Latest Update: August 16, 2001 by Ben Marcus

12:31 ALASKA TIME THURSDAY AUGUST 16, 2001 GULKANA RIVER, BETWEEN FAIRBANKS AND VALDEZ, ALASKA

ODOMETER

TRIP METER

MONEY
Gas at Texaco:
Deck of cards for card trick
Alaska Highway pin in Fairbanks post office.
Sushi at Fred Meyers.

Gus is spouting off about something. Numbers or something, The number 37. It's amazing how completely full of bologna a person can be at the age of 57. If he looks over and tries to read this, I'll have to cut it. He talks and talks and talks and makes sense sometimes. I apologize to all his friends and kin reading this, but, sheesh.

But he's good company. ñNumbers in the bible have a significance. One is God, two is Jesus, three is something. Eight is judgement. Ten is the perfect ordinal.î Blah blah blah.

Anyway, we are camped by a river whose name I can't remember, but I will call it The River Full of Fish. It leads into the Copper River and because this is Alaska, there are a LOT of red (sockeye) salmon in it. I pulled over because I wanted a bathe and it was getting dark and it looked like a nice place to camp with a view of majestical Mount Sanford, which is just as majestical in summer as it was in winter.

As we pulled in we saw two people walking across the bridge, one with a handful of fishing rods, the other with a handful of very nice-looking fish. I've been passing a lot of rough, no-fish, glacial-melt, Arctic Char, yucky rivers, but this is a different part of Alaska, and this river had potential. It was just about a perfect stretch of fast-to-slow river. Those two guys came down and showed off a stringer of three red salmon. They were pretty nonchalant about three fish that would make the papers in California, and I decided that we would throw down stakes for the evening.

I got a bit of information out of this older fisherman and his son or nephew or something. They were sockeye salmon, the river fed into the Copper River and he had caught them on flies, using split shot to get the fly down on the bottom, then twisting and flicking the fly to attract the salmon, which are plankton eaters.

Well I rigged my trout rod and got out there pretty quick, but the split shot were hard to cast and I snarled the whole thing, big time. It was dark by then and I didn't have my license anyway, so I hung it up and vowed to get after it on the morrow.

Now I'm in the van listening to trucks pass by and Gus talk about this and that.

Today was a good day. We finally got the hell out of Fairbanks and into some new territory. We drove the Richardson Highway from Fairbanks through Delta Junction and now to here, just past Paxson, in a campground under the bridge along the Gulkana River. The River of Many Fish.

It was nice to get rolling again, but it took a while. Gus drove around Fairbanks talking to Alyeska, the Teamsters and Houstontana while I hacked away at Kinkos.

People are finally moving on the Russia trip and none too soon. I wondered to Evan why some of these people were so dense, and he said they were just computer illiterate. Whatever. Things are just starting to happen that should have happened a month ago.

(Graceland is on the radio right now. It's been my theme song for these last few weeks, driving up to Prudhoe Bay with Gus and Ike and all that. Crap! Every time I Move the computer it throws off the channel reception so I can't hear one of the greatest songs ever written by anyone. Graceland is pure inspiration. Anyway, I told Gus that I was going to use Graceland to describe him and Ike.

ñMy traveling companion is 57 Years Old, he is running from his second marriage. Gus has reason to believe we both will be received in Prudhoe Bay.î

Gus didn't like the ñrunning from his second marriage line.î I'll think of something better.î)

Anyway, got e-mails back and forth about Russia, people being dense and all, but maybe it will work. At this point, I don't give a shit. I'm tired of worrying about it. This was originally supposed to be a trip with Brock and Brad, but it has deteriorated to this. Oh well. I'm just going to look around and fish. It'll be an adventure, that's for sure.

From Kinkos we went up to the University to find Stupid. He came out of the bush right away and made for the van. As he was eating in the back, an Ike fan-a man this time-came up and asked about him. He was concerned about this cat roaming around, but I gave him the whole story and he seemed okay. Gus gave him the sacklunch and swell address on the back of a motto, and we took off. I went shopping at the big pawn shop called Bens, which might have been the model for the pawn shop in Pulp Fiction, I bought two Leathermen and watched a lot of sad people come through pawning things. They didn't have Zippo lighters, so I left with two Leathermen.

