Foto Friday: Zippidee-Zip-lining in Icy Strait Point

So I found the picture of the rainbow coming out of my head that I talked about last post:

See, it is magical!

Day 6: Icy Strait Point

Our sixth day found us in our first port of call in Hoonnah, AK A*K*A Icy Strait Point.  It is essentially an old canning town, originally settled by the native population.  They have since incorporated and created this tourist area called Icy Strait Point, where they detail the settling of Alaska, the old canning factory that used to be there, and sell art and souvenirs (Everything they sold was Alaskan made/owned so I bought almost all of my souvenirs there because of that).  Oh yeah, and they recently built the world's tallest zip-line (at least according to them).

Here's my video of the main attraction, the Zipline (disregard Rah's screams of terror):

The port is actually so small and narrow that our cruise ship could not fit into the harbor. That meant we had to take smaller boats into the shore. Here's Rah & I checking out the view from the front (because of course we were in the front).

Upon arrival, even the ship's Orca whale recognized Tony and his fame, they didn't even charge us for the picture.

WE had a small amount of time to wander around before the bus ride through the village and up to the top of the Zip-line. The morning was cloudy and semi-rainy but we were lucky as the drizzles held off until after our turn to ride.

Here's some pictures from the journey to the top:

 

B-O.B. Crew on our best bus behavior

Unfortunately, only 6 could ride at a time and we had a group of 7 so we split 2 & 5 with my parents testing it out first with B-O.B. & T-bone going next.

mom's ready to go!

WOOOO-HOOO!

view of our ship from the zip-line

Dad's picture of us in motion!

They sold a souvenir shotglass & shot, which we got for Mom & Tony

Unfortunately, our one planned group picture didn't work out when a fellow tourist couldn't figure out how to press a button to take a picture (I weep for the US education system...JK), instead here's my dad's test-framing shot...

Totemly Awesome!

A GIANT Halibut!

So there was this little hut that sold only dungeness and king crab (and the most amazing bloody mary ever), the best part was that the dungeness crab was all freshly caught THAT MORNING and brought down to the pier. We had a delicious crab feast for lunch!

best bloody mary ever: crab claw & shrimp included!

My "pretty" face

#SelfieFace

There was a mini donut stand where they sold freshly fried donuts and dipping sauces. The maple bacon dipping sauce changed my life ;)

check out that sweet zip-lining wristband!

My parents should  totally model for Alaskan Life Magazine:

Get enough of the B-OB crew together (especially at an inter-active museum, well, at least me decided it was interactive) and we're goofing off in no time!

The view from down by the water:

so many starfish!

From wandering around the nature trail:

The sun finally came out just before it was time to leave & it was beautiful!

When it was time to go we hopped back into the small boats then headed back on board the ship. The ever-curious Tony watched the whole thing:

That evening's sunset (at about 10:00p.m., as we made our way south they began to occur earlier):

We then set sail for Juneau or "June-ay-ew" as Rah put it, where the day began with some disappointing news.....

Musical Monday: Angus & Julia Stone Album Review

Rocking mellow with an edge.
That's how I'd describe the latest album from sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone. The self-titled album, which came out Friday August 1, is their third release together after taking a hiatus to pursue solo careers following their sophomore Down the Way.  While they are both solid artists in their own right, when they combine their sibling powers, their music goes to a whole-nother level.

So you can get a feel for it, here's the album preview on Soundcloud:



In this album, they take what's always been their strengths: dual-vocals singing emotionally charged lyrics, from both the male & female perspective, but their sound has matured and evolved in a more dramatic way.  In other words, they've grown up. It's like after your much younger cousin who was always a precious kid goes off to college for a few years and you realize the next time you see them they've become a fully-realized person. The break, exploring their own sounds through solo careers, and the reunion, based on the insistence of producer Rick Rubin, turned the sweet sibling indie act into a musical powerhouse.

They open strong with the rocking "A Heartbreak" and the statement "I met your parents, they were lying about falling in love" which sets the tone for the wry, insightful and usually cynical realism which is prevalent throughout the album. In most of the songs, they both adapt a speak/singing that gives them a disaffected too-cool-for-school delivery.  Julia leads "My Word For It" almost entirely in spokensong, with a sleepy sexuality she developed in the years since Down the Way. In this new sound, they play around a bit with being slightly out of tune/tempo, but in a way that showcases their mastery of the genre, while hearkening back to other singer/songwriter folk acts of the past and putting them in a league with the best of the present.

