Slog - Comments on Just Curious http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1 Alaska doesn't seem to be a--um, how do you say?--culture of ideas. Has any writer/thinker/artist of distinction ever come from Alaska? UPDATE: Brendan Kiley was born in Alaska. The question stands. UPDATE 2: Jen posted about this yesterday. (Not even The Stranger's own staff can keep up with Slog.)... Copyright 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:16:18 -0800 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:55:45 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by DOUG. Jewel.

]]> DOUG. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151555 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151555 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:19:33 -0800 Comment by max solomon rie munoz.

oh, you wanted GOOD artists. my bad.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151559 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151559 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:20:53 -0800 Comment by Aislinn @1: Good call.

]]> Aislinn http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151566 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151566 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:23:50 -0800 Comment by Little Red Ryan Hood @1 Jewel is hot.

Jack London wrote about Alaska, does that count? I'm pretty sure he never actually went to Alaska though.

]]> Little Red Ryan Hood http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151571 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151571 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:24:57 -0800 Comment by Grant Cogswell Seth Kantner's novel Ordinary Wolves that came out a few years ago is flat-out amazing, it's a very autobiographical coming-of-age story about the child of survivalist hippies raised in an Eskimo community. Everything about that description runs against the realities of the book itself: it is poetic, fully-realized funny, deep, and impossible to put down. The writer might be the only novelist in English living above the Arctic Circle.

]]> Grant Cogswell http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151579 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151579 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:28:54 -0800 Comment by Brendan Kiley Burn on me.

Still—I'd rather be from Alaska (which has few people, ergo few ideas) than Thousand Oaks, California (which has many people but even fewer ideas).

]]> Brendan Kiley http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151583 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151583 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:30:05 -0800 Comment by Scott Dow Jack Motherfucking London is a genuine A to the K artist, even if he was not born there. Plenty of hicks live in WASH also.

]]> Scott Dow http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151591 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151591 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:32:40 -0800 Comment by UNPAID BLOGGER That should be amended to say that no writer/thinker/artist of distinction ever stay in Alaska.

(And full disclosure- I was born and raised in Eagle River, just a short distance from Wasilla.)

]]> UNPAID BLOGGER http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151601 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151601 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:38:41 -0800 Comment by the man who couldn't blog This guy's a pretty darn good writer. He's Alaskan.

]]> the man who couldn't blog http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151611 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151611 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:45:39 -0800 Comment by the man who couldn't blog Or, wait. No. I guess he just lives there now. Sorry.

False alarm.

]]> the man who couldn't blog http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151616 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151616 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:47:01 -0800 Comment by blank12357 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_artists_and_writers_from_Alaska

Not a particularly inspiring list.

]]> blank12357 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151630 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151630 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:55:47 -0800 Comment by Levislade Seems like no. But looking at Alaska's wikipedia page taught me a couple things:
1) Curt Schilling is from Alaska.
2) The word for the word for a person from a certain place (e.g. "Alaskan" or "Bay Stater" (you know, I'm from Massachusetts and never knew what to call myself)) is "Demonym."

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151634 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151634 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:56:50 -0800 Comment by blank12357 Anastasia Blue is from Alaska. She won the 2000 AVN Award for "Best Anal Sex Scene (Video)" for her role in "Whack Attack 6", a classic of the genre, although Whack Attack 4 is better representation of her unique style and technique.

]]> blank12357 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151642 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151642 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:03 -0800 Comment by David John Luther Adams (composer) (not the same as the other composer John Adams). I'm not sure he was born there, but he's lived and worked there for a long time.

]]> David http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151644 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151644 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:00:46 -0800 Comment by laterite Probably not since Alaska is the last refuge of people who just want to get the fuck away from everyone else. Which is probably why their politicians are so corrupt. No one really gives a shit as long as they get their subsidy check and are left alone.

]]> laterite http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151652 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151652 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:04:12 -0800 Comment by swedish fisherman Jewel's got fucked-up teeth. Or at least she used to...when she was blowin' me! ZING! (Turns into moth, flies into light, dies)

]]> swedish fisherman http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151668 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151668 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:12:43 -0800 Comment by Monty Local songwriter R.B. Reed is from Alaska.

http://www.myspace.com/rbreed

But none of you ever heard of him.

]]> Monty http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151670 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151670 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:13:44 -0800 Comment by Simon Not really an artist per-say but, Soapy Smith an American con artist and gangster from the 1800s. Oh, and he wasn't born in Alaska but he did die in Skagway. Does he count?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_%22Soapy%22_Smith

]]> Simon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151706 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151706 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:35:06 -0800 Comment by merry John Haines, although not born there, is considered an Alaskan poet (he's been in AK since 1947). He's the real deal.

http://www.danagioia.net/essays/ehaines.htm

]]> merry http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151718 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151718 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:42:53 -0800 Comment by Levislade @17 - Ah, I know and love R.B. Reed, but was not aware he was from Alaska. Thanks!

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151723 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151723 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:45:50 -0800 Comment by Miss A No-Fi Soul Rebellion.

