A little mid-winter magic from Town Square Park.

“Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” ~ Charles Dickens

Brian the moose was lucky enough to attend a fabulous performance of The Capitol Steps at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday. He enjoyed it immensely. But the best part was getting to meet long-time Mudflatter and Palin impersonator extraordinaire, Bari Biern (right) and new Mudflatter in the cast Janet Gordon (left).

When “Palin” entered stage right in her red blazer, and started off by saying, “I may not be your governor any more…” she never got to finish the sentence, because just that much brought down the house with thunderous applause and hooting.

“Laugh all you want,” she went on, “because there are plenty of people who want me to be President.” [Booing from the audience] “Most of them are Democrats.” [More laughter and cheering]

It did a heart good.

Do catch a performance if you have the opportunity. This is the second one I’ve seen, and I can’t recommend it enough.

That said, enjoy this wonderful clip from a 1972 talk by psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.

Happy Sunday.

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I ventured forth this morning into downtown Anchorage. After a cold snap with temperatures in the double digits below zero, things finally warmed up – and then this happened. The forecast was for 8-16 inches of snow in Anchorage, and more at “higher elevations.” Whenever you hear the words “higher elevations” you can think “Mudflats Central.” And yes, the forecasters were right.

Here’s a quick snap of the day and its abysmal driving conditions in downtown on 5th Avenue. The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts is in the background. Stay safe this weekend, and have fun shoveling!

Here’s hoping all you Alaskans and honorary Alaskans alike had a Happy Marmot Day!  That’s right, we have Marmot Day, which replaced Groundhog Day. Groundhogs are marmots, but marmots are not necessarily groundhogs, and there are no groundhogs in the 49th state. It’s the third one in our state’s history. Marmot Day came about thanks to Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Senator Linda Menard of Wasilla.

Wikipedia explains it well.

Marmot Day’s Distinguished History

Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Sen. Linda Menard, R-Wasilla, was first introduced by the late Dr. Curtis Menard, Linda Menard’s husband and former state legislator. Concerned by the gradual decline of Alaska’s folk values, and worried that the 49th state would become a suburb ofHouston both culturally and economically^{[citation needed]}, Dr. Menard drew a line in the sand with his idea of creating Marmot Day in the 1990s. After getting stuck in a committee while politics was played, the controversial Marmot Day bill died in the legislature. Sen. Linda Menard reintroduced the bill for the 26th Alaska Legislature, and the bill passed by a Marmot’s whisker on the second to last day of the legislative session, and Sarah Palin signed it into law. As Senator Menard said, “By recognizing the marmot, our state [built] a tradition and legacy to be built on for future generations.”

I know you’re all dying to know what the marmot had to say about winter. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea whether he saw his shadow or not, but if he did, we’ll have at least six more weeks of winter. And if he didn’t, we’ll have at least six more weeks of winter.

It’s actually more like eleven weeks, but I don’t really want to think about that.

This actually works really well.

And the Hardiest Occupiers Award goes to….. Occupy Fairbanks! The Mudflats salutes you from the Anchorage Banana Belt.

These days, many have fallen on hard times.