Kodiak Konfidential

• Black Friday

  Can we come up with a different name for the Friday after Thanksgiving? Black Friday is just not doing it for me. I understand where it came from, perhaps apocryphally, it's the day retail businesses are supposed to "enter the black" or make a profit for the year. That just doesn't' [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:05pm EST
  

• Synecdoche

  I almost started watching "Synecdoche, New York," but I'm just too tired to wrap my mind around two hours of Charlie Kaufman. I'm going to try "Ali G indahouse" instead. I love Netflix on demand. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:33pm EST
  

• SOL in Soldotna

  Just found SOL in Soldotna, a newish blog which does a good job dissecting the small-town politics in the central peninsula. Having once lived just a few feet from Slow-dotna city limits, it's good to hear someone speaking up about the repressive rightwing culture there is up there. Folks call this' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 6:37pm EST
  

• This is what I'm talkin' about!

  Enclosure: [download]

  A motorized pocket billiards table! From the article in the NY Times: "Sudhakar Yadav, who acknowledges that his goal in life is 'to design 100 wacky cars,' has created a motorized snooker table. It is built to official snooker-table standards, with six pockets and a green worsted wool surface, powered by" [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 3:23pm EST
  

• Dowd on Palin v. Obama

  Maureen Dowd has some good insights on how the President can learn to be more visceral, like, gasp, Sarah Palin. He’s a highly intelligent man with a highly functioning West Wing, and he’s likable, but he’s not connecting on the gut level that could help him succeed. The animating spirit that electrified [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:11am EST
  

• Won't see this on the Rightwing-Controlled National Media

  Sarah Palin disappointed fans in Noblesville, Indiana, when she abruptly quit her book signing. The large crowd had heartily cheered the former vice-presidential candidate when she arrived holding youngest child Trig at 5:30 p.m. at a Borders bookstore. The store handed out wristbands so that the first 1,000 customers could [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:07am EST
  

• What if Earth had rings?

  This is really cool. Doesn't show what it might be like from Alaska, though they might be seen very low on the horizon...? ' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  

• Wild

  Don't worry, I'm not about to jump in the channel with our local sealions. [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:37pm EST
  

• Does Sarah Palin have her own "Wasilla Ebonics"?

  A single sentence from her new book, (with a comment from a story in Slate that indexes "Going Rogue"): Under "Sentence, actual" how about this beauty: "The apartment was small, with slanting floors and irregular heat and a buzzer downstairs that didn't work, so that visitors had to call ahead from a'" [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:31pm EST
  

• Not that Special

  So I'm down at Henry's the other day and saw on the drink chalkboard they have a sampler of beers on tap, the Beer Sampler Special. Here's the deal: Three, 6-ounce beers for $10. If my math is correct, that's 18 ounces for $10. A full pint, which if my math is' [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 9:43am EST
  

• Mmmmmmm, tastes like wet river stones!

  Do you recall the Alaskan vodka "Permafrost"? Turns out it has received a prestigious medal recently in Chicago, where they know about drinking: The Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) has awarded Permafrost Alaska Vodka its highest award, the Platinum Medal, in its 2009 International Review of Spirits competition, conducted in Chicago, Illinois. [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:13pm EST
  

• · · · — — — · · · [SOS for the Morse Code-challenged]

  Alaska Democrats have started a new web site to hold Sarah Barracuda Palin accountable, called Sarah Watch. The new website is designed to be a watchdog to hold Sarah Palin accountable as she catapults herself again onto the national stage. Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins said, “As Alaskans, we have seen [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:56pm EST
  

• Just when I thought they had gone too far to the right....

  I see that NPR's "Talk of the Nation," which sadly is not broadcast in Kodiak (hint-hint), spent just less than nine minutes on a first look at Sarah Barracuda Palin's new book, and a very appropriate 30 minutes on George Carlin's biography, "Last Words." There is balance in the force. *UPDATE* God Damn [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:13pm EST
  

• Where the Stupid Things Are

  Enclosure: [download]

  This is a pretty good meme on Twitter today: Alternate Sarah Palin Book Titles. A sample: Ahmadinejad‎ And Other Big Words I Can PronounceHow to Quit Anything in Three Easy StepsOne Fish, Two Fish.... crap, I lost count again.....A Betcha In The Rye [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:27pm EST
  

• Did you know you can buy Uranium from Amazon.com?

