Month: July 2012

July 15, 2012

Animals

In celebration of Memoirs of a Gas Station being released in paperback today, I decided it would be a good idea to scrounge up some more old Alaska videos.  What we have here are a few short clips I shot on my Nikon point-and-shoot camera during that fateful summer – some delightfully low-quality amateur wildlife videography!

These were all taken from the banks of Horseshoe Lake – a local spot we used to go to to hang out or look for animals. A few days there, I had the good fortune of moose and beavers allowing me to observe them. You’ll hear me providing my usual superfluous narration…and that other voice? That’s Damian, who will be doing a guest post on this blog sometime in the future with his take on the summer and the book.  (And by the way, he has a blog of his own at http://damiankyle.wordpress.com/. It’s hilarious, and you should probably give it a read if you haven’t already).

To the animals:

 

As you can see, not much happens. The beavers were very friendly though – on more than one occasion, I sat and watched them build a dam on the edge of the lake. Tireless workers, they are. If only I’d gotten an otter on video…

July 8, 2012

Talent

If you’ve read any of Memoirs of a Gas Station, you’re almost certainly familiar with Jim, the worldly, strapping young lad that was the catalyst for – and my de facto guide during – the trip to Alaska. Jim is one of my best pals and, in all honesty, a damn saint for allowing me to write and publish so many (mostly subjective) good-natured but incendiary quips about him. He is a man of many talents, and I’d like to share one with you below.

Now, I may have mentioned in the book that we from time to time skirted our gas station responsibilities and/or played mind games with customers in an effort to maintain sanity. This is probably an example of that. On an especially boring afternoon, Jim decided that he would answer all customer questions while juggling oranges – an activity that he obviously mastered.

 

The question was about a shuttle service in the canyon; one we received an average of 37 times per day, and thus were robotically conditioned to answer. This could be why he made it look so easy. At the end, you can hear me applaud Jim’s work, then sulk back to the menial reality of the job and “ring up” the next customer. At least we had those 19 seconds.

 

July 2, 2012

NBA Draft Recap

Miss the NBA Draft last week? Forget to set the DVR? Realize you have no interest in watching three hours of a man at a podium announcing picks? Either way, I’m here to help. I watched the whole damn first round so you didn’t have to, and my full, pick-by-pick recap is live at http://godonnybrook.com/v3/the-official-donnybrook-2012-nba-draft-recap/.

Indulge yourself and have a look. Who will boom, who will bust, and who hangs dong? It’s all there. Even if you have no interest in drafts or sports, you might find something marginally worthwhile. This is essential information, after all.