Blood spurts from the Ear Pull at the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics

Alaska Natives compete in the World Eskimo and Indian Olympics (WEIO) over a four day period each July in Fairbanks, Alaska, attracting people from all over the world. The morning and afternoon sessions are free and I was fortunate enough to attend a few events before making it to work. On Wednesday, the opening afternoon, I saw the preliminaries for the One Hand Reach. In this event competitors must balance all of their body-weight onto their fist and reach up with their free hand to touch a ball hanging far above their heads. 

David Thomas, who placed 2nd last year with 66'', prepares to reach. He effortlessly made it into the finals.

Another competitor barely misses the 6 foot high ball but was given another chance. The WEIO events are more about community building and encouraging fellow competitors than about winning.

On Friday I was fortunate enough to watch the last few minutes of the Two Foot High Kick before catching the popular Ear Pull event. In the Two Foot High Kick, a traditional Inuit jumping event considered by many to be the most demanding Arctic sport, competitors must jump up with both feet, kick a ball well above their heads with both feet and land again with both feet. At no point can their feet be separated.

This jump was disqualified. 

He did better on his second try.

Right before contact with the ball, this guy made it look easy.

Now for the Ear Pull, where two people sit across from each other with a string looped around one ear each that they then pull away from each other, hoping the other person will give up first. 

It's basically about pain endurance.

The ref makes sure the string is in position and then calls the match. Each match has three rounds to determine who moves on. When a person wins a round, they keep the string looped around the same ear but the loser gets to switch to a fresh ear.

Competitors stare each other down before the match starts.

It's easy to see why the woman on the left wearing the head scarf is the champion for the second year in a row.

The loser poses for a photo while nursing her bleeding ear.

There were a lot of people with paper towels on their ears.

The men's final match was seriously brutal. I had a hard time getting photos because they pulled hard and fast and blood actually spurted! They had to clean the mat between rounds. The man in the light gray shirt ended up winning the gold. This is an event I was more than happy not to compete in!

Next I caught the beginning of the native clothing regalia contest, which thankfully did not involve any bloodshed!

My vote is on her. She made this outfit herself.

A young woman stands before the judges in her traditional wedding dress.

Between the reaching, jumping, ear pulling and traditional clothes, WEIO proved an interesting event I was glad I had a chance to attend. I'm just disappointed that I missed Friday night's seal skinning and muktuk eathing contests because they would have been really awesome to watch!

How the Japanese conquered BeerFest 2010

The 2010 Beer Festival at Silver Gulch was a ridiculously fun event! There were people in lederhosen, tables upon tables laden with a tremendous variety of brews from all around the world, and plenty of people to sample said brews.

The band before they hit the stage

These two band members were kind enough to oblige my desire in having my picture taken with lederhosen clad people. I didn't have any lederhosen myself so I settled for suspenders supplied by Dixon Jones and hair styled by my personal stylist, Heidi. Basically the same thing, right?

Cheers! These are all either current or former employees of the tour company I work for. Yes, I am unnaturally proud of my suspenders.

Yours truly with the aforementioned totally awesome personal stylist and friend, Heidi!

The band takes the stage but makes sure to keep hydrated. 

That hand in the air guy is seriously weird.

Seriously. She looks terrified.

This is the lovely couple responsible for expanding my pitifully narrow beer horizons to include some delectable brews from Japan. My personal favorite for the evening was Hitachino Nest White Ale brewed by Kiuchi Brewery. It was refreshing, spicy and not too sweet. Followers up were the Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout and Milk Stout. Now this is where the Japanese could perhaps stand some lessons in international marketing: they call their Milk Stout Lacto Sweet Stout, which doesn't really sound as appetizing. 

And so it was that I arrived at the Silver Gulch BeerFest fully expecting to stay loyal to my Belgians but was instead pleasantly impressed by the Japanese. Conclusion: They are taking over the world.

An excellent evening was had by all!

