«Concert Sheltered»

Sometimes I don't realize how sheltered of a life I've lived in Ketchikan. I was at another atheist meeting last night and the topic of music concerts came up. Everyone there was talking about their 4th and 5th concert they've seen. I've never been to one. They were surprised to hear this.

I was surprised that everyone else had been to one, let alone multiple concerts. It's the little things like that I've missed out on. It's the little things that cause me to have nothing interesting to talk to anyone about.

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«All Good Things...»

Good riddance Ketchikan!

After 919 consecutive days of blogging and 963 posts, having not missed a single day, I must take a leave of absence for an unknown duration of time. I face a major change in my life, and in the transition I won't be able to blog. I may pick up blogging again at a later date after I'm settled in. I'll be at least a month. I need a break anyway. My only regret is that I didn't quite make it to my 1,000th post.

My theme song for today, just replace all instances of "train" with "ferry":
Cruxshadows - Waiting to Leave

With watching eyes
You see dreams dissolving¹
Distant voices slipping away
I have to go - I hear
The call of something deeper
A voice inside of me

And tears return
Beneath the happy ending
Promised words that scattered
In the cold
I have to leave, I hear
The call of something higher
Something young becoming old²

I can't stay here any longer
Trapped here by the rain³
I can't stay here any longer
Waiting for this train

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere⁴
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

My sympathies,
Are wasted on regretting
Why not take a chance with me?
I have to go - I hear
The call of something stronger
And it's pulling me away

I can't stay here any longer
Trapped here by the rain
I can't stay here any longer
Waiting for this train

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

I've been running around in circles
Without any direction
I've been searching hard to find
Who I really am...

I've been running around in circles
Without any direction
I've been lost here for so long
I've forgotten who I am⁵...

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

I'm waiting for the last train
Out of nowhere
I'm waiting for the last train
On the line
Some people say that I will
Never leave here...
But I have to go this time

I'm waiting for the last train
Bound for somewhere
I'm playing with my last chance
On the line
I think it's really now or never
You know I have to try...

- Waiting to Leave, by The Cruxshadows

^1: Being trapped in this town has a way of killing your hopes and dreams.
^2: In this case, I'm the thing getting old.
^3: Seriously, it rains a lot in Ketchikan. On the order of 160-200 inches a year.
^4: Because of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" Ketchikan has the nickname "Nowhere", Alaska. It's like this song was made for me.
^5: I've never really been able to figure out who I am.

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«The Bagpipes (with Video)»

Friggin' bagpipes man, I'm going insane!

I live fairly close to where all the Independence Day festivities are happening this year. For the past 3 days now, I've been hearing the faint sound of bagpipe music. It seems to ebb and flow, and when I can't actually hear it, I'm imagining it. It's like it continues to play in my head even after it's stopped. When I'm actually down there amongst the festivities there's usually some other music playing, completely unrelated to bagpipes.

I know there was a guy in town that would drive his truck back and forth through town with his windows down, blaring bagpipe music. He use to do it all summer. For the sake of my sanity, I was hoping it was him I was hearing.

I do like bagpipe music, it's an amazing instrument. But randomly hearing it all the time without any logical source leads to insanity. Yesterday I finally found a source. It doesn't explain why I've been hearing bagpipes all day for 3 days, but I still feel better. They are the Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums, local here in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Click image to view full.

Yes, they're playing out in the rain. Like true Ketchikanites, they don't let a little rain stop them.

This is my first upload to YouTube. I recorded a song they performed in the Plaza yesterday (July 3rd, 2010) outside the AT&T store.

Misty Thistle Pipes & Drums Ketchikan, Alaska

They will be marching in the parade today as well.

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«iPhone 4 Line»

Yesterday I was in line at the AT&T store to buy a new iPhone 4. Yes, even Ketchikan, Alaska had a line for it...

Click image to view full.

Needless to say, they sold out of the 32GB model before I could get one. They had just enough of the 16GB model for everyone in line who wanted one, with not one to spare. I figure they had 30 iPhones in total that day.

I had them order a 32GB model for me. So I'll be getting mine in a few days.