After "A Heartbreak" the highlight of the front half is "Heart Beats Slow" when their off-tempo, almost off-key voices blend together. They're at their best when the achingly earnest emotion highlights the feeling of love lost, love thrown-away, love yearned for. The second half of the album slows quite a bit after Julia's "Death Defying Acts," an anti-love song. The cleverly minimal "Other Things" takes the moment before a fight and in the way it never develops musically beyond the introduction created the tired here-we-go-again familiarity of well-worn arguments between intimates (whether family or lovers).

Where A Book Like This was somewhat minimal in the instrumentalization, and Down the Way added a depth of sound, Angus & Julia Stone has an edge and polished sheen that wasn't quite there before, it leans a little more rock on the scale of indie pop/rock. Additionally, in their past work they penned their songs separately, where in this album they co-wrote the songs for the first time, which plays off by melodies and lyrics playing to both their strengths.

If you get this album, you have to buy the Deluxe Edition as my personal favorite track is actually one of the three bonus tracks.  "All this Love" stands in sharp contrast to most of the album, in that it is a complete 180 from the cynical realism permeating most of the tracks and is simply a happy, uplifting, feel-good track, reminding us listeners that "there's all this love if you need it." Call me a sucker for earnest, sugary-sweet joy but I had this one all repeat all weekend.

Got the album? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below or on twitter: @itzbizr

Foto Friday: *Hashtag*HubbardGlacier!

#HubbardGlacier!

 Day/Night 4: Tony's a Star! 

We went from the Animal Preservation to Whittier (through a one-way-mountain tunnel, oh my!) where we boarded the boat.  Once through all the security and check-ins our first evening on the cruise ship was spent booking excursions, wandering around, and going through the mandatory safety drill.  That night, things took a turn for the awesome at the "welcome to the cruise" show.  Essentially, we got a preview of the different entertainment acts aboard the ship, one of which was a comedian whose routine involved audience participation. And who do you think got up there and stole the show? Well, Tony of course!

So excited for the show to begin!

Tony was the first to get called up to the stage and milked the "hapless old man" routine it became clear that he wasn't haplessly not in on the joke, but was cleverly creating plenty of comedy for the rest of us.  The whole rest of the cruise, we had other guests coming up to him all around the ship yelling "TONY!" one lady even asked for a picture with him! My grandpa's got it!

dancing down the aisles!

Tony & Tim Kaminski, she ship's comedian

Day 5: Hubbard Glacier
The next day, we got up early(ish) to get a massage (my first!) at the "Spa" and then watch the World Cup game in the jam packed "Sports Bar," but unfortunately the US lost =(

It was a sea day, so instead of heading straight to our first port we went by the Hubbard Glacier, our first (and honestly most impressive) of the many glaciers we'd see from the ship.  The scenery was majestic and it's easy to understand why they do this at the very outset of the journey.  

Rah and I shifted back and forth from the front of the ship, where we found a nice perch allowing maximum scenery viewing, and the back of the ship, which was more protected form the winds so it was a little warmer and the perfect spot for Tony to view it all (Pat & Kae found their own viewing point--which is why there aren't any pictures of them that day. Don't worry, we didn't throw them off the ship... yet).

Luckily this baby iceberg did not cause any Titanic moments

I've combined pictures from my iPhone, my Camera, & my dad's camera so the following are a little out of order but that really doesn't matter cause it's my blog and I say it doesn't!

So gorgeous!

The lady that took this picture liked us so much she said she'd threaten her own daughters that she'd replace them with us if they ever got out of control =)

Such a beautiful background it almost looks fake

Me & my best friend Tone!

So contemplative... what deep thoughts are you pondering?

That evening, leaving dinner we saw a double rainbow that extended over both sides of the ship, it was really pretty cool!

We then continued towards our first port where our excursion adventures began on the "World's Tallest Zipline" but you'll have to wait until next week to find out how that went!