Night Kitchen & Brian's Knock Knock Joke.

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[akmuckraker]

Hi Everyone!  The Night Kitchen is full of leftovers...corn muffin anyone?

I'ts nice to be back.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  It's definitley my favorite holiday.  No gifts, no commercialism...just gratitude, family & friends, and food.  I enjoyed reading all the nice Thanksgiving Day posts when I got home.

It was great to see Brian again after all this time!  If you missed the rather bizarre and remarkable circumstances of the latest sighting, check out the blog post!

And enjoy your shiny new open thread!

[Irishgirl]

Glad you had a good Thanksgiving and good to see you back.
I must check out Brian's latest antics now. 

I've returned from the blog. Wow, that was a great photo of Brian - he was incredibly close to you!!

[Snoskred]

I totally would have jumped out of my skin also..

But, I would make that mistake again, I just would make sure to put them slightly further away from the window to prevent the knocking.. because it is a pretty special thing to have the moose visit.

[ira2]

Oh. My. God.

I would have had a heart attack!!  Look at him!! He's HUGE and right there on the other side of the glass and those antlers do SO look like they'd smash that door in a sniffy jiffy!

Thanks for posting that picture, AKM - it's a real treat to see Brian up close like that without BEING up close like that 

[in exile (SC version)]

Hey, AKM, great photo! Glad you got the camera in time! What a treat to see such a beautiful animal up close, and especially, to see his eyes and have him look at you.

This post about Brian and the beautiful natural experience of living in Alaska, and the previous post, about the danger of the cold winters, form such a contrast: a contrast that helps convey some of what it must feel like to live there. I haven't commented on the 'Freeze to death' blog post yet, because I didn't know where to start? Free oil from Venezuela? Not just in Alaska, but to help out in other states? Flying fuel to outpost settlements? So much I hadn't known; and by the time I finished reading, a real feeling of fear about what will happen to those who don't get fuel. I mean, we have people who die in cold homes in SC! (Usually when an elderly person forgets to pay the bill and the heat is turned off - although some level-headed people are trying to make it illegal or at least more difficult for the energy companies to just turn the heat off, which is out-and-out barbaric, I think.) I tried to search for some other articles that speak to the energy/heating crisis looming in Alaska, and this one by AKM is the only one! There are several articles about the problem of cold homes in the UK - I read over several of those articles, and it seems the problem is the price of heating oil/gas as set by the government. (Is this right, UK muddies?)

Anyway, after searching and reading, and searching some more, I found the following completely unrelated article - it probably came up because of the word 'cold' or something.  It has some nice Alaska pictures, so I'll post the link here. It talks about the 'Alaskan Bermuda Triangle,' which is another thing I've never heard of!
Why has part of the Alaskan wilderness been called the Bermuda Triangle? (Article by Cristen Conger)

Have a great day, everyone!   

[Sirenoftitan]

Good morning all !

I, too, have been catching up with AKM's blog entries and the subsequent discussions.  Aside from Brian (naturally), I was particularly interested in the "Would you rather freeze to death or be a Socialist"  posting and the debate it generated.   It reminded me of a book that was recently serilaised on the radio here in the UK - Daniel Everett "Don't sleep, there are snakes".  He went to the Amazon to 'convert the natives' and ended up being converted by them (slight artistic licence on my part there) - one lucky group of people.

[Sirenoftitan]

Hey, AKM, great photo! Glad you got the camera in time! What a treat to see such a beautiful animal up close, and especially, to see his eyes and have him look at you.

There are several articles about the problem of cold homes in the UK - I read over several of those articles, and it seems the problem is the price of heating oil/gas as set by the government. (Is this right, UK muddies?)

Anyway, after searching and reading, and searching some more, I found the following completely unrelated article - it probably came up because of the word 'cold' or something.  It has some nice Alaska pictures, so I'll post the link here. It talks about the 'Alaskan Bermuda Triangle,' which is another thing I've never heard of!
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/alaska-bermuda-triangle.htm/printable
Have a great day, everyone!   

