why do we wanna go tinkering with the last bit of unspoiled land in america?!? this is about alaska... listen up, speak up!

just like that crazy, bushy-haired, bible-toting man i used to see at the park all the time…
recently carrie stood atop her soapbox and shouted to anyone who would listen about the arctic national wildlife refuge. more specifically about how the current u.s. administration wants to open up this pristine wilderness to oil and natural gas drilling. carrie kept urging me to check it out, so i did. i was really disturbed by the facts i uncovered. i think the reality hit especially hard because i had just returned the previous week from an unbelievable alaskan adventure. i witnessed land and experienced an environment unlike any i’d seen before. it made me contemplate the true meaning of words like ‘awesome’ and ‘amazing’. so i’m gonna lay out some facts. please read, digest and then take appropriate action. carrie and i think this is really important…




In 1960 19 million acres were set aside in northern alaska "for the purpose of preserving unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values.” this area has become renowned as some of the most diverse and spectacular land in the world.
“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (anwr) is a vast and beautiful wilderness, unique because it has a full range of arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems. Unique also because the systems are whole and undisturbed, functioning as they have for centuries, largely free of human control and manipulation.” [anwr brochure text]


to put it in perspective…

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 19.8 million acres

South Carolina 19.9 million acres


The Refuge includes an array of landscapes and wildlife habitats--from the boreal forest of the Porcupine River uplands . . . to the foothills and slopes of the Brooks Range . . . to the arctic tundra of the coastal plain . . . to the lagoons and barrier islands of the Beaufort Sea coast. these areas are home to an array of wildlife including dall sheep, muskoxen, shrews, hares, voles, lemmings, coyotes, wolves, foxes, lynx, bears, seals, walruses and whales.
"The Refuge serves as the staging area for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds, denning habitat for polar bears, and calving grounds for the 130,000 member Porcupine River caribou herd and it plays an integral part in the lives of the Gwich'in people who depend on the seasonal migrations of the caribou for both survival and cultural identity." [Carl Pope, director of the Sierra Club]
these areas also contain hundreds of species of mosses, grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and other plants. “The ground lies permanently frozen below much of the Refuge. This impenetrable “permafrost” layer causes many areas to remain wet during the summer. Plants grow rapidly with 24-hour daylight, but the growing season is short. These factors make the Refuge a fragile area easily impacted by human activities. In this most northern of refuges, communities take a long time to recover from disturbances.” [anwr brochure text]

"disturbances" like the huge equipment, cranes, rigs, roads and people associated with drilling for oil and natural gas. because i believe there are such strong merits for the case against opening up anwr for drilling, i’m not going to rely on an emotional appeal. here are the facts, which scream for themselves.
there is currently a bill in congress which would allow for drilling in alaska’s wilderness…

H.R.5429
Title: To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program that will result in an environmentally sound program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal Plain of Alaska, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Pombo, Richard W. [CA-11] (introduced 5/19/2006)
Cosponsors (None)
[http://www.congress.gov]
does anyone else think it’s creepy that ‘and for other purposes’ was tacked on there?


although i don’t pretend to understand the games they play in congress, this is what i’ve gathered. this bill was bounced back and forth between the senate and the house many times. it faced several filibusters by environmentally minded opposition and as a result republicans sought to include a provision for drilling anwr in the 2006 budget reconciliation bill that will be considered this fall. i think the purpose of piggy backing it with a budget bill was to avoid another filibuster, thus circumventing normal senate deliberation rules. but this blog is not about partisan politics, it’s about a lopsided equation in which the damage and cost of an action would far outweigh its possible benefits.

