Big truck, little ukulele.

There comes a point in a man's life (at least in mine) that if he hasn't done so yet he needs to buy a truck to go with his ukulele.  That day was today.  In the American tradition of going to extremes and driving something that is absolutely HUGE I went out and bought a work horse of a pickup.  This isn't a daily driver.  This is for when I have big ukulele jobs to do.  Hauling thousands of ukuleles at a time with one machine.  Dragging ukuleles that have gone off the road out of the ditch  My man dreams have come true.  Things are coming together for the winter!

Been on and off doing shows lately.  I have one tonight at the University of Alaska Fairbanks at the Student Pub.  Always a good time and another at the Marlin on Saturday with the SUPERFRIENDS.  Back in the groove.  A week on the road coming up. Good times.

Winter is around the corner.  We are having a super long fall.  I can't complain at all but it is starting to get dark earlier.  It is noticeable now.  Bring it on winter.  Bring it on... but not too "on".  Just gently bring it.      

Revolvers, three wheelers, and ukuleles, oh my!

Thought I would start this post out with a very Alaskan picture of my wife and I.  Ukuleles, three wheelers, and revolvers, OH MY!

Now that regular moose hunting season is over (as of last week) and I am mooseless (well I got a bunch from last year still, but is not like having a whole moose. Time to hunker down and get my stuff ready for the winter which looked like it was all ready here but is now gone, the sun is warm still.  This however is my favorite and the shortest season of the year, fall.  This is the just the awkward few weeks in between the HOT from the winter.  Which don't get me wrong, I'm excited for some snow.  I got my Arctic Cats ready and it will be nice to finally ride them.  I bought them from a friend last month and they have been sitting and waiting for some action.  Soon my pretties, soon.

Had an awesome show Saturday night with what seems like my new Fairbanks band kinda thing.  Not that the Park Highway Band is going to break up, but sometimes it is hard for the bass player and the drummer to drive the 300+ miles to come to the city by the river where the banks are fair, Fairbanks.  So two of my local buddies and I teamed up to form the SUPERFRIENDS last night.  Electric ukulele, drum set, and an alto sax.  I didn't really know what to expect, but like all good musicians that have never played together before, it went splendidly.  That is what we call in the business, Jazz.

In other news I got accosted by two moose tonight (and perhaps a bear) when I was unloading the truck from a water run.  Not cool to hear a distressed/wounded moose call and then have two run right by you completely out of nowhere in the pitch black dark of night.  My headlamp only illuminated two moose asses at about 20ft moving up the hill fast.  There was a third animal, but it was dark.  I suspect it was a black bear, but I don't know.  The wounded or distressed cow call is very noticeable and they don't do it for no reason.   Not cool, yet hardcore.  I love Alaska.

Snowmobile vs Snowmachine -- Winter is here.

1000 feet of a 30 year old overgrown trail has now been reclaimed by me.  This guy.  Surveyors trails from the 1980s.  Winter is starting to set in and I decided it was time to clean up some old trails around my land to allow access this winter via snowmobile.... or should I say snow machine?  That seems to be what happens when you go west over the Mississippi river.  Once you cross that line snowmobiles turn into snow machines.  Back east in Maine I always thought that a snow machine was what they used at the ski mountains to make snow during low snow years.  Little did I know that when I moved to Alaska I would finally buy my first snow machines that don't make snow.  Go figure.  No one trusts you out here if you call them snowmobiles.  They just look at you funny and ask if you are from "away".  That is the nice way of asking if you live in the lower 48.  "Down there" is another term you hear being thrown around too.  

Things are starting to slow down for me (on purpose) and I am trying to get everything done before the snow flies.  I have a generous 4 cord of wood split stacked and stored in the shed.  Just a few more wheel barrels to go.  The fuel oil is in the tank.  Now the long wait begins.  "The long wait for what?" you might ask.  The long wait for winter to end.  Duh.  It snowed two days ago.  It is only a matter of time now.  We are past the fall equinox.  It is all down hill from here.  We are losing around 7 minutes of light a day.  Hibernation time will start soon.  

The wife and I both went out and bought extra cars.  There is nothing worse than your car breaking down when it is -40F (which is the same at -40C -- they meet up at -40) and not having an extra rig.  My first winter I moved here I was in the driveway doing ball joints and CV axles on the front end of my car at -40 with just over two hours of light.  I could only take about 20 minutes at a time being outside (I was a little green then) with a 6ft pry bar and a torch.  Needless to say it was a mess, but I got it done.  Three days later.  

This year we decided to have a ton of cars for the winter and a car sale in the spring.  My newest car I just bought today is a yellow 1987 Subaru Justy.  It is a like a 4X4 Geo Metro.  My friends from high school, from the time when I used to rock a Geo on the regular, would be proud.  It is beefier... and it is banana yellow.  I will post a pic soon.

One more night rocking the biker bar.  The world famous Howling Dog Saloon.  The world's most northern biker / rock and roll bar.  The Parks Highway Band will be rocking.  I will be posting a choice video from the gigs there this weekend soon.  Hope everyone enjoyed my video of the song I wrote from my wife.  Here is the youtube if you are interested!

A view was my reward.