  Enclosure: [download]

  I ran across this in the "Oddities" group category on Amazon.com. Other items include Forbidden Lego Toys and a personal battle tank that looks a lot like a Dalek troop carrier. Weird. Love the customer reviews, too. [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:50am EST
  

• Palin: a "Dangerously Delusional Political Hack"

  Thanks to a KoKon Operative for forwarding this from Mad Magazine. Click image to embiggen. [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:16am EST
  

• Irrefutable Palin Lies - A List by Andrew Sullivan

  Enclosure: [download]

  Andrew Sullivan, probably the most unbiased commentator out there (takes shots at both the right and the left), has a spiffy list of Sarah Barracuda Palin's demonstrable lies in a new column at The Atlantic. ...(W)e are not including contested stories that we cannot prove definitively one way or another or [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 11:49am EST
  

• What the Kokon?

  Huh. For some reason, "www.thekokon.com" is not linking to the blog any more - even though, yes, I paid my yearly renewal fee. I think..... At least we'll always have "http://kodiakkonfidential.blogspot.com." *Update*     Just one box needed to be checked in some control panel at the place where TheKoKon redirects to' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 6:58pm EST
  

• We need a Kodiak Craigslist

  I see there are now more than just Anchorage/MatSu-specific Craigslist pages. They've got Fairbanks, Kenai Peninsula, and Southeast Alaska, now. There's also a link to suggest a new one - perhaps we can get one for Kodiak? Might not be welcomed by the paper or commercial radio station that makes money' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 6:07pm EST
  

• It's a whole industry now

  This promises to be a better read than The Red Rogue Elephant: New Satire "Sarah Palin's Secret Diary" Makes Outrageous ClaimsLOS ANGELES, /PRNewswire/ -- According to a fallacious diary, penned by satirist Joey Green, when Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin stepped inside the voting booth in her hometown of Wasilla, [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 5:22pm EST
  

• Close Encounters of ...

  Have you heard of the new movie, ostensibly set in Alaska, called "The Fourth Kind"? It's about alien abductions set in Nome. They were in the news last week after settling a dispute with the Alaska Press Club, because certain media outlets objected to the filmmakers mocking up fake news [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 4:03pm EST
  

• Today's Doonesbury

  All the Doonesbury goodness you can handle, here. [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  

• Another Stop in Anchorage

  Just saw this in The Ear; I'll have to try to get tickets next time I'm in town: SOUND & PICTURES . . . Shannyn Moore, a local blogger and talk radio host who has made a name for herself Outside, has a new weekly television gig, an hour-long political talk show [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:18am EST
  

• So..... she inhaled?

  Not what you think. Here's an excerpt from the Sarah Barracuda Palin "Going Rogue" review in the New York Times (a pan): "... a former beauty queen with a George W. Bush-like aptitude for mangling the English language (the first paragraph of the book contains the phrase “I breathed in an autumn bouquet" [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 2:35pm EST
  

• FDA Attacks Caffeinated Booze

  I just saw this item in The Daily Beast, summarizing an NPR story: Passing out after a long night out has been less of a problem thanks to the alcohol-infused energy drinks that have become available over the past few years. But on Friday, the Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 9:11am EST
  

• Sadly, Barracuda isn't even smart enough to refrain from putting her ignorance in print

  The Associated Press fact-checks Sarah Palin's book of lies, half-truths and fabrications. By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer Calvin Woodward, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 51 mins ago WASHINGTON – Sarah Palin's new book reprises familiar claims from the 2008 presidential campaign that haven't become any truer over time. Ignoring substantial parts of her' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 6:15pm EST
  

• An Oldie but a Goodie

  Hahahaha, it's funny because it's true. I saw this on Snopes. Heheheh... [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:31am EST
  

• Was Alaska Worth It?

