Less Than A Week 'till I Move

Time is flying by!! I was in Anchorage last weekend with some teachers from Tanana Middle school. We were meeting with other schools in Anchorage to see how a true middle school concept it working for them. It was very interesting! While in Anchorage, I had the opportunity to eat some GREAT food! We went to the Glacier BrewHouse where I had a very tasty steak and very nice ESB to wash it down. The next night, we ate at a different brewery called The Moose's Tooth. There we had some AMAZING pizza...and good beer as well. The Pipeline Stout is highly recomended.

Speaking of moose...a funny thing happend the other day while moving stuff into my cabin. Only in Alaska will you come home to find that as the snow melted away to reveal a moose skull in your driveway!






And here is a Black and White version of the first shot:


Crazy!! I like it =) Well...I need to get off the computer and enjoy the wonderful weather we are having today. 56 degrees and sunny. I'm off for a walk.

I don't know when I will have internet access in my cabin, so after May 1st it might be a while 'till I post again...but I'll try =)

Rock on
~My. Lockwood

Another great Week in AK

Hello =) I hope all y'all are having a great weekend so far. Things are continuing to be fantastic up here in Alaska. Yesterday was one of those days were everything just worked out great! The day started kinda strange however...my alarm clock never went off. I woke up in time...it was just strange that the alarm did not sound. The first thing that happened at school yesterday was a field trip. Randy Smith went to see the Yuval Ron Ensemble play...OH MY GOSH that was amazing! Yuval Ron is from Israel and plays music from all over the Middle East. He plays one of my all time favorite instruments...the oud! Click here to see a video of Yuval Ron on the oud and Jamie Papish (who played percussion yesterday.) Also, click here to see an upclose shot of the oud. At the performance, they also had a Whirlling Dervish...that was AMAZING!! (Here is a video.) This is a type of prayer that, instead of words to comunicate with the devine, uses movement. The Whirlling Dervish that we saw was spinning for more than 5 minutes straight. That evening, I was invited to a church where the Yuval Ron Ensemble was giving a lecture....and I was blown away. I had the oportunity to meet them all and talk with them about the music. Yuval Ron is a very powerful speaker who has spent his entire life spreading the word of peace. Asking all the religions of the world to join hands and forget about their wars...and become one with the music. Very moving!

Another groovy thing happened yesterday that I would like to share. In between the amazing concert in the morning and the amazing lecture/performance in the evening...I received the keys to my new living space! I am going to be spending the summer living in a dry cabin in the middle of the woods. What this means is that I will be spening the next three months (or more if I like it) in a 16 x 20 log cabin without running water. A lot of people in Fairbanks live without running water. Since everything is so spread out, connecting everyone to a water main in not efficient and due to the amount of time the ground is frozen up here...wells can be tricky to dig...therfore a lot of people haul water and use an outhouse. This will be my life for at least the summer. My cabin is about 5 miles away from town in moose infested forests =) I do go to the gym 3-5 days a week, so shower facilities will be available and I know a couple other teachers at Randy Smith who live without running water...so they can show me the ropes. I am very excited to spend the summer "roughing it." Just hanging out in the woods. I am pretty close to the next cabin over, but the trees are so thick that it is hard to see.

Here is a pictorial tour of my new home:
The Outside:


The Kitchen:


The Living Room:


The Bedroom:


The Hallway to the Bathroom:



Ok...well, I need to get going. I have a very busy day today. I am leaving for Anchorage on Sunday, so I have lesson plans to write for Monday and Tuesday. Take care everyone!

Rock on
~Mr, Lockwood

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday today! I had a great day here in Alaska. The weather was AMAZING!!! Almost 50 degrees today, so I went for a nice walk. I also bought a bunch of vegetables to make homemade chicken noodle soup. I bought a Fred Meyer's Roasted Chicken last night and I decided to boil the carcass to make soup...It is VERY good!!! Here is a picture of the veggies =)

(The parsnip makes the soup...I will never make a chicken soup without them)


There were also potatoes in the mix...I just forgot to photograph them. The soup is amazing, so I will post my recipe for y'all.

Step one: buy a cooked chicken and eat about half of it for lunch and dinner.
Step two: Pick off all of the meat and boil the non-meat in a bunch of water with some veggies and herbs
Step three: add the chicken and the noodles and eat!!

A lot has been going on the last few days. I need to move out of Wedgewood by May 1st, so I am looking for places to live. In May, Wedgewood turns into a tourist resort, so my apartment will no longer be available for less than a few hundred dollars a day...a bit out of my price range. I have a few leads that I will write more about when things are finalized. I'll just say that I am looking into living the true Alaskan lifestyle.

Also, I have made a sound file of the Randy Smith Jazz Band available for you all. I am going to upload it as a video clip. Since I have absolutely no desire to post pictures of my students on the web, I have made a little backdrop photo out of an Aurora shot that is a little blurry. I hope you enjoy Randy Smith's version of Manteca.



Well, that's all I got for the moment. I will keep you all updated on my living situation. I should know for sure what is happening in a week or so. I cannot believe mid-quarter grades are due already for 4th quarter. I am 7/8th of the way finished with my first year teaching!

Rock on
~Mr. Lockwood

A Crazy Time of Year!!

Wow...keeping this blog updated has been very difficult lately! Life is crazy busy these days...I guess that is a good thing. It keeps the boredom away.

Last weekend, I took my jazz band to Jazz Fest, a large three day celebration of jazz. The festival took place at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks, and it was AMAZING! There were guest artists from all over the country who worked with the students and in the evenings put on some outstanding concerts. On Friday night, Randy Smith was involved in a "Show off your school" concert. The show was four hours long...each school getting about 10 minutes. Since this is a JAZZ concert...groups went WAY over 10 minutes =) Randy Smith put on a GREAT show! I am very proud of my students. I will be posting a sound clip of one of their pieces from the performance sometime this weekend. Also, three of Randy Smith students were chosen to participate in the 2009 UAF Jazz Fest Honor Jazz Band...a great opportunity for them!

Well...I don't have too much else new really. I am looking for a place to live because Wedgwood turns into a tourist resort in about a month. I will end this post with a cheesy self portrait for all y'all...I do not want anyone out there forgetting how beautiful I am ;-) (I am actually posting this pic because I think the colors are cool. I was playing with different light sources and white balance. I am lit by a tungsten light and the room is illuminated by the setting sun. Kinda a need mix in my opinion)


Ok fellow bloggers...I'm out. The end of the school year is approaching FAST, so these posts may continue to be more sparse, but fear not...I will be back more often when summer rolls around!

Rock on!
~Mr. Lockwood.