Denali II

Last day in Denali. Its been challenging, highs and lows, but an adventure. Can't say I'd recommend the trip honestly just because of the cost/benefit. There are similar places in the continental 48 that you can experience for 1/2 the price with more accessibility and without Alaska's libertarian culture/infrastructure. Not a bad experience, Nicole and I had a great time and saw some amazing things, but certainly a more complicated one than we were expecting. For visitors Alaska seems most appropriate for either backpackers looking to spend multiple days/weeks camping or rich people who can afford various guided tours and to charter planes.

Ended our time with a visit to the sled dogs, cool and cute!

The Walk

When the first bus was full
I knew we were in trouble
when the second bus was full
I saw my wife transform
already depleted she retreated
to survey the reservoirs of her strength
what appeared empty was in fact only a single chamber
she opened a door to the next, a basement
and took energy from there
we continued to walk

Denali

In Denali the rest of our time here. There's only a single road access to the park and not a ton of established trails. A big thing here is just hiking out into the bush, there's a bus system that takes you farther than you can drive and you hop-on/hop-off to explore. An interesting idea but the bulk of the guests here are retirees or international visitors both groups seemingly ill prepared for the conditions and terrain. Beautiful but logistically a bit complicated and relatively difficult to get away from crowds and experience the park in some solitude.

'Pristine Wilderness'

What they call nature

that can't be exploited

not because of law

or moral fortitude

simply because

it is too costly

to get at

Kenai Fjords

Nicole and I are on our yearly National Parks trip, this time in Alaska, going to Kenai Fjords and Denali. First stop is Seward which is basically within Kenai Fjords NP. Mostly nice little tourist town.

Our first full day we did the only hike they really have here up to Exit Glacier, a lot of it is inaccessible except for backcountry backpacking. Pretty intense hike, relatively severe elevation gain.

Beautiful but very demanding hike.

Our second day we took a boat tour, saw some Orcas, sea otters, sea lions, tons of birds. Really cool.

The best part was to get up close and personal with Holgate Glacier.

Exit Glacier

There is a funerary feeling

as we ascend

to pay our respect

the remanence of the ice

all around us

in swaths of rubble

and dirt tracks

even in its diminished state

it is formidable

grand, implacable

it is gracious

as it bleeds

'Slingshot' A Review

Slingshot is a scifi movie about a space mission to Saturn's moon Titan. John(Casey Affleck) awakens from a hibernation cycle experiencing adverse effects, as does his crewmates Nash(Tomer Capone) and Captain Frank(Laurence Fishburne) to varying degrees. As their mental states deteriorate so does the prospect of the mission. 

Affleck is adrift in the lead role, his delivery is stilted, he's a negative space of charm, with his only really acting choice being a distant somnambulist lethargy. It doesn't work and its intensely boring. There are numerous flashbacks with Emily Beecham as his ex Zoe that he seems to be uncomfortable and confused in, as their relationship is intended to be an emotional touchstone its failure renders a lot of the stakes moot. Capone fairs somewhat better but is unable to really create a believable person, he just firehoses fear and paranoia. Fishburne is the only one who seems like an actual human that exists. His presence is a relief and he calmly but firmly, almost solely from his own talent, asserts a reality for the story to be in. 

The production design is limited but competent, the real issue is the script. The dialogue, across the board, is bad, the characterizations non-existent, but the biggest problem is in the derivative and over-stuffed plot. It smashes together a lot of scifi doomed mission tropes seemingly with the perspective more-is-more but nothing is particularly surprising or interesting and the ending, when it comes, lands like the leadest of balloons. Its also kind of odd casting Fishburne given his presence somewhat recalls his turn in the far superior Event Horizon.

There's a decent idea in here but the result is an unquestionable failure.

Currently in theaters.

Don't See It.