Dec 3: Peter Mulvey Performs in Tok

I’m so excited! I’m going to be in town for the next concert brought to Tok by Bud Johson and Acoustic Accents, Alaska’s music showcase produced right here in our community!

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Peter Mulvey (www.petermulvey.com) will perform at Fast Eddy’s in Tok on Thursday, December 3rdth at 7:30 pm.  Opening for Peter is singer/songwriter Anais Mitchell (www.anaismitchell.com).

Over the past 20 years, Peter Mulvey has pursued a eclectic path as a writer and musician, performing on the streets of Dublin, the subways of Boston and now relentlessly touring as a headliner.

“I like making records, but my job is the live show: getting on stage and taking people somewhere,” says Mulvey who has shared the stage with luminaries such as Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls, and Greg Brown, and has attracted an audience that stretches from Anchorage to Amsterdam.

Peter has released 12 CDs receiving nationwide airplay and much critical acclaim.  The Boston Globe said “(Mulvey’s) guitar sounds like it’s on steroids… a superb technician with a fondness for ignoring the rules… a genre-defying traditionalist – a knuckleballer with finger picks”.  Rolling Stone described his vocals as “a voice lush and hushed that occasionally sinks into a whisper…gorgeous’.’  His latest record, Letters from a Flying Machine, was just released this fall on Signature Sounds.

A Vermont native raised on a sheep farm, Anais Mitchell has lived and performed around the world.  Mitchell started writing songs at age 17 and eventually started performing them live during her school days, which were punctuated by a remarkable amount of traveling. In a short period of time, Anaïs made several trips to the Middle East, and also spent time in Europe and Latin America, studying languages and world politics. This stunning, troubadour-like experience seeped into her music, and she became adept at fusing her passion for literature and journalism in her lyrics.  Her most recent record The Brightness was released on the independent powerhouse label Righteous Babe Records.

The concert is presented by Spin Monkey Productions and sponsored by Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum (DTRHF). Tickets are $14 in advance and $16 at the door and will be available at A & J Variety.  Additional information can be obtained by phone at 883-3664 or email at info@acousticaccents.net.

Giving Back to Your Community

One thing I find fascinating about some of the comments on my previous post where I talked about things that are great and that suck about small towns is that some people in Tok actually thought I was talking specifically about Tok versus small towns in general – even though I included an intro like this:

Here are my thoughts on the good things about living in small towns and the not so good. I think this can apply to smaller towns and communities anywhere.

Still, some people really took the post personally.

Luckily, I’ve blogged long enough to know that I can’t take things personally when people misinterpret what I’ve blogged about and bring their own issues and baggage into the comments section. But to clarify, I was just thinking about all of the small towns I’ve lived in over the years versus the big cities and making some general comparisons for conversation’s sake. Guess it worked!

But this post you are now reading is about Tok – just to clarify for those folks who are standing at the ready to criticize (apparently some of you just have nothing better to do than read this blog and post little zingers).

Let’s Talk About Giving

‘Tis the season to be thinking about giving. But in my life and my world, giving is built right into everything I do.

For example, my company does pro bono work for good causes as a rule, not an exception. I personally contribute time, consulting services and money to nonprofits, and if you know my schedule, you know I don’t technically have time to give, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

And when I move to a new community, I seek out organizations and causes where I can apply my time, skills and money as well.

That’s why before coming to Tok, I offered to volunteer to bring the Imagination Library to the community to give free books every month to kids 5 and under (a friend in Anchorage had recently been given the job to help bring the program to rural Alaska). Every child in Tok who registers for the program qualifies for free, age-appropriate books from birth until kindergarten.

When I arrived last year, I learned that the librarian at the Tok School was also interested in bringing Imagination Library to the community so I stepped back, handed over all the paperwork I had brought with me to the incredibly efficient Carrie Beeman, and the idea became reality.

My company donated $250 to help get the project off the ground, and I’ve been doing my best to help with PR, fliers, and Web stuff to help spread the word about monthly Imagination Library events, travel permitting. Now thanks to everyone’s hard work (especially Carrie’s), Imagination Library in our region has been given a grant for expansion. More on that soon.

Another organization I learned about in Tok is Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum. I am helping to get a Duct Radio blog going for them and set up their Facebook Page (Become a Fan!). I hope to contribute more time getting the word out about their efforts to support humanities and the arts in Tok including the repeater that brings us KUAC. We’re also talking about doing a little Tok radio as a podcast so stay tuned! I’ll be donating my services to help make it happen.

