A great look at family life in Alaska
I’ve had a little Sarah Palin thing going on lately. I never was knocked off my feet by her looks although the more I look at her the more I’m impressed; but I hate her voice; and I think she’s too proud of herself. But, here comes this miniseries called Sarah Palin’s Alaska and I am an Alaska freak. So I order the first episode off iTunes.
I had spoken to my sister earlier in the day, said, “What do you think of Sara Palin,” and her response wasn’t too positive. I said, “Well, I’d vote her into an Alaska office, but I wouldn’t vote for her on a national level. And here’s why: she’s good for Alaska and she’s bringing massive tourism dollars to the state.”
Before I watch my downloaded episode I notice that Sarah Palin’s Alaska, show number one (a repeat), is playing on TV. So I catch the last 10 minutes and I’m floored by how bad it is. Here’s Sara Palin trying to rock climb, no helmet on, sunglasses on her face, squealing like she’s taking on the Hillary Step. I’m about to pen this column and be super critical when the second show airs.
There are better productions, that is for sure, but what I found was an interesting view into a celebrity politician’s life, based on her interactions with family, which has always been the most important and telling aspect of a person to me. In fact, my favorite part of episode two was watching the reactions of Palin’s daughter and a friend of her daughter as they fished for salmon and watched some massive bears stroll by. It reminded me of a visit to Alaska last summer with my daughter Tate and spending time with Kent and Jill Sullivan and their daughter, Finley. It was a magic time, looking at glaciers, catching salmon, and watching humpback whales bubble feed. And here was Palin and her daughter, equally enthralled, enjoying the everyday lifetime experiences that Alaska offers.
I also appreciated that Palin is a real Alaskan. Earlier in the day I’d watched Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman and he’d butchered the pronunciation of the Kenai Peninsula and the Kuskokwim River. And they’d spliced in some tourism footage where they said that Alaskan’s call Humpback whales “Humpies.” This reminded me of a brutal dinner I had with Troy Letherman, a very cool friend, and a tourism slob out of Juneau. We’d eaten at the Hangar and this guy’s stamp was on that Humpy comment from the tourism footage. He’d tried to sell Letherman and I on that notion and we called bullshit on his shenanigans. I’d had a few and most of my answers to his comments consisted of one word, “Really?” Letherman almost choked on a salmon bone and before the night was over he’d said, “Thomas, no more comp trips for you.” Then he dropped our rental keys through a crack in the wharf. I said, “Nice work, Humpy,” and we walked through the rain to our hotel room for a nightcap of absinthe. In the morning Letherman chucked his comforter and a salmon bone over the balcony saying, “It’s not salvagable.” One too many I guess.
What was nice about Sarah Palin’s Alaska was that she knew her stuff. At one point in the program she said, “These are grizzlies,” then caught herself and corrected, “Actually these are brown bears.”
There were scenes in the first two episodes of Palin and a daughter whacking halibut on a commercial boat. And there were scenes of them on the slime line cleaning those fish. There were scenes of the family on the beach at Deep Creek digging clams and cooking h-buts and drinking beers. This hits home with me because I’ve been to those places and done the same things and I like that Palin is an outdoors person, bringing up and outdoors family, taking life in stride, not letting the spotlight wear too heavily. And her husband, Todd? Seems like a badass dude who would be great to hang with.
One final note: Palin wears Redington Chena River Waders in the show, which is pretty sweet for the fly-fishing industry and a shout out to the killer waders Redington has on the market these days.
So, next Sunday night on TV, or whenever you want through a download from iTunes, I think it’s worth watching Sarah Palin’s Alaska. I still wouldn’t vote for her on a national level, but I sure think she’s good for Alaska.