Also went to a sporting Goods store and an Army Surplus store. Bought a mess kit at the latter and found another victim for one of my pitches at the former. There is a company called Filson's that has been making outdoor wear since 1897. I was looking for their e-mail address when I saw a store display showing gold-rushers meeting Mounties on top of White Pass in 1897.

That inspired me, so I made one last trip to Kinkos and sent an e-mail.

C.C. Filson
Ad Department
Seattle, Washington

August 15, 2001

Hello

I just want to pitch an idea for an ad campaign that some outdoor apparel company should use.

I've run this by Patagonia (to Yvon personally) and Chota and Sierra Designs, and I've e-mailed it to Columbia and Eddie Bauer.

Everyone says it's a good idea, but no one acts on it.

This is based on all the traveling I've done in the last year: From California through Oregon, Washington, B.C., the Yukon, and up to Fairbanks last August to December.

And now I'm in Fairbanks, after having driven through Idaho and Montana and Alberta and B.C since leaving California in June.

On August 26 I'm leading a surf trip to Kamchatka, Russia, if the dingalings I'm taking can get it together. I'm heading for Anchorage now.

My idea:

I've read about the Yukon gold rushers of 1896, Lewis and Clark, the Shackleton expedition, the Donner party and lots of other campaigns of the past where people froze their asses off and endured the unendurable.

Last year I drove over White Pass and saw the mighty Yukon and wondered about the things men went through to get to the gold fields.

In Dawson City last year I met a miner guy named Czech Frank who swore that beaver pelt gloves were the best thing he's ever worn in 60 below weather. That made me feel a little better for my ancestors.

So that got me thinking about an ad campaign called "That Was Then, This is Now" which would compare the extreme-weather technology and design of the past with the technology and design of modern clothing.

Take an illustration of Lewis and Clark for example, and point out what they wore as they slogged up the Missouri: elk-skin pants, buck-skin shirts, mocassins, leather pouches, beaver pelt gloves etc. etc. Point out the technology and the fashion and the design and manufacturing of the time.

Low tech, but it's all they had (and after wandering up all those rivers in Montana, I wonder how they did it without breaking their ankles.)

So take that same Lewis and Clark illustration and dress them up in Filson's finest and point out all the design and technology and craftsmanship that goes into your clothing. High tech, the finest materials, cool styling.

That's the campaign: Lewis and Clark, Shackleton, the gold-rushers of 1896, the guy who first summitted the Gran Tetons wearing only football cleats, the soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge, even the guy crossing the Alps with his elephants.

It's a fun little history lesson, a great visual and a way to point out the fine points of your clothing.

It's such an obvious idea. I don't know why no one has jumped on it.

Anyway, I saw your clothing display in an Outfitter's store in Fairbanks and was writing down the Filson name to look up your website when I saw your display photo of the guys walking over White Pass in 1896: on the Alaska/Canada border.

You're halfway to this idea. Keep it going.

I'm leaving for Kamchatka August 26 from Fairbanks.

If you want to show your appreciation for my genius by loading me up with swag for all the good Russian boys and girls, let me know.

I'm best contacted by e-mail: TheBenM@AOl.com

Thank you for your time.

Ben Marcus

Maybe that will work, maybe that won't.

I sent e-mails to Jim Phillips and Peter Spacek asking if they might do a spec illustration for the Prudhoe Bay to Valdez Pipeline. Here's that e-mail, submitted for your approval.

Peter

Hello, it's Ben Marcus, writing to you from a Kinkos in Fairbanks, Alaska.

If this is the illustrator person, I may have a job for you.

Attached is a draft proposal for a weekly newspaper I want to start in the oilfields of Alaska. My uncle Sid Shafer did something similar many years ago, and did well.

Below is an e-mail I sent to all the other illustrator types I know.

Interested? I've always been a fan of the Spacek style.

