How do people keep these up

I guess I just don't have enough going on in my life because I struggle to find stuff to post. My typical day is the same, trips to the grocery store or the library don't seem to be blog worthy. Hmm maybe I'll go with a play by play account of my next library trip. Things here are good though and I'll try to come up some new material outside of weather, grilling etc.

Today however, I have a few things one of which is the weather.

It started raining today. I've been told a few times that the winter shows signs of it's arrival. The first sign is snow in the mountains. My first post as you may recall was about the snow falling in the mountains, Termination Dust as it is called. The second sign is rain, cold rain and grey days slowly morphing into grey days with snow. A couple weeks ago the rain started it rained all weekend, it was cold and wet. Come Monday the snow in the mountains had melted and by Sunday it was 60 outside. Well, last Friday the snow showed up in the mountains again, today it started to rain. So, potentially the snow is on the way. The forecast has rain today which was accurate, not all that common really, the forecast typically misses on the dry side. According to Wunderground the current rain will transition into snow, leaving up to 1in in town. I'll believe it when I see it. Snow also to follow on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it, I want to see some snow. Maybe not, I hear this voice in the back of my mind telling me "be careful what you ask for".

One of the cool things about Anchorage is the view of the Aleutian Range and to the north the Alaskan Range, which includes Denali. BTW, the Alaska Range is not part of the Continental Divide, last year this time I swore it was. More often then not the view of Denali isn't there. Looking southwest across Knik Arm and then further to Cook Inlet and its western shore the Aleutian Range or at least parts of it are visible. Yesterday was a rare day, you could see both. What was a cloudy overcast day in Anchorage with snow falling in the Chugach Mtns to the east. To the west though, the sun was out. Below are some pictures taken from downtown looking to the southwest towards the Aleutians. My camera, which typically I think is pretty sweet failed me on this one. Just like in Denali, it is hard to describe the size, yesterday the Mnts looked huge, shimmering in the sun. In my pictures, not so huge. Any way, enjoy.

Back up and running

All,

Got the phone issue sorted out.

New Phone, issues

My plan was set to expire at the end of the month so I thought I'd take care of it ahead of time. Went and re-upped. Picked up a new phone, it worked for about an hour now it claims I have no service. So to all, be advised I have no working phone until further notice...

Devastating occurrence at 10:30pm

I went to the library today, picked up a few books. One of which, "Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes" I was enjoying before bed. Actually as you might guess, it was putting me to sleep. I was reading about the Great Rift Valley in Africa...

"Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti" it struck. People at the old office can attest to this common infectious, debilitating, lingering event. Typically it starts with a few bars hummed in my mind then out loud as I mimic the synthesizer. " I hear the drums echoing in the night" the onslaught is swift, cold sweats begin. "There is nothing a hundred men or more could do" resistance at this point is futile, I'd have better luck turning down an Italian Store Capri. I turn on my computer looking for relief, "hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies" to get it off my mind. "I seek to cure whats deep inside, frightened of this thing that Ive become" there is only one hope now. I know of only one cure, an old friend, YouTube, " he turned to me as if to say, hurry boy, its waiting there for you"...

Here I am now, 11pm, listening to equally infectious music, devastating. Thank god for Men at Work...Curse the Safety Dance.

Also of note, apparently the lyrics go "I bless the rains", not "I miss the rains"

Non Grill related news

I realize I've been a bit focused on grill related activities at least here on the blog, it probably doesn't seem like it from my posts, but yes, other things have been happening up here.

For starters the weather, fall is here. Since the Denali weekend I don't think I've seen anything over 50. Snow continues to fall in the mountains around town, which means rain continues to fall here in town. It isn't a hard rain, but it is cold. The good thing about rain is that it isn't snow, and also it keeps the frost off your windshield, it feels fairly similar to MI to be honest.