Hi MizKay ! 
Some reasons for high domestic gas bills (by gas I mean for heating houses not for cars) :-
North Sea Supplies are dwindling and the UK is becoming a net importer of gas from Europe and Russia. 
Most of the housing stock in the UK is old and they are not energy efficient - no loft insulation, no double glazing.
A reluctance to 'shop around' for the lowest tariff

The Government provide Winter Fuel benefits for elderly people through the State Pension Scheme to help with the high costs of keeping homes warm.

BTW I didn't think the article was completely unrelated in that it suggested to me  that the native Alaskans were probably pefectly attuned to their environment before the many colonisations of that part of the world.  As to the triangle..... cue Twilight Zone music.

[in exile (SC version)]

The Today Show has a report on right now - about rising home heating costs and people using their entire social security check for the heat.

[Irishgirl]

@MizKay,
You were asking about TeachKid yesterday. The sign cam did come back on line I believe after some sort of trouble (I don't know exactly what). Also TeachKids was in the chat room the night AKM did the live chat - she seemed to be fine. 

[in exile (SC version)]

Thanks, Irishgirl!

Hey, everyone - here I go!!!            

     

[Aeroentropy]

We know about heating costs here in Maine too -- no $10/gallon from airlift costs, but those on fixed incomes were getting pretty frightened when prices peaked in July or so at nearly $5). Now my heating fuel (a 20% bioheat mixture) is below $2.50, and well over half my heat is wood. There are a lot of people who "locked in" a heating oil price last fall far higher than current prices (figuring it would only go up), and they are in a difficult bind now. The state office says they have to pay it, but recommend discussing it with the company, and some companies are trying to negotiate (though they already bought that fuel from their suppliers...)



Now, moose we have too, though I haven't had one at my door in some time. However, the local wildlife can still get pretty entertaining, especially when the local flying squirrel population decides your house is THE house for the winter. A couple years ago I trapped and released over 20 -- sometime 2 or 3 a night once I found the sweet spot for the trap. I was moving them miles away, but still had to mark them with a little clipped fur spot on the back of the neck to convince myself I wasn't trapping the same ones over and over.

They're cute little buggars, but not in your insulation, and not when you find this happening in your bedroom at night:


(not my photo, though I wish it were!)

So, stay warm all you mudpuppies, and enjoy the entertainment that Mother Nature provides! Thanks for sharing the photo of Brian.

[caligrl wolves eat palin]

That is a cute pic, LOL! But I could imagine them flying all over the place at night, Yikes!
Brian is cute, thank god a Palinbot didn't get him!
AKM? Does this mean Brian goes to your compost heap and eats? Wow, he is just huge!  Somehow they didn't look that huge on Northern Exposure, lol! 

[Newfoundland Dogs Rule]

. However, the local wildlife can still get pretty entertaining, especially when the local flying squirrel population decides your house is THE house for the winter.

Okay, Maybe it's just me, but I think I would prefer the flying squirrel population in my insulation than Brian.  AKM: while I was reading your blog, I was thinking wait, Brian is five feet away and his antler is still knocking on the door????  Whoa, then when I saw the pic I had my inner picture wrong.  Brian looks like a nice outdoor guest.

We get an occasional red squirrel making a home in the attic, but mostly we get ladybugs.  Lots and lots of ladybugs.  Some make it through the winter and we let them go.  The others end up with a dignified funeral in the vacuum cleaner.

We ran the dishwasher 9 times over two days.  Had to keep telling myself, we're saving water, saving energy and saving sanity.

One son, his wonderful significant other and their dog left yesterday, her mom is doing well and they needed to go back.  He's the tattoo artist.  I love him.  He decided that he wasn't going to college when a junior in high school.  After three years went to The University of Hartford's Art College, graduated Suma Cum Laud (or how ever that is spelt), and then did what he's always wanted to do, be a tattoo artist.

