J. Jason Lazarus Blog

7-26-2005 - So, like always, the last few weeks have been busy - thus the lack of updates. Do you really think I’ll actually ever have a real reason for why I don’t update? Seriously, pretty much the last thing on my mind - even beyond mindless tv watching on my list of priorities - yes, I know how much I suck. Don’t remind me Look at my gallery - see how much I’ve been adding to that? Ha!
So - two weeks ago we went down to Anchorage to visit with the inlaws - amazingly enough I had one of my best times in Anchorage ever. I guess my feelings toward my inlaws are far from the stereotypical dread that most men have of their inlaws - if anything I dread visiting them because I have to drive 520 miles to Nikiski and then have to deal with people that are actually giddy and happy to see us. Yeah, I know, ain’t it a crime that my inlaws WANT to see us - seriously after 520 miles the last thing I want to be is socialable. I think that’s the ONLY problem with visiting them I have. Anchorage was a nice psuedo-midpoint … 350 miles for us… 175 or so for them. I can deal with people after 350 - not after 520. Might I remind those not in Alaska or akin to the Kenai Penninsula - the last 175 miles to Nikiski are tough. From navigating through a Fjord to climbing through a mountain pass through the twists-and-turns of a drunk’s path through Cooper Landing to the insanely boring straights of Sterling - yeah it’s a tough road. Thank God they drove it this time.
We treated them to Indian Food which they apparently enjoyed and were amazed by - something they’ve never tried as well. We showed them around a few stores and places they hadn’t been to and overall I think they had a great time. Went to the movies and was Fantastic Four with her dad and just… wow really had a great time. Kinda frightening.
My class has been going well - getting more and more comfortable with the teaching bit every week - and I think as the weeks roll by the students are enjoying it more and more. We had Darkroom “Fun” last week - did all these alternative processing techniques which makes the duldrums of printing exactly what is on your negative a little more… refreshing. There’s so much more you can do with your negatives and a lot of the kids (yes, I call them “kids”) came up with some great inventive things.
Getting more and more website work - it’s nice that this summer that I thought was going to be tough has continued to fill up. Soon enough it’ll be back to my 9-month position and I’ll be wondering where the summer went. In fact this last weekend I realized how close it was getting and have started making all intentions to make up for all the weekends that I didn’t do anything this summer. I went on a hike on Saturday with my dad and Deanna out to a abandoned mine and never managed to find it. After now two failed hiking trips because I relied on crappy maps (I’m sorry Ashlee for that hike last summer!) I went to the USGS Map Office up at GI and purchased a REAL map (1:25,000 rather than 1:100,000 or so) and we’ll see if it helps in the coming days. I also took another hike Monday morning - decided I should really enjoy what days off I do have and actually get out - seeing that I’m unwilling to hike in Alaska without a gun and a few friends I hiked the back trails on UAF. I haven’t really ever taken advantage of those trails - hiked a little on them before but never did a serious hike - I probably hiked about 4-7 miles and loved it all. I’m hoping tomorrow morning I’ll be going out to Chatinika area again like I did this last Saturday in an attempt to find Cleary HIll Mine as well as Hi-Yu Mine. I’ve got an aquaintance that has some great photos of both of these mines and I’d love to search around these places myself.
The fair is coming up and I’m actually entering a few things into it. I decided that I should probably start taking my photography seriously seeing that, at least in my mind, I’m managing some pretty impressive stuff. We’ll see if I get any ribbons.
