CHARLES W. CHESNUTT

February was Black History Month. The Kodiak Perspective expanded his black education by reading two books by Charles W. Chesnutt. Who, you may ask, is Charles W. Chesnutt? He is the 31st honoree of the United States Postal Service, and his stamp is available at the post office.

Charles W. Chesnutt was born in the post civil war era, and his writings deal with issues of race. From his first novel “The House Behind the Cedars”: “Right and wrong must be eternal verities, but our standards for measuring them vary with our latitude and our epoch”.

The language of the writing is beautiful, and the story doesn’t always go as expected. Well worth the read.

His 2nd novel “The Marrow of Tradition” spends the greater part of the text developing the characters and events leading to the action that is hectic at the end.

Both of these books are available at the Kodiak Public Library, or will be soon, as The Kodiak Perspective will donate “The House Behind the Cedars” on the morrow.

ADVANCES IN FIRE

The Olympic torch will be carried to the top of Mt Everest. This desolate oxygen starved peak is the highest elevation on the earth. Maintaining the flame is no longer a concern as the Chinese, the people who invented gunpowder, have assured us that they have developed the technology to keep
the flame alit on the summit, where human climbers, even after acclimation periods, still resort to carrying an additional supply of oxygen. Soon there may be campfires on the moon.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION TALK

A large an enthusiastic crowd turned up on Valentine’s Day to hear a talk on Ocean Acidification at the new Refuge building.

A brief recap of the presentation:

Mad props to Al Gore ‘cause now people come to my talks.

Here is some data that shows carbon is going up in the ocean but it only goes back fifty years, so we don’t have a base line, but we project that the numbers will go crazy.

Here’s another quote from Al.

OK, worst case scenario is that there will be no shellfish, and the ocean will revert to a primordial time of simple life forms that can exist in high carbon environments, as we suspect happened at the dawn of time.

Did I mention that Al won an Academy Award.

In summary, we’ve only been collecting data for a short time, we don’t know much and have no base, but thanks to Al Gore we have an audience, so thanks for driving here tonight to listen to this presentation. Now get in your cars and drive home happy that you are concerned citizens of the planet.

Oh, and rent Al’s movie.

WHO IS IN CHARGE?

In a story on health insurers and doctors in the Los Angeles Times, there was this snippet

"We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality," said Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Assn.”

“He is a Frankenstein and they are all alike. They say they want to help you, but what they really want is to rule the world.” excepted from “Young Frankenstein”

TIME TO THINK SPRING

Even as we have just had a glorious weekend of snowfall and still bundle ourselves against winter’s chill, Kodiak gardeners are thinking ahead to the planting season. Spring catalogs abound with gardening supplies and seeds.

The Kodiak Perspective wonders that since such a fuss is made of invasive species of plants making inroads here on the island, why gardeners are allowed to order seeds and plants from other areas.

The variety and beauty of the native plants never ceases to thrill the avid hiker. Each time out, different plants are coming into bloom, in a beautiful array of colors and varieties. There are early spring plants, middle spring plants, late spring plants, summer blooms, until the fireweed signals the approach of fall. With so many wonderful varieties of native plants the Kodiak gardener could make quite a display in their yards.

Gardeners, please help to fight invasive plants by planting a Kodiak natural garden. It will surely be a delight to the eyes and keep our island safe from intruders.

PRE-GAME PARADE

While many in Kodiak were indoors preparing for the big game today, The Kodiak Perspective was out for a walk to the Harborside Coffee House. As he started down Shelikof he noticed a man carrying an XtraTufs box, then another, and yet another, who asked directions to Mickey D’s. By the time The Kodiak Perspective reached Harborside he had seen 6 of these odd fellows with the same parcel.

The Kodiak Perspective reported this unusual sighting to the Barista then sat to enjoy his beverage and his book. The Barista pointed out more of these fellow passing by the window. One even stood outside the door and contemplated entering the establishment, before continuing on his way.

