Icewind's Ramblings

I had a great weekend with my friend Mark Evans in town after his long motorcycle ride from Texas to Alaska.   He made it all the way up past the Arctic Circle and on to Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay at the top of the world a feat many people will never experience.   Congratulations Mark, driving a vehicle is tough enough but doing it on a motorcycle is a feat in itself! We met up on Wednesday and I took him to see Sarah Palin’s house on the lake and drove up about an hour where we enjoyed lunch in “Beautiful Downtown Talkeetna”. We wandered the streets and airport seeing the crazy sights and listening to all the sounds of a busy tourist season.   We drove back to the cabin he was staying in Wasilla where we enjoyed sitting on the porch of a two room cabin built in 1931.   Totally rustic with a gas lamp and outhouse we sat on the porch for hours talking and getting to know one another after communicating on FB for several years. Sipping from bottles of Jack & Crow...

Many of us look for the end of the rainbow and sometimes a few of us may actually luck up and find it . . . Was it what we expected or really wished for? Sometimes . . . and we may find a few unexpected things along the way. Land of the midnight Sun . . . Alaska Scenes . . . Alaska , Bringing our Natural Resources to America A Quiet Place And a song . . . Ice

I guess there is always a bit of drama during the holiday season. Every year it seems something pops up to make things interesting. This year was no exception. Everyone seems to be fascinated with our Governor Sarah Palin. She tried to make light of the past several months and was invited to ‘pardon’ a turkey for Thanksgiving at one of our local fresh turkey suppliers in the Mat-Su. It was supposed to be a fun outing and the pardon went without a hitch. Such footage of any governor would no doubt have drawn interest, but the continuing obsession with the former Republican vice presidential nominee sent this one into the stratosphere. Just afterwards the media started asking questions and Palin stopped to talk for a few minutes of the political climate these last few months. The interview that followed the ceremony is being called "Gobblegate," "the interview of death," or "Silence of the Turkeys ." The video, shot by KTU...

Tonight there was a lot to laugh about as SNL’s Presidential Bash 2008 brought plenty of old and new skits for everyone to enjoy. Some of the old greats were remembered and the current nominee’s showed a slightly fun side of themselves much needed in this long campaign. There is only a few hours left to exercise your right to vote . . . Get out and cast your ballot as the poles have already opened on the ‘left coast’ in New Hampshire. I am reminded of an old child’s fable that sheds light on my feeling of what I fear of Barack Obama`s campaign and possible tenure running the country. Once upon a time there was a scorpion that desperately wanted to cross a river because on the other side was a lovely female scorpion waiting for him. But since scorpions can not swim he was sure to drown if he tried to cross the river. Hop, hop, hop along came a frog intent on crossing the river too. Now frogs are perfect swimmers so it would be a piece of cake for our l...

It’s down to the wire now and people will stand up and make a choice for President based on whatever it is that they think is the right information. I guess part of the problem is both side tend to skew the information to support their claim to be the next President. One seems to be a better ‘showman’ than the other and seems to possibly “look” better than the other guy. Some people only see what is on television or in the papers without really understanding what the issues are and will vote based on those assumptions . . . whether or not they are valid or not. Sometimes a simple example might be effective to help those understand an issue and this was sent to me by several readers which illustrate the “share the wealth” plan of Obama. Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on an "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preferen...

It’s getting colder here in Alaska and once again its time for more great food as our freezers are stocked now from another season of hunting and fishing. There is also much talk about Sarah Palin since she was asked to be John McCain’s running mate. She is an outdoor’s woman who hunts and fishes with the best of them and like many Alaskans has done her share of preparing game meat for her family. And speaking of PETA I have been getting some crazy feedback from my new recipe book I have been working on. It is a kind of recipe book on “Road Kill” from Alaska and many Nations and other such nonsense. Now before the PETA folks all get in an uproar there are varying organizations of PETA. There is the P rimary E ducation T eacher’s A ssociation And the P eople for the E thical T reatment of A nimals But the one I like best, P eople E at T asty A nimals My section of Alaskan Fare in my area includes: Moose and Squirrel Meat Balls ...

Or inside the Man’s brain. We’ve had a little fun with the elections lately and I’m sure there will be a little more in the next couple of weeks. We can move on to something a little different and give you maybe a laugh or two. I wanted to give the ladies a little insight into the makeup of the male being. Today, we’ll talk about how you can train your new hubby and possibly make him more obedient. Over the years I’ve observed or had some of these techniques used to make me into the man I am today. That may be good or bad depending on your perspective I guess. The key to your success in training your boyfriend or spouse is trying to understand how . . . and if . . . his mind works, and then incorporating that information with proven training techniques. Remember this . . . although your spouse likes treats, loves it when you rub his belly, and often chases the mailman down the street . . . he is not a dog and therefore does not think or react as a dog woul...

He certainly got plenty of airtime. Funny thing is . . . I’m a “Joe the Plumber” now for over 35 years. I’m thinking the hottest costume this Halloween: Joe the Plumber This debate came totally out of left field for me. Like, who knew to put Joe the Plumber down as the “drinking game” name in the debate tonight? If you for some reason had decided to take a drink every time Obama or McCain referenced their imaginary friend, you'd be dead. Dead of alcohol poisoning. For those of you who don’t know what that exchange was all about, McCain and Obama were referring to an impromptu encounter between Obama and Toledo , Ohio , plumber Joe Wurzelbacher. Jake Tapper, at ABC News, has the full video . Now I’m not an economist. Nor am I a medical doctor, but I don’t have to be one to know that smoking is not good for my health. Likewise, I don’t have to be an economist to know that capitalism is good for a country’s economic health and socialism is not. This ...

America . . . we are going into a big recession. Buy yourself something nice . . . Before it catches up to you. Ice

It’s fun going to work on the first workday snowfall of the year. Every year there are those who have sped their way back and forth to work or home during those long summer days without a care in the world . . . there’s plenty of light out and animals are easy enough to see . . . but then that transition time comes when we lose between 5 to 6 minutes a day and that darkness grows across this northland. These first days of the winter driving season brings about this little game that the Glenn and Seward Highway commuters play on almost any snow day. I like to call it “Count the Cars in the Ditch”. Its fun . . . it's free . . . it's mean . . . isn’t it great! All those who blast by you giving you the finger . . . you can just give them that big smile as you slowly make your way by. Winter driving advice . . . the skinny pedal on the right is not the brake. The ones flipped onto their roofs, tires straight up like Roadkill, fetch extra points. This...

Palin Implicated In Bullwinkle Assassination A little fun sets in as I am sitting here watching “Almost Famous” and can’t really get my mind into writing anything serious tonight so this little ditty just for the fun of it . . . and there’s a line in the movie, “I didn’t invent the rainy day . . . but I do own the best umbrella!” We’ve had the rain falling a lot here in Anchorage with it raining each day over the last 22 days so we need something to laugh about. The possible successor to Dick Cheney is getting out ahead of the game and shooting things up before she even takes office. The full "story" is found here at Sarah Palin Kills Bullwinkle - Bambi Is Next It's just a joke folks . . . seriously . . . I couldn’t resist. Ice