]]> Miss A http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151730 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151730 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:51:07 -0800 Comment by David Jewel is an obvious one. Her later worked didn't reach as far, but "Pieces of you" was innovative and certainly progressive in its messages.

Tom "We'll leave the light on for you." Bodett has done better work as a writer (As Far as You can go Without a Passport, etc) and NPR guest than as a Hotel 6 spokesman.

Ray Troll has a whimsical and sometimes warped view of fish and pithy sayings in his oils, t-shirts and political posters.

I'd note that if you disaree with Palin, you'd really like the politics of all three of these.

]]> David http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151740 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151740 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:59:35 -0800 Comment by AK Rob (aka disgruntled AK artist) BOB ROSS you asswipes...

And until we recently added discrimination to our Constitution we had the best in the WORLD.

harumph

]]> AK Rob (aka disgruntled AK artist) http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151750 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151750 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:06:31 -0800 Comment by Kalakalot Well, he's a bit too Small Town Folksy Wisdom for some peoples' taste, but Tom Bodett -- in addition to appearing in seemingly every episode of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me ever made -- has written quite a few novels about Homer, Alaska. They appeal to the same people that enjoyed Northern Exposure. (Full disclosure: I am one of those people). He wasn't born in AK, but he does have a cabin near Homer.

Jewel, in case you were wondering, is also from Homer. It is a rad place: It has gays and everything.

]]> Kalakalot http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151760 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151760 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:10:11 -0800 Comment by Ziggity @1: Defend this, please:

I am not from here,
my hair smells of the wind
and is full of constellations,
and I move about this world
with a healthy disbelief.
And I approach my days and my work
with vaporous consequence
a touch that is translucent,
but can violate stone.

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151786 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151786 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:36:03 -0800 Comment by Alaskan Born As much as I hate Palin, I can see what a provincial shitwipe Frizzle is. Frizzle is a liberal, and this gives him zero authority to judge Alaskans. I say this because as backwards as a lot of Alaskans are, it was the liberals in congress that gave Bush the Authority to wage his racist fucking wars in the middle east, that voted for his patriot act, that did nothing as he and his cronies gutted our constitution and economy like a salmon in a cannery. It is not the strength of liberal dogma, or the charisma of Obama that is going to win this election. The only way a liberal will make it into the white house in this day and age is by the complete incompetence of the right, and the fruits of their ability to get most of what they wanted from Pelosi and the rest of the cowards with a D in front of their name. Fuck you Frizzle.

]]> Alaskan Born http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151799 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151799 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:48:04 -0800 Comment by Sitka Jack The nerve of you, you white motherfucker to paint us with the same brush as Palin. What is the meme you are trying to start here, people born in Alaska are hicks? Palin may be a kook, but at least she cares about Alaskans, and actually muscled money out of the oil companies for her people. What are your precious Democrats going to do for you? Bail out Wall Street? Strap Americans with 700 billion dollars of debt? America is over, the Liberals have failed, and the right and their death cult religion have won, even if Obama moves into the White House. The end times are here. Do not come to Alaska Frizzle, or I will nail you to a moose, and sick a pack of wolves on you. Seriously though, have a nice day retard. Love you. God Bless.

]]> Sitka Jack http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151859 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151859 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:13:27 -0800 Comment by Alaskan against GOP Sitka jack has just demonstrated what is typical Alaskan ignorance. Good job. Alaska is getting fucked by the bush administration. Palin is not a "fighter" or a maverick. She is a fucking bitch evangelical Republican who "prays" on ignorant fucks like Sitka jack-off...

]]> Alaskan against GOP http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151872 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151872 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:01:26 -0800 Comment by Lee Gibson Splain to me something.

Why is judging a politician on the merits of their fellow-staters different than judging a member of a minority by the characteristics observed in different members of a minority?

In other words, why is this not considered a bigoted question?

I think Sarah Palin is dumber than a sack of hammers, but that doesn't mean that everybody in Alaska has the dumb.

Come on. Aren't Seattleites smarter than that?

(oh wait, by my own argument, NO.)

]]> Lee Gibson http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151873 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151873 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:35:34 -0800 Comment by Kathy Fennessy John Roderick of the Long Winters grew up in AK (same era as me). The late Don Simpson of Simpson & Bruckheimer fame—Top Gun, Flashdance, etc.—was also from AK. If I'm not mistaken, Simpson, a notorious coke and plastic surgery addict, died on the toilet. Hey, at least we've given the world a few interesting people.

]]> Kathy Fennessy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151876 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151876 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:52:39 -0800 Comment by JohnCToddJr Fred Machetanz was American Artist of the Year in 1981, according to American Artist magazine.

Our family has a book he signed, dedicated to my grandfather's sons, back when they were boys.

It's difficult to believe that such a beautiful book, which he wrote and illustrated, could have been published a lifetime ago.

]]> JohnCToddJr http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151926 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1151926 2008 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:57:40 -0800 Comment by Jiberish john hoover, denise wallace...me!

]]> Jiberish http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1152785 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/just_curious_1#c1152785 2008 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:55:45 -0800