The filming is over.

After three weeks of craziness it is finally over. I never knew how much footage you really have to get to make a 15 minute film. It was a fun, rewarding, and eye opening experience to say the least. Now the hard part... waiting for the film to be finished.

As many of you know I live in a small cabin with no running water with my wife, dog, and cat. It was a challenging span of time this past month having two more souls occupying my living room literally. They had tons of bags, cameras, and gear along with their bodies. My living room has never seen so much action. The four of us however got along swimmingly and I got to practice my Australian accent. That's right, the filmmakers were both from down under.

I expressed to them one of my bucket list items that could only be satisfied in Australia. Before I die I want to gently cup a wombat's ass in the most non-sexual way. A slap of respect and wonder. I might be crazy, but we all have our quirks. Don't judge. I am sure there is something you want to do with your life that I would think was strange, but I would encourage you to chase your dreams. Even if that dream is to gently strike a marsupials rear end. Different strokes for different folks. I just have a long dark winter to contemplate these things.

Now back to the normal grind.

Gigs this week are as follows!

11/19 - SUBZERO MICROLOUNGE - ANCHORAGE, AK. - 8PM

11/20 - HUMPY'S GREAT ALASKAN ALEHOUSE - ANCHORAGE, AK. - 9PM

11/21 - THE FAIRVIEW INN - TALKEETNA, AK. - 9PM

11/22 - THE BLUE FOX COCKTAIL LOUNGE - ANCHORAGE, AK, - 10PM

It soon begins...

The filming begins this Saturday night for the Ukulele Russ documentary that I hope is titled, "The Last Ukulele Frontier". I don't know how much say I have over the title, but that is the one I am casting my vote for. This is either going to be huge for me or a complete embarrassment. I will see how I can influence the "huge success" part of the spectrum, but a complete embarrassment would be quite hilarious in a tragic sort of way. Ukuleles tend to have that happen either than guitars. Stigmas...

So if you want to be part of the magic come on out this Saturday night at the Blue Fox Cocktail Lounge and make an ass out of yourself with someone that does it for a living, me! 10pm on good old Tudor Road in the big city, Los Skankorage the city of lights.

Down by the beach!

Down by the beach booooooyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeee! That's right! It is time for another weekend at one of my favorite out of the way places the Yukon Bar at end of the road in Seward, Alaska. Just a stone's throw, probably two, from the pristine waters of Resurrection Bay. Become reborn!

9pm both nights!

Find them on Facebook! @  YUKON BAR

Strange things are afoot at the Fish this week.

Interesting line up at the Marlin this week. I'm wondering how "dirti" I will get. Like pig pen dirty? Like my outhouse dirty? I could just sing songs about coal miners all night. That is dirty, but is it "dirti"? Come out to the Marlin the place many of us affectionately call, "The Fish".

10pm - THE MARLIN - College Road - Fairbanks, AK.

Winter has finally reared its ugly head. It looks like the snow is finally here to stay and there is nothing we can do about it. I like the cold though. Fires in my wood stove. Moving all the crap around my yard with a sled rather than a dolly. I think the whole "crap in the yard" thing is very white trash / Alaskana but I just can't seem to keep it out of there. My wife got man last winter when I believe we had six cars / trucks in the yards and I wanted to go buy another one... She told me there would be no more cars for the driveway we didn't own. Smart lady. I have since thinned the herd. Sometimes you just have to cull the weaker ones out for the benefit of the group. Let's be real though folks, this is Alaska and there is nothing better than having five running vehicles when one decides to quit on ya. Here's to white trash!

Bear Safety is key this time of year.

It is that time of year folks. The time of year when the bears of Alaska are looking for their final meal before the long winter hibernation. That means they are not only in pursuit of food, they are ill-tempered. However, if you know how to deal with each type of bear, because they are different, you will be just fine.

Let the Fairbanks All Stars teach you about how to react to each type of bear you might encounter here in the last frontier.

Leave your bear spray at home. That isn't bear protection. That is a bear deterrent. There is a huge difference.

The Hunt

Every year since I have moved to Alaska I have made it a priority to set time aside to go out moose hunting. It is a BIG deal here. One moose is enough to feed my wife and I for a year and that is me eating it every day and that is exactly what I plan to do. Yum.

The first week of hunting this year was a lot of hiking up mountains, trudging through brush, riding bitch on a wheeler (which basically means I was the passenger on a four wheeler. No offense to the ladies out there), sitting..and waiting...and waiting... with minimal results. It isn't catching. It is hunting. Good things come to those who wait.