I'm going to Russia for a surf trip on August 26 and will be back September 9.

Ben

Jim Phillips (Mark Lyon, Jamie MuleSkinner, Peter Spacek, Jeff Girard)

Santa Cruz

August 15, 2001

Jim Phillips

I contacted Girard and them about the Santa Cruz article and illustrations and they got mad at me but at least it's percolating. I have another small job that you might want to do.

I'm pitching a weekly journal for the oil industry up in Alaska.

I want to call it The Prudhoe Bay Pipeline, and I want an illustration that shows a man yelling into one end of a Pipeline (in Prudhoe Bay, represented by oil wells) and another man listening to the other end of the Pipeline in Valdez (represented by oil tankers). There could be bear and caribou and mountains along the way.

I'm also thinking of having a sun arcing over it all, and the position of that sun changes with the month. Sun is everything up here.

It should be a little industrial and a little comical.

Maybe the word "Pipeline" could be done with a pipeline sort of font.

The Jim Phillips (Peter Spacek) touch could be just the thing.

How much would you charge me to do this? I'd like to include the illustration in the proposal, but it would have to be done pretty quick.I'm leaving for Russia on August 26.

If I get this job, I'll need an illustrator and I'll have a decent budget. This is the oil industry, after all.

I want to make the oil fields interesting.

What do you say? I could pay you a bit, but this is all on spec and I need all the money I can get for Russia.

I'd also need it within a week or so.

Ben

P.S. If anyone knows Peter Spacek's e-mail, could they pass this on?

Lots of other stuff coming and going, but we finally got out of Kinkos around 15:00 and hit the road. We headed south along the Steese Expressway, past Eileson AFB and down to Delta Junction. The terrain got interesting pretty quick and reminded me that we were in Alaska: Big rivers stretching off to nowhere, huge, snow and cloud-covered mountain ranges. Just lots and lots of empty space, which confirms what I keep saying about the place. Alaska is just too big to screw up. I felt immediately better having gotten out of the city, and realized how much I hate cities.

If I ever get around to writing the Prudhoe Bay trip to ANWR deal, I'm going to talk about how graceful and quiet and relatively orderly Prudhoe Bay was in comparison to a typically crappy American city like Fairbanks. And everywhere you look: waste, waste, waste. People bathing in oil, drowning in oil, driving hither and thither for no real reason, a thousand businesses that no one really needs, all burning light and electricity and oil. I'm gonna say, ñIf America is guilty of any sin, it is gluttony. If America is suffering from any disease, it is consumption.î

I'll get all Ted Kaczinski, but that guy did have a few points about things.

Again, the real crime in oil isn't in the production, but the consumption. I really need to write that thing, and submit it as a Manifesto to the Oil Companies. Might get me a job.

So we drove south out of Fairbanks, listening to that 70s oldies station and getting into better and better terrain. I love Alaska and there's a lot to love. Again, this place isn't big, it's vast. And most of it is too big and vast and remote for humans to screw up.

And like most Alaska drives, you see so much, you forget almost all that you've seen. We passed through Delta Junction and some other gasoline stops. Ike jumped out at one point and came face to face with a big old Akita.

At some point we veered off on a road I hadn't taken. We had the option of going to Tok or Glenallen so we went to Glenallen, along the Richardson Highway. The mountains were ahead of us, covered in snow and there were quite a few military vehicles moving in and out of Fort Greely military base. I guess this is where they want to build a part of that Missile Defense Shield.

Whatever, every time a Humvee or a caravan of military trucks passed by, I thought of Prudhoe Bay and ANWR. Waste, waste, waste.

Not much happened really on the drive, just scenery and no traffic and good music on the radio and Gus rattling away about everything. (He just accosted two people at the bar and asked them the color of their eyes. He said that people with similar colored eyes and hair are usually attracted to each other. In this case, he was dead wrong.)

What else happened. That was yesterday? It's now 21:35 on Thursday night and I'm in the Pipeline club eating French onion soup, trying to remember everything that happened in the last few days.