Finally found out what is going into the old Burger King on Old Steese and 3rd/Minnie - a Taco King. Good to know that it’s still the king..of…something… har har. They’ve got one in Anchorage and who knows - might give some of the other places a run for their money. We have a abundance of Mexican places in town and it just keeps getting worse. Jalapeno’s, Senor Flannagan’s, Taco Bell (2), El Mariachi, Los Amigos, El Sombrero, Hot Tamale, Paco’s Taco’s (2) and the bastardized Burrito House - we have enough. I’d be happy if something would bite Jalapeno’s in the ass after they took over Burrito House and apparently ruined it. Coarse it’s been ruined since they changed owners two years ago - this was only the last of many stabs to the soul of Burrito House that managed to completely kill it. Alas - I gained many pounds from their Burritos. I will miss them and possibly waste away without the added fat intake. Speaking of other construction projects - the Barnes&Noble/Old Navy/Sportsman’s Warehouse/PetCo is coming along well. JoAnn’s is moving to a new location about 1.

7-11-2005 - The weekend ended up turning out pretty standard as well - nothing big happened, but at least nothing big didn’t happen - so no large let-downs or disappointments Just a lot of lounging, shopping and chilling. A lot of this weekend was me trying to force myself NOT to buy a PSP. They’ve manage to make it so darned attractive that, especially with the lucrative summer that we’ve managed to have, it makes it a little harder each day to not buy one. Halfway through Saturday I came up with a solution - at least I thought that I had: The only real reason that I want to buy one is to show it off to my friends - in fact, peer pressure is making me want it - so, thus, I shouldn’t give into it…right? Yeah, sound reasoning there. Don’t waste money on something you’re just going to brag to your friends about having. Yeah…sound…ar..gue…men….t…but I WANT ONE! WAAAA!
Listening to Jack didn’t help either - he’s under the impression that if my job is nerd-related, then having nerd-paraphanalia is in essense a expectation of what I’m supposed to be wasting my money on. Very convincing argument. I need to buy it because I’m a nerd. It’s not my fault - it’s my upbringing…it’s my lifestyle…it’s…*gasp* possibly my parents fault that I have to buy it? Might I be able to blame it on my parents that I have to waste money on games? I mean, people blame their parents for all kinds of things - overeating, mental issues, etc etc… whynot this? Could I…wait a second… blow this completely out of proportion and make my gaming needs into an addiction, one that must be fueled… one that I cannot afford and somehow can manage government subsidies for? COULD I?
And yet, then I remember - I’m a republican. I don’t believe, as democrats do, that half your paycheck should be taken away by the government so that half of America can whine and complain that they’re too fat, dumb, stupid or emotionally scarred to get a job. I’m a republican - I tell people to deal with their problems personally rather than sending them to years of helpful counsiling - I can’t blame this on my parents because I, and they, are Repubilcan.
So what does this mean? Me being Republican forces me to not buy a PSP. In a round-about way of coarse but nonetheless, me being Republican (as well as having certain hertitage and ethnic lines) force me to be frugal and responsible with my money - which forces me to wait.
And what does any of this have to do with my image of Lego Star Wars? A compromise with the right implusive side of my brain and the left logical side - I still want to game but don’t want to spend money… or at least not that much. $29.99 and I’ve got a game - and at that a pretty good game. It’s funny seeing lego-sized jedis killing lego-sized siths. It’s… fulfilling. No blood at all - just…random lego peices struned across a floor …
So what else did I do? Saw Dark Water. Good stuff- not the best J-horror that i’ve seen (adaptation of J-horror) but worth a rental. J-horrors translate well onto the little screen and you can manage to get the same scares out of them that you would in the theatre - unlike most Sci-fi, Action or American Horror movies. God bless Japan/Korea/China and their scary-ass folklore/tales. They scare the bejesus out of me.
Going to Anchorage this next weekend - it’s a compromise of sorts with Deanna’s parents. I’m tired of driving 525 miles so now I only have to drive 350. Trust me, the difference is well appreciated, the last 175 miles takes four hours or more… especially during the summer with all the idiotic tourists. Looks like I’ll be getting my Arbv’s fix - haven’t had it in…um…since I don’t know when… least 2-3 months. If not nearly 6. Oooh and Borders and Barnes & Noble…. *drool* Anyways, have a good week!