“While those in favor of drilling in ANWR have touted potential Alaskan energy development as an opportunity to gain American energy independence, environmentalists have warned that the relatively small amount of oil estimated to be available in the refuge is not worth the environmental damage likely to be caused by development of the area. ‘There’s simply too much at stake to let this majestic national icon become a number in the federal budget,’ said Carl Pope, director of the Sierra Club. ‘The speculative revenue gains are too small and the sacrifice too great to jeopardize our natural heritage for a short-term supply of oil.’” [http://newstandardnews.net]



so what kinda numbers are we talking about…

the administration proposes opening up a section along the delicate northern coastal plains of the reserve, which has been labeled the 1002 area.
The most recent government study of oil and natural gas prospects in ANWR was completed in 1998 by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). it found that there is an excellent chance (95%) that at least 11.6 billion barrels of oil are present on federal lands in the 1002 area. the USGS goes on to say that there is an excellent chance (95%) that 4.3 billion barrels or more are technically recoverable (costs not considered). the USGS guesses that at $24 per barrel [in 1996], there is a 95% chance that 2.0 billion barrels or more could be economically recovered and a 5% chance of 9.4 billion barrels or more.

americans consume 19.6 million barrels per day. [http://maps.unomaha.edu] statistically speaking, the chances are better that we’ll uncover 2 billion, as opposed to 9.4 billion, barrels of natural gas. let’s use a liberal number…say 5 billion barrels are recovered…that provides enough fuel to sustain america for 255 days or about 8.5 months. is my math wrong or is this just plain nuts?!?



here’s the part where you sit, scratching your head, wondering how the trade-off proposed in congress seems worth it.

i wrote to my senators and representative in congress to express my concerns. you should too. i received some responses, one of which came from senator jim demint. he politely asserted that we do “not see eye-to-eye on this particular matter.” and he went on to argue “that it is important for America to have an energy policy that plans and provides for the needs of today while looking to the challenges of the future.”

although i appreciate the senator’s response, i disagree with his tactics. doesn’t it appear that the money to be invested in drilling the arctic national wildlife refuge could be better used to study and implement plans for alternative fuel sources, such as biodiesel, fuel cells and hydrogen that would actually sustain us in the future? not only would this reduce our reliance on foreign oil, thus reducing the pressure on america to strictly police the middle east, it would also insure that america’s economic, domestic and international policies are not hijacked by our energy needs. it just makes sense. maybe i should run for congress…vote action jackson in 2008…

if you live in s.c.~~
click here to email senator jim demint

click here to email senator lindsay graham

if you live in the 29577 area~~
don’t forget to contact congressman harry brown too

you can find contact information for all senators and congressmen at
vote smart. represent!!

and if you’re feeling exceptionally fired up…why not pester some big oil companies? thanks to carrie for compiling all this info…

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson
Corporate Headquarters
5959 Las Colinas Boulevard
Irving, Texas 75039-2298
USA
(972) 444-1000

Mr. David O'Reilly
ChevronTexaco CEO
6001 Bollinger Canyon Rd
San Ramon, CA 94583
USA
(925) 842-1000

Mr. Jeroen van der Veer
Shell CEO
Royal Dutch Shell plc
Carel van Bylandtlaan 16
2596 HR DEN HAAG
Postbus 162
2501 AN DEN HAAG

Sir John Browne,
BP Amoco CEO
B.P. Amoco
Brittanic House
1 Finsbury Circus
London EC2M 7BA

Mr. James Mulva,
ConocoPhillips CEO
600 North Dairy Ashford (77079-1175)
P.O. Box 2197
Houston, TX 77252-2197
USA
Phone 281.293.1000

here, you can just plug your name and your comments into this…

Dear (enter name),

As you know, current legislation making its way through the United States Congress would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

I am writing to urge your company to publicly pledge that you will not drill in ANWR.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a gift of pristine wilderness, first set aside by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower more than 40 years ago. We as global citizens have a responsibility to preserve it. ANWR is home to more than 150 wildlife species, including caribou, polar bears, musk oxen, and millions of migratory birds.

The international community will not stand idly by and allow this wilderness area to be defiled.

If your company decides to drill in ANWR, we will launch a boycott of your products, and the products of your subsidiaries. And I know that millions will join us.