Eventually we ended up camped near the river. Saw some nice fish, tried to fish but failed and went to sleep. Gus said he thought he saw the Northern Lights. I went to sleep, thinking that I'd get up and get after those fish the next morning.

As it turned out, I didn't. Woke up and checked the river and found about a half-dozen people fishing on either side and from the bridge. Didn't see any fish caught. A local Indian named Larry came by and asked if we smoked ñWhacky.î He said he had 186 plants nearby and we should come by and check them out. He walked up along the bridge and later some others came by and said Larry had been stealing beers.

I still say the Alaskan natives are in better shape than native people elsewhere, but occasionally you bump into the Drunken Indian stereotype.

I follow Larry up onto the bridge to see what I could see. Very scenic up there, with a view stretching off to Mount Sanford. Down in the river with the glasses on I could see schools of sockeye salmon moving up river, and people trying to catch them. They looked a little ghostly, those fish, moving up steadily in bunches, moving without seeming to move. No one caught any as I watched, and I decided not to fish without a license.

We pushed on to Valdez, saw a lot of RV traffic at Glenallen, where the Alaska Highway and the Richardson Highway and the road to Valdez all come together.

On the road in to Valdez we passed some waterfalls and glaciers, and heard ñGracelandî again on the way in. I guess it's a theme song.

21:37 ALASKA TIME THURSDAY AUGUST 16, 2001 THE PIPELINE BAR, VALDEZ, ALASKA

ODOMETER

TRIP METER

MONEY
Beers and French Onion Soup and French fries with gravy:

Gus just said, ñMost people give out cookies. I give out stickers. I can see the title now, Fin and a big shark fin with aerial black. Bold. Italicized. Upper and lower case. Tilted. Arial black. Do you like Arial black?î

Clint Eastwood is riding away on TV, at the end of High Plains Drifter.

A nice couple are talking to my left. The girl is very pretty. The guy is from Alaska and going to school in Bozeman.

I'm working on my computer in the Pipeline Club and no one has thrown it against the wall, yet.

Ike is running around in the campground where we are staying, the place with all the Bear Warning signs everywhere. The signs that tell you not to leave food out. I left Ike eating cat food on a table. Oh well.

Earlier today we saw a black bear eating a salmon on the side of the road coming back from the Valdez Oil terminal. He was just chomping away on the side of the road, eating a salmon. I took some photos, as did many others.

Valdez is okay, much livelier in the summer than it was last fall. The RV parks that were deserted when I was here last time are now chock-a-block with campers. I think a lot of people are fishing. The Silver Salmon are going nuts, and there was a photo on the cover of the local paper of a guy with a record ling-cod. There's lots of boats around and lots of people. Weather is foggy but warm enough.

I've just been looking around, thinking about the Prudhoe Bay Pipeline, asking questions here and there, although not nearly as many as Gus. He approaches stranger after stranger, pushing his motto on unsuspecting folks. Some bite. Some don't.

I tried to hook into the Internet at the Pipeline Club like I did last year but it didn't work so I went to the local library and shifted around to different machines a bunch of times, because people came in and wanted to use machines.

William Sharp is back in town and wants to do the trip so I sent him an e-mail.

Also sent a long e-mail to Jim Phillips, who I asked to do a ñspecî illustration for the Prudhoe Bay Pipeline. He sent back another long e-mail, which I tried to answer as best I could.

In a message dated Wed, 15 Aug 2001 10:14:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time, phillips@got.net (Jim Phillips) writes:

Hi Ben,

SURFINARY (2nd edition) is out! You're mentioned on the major contributor list... (two years in production)

Ten Speed Press $24.95
PO box 7123, Berkely Ca 94707
www.tenspeed.com
email: julie@tenspeed.com

OH GOODY. I MIGHT SEND AN E-MAIL TO JULIE AND PITCH HERE TWO BOOK PROJECTS: THE HISTORY OF TOW SURFING AND A BOOK ON SANTA CRUZ SURFING HISTORY.

Hi Ben,

I got a long warm email from Jeff Girard and returned my two cents worth to him, who knows, maybe something will come of it.

