Monday Open Thread 03-23-15 -- The 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
[Photo Credit: A musher and sled dog team race through the forest between Nenana
and Manley Hot Springs, Alaska, during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday,
March 10, 2015. AP Photo/Alaska Dispatch News, Loren Holmes]
Alaska, checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Monday, March 16, 2015.
AP Photo/Alaska Dispatch News, Loren Holmes]
Before I post a brief blurb about the results of the 2015 Iditarod, I'd like to share two more photos with readers.
I consider the photo directly below to be especially touching. As someone who has kissed her share of 'doggie noggins,' I can relate to the hugs and show of affection which handler Connie LaRose demonstrated prior to the start of the race.
Those little fellows had a daunting, if not downright grueling, nine to fifteen days ahead of them. I can imagine that Ms LaRose may have felt considerable trepidation as she saw them off.
2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race in Fairbanks, Alaska, March 9, 2015. Reuters]
And, there's the final photo of a dog sled team on its way to the starting line--selected, partially, because its 'caption' contains the name of our late, beloved pint-sized Alaskan Sourdough, and English Springer Spaniel, 'Chena.'
to the Chena River for the official start of the 2015 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race in
Fairbanks, Alaska, March 9, 2015. Reuters]
By the way, the word 'Chena' is seen and heard everywhere in Alaska, especially in Interior Alaska--from Fairbanks, to the scores of communities surrounding it, including the famous 'Santa Claus House' in North Pole, Alaska, located 12 miles south of Fairbanks.
It is derived from the Tanana Athabascan word/name Ch'eno. And the word has various meanings, including:
"Sign, premonition, and literally 'river of something (game)' -- an oblique reference to the presence of caribou herds in the lower Chena valley."
The Chena River /ˈtʃi.nə/ is a 100-mile (160 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska.
It flows generally west from the White Mountains to the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks, which is built on both sides of the river.[5] The Tanana empties into the 2,300-mile (3,700 km) long Yukon River.
A very fitting name, I think, for a tough little Alaskan Sourdough who was the 'runt of her litter,' yet lived to the ripe old age of 17-1/2 years.
An excerpt from AL.com:
Iditarod 2015: Dallas Seavey wins third Alaska sled dog race, father Mitch Seavey comes in second
By The Associated Press
on March 18, 2015 at 10:16 AMDallas Seavey has won his third Iditarod in the last four years, beating his father to the finish line in Nome early Wednesday after racing 1,000 miles across Alaska.
Seavey came in under the city's famous burled arch finish line to wild applause from fans lining the street, some who poured out of the bars that stayed open into the wee hours.
An exhausted Seavey, who also won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 2012 and 2014, petted and hugged his dogs after their victory.
"It takes a whole team to get any of us here," he told reporters at a finish line ceremony, which was broadcast and live-streamed. Later, he hoisted two of his dogs onto his lap and officials draped the animals with garlands of yellow flowers.
"As long as you take care of the dog team (and) make good decisions, good things will happen. Wins are a result of doing what we love," Seavey said, adding that he tried to keep the race fun. . . .
Seavey was presented Wednesday with $70,000 and the keys to a new pickup truck. The winner's purse increased this year, and the top prize was $19,600 more than what he pocketed for last year's race. . . .
Aaron Burmeister was running in third place, while Jessie Royer and Aliy Zirkle were battling for fourth. Royer and Zirkle each had attempted to become the first woman to win the race since the late Susan Butcher won her fourth title in 1990.
By the way, Mr M met two of the most winning mushers to date, Rick Swenson, and the late Susan Butcher.
He was quite impressed with Ms. Butcher.
She set many records, and was the winner of four Iditarod Races. Here's a link to her interesting Wikipedia biography, and a brief excerpt:
After placing in several Iditarods, Butcher was forced to withdraw early in the 1985 when two of her dogs were killed by a crazed moose, despite Butcher's attempts to ward the animal off, and thirteen others were injured.
Libby Riddles, a relative newcomer, braved a blizzard and became the first woman to win the Iditarod that year.[1][15]
Sadly, Ms Butcher passed away in 2006 at the age of 51, after fighting leukemia and "graft-versus-host disease," following a bone marrow transplant.
She is commemorated in Alaska by the Susan Butcher Day, which is the first Saturday of every March. This day coincides with the traditional start of the Iditarod each year.
Comments
"VICE news is a propaganda unit of NATO"
http://thetruthserumblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/vice-news-is-propaganda-...
Interesting. Take it for what you will, it's something I noticed from VICE news when the Ukraine war was starting.
