Amadeus

Went to Navy Pier last night for dinner (at Riva) and theater (Amadeus). The play was at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. It’s quite an awesome venue with the audience basically on top of the actors and stage.

The play was very well done. Really good stage direction and very damn near perfect acting by all.

Museum of Science and Industry

Drove downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry. Hadn’t been there for many years. Went into the ‘Smart Home’ exhibit, the U-505 (german u-boat) and several other exhibits. The house is new this year and it was cool how they’ve moved the u-boat from outside down into a sub-basement.  The U-505 has lost a lot though. It used to be super hot inside, smelled like old feet, and was really cramped. It’s a lot nicer inside and I think a lot of the authenticity of the boat is now lost on visitors.

Chicago

Arrived in Chicago yesterday. We’re here to attend my sister’s best friend’s wedding tomorrow in northern Lake County.

Didn’t do much yesterday but did get to visit with my old dog, Tika. Tika is now with my sister. Tika’s still quite the Alpha dog and believes she’s in charge.

Joe Vogler

I have been trying to avoid any real mention of politics on the blog but it’s rather difficult for me. I saw a clip from Keith Olberman on an Alaskan website and it really got me angry. Angry because there are a lot (and I mean vast) of complete morons out there and most are completely uneducated. Now, I’m not really a fan of Olberman and, frankly, I don’t watch any of the cable news networks, but I am familiar with him. Olberman discusses someone who I am (or was) very familiar with – Joe Vogler. Now I see that Salon has an article on Vogler. It’s fairly short and not necessarily correct so I’ve decided to bring back my old thesis.

That’s right, a thesis.

Many years ago (a decade in fact) I was but a simple college student working on a senior thesis so that I could graduate in four years. As a history major I, of course, was tasked to write develop a thesis grounded in history. As a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks I thought it wise to utilize the resources that my institution provided to me; namely, the immense collection of documents relating to Alaskan history. For reasons long lost I chose to write about Joe Vogler, the founder of the Alaska Independence Party, and the main proponent of the Alaskan secessionist movement.

By the time I arrived in Fairbanks, Vogler was dead but the signs seeking help into his sudden and mysterious disappearance were still plastered-up through-out the Tanana Valley. While I knew what had happened to him (shot dead by a delusional “artist” looking to purchase explosives from Vogler) there was so much still to learn about who he was and why a Kansas farmboy turned attorney fled to the Territory of Alaska in 1943, ultimately becoming a gold mining and resource/land development legend through-out Alaska. I set out to answer the why but with any “larger-than-life” figure (even in a small state) my answer never came. I discovered a racist with delusions of grandeur, prone to paranoia, but uncommonly well-read and highly self-reliant. He was (and remains today) an enigma.

Given my changed opinions I’ve retitled the essay to “Unfit Alaskan”. Whether this is due to my now advanced age or significantly more education I simply do not know. Please forgive the poor writing and (perhaps more importantly) my horrific legal scholarship. After all, this was written years before I even attended law school.

To read please click on the image below for the Adobe Acrobat file.

Conference

Last day of the annual DA conference. It’s been okay. Anna came down last night for a couple hours. Wasn’t able to come down on Monday because we got the first snowfall. The snow makes me want to ski. I hope Alyeska opens early.

Snowing

Came home from the dog park with KD, cracked a beer (American Ale – I’m a sucker for advertisements) and looked out the window and saw snow. Big fat snow flakes. It’s nice to see the onset of winter. Can’t wait to go skiing.

Not sure if my photos are clear but I think you get the idea.