KXLL

2013 Grand Slam champion Ziggy gave a charged performance to a packed Juneau Arts and Culture Center. Give it a listen:

But tonight, Ziggy will not compete. Instead, he will be the “sacrificial poet” who is used to help the judges normalize their scoring. Ziggy and his fellow poets have been performing at monthly open mics and poetry slams throughout the year and winners from those events compete in this evening’s grand slam. Christy NaMee Eriksen helped create the arts nonprofit in 2010.

“We wanted to start Woosh Kinaadeiyí, and we didn’t have a name for it at the time, it was just Juneau Poetry Slam, just to create a safe space that was open to teach people about what spoken word is, and how it could be good for them as individuals and good for us as a community,” Eriksen says.

Among tonight’s performers is Nathan Block. He says his poetry “always starts off with some egotistical idea and then shows how we need to break those down in order to rise to the occasion of solidarity.”

After pieces by several opening performers, Block will compete against four fellow poets: David Parish, M.D. Christensen, Max Suzuki and Bill Merk. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center. There will be food, music, drinks and a cake to celebrate Woosh K’s fourth birthday.

The Canvas’s Brandon Howard and Kathryn Kell were on A Juneau Afternoon on Thursday with host Shona Strauser and spoke about the Tiles and Fire community art project.

Interview highlight

“You put whatever you want on the tile and you don’t really have complete control of what comes out. What comes out is heavily influenced by what Kathryn does and what I do, and by what the fire does. What comes out is a real collaborative unit.” –Brandon Howard

The Southeast Alaska State Fair is possibly the greatest festival on Earth. Hordes of beautiful people from all over Alaska and the Lower 48 are imported to Haines for one weekend only to celebrate all that makes Southeast Alaska amazing.

You’ve probably already bought your ferry ticket, taken the time off work–but one large question remains, what should you bring with you?

While you’re not packing for the apocalypse, Southeast Alaska isn’t forgiving to the unprepared. Once you’re in Haines, the supplies you have can make or break the festival, so skip the drama and pack for the worst. It doesn’t matter if you’ve done the fair a million gazillion times, learn from my mistakes and prepare to have the time of your life.

Transportation

While you may have romantic ideas about biking your giant bag into town, the reality is that it’s a long hard slog from the ferry terminal. Coming from the woman who was literally the last one to the campsite–this athletic feat is just not worth the tears or bruises you will sustain being a stubborn jerk.

The truth is, nobody does the Haines Fair alone. All it takes is one friend with a vehicle, and you probably already know someone who’s going. Throw em’ a couple bucks and throw that monkey on your back in the trunk where it belongs. Plus they can stake out the best camping spots before the bikers’ exodus from the ferry terminal.

Fashion

The basic rule is don’t bring anything you can’t live without losing, destroying or smelling like a hippie mosh pit. Even though the forecast is great, you’re still going to be outside for hours, so long johns are a necessity and layers are your best friend. No matter how hot it gets during the day, it still gets dang cold at night–so bring a light jacket or flannel for the bottom of your purse. You will also be really sad if you don’t bring a raincoat of some kind if it starts to pour. For footwear, XTRATUF boots are eternally cool and will be your first defense against getting trampled at the front of the stage Saturday night.

Beauty

At the fair, you may see plenty of women with amazing hair–straightened, feathered, curled and coiffed–and you will immediately wish you brought your hair accessories. But you really do not want to bring them. Curling irons and straighteners are deadweight and require time and effort you really should be spending enjoying the fair.

Swap out your usual primping regimen for something simpler: a good bottle of dry shampoo and a beanie. Nothing says “I’m a carefree babe” like the just rolled out of bed/beachy hair look. And no one will judge you if you start developing a mini-dreadlock in the back. Too broke to do dry shampoo? Baby powder works almost as effectively and doubles as a fragrance.

Mama always said don’t sleep with your makeup on. And you don’t have to.  These days there are amazing face wipes that you can use on your entire body. Fragrance free, organic, patchouli-proof, whatever, and they’re probably at Fred Meyer. Even though you’re just disappearing for a weekend, buy the 20 pack. All the babes in camp will love you when they’re too tired to wash their faces.