And in another arena, I’ve offered to post information about events and link to Tok business web sites from this blog. For free. As in “no cost.” So far, only Bud Johnson of Acoustic Accents and the Imagination Library have taken me up on that offer. The rest of the things I blog here about community events – and the links I have put up – are just things I’ve done on my own, but the efforts are by no means complete.

This blog is read by hundreds of people every week from all over the world – thousands of people a month. And even though many people like to be naysayers here on the blog, they’re still reading it (my stats track where they are, and yes, many are in Tok).  If you would like some exposure to the community or to the world, just email me through this blog, and I’m happy to post things! The only criteria is the events have to be open to the public. The links to businesses must be for sites or blogs for Tok-based businesses.

Stay tuned for a post this week about the next concert Bud Johnson is bringing to Tok. And also stay tuned for a winter chamber music concert with world class musicians that will be here thanks to Sitka Summer Music Festival and some great Tok resources. And if anyone knows the Karaoke KJ, please have ‘em send me their dates!

How are YOU giving back to YOUR community?

9 Things That Are Great About/Suck About Small Towns

We’ve just returned to Tok after five weeks away. Thank you to everyone who has hung in here and also contacted me about the blog silence. My daughter and I were staying with my folks in Florida while my husband did some traveling on his own. And now we’re back. And it’s cold.

Coming back to a small, rural community like Tok makes me think of a lot of things, both good and bad. I always do try to see the silver lining on things, but I can’t deny that living here is very hard.

Here are my thoughts on the good things about living in small towns and the not so good. I think this can apply to smaller towns and communities anywhere.

Good	Bad
It’s quiet.	It’s lonely.
It’s safe, especially for your kids.	It’s isolated with few resources for kids.
It’s a slower pace.	It can be boring.
No traffic.	No place to go.
You can see thousands of stars in the night’s sky.	Dangerous, pitch dark, icy roads.
No close neighbors.	No close friends.
People are there to help in a pinch.	People make it their business to know your business.
No crowds or long lines.	Nobody shows up for events.
No urban sprawl.	No bookstore, no movie theater, no restaurant variety.

What are your impressions of or experiences with life in a small town?

I Want My Tok Karaoke

With the darkness coming more quickly by the day, I’m thinking of dusting off my Karaoke machine and getting ready for the long, cold winter with a little in-home Karaoke madness. Music soothes the sun-deprived soul. When we were living in Anchorage, I used to marvel at the wealth of public Karaoke options. We’d usually go to Al’s Karaoke Bar in our ‘hood.

Now I know that Tok has Karaoke but it always seems to be the best kept secret. I’ve heard it is every other Saturday but  Saturdays it is on or off. Looks like I need to start making some calls! I did make it to one Karaoke night that was fun but like in most places, Karaoke is an acquired taste and most people only do it after a large amount of alcohol consumption. I actually prefer to Karaoke without too many drinks. After two, I start really missing all the notes.

I’m fascinated with the Karaoke culture, that is, the culture of hardcore Karaoke fans. It’s a bit like RV culture – this strata of people who live a different kind of lifestyle by choice and being part of that group is like being a part of a secret club where you all know the secret handshake. Someday, I’m going to take an RV and travel the country in search of Karaoke. Maybe even enter a contest or two if I can really work up a good song.

Karaoke in a small town is quite different from Karaoke in the big city. First, you are usually competing with fewer people for your chance at the mic so you end up singing a little more often. Sometimes in Anchorage, I’d be lucky to get two songs in, and that was a 8pm, the moment the Karaoke DJ opened the mic. Another thing is that if you do Karaoke in a small town, the next day everyone – and I mean everyone – knows you did it and exactly what songs you sang. But that’s okay, I don’t mind it if folks in my community know I’m a Karaoke fanatic.

I’ll make a few calls, get the winter schedule for Tok Karaoke, and start plugging away with some Dido, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, and a little bit of Shania Twain mixed in for good measure.

Do you Karaoke? What are your best songs or artists?

If You Lived Here, I Still Might Not Know You

Just finished a fantastic book about living in remoter parts of Alaska called If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name by Heather Lende. I’ve crossed paths with Heather before when she received an award from the Alaska Communications Professionals in Anchorage but at the time, didn’t know who she was. Not that I didn’t read the Anchorage Daily News, but her column was being carried less and less frequently. And then I moved to Tok.

Reading about Haines, Alaska through Lende’s essays was incredibly satisfying. I love her perspective on human beings, on life, on relationships, and on life in a small town. I love the way she portrays thorny situations and real-life dramas with quiet respect and reflection. What a great essayist!

I’d love to have a modicum of Lende’s talent for conveying small town politics without getting too controversial or political. Her sensitivity is honorable and enviable. She reveals so much while still “protecting the guilty.” And you really come away from reading this book feeling like you know the people of Haines, even just a glimpse of them, and you know what it is to live in a place like Haines.