I urge you to make a public pledge that you will not drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- or face a boycott of your products.
Thank you for your consideration of this critically important matter.

Sincerely,
(your name)

refreshment

this was just the kinda day i needed. after a recent bout of homesickishness, it’s nice to be reminded of all the history, beauty and unexplored territory that surrounds me here. carrie and i had a monday off as we’d worked the weekend sports festivals at our respective schools. a friend came in from tokyo and we hit the road in search of cultural gems that we’d yet to uncover in our corner of the countryside.



first off to kasugayama, a nationally designated “important historic place” that’s past centers around Uesugi Kenshin, a powerful japanese warlord during the sengoku era, seen here immortalized in bronze. i thought his head looked way too small for his body. maybe he had a napolean complex that motivated him to be such a fierce and successful fighter…


at the base of the mountain sits rinsenji temple, where kenshin studied. it is purported to retain the appearance it had when he was alive…minus the tacky red flags i presume.




then we hiked towards the site of kasugayama castle. although ‘yama’ means mountain in japanese, we weren’t exactly prepared for the lengthy climb in skirts, flip flops and all. in some ways we were well rewarded for our efforts…


some fabulous lookouts that revealed joetsu to me in a whole new way. the view made me want to grab somebody for a romantic picnic and a hot make out session overlooking the city. unfortunately, nothing remains now of the castle itself. there are clearings, rock formations and scars in the land though that do attempt to tell the story of the place [with the help of some poorly translated, strategically situated signs]. some diversionary routes and canal like moats are easy to pick out of the natural landscape, but other aspects of the castle require a lot more imagination.
the castle was home to uesugi kenshin; born in 1530, he became lord of kasugayama at the age of 19. at that time, the area was called echigo and he managed to subdue or unite, depending on what you read, every part of what is now niigata prefecture and bring it under his control. he later became the chief of all the samurai in the kanto area (eastern japan). “having passed through an era of wars like a gale-force wind,” he died in 1578 at the age of 49.

then we traced the coast heading south through itoigawa and noh until we found an island i’d noticed a few times and had been meaning to explore.



as legend goes [if i can use that term loosely to mean rumors circulated among the foreigners], long ago a pair of famous lovers ended their relationship here and now any couple who crosses over to the island is doomed to part ways.



the views from the tip top of the huge rock were stunning.





the air was cool and fragrant and i was relaxed. it only took a moment to reassure me that my last 11 months in this place won’t just be tolerable, but necessary in the quest to continue collecting experiences like this.

ode to summer

figured i should post these summer savories before they expire.
carrie and i are real proud of our uki wa. mine promptly deflated into a limp, useless pile of crap even before i could get to the ocean.


a bunch of peeps gathered in nagaoka for the annual summer matsuri featuring some spectacular fireworks. they have the prestige of being the longest running, or most expensive, or lengthiest display, or something or another in all of japan. all the ladies got decked out in yukata, which are cotton kimonos for hot weather.
[shot on my kodak disposable. makes you realize how spoiled we are with digital where you can check and see that your shots are complete dung and simply reshoot them.]




i was real sad to see the beer gardens crank closed their roofs for the last time. the $45 for 3 hours of all you can eat and drink deal is quite a warm weather staple.


you know your work party is fun when you find yourself stage diving at karaoke into the laps of all your hot, young male coworkers. bad girl. luckily the anything goes rule applies to all work parties and it really is like vegas in that what happens there stays there. [except when i tell the story about how i saw 2 middle-aged men stand up, drop their pants and drawers, and feign love making at another table's work party. hilarious example of the all-you-can guzzle deal urging people to act slightly out of character.]


carrie and i at naoetsu matsuri. this shot was taken by a real cute 5 year old who i figured couldn't break a plastic camera.

one adventure after another...

