a hunger from the small business community right now, with the economy, to do more,” she said. “And also to support each other.” Lindsay Williams, owner of 5th Avenue’s Midnight Sun Cafe, said she’s happy to participate for the second year in a row. Besides

offering discounted merchandise, Williams is providing refreshments for an ADP booth at the 4th Avenue Marketplace. “It’s good just to remind people that there are a lot of local businesses in town,” she said. “Not just for a cool gift—you’re actually helping the local economy.” On Small Business Saturday in 2014, shoppers nationwide spent an estimated $14.3 billion at small independent businesses, accord-

mote other local entrepreneurs as well. Alaska Mill and Feed is planning a special event featuring Doggy Decadents, an Alaska dog treat vendor; Nather’s Nature Bars, a raw granola bar business, and a booth serving fresh pancakes from the Alaska Flour Company. An event at Hulin Alaskan Design combines retail therapy and holiday goodwill: Shoppers can browse sale items from three local apparel designers, and donate canned food, clothing or toiletries for delivery to Bean’s Cafe, Brother Francis Shelter or the Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis. Other Small Business Saturday happenings run the gamut. The 49th Supply Company is hosting a pop-up shop at the Northway Mall. The Clothesline Consignment is planning an event featuring an Anchorage jewelry designer. There are events planned at the Anchorage Distillery, Bella Boutique and Anchorage Premier Closets; the Allen & Petersen Cooking and Appliance Center and the 49th State Brewing Co.,

Launched by American Express in 2010, the idea is simple: Shop small. Support the local economy. Put your money back into your community. ing to American Express. Studies show money generates nearly 50 percent more local economic activity when spent at small businesses like that. And Anchorage is filled with them. For a growing number of Alaska companies, Small Business Saturday is a way to pro-

to name a few. Cyrese Gorrin has been shopping Small Business Saturday for years. “I think it’s just such a genius thing,” she said. This year, though, she’s participating from the other side—opening up her home to host an event of her own as an independent fashion consultant for the clothing brand LuLaRoe. The label has a cult following and a loyal army of independent sellers. Gorrin said she joined the ranks this summer. A mother of four who’d previously worked at a national nonprofit, she’d wanted a job that afforded her economic independence and the freedom to care for her children. With LuLaRoe, she said she quickly found herself managing a small business of her own, selling colorful patterned leggings and tops and dresses at house parties, outside events and online. First she worked around 20 hours a week, then 40, then more. “It has just really taken off,” Gorrin said. “It’s kind of become this fun little brand.” She enjoys the work; the challenge and thrill of running her own business. And she’s looking forward to Saturday. “I’m expecting just a really good time,” she said. n

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November 24 - November 30, 2016

Sydney Daniels examines a 3-Dimensional poetry broadside by Regina Rivard titled “After Taking Out the Garbage on a Sunday Morning,"during the UPSTART Exhibit Second Friday Opening Reception at the Alaska Humanities Forum on Friday, November 11, 2016. ERNEST TURNER PHOTO.

BY ERNEST TURNER

HERE’S NOTHING inherently interesting about mountains. What is interesting is how they intimidate us. It’s strange that we want to climb them, and the way they make us feel minuscule continues to fascinate, but these are interpretations. So, just as no landscape can be beautiful without a person to view it, the painting isn’t interesting without the viewer’s experience. At the newest Alaska Humanities Forum (AHF) exhibit, this is key: Seventeen young artists explore the painter and poet as vehicles for self-discovery in an incredibly diverse gallery. Beginning in October the AHF put out the call for young artists from all around the state from age 18 to 25 (approximately the age at which our pre-frontal cortex finishes its development), to submit work in any genre including painting, drawing, digital art, installation and poetry and culminating in a month-long exhibit of the selected artists’ works. From the first show last year, the number of submitting artists has doubled and the quality of the submissions is stunning. The “UPSTART” exhibit was the brainchild of Christina Barber, the Alaska Humanities Forum special exhibits curator, and this is the annual series’ second installment. Guest curator Levi Werner joined Barber in choosing submitted work for the show. Werner, 24, and an art student at UAA, has gained an intimate relationship to the emerging arts in Alaska. And for a gallery made up of mostly unassociated artists, I was struck by the common themes in their works; consciousness, self-exploration, city and nature run deeply through all of the pieces chosen. I sat down with Werner and Barber to discuss this, the future of Alaska art and the role non-profit galleries play across the state. [Full disclosure, the author of this article was involved in the show indirectly: His poem was used as the subject of a 3-Dimensional broadside by Regina Rivard.]