7-8-2005 - So the last week has been pretty lame - I’ve been exceptionally busy with getting my parents place emptied of all my junk that I brought over there while I was housesitting for the last month. I didn’t particularly have a good week but all in all it wasn’t that bad, just kinda long and drawn out. TGIF, eh? The good thing that came out of this last week was a contract to work with a local union to revamp/update their website for a year - it’s my first REAL job for websites and I’m looking forward to the challenge - not that actually doing the job well will be a challenge, just that I’m hoping that my good work here will bring me more work than I can deal with in a few months or so. I do have to admit - I love money. We’re doing, once again, better than we did last year and the year before - and it looks like it might just be getting better. I’m not at all trying to brag - I’m just so surprised that all this is working out so well.
On top of that, with the more and more photography that I do, the more I want to break into mainstream and get my work in a gallery and start working on a name for myself - unfortunately, my name has been taken. So… maybe… J. Jason Lazarus? Hell if I know… kinda interesting story - I’ve actually talked to this guy a few years ago on ICQ when he must’ve searched for his name… small world I tell ya.
I’m also adding more and more pictures to my gallery - nothing artistic… well somewhat… but nothing worthy of galleries. There are however GREAT pictures of Nerland 1999-2002 in there - worth a look. Knowing what you’ll manage to find a pic of yourself somewhere in the mix. Anyways, enjoy!

7-1-2005 - Okay - you all know exactly how much I love George Romero and his wonderful “Dead” Zombie Flicks. If you have either watched one with me or heard me talk about one they have more of a effect on me than most people because I love to place myself into the world that Romero creates - always questioning myself, saying “what if this really happened??” This is why Romero’s gory Zombie movies translate well into very intense human dramas - unfortunately they never are too heavy on the drama to win any awards. But, I digress. Additionally, a few of you know that I recently picked up the Zombie Survival Guide - which is, oddly enough formatted like a self-help book but easily found in your local bookstore’s humor section. Yet, the book is far from humor - it picks up where Romero and all the other zombie movies have and question the “what if?” clause. It gives you in-depth step-by-step explanation of how and what you need to do to survive a zombie holocaust. Being the ultra boy-scout (being prepared) is the intent of this manual. It’s very through although, taken out of its context and placed into the humor category it’s amazingly hilarous. Yet, I digress again. The fact is, Zombies don’t exist and even though I feel ultimately prepared from my cinema upbringings and my bookworm knowledge. Or…do they? Through my meanderings through Stile’s websites I found this . Apparently my inner-most panic and paranoid-stricken fears might actually be true. If you read thearticle you might think that there’s nothing to worry about. And yet, if you know me you’re probably laughing and shaking your head at this point saying “Jason, Jason you’re so silly”. Yes, the conspirist inside of me is starting to speak.
This page is from a newsworthy site - it’s not like they made it up. What’s odd and perplexing is how they write off the procedure that they use to reanimate these corpses. This isn’t the middle ages - You can’t convince me that nobody has ever tried freaking saline solution. And… vacuming the entire system of blood? Capillaries collapse under the pressure of the tissue around it without blood. How do you account for that? How exactly does a saltwater solution keep oxygen flowing to the cells? How?? There’s more to this story. A LOT more and they’re not leaking it. In fact, this is probably a leak in of itself - or a coverup for a leak. Something more is going on here and that’s scary. Saline solution alone cannot preserve celluar structures to be revived long after celluar deteriation has begun in some of the most sensative areas of the body. Lack of oxygen alone should take care of that. Something is going on. /end conspiracy rant
Those fans of Romero will find it suiting that such experiments are however occuring in Pittsburgh. I’m telling you, this research station… Umbrella man. Umbrella.
On to lighter subjects, I’m going to Valdez this weekend, giving some students the opportunity to take photos of Alaska’s wonderous locales. Valdez and Hatcher’s Pass are offically on the plan for this… unfortunately rain-soaked weekend. Pray for rain! And also - pray that I’m not right about you know what - or, even better - go ahead and get your own copy of the Survival Guide