so i've made it home safe and sound. i’m getting back into the work routine and, as i’m at a new school this semester, there’s plenty to figure out and keep me busy. making my lunch is not one of those things that will keep me busy however, as i’m now required to eat school cafeteria food. different from schools back home, a cart filled with pots, pans and dishes is delivered to each homeroom. the middle schoolers don aprons and face masks and make a chow line on a row of desks in front of the blackboard. they take turns serving each other, passing out utensils, handing out the milk bottles, etc. it’s really quite cute but they are so darn slow, by the time everyone has food and we sit down and say the obligatory ‘itadakimasu’ you have about 7 minutes to wolf everything down. this was my first school lunch experience…

mackerel, unidentifiable veggies and beansprout / almond salad. i was nervous for a minute there, but luckily they’ve improved since my first day and i find myself actually looking forward to the healthy, filling meal.

the alaska, canada, seattle trip was really amazing. it was a nice combination of scenery unlike anything i've laid eyes on before, much desired family time, adventure sports and quality socializing. there's definitely more to come about all that once i get my pics sorted. the trip was also a bit of a turning point for me...it’s the first time i’ve returned from anywhere in the last 2+ years and had such an unexcited feeling. alaska and canada were very much vacation destinations, but seattle was a town where people are living and working in a vibrant, exciting atmosphere. i wrote a friend saying it was just kind of a let down to come back to my apartment in the countryside, surrounded by rice paddies, after having briefly experienced a place where youthful culture, good bars, great beer, social awareness, art, live music, grit, friendly people and mexican restaurants are all around you. there is so much kinetic and potential energy there. reminds me of what i went in search of 2 years ago, after i got tired of the moods and minds i was surrounded by in south carolina. here in japan, i didn’t find a booming social dynamic, just a whole bunch of bizarre stuff that’s held my interest really well up until now. i think i'll soon be ready to head somewhere that i don't have to worry about social hierarchies and cultural traditions so much, a place where i can focus more on what i'm doing and less on the mechanics of how to go about making it happen. a place more geared towards the lifestyle i'd like to be living at this point in my life. this is, at the same time, an energizing and daunting feeling. i'm going to use it to get motivated for adventure. speaking of...

the week before i went to the states, hase and i took a couple days off and went to minakami in gunma prefecture. i was talking to a friend about rafting, got to poking around online, found a website about canyoning and wanted to try it out. after some research, we booked a pension for the night and a canyoning day trip with with sports [that's not a typo]. the rainbow pension was simple and no frills, but the included dinner and breakfast were home-cooked goodness and there was a large, communal shower/bath area that we were able to enjoy together. [during our soak there was about a 15-minute power outage. the mama of the pension came barrelling in with an industrial strength flashlight for us. busted!] turned out our trip was less about the rapelling and scrambling associated with canyoning and more akin to shower climbing. i was a bit disappointed until we got to the woods and got to slipping and sliding around. although it was august, we were outfitted in wetsuits, booties, climbing shoes, fleece jumpers, something like rain jackets, fleece gloves, helmets, lifejackets and specially designed plastic sheets for your butt that facilitate sliding. our first task, to get used to the water, was in a river leading up to a small dam. our guide said we would 'tobi oriru' from there. as i attempted to conjugate that word in my head [something about flying and getting off, as in off the train] he did an effortless back flip off the dam. hase and i, along with 4 other guys in our group, took turns jumping off the perhaps 20 ft. drop into churning water. how exhilarating. then we mountain hiked about 30 minutes, over some rickety, broken, scary bridges, before getting back into the water. the first leg was rather leisurely. lots of floating on your back, navigating to avoid rocks, spilling over small drops and enjoying whirlpools. there were also some good swinging vines. i got a leech somewhere along this route that had to be snatched off. fat and disgusting. the bite still hasn’t healed. is that normal? for the second leg, we crossed over to another river and that’s where the real adventure part came in. think white-water rafting minus the raft. there were strong currents that pushed you along paths carved out of rock by this river over the course of thousands of years. the water urged us over long drops and propelled us to slither like snakes through some rather narrow slides. at times i felt like a chip in the plinko game they used to play on the price is right. eventually we poured over a waterfall and found ourselves in a beautiful gorge with steep, sheer walls covered with mosses and vines. it was breathtaking. we stopped and snorkeled for a bit there. then the current picked up again and we were cascading over natural chutes and navigating our way out of strong whirlpools. we’d cling to branches and vines until everyone had made it over an obstacle before floating on. we came upon a towering waterfall that we attempted to stand under. i got a pretty decent back massage but those who ventured farther into the falling streams got the beat down and faceplanted. after crawling around behind the fall there was a huge flat rock we slid down to make our way back into the river. there was another great jump, probably about 30 ft, off of a waterfall near the end of the course. unfortunately a camera didn’t make the trip, but here are some photos i cobbled together off of the internet. they are all from the area in minakami where we went.