BLESSED BE THE PEACEMAKERS...

Thanks for helping bring it to a head, I feel better somehow.

THAT'S WHAT I'M VERY GOOD AT. EITHER BLOW IT UP OR LET IT BLOW OVER.

re: your job... first, thanks very much, please don't take offense but this is known in artist parlance as a "can of worms"

EXPLAN, CAPTAIN

...the word "spec"

WELL IT'S A PROPOSAL. I COULD PAY YOU FOR IT. HOW MUCH WOULD YOU CHARGE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

...the unknown "if"

PROPOSAL. "IF" IT HAPPENS, I'LL HAVE A DECENT BUDGET, I THINK. AND THE OIL COMPANIES AREN'T THE MONSTERS PEOPLE MAKE THEM OUT TO BE. THEY'RE JUST DOING A TOUGH JOB TO FILL A BIG NEED. THEY DIDN'T CREATE THE NEED.

SOME OF THE SMARTEST PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE WORKING FOR THE OIL COMPANIES, AT LEAST ON THE PRODUCTION AND ENGINEERING END. I'VE LEARNED: 98% OF EVERYONE YOU MEET IS 98% FULL OF SHIT. ...the vast epic scope

NOT SURE WHAT THAT MEANS

...the detail requirements

I COULD GET THEM TO YOU. THIS IS JUST A DRAFT OF AN ILLUSTRATION. JUST TO HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW THEM.

...the exact solar positioning

I GUESS THERE WOULD BE 12 POSSIBLE POSITIONS IN THE ARC OF THE SUN, AND THE WHOLE THING WOULD GET DARKER OR LIGHTER AS THE MONTHS PROGRESSED.

MAYBE EXPRESSION ON THE SUN'S FACE: HAPPINESS IN THE 24-HOUR LIGHT, DEPRESSION IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER.

THEY ONLY ALLOW PEOPLE TO WORK TWO-WEEK SHIFTS UP THERE. LIGHT IS WHY.

LIGHT IS EVERYTHING UP HERE.

...the unknown point (man yelling?)

A GUY IN PRUDHOE BAY (OIL WELLS) YELLING INTO THE PIPELINE. THAT IS WHERE THE OIL STARTS.

...the short deadline

SORRY. COULD BE LONGER. TRYING TO GET THIS DONE BEFORE I LEAVE FOR RUSSIA. MAYBE I DON'T HAVE TO RUSH IT THAT MUCH, BUT I'D LIKE TO HAVE IT PERCOLATING WHILE I AM OVER THERE, AND MYABE AN ANSWER WHEN I GET BACK.

...the remote venue

SEEMS REMOTE. NOT THAT REMOTE., IT'S SUMMER HERE AND THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE AROUND.

THIS WILL BE SEEN BY A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, RIGHT UP TO CHENEY AND BUSH.

IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE THE PIPELINE: FUNCTIONAL, BUT ALSO A WORK OF ART.

...the industrial comedy(/tragedy?)

I THINK THE INDUSTRY IS AWESOME. OIL IS PRODUCED WITH A LOT MORE BRAIN POWER AND EFFICIENCY THAN IT IS CONSUMED

YOU'RE AN ARTIST. I SEE THE PIPELINE AS SOMETHING AS AESTHETIC AND AWESOME AS ANY OF CRISTO'S PROJECTS. I SAW THE UMBRELLAS IN LOS ANGELESM AND I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE INDUSTRY OF AN AESTHETIC PROJECT. THAT GUY PUT UP A HELL OF A LOT OF UMBRELLAS, AND EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS A PROJECT.

THE PIPELINE IS AS AWESOME AS THAT.

I JUST DROVE FROM FAIRBANKS TO VALDEZ, AND THE PIPELINE JUST KEEPS POPPING UP AS YOU DRIVE SOUTH, SOMETIMES ON A RIDGE, SOMETIMES ALONG THE ROAD.

SOME OF THE TERRAIN LOOKS LIKE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AROUND MARIN AND SO IT REMINDS ME OF CRISTO'S RUNNING FENCE.