BARBER: Well, I think one of the sort of themes which seems to happen organically is this ethos of care, if you will. And you can really tell that everybody at the opening reception experienced this ethos of care. They were elated, curious about each other, about how their work resonated with each other, this kind of collaborative experience. I think that’s exciting as a curator to be a part of! And if we help our artists emerge in the community, this is just something that has a rippling effect. I really do think that art saves lives. And thematically speaking, we saw a lot of self-portraiture. They’re taking part of a long tradition, Asking, ‘Who am I?’ or Why am I here?’ That kind of questioning of self. CONSIDERING THE INTERNET, WITH MANY ARTISTS SHOWING AND SELLING DIRECTLY TO BUYERS, HOW WILL THE NONPROFIT GALLERY CONTINUE TO DEVELOP? WERNER: That physical aspect, I think that really makes an impact upon people. They get to see the subtle nuances of that medium, as opposed to the digital image which is condensed down to this format that is more strict. But even there I feel that people are getting more creative within the digital realm. But it is still incredibly important to get out and see the physical objects. Especially with the three-dimensional works. You just don’t get that same level of interaction that you would, so I think it’s really important that people get out and see the craftsmanship and the level of detail that goes into the pieces that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to experience on the internet.

If we help our artists emerge in the community, this is just something that has a rippling effect. I really do think that art saves lives.

I NOTICED THROUGHOUT THE PIECES IN THE SHOW, THERE WERE A FEW COMMON THEMES EXPLORED. CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THIS A BIT? WERNER: Definitely. Definitely I saw consciousness and self-consciousness. There was some of isolation—which I feel like that’s a common pattern throughout Alaskan art because it’s such an expansive place that it kind of causes some isolation, like there’s a certain sense of anxiety that comes with it. November 24 - November 30, 2016

BARBER: I think being a non-profit, what that helps us do, is be clear about our intention in showing art. If we have an artists' show at the Forum, that helps inform us about the humanities. It kind of gives us a snapshot of the human condition, if you will. So as a non-profit, the price doesn’t drive the value of the art. The intrinsic value of the artist drives it. There was this conversation during the artists’ talk about what sells in Alaska or what doesn’t—and of course we encourage artists to do well professionally—but I absolutely think it’s necessary that there is an experimental space for artists to show their work in which the market does not determine the materials or the content of the art that they show.

WHAT DOES THE GALLERY FUTURE OF ALASKA LOOK LIKE? BARBER: Given the current economic climate, I think partnerships between like-minded organizations are necessary for a survival of the culture. We partner with the Alaska State Council on the Arts, with the Anchorage Museum, the Rasmuson Foundation, and we partner with 49 Writers—and these ties are essential. This interdisciplinary approach is exciting and actually strengthens what we can do. And since we have this different cross-section of the community coming through [the Alaska Humanities Forum], the art has a different type of exposure than at other spaces. When we’re able to build community, then we feel closer to our mission at the Forum. I try to encourage the public engagement and experience of art, and the artist’s talk gives the public a chance to engage directly with the artist about their work or about their process and what they’re thinking—and also allows the artist to be the first authority on their work—which offers opportunity for growth on both the artist’s side and on the public’s side. It really encourages learning. HOW DID YOU GO THROUGH AND CHOOSE PIECES FOR THE EXHIBIT FROM THE SUBMITTED PIECES? BARBER: Levi really had creative control. And it was essential, having him as a co-curator, because I wanted it—from the bottom up—to be this emerging voice in the arts. WERNER: It was mostly people from school. That’s how I brought in most of the work. For curating, it really got me focused on how groups are organized and how collective ideas merge. I really want to continue to be part of these group projects. I’m still processing that experience, but it was really positive. There’s a lot of figurative work that emerges in this art! The combination of the figure and the environment that we live in, it’s something that they’re teaching us in school, and that’s probably the reason for the cohesion; we’re all steeped in this academic environment. And that’s what I’d like for the future if I ever was to continue curating. To seek out more of the outliers here in Anchorage and find more of the people who aren’t necessarily part of the academic realm because I feel that there are going to be significant shifts. The artists featured at the “UPSTART” exhibit are: Jian Bautista, Bisco, Su Chon, Sydney Daniels, Will Dowd, Lucy Franklin, Bryce Nicolasa Frederick, Mark Hansen, Kendra Harvey, Justine Mae, Kellë McLaughlin, Becka Olson, Nathaniel Rank, Michael Rehe, Regina Rivard, Milo Stickle-Frizzell and Levi Werner. The exhibit will be shown through December 4 during business hours at the Alaska Humanities Forum, 161 E. 1st Ave.

