Solitaire Champ | It's Twitterpatin' Time Again

Web Posted June 29, 2008

By Libby Sterling | For the Juneau Empire

It's finally spring in Juneau! For many of the creatures inhabiting our rain forest, this means it's that time of year again: twitterpatin' time.

That's right, Bambi-lovers young and old know that springtime is conjunction juncture, time for each to follow their animal instinct and start finding their flame. Let's observe some of our favorite critters in action -- perhaps they can impart something valuable to us.

Bald eagles reach sexual maturity between four and five years of age, at which point they are ready to begin the literal roller-coaster ride that is eagle dating. Potential pairs do a sort of trust flight where the birds chase each other, eventually locking talons for a final free fall, unlocking each other only in the final second before they would otherwise slam into the ground. Who knows how many times one has to land tail-feathers-first with the wrong suitor before a good match is finally made. Nevertheless, by early spring they will have become a pair committed enough to begin building a nest together. So long as they can avoid the temptation of cruise ship eagles from out of town, the pair will stick regally together, as long as they both shall live.

Black bear ladies, on the other hand, spend their summers seeing several different males and become pregnant with cubs who, though in the same litter, all have different fathers. Their black books must be just full of phone numbers.

Unlike many animals who stay close to home to find their mates, humpback whales go on seasonal vacations. Heading south for the winter to warmer waters, they will often swim for up to a month to reach the beach, fasting the whole time so as to look extra attractive in their swimsuits upon arrival. Competition for female attention is fierce. Groups of up to 40 male whales will escort one female, all the while trying with their hardest to establish dominance through a series of tricks. They'll spy-hop, tail-slap, breach, and even participate in singing contests to catch the lovely lady's heart.

However, for humans living In such an extreme climate with so many seasonal changes, the physical and emotional side effects of winter must be considered when it comes to mating and dating. Springtime lovin' in Juneau just has too much potential to be deficient. Alaskan humans are often still coming out of seasonal depression. Their skin is pasty, curdled, and otherwise unsightly. They aren't in their prime, but they often have the drive to work on themselves, to become desirable again.

Much like creatures who participate in hibernation, Alaska humans often spend the summers running around performing some sort of preparation for the coming winter, whether it's getting back in shape, working to supplement their winter income, or simply boosting their mood by getting out and enjoying the little bit of sunshine they will see for the year.

So perhaps the ideal time for us to unionize is in the fall, after a short, jam-packed summer season of personal betterment, physical improvement, and a growing sense of independence and confidence in oneself. Plus, when the snow starts flying it's the perfect time to cuddle up with someone. After all, twitterpation may also be the answer to saving a bit on the heat bill.

Solitaire Champ | Fractured Fairytales Foreshadow Failure

Photo Courtesy of Joel Irwin

Web Posted May 22, 2008

By Libby Sterling | For the Juneau Empire

"Georgie Porgie, puddin' and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry." -Mother Goose

With training like this as children, is it any wonder why us single folk are often highly unsuccessful at finding eligible members of our preferred sex who make our hearts flutter and soar? I know I'm not the only one who has felt like a failure at some point during my dating career.

Well, good news, people! Our relational inability is no fault of our own. Mother Goose has had it in her plan all along for human babies to grow up unable to successfully reproduce, therefore leading the way for geese to rise as the dominant species! These nursery rhymes have been broadcast to us since before we were even able to comprehend their meaning. The legacies left through stories of horrible men, women, and animals have trained us to be the men, women, and animals that we are today.

Humans in these rhymes we recite don't usually grow up to be happy or hitched. Perhaps the most common mistake encouraged by these rhymes is just sitting around, feeling lonely, full of frustration from failed past attempts, waiting for a good date to just fall into one's lap without doing the work to actually initialize the action. Well, I guess she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes, just whenever she feels like it. No rush, lady, I'll just be here... waiting... singing... I'm not saying it's outside the realm of possibility for her to come around, but odds aren't high. There's a reason why this rhyme is often dropped over and again, and with such sweet, patient angst.

We all remember Miss Muffet's suitor, a creepy arachnid who sneaked up and scared her off. This either teaches little girls to behave ridiculously in the presence of spiders, or it teaches little boys that it's all in good fun to act like creepy crawlies around chicks.

What caused the old woman in the shoe residence to have too many children to cope with? Perhaps she was bumped and dumped too many times by too many smooth talkers. But it is the father(s) of all the children who has perhaps set the worst example of all by not sticking by the family and helping with chores around the shoe.

And don't even get me started on Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater! Any man who would enforce his wife's fidelity by stuffing her inside a vegetable deserves, if anything, to be on some trashy crime channel, not in children's folklore!

Luckily, my mother prefaced things like nursery rhymes and stories about Santa Claus by saying that they were fun to imagine, but nothing more. In light of this practice by a few people's mothers, a small few of us have not been completely ruined by poisonous relationship rhymes.

However, I propose that the hopeless among us take time to reread these childhood classics with new eyes. Perhaps then we will realize the follies we have wrongly faced due to the influence of such misinterpreted blarney, find our mate after all, and live happily ever after.