IT'S LIKE THE OBELISK IN 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY OR THAT WEIRD THING ON THE COVER OF LED ZEPPELIN'S PRESENCE.

I'M NOT JUST BEING POETICAL HERE. TO SEE IT ALL IS TO APPRECIATE IT.

THE OIL COMPANIES AREN'T THE BAD GUYS. THE CONSUMERS ARE THE BAD GUYS.

THE U.S. IS AWASH IN OIL. WE BATHE IN IT AND PISS IN IT AND WASTE IT HORRENDOUSLY. THAT IS WHERE THE GUILT LIES AND IT LIES WITH ALL OF US.

SO EVERYONE POINTS FINGERS AT THE WILDERNESS AND THE OIL COMPANIES, WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS. .

...the term "small job"

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW SMALL A JOB IT WILL BE, BUT SMALLER THAN YOUR "ESCHEW OBFUSCATION" ILLO OF THE O'NEILL WAREHOUSE FROM WAY BACK WHEN.

...the "pipeline font"

JUST SPELL THE WORD "PIPELINE" USING PIPE.

I COULD SEND YOU ENOUGH PHOTOS OF THE PIPELINE TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA.

IT IS JUST 4 FOOT IN DIAMETER PIPE BRACED EVERY 50 FEET OR SO WITH FINS RADIATING FROM THE TOPS OF THE BRACES.

...the estimate

ESTIMATE?

...the making "the oil fields interesting" but not offend everybody that has anything to do with it

I WONT OFFEND ANYONE, THE PEOPLE UP HERE ARE PROUD OF WHAT THEY DO. THEY BEND OVER BACKWARDS TO MAKE THAT PIPELINE SAFE AND CLEAN AND PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THAT.

IT IS AN AWESOME FEAT OF HUMAN ENGINEERING. MOST PEOPLE WON'T DO ANYTHING THAT BIG OR SOPHISTICATED IN THEIR LIVES.

AGAIN, THE PROBLEMS ARE ON THE CONSUMPTION END.

...the unknown budget (albeit:"I'll have a decent budget, this is the oil industry" does have appeal)...

THIS IS A VERY SPECULATIVE PROJECT. I MAY BE BLOWING SMOKE HERE, BUT THE OIL INDUSTRY LIKES GOOD PR AND THEY'D BE WILLING TO PAY FOR IT I THINK.

THEY ARE ABOUT TO BUILD THE ALASKA NATURAL GAS PIPELINE AND EXPLORE IN ANWR, SO THINGS ARE GOING TO BE JUMPING.

...the total un-politically correctness of anything about drilling in the artic

IT'S BULLSHIT. I WAS JUST THERE. WHEN YOU DRIVE THE HAUL ROAD TO PRUDHOE BAY, THERE'S 500 MILES OF WILDERNESS IN EVERY DIRECTION: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, AND PLACES THAT 99 5 OF THE WORLD WILL NEVER, EVER GO. THE PIPELINE AND THE OIL APPARATUS ARE NOTHING IN ALL THAT. A FRACTION. A CENTIPEDE ON THE BACK OF A WOOLY MAMMOTH.

THE PIPELINE AND THE HAUL ROAD AND THE PUMPING STATIONS ARE COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED BY NATURE AND I THINK THE PIPELINE COMPLIMENTS NATURE, IN AN AESTHETIC WAY. THE NATURE UP THERE IS AWESOME. IT IS OVERWHELMING. THE PIPELINE IS MAN SAYIN "WE CAN BE AWESOME, TOO." THEY COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER.

SEEING IS BELIEVING.

AND 99 % OF THE WILDERNESS UP THERE WON'T BE TOUCHED. PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ALASKA DON'T REALIZE HOW VAST THE PLACE IS. IT IS LITERALLY TOO BIG TO FUCK UP. MY MOM SAYS, "THEY SAID THAT ABOUT OHIO." OHIO DOESNT HAVE 18,000 FOOT MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS.

YOU COULD DROP A NUKE ON THIS PLACE AND IT WOULD RECOVER.