BY CHUCK SHEPHERD

DEMOCRACY IN ACTION While “democracy” in most of America means electing representatives to run government, on Nov. 8 in San Francisco it also expected voters to decide 43 often vague, densely worded “issues” that— according to critics—could better be handled by the professionals who are, after all, elected by those very same voters. Except for hot-button issues like tax increases or hardened legislative gridlock, solutions on these “propositions” (e.g., how certain contractors’ fees should be structured, which obscure official has primary responsibility for which obscure job, or the notorious proposition asking whether actors in the tax-paying porno industry must use condoms) would be, in other states, left to elected officials, lessening voter need for a deep dive into civics. POLICE REPORT —Inexplicable: (1) The police chief of Bath Township, Ohio, acknowledged the overnight break-in on Oct. 10 or 11 at the University Hospitals Ghent Family Practice, but said nothing was missing. It appeared that an intruder (or intruders) had performed some medical procedure in a clinical office (probably on an ear) because instruments were left in bowls and a surgical glove and medication wrappings tossed into a trash can (and a gown left on a table). (2) A 35-year-old man was detained by police in Vancouver, British Columbia, in October after a home break-in in which the intruder took off his clothes, grabbed some eggs and began preparing a meal. The homeowner, elsewhere in the house, noticed the commotion and the intruder fled (still naked). —How To Tell If You’ve Had Too Much To Drink: Ashley Basich, 49, was arrested in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in October and charged with DUI after police found her, late at night, using an industrial forklift to pick up and move a van that she explained was blocking her driveway. Problems: She works for the state forestry department and had commandeered a stateowned vehicle, she had a cooler of beer in the forklift and was operating it while wearing flip-flops (OSHA violation!), and the van “blocking” her driveway was her own. —Though most Chicago Police Department officers get no more than five civilian complaints in their entire careers (according to one defense attorney), CPD internal records released in October reveal that some had more than 100, and, of 13,000 complaints over 47 years in which police wrongdoing was conceded, only 68 cases resulted in the officer actually being fired (although the worst police offender, Jerome Finnigan, with 157 complaints over two decades, is now in federal prison). —Compelling Explanations: Two men in rural Coffee County, Georgia, told sheriff’s deputies in November that they had planned to soon attack a science-research center in Alaska because peoples’ “souls” were trapped there and needed to be released (or at least that is what God told Michael Mancil, 30, and James Dryden Jr., 22, causing them to amass a small, but

“something out of a movie” arsenal, according to the sheriff). The High Frequency Active Aural Research Facility, run by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has long been a target of conspiracists, in that “the study of the Earth’s atmosphere” obviously, they say, facilitates “mind control,” snatching souls. —Well, Of Course! (1) Motorist Luke Campbell, 28, was arrested near Minneapolis in September and charged with firing his gun at several passing cars, wounding one man (a bus passenger)—explaining to a bystander that shooting at other vehicles “relieves stress.” (2) Briton Mark Wright, 45, caught with illegal drugs taped to his penis following his arrest for burglary, told Newcastle Crown Court in September that he had “hidden” them there to keep them secret from his wife (perhaps identifying one place that she no longer visits).

LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS —Jacob Roemer, 20, was arrested in Negaunee Township, Michigan, after a brief chase on Oct. 29 following an attempted home invasion. The resident had confronted him, chasing Roemer into the woods, where a State Police dog eventually found him lying on the ground unconscious and bloody, after, in the darkness, running into a tree and knocking himself out. RECURRING THEMES —(1) The most recent case in which an unlucky cannabis grower came to police attention occurred in Adelaide, Australia, in August when a motorist accidentally veered off the road and crashed into a grow house, collapsing part of a wall. Arriving police peered inside and quickly began a search for the residents, who were not at home. (2) The latest market price for a coveted automobile license plate is apparently the equivalent of $9 million—the amount paid by Dubai developer Balwinder Sahni at government auction recently for plate number “5.”

It appeared that an intruder (or intruders) had performed some medical procedure in a clinical office (probably on an ear) because instruments were left in bowls and a surgical glove and medication wrappings tossed into a trash can LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS —Recent Hospital Bills: (1) Paula D’Amore claimed she deserved a discount from the $7,400 “delivery room” charge for the April birth of her daughter at Boca Raton (Florida) Regional Hospital—because the baby was actually born in the backseat of her car in the hospital’s parking lot. (Nurses came out to assist D’Amore’s husband in the final stages, but, said D’Amore, only the placenta was delivered inside.) (2) In October, new father Ryan Grassley balked at the $39.95 lineitem charge from Utah Valley Hospital (Provo, Utah)—for the mother’s holding her new C-section son momentarily to her bare chest (a “bonding” ritual). (Doctors countered that Csection mothers are usually drugged and require extra security during that ritual—but that Utah Valley might rethink making that charge a “line item.”) PEOPLE WITH ISSUES —A 49-year-old man was partly exonerated by a court in southern Sweden in September when he convinced the judge that he had a severe anxiety attack every time he received an “official” government letter in the mail (known as “window envelopes” in Sweden). Thus, though he was guilty of DUI and several other minor traffic offenses while operating his scooter, the judge dropped the charge of driving without a license because the man never opened the string of “frightening” letters informing him that operating a scooter requires a license.

READERS’ CHOICE For not the first time in history, a fire broke out this year in a hospital operating room caused by the patient’s passing gas during a laser procedure. The patient at Tokyo Medical University Hospital, in her 30s, suffered burns across her legs in the April incident, which was finally reported in the Japanese press in October when the hospital completed its investigation. THE PASSING PARADE —(1) Asher Woodworth, 30, was charged with misdemeanor traffic obstruction in the Portland, Maine, arts district in October as he stood in a street after covering himself with branches of evergreen trees. A friend described Woodworth as a performance artist contrasting his preferred “slow life” with the bustle of downtown traffic. (2) Aldeburgh Golf Club in England saw fit in September to issue a special rule allowing a no-stroke ball “drop” for players plagued by neighbor Peter Bryson’s cat Merlin’s habit of snatching about six balls a day from the 14th fairway. A NEWS OF THE WEIRD CLASSIC (JANUARY 2013) Anthony Johnson, 49, was convicted in October (2012) in Hartford, Connecticut, of stealing an improbably large amount of money—as much as $70,000 a weekend, off and on for five years—by crawling on the floor of darkened theaters and lifting credit cards from purses that movie-watching women had set down. The FBI said Johnson was careful to pick films likely to engross female viewers so that he could operate freely, and that he was often able to take the cards, leave the theater, and make cash-advance withdrawals from ATMs before the movie had ended.n