How can I tell you what it is like to live in a place like Tok? I come at this place from an entirely different place than Lende in Haines because although a transplant to her area, she has lived there for years, had children there, had a career writing obituaries for the local paper, all things to tie her more closely to a community.

I’ve arrived from “the city.” I had my only child in the city and have brought her here and hope she will grow and thrive. My career is the business I own that I run from my home which is isolating in many ways. I try to contribute to my community through this blog. I also try to tangibly contribute by making donations – monetary and in-kind – to meaningful local causes and organizations such as the Tok Tanacross Imagination Library and Duct Tape Radio and Humanities Forum. Doing the best I can.

Heather Lende’s book reminds me of the complexity of people who come to live in very small communities and who like it just the way it is. This place, like Haines, has history and layers. Nothing is like it looks on the surface. Nothing is as simple as it might seem.

You can order If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name online.

What are your thoughts of/experiences with living in a small community?

Long Shadows

I walk outside when I see the sun shining now, and the shadows are long. Long shadows foreshadow the quick descent of winter. We’re on the downward slide into darkness. And I’m not feeling very good about it.

Long shadows make me woeful and anxious. Long shadows haunt me.

Looks like I should figure out where my full spectrum light box is to make sure I have quick and easy access to it once the dark descends. I’m bracing myself for the disappearance of light.

How do you prepare for and deal with the darkness?

Arts Bazaar in Tok

I have a lot of interest in an arts bazaar to showcase Tok-based artists (such as Ken Lisbourne – see image below) so will definitely work to help coordinate something. But won’t be able to get it done this week. While I was able to obtain permission to set up tables on the land around the big orange truck and did get confirmations from several artisans, I just don’t have the time at the moment to do the rest. But I’m truly committed to helping make this happen in the future so if anyone is planning another event and would like an art component, please let me know, and I’m happy to do the legwork with enough notice.

In the meanwhile, I’ve finally met Gene, the produce guy, who sets up his truck daily around 3pm-ish until around 5:30pm across from All Alaska Gifts. His produce is gorgeous, fresh and homegrown. We picked up some tomatoes and squash the other day and will frequent his truck more often now that we know he’s there. It is funny how one can be in such a small community and get mail every day via the same route and never drive past the road where he’s set up. So for anyone new to the area or just passing through, keep your eyes peeled for Gene and his produce!

What else is available here in Tok that is yet another “best-kept secret?” What other Tok businesses and artisans can we all better support?

Save the Peas!

The 30 degree F weather is here, and the pea vines are drooping. We’ve been running outside the last few days to grab the last of the pea bounty, pull some carrots, coddle the tomatos and squash in the greenhouse, and we did a mega-rhubarb run to the tune of 40 quarts, chopped and now frozen. For my first official summer doing a vegetable garden (I don’t count the year I was pregnant or first year post partum in Anchorage – total blurs), I think we’ve done pretty well. Even despite the chickweed invasion.

Here are some recent snapshots of our harvest.

How is your garden doing?

The Truck is Here Today!

Our friendly CV Farms truck is here today and set up in the lot near the Husky Lounge.

Leah says they have some cantelope ($2 apiece), apples, plums, nectarines – this is an impromptu stop at the tail end of their July trip so will NOT replace their August trip which will be later in the week.

So if you are looking for some fresh fruits, stop on by today (Wednesday)!

UPDATE: Got some delicious cherries, plums (you have to feel around to get the non-squishy ones), peaches, and cantaloupe as well as some Anaheim peppers. Thinking of trying my hand at making some Chile Rellenos. Anyone have an easy recipe for them? Easy being the operative word!

The truck will be back, and I just confirmed that we are allowed to do something bigger surrounding their set up. Tentative date is August 19 so if you know any artists or arts & crafts folks in or around Tok who might like to display and sell their wares, please have them contact me through this blog.

I’m so excited! I’m still working out all the details, but things are looking good for a special event on August 19!

Who do you know who is creating art or crafts in or around Tok?

Cooking and Baking in Tok

I’d love to lay claim to these two culinary creations, however, the first is my husband’s dish and the second was made by my awesome girlfriend while I was on the phone.

Introducing…Caribou Stroganoff! Caribou cooked over the fire pit, frozen, thawed, and sliced in a creamy sauce. The side dish? Lambsquarter steamed.

And a Rhubarb Crisp ala mode, rhubarb from our backyard garden. Crisp made with gluten-free flour blend that’s on sale at the Tok General Store.

I’m getting braver about baking and think I can muster up some rhubarb dishes and even some radish ones.

What have you been baking lately?