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«The Tourist Lane»

If there was ever a town that needed this (for real), it's Ketchikan! Those damn tourists will literally stand in the middle of the road or stop mid-step right in front of you to take a picture.

The Tourist Lane

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«Deckbox»

No, not Dropbox. It's Deckbox (though Dropbox is useful, too). Deckbox is a site for making an inventory of your TCG cards, as well as make a tradelist and wishlist. It supports Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer Invasion, and World of Warcraft TCG.

I only play Magic: The Gathering, and I'm currently in the process of inputting all my cards, so I'll have an easily searchable database of all my cards. It's a long-term goal, it's going to take a while. For now I've got my rares and some of my commons entered, I'll continue working on it. So far (at the time I'm writing this) I've entered 5,777 cards.

You can view my profile to see my wishlist or tradelist. Yeah, I'm even adding commons to my tradelist. You can just use "Search & Filter" to find what you want. Or make an account of your own and add cards to your wishlist, then view my profile and it will tell you what cards I have that you want. Of course, I only trade face-to-face, so I'm not sure how much good it will do most of you. You'd have to be local in Ketchikan, Alaska...

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«Fremont Street (Photo Heavy)»

This will be the last of my photographs from Las Vegas. Click an image to view full.

Here's another picture of the Luxor, showing the Sphinx out front.

I went out exploring the area, took this picture of the corner of the Luxor.

I wandered off the Strip, this is looking back toward it.

Here's the pools at the Luxor. All but one were closed. They're all only 3.5 feet deep anyway, not worth even going to unless you have little kids.

Our last night in Las Vegas, my dad was feeling well enough so we went to the Fremont Street Experience. It's the largest overhead screen on Earth.

The Fremont light shows are every hour on the hour at night. They're like a throwback to the 70's. I mean come on, Queen? Really?

The next morning we left. It's amazing how a landscape so dry is so marked by water erosion.

Before I knew it I was back in Ketchikan. It was colder than when we left. It was 80 in Las Vegas, and I came back to 34 degrees with snow in the forecast. *sigh*

And that's pretty much my vacation to Las Vegas. I gambled (and lost) $100, exactly the amount I planned to lose.

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«Master Marf is a Business»

So I just learned something shocking. I had enough income in 2009 on my taxes from the ads here that Master Marf has become a business in the eyes of the IRS. For last year's taxes it was just a hobby. Somehow since then I've become a self-employed business owner. I'm such a ninja at getting a job even I didn't know I had one!

I started doing my taxes with the TurboTax program. When I entered the information from my ad income, it said I had a business; it wanted to upgrade to the business edition (for a fee), and started asking questions about my "business". So I got confused and decided to see a tax consultant, I went to Liberty Tax Service here in Ketchikan.

It was explained to me that when you start getting 1099 forms listing "nonemployee compensation" in box 7, you are in fact self-employed. And that I do in fact, have a business as far as the IRS is concerned (even though I don't have a business license).

The downside is business tax forms are much more expensive to have done, either by a tax firm or program like TurboTax. Also I have to pay Social Security and Medicare costs out of my "business" income. However, because it was my first time using Liberty Tax Service, and my taxes were so simple, they were nice enough to give me a voucher that made my tax preparation free this year. Otherwise I'd of had to pay a $224 charge for being a small business. Ouch!

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«Street View in Ketchikan!»

It took a while after the Google street view car came here, but Google Street View is finally available in Ketchikan, Alaska via Google maps:


View Larger Map

Now it's possible for anyone to explore my little town. Please take note: this is Alaska and there's no igloos in sight. That's actually why I chose this location to embed, so you can see one of our towers. Also you can see our Plaza mall. If you rotate 180 you can see the other tower. This is a real city, I swear!

Go ahead, play with the embedded map... Click and drag to pan around, or click on one of the arrows on the road overlay to go up and down the street.

I didn't choose to embed the location of the the sign downtown that says "Ketchikan" in big letters because that part of town is only there for tourists. Once upon a time it was the true downtown of Ketchikan, but now it's just a bunch of tourist shops that board up their windows for the winter. What I've embedded is in the West End, the "true" part of town that locals actually go to.