Email: isawyou@anchoragepress.com

PRETTY FEET - M4W Last night you should have never showed me your pretty little feet. You shouldn’t have told me getting your toes sucked was a huge turn on. I spent the night on your couch just fantasising about sucking your toes. your feet look so sexy with the black nail polish on them. When I woke up this morning you where also on the couch it took everything I had not to grab your feet and start playing with them! Anyways you have my number hit me up be upfront let me suck your toes!!! BAD FOR EACH OTHER - W4M (ANCH) I think about how we almost were. We teetered that line between friends and lovers. But you stepped back and we’ve been friends ever since. And I love it. Don’t get me wrong. I love our talks. I love hearing about your day, and I love when you encourage me. You’re funny, and smart, and sweet

when you want to be. But you’re a mess and I am too. I’m codependent. I would enable you. I would believe you when you lied, cover for you when you made mistakes, and generally let you get away with murder. And you would use me up and spit me out. You would take advantage of me, cheat on me, lie to me. It would be awful. But I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t know why. I guess I have a crush on you. PLEASE DADDY - W4M Daddy, I’m feeling naughty. I’m not looking to meet just want daddy to write me a story about what he would do with me if we were together. Please write to me in details about what you would with me! Juicier the better. ACES - W4M (ANCHORAGE) You caught me watching you. I’ve seen you around and know just enough about you to know that I’m interested. I think your incredibly handsome, talented and a true one

of kind. I’ve only spoken to you once and it was very brief. It’s very difficult finding a way to talk to you again, which is why I’m posting here. Tell me what you know about me... so that I know its you. My usual spot, color shirt or who I was there with? CUTE OLDER CHICK GRABBED MY DICK AT FST LASTNIGHT - M4W Hit me up if you want to do it again & lets have some fun! Send a pic so I know it’s you. You wanted to go for a walk. TECHNICAL MAN - W4M (ANCHORAGE) You are tall , have light hair and a deep voice. We locked eyes,and have before. STUDY GIRL.....BARNES AND NOBLE - M4W (BARNES & NOBLE)) Study nerd girl at Barnes and Noble.........I dropped in to the fireplace around 3 to burn some time between meetings. You are quite the brown hair and dark nails...exotic

beauty without question. You were seriously studying and wokring away on the Mac laptop. I didn’t have the time and I didn’t want to disturb your study....not yet anyway. Nice new tat’s you have! I am sure I’ve seen you there once or more before in passing....so I am sure I might see you again....but if you see this, say hello and let’s connect...I’m not shy... are you? Best dressed in the room..... back tommorrow maybee JACKIE ANN WHERE ARE YOU. - M4W (ANCHORAGE) Hey Jackie Ann where are you. I miss you so much. You were my favorite dancer at the horse. We ran into each other at the bar in Seattle. I would love to here from you again. Name the bar you worked in Seattle. Miss you. SMOKE SHOP HUFFMAN - M4W (ANCHORAGE) Wow, ok, I get it, sorry to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m not a stalker

and will be going somewhere else for my smokes. Your bodyguard can relax lol TALL DUCK UNDER DOOR AT FRED MEYER ON NL SATURDAY - W4M It was sometime between 11am and noonish on Saturday at the Northern Lights Fred Meyer. I was the blonde standing by the flowers picking out an assortment for an event and looked up just in time to watch you duck under the door walking in. You smiled at me as our eyes met briefly and I was drawn to you. I looked for you a little later to work up the courage for a friendly hello but did not see you again. n Have you seen someone you just can’t get off your mind? Has someone seen you? Drop us a line at: isawyou@anchoragepress.com (www.sendanonymousemail.net is one way to go about it), fax 561-7777 or stick it in our slot at 540 E. 5th Ave. Submissions not edited for grammatical errors.

