Palin and Simple
Anchorage has been pretty good to us so far. The place we're staying in (despite being about 5 times the price of our most expensive night in Central America) is pretty good and has free internet which is always a plus. It's also unpronounceable. Well, how would you pronounce QUPQUGIAQ?
So we happen to be in Anchorage when one of the (4) Alaska State fairs is happening so we booked a train package with entry into the fair. We awoke that morning to find that John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Needless to say everyone at the fair was pretty excited about it and it wound up cropping up in almost every event we attended. There was a real buzz about the place and it was really quite special to be there at that time. The fair is supposed to be a real celebration of Alaska and its culture and to have an Alaskan on the White House ticket just added another dimension to the atmosphere.
At the fair we took in a few diverse acts such as a magic show, a girls singing quartet and a dog stunt show, almost bought a moose that had been carved from a block of wood by an incredibly skillful chap with a chainsaw, viewed the customary giant vegetables and sampled some food of the fair like jacket potatoes and tamales - but the real highlights of the day came at the end. First up, we took our seats for a Tom Petty tribute band, "Petty Theft". They played many of the classics as well as a few less well known numbers (ones I didn't recognise anyway) - they even threw in a Travelling Willburys song too. All in all they were a very good representation - in fact they may have been even better than the real Tom Petty because they seemed to remember all the words.
During the intermission, we decided to stop by the nearby beer tent (OK, I decided we should stop by the beer tent) to sample some of the delicious Alaskan Amber (OK, again, so I could sample the aforementioned brew) when we ran right into a raucous performance by Alaska's "Hobo" Jim - the state balladeer of the 49th state. The atmosphere was a prefect blend of booze, patriotism and frenetic folk music. The crowd and "Hobo" Jim were feeding off each other's emotions and the earlier news about the Governor only made matters worse (or better? Either way, more intense). People were getting up to dance (some with more style than others) and at one point he hopped off the stage and joined them on the dance floor.
Anyway, the atmosphere was great and although not normally fans of the folk music we found ourselves carried away in the moment and ended up chatting to Mrs "Hobo" Jim who gave us his latest CD "Woodsmoke". We wound up buying his first CD: "Thunderfoot" and all in all it makes a good soundtrack for exploring the state.
We ended up getting back after midnight. We only just squeaked the return train having been caught up watching the fireworks display at the end of the night. All in all we were glad to have experienced a little slice of the unique culture of Alaska.
So we happen to be in Anchorage when one of the (4) Alaska State fairs is happening so we booked a train package with entry into the fair. We awoke that morning to find that John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Needless to say everyone at the fair was pretty excited about it and it wound up cropping up in almost every event we attended. There was a real buzz about the place and it was really quite special to be there at that time. The fair is supposed to be a real celebration of Alaska and its culture and to have an Alaskan on the White House ticket just added another dimension to the atmosphere.
At the fair we took in a few diverse acts such as a magic show, a girls singing quartet and a dog stunt show, almost bought a moose that had been carved from a block of wood by an incredibly skillful chap with a chainsaw, viewed the customary giant vegetables and sampled some food of the fair like jacket potatoes and tamales - but the real highlights of the day came at the end. First up, we took our seats for a Tom Petty tribute band, "Petty Theft". They played many of the classics as well as a few less well known numbers (ones I didn't recognise anyway) - they even threw in a Travelling Willburys song too. All in all they were a very good representation - in fact they may have been even better than the real Tom Petty because they seemed to remember all the words.
During the intermission, we decided to stop by the nearby beer tent (OK, I decided we should stop by the beer tent) to sample some of the delicious Alaskan Amber (OK, again, so I could sample the aforementioned brew) when we ran right into a raucous performance by Alaska's "Hobo" Jim - the state balladeer of the 49th state. The atmosphere was a prefect blend of booze, patriotism and frenetic folk music. The crowd and "Hobo" Jim were feeding off each other's emotions and the earlier news about the Governor only made matters worse (or better? Either way, more intense). People were getting up to dance (some with more style than others) and at one point he hopped off the stage and joined them on the dance floor.
Anyway, the atmosphere was great and although not normally fans of the folk music we found ourselves carried away in the moment and ended up chatting to Mrs "Hobo" Jim who gave us his latest CD "Woodsmoke". We wound up buying his first CD: "Thunderfoot" and all in all it makes a good soundtrack for exploring the state.
We ended up getting back after midnight. We only just squeaked the return train having been caught up watching the fireworks display at the end of the night. All in all we were glad to have experienced a little slice of the unique culture of Alaska.
posted by Iff at
12:48 am
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