Monthly Archives: May 2016
Early 80’s
The 80 degree temperatures that hit Fairbanks last week set a couple of records. Officially, at the airport, it hit 79 degrees on Friday and 82 degrees on Saturday, both record highs for the two days. The 82 degrees on Saturday broke a record that had been set in 1915.
How warm was it? It was so warm here on Saturday, that our low temp of 59 (also a record) was warmer than the high temp of 47 degrees in Chicago.
On average, our high temp this time of year is 60 degrees.
Happy Birthday Sir David
A young David Attenborough from Zoo Quest for a Dragon
Renown broadcaster and naturalist, David Attenborough, celebrates his 90th birthday on Sunday, May 8. Attenborough took a 3 month training course for the BBC at a time when he did not own a television and had only seen one television program in his life. He was officially hired by the BBC in 1952, and by 1954 Attenborough had teamed up with Jack Lester of the London Zoo for Zoo Quest, and a phenomenal career was launched.
Attenborough in the recently discovered color footage of Zoo Quest Photo credit:BBC
The BBC recently pulled some Zoo Quest footage from the vault and discovered it was all filmed in color, even though the show was broadcast in black & white. They have made the previously unseen color film available online, and it is some remarkable footage.
Attenborough is no doubt best known for his Life series, starting with Life on Earth from 1979. Many leaders in their fields quickly warmed to Attenborough and agreed to be filmed for his programs, including Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, Richard Dawson, Jim Watson and Francis Crick.
Attenborough with two young gorillas
When asked about his future plans as he entered his late eighties, Attenborough stated: “If I was earning my money by hewing coal I would be very glad indeed to stop. But I’m not. I’m swanning round the world looking at the most fabulously interesting things. Such good fortune.”
The man has led a remarkable life. Happy 90!
He even narrates Adele:
Spruce
It’s the first week of May, and this Alaskan’s thoughts turn to…. Winter.
Future BTU’s
Winter never seems to really leave us up here in the north; we are either in the middle of it, or preparing for it.
My sole heat source for my time in Fairbanks has been firewood. My cabin uses 4-1/2 cords, on average, during the winter months to heat my place. If I have 5 cords stacked, I know I won’t use it all. So every autumn, my goal is to have 5 ready to go. Sometimes I hit that mark, and sometimes I don’t, but I do make an honest effort to have those five.
I stopped by another contractor’s shop this week and he had a beautiful stack of birch logs out front. His goal was to have it all cut, split and stacked by the end of Memorial Weekend. I had a serious case of Birch Envy, but I also had some logs of my own to deal with.
I had cut up some nice spruce for a customer last year, and had hauled the rounds over to my place, where they sat all winter. I had also cut down several trees for a neighbor last fall, and they too, sat laying on the ground all winter. With a couple of off days this week, I cut up the down trees and stacked the firewood in the woodshed. Today, I went after the pile of spruce rounds with the maul.
The first week of May, and I figure I have 2/5 of my needed BTU’s for the next winter. This is why I rarely have time to fish for salmon unless it’s January.
Fairytale Foxes
I’d be remiss if I didn’t send a shoutout to Leicester City FC after their first Premier League Championship. It is the Club’s only championship in its 132 year history. Their previous best season in the league was the 1928-29 season when they finished second.
Leicester was a 5000 to 1 longshot at the start of the season at Ladbrokes (Vegas odds had them at 2500-1). To give that some perspective: The Miracle on Ice Team that beat the Soviets in hockey at the 1980 Olympic Games were at 1000-1 odds; the 1987 Minnesota Twins entered the season at 500-1 odds to win the World Series, which they did against St Louis; even the famed ’69 Mets entered the season at “only” 100-1 odds.
24 bets still stood at Ladbrokes when the Leicester City Foxes won the Premier League. A 10 pound bet would bring a haul of 50,000 pounds. In all, Ladbrokes will pay out 3 million pounds with Leicester City winning the league. Luckily for them, Manchester United fans bet far more than that on their team, so Ladbrokes is well ahead.
Stutz
Stutz Blackhawk
The very first car model I ever put together when I was a kid, was a kit for a 1914 Stutz Bearcat; I’ve been hooked on the classic, jazz-age roadster ever since. Some things just never leave you.
Early Breakup on The Yukon
Photo credit: Geographic Information Network of Alaska/Jessica Cherry
Residents of Eagle, Alaska are once again upstream of a significant ice dam on the Yukon River. The ice dam is at 6 Mile Bend, and that is causing water to back up over the banks near Eagle and Eagle Village. In 2009, a major ice dam caused severe flooding in Eagle, with many buildings being swept right off their foundations by huge chucks of river ice.
The Yukon River went out at Dawson City last Saturday morning, the earliest on record. With Tuesday’s ice movement at Eagle, that was within one day of the all time record for the ice going out at Eagle.
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