Can you keep a secret?

Okay, this is on the down-low peoples -- but a production company came to my medical place of employment recently and filmed one of our physicians for a show to be featured as part of the next "Alaska Week" on the Discovery Channel! The ER doc talked about hypothermia and the risks of falling into frigid Alaskan waters.
The producer told me that "Alaska Week" will be sometime in March or April of 2009, so be sure to mark your calendars and watch all the cool shows. Another program that this company is producing includes a bunch of crazy "hot video" clips that people have sent in about animal attacks, glaciers falling, rescues, and other Alaska drama.


For the most part I enjoyed "Alaska Week" 2008 -- there were some good shows, a few were duds. I expected a bit more from MythBusters but it was entertaining nonetheless. Deadliest Catch is always exciting. Those dudes are crazy. I know D is tougt and would be able to hold his own on a crabber or fishing boat (the paycheck would be sweet!), but I would worry about him day and night.

3 cool things - 11/20/08

My friend Em turned me onto this site, but if you are doing ANY traveling be sure to hit up Trip Advisor first! There are member submitted reviews for hotels, restaurants, activities and everything travel-related. It's amazing and has really saved me from making a big reservation mistake in more than one instance.

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Some neat product labels to download for your baked goods, canned food, crafts and ahem, home brew.

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Mochi Ice Cream!!! -- haven't tried this yet, bit is so on my list, peoples. And it looks pretty simple (famous last words). If you try it, please email me and let me know how the mochi goodness turned out!

Pet star

Don't mind me, I'm just the "handler"...


Drift and I both got paid today as part of the tv spot he appeared in -- although you can see who the important party is in this relationship.

No autographs please

Did you know that our dog is a star? Today Drift will be starring in his second tv commercial for a local telecommunications company. I wish I could say he won the honor by beating out hundreds of other dogs during a screen test and agility trial -- but in reality one of my good friends is the production manager for a company that films tv spots, documentaries, etcetera, etcetera. Drift got the part by being a light colored, well-mannered dog. Still, not too shabby, right?





The first spot was filmed earlier this summer and ran all the time - we actually got tired of seeing it. Once, Drift caught a glimpse and actually barked at himself on tv. He likes to sit and watch the tube with us -- very often he'll get all worked up over the animals onscreen. He hates horses and can tell the difference between them and say, an elk or moose. It's pretty amusing.

This new tv spot should start running a few weeks I think --I'll try to get my friend to burn me a copy of both commercials and then they will get posted here. Peoples, now you can say that you know a tv star!

'Lil cabin in the woods

My jaw is on the floor -- these people did an amazing job fixing up this decrepit Alaskan cabin. Well, they call it a cabin but it seems more like a little house on the water. I've seen some REAL Alaskan cabins!



I'm JEALOUS! Imagine waking up to that scenery every morning. I'll bet it's super quiet and peaceful in their neck of the woods. Here is the link to the slideshow.

Silhouette art

Neat, neat, neat: http://silhouettemasterpiecetheatre.com/

And funny...

Frosty day

A nice day today -- although a a bit chilly, around 17 degrees. The trees have all turned white -- called hoar frost. It's gorgeous.

M.I.A.

Oh my, I've been derelict in my posting duties. That's what a nice vacation and the subsequent busy time at work will do to a blogger. Apologies all around, peoples.

A lot of websites have gotten their hands on the Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) sales ads and I've been perusing them for good deals. I'm currently in the market for an elliptical workout machine and once again my love of in-depth research is making it hard to narrow the choices down to just one lucky winner. So the search continues. I will probably get a NordicTrack elliptical that will be on sale at Sears on Black Friday, with an extended warranty. I don't need to be lugging a big heavy machine back to store if it breaks down. Those suckers can come to my house and fix it for me!

Last year we got up crazy early to visit Home Depot on Black Friday. It wasn't busy by any means but the under cabinet mounted microwaves we wanted were pretty much flying off the showroom floor. We got one for the house and one for the condo (which I sold last year). That was a really great deal, but I haven't seen anything too amazing this year.

3 Cool Things - 11/14/08

Tiny Prints -- we just used this company for some holiday invites here at work and they turned out really, really nice. The cost was reasonable as well.

Here's a coupon if you would like to try them out: Save 10% of one future purchase of $40 or more at Tiny Prints. Enter the promo code TPWINTER at checkout. Offer expires February 1, 2009.

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Do you have questions? Metafilter has the answers!

Ask Metafilter!

If anything, it's entertaining to read people's responses...

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Free online polaroid image maker:

The site creates polaroid-like images from your digital photos. Bittersweet because Polaroid has discontinued the original cameras -- no one needs them anymore since the digital format has taken over the world...