these i found on someone’s flicker account. thanks ryoki!


it was incredibly nice to be interacting and engaged in nature that way. the adventure was amazingly scenic and it increased my awareness of that local area and the natural world. the guides were knowledgeable and responsible about the environment which made me appreciate how ecologically sound the experience was. what a feel good trip.

the middle country, part one

China…many things have come to symbolize this complicated nation and its ancient culture…pagodas, tea, kung fu, buddhism, mao zedong, tian’anmen square, feng shui, bird flu, one-child law, tai chi, red lanterns, peking duck, chopsticks, sweat shops, chinese silk, eggrolls, indecipherable language, cheap knock-offs, dragons, fried rice... The mention of this country conjures up images of a poor communist state with uniform-clad red army soldiers intimidating average citizens, a view reinforced by the strict visa processes and stories like “Chinese dissident writer gets 12 years in prison. Court finds Yang Tianshui guilty of subversion, though evidence kept secret" which was reported by the associated press. it brings to mind an enormous wall which was built in the 14th century to isolate the country from mongol and turkic tribes that is falsely reported to be visible from space. it's a dynamic place where you can experience one of the most incredible things about traveling…the chance to strip the fiction from the fact, separate the clichés from real culture, and the p.r. from the true plight. when you put yourself in a set of new circumstances, you give them the opportunity to defy your expectations. in a culture so radically different from our own, it does take some work to get over the ‘pier one effect’. the west has taken many ideas from the orient and shaped them for commercial viability and produced them for the masses. so when you see actual vibrant pagodas with ornate dragons and delicate gold leaf, it takes a moment to remember this isn’t touristy kitsch, but the inspiration for it…this isn’t a living room decoration sold at a pier one outlet, it’s a relic with deep and rich history. that's not to say i'm anti-internationalization or against the borrowing of ideas from other cultures…without japanese influences [miyabi’s, toyota, suzuki, sushi] in my american life, i doubt my interest in the east would’ve been so strongly piqued and i may not have ended up in the rewarding situation in which i find myself. [sidenote: i first used the term ‘pier one effect’ when i was in thailand where that impression came from walking through streets and temples where gaudiness and beauty are so intertwined and inextricable. it seemed that a pier one bomb had been dropped on bangkok, sprinkling porcelain fragments and mirrored discs over every vibrantly colored surface. you have to check yourself, consciously reminding yourself that the west borrowed these styles...of course, the chicken came before the egg.]

although we did see a group of starched-uniform, stoic military men eerily pedaling old bikes through the beijing streets, china proved to be very different from what i’d expected…in a good way.