November 24 - November 30, 2016

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November 24 - November 30, 2016

EAT ME BY DAN SAVAGE I’m a very sex-positive girl and I finally convinced my boyfriend to open up about his fetishes. I could tell he was ashamed and torn about sharing them with me, but I’ve been with my fair share of guys and surfed the net for years, and I was convinced nothing would shock me. Well, it turns out he’s into soft vore. I’m not gonna lie, I was a bit put off, but of course I didn’t tell him. I started looking for information about his fetish, and it’s not as uncommon as I thought. I stumbled upon many websites for like-minded people, and my understanding of it is that vores really long for intimacy and protection. Is my interpretation correct? Also, after learning about it, I realized it’s less extreme than some of the stuff we usually engage in, like heavy BDSM, so I want him to feel fulfilled. Is there any way I can help him “act out” his fetish? He would like to be the eatee. Fully Understanding Lover’s Longings

“VIBE should go to a sex shop in person so she can physically pick up and turn on the models she’s considering buying,” said Erika Moen. “If possible, go to a shop that advertises itself with any of the following words: feminist, queer, LGBTQ+, sex-positive, woman-friendly,

I’m torn. On the one hand, we need to stand against Trump and what he represents and his inauguration. Like his campaign and his nomination, his election is an outrage. On the other hand, flying is expensive and lodging in DC isn’t cheap. Perhaps our registering-our-oppositionto-Trump money could be better spent? There’s nothing about going to DC that precludes making a donation to the American Civil Liberties Union (aclu.org) or the National Center for Lesbian Rights (nclrights.org) or the International Refugee Assistance Project (refugeerights.org), of course, and symbolic acts of resistance (demonstrations, zaps, protests) often inspire people to engage in practical acts of resistance (donating money, monkey-wrenching discriminatory “registries,” urging local elected officials to not cooperate with anti-immigrant/anti-Muslim directives). So if heading to DC to protest on Inauguration Day feels right and necessary, PP, you have my full support. But I’m going to spend the day making donations, baking cakes and sucking cocks. n On the Lovecast, Dan chats with Google’s machine intelligence lead about sex with robots: savagelovecast.com.

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Any advice for a first-time sex-toy buyer? I’m looking into vibrators, but I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on something that doesn’t do it for me. Very Into Buying Electronics

A friend and I want to go to the inauguration in January with the intention of standing with our backs to the ceremony as a peaceful protest statement. A handful of people doing this won’t say much, but if hundreds/thousands of people did this, it could send a message to the world that the majority of us did not vote for him and are not supporting his hate. Do you feel this would be a worthwhile action to try to organize (along with giving money and time to organizations that support social justice), and if so, would you give voice to this idea to your readers/listeners? Peaceful Protester

VIP SPECIALS

Vore, for readers who aren’t familiar with the term, refers to a spectrum of kinks that involve being eaten alive or eating another creature alive. Vore is divided between “soft” and “hard,” kind of like BDSM. Soft vore doesn’t require simulated bloodshed (it mostly involves fantasies of being swallowed whole), whereas hard vore involves the (imaginary!) ripping of flesh and the (simulated!) shedding of blood. Large creatures capable of swallowing and/or devouring humans are important to this kink, as you’ll discover if you do an image search for “vore” on Google. Since most vore fantasies involve creatures that qualify as fantastical beasts, i.e., large and nonexistent beasts (megakinkfauna?), vore fetishists are forced to construct elaborate fantasy narratives, build their own creatures or seek employment at the Jim Henson Company (where they can sneak in after hours and repurpose vore-scale Muppets) in order to get off. Before you can determine which way to go— assuming your boyfriend wants to “act out” his fantasies in the first place—you’ll have to get more details. Is he into the intimacy and protection aspects of vore? Is it an extension of a mouth and/or pregnancy fetish? Does an interest in bondage factor in? Learning more about what gets him going—besides the whole being eaten alive thing—is the first step. Once you know exactly what it is about vore that turns him on, FULL, begin your explorations with role-play and dirty talk. Ramping things up slowly is always a good idea with varsity-level kinks, so try sexting each other and/or creating dirty vore stories together over e-mail. If your boyfriend wants to get physical, start with mouthy things like biting, licking, sucking, etc., combined with dirty talk about digesty things like chewing, swallowing, gastric juices, etc. If everything goes well, you try to bring his fantasies to life using props, costumes and stage blood. Try zipping him up in a sleeping bag to simulate being in a stomach—filling it with a gooey liquid will make it feel more like the inside of some fantastical beast’s stomach— but be careful not to smother him if you do “full enclosure.” (Smothering someone to death, intentionally or unintentionally, is bad. #TheMoreYouKnow) Finally, FULL, I want to commend you for not freaking out when your boyfriend shared his kink. You listened calmly, you did a little research and you gave it some thought. For that, I’m upgrading your GGG card to platinum.

