Tag Archives: Alaska

by

Dale Woods adds to my Bucket List

YorktownMy last post generated an email from a former traveling companion, who may be the best customer service guy in the travel biz, my pal, Dale. He sent me a link to an online brochure about a Mississippi Cruise in the spring of 2013. Looks absolutely fabulous: Springtime on the Mississippi.  This is a small ship adventure through the deep south on Old Man River. How romantic is that?

I love small ship cruising. My first cruise was aboard a small ship, 109 passengers out of Seattle bound for the Inside Passage and the small ports of Alaska. All my touring in the polar regions was on small ships. I’ve never sailed on a ship that carried more than 110 passengers. I’m not a midnight buffet and gambling kind of cruiser. I prefer a game of Scrabble in a lounge with a fabulous cocktail with people who are about to become lifelong friends. I love the intimacy of a guest lecturer who shares your table for breakfast – or lunch – or dinner. Conversation is in fashion on a small ship.

The Yorktown looks like my kind of vessel. The itinerary is just my style. Thanks Dale, you just added to my travel bucket list.

by

Keywords that Keep on Giving

Cover of "Shane"

Cover of Shane

This is my less than regular report on the keywords that keep driving traffic to my site. Most are long-tail words that I never thought were significant traffic drivers. The movie Big Miracle, the one about the three whales trapped in the ice in Alaska continues to drive traffic with phrases like “Sarah Palin, Big Miracle” or “Russian Icebreaker Captain.” I can track the film’s openings around the world, and the release of the DVD. For about 10 days after there are spikes in traffic.

“Drive Shane” is another pair of keywords that spike traffic. I searched using the coupling just to see what people might find. [I was afraid the terms meant something other than the name of two films, if you know what I mean.] But no, it turns out, that I’m not the only one who saw parallels between the movie Shane and the movie Drive.

My traffic building rule of thumb: If you are interested in a topic, write about it, because someone else is too. The real challenge is connecting the thing you like to messages that aren’t related. If you can connect popular culture to your product, concept or point of view, then traffic will increase to your site.

by

Big Miracle’s Missed Opportunities

Русский: Почтовая марка СССР. 1978. Ледокол Ад...

Image via Wikipedia

When I saw the first trailer for Big Miracle, I was captivated by the icebreaker footage. Admittedly, because I thought I recognized some of it. When the 30 second spots began playing I was disappointed to see that the icebreaker footage had been left on the cutting room floor.

So it was with trepidation that I bought a ticket for the octogenarian and I. What if the icebreaker that I saw in that first trailer never actually made it to the film. I needn’t have worried. An icebreaker played a significant role in the real life story of the rescue of a trio of California Grey Whales.

I posted my review of the film, a week or so ago. The film didn’t do too well at the box office that first weekend, so I did not expect to see much traffic to my blog. I could never have been more wrong. That review has generated more traffic than any one post since the inception of this blog. Big Miracle’s audience leaves the theatre and Googles – Big Miracle icebreaker. [They don't always spell miracle correctly, fyi.] Despite the fact the icebreaker used looks nothing like the icebreaker actually involved in the incident – Admiral Makarov,  50 Years of Victory – the icebreaker in the film – makes a big impact. Pun intended!

The other keyword driver to my blog has been Sarah Palin Big Miracle. A very young Sarah Palin is seen in the last few minutes of the film as the credits role. She also receives a shout-out during the credits. No mention was ever made of the former governor of Alaska’s appearance in the film in the publicity material that I saw.

Two big and miraculous marketing opportunities were missed.

PS – the header photo at the top of the page – that is Victory, June 29, 2008,  just a couple of days before the footage you see in the film was shot. The tripod to the left – that held the camera on which the ice level footage was shot.

by

BIG MIRACLE – Big Icebreaker

Admiral Makarov and California Grey Whales

Admiral Makarov and California Grey Whales

Just like Charlie Rose, I am putting my disclaimer up front. For a few years, I worked for a polar expedition firm noted for its fleet of Russian vessels that included two icebreakers. My review of Big Miracle, Drew Barrymore’s latest film, in general release today, will be coloured by my experience and passion for the polar regions.

Big Miracle: A movie about 3 whales, Point Barrow, Alaska; and prototypical characters

Inspired by a true story, the film recreates the events that unfolded in the 1980s in Point Barrow, Alaska, when 3 California grey whales were caged by ice. The whales were unable to start their 5,000 mile migration from the Arctic Ocean to Baja California, where they spend the winter. The small hole through which they were breathing was steadily growing smaller and smaller. Drowning was imminent. In a matter of days, the small-town Alaskan news story became an international sensation involving the President of the United States and a Russian icebreaker.

Ted Danson, Dermot Mulroney, Kristen Bell, and John Krasinski join Barrymore in a film produced by Working Title Films. Even Sarah Palin makes a small appearance in  Big Miracle. This film was designed to engender an emotional response, while delivering less than subtle talking points about the need to protect oceans, the Alaska Wildlife Refuge and the traditional lifestyle of Alaska’s Eskimos. [Canadians do not use the term Eskimo, but Alaskan's do, so I have chosen to use it in reference to this film.]

I had the misfortune to attend a Friday matinee on a professional development day. The theatre was unexpectedly full of gaggles of school-age children and their chaperones. I was surprised there wasn’t more rustling than I experienced, because this “family” film has a lot of dialogue over the head of youngsters. There is a headphone wearing young Eskimo lad with a burning desire to leave Point Barrow for the outside world. The lad’s grandfather fights what appears to be a losing battle to teach his grandson about whales and the traditions of his people.

The real Russian icebreaker that came to the rescue of the whales was the Sorokin-class Admiral Makarov. In the film, the icebreaker, her name blacked out, is played [She is a character to me.] by 50 Years of Victory, Russia’s largest nuclear-powered icebreaker. The footage of Victory breaking the ice was digitally enhanced and totally inaccurate. Neither Makarov or Victory would have been sailed head-long into a pressure ridge. Hey, but this is not a documentary, but a fictional recreation. If you know anything about gear and icebreakers and life in the North, you’ll find much to mutter about.

I enjoyed the film because I loved seeing Victory on the big screen crushing through ice about 5 degrees from the North Pole. I was aboard her maiden voyage to the North Pole, during which the raw footage was shot. Only small pieces remain as they have been manipulated to suit the story. The Bridge of the icebreaker as depicted was too small for either icebreaker. But the humour portrayed and their rugged independence was true to the character of the Russian icebreaker captains I have had the privilege of knowing.

The one word that came to mind as the credits rolled was earnest. This is a film about the importance of being earnest.

by

Wanted: DC Lobbyist for At-Risk Population

U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Togiak National Wildli...

Image via Wikipedia

A group of living beings, residents of Alaska, require a pro-bono DC lobbyist to manipulate the political system to protect their environment. Without assistance this unique group will be ignored by the organization vested with the responsiblity of caring for them.

No, they aren’t children, seniors or the mentally ill. Those interest groups aren’t limited to Alaska. The Threatened are Pacific walruses, at risk of extinction, because the interests of oil and gas producers, and the pockets they line. Odd really, because odobenus, and their cousins pinnipeds, plus whales were, for a long time, a major source of domestic oil.

“The time has come,” the walrus said, “to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships – and sealing wax – of cabbages and kings”  Lewis Carroll was the voice of the walrus a century ago. Who will speak for the walrus today?