One of the days was quite exciting. In the morning I didn't take a 30 yard shot on a legal bull, which I wasn't sure was legal. My friend scared it right up on me unknowingly. It was so worked up it ran right up to me and didn't even see me standing alone in the middle of the swamp.  I looked down my barrel and just couldn't take the shot. I wasn't sure if he was legal. Later I would found out he was, but I made the right call. I wasn't sure, so I didn't shoot.

A Legal Bull - In many parts of Alaska a legal bull consists of a male moose with antlers spread at least 50" apart, four brow tines on one side, or has a spike or fork for one antler. Just to clarify what a "legal bull" means. I could see how some outsiders wouldn't get what I was talking about.

Earlier that day I was nearly charged by a cow moose. I was hiking through a thick patch of forest trying to drive the moose out into the open on the other side of a creek. I took moments to scrape a caribou shoulder blade on a tree to simulate a bull moose cleaning his antlers. This can, if one is around, bring a bull in completely pissed off and ready to fight. This is not what happened to me. A cow moose showed up on the game trail I was on about 70ft further down it. She was not happy when she showed up. I was not as advertised. After a 2 minute staring contest her ears went back, her head went down, and she started coming right at me. I said to myself as I clutched my rifle, "I'm going to have to shoot a cow...Hey moose...HEY MOOSE". But with some quick thinking and American ninja warrior reflexes I jumped behind a spruce tree, into a creek, and high tailed it out of there. It is a cool experience to have... after I survived it and wasn't hurt.

However, I got my moose a few days later. After over a week of countless miles on my hip boots the moment of reckoning came. I fired, scoped the hell out of my brow (it was a bleeder too), and got over to the 60" rack attached to a massive bull. I knew I would have another year without buying meat at the store. It is a good feeling providing for one's self. Then the realization that now the real work begins weighs pretty heavy on your mind. Hours of skinning/cutting, loading up wheelers, cutting trails, and winching one four wheeler or the other out of some sort of snag. That is just getting the beast meat home.

Scoped - When you are an idiot and do two things while firing a rifle. 1) You don't hold it tight enough into your shoulder. 2) Putting your face way too stupidly close to the scope when trying to property fire a 220 grain 30-06 round at about 350 yards. Take a close look at my brow in the picture.Lucky for you guys out there I wiped the blood off my face before the picture on my sleeve. Classy guy right here. Thanks to Team Boom for all the sympathy and pointing / laughing at me. I deserved it.

Now for the past few days I have put on my butcher hat. It is nice cutting your own steaks and roasts. Collecting trimmings and odd shaped pieces for my meat grinder. I have 6 gallon bags stuffed full at this point ready for the grinder. Ya buddy! Did you know a moose's liver will fill a sink? It will. The heart isn't small either. We soaked the heart in coke-a-cola, soy sauce, and wasabi for two days, cut it into strips, bashed it thin with a mallet, and smoked it. It was amazingly awesome.

Now it is back to playing shows now that I know my meat supply will be strong until the next year. It is a very Alaskan thing to do, to be prepared. Just think of me if the black death or something pops up and I have to remove myself from society, locked in my cabin, and eating steak. It doesn't get any better. I will be glad when I am finally all done cutting up moose. I have a few more pieces that are going to be hanging in a cool garage for a little while longer. After then it will be all done and ready to consume. Yum yum!!!!

Rain go away. Please I moved to a desert for a reason.

So....several years ago when I decided to finally make the move to Alaska and there was nothing in the brochure about this much rain. I just absolutely fell in love with the idea of a sub-arctic desert. I love the arctic, and last time I checked, deserts were pretty much void of rain... I was lied to. Looks like we might break another record this month. I waited 6 months through ice, snow, and darkness for this?? I feel robbed.

Vast portions of my large driveway, I will refer to as my road, washed out something fierce. Hauling rocks and fill dirt wasn't how I wanted to spend my time in between the rain storms this week but this is my fate. I nearly have it all done. Only 12 pick up truck loads, new fan / alternator / and power steering belts, and a new alternator to get it done. I should have seen the car repairs coming. I did just buy another 1985 Chevy. These things to break and when you only pay $750 for the truck something is broken all ready. The question is how long car you drive said truck until something blows up and makes you fix it. That measurement of time I like to refer to as "value".

That is why I feel like my life has been being pulled in many different directions all of them leading to something I need to fix. No worries I get to play one of my favorite gigs of the year this Friday night. The infamous Tanana Valley State Fair beer tent at 8pm. Also earlier in the day I will be joining my buddy Steve Floyd on the radio for my semi-regular appearance on 660am KFAR's "Problem Corner". Always a fun time. You can listen in from anywhere with the "Tune In" radio app. You should do it. 11am (Alaska Standard Time) - 3pm (Eastern Standard Time).