trans-friendly or inclusive, as these places tend to be staffed by people who are passionate and genuinely invested in helping folks of all walks of life.” Moen and her partner, Matthew Nolan, have been making the Oh Joy Sex Toy comic for three years, which combines reviews of sex toys with really awesome/hilarious/radically-inclusive sex ed. And Moen, who has personally tested hundreds of sex toys, wants you to rub one or two out before you go shopping. “VIBE should pay attention to the kind of action that feels good or gets her off,” said Moen. “Does your clit like super-direct focus? The smaller the head of the vibrator, the more laserlike the precision. Do you like lots of overall, engulfing stimulation that covers a lot of ground? The larger the head, the more surface area it’ll cover and the vibrations will be more generally distributed across the entire vulva, from outer labia to clit.” For best results, Moen recommends buying two toys, VIBE, if you can swing the expense. “Get a generic bullet vibe first,” said Moen. “They’re about $15 to $20—it’s a model that has a control box you hold in one hand and a cord that connects to a simple vibrating egg shape that you hold in your masturbating hand. Try it out at home, and then based on how you did or did not enjoy it, purchase a more expensive, high-quality model ($60 to $120) based on the kind of vibrational stimulation you learned you want (or don’t want) from that first cheaply made model. Personally, I recommend the Minna Limon and Vibratex’s Mystic Wand for smaller-sized, decently powered vibrators. And then the big guns that’ll blast you to the moon and back are the Doxy and Vibratex’s Magic Wand (formerly known as the Hitachi Magic Wand). Best of luck to you!” Oh Joy Sex Toy: Volume Three, a new collection of Moen and Nolan’s terrific column/comic, was recently released by Limerence Press. Follow Moen on Twitter @ErikaMoen.

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November 24 - November 30, 2016

BigWildLife.com BY ROB BREZSNY

‘TIS THE SEASON

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Despite your sign’s reputation, you Sagittarians don’t always require vast expanses to roam in. You aren’t ceaselessly restless, on an inexhaustible quest for unexpected experiences and fresh teachings. And no, you are not forever consumed with the primal roar of raw life, obsessed with the naked truth and fiercely devoted to exploration for its own sake. But having said that, I suspect that you may at least be flirting with these extreme states in the coming weeks. Your keynote, lifted from Virginia Woolf’s diary: “I need space. I need air. I need the empty fields round me; and my legs pounding along roads; and sleep; and animal existence.” CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): “If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet,” said George Bernard Shaw, “you had best teach it to dance.” This advice is worthy of your consideration, Capricorn. You may still be unable to expunge a certain karmic debt, and it may be harder than ever to hide, so I suggest you dream up a way to play with it maybe even have some dark fun with it. And who knows? Your willingness to loosen up might at least alleviate the angst your skeleton causes you and may ultimately transform it in some unpredictably helpful way.