They've got most of the road system, even a surprising number of the side roads. The road out South of town (East on a compass) has spotty coverage, I'm not sure why that is.

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«Talk of the Bridge, Again»

Now that Sarah Palin is out of the equation, there's renewed talk about building the bridge to our airport.

We have a $28 million literal "road to nowhere" over there, built to connect to where the bridge would have been. Palin only stopped the bridge to try to make herself look good. She was "for it before she was against it." Once there was a national public outcry (based on misinformation) she changed to the "popular" side.

We need something, the current ferry system is just not cutting it. There's the options of new ferries or a bridge. New ferries would only delay the problem, and you'd still have the issue of trying to catch the ferry in time so you can get to airport security in time. Meanwhile a bridge would not only provide a much needed hard-link to our airport, but it would open up all that flat land for development. And that's what this town needs to thrive.

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«Saxman Totem Poles (Photo Heavy)»

Bunc made a comment on yesterday's post:

Your post got me starting to read up a little about Ketchikan - I see the largest collections of standing totem poles are in the area - is that right? That would make some fascinating photos.

- Bunc

Because it was 40 degrees outside (not freezing), not stormy, and not yet dark; I rode my bicycle out to Saxman and took a few photos of the totem poles, just for Bunc. All these photos were taken yesterday (December 2nd, 2009). So here they are, click an image to view full.

From here you can see most of the totem poles.

The sign reads:

SAXMAN
Legend Tlingit Indian village, established 1894, is named for school teacher Samuel Saxman. One of three men lost Dec. of 1886 while scouting for a new location for people of Tongass and Cape Fox villages. Totems here, comprising world's largest collection, including poles moved from Pennock, Tongass, and village islands and from old Cape Fox village at Kirk Point. Many are poles restored under federal works project directed by the U.S. forest service beginning in 1939.

Alaska Depertment of Highways

Totem poles around the sign.

I bet you didn't know Abraham Lincoln was at the top of a Tlingit totem pole.

I don't know the proper names of any of these, I'm calling this one a China man.

This one I know is an eagle on the top and a beaver on the bottom.

This one was my favorite. Shouldn't have put his hand in there...

A tribal Tlingit meeting hall.

That's all so pretty... Because it's meant for tourists. However, look down any side road in Saxman and you'll see what it's really like. I don't mean to be racist, but it takes only a simple observation to notice a lack of home maintenance and clutter control on the part of your average Alaskan Native.

EDIT: Fixed spelling of the word "racist". Thanks Vid.

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«Face of the Island»

As with anywhere, this island has a few geological shapes that by chance resemble something recognizable. It's human nature to try to see faces in places there are none, this phenomenon is called pareidolia.

Here's one example from the topographical maps around here. Notice the names of the points: Brow Point, Nose Point, and Chin Point. This picture was taken aboard the Taku Alaska ferry on May 28th, 2009.

Click image to view full.

Here's a satellite view of the same place in an embedded Google map:

View Larger Map

That's just a small area of the much larger Revillagigedo Island, the very island that I live on and hosts the town of Ketchikan, Alaska. Random fact: it's the 12th largest island in the United States, with an area of 1,063.65 square miles and 309 miles of coastline.

The town is exactly South of this on the map, if you look far enough.

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«3AM Ketchikan Snow»

Last night we got our first snow of the season. I just happened to be awake at 3AM¹, so I went out and took some pictures.

This picture was taken at 3:11AM on November 13th, 2009. I used a 4 second exposure with flash so I'd catch some snowflakes in the picture as well.

Click image to view full.

So now we've got snow on the ground for Friday the 13th...

^1: Being awake at 3AM is not uncommon for me.

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«It's Those Tides Again»

Similar to when we had the 19 foot tide on December 14th, 2008, yesterday we had an 18 foot tide. Only difference is we had a storm surge on top of it yesterday. 60 mph gusts and such. Click an image to view full.

The water level is a little higher than it was with the 19 foot tide on a calm day.

Yeah, I think if that car owner were a little more mindful of the tides they wouldn't have left it there. Salt water wreaks havoc on break pads.