I went to the UAA hockey game the other night, they played Mercyhurst from Atlantic Hockey. Seawolves won. The rink is decent, it is a little older but was stood out most was the lack of college students, actually the lack of anything related to the university outside of the hockey team. No pep band, which from my experience is common place at college hockey. The announcer was way too Hollywood and the music selection during breaks was similar to something you might find at an ECHL game. I guess they try to "spice" things up to get fans in, too bad really. The game was good, a little sloppy but it was the first game of the season for either team. UofM was also in town and played UAF opening night. UofM took on UAA last night, no word of the outcome but I have a pretty good idea of who won.

Work has been going well, not much to report on that really.

Signed up for a "Over 30" basketball league, work put together a team. Being that I wont be 30 until November it looks like I'll ride the pine till then. Friends have warned me the body breaks down after 30, Ive begun a strict regiment of grilling and watching football to prepare for the decline. As usual I plan on making it rain on the court, I've been working on my ups but don't plan on posterizing anyone anytime soon. Big ups to my man Sdot.

Somehow I have managed to find myself deep in the fantasy sports world. Originally I planned on not participating this year, I now find myself in a college football league, NFL, and two NBA leagues. I don't even watch the NBA so that should be interesting.

There has been great response to my call for help regarding the necessary necessaries related to my grilling endeavors. Foy's is en route in a couple weeks, I was able to locate the CH up here at Fred Meyers. I priced out Pecan, $50 for 50lb, great, $127 for shipping, not so cool. I think I'll need to explore the use of Alder, the only hardwood available up here. The shipping rates from Butt Rub are decent and I'll be taking advantage. At one point in time I knew of a website where one could order all sorts of different sauces,rubs, marinades... typically in larger sizes, any way I can't seem to find it now. If anyone happens to stumble across it let me know. In the meantime I found this, which wasn't the site I was thinking of but appears to be a good source.

Who's butt reigns supreme?

Probably not mine, but the first go was pretty darn good. I was working with a 7lb'er, two bags of chunked Hickory and rain. I used a homemade paste/rub overnight and served with an apple cider vinegar based sauce with some homemade slaw. My biggest regret was not going to the bakery to get buns using store bought instead, sub par. I started the fire around 9 and took the swine off to rest around 4:30. I took a few pictures during the process but forgot due to excitement at the end, so there is no picture of the finished product. The picture above was taken around 10am the interaction that followed was something like this . BTW, I did not find the Holy Swine>>>

Rumor has it Dan Brown is working on a new novel.

A good day all around, State won, UofM lost. The night game, sorry, 4 pm game was good but I had to DVR due to the butt. I had some friends go to the game, no word from them yet, knowing these guys it is quite possible that only 2 of the 3 return. Oh yeah I think I'm good on the whole WHH scenario...Below is the butt around the 4 hour mark, ended up with a nice 1/2 inch smoke ring mmmmmm

Grill Update

I'm sure everyone has been following this story closely...

The grill has been seasoned and is ready to rock. This weekend Thighs ala Gilreath will be prepared in mass. Unfortunately I have been unable to track down Cattlemens Honey up here. I know this is a KEY component of T.a.G. I'll have to make due. The sleeveless Grill Sergeant shirt will rocked and the finest college football games available to man on Saturday will be on. Saturdays forecast, cold and rainy. We may have a William Henry Harrison situation here, hopefully not.

All are welcome to attend

I can haz Grillz?!?

I couldn't take it. One month no BBQ was one month too long. I made the move, the big purchase, I hooked up the smoker. It is the exact same model as in Gainesville. Some assembly required, wish I had my drill. Anchorage is now officially on its way to becoming Gainesville North...

Some issues have come to mind.
1. No Pecan
2. No Butt Rub
3. No Cattlemen's Honey
4. No Foyes Thunderbolt

None of these are essential but they each have a place on my menu.

Kind People of the BBQ Heartland, please help me in my endeavor to spread BBQ to this cold and desolate land. With a small shipment of goods you can keep alive a small child...err... bearded, 30 yr old man. Will send Alaska type stuff in return...ex: One truck load of Pecan gets you a Moose, one entire Moose, thats right. Holla at ur boy. Thank You

Below is a picture from this mornings initial run.