This week we’re Keeping Up With the Joneses. From the legend of Sea Otter Jones to the adventures of a modern-day frontierswoman named Joan. Plus, how ‘jonesing’ for Alaska led one man to build a boat and sail it — all the way from Arkansas. And how seal throats and iPod Nanos are helping one woman keep up with old traditions and new technology. All that and more this week on AK from APRN.
Catching Up With Joan
Amanda Compton introduces us to Joan Daniels, who homesteaded at Bird Creek and, 37 years later, is still going strong.
- Music Button: “Just Do It” by James Brown from Living in America
Sea Otter Jones
Bob “Sea Otter” Jones was the first resident manager of the old Aleutian Islands Wildlife Refuge. Among other things, he’s credited with pulling the Aleutian Cackling Goose back from the brink of extinction. AK’s Ellen Lockyer brings us this profile of a man whose love for the wilderness has become a legend.
- Break: “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman from Karaoke – Female Alternative – Vol.2
Keeping Up With the Jumpers
The Juneau Jumpers rope-skipping team was founded by gym teacher Bob Berry in 1987. Since then, they’ve dazzled countless spectators and judges with their lightning-fast jumping, complex choreography and gymnastic tricks. AK host Rebecca Sheir catches up with some members of the team as they practice for the 2008 World Jump Rope Competition US qualifiers.
- Music Button: “Jump” by Kris Kross from Jump – Single
Keeping Up Behind the Wheel
For a teenager, keeping up with your peers can seem pretty important – things like having nice clothes, listening to cool music and, most of all, driving a car. But as Katie Zager of the Alaska Teen Media Institute tells us, many Anchorage teens are finding that peer pressure and state driving laws just don’t mix.
300 Villages
Quinhagak
Napaskiak
Keeping Up With New Technology/Old Traditions
You won’t find them on store shelves just yet, but St. Paul resident Stephanie Lestenkof-Mandregan has started crafting her own iPod cases… from seal throats. AK host Rebecca Sheir speaks with Mandregan about keeping up with the new and the old.
Keeping Up With the Big Boys (or at least their Boats)
The folks at Crab Bait Radio in Petersburg bring us the solution to that quintessential dilemma: the too small skiff.
- Break: “Let It Snow” performed by Oscar Peterson from An Oscar Peterson Christmas
Jonesing For the Mountains… Come Rain or Come Avalanche
More and more, back-country enthusiasts are jonesing to get out into the mountains at Turnagain Pass. But as the number of users increases, so does the number of human-triggered avalanches. Ann Kaiser speaks with back-country forecaster Matt Murphy and Karl Skookstead, director of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center.
- Music Button: “Shotgun Down the Avalanche” by Shawn Colvin from Steady On
Jonesing For Alaska
All his life, Oklahoma native Melvin Barnes jonesed for something particular: he wanted to move to Alaska… by boat. In his 50s, he finally satisfied his Alaska jones. In South To Alaska, Melvin’s daughter, Nancy Owen Barnes, recounts Melvin’s seafaring voyage from Arkansas to Alaska. AK host Rebecca Sheir speaks with the author about her dad’s travels down, and then up, to the Last Frontier.
- Calendar of Events (“Alaskan Nights” by David Schwartz from Northern Exposure (TV Soundtrack)
Keeping Up With the Joneses
Musically, keeping up with these Joneses isn’t easy: their songs sound surprisingly complex for two folks with a couple of wooden instruments. In Juneau, AK’s Scott Burton caught up with Haines musicians Kris and Lindy Jones, who perform as a duet, and with the group Honky Tonk Habit.
- Closing: “Have You Met Miss Jones” performed by Stéphane Grappelli from Jazz Café Presents Stephane Grappelli