Good thing the sea through here stays relatively calm...

That building is new. Before it was built there, I've seen that lot flood with tidewater during a storm. I don't think they put in that much extra fill, either.

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«Pleasant Little Town I Live In»

1 dead, 1 Injured in Ketchikan Shooting

There's been a lot of stabbings and shootings lately in Ketchikan. A lot for a town of this size, at least... In the event the article linked to above is about, it's believed the motive was jealousy over a girl.

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«3rd Ave Bypass Wall»

Just another random picture of the 3rd Ave bypass here in Ketchikan, Alaska. This one was taken on July 13th, 2009.

Click image to view full.

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«09' Vacation Photos, Part 5 (Photo Heavy)»

These pictures span the days of May 26th to May 28th. The last continuation of the vacation photos series. Click an image to view full.

Going back through Canada, on our way home. I've always liked the desert climate of the Cache Creek area.

Here we are stopped at the Redhill Rest Area in outside Ashcroft, Canada.

B.C. Is Idle Free. Tell that to the truckers that keep their engines running at rest areas... With my dad's Prius it's impossible to leave the car idling; the engine just shuts off when its not charging the battery (or keeping the catalytic converter warm). Even when you're driving down the road. It was a bit strange at first, but you get used to it. Ahh, hybrids.

We stayed at the Moby Dick Inn in Prince Rupert. Here's the view out the window.

Crossing back through customs into the US, so we can get on the Alaska ferry Taku. No strip search this time through.

Now we're on the ferry, and this is looking down off the stern at the loading ramp.

The solarium deck of the Taku.

People were flying kites from the solarium deck when we were underway.

Yup, we're getting close to Ketchikan, there's a cruise ship! It's the Golden Princess, in case you were wondering.

Good ol' dismal Ketchikan that I call home. And so ends the vacation.

And I'm still not done. I've got a series I did under bridges that I wanted to post separately. The photos from the 73rd floor of the Columbia Center definitely deserve their own post. Also I've got a few other photos that were significant enough to be extracted into their own posts.

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«Cruise Ship Watch: Sea Princess»

No, I'm not starting this back up this year. There just happened to be a ship in today that I didn't photograph last year in my Cruise Ship Watch series.

Here's the Sea Princess. I think it was doing tours in Europe last year, so that's why I didn't get it. It's longer than it appears in the photo; the angle is making it look short.

Click image to view full.

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«Fucked Over By This Town Again»

So I had bought a new bicycle at Costco while on my vacation. (Click an image to view full.)

This picture was taken outside of Junction City, Oregon on May 17th, 2009.

I get it home to Ketchikan and it's not too long I get a flat front tire. It's nothing I ran over. It turns out the little rubber rim liner was off center, so when the tube was inflated it caused 2 little half-circle cuts in it. (Picture below)

Ok, so I straiten that out, and I go buy new tube at the Tongass dock store; there is no bike shop in town. Turns out the new tube has some sort of funky Presta valve that I can't air up anywhere. And no, I can't buy a foot pump or an adapter in this town that will fit a presta valve, either.

So, the next day (today) I bring back the tube. They didn't have a tube of the correct size (700c) with the common Schrader valve, so I went to the local Walmart (the only other place that sells bike parts). They had one style of tube that was the 700c size and had the Schrader valve. So I buy that. However, because my bike rims are "deep dish", the valve stem of this new tube is not long enough.

So I'm fucked over by the limited options in this town again. I'm so pissed right now...

And no, I'm not going to patch the old tube. Every patch¹ I've tried on a bike tube has failed, and so I don't trust them.

^1: "Every patch" in this case refers to the only patch I've tried. The fact still remains that I don't trust bicycle tube patches, and I refuse to use them.

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«Cruise Ships Are In Again»

Yesterday marked the beginning of the 2009 cruise ship season here in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was 1 ship in.

I've decided this year not to do a Cruise Ship Watch series. I'm going to be going on vacation after the first week of May, so I'd miss a bunch of ships anyway.

I'll say more about my upcoming vacation in a later post.

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