This mysterious occurrence was solved after the gentleman spoke with another customer who was also in need of some caffeine refreshment. All these gentlemen arrived yesterday for the pollock season, and were given the gear by Western Alaska Cannery.

Xtratufs, the official footwear of Kodiak.

AN EXAMPLE OF SMARTNESS?

A Dutch comic book will be used to teach children in Germany about the holocaust and the Nazi era.

Germany has the fastest growing Jewish population, and has seen a rise in violent anti-Semitic crime. Most of the influx has been from the former Soviet Union.

It seems that the Germans remember the Nazis and the holocaust, and some continue in their treatment of Jews. This comic would better serve Jews in the former Soviet Union who are looking for a place to emigrate.

Germany may not be the best choice for a new home.

OLDIES RADIO

There are some recent additions to the radio dial here in Kodiak, and one of those stations has been playing at the place where The Kodiak Perspective works. This is the oldies station, playing songs of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. With three decades worth of music to choose from, one might think that the play list could be full of forgotten gems, classics, and songs that you might have missed, certainly quite a variety of music. Unfortunately, there is very little variety on the station, with songs being repeated daily, and several bands getting a good portion of the spins.

The Kodiak perspective used to look forward to holiday weekends when radio stations would roll out “Top 500" countdowns, just to hear different songs. The top 500 is a purely subjective list and often made no sense. But it was a weekend of no repeats.

If they would just load the hits and semi-hits, and cult favorites onto a hard drive and put it on shuffle, we might not have to endure the same tired songs everyday. We could easily go a month without repeats.

There are many bands that get no play on the music of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. The Kodiak Perspective hasn’t heard any Dionne Warwick singing Bert Bacharach, or Herp Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, or Led Zepplin, or Donna Summer, or Humble Pie, Frank Zappa, Yes, Rush, Jimi Hendrix . . . the list could go on for days.

Why do they insist on playing the same stuff over and over? Oldies radio is all about the advertisers. Here in Kodiak this lousy programming will get sponsors because there are few alternatives, so it doesn’t matter what kind lousy play list the station chooses. Kodiak, we deserve better.

Maybe when Kodiak Public Broadcasting gets some more signals approved, they can load up a terabyte hard drive with a play list of several thousand tunes and offer something interesting, surprising, and worth listening to.

THE FCC AND THE F-BOMB

Last week Diane Keaton dropped the F-Bomb on “Good Morning America”. The latest in a rash of bombings from the likes of Bono (U2), Cher, and Nicole Richie.

The FCC instituted a possible fine of $325,000 for each use, that was overturned by the courts, though the case is on appeal.

The Kodiak Perspective wonders if these indecent words, satirized by George Carlin many years ago, still function as cuss words. Most of the words are now in common usage and have lost that important ability to shock and offend.

Our cuss words have been in use for a long time and seem tired. In an age where we can harness nano technology, can’t we come up with something new, or is our society too jaded to care.

The Kodiak Perspective started thinking what is something that is still shocking and offensive? How about “NAMBLA”, the North American Man/Boy Love Association. This is shocking and offensive to the majority of Americans. How about using Nambla as a cuss word . . . “You are a nambler”? The idea is good, but a proper cuss word needs a harder sound, "nambler" is too soft. A good cuss word has hard consonants like “K” or “T” which help intensify the word. So, for your consideration: “NAMBLAK”

Coming up with a new cuss word is not so easy. You try it. Put your suggestions in the comments.

FUND RAISING

The Kodiak Perspective does not understand the fuss over Gabrielle LeDoux’s fund raising during the legislative session. Is it a matter of her not participating in the session because she is out seeking donations? The ethics rules idea is to prevent the appearance of influence peddling, but does a contribution received a week before the session hold more sway than one received a week later after the session has started? Fund raising is part of political life, does it really matter when it is done, unless it interferes with the responsibility of representing your constituents?