  A KoKon Operative spotted this item in the ADN and passed it on. Kinda makes ya wonder.... The U.S. paid Russia $7.2 million in gold for Alaska in 1867 -- less than 2 cents an acre. Screamin' deal, right? Wrong, says University of Iowa economist David Barker, who suggests the investment' [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 10:58pm EST
  

• Treasonous Basterd

  Just saw this item and it ticks me off: Governor Parnell declines to meet President PRESIDENT’S FIRST VISIT TO ALASKA In a surprise development, Governor Sean Parnell has declined to meet the President who will arrive this afternoon at Elmendorf Air Force Base.  The President will be making his first ever visit [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:44am EST
  

• Snow in the Forecast

  Well, if the reports from friends in Nome, Kotzebue, Fairbanks, D'ham, Valdez and Anchorage, winter seems to have hit parts of Alaska - just not Kodiak, yet. They don't call this rock the Farthest North Hawaiian Island for nothing. But, there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow, but with the [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 5:11pm EST
  

• Get some Readability

  See the image on the left? Imagine all the little ads and stuff on the right-hand column blinking and changing images and doing all manner of jitter-bugging. The top banner ad, too. See the image on the right? It's the same article after hitting the spiffy new "Readability" button in my [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 6:13pm EST
  

• I want one of these!

  Okay, I have three iPods (four if you count the iPhone), but this would be the grooviest one of all. I don't know where it came from - David Pogue linked to it on his Twitter feed.' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 5:21pm EST
  

• Red Green follows Dick Cheney on Twitter?

  I'm just puzzled by this. Others that Red Green is following include country singer Toby Kieth, and cartoon character Homer Simpson. At least Sarah Barracuda isn't on the list.... [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:58am EST
  

• More thoughts on Baseball

  The other day I posted about how it's fine that the New York Yankees - and especially Alex Rodriguez - won the World Series. Once every decade or two is fine for the Evil Empire - it just makes it all the more sweeter when they then go on to [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:40am EST
  

• Today's Doonesbury

  Find all manner of Doonesbury goodness here. [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:07am EST
  

• Two-Feet High and Risin'

  If you don't already, check out the Saltonstall's blog. They have great photos year-round (including one of those Gigapan super-high resolution images of town), but now that it's winter, the ski and snow reports will be coming fast and furious. Seriously, if it weren't for Patrick's entries, I wouldn't have' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 5:52pm EST
  

• There Needs to be a Watch List

  And the author (I use that term loosely) of Wednesday's letter to the editor in the Mirror needs to be the first person on it. Here's a sample of his barely-lucid diatribe: There is plenty of cottonwood trees out by Bell’s Flats, maybe all the liberals in Congress and all you [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 2:04pm EST
  

• Hamthrax!

  Swine Flu, also known now as Hamthrax, is running rampant in Kodiak, yet school and health officials don't seem to be taking any action. Why haven't we heard from local public health officials on the status of vaccines? Why are they still having a wrestling match this weekend, the first [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 4:33pm EST
  

• The Darkside's Callin'

  "There is a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."* I guess it's okay to let the Evil Empire win the World Series once a decade. I'm actually happy that A-Rod won a series; he really is a good' [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 7:53pm EST
  

• Spiffy

  Have you noticed how much work is being done on the post office? Remodeling inside and out.... Kinda makes me think the plan for an entirely new post office building in Kodiak is off the table. And that's fine with me. The current location could not be better, really, and it's' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:21pm EST
  

• Full Moon Fever

  By the way, my hypothesis that it's always clear enough to see the full moon down here continues to be proven true. Over the weekend it was shinin' high.' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:34am EST
  

• Swine Flu is freakin' everywhere, man

  Seriously, why aren't we quarantining the schools or something?' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:32am EST
  

• Today's Doonesbury

  [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 10:53am EST