Canadian Bluegrass: At home in Alaska

Photo Courtesy of Collin Goldie

Web posted September 20, 2007

By Libby Sterling | For the Juneau Empire

The Canadian bluegrass band Hungry Hill will visit Juneau for the first time this week, but the group's members aren't new to Alaska or its capital.

"I feel very at home in Alaska with these people who are so crazy about bluegrass," said Nadine Landry, Hungry Hill's bassist and vocalist.

Before Landry and fellow bandmates Jenny Lester, Bob Hamilton, Mark Thibeault, and Ross Nickerson formed the group, they were playing with other bands in festivals all over northwestern Canada and Southeast Alaska, including Juneau.

Landry, originally from Quebec, said she is especially fond of Southeast Alaska. She first visited Juneau in 2001 for the Alaska Folk Festival with only a few tunes under her belt. Year after year, she has returned and is now a regular in the Alaska bluegrass scene.

The five members of Hungry Hill don't just pride themselves on their tight, traditional bluegrass sound. The group's repertoire includes a few covers, but contrary to popular bluegrass practice, Hungry Hill's main focus is on writing original material.

Founding member Bob Hamilton compares his past bluegrass experiences to his time with Hungry Hill and says the emphasis that is put on originality in this group makes all the difference.

"It's a band where we write," said Hamilton, who was a member of the Undertakin' Daddies, which was nominated for best roots/traditional album at the 2002 Juno Awards (Canada's version of the Grammys). "Our new album is 100 percent original material, which is kind of unusual for a bluegrass band."

He said the writing is very intentional as well, as Hungry Hill tries to stay as true as possible to the roots of traditional bluegrass.

"It's cool to write within a specific genre that uses a certain kind of framework," Hamilton said.

The band also, according to Hamilton, composes specifically for its members, allowing each member to use his or her musical strengths in a way that playing cover songs just can't match.

Hamilton describes a writing process that can sometimes be difficult, as all of the band's members are spread across various parts of the Yukon Territory and British Columbia. Members take advantage of modern technology, e-mailing MP3 files back and forth and building layers on top of each other until they reach the final product.

Hamilton said it's a priority to set aside time to compose as a group, especially when members are able to get together in person. Often, at this stage, songs are half-formed and writing becomes a collaborative effort between all the members.

The group's second album, "Ride," was released Sept. 15 to a full house at the Yukon Arts Center in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The band is touring Southeast Alaska and British Columbia to promote it.

Debbie Peters, the band's manager, says the Whitehorse crowd enjoyed Hungry Hill's performance.

"What people say about their music is that their original work just feels like bluegrass classics," Peters said.

The Whitehorse show was the first time many of Hungry Hill's new songs were played for an audience, and, to Landry, the crowd's enjoyment came as great encouragement.

"It's always good to know that people still care," she said.

Camping Bearfoot: Group Takes Tour Detour For Children's Jam Fest

Photo Courtesy of Bearfoot

Web posted July 12, 2007


By Libby Sterling | For the Juneau Empire

Alaska is home to a generous amount of foot-stomping bluegrass festivals and camps all year round.

During the day, participants enjoy the scheduled music or workshops, but the emergence of night is no reason to stop the hoedown. Spontaneous jam sessions are an essential bluegrass experience; no respectable festival can survive without them. They erupt anywhere there's enough space for a fiddle bow to noodle and a banjo pick to plunk.

Jammers move from session to session, often playing with fellow musicians they had never met.

There's always excitement about including the youngsters. Their parents dragged them along (or vice versa), and though they often appear hesitant to join in on the jam, one invitation from an elder is sometimes all a kid needs to participate and begin to develop a jamming technique.

So were the humble beginnings of the members of the now nationally acclaimed quintet, Bearfoot, formed in 1999. The all-Alaskan band includes Kate Hamre on acoustic bass, Mike Mickelson on guitar, Jason Norris on mandolin, and Angela Oudean and Annalisa Tornfelt on fiddles.

However, these are multi-talented folks who have been known to switch instruments from time to time. Each member also makes a vocal contribution amounting to multipart harmonies that breathe life into the auditory senses and remind listeners that it's good to be alive. They have recorded three full-length albums: Follow Me (2006), Back Home (2003), and Only Time Knows (2001), the last of which includes former original member Malani O'Toole.

After their Juneau visit, Bearfoot will resume a demanding tour schedule, including a gig opening for Lyle Lovett.

Being the offspring of musicians, it seemed natural for them to grow up as adolescents with the knack to knock everyone's socks off with their uncompromising melodies and sweet licks.

They look back fondly on their roots as young musicians and have now begun to foster the next generation of bluegrass greats through their bluegrass camps. The camps are held all across the U.S. and Canada and as far away as Ireland.

Bearfoot has taken a detour from their Lower 48 summer tour to put on a bluegrass camp this week at the Juneau Community Charter School. Children between the ages of 5 and 17 participated in classes in fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, and vocals in beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Each child was also grouped into a band and prepared for a performance at the end of the week to showcase what he or she learned.

Camp side effects included square dancing and spontaneous jam sessions, which may lead to lifelong musical relationships and a severe case of instrument collecting.