It is not everyone who has a photograph of the exact moment that somebody decided that they despised them.

This is a still that my friend Dennis Zaki sent me yesterday from the day back in 2009 when I interviewed Sarah Palin.  (I will not bother to retell what happened as you can simply go here and read the whole wild story for yourself.)

I do remember this part in particular because though Palin had been somewhat suspicious throughout the interview, it was not until this point right here that she suddenly decided that something was up.

Look at those eyes! I swear I lost several years off my life that day.

Don't laugh at the Palin curse folks, it's real.

For my part I thought I had handled the whole thing quite well considering it was my very first on camera interview and I was coerced by Dennis into doing it.

Of course the fact that during the entire interview I was worried that she would suddenly drop Trig, point in my direction, and scream "GRYPHEN" in that high pitched scream from the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," did nothing to quiet my nerves.

And of course it was right after this that she chased us out into the parking lot.

Ah, good times.

No Track Palin did not cut brake lines on school buses, and other misinformation about the Palins.

So several people sent me this link  

yesterday: just ask me I am happy to repeat that yes they are. I will gladly tell how Sara's son and also his Best friend who was Bristols Boyfriend at the time and their gang vandalized our bus barn in our community that had just been refurbished and given a beautiful facelift. They broke several windows, broke in stole stuff and broke windows in some of the buses as well and busted water pipes etc. They caused thousands of dollars of damage just to be asshats that was years ago but I am still angry about it. 

I will glady say how Sarah is a racist piggy oink and how Bristol was a brat when she was younger and is still a brat. 

Oh I can confirm it all and more.

So yes this is in fact one of the things that Track got into trouble over, and which his mother had swept under the rug.

However this is all he did. He did NOT cut brake lines on the buses. Despite what you might read on the internet.

And while we are at it let's clear up a few other bits of misinformation swirling around the web as well.

Track's daughter, Kyla Grace Palin, that he had with Britta, IS in fact his kid and not one of Bristol's from a previous unannounced pregnancy.

In fact one of the reasons that I first suspected she was pregnant, after that quicky wedding up at Hatcher Pass, was because Dennis Zaki happened to see her in either a Wal-Mart or Carrs in Wasilla and she was clearly pregnant. (This was well before those baby shower pictures showed up online.)

Let's see what else?

Oh.

No Bristol NEVER had mono. This was confirmed by Mercede quite a few years ago, and reconfirmed by several sources since.

It was featured in the original Daily Kos story as the reason that Bristol missed so much school in Anchorage, but so far I have been unable to determine if even that part was completely accurate.

Speaking of Bristol she did NOT name Tripp after Shailey Tripp.

He was named after the character Trip Carlyle, in one of Levi's favorite movies, Supercross.

It is just another one of those crazy coincidences that seem to occur around the Palins with alarming frequency.

And finally no Bristol has not already given birth to her newest baby bump. And yes she is indeed pregnant.

As far as I have been told the blessed event is not until some time in December.

And no I don't secretly know who the father is, and I have heard that Bristol is not telling anybody anything.

And one more thing, I NEVER said that "the truth about Trig's birth is too terrible or shocking to tell." That was attributed to some other person several years ago and for some reason I have been saddled with it despite several corrections.

Oh, and I don't have any evidence that it is accurate either.

Just a final thought for all of you to keep in mind.

People say all kinds of things on the internet, and often they are total bullshit.

Just because somebody says something with authority, and I don't bother to correct it, does not make it a factual statement.

Our friend Dennis Zaki has a new, very informative page about all things Alaska.

So Dennis has been working on this rather incredible website for awhile now and late last night he decided to launch it publicly.

It is called Alaska Trekker, and it is chock full of interesting facts, amazing original photos and video of the Alaska outdoors, and even information on travel to and within the state.

Dennis did this purely out of frustration that there wasn't already a page that had all of the things that people are looking for when they are thinking of making a visit to our fair state.

Personally I am just happy that now people will get to see some of the amazing pictures that Dennis has been sharing with me for years.  The guy is really good!

Anyhow if you have a moment head on over and leave a comment. I know he will appreciate it.

In IM's first where are they now segment, we discuss WTF ever happened to former Palin's Director of Communications Bill McAllister? Update!

So this morning my friend Dennis Zaki sent me the Linkedin profile for Bill McAllister, a name I have not thought about in a few years now.