The other son, actor, is still here.  We are thinking of a short hike up the river to see what the beavers have been up to.  Can't do it in the summer too much undergrowth.  He leaves tomorrow.  He also has to go to the movies with his youngest cousin, go shopping and so on.  The beavers might have to happen at Christmas unless we have a huge snowstorm.

So Thanks Universe for Thanksgiving!

Now for Sarah Palin:  A few minutes ago, on the TV, comes a commercial for some Big Hair dot com thing for something called a Bumpit.  IT"S GOT TO BE HOW SP DOES HER HAIR!  All I could think of was all those repubs who still like her calling and getting this thing.  )(*^^%$%^*&*

Whew, just had to get that off my chest.

(there was no [/quote] code, thats why it all got into a quote box. Fixed it for you - Snoskred )

[Newfoundland Dogs Rule]

That's weird.  My entire post is said to be a quote from Aeroentropy.  Okay, his is the first two lines, mine is what's after that.

[Snoskred]

fixed that for you, Newfoundland Dogs Rule 

[Deb aka commando coalfire]

Good morning mudpuppies, The house is quiet so I decided to stoke up the stove take my spot on the heater vent and fry my butt while I read about your thanksgivings. The chihuahua is like an atomic clock potty time is 4:30 am or 15 minutes before I would be leaving for work this does not change because I have the chance to sleep in.
What can I say, regardless of whether I agree with his polotics or not and regardless of his motives bless Hugo Chavez for pitching in and helping out. I am afraid I really don't know much about him other than he nationalized his oil and kicked our oil companies out, can't blame hime for that why his country be impoverished while the oil companies make billions off of their national resources. The other thing I remember is he called George Bush the devil, seems to me he showed moxy saying what the rest of us were thinking. For those of you who have not been to one of the Central or south american countries I highly reccomend you try to visit at least one at some point. If you are poor it will give the the opportunity to feel what it is like to be rich because compared to most you will be. Don't judge the culture against ours, but toss out all judgement of how things should be and observe, in my experience there is alot to be learned. If you are there long enough and get used to living in that culture come back here you will probably notice how weird we seem. It appears to others that we worship money and will sacrafice amything, trample anyone to get it.
Now as for the natives populations, my Grandmother on my dads side was Hiada from northern BC, prior to Alaska statehood like around the turn of the last century they lived there and in the Yukon where my grandfather was special projects man for the railroad, and the Alcan highway project.
I cannot speak to current conditions but I can tell you one reason why we should do everything in our power to make sure natives can perserve as much of their culture as possible.
I will start by saying most natives who end up in cities don't fair well they are not hard wired to live like this. I who have little connection to my various native ancestorial cultures have had to adjust my diet because my system seems to be set up to eat a coastal diet of cosisting of seafood, very lean meat, roots and berries. If I try to eat a regular western diet I get sick as in removing oragans type sick. I have been told it is common among those who have native ancestors.
Now for my reason. My grandmother explained it this way. "Indian culture, and that includes what we refer to as religion is based on thousands of years of careful observation of their environment." I want you all to think about that because it is the truth boiled down into a simple sentence. Not supporting native culture is the equilivilent of burning every bit of knowledge we have aquired over thousands of years. To this day the stories of the various tribes disimissed by many scientists as being myth are turning out to be accurate information about things that went on before recorded history. Equally the information they have about the animals, trees and various uses of plants is without equal. To say that information is not worth our time or money is frankly shortsighted and stupid.
I have said my bit. I am off now, have a good day mudpuppies.

[Irishgirl]

@Siren,
Congratulations on Wales' win today. A heart stopping final few minutes. 

[PEM]

well said Deb, thank you

[Sirenoftitan]

@Siren,
Congratulations on Wales' win today. A heart stopping final few minutes. 

Thanks Irishgirl !  It was very exciting and much warmer here at home than it would have been at the Millenium Stadium.

[Sirenoftitan]

Deb - very well put.