A Random Post - OR IS IT???

Wow. Has it really been that long since my last post? Hard to believe. But, the fact is, I've been working hard and playing hard. As an instructor, my work often keeps me late at school, although I try hard not to bring too much work home with me. And, as the dept. head and the only full-time faculty in my department, I often stay late just trying to catch up on paperwork. My time at school is thinned even more so as I am on our graduation committee. The great part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. The bad part about the graduation committee is that nearly all of the work we do is at the end of the school year. And graduation is coming up in about another 5 weeks. And since we just happen to have started early registration for the upcoming fall semester, my time is stretched even further. This, naturally, has very strong effects on one's stress levels and in order to prevent myself from taking out that stress on student via hammer or some other blunt object, I direct it towards other things. As I said, I've been playing hard too, meaning our guild has completed 10-man ICC and we're starting heroic 10-man. Yay for hard modes! This means more wipes. This means more practice. And basically, more time needed to stay with the progression. But, I haven't forgotten about the great Blackbear's Cave. In fact, I intend to provide a (hopefully) decent article about warriors in the game. Am I an expert? Nope. Not by a long shot. But I can provide some ideas towards spec, gear, and professions for the leveling warrior. Also, I will either add or create another article about arms pvp spec. That article I simply intend to document my experiences with the spec and pvp. I don't intend for that particular article to be used as a guide for arms pvp as I will most likely include a number of expletives. I'll probably include the reasons why I decided to put tanking on hold for awhile. This means, be ready for more ranting. So, just bear with me (pun intended) and hopefully I'll get that underway soon. The end of the summer semester is approaching and I could really use some free time.

Now, onto the other reason I decided to post. A project I've really been wanting to complete for a long time. A simple video with a slide show of a set of photos I took while on my vacation last year in Alaska. Yes. It's finally time to post that up. I'll actually post it on 3 (hopefully) websites.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

It’s been a long time coming. Yes. It’s taken me a long time to finally complete this project. Some of my online friends will understand what that means. But, I simply could not post this video without the “perfect” accompaniment. While the music in this video is not technically Native Alaskan, primarily Native Americans perform it. I felt that this was important not only in principle, but also for aesthetic reasons. The music I was going to use with this video had to reflect the silent awe and the oddly, calming effect I felt seeing and photographing this great landscape for the first time.

Finding any music indigenous to Native Alaska is challenging enough. While I did manage to find some Alaskan singers/groups that were capable of performing very contemporary style of music, it did not carry the reverence I wanted to accompany this photo gallery. Sadly, a great deal of traditional Native Alaskan music has been lost to history via “modernization” of the Alaskan peoples. Some traditional music still exists. But, the meaning of some of that music is no longer understood. While this was a bit disappointing, I continued looking elsewhere for music I felt was appropriate. I also felt that, if contemporary music would better reflect the mood I wanted for the video, then so be it. The music I’ve chosen to accompany the photos seems to “fit” the mood I was trying to create. And, as I stated before, if I couldn’t find just the “right” music, then I wasn’t going to complete this project.

I’ve heard of the performers Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. I’ve also heard of Robbie Roberston. However, my search for the best music to my video didn’t initially lead me to these performers. But I remembered hearing awhile back a song that I would later learn was called Peyote Healing and tried to track down its authors/performers. It wasn’t easy, as I had no idea, at the time, what the name of the song was or even the artists’ names. Finally, after a bit of online searching, and listening to A LOT of samples, I managed to come across the album: Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy by Robbie Roberston. The other album I drew from was: Dancing Into Silence. The first song in the video is: The Way Home from Dancing Into Silence by R. Carlos Nakai, the second song is Amazing Grace in Sioux from Walk in Beauty by Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike. Finally, the last song is: Peyote Healing from Robbie Robertson’s Contact from the Underworld of Redboy feat. Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike.

This small video only represents a small section of the best photos I took while in Alaska during my vacation in 2009. The few photos I’ve placed in this video are the ones that made the final cut so-to-speak. Some of the photos include: a small plane trip to the Chickamin Glacier, a Misty Fjords National Monument boat trip, as well as hiking photos around Revillagigedo Island, Ward Creek Trail and Lake Harriet Hunt. Overall, I took nearly 750 total photos. I had to trim a lot of photos out. This trip cost me a bit financially. But, the experience was well worth every penny. The trip has had such a profound impact on me that, I decided almost immediately upon returning home, I should go back again the following year. And, I am! Hopefully, by the time I return from that trip, I’ll be a little better at Windows Movie Maker. Yes, I am a WMM newb! Enjoy the pictures.

Blackbear (Bear5177)

Aka BB

I sure hope this works.