I've been to Alaska a number of times.
Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau, summer and winter. Winter in Fairbanks was brutal, don't know how they do it.
Flying in and out of Juneau is a trip, evidently one of the more challenging places for pilots to go in and out of.
White knuckle time.
Honestly, Al, winters were not that bad
once one was acclimated.
A little rough, perhaps, the first winter, but in time the long periods of darkness, and the reverse, seemed 'normal.'
In our case, we were so enthralled with the breathtaking beauty of the environs, it really wasn't an issue for us.
(Full disclosure: I hate hot weather. The rest of the Family, not so much.)
And, I must say that in all our years there, I found that most folks 'either loved or hated Alaska'--especially military personnel who were stationed there, with no recourse but to live there for a set number of years.
As to "why" many folks really like/love Alaska--the gorgeous weather in the summer!
*****
Thanks for the video. It is both challenging, and dangerous, even for seasoned bush pilots.
One of the highest ranking civilians on Base (in my chain of command) was killed flying his small aircraft in the Bush. He was in his mid-forties. He loved flying, so as a hobby, he flew tourists on days trips to surrounding communities. It was a real sad day for the thousands of folks who lived in the Base Community--he had done so much to improve their lives.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
What an neat open thread
I have always enjoyed reading about the Iditarod race but I learned a lot that I never knew from this Open Thread. I remember reading once that not all the sled dogs are the huskies that we associate with Alaska, but many are mixed breed dogs like the gold colored dog in the second from the top photo. Another thing I read is that they are not real big dogs either, around 40 pounds or so. They love to run and the smartest dogs are the lead sled dogs.
In our own family, our oversized pom, Willie Bear is from the northern spitz stock. Pomeranains are the smallest of the spitzes, but they originally were 30 pound sled dogs. Willie Bear is on a diet to get him down to 21-22 lbs from his current 24 lbs, but he is a big boy and a throw back to the original poms. I wish someone would breed poms in the 15-20 range instead of just the tinker toys we see now. When we walk with Willie Bear and our two springers, Gidget and Roux, Willie Bear insists on being in the lead. We call him our lead sled dog.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Hey, Nancy, thanks for your generous and
encouraging words about the OT.
I've never been around Poms a whole lot, but I understand that they are real good companion dogs. Since they are from spitz stock, does that mean that they are classified as working dogs? Or, maybe because of their size, they are "toys."
Although Willie Bear doesn't sound too 'toyish' in size, to me.
Here's what I found under "Spitz" in Wikipedia.
And there's this from Wikipedia, as well:
(BTW, Nancy, I know that the excerpts are not 'news' to you. Just thought that I'd include them for readers.)
Pomeranian (dog)
The Pomeranian (often known as a Pom or Pom Pom) is a breed of dog of the Spitz type, named for the Pomerania region in Central Europe--today part of northern Poland and eastern Germany.
Classed as a toy dog breed because of its small size, the Pomeranian is descended from the larger Spitz type dogs, specifically the German Spitz. It has been determined by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale to be part of the German Spitz breed; and in many countries, they are known as the Zwergspitz ("Dwarf-Spitz").
The breed has been made popular by a number of royal owners since the 18th century. Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian and consequently the smaller variety became universally popular. During Queen Victoria's lifetime alone, the size of the breed decreased by 50%.
Overall, the Pomeranian is a sturdy, healthy dog. The most common health issue is Luxating patella. Tracheal collapse can also be an issue. More rarely, the breed can suffer from a skin condition colloquially known as "black skin disease", or Alopecia X. This is a genetic disease which causes the dog's skin to turn black and lose all or most of its hair.[1]
As at 2013, in terms of registration figures, since at least 1998, the breed has ranked among the top twenty most popular breeds in the USA, and the current fashion for small dogs has increased their popularity worldwide.
Appreciate your comments. Anytime that I can participate in a discussion of dogs, it's a treat for me!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Democracy - Cameroonian Style
Just sharing:
Cameroon's Ruling Party Marks 30 Years in Power.
I remember the times of his predecessor Ahmadou Ahidjo. Didn't keep track of all of it after 1975, so learned the "struggle" between the two only through the Wikipedia page today.
Oh well, once in power, always in power, or so it goes. Terrible.
Joe, I'm going to try to leave you a couple of "links"
here tomorrow, regarding the status of the "Medicare Cuts." One piece has a bit of detail.
Now, it may not be what you need for EB this week.
If not, I'll just post an excerpt at EB in my "greeting" to you Guys. No problem. I realize that you have many topics to cover.