First Aid

When you’re taking it to the edge every night, it’s pretty likely you won’t feel 100 percent the next day. Prepare for this discomfort with over-the-counter remedies and bring extra because everyone in your immediate camping group will probably feel the same. These are my favorites:

• 

  Aleve – the magic blue pill that will cancel out the aches inflicted from typical Haines Fair behavior: sleeping on rocks, head banging injuries, bike crashes and unexpected migraines.

• Pepto-Bismol/TUMS – Let’s be real here, vendor food is delicious and some of it won’t agree with you. Life is too short to feel nauseated.
• Alka-Seltzer – Because someone’s going to have too much fun the night before and won’t wanna come out Saturday morning.
• Fisherman’s Friend – These taste like crap, but they are the best when losing your voice. At Haines Fair 2012 I sucked on these babies all weekend and they helped me get through my main stage set twice!
• DayQuil – Somebody’s going to be sick while your immune system’s taking a vacation. Don’t spend $15 on this when you’re desperate in Haines.

Food

Whatever you expect to spend on food on a normal vacation, multiply it by four. In Haines it’s impossible to resist the temptation of great eats around every corner. You’re already going to spend a small fortune at the Mountain Market, so take some precautions for your health and wallet before getting on the ferry.

One way to bring down the cost is to outfit yourself with snacks–and don’t wait till you get to Haines to pick these up. Your selection is always better at home. My go-to is apples, little baggies of almonds, Clif Bars and carrots. My criteria are anything that will fit in my purse and I can live off comfortably if I run out of money during the weekend.

An unexpected consequence of so many party rockers hitting up Haines is long lines everywhere. And when it’s late, there are even fewer places to get food. Don’t wait till your blood sugar is crashing to feed your body–you’ve got to make it the whole weekend! That includes the P Bar and Fogcutter both nights!

Final Thoughts

Though the great weather and underage kiddos on the beach may make you feel like you’re spring breakin’ in Cancun, you’re not. This is a family-friendly event and you’re guaranteed to run into somebody from work. So don’t forget your dignity and use these tips to stay fabulous.

Annie Bartholomew is a Southeast Alaska State Fair veteran and each year swears she’ll never go back, but always does. 

The boys of Mod Carousel and special guest Caela Bailey, dropped by KXLL to preview their Saturday night showstopper Glitterboxx with Annie on the Spot. The Luminous Pariah, Paris Original, Trojan Original, and Caela Bailey got on the mic talking over their “sexy boys” parody of Blurred Lines which got over 5 million hits on YouTube!

See the full video here – but be forewarned, these boylesque stars may be too hot to handle.

Drummer Tommy Ramone, the last of the founding members of the seminal 1970s punk band The Ramones, has died. He was 65.

An announcement on the band’s Facebook page said Ramone died on Friday at his home in Ridgewood, Queens, New York. Ramone had been in hospice care for bile duct cancer, according to Variety.

The trade publication says: “Born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary, and known professionally as Tom or T. Erdelyi, Ramone played on the first three epoch-making Ramones albums, ‘Ramones’ (1976), ‘Leave Home’ (1977) and ‘Rocket to Russia’ (1977). He also co-produced the latter two albums with Tony Bongiovi and Ed Stasium, respectively. He appeared on and co-produced the 1979 live Ramones opus ‘It’s Alive.'”

As The Los Angeles Times explains:

“The band, whose members adopted a last name used by Paul McCartney to reserve hotel rooms in the Beatles years, were known for their bowl haircuts, ripped jeans and less-than-polished musical style.

“The four-member Ramones came out of Queens with limited musical skills, but by 1976, their staccato riffs and full-frontal garage rock assaults began to make their mark on British punk musicians. The band has been acknowledged by many as the inventors of punk rock.”

Reuters adds that the band “had limited chart success but deeply influenced scores of musicians who would go on to form bands such as the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and Green Day.”

“They were seen as masters of minimalist, under two-and-a-half minute tunes played at blistering tempo, such as ‘Blitzkrieg Bop,’ ‘I Wanna be Sedated,’ ‘Rockaway Beach,’ and ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker.’

The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Read original article – Published July 12, 2014 8:32 AM ET
Tommy Ramone, Last Original Member Of The Ramones, Dies At 65

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