Uncle Ted's house party

An interesting blog by Juror #11 from Senator Ted Stevens' recent trial in Washington, D.C.

This woman replaced Juror #4 when 4 left to attend her "father's funeral," also known as the "Breeder's Cup." What a fruitcake!


People have asked me why the government is making such a big deal about the house renovations portion when it looks like nothing much was done. Well peoples, jacking up a house in Alaska is done all the time because it basically DOUBLES the size. Heck, my parents did it to one of their homes back in the day. Many times it's cheaper than buying a new house, especially if you like the current location of your abode. Uncle Ted's house doesn't look very fancy from the outside, but it's fairly typical for the ski resort area (Girdwood) that the Stevens' live in.

One of my Alaskan friends says it's ok for Ted to have accepted the gifts and renovations because he's done so much for our state -- then she said that anyone who has taken office supplies is operating under the same principal. Sorry friend, but stuffing a sheaf of copy paper and stack of hi-lighters into your purse is not the same as taking $250,000 worth of stuff.

More vacation photos

If I remember correctly, this was Bahia Honda State Park...

No Name Pub -- lots of character, good beer and excellent pizza! Even saw some little Key Deer on the way home.

Some fishermen gave me some scraps to feed the big fishies around the docks.

American Gothic, Halloween style! In Key West...

Our first Bloody Mary of the day!

Roosters were everywhere in Key West...walking around the restaurants like they owned the place.

Delicious seafood...


Unfortunately I am in one of the 50% of Asians who are stricken with the dreaded "Asian Glow" -- the red flush that appears when we drink. Mine starts at about 2 beverages - making me look like I've had around, say, 12 shots of tequila.

What a great trip -- can't wait to check out the Keys again! Thanks Em and Slee!

Let it snow...

Maybe this stuff will stick around and we'll finally be able to pull out the x-c skis...

It's hard to tell in the photo but the snow is coming down pretty hard. I'm preparing for a 45-60 minute commute home, which usually runs about 25-30 minutes.

She's baaaaack

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late, but it was totally worth it people. I spent a lovely few days in the Florida Keys with two awesome girlfriends. We laid out in the warm sun, drank amazing beverages and had some seriously fantastic meals.




Look at this view from the condo we stayed in!


I don't think anyone ate better than us girls this past weekend! Conch fritters, lobster reubens, oysters, shrimp -- oh my mouth is watering now just thinking about it. And my girls are wine afficionados, so we had some smooth reds straight out of Em's beautiful glass decanter. They also drank me under the table -- sigh, I've fallen a long way since my sorority days. :-)


I'll post more photos tomorrow, promise.

Alaska Cam

A webcam that overlooks Anchorage's 4th Avenue downtown -- one of the oldest streets in town:

The sign at top right in the photo is for the historic 4th Avenue Theater -- here it is in the 40's:

I remember going to a film with my dad at the theater when I was in elementary school. If you know my dad, you know he loves movies and it was so great to spend time with him like that. We sat up on the balcony and as I looked up, the big dipper from Alaska's state flag was lit up on the ceiling. Not sure of the 4th Avenue Theater's currrent status since it was sold and slated for demo, but last I heard it is supposed to be kept as a historical building. I sure hope that is the case -- it is a fabulous holdover from Anchorage's early days before statehood.

Back to the webcam -- the site also features memorable and interesting photos from past days -- this one is called "BeeZilla!" Rawr (or Buzzzz)!

3 Cool Things - 11/7/08

I'm out town but have scheduled this post to pop up on Friday - so as not to disappoint my scores of blog readers. :-) So many cool things, so little time...

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Video game cupcakes -- via CakeWrecks:

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External hard drive - back up your computer now! My old computer was a desktop version and when it started to die I scrambled to transfer all my precious files to cd's. It took a while and not everything made it. (RIP mp3's) This time around I learned my lesson and have routinely backed up my laptop. Send files to your hotmail or gmail account, pay for storage online or get an external hard drive. I chose the latter -- it's super small (3"x5"), lightweight and easy to transfer files:

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SmartWool -- this stuff is A-MAZ-ING. It's 100% top quality wool but: 1) is washable and able to be thrown into the dryer without shrinkage; 2) is wearable for DAYS before it starts to stink; 3) feels just like cotton; and 4) wicks away moisture (aka icky sweat). Hallelujah! I've been wearing this stuff for the last year or so and it has made such a difference when skiing, snowshoeing or out on the boat. It's my favorite of the tech wools: Icebreaker, Ibex and Swobo.

My friends with babies swear by these SmartWool booties -- apparently they are the only footwear that manages to stay on a little one's foot. And they have traction on the bottom.