When the Tripod Falls... the Divinyls Play... and I Run

There's no lottery in Alaska, at least none of the usual daily and/or weekly games of chance where you hand your money over, pick a bunch of numbers or scratch off the little thing-a-mobs and then discover you've just wasted your money and might as well have paid for the air you breathe... but Alaska has the Nenana Ice Classic.

The small village of Nenana, population 402, is located about 55 miles down the Parks Highway on the way to Denali, Talkeetna, and Los Anchorage.

A few years ago, 1917 to be precise, a bunch of railroad workers had time to kill while they waited for ice on the Tanana River to clear so they could begin... (you have to sing this like Elmer Fudd:) workin' on da wailwoad ... of course. What else would they be waiting for?! Eh? The lifeguard to come on duty so they could go for a swim?! (Actually I read they were surveyors for the railroad wanting to build a dock on the river but it did have to do with the railroad and Elmer Fudd doesn't sing: "I've been workin on the dock, all the wiv wong day."

Anyyyyway... the workers all took bets on when the ice would break and the river would begin to freely flow once again. Since that time it's been a tradition for local folks to make the same bet every year. That annual guessing game has turned into Alaska's only form of a lottery. People can buy tickets and guess the date and time when the ice will move 100 feet downstream, triggering a cable attached to a clock on shore to stop that clock right at the magical moment Spring in central Alaska unofficially begins.

Half the proceeds from ticket sales go to local citizens who work selling the tickets as well as to local charities that help better the community... so basically it's kinda similar to other lotteries in the United States except this one happens just once a year and is dependent on four feet of ice breaking.

The moment of truth this year occurred last night at 11:53 p.m. The winning ticket holder, or ticket holders, will receive just over $303,000. If you convert that to Euros I think that'll buy a Vespa.

I didn't win. I don't need a Vespa anyway.

my trail's impossibly muddy for running... so still indoors.

Wednesday After Work Run: 20 minutes 9 sec

+7 sec

XXXXXXXX++++++· 1:19:59 sec ·++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time May: 1 hour 20 minutes April: 3 hours 51 minutes <-failed to pass March March: 3 hours 57 minutes

While Fairbanks was coming alive this morning, I was just getting off work from the overnight shift. Today would be a run day... another run day. The push is really on for my Total Time in May to eclipse March. Of course I could totally blow it but so far so good. If I keep my percentage of days run at a minimum of 50%, I'll be doin' okay. Today -- Run #4 in 7 days. Doin' okay.

I was under way with a pretty good-sized paragraph here about why I exercise. Often I wax a little on that subject but this was headed towards 500 words and beyond if I didn't be careful to keep it brief. Another time, though because what an important subject, I think, for me, and for every able-bodied person to try to stay healthy!!!

So anyway, no horribleness from my increased rate of running lately and today I added a whopping 7 seconds -- I'm on my way up!!

Running tunes came from the album of the day...
	Divinyls self-titled 1991
Make Out Alright I Touch Myself Lay Your Body Down Love School Bless My Soul (It's Rock-n-Roll) If Love Was A Gun Need A Lover Follow Through Café Interlude Bullet I'm On Your Side

"If you gotta have disposable pop music" begins a sentence by the Infinite Fool about this album. Yeah, I do gotta have disposable tunes, I mean sheesh, this blog is proof of that! If I didn't run, I'd probably never listen to half the music that I do. I just wouldn't care that much.

Sometimes I get something into my ears that's really good, that I'll play a good handful of times leading up to the day that I use the album for a run... and I know I'll dig having that album for future listens.

Other times I press play on these suckers sometimes just two or three maybe... they serve their purpose well but in the long run (no pun intended) -- mostly unmemorable and quite disposable.

This album -- kind of in the middle. That one quite naughty song on here, I heard that a lot on KJQ back in Salt Lake when that was the one radio station I listened to for a couple years time. The Divinyls are still a fairly popular band in their homeland of Australia... here not so much. But in 1991 they hit the big time with that tune and the equally (if not more so) provocative video (seen below.)

The rest of the album isn't that bad. I bet some people'd argue that I Touch Myself pales in comparison to other tunes on here. It's a good "alternative" kinda new wavey early 90's sound. There's a reason this album made it to #5 on the Aussie album chart and to 15 in the U.S. -- lead singer Christina Amphlett has got one heckuva sultry and seductive voice and along with guitarist Mark McEntee, they make some good music.

find a dload @ Infinite Foolisness

from Sydney, New South Wales...
Divinyls -- "I Touch Myself"