shanghai is china’s number one contender for a world class city. it boasts an international feel, which is rare in china, thanks to its colonial history which has left abstract and concrete marks on the society. european architecture lines the Yangtze river, which is an ideal port that was taken advantage of by the british, french, americans and japanese. it’s also the largest industrial city in china so it draws workers from around the globe to its prosperous and growing commercial centers. the push to become modern has given shanghai a shot of international flavor that manifests in a variety of cuisines available in posh restaurants catering to the money-laden transplants and visitors, and infamous shopping streets lined with the biggest, most fashionable designer boutiques. luckily these settings aren’t the polished, sanitized versions of classy living; they are surrounded by the habitats of average citizens. i got the impression that, similar to the infamous discrepancy in wealth found between those in the cities and the countryside in china, there is a huge divide between the privileged and the lower class bracket in shanghai. i was most captivated by the everyday things that seemed so extraordinary from my perspective. roaming the streets, winding through neighborhoods was preferable to spending the day shopping on infamous nanjing road; buying dumplings and beer from a street stall was infinitely more interesting than lining up outside a classy restaurant boasting an english menu. all that being said, we did treat ourselves well on occasion. like the dinner at park 97, where the seared scallops in delicate pumpkin sauce were a perfect start and the big cabernet was a fabulous accompaniment to peppercorn encrusted australian prime rib. we paid, by chinese standards, an exorbitant 400 RMB each which worked out to about 50 bucks. although we were on somewhat of a budget, our currency was strong enough that we could enjoy eating nearly anywhere we pleased. like at this fabulous shanghai hotpot restaurant...

each person chooses a broth [i opted for hot curry that was full of chunky and leafy spices] and then you order heaping plates of meat, seafood and veggies to divy up between your pots. the scent was so intoxicating...

and the food was really, really good even though we had no idea how long to cook anything. and they had this amazing liquid buffet where you could engineer your own vat of dipping sauce.
most often though we snacked throughout the day on every delicious or intriguing fare we passed...
we had a really hard time getting any food in this place.

the staff was busy and not in the mood to deal with us. we thought we could order at the counter by pointing to other tables' food but were quickly brushed aside so they could help decipherable customers. not to be deterred, i gestured towards some interesting food and urged a bystander to write it's name down in chinese. after doing this a couple times, i took that paper to the register where they seemed amused and obliged. unfortunately the dumplings weren't as tasty as they had appeared. great action shot...yeah for gross gushes...

then off to squat in bamboo park for a bit.


this is the view from our hotel.

the $60 rooms were huge and well situated in town and manned by the friendliest, english speaking bell boys ever.

it was a couple minutes walk to loads of markets and bustling strips...






and around the corner from the hotel was old town nanshi, which was the first part of shanghai to be settled and the only part to never be overrun by foreigners. non-chinese rarely ventured into this walled enclave until recent years. there was great architecture here although a lot of it has been undoubtedly restored.



we did hit the posh shopping district...

but did more beer drinking and people watching than gucci and prada purchasing...


we spent a lot of our time in shanghai wandering through neighborhoods and tracing popular local pedestrian routes.





often times we found ourselves literally on strangers' front doorsteps. luckily no one seemed to mistake our curiosity for invasion of privacy.


he skinned these eels with unreal speed and precision honed through years of practice i'm sure.

we stumbled upon the trip's bronze medal winning meal in one of these such neighborhood alleyways. we got ripped off which unfortunately taints the experience. i was quite disheartened to watch every asian-looking customer pay half as much as we did moments later.

they tossed a bowl of rice at you and you got busy serving yourself from dozens of tubs laid out. my bowl of plants, curd and weeds was vegetarian heaven; a great mix of colors, textures and tastes.

i was a bit weary of the meat in china, not due to bird flu but because they aren't really partial to boneless, skinless, tendonless, organless cuts.



we discovered this amazing street that was truly overwhelming to the senses...

the sounds of clattering bikes and vendors hawking their wares...


the feel of bustling commerce...

the smells of sizzling dumplings and steaming buns...

i found myself paralyzed in the middle of the street, looking as toursits do when all that they're taking in lags behind their cerebral processing. i'm sure i turned in circles, mouth agape, for quite sometime. then i stuffed that gaping mouth full of delicious treats...



too bad we were full of dumplings...


a charming temple we happened upon...



during our first stint in shanghai we squeezed in a kung fu theater performance too.
stay tuned...in the next addition, we're off to beijing...