Heard on XM late this afternoon--there will be a "Voterama" (spelling?) this Thursday evening.
Apparently, Medicare cuts are slated to be pushed through by Pelosi and Boehner before they leave for a two-week break.
I'm appalled that a progressive blog the size of DKos doesn't seem to care.
(I will also try to post a brief excerpt in this thread, sometime tomorrow.)
Please, folks--consider calling your Representatives and Senators.
Thanks!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Love the overhead photo
of the Iditarod trail. Dog sledding, running, river rafting and especially surfing are my favorite 'sports'. Something about humans, animals and wild, wild nature interacting trills me. My son is a fly fisherman and I accompany him occasionally as I like the hikes up our gorgeous numerous rivers but even though he returns the fish alive I think it is an invasive and kind of cruel 'sport'. No creature likes to be hunted even if once caught you get let off the hook.
What's on my mind today?
As far as the world at large today. Why does everyone on the Guardian hate on Gwyneth Paltrow? As you can see I am seriously avoiding dealing with 'the world as we find it'. I don't give a shit about Ted Cruz or Billary and who or why we're killing torturing and reeking havoc on humans across the globe. Seriously, it's like the tower of Babel on the net these days. a regular hate and fear fest. Every once in a while however I find a nugget of hope in this mad world. Today's inspiring of hope was a teacher in Maine who won a global competition to find the worlds best teacher. Nancie Atwell won and is is 'no ordinary teacher.' My question is why is she not an ordinary teacher? The best teachers I encountered we're like her, teachers who encouraged free range thinking and a love of learning and reading. What is wrong with instilling a love of reading and encouraging a life that values humanist thinking and creativity?
The world's best teacher lives in rural Maine and doesn't care about test scores
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/mar/23/worlds-best-teacher-nan...
“Teachers are being essentially asked to be technicians, to read a script, and the script is not valid,” Atwell said. “Test scores are all that counts right now. It’s all data analysis, metrics and accountability. It’s a business model that has no business being applied to the craft of teaching or the science of learning.”
Atwell disagrees with the politically contentious common core educational standards, which she said focus too much on test scores, rather than lessons learned, or books read, as a mark of achievement. Students all learn at different paces and levels, and the common core standards steamrolls individuality and forces everyone to be quite literally on the same page, she said.
So WTF is Big creepy Dog doing in her photo and who's that other dude? Are we unable to escape from the twisty cultural and political manipulators who stick their fingers in every human pie. Big Dog has a lot of nerve I'll give him that.
This song by Tom Waits has been roaming around my mind today. Love the lyrics and the tunes not bad either.
Glad you liked the photo, Shah, and
thanks for the tune!
I ran across the aerial photo after I had the others posted, and was struck by the starkness and isolation that it illustrated.
And, putting up this OT reminded us of how much we miss the place.
To this day, we are still in awe of anyone who has the 'nerve' to take on such an unforgiving environment. Especially considering the fact that you also have so many dogs' lives depending upon you.
There is so little room for error.
If I had been Susan Butcher, and had encountered a Moose that killed two dogs and injured 13 others, I can't imagine that I would have mustered the courage to try again.
Indeed she did, and beat the top male mushers in the world--four times.
Whew! What an example of intestinal fortitude.
Yeah, we love interacting with 'nature,' too.
Even after years living in Interior Alaska, there were times that we would round a curve in a mountain pass, and the splendor would literally take our breath away. Sometimes to the point of having goose bumps.
Never been, or lived, anywhere else that the raw beauty of the land affected me that way.
*****
Yeah, agree about Big Dog.
Hey, I believe the award ceremony was in Dubai--maybe he was over there scarfing up bucks for his Foundation!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
The world's best teacher also works in Kanazawa, Japan
Children Full of Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tLB1lU-H0M
Let's enable more and more teachers everywhere to take their turn at being the world's best.
Hey, LL--with
so much negativity everywhere, this video was very uplifting.
My Father was an educator before I was born, and I grew up loving school, and my teachers.
Including the tough and demanding ones--so long as they were fair.
I think all teachers could take lessons from Mr Kanamori.
Or maybe I should say "Everyone."
Thank you for the post!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Shout Out -- Lady Libertine and Roger Fox! Please check
your DKos Mail Messages.
Since JoAnne is not actively blogging at DKos, I've requested that one of you guys please consider changing my permissions at the Group, Pushing Back At The Grand Bargain.
(Which I explained in the message.)
Thought I should try 'flagging you down' here, since I don't see either of you very often at DKos.
Hope you don't mind.
Thanks!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.