ASKED AND ... Ear wondered last week how many legislators went to the big National Council of State Legislators convention in Boston and Rep. Jay Ramras, R-Fairbanks, knew the answer: 20 lawmakers and 18 staff, he said. Now Ear wonders how many of them we paid for.
Jay was totally taken by the whole experience, especially the part where he got on the same elevator as gonzo Democratic Party strategist Terry McAuliffe, currently head of Hillary's presidential bid. Jay says he told McAuliffe right out that the Dems have no chance of taking Uncle Ted's seat, no matter what happens with the corruption investigation.
Just for the record, it was 90 degrees and humid. Yuck.
SMURF TURF ... "All the hotels were full with visitors, including Alaska and Outside media Friday, as the first Barrow High School Whalers football game of the year approached," reports Earwig Earl Finkler from Barrow.
"Kick-off time was 7 p.m., and everyone seemed happy for the summerlike weather temperatures in the mid-40s.
"This is the second year for outdoor high school football in Barrow, and the big difference is the brand new blue artificial turf, installed several miles north of town past the old Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, not far from the shores of the Chukchi Sea. Last year the players played on good old gravel and dirt.
"The new blue turf prompted a variety of comments. 'Hope that the seabirds don't think it is water and try to dive into it,' one person said. Another said, 'I'm thankful it wasn't colored green, because then the caribou might come in and try to graze on it.' "
KICKIN' NORTH ... They whirled and they twirled, for judges and a friendly hometown audience, to raise money for the Lathrop High School Ballroom Dance Team. "Dancing with the Fairbanks Stars" competitors included a TV babe, a local policewoman, an Olympic skier and a radio guy in an Ozzy Osbourne wig. But when the dancing was done, John Binkley, once and future candidate for high political office, was a winner.
The member of the team who actually knew how to dance was Nicole Jensen. Like the TV show, the dancers had to teach the celebs how to not fall on their faces in front of everyone.
John and Nicole did the lindy hop, and he did fine. They won first place with both the judges and the audience.
To see their performance, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v= Xg6Qr5Pasio.
ON THE MOVE ... AP bureau chief for Alaska Larry Campbell is being transferred from Anchorage to Seattle, where he will become assistant bureau chief for three states -- Alaska, Washington and Idaho. Earwigs report the AP is downgrading its Alaska office, which will no longer be run by a local bureau chief. In other lives, Larry was a reporter for Your Favorite Good Morning Newspaper and head of the journalism department at UAA.
DO SEND A FONDU ... It's not exactly a royal wedding, but two well-known Anchorage families are now officially joined. Meg Simonian and Eric Brudie got married last weekend at McDonald Spit on Kachemak Bay. He's an engineer; she's a lawyer.
PALINTOLOGY ... That's the name of a Web site devoted to Sarah-love. Or, as the site defines the word: "the science dealing with Alaska's first female governor." It's a repository for those ain't-she-the-gorgeous-Republican hope stories making the media rounds lately.
It's produced by Alaska Multimedia Productions, an Anchorage-based Web production company. Wonder who's paying them to do it.
This is in addition to the site mentioned a couple weeks ago that's pushing Sarah for vice president. Vice president? Not hardly.
But Ear is prepared to predict the spin works well enough that she gets tapped to make a speech at the 2008 national convention. Then we'll see if she has legs.
OK, that didn't come out right. You know what Ear means.
See www.palintology.com.
ON THE MOVE ... Michael Macleod is leaving his job as head of the Alaska ACLU in September after three years to take a job running the lobbying office for the organization in Washington, D.C.
DON'T READ THIS ... A thief, after careful planning, got past security at the Louvre in Paris, stole some paintings, and made it safely to his van. Alas, he was captured two blocks away when the van ran out of gas. When asked how he could mastermind such a brilliant crime, then make such a stupid mistake, he said: "Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings. I had no Monet to buy Degas to make the Van Gogh."
You probably thought Ear wouldn't have DeGaulle to print this. Alors, The Luscious Lobe has nothing Toulouse.
Quit whining. You were warned.
Compiled by Sheila Toomey. E-mail ear@adn.com.