I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT, AND NEITHER ARE MOST ALASKANS.

...the oil tankers

SINCE THE EXXON VALDEZ DEAL, EVERY OIL TANKER MOVING IN AND OUT OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND IS NOW ESCORTED BY TWO TUGS AND AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE BOAT.

THESE GUYS DON'T WANT TO SCREW THE PLACE UP ANY MORE THAN WE DO.

THEY LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES.

HAZELWOOD SCREWED UP, BIG TIME. YOU CAN ONLY ENGINEER AGAINST HUMAN STUPIDITY SO FAR.

...the oil wells

THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE OIL WELLS ANYMORE. THEY ARE SELF-CONTAINED, BLOCK BUILDINGS. BORING, BUT THEY KEEP ALL THE NASTY STUFF CONTAINED.

THEY PUMP 8,000,000 CUBIC FEET OF NATURAL GAS BACK INTO THE GROUND, EVERY DAY. THEY DONT BURN IT OFF LIKE MEXICO.

THERE ARE KMART PARKING LOTS THAT ARE DIRTIER THAN PRUDHOE BAY.

AND ALL THE EXPLORATION IS DONE IN WINTER, OVER ICE AND ICE ROADS AND FROZEN OCEAN. THEY GET THE DRILLING EQUIPMENT AND RIGS OUT THERE OVER ICE, AND WHEN THE ICE THAWS, IT DOESNT LEAVE A SCRATCH.

PRUDHOE BAY REMINDS ME OF THE ALVISO AREA. THE WETLANDS RIGHT AROUND ALL THE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND BUILDINGS ARE UNSCATHED. THERE ARE CARIBOU AND GRIZZLIES AND THOUSANDS OF BIRDS.

NATURE WINS UP HERE. IT ALWAYS WILL.

...the Valdez connection with Capt.Hazlewood

HE SCREWED UP, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT, BUT THEY LEARNED FROM THEIR MISTAKES.

I'M SURPRISED THEY DIDN'T HAVE HIM EXECUTED.

...the director on migration

NOT SURE WHAT THAT MEANS.

...the no one I know will ever see this

IS THAT GOOD OR BAD. YOU DO OR DON'T WANT THEM TO SEE THIS?

AN AGAIN, YOUR ILLO IS FOR THE PROPOSAL, JUST TO GIVE THEM SOMETHING CUTE TO LOOK AT AND SHOW THAT I AM SERIOUS.

...the nothing to do with Banzai pipeline

THAT COULD BE FIXED.

...the energy crisis

NOT THE PRODUCERS' FAULT. THEY JUST GET IT OUT OF THE GROUND AND TURN IT INTO GASOLINE. IT'S THE PEOPLE MAKIGN THE LOW-EFFICIENCY ENGINES THAT ARE TO BLAME.

YOU SHOULD SEE THE CARAVANS OF GAS-GUZZLERS UP HERE: WANDERLODGES TOWING CHEVY SUBURBANS WITH BOATS ON THE ROOF.

IT'S LIKE MAD MAX. IN THAT RESPECT, WE ARE ALL GUILTY.

EVERYONE WHO USES OIL SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO GO TO PRUDHOE AND SEE HOW IT IS TAKEN FROM THE GROUND AND MOVED.

IT'S LIKE ECOTOPIA.

...OPEC

WILEY VENEZUELANS AND ARABS. THEY WISED UP AND STARTED DEMANDING MORE AND MORE OF THE CUT. FROM 50/50, TO 55% AND UP. I'M READING ABOUT ALL THAT RIGHT NOW.

THAT'S WHY AMERICA NEEDS DOMESTIC SUPPLIES, SO WE CAN'T BE BLACKMAILED BY QADAFFI QADUCK AND THE LIKE.

WE GOT IT STARTED, MADE THEM RICH AND THEY THANKED US BY NATIONALIZING THEIR OIL INDUSTRIES. PRICKS.

...Bush

HE SAID, "THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE IS 19,000,000 ACRES. THEY WANT TO DRILL ON 3,000 OF THOSE ACRES.î

AT LEAST BUSH HAS BEEN THERE AND LOOKED AROUND.