A smoothie, a muffin, 3 moose, another plane and more sunsets

I currently lack sufficient time or inspiration to write a full on entry, so here are some random things to entertain you.

Thing 1: I've been starting the day off with a fruit and veggie smoothie

First I put in some fruit juice, usually apple but today I used pomegranate. I then add yogurt, cinnamon, flax seed, vanilla extract, 1 fresh banana, some frozen or fresh spinach, frozen blueberries and strawberries and blend. Yumminess! 

Thing 2: The breakfast muffin recipe

I accidentally made a vegan version of my breakfast energy muffin last weekend because I started mixing stuff together before I realized we were out of eggs. I thought, what the heck? Apple sauce is kind of like an egg, right? Turned out fine!

Preheat oven to 400*F
Put some sort of oil or cooking spray in each muffin cup.
Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
1 1/4 cups:    Random healthy stuff (all bran, wheat germ, flax seed, grape nuts, coconut, Kashi Go Lean)
1 cup:     Whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons:     Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon:      Baking soda
 (I've recently started adding a couple table spoons of unsweetened, dark cocoa powder.)
----*----
Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
1 1/4 cup:      Applesauce
1/2 cup:      Milk (I use soy)
1/3 cup:       Molasses or honey (I put a bit of both)
1/2 cup:      Fruit pieces (Could use dried fruit. I use wild Alaska cranberries that have been sitting in the freezer for a long while.)
1 teaspoon:      Vanilla extract
Mix in some nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon, and allspice for more flavor
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Texture should be thick but if you tilt the bowl it should move. If it's too wet, add flour. If it's too thick add more applesauce and/or milk. I'm not one for exact measurements so I'm just guessing here!
Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and crisp to the touch on top. Take out and cool on rack before removing the muffins.

Thing 3: The 3 moose video

Here is another moose video kindly gifted to me by Kory Eberhardt, proprietor of A Taste of Alaska Lodge.

Thing 4: Another plane

I still find it amusing that I park my car next to planes when I go to work each evening. That's Murphy, the Subaru Legacy my parents are kindly letting me use for the summer. My mother likes to name inanimate objects.

Thing 5: More sunsets

Sure, July 4th is about American independence but more importantly it's my grandma's birthday

Family from as far as Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and California and as near as just down the road gathered together to celebrate Grandma Cathy's 90th birthday. 

There was a grill out at our house on Saturday, marking her birthday eve.

My mom's peonies are in full bloom.

My step-dad, Dixon, getting a head start on the grilling before company arrives. Tara begs to come out and play.

Eman helps Jenna entertain her love of dogs. Jenna expresses her affection by pulling Tara's hair and poking her with her finger. Tara is now terrified of babies.

Grandma enjoys her last day of being 89.

Grandma and Aunt Susan enjoying the sunshine before a thunderstorm rolled in.

 

Aunt Ann tries to rescue my uncle Raed from my clearly vicious dog.

Raed later warmed up to Tara.

Life really is all about the food, right?

July 4th: Birth date of Catherine Jones

My grandma decided she wanted KFC for her birthday and what the 90 year old wants, the 90 year old gets!

Uncle Raed does bear a slight resemblance to Colonel Harland Sanders. All I can think of is the South Park episode "Medicinal Fried Chicken". Hilarious!

My mom and Eman entertain, and are entertained by, Jenna.
Once in a lifetime family gatherings mean lots of photo taking.

Yes, that is an original Archie's comic from the 1960s.

I like how Dixon's hair has a bit of a delightfully unintentional Emo flare.

The kids, Ann, Dixon and Susan.

The grandkids, Eman, Zach, Ibrahim, and Rowan, and the great-grandkid, Jenna.

The matriarch.

The Jones/Berazas.

Everybody gets involved.

Uncle Raed expresses his boredom with picture taking and so concludes a fine day of celebration, complete with fried chicken, family, and angel food cake.