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AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): “No pain, no gain” is a modern expression of an old idea. In a second-century Jewish book of ethics, Rabbi Ben Hei Hei wrote, “According to the pain is the gain.” Eighteenth-century English poet Robert Herrick said, “If little labor, little are our gains: Man’s fate is according to his pains.” But I’m here to tell you, Aquarius, that I don’t think this prescription will apply to you in the coming weeks. From what I can surmise, your greatest gains will emerge from the absence of pain. You will learn and improve through release, relaxation, generosity, expansiveness and pleasure. PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): The less egotistical you are, the more likely it is that you will attract what you really need. If you do nice things for people without expecting favors in return, your mental and physical health will improve. As you increase your mastery of the art of empathy, your creativity will also thrive. Everything I just said is always true, of course, but it will be intensely, emphatically true for you during the next four weeks. So I suggest you make it a top priority to explore the following cosmic riddle: Practicing unselfishness will serve your selfish goals. ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): “Creative people are at greater risk,” said psychiatrist R. D. Laing, “just as one who climbs a mountain is more at risk than one who walks along a village lane.” I bring this to your attention, Aries, because in the coming weeks you will have the potential to be abundantly creative, as well as extra imaginative, ingenious and innovative. But I should also let you know that if you want to fulfill this potential, you must be willing to work with the extra tests and challenges that life throws your way. For example, you could be asked to drop a pose, renounce lame excuses or reclaim powers that you gave away once upon a time. TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): Taurus musician Brian Eno has been successful as a composer, producer, singer and visual artist. Among his many collaborators have been David Byrne, David Bowie, U2, Coldplay, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones and James Blake. Eno’s biographer David Sheppard testified that capturing his essence in a book was “like packing a skyscraper into a suitcase.” I suspect that description may fit you during the next four weeks, Taurus. You’re gearing up for some high-intensity living. But please don’t be nervous about it. Although you may be led into intimate contact with unfamiliar themes and mysterious passions, the story you actualize should feel quite natural.

November 24 - November 30, 2016

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): You are free! Or almost free! Or let me put it this way: You could become significantly freer if you choose to be if you exert your willpower to snatch the liberating experiences that are available. For example, you could be free from a slippery obligation that has driven you to say things you don’t mean. You could be free from the temptation to distort your soul in service to your ego. You might even be free to go after what you really want rather than indulging in lazy lust for a gaggle of mediocre thrills. Be brave, Gemini. Define your top three emancipating possibilities and pursue them with vigor and rigor. CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Have you been feeling twinges of perplexity? Do you find yourself immersed in meandering meditations that make you doubt your commitments? Are you entertaining weird fantasies that give you odd little shivers and quivers? I hope so! As an analyzer of cycles, I suspect that now is an excellent time to question everything. You could have a lot of fun playing with riddles and wrestling with enigmas. Please note, however, that I’m not advising you to abandon what you’ve been working on and run away. Now is a time for fertile inquiry, not for rash actions. It’s healthy to contemplate adjustments, but not to initiate massive overhauls. LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): “Everybody is dealing with how much of their own aliveness they can bear and how much they need to anesthetize themselves,” writes psychoanalytic writer Adam Phillips. Where do you fit on this scale, Leo? Whatever your usual place might be, I’m guessing that in the coming weeks you will approach record-breaking levels in your ability to handle your own aliveness. You may even summon and celebrate massive amounts of aliveness that you had previously suppressed. In fact, I’ll recklessly speculate that your need to numb yourself will be closer to zero than it has been since you were five years old. (I could be exaggerating a bit; but maybe not!) VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Do you periodically turn the volume down on your mind’s endless chatter and tune into the still, small voice within you? Have you developed reliable techniques for escaping the daily frenzy so as to make yourself available for the Wild Silence that restores and revitalizes? If so, now would be a good time to make aggressive use of those capacities. And if you haven’t attended well to these rituals of self-care, please remedy the situation. Claim more power to commune with your depths. In the coming weeks, most of your best information will flow from the sweet darkness. LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): One of your vices could at least temporarily act as a virtue. In an odd twist, one of your virtues may also briefly function like a vice. And there’s more to this mysterious turn of events. A so-called liability could be useful in your efforts to solve a dilemma, while a reliable asset might cloud your discernment or cause a miscalculation. I’m riffing here, Libra, in the hopes of stimulating your imagination as you work your way through the paradoxical days ahead. Consider this intriguing possibility: An influence that you like and value may hold you back—even as something or someone you’ve previously been almost allergic to could be quite helpful. SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Between now and the solstice on December 21, you will have extraordinary power to transform into a more practical, well-grounded version of yourself. You may surprise yourself with how naturally you can shed beliefs and habits that no longer serve you. Now try saying the following affirmations and see how they feel coming out of your mouth: “I am an earthy realist. I am a fact-lover and an illusion-buster. I love actions that actually work more than I like theories that I wish would work. I’d rather create constructive change than be renowned for my clever dreams.”n

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