THE OIL IS THERE, IT'S EASY TO GET AND THE PIPELINE IS THERE AND SHOULD BE UTILIZED. BETTER THAT THAN BUILD ANOTHER PIPELINE

HE AINT THE BAD GUY. WE, THE GAS-GUZZLING PUBLIC, ARE THE BAD GUYS.

...end of the world

THE WORLD WILL ALWAYS BE TURNING AND THE SUN WILL ALWAYS RISE AND SET. IF MAN DESTROYS ITSELF, WELL, IT'S MAN'S FAULT.

I'D GO BACK TO HORSEBACK IN A FLASH. AS LONG AS I CAN COMMUNICATE AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT..

...should I go on?

IF YOU WANT.

...say, I know a loaf of bread costs $2OO up there, just how much money DO they have to throw around up there?

THAT'S ALL OVER-BLOWN. THE FOOD IN PRUDHOE BAY STORE IS KIND OF PRICEY, BUT THE REST OF ALASKA IS LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE. GETTING TO BE A LITTLE TOO MUCH LIKE EVERYWHERE ELSE.

EXCEPT THAT THERE'S ONLY 650,000 PEOPLE HERE AND LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF PRIVACY, PEACE AND QUIET.

I LIKE IT. I WANT TO LIVE HERE AND SUMMERS ARE GREAT. ALL THAT SUNLIGHT.

YOU HELP ME WITH THIS, YOU CAN COME UP AND VISIT.

JUST ONE DRAWING:

"PRUDHOE BAY" UP ON THE LEFT

PIPELINE "VALDEZ" DOWN ON THE RIGHT

"PIPELINE" IS SPELLED WITH AN ILLUSTRATED FONT THAT IMITATES THE ALYESKA PIPELINE, WHICH IS PRETTY STANDARD ALL THE WAY ALONG.

AT THE PRUDHOE BAY END THERE ARE CARICATURES OF SPOUTING OIL DERRICKS, MAYBE A BEAR OR TWO AND AN OIL-GUY SHOUTING INTO THE PIPELINE.

THE PIPELINE TWISTS AROUND AND PASSES MOUNTAINS AND BEAR AND RIVERS AND TREES AND ENDS UP IN VALDEZ.

VALDEZ IS REPRESENTED BY A CARICATURE OF AN OIL TANKER, MAYBE A SEAGULL OR A WHALE, AND THERE IS SOMEONE LISTENING IN TO THE END OF THE PIPELINE.

YOU CAN LOOK ALL THIS UP ONLINE.

THIS WILL BE A FUN ONE TO DO, I THINK.

I'LL PAY YOU FOR IT, BUT HOW MUCH?

Leaving the library I got into a conversation with a local guy and asked him about the Pipeline and this and that. He had worked in Russia for many months and had come back with a Russian wife. I asked about the Prudhoe Bay Pipeline and he thought it might be a good idea, as long as it was honest. Apparently a 130-foot tender went up on a reef a week or so ago and they made a big, 35,000 gallons of diesel mess taking care of it. He had a lot to say.

Gus took over with him and I went to the van and we drove to the other side to check out the Valdez Bay terminal, where the oil pipeline ends and it all goes out to sea.

Poked around there, saw a bear on the way out. Stopped at the Hydro ÜElectric plant on the side of the road and asked an engineer if a small, personal Hydro Electric plant would be possible to build. He said it would and that the hard part would be water rights.

And now here we are at the Pipeline Club. Gus is chatting away on my left and the young couple have left. The girl really was pretty.

So now what? I need to finish my Prudhoe Bay story. I need to get the copies of FIN printed up and bound and send them to people. I spilled some water on a couple of pages today so I'll have to do them again.

Looks like the trip is still on, although I wonder how much the Russkies are going to charge to process those visas with less than a week to go.

We'll probably hang around Valdez in the morning, go to the library to check e-mail, go over to the Valdez Terminal to check out the TAPS gift store then drive to Anchorage.