I set out early this morning on a mission to get a head start on my day of cutting trees down and getting a few loads to my cabin from the property.  I got tired around 2:30pm running the saw.  I think I need to get some of those anti-vibe gloves or perhaps a smaller saw for marathon stretches of tree destruction.  It ran out of gas five times on me today.  Bone dry!  I'm making good progress now.  Probably another week of straight cutting and then I will deal with all the trees on the ground.  I have to find the perfect spot for my amphitheater.

After I put away the saw and had all ready gotten a load of wood back to my cabin something bad happened.  On round two when I was getting my second load of wood for the day I disturbed a ground bee hive.  Took a shot to the face and the arm (it got inside my two shirts somehow) and was beginning to get swarmed.   I thought quick and began flailing my arms in the air and sprinting down the hill, my driveway, and about 50 yards down my road.  Lucky for me I lost them, but I gave up on filling the rest of the truck.  3/4 load for the last one.  Even with that I have way more wood than I would ever need to last the winter.  Just got my heating oil delivered and we are ready to roll.  Bring it on winter... I mean... come back but play nice... Please?

After I got the truck ready to go it was about dusk.  I walked into the woods and climbed to the top of the clearing I had cut to get a look at what I had done for the day.  It dawned on me that I finally had a view.  A slowly growing view, but a view nonetheless!  Now you could see the hills on the other side of the valley from me.  it was only a matter of time.  My lot is about 1200' up.  It has to view something, right?  Also I discovered that I have line of sight to the cell towers.  Full signal in the middle of nowhere.  Technology at its finest.

One more day of logging and then it is back to the ukulele grind for four nights and then some hunting with a good friend in Cantwell, population 200 and something.

Are we in Spenard yet?

I am back in the big city getting ready for my evening on and in the area of the Anchorage metropolis known as Spenard.   The particular bar I am playing at tonight is actually painted like Eddie Van Halen.   Good times.

Went on the search for yard sales today.  Meet some nice people and found some awesome stuff.   Today I am the proud new owner of a hand crank grain mill along with a pasta crank. 

Cooking some fresh salmon I caught on the ride down to Anchorage on Thursday.  Rack another one up for the Roadside Angler.  That is also the the title of an awesome Alaskan fishing guide book. 

CAROUSEL LOUNGE TONIGHT!

One last week of gigs and then...MOOSE!

I am about to embark on my last week of gigs before the moose hunt begins.  Even though the sun is starting to set earlier and the temperature at night is slowly creeping towards freezing I am still happy, happy for moose season.  The 20 days of the year I work very little and am up before the crack of dawn every day until I bag my bull.  I spaced out the final frozen pieces of moose and am down to my last three.  I hope I get a moose this season so that number doesn't dwindle to nothing.  Wish me luck!

On my way to my gigs down in Anchorage and Seward this weekend I will be making the final push to fill some of the empty spaces in my freezer with silver (coho) salmon.  The wife and I bagged our limit at a secret roadside location in 20 minutes the Sunday before last and the fish had just gotten in.  I'm hoping to hit the tail end of them today on my way south and again on my way north on Monday.

Sunday night I get to fill in for an Alaskan Legend, Hobo Jim.  He needed the night off for some reason and the Yukon Bar was nice enough to offer me the slot to fill.  Hopefully people aren't disappointed that I'm not a 60+ year old dude with a cowboy hat and jeans.  They will have to settle for a 30 year old dude with Carharts and a strange smell.  What is that smell you ask?  It is the smell of ukulele excellence...and b.o.

THURSDAY - Humpys Great Alaskan Alehouse - ANCHORAGE - 9pm
SATURDAY - Carousel Lounge - ANCHORAGE - 10pm
SUNDAY - Yukon Bar - SEWARD - 9pm

Bill Maher and Primus

In the span of a few months I have had to pleasure of opening up for two major mainstream acts.  It is an honor to be the ukulele player here in Alaska that is waving the banner of ukulele world domination high in the sky.  It is the coming.  The ukulele revolution that is!

Things are finally starting to settle down.  The salmon are packed in the freezer.  The firewood is done. It must mean it is time to start prepping for the moose hunt.  The three wheeler is as good as it is gonna get for now.  I just need to adjust the tightness on the chain.  Finally got the brakes fixed back a month ago.  That was sketchy for a while.  September 1st here I come!

This seems to be the time of year when you actually want your vehicles to break down if they are going to.  It is still nice out and there is light most of the day.  In two months that would start to not be the case.  Working on front ends of vehicles (90% of the time this seems to be the problem) outside in the winter sucks.  There are number of things that the cold does that makes it difficult.  As long as you have a 6ft pipe, a torch, and a little know how you can usually get by.  It is a good feeling though when you actually fix it yourself and don't get charged the $100+/hr (it varies) shop rate in town.  Pride is a sin, but it sure is tasty.

My wife and I actually just fixed her car.  The clutch fan assembly busted off and took out the radiator.  After much running around trying to get the parts together we finally got it back together.  I have to admit, without her tiny little lady hands I would have never been able to finish the job.  Teamwork equals cost savings!

At the Marlin in Fairbanks at 10pm tonight with a SPECIAL GUEST!