Take a look:  

Bill McAllister's Overview 
Current 
Freelance Journalist at Freelance Journalist 

Past 
Guest co-host, "The Eddie Burke Show" at AIM 
Senior Enterprise Journalist / Anchor at KTVA CBS 11 News 
Communications Director, Office of the Attorney General at State of Alaska 
Director of Communications/Press Secretary, Office of the Governor at State of Alaska 
Capitol bureau chief / politics reporter at KTUU-TV Channel2 
Producer, "Alaska Week" at KTOO-TV & FM 
State politics reporter, columnist at Juneau Empire 
Managing editor / reporter / columnist at St. Paul Legal Ledger 
Chief politics reporter, Capitol correspondent at St. Cloud Times 
Founder / artistic director at Inverted Pyramid Theatre Troupe

One has to ask themselves just how light does your resume have to be for you to attempt to pad it by including your short time as a co-host on the Eddie Burke Show?

And did anybody else notice that Bill listed his time as Director of Communications for the Governor of the State of Alaska but conveniently omitted Sarah Palin's name?

Methinks that somebody is trying to put the past behind them.

Check out McAllister's Linkedin Summary:

Telling the truth to the best of my ability, and as elegantly as I can, comforting the afflicted when I can and afflicting the comfortable when I must.

Really? Telling the truth? 

You know I would really like to hear some of that truth sometime.  Because I know that there was a lot of it from his time as Director of Communications for"the Governor who shall not be named" that is still yet to be told.

There are other former Palin staff members I would like to hear from as well.

Including Palin's former attack dog Meg Stapleton, who sadly is NOT on Linkedin, but who I know has much to tell.

Last I heard she was working with her husband, but since then we have lost track of her.

You may remember that she quit only two days after my "Tale of Two Babies" post.

I would love to know if there was a connection.

Update:

Dennis e-mailed me to remind that McAllister was fired from his job with KTVA after his wife served him with a restraining order.

He also tells me that the last time there was an Ivy Frye sighting, that he knows about, she was standing in the unemployment line in Wasilla.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. That is what happens when you attach yourself to a falling star. You end up crawling out of a burning crater.

Road Trip! Update!

I am right now visiting the Byron Glacier with Dennis Zaki who is up visiting from California.

I have not done nearly as much hiking this summer as usual, so I definitely need get out into the wilderness and replenish my batteries.

I will of course continue to check the blog today and okay comments even though I am not sitting at the desk in my office as usual.

I will also encourage Dennis to take some photos so I can share them with you.

Update: Well that was a blast!

And now a blast from the past.

If you are long time visitors here at IM you are probably well aware that yours truly is often escorted from Palin book signings.

The above video is from the first time it happened, back in 2009 for Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour, and it came as a complete surprise.

Here is what I wrote then:  

My first hint that something may be wrong down in Who-ville was when I was asked for my ID, not once, but twice. Then as Dennis and I were about to sign in, and the lady behind the desk took our picture with a little digital camera! WTF? I have never had anybody do that before at any other event that I attended as a media representative. I wondered why there was such tight security, unaware that my question was only seconds from being answered. 

Almost as soon as I had my picture taken I felt a hand on my shoulder. 

I turned around and came face to face with a local police officer who quickly apologized and then informed me that I was on the "banned list". 

"I am on the WHAT list?" I asked. 

"The banned list sir, I am going to have to escort you off of the property. This is a private event."

Both Dennis Zaki and I were escorted out that day.  And it resulted in quite a backlash against Sarah Palin, her publisher Harper Collins, and the staff in charge of the Curtis C. Menard Memorial Sports Center, where the signing was held.

However I guess I never realized exactly how big of an impact it had on the poor guy who was in charge of the sports center.

The other day Dennis sent me this article from early 2010, that I somehow missed:  

It wasn't the largest event ever held at the Wasilla Sports Complex, or the most lucrative. 

But city recreation and cultural services manager James Hastings said the Dec. 22 book signing that publishing company HarperCollins sponsored for former Gov. Sarah Palin at the facility has been the most controversial by far. 

"The event was easy. The whole thing over being told these folks (on a not-welcome list) can't be here, that was nightmarish," Hastings said. 

Reporters wanted to see the contract between HarperCollins and the city. There was none, Hastings said. The publisher arranged the rental verbally and paid the city electronically. Instructions were handled by e-mail and in a walk-through with Todd Palin before the event. The only written document was instructions he handed out to his staff and three volunteers: A list of names provided by Todd Palin of four people not welcome at the event. 

On the banned list were Dennis Zaki, a photographer who formerly ran the Web site Alaska Report, blogger Jesse Griffin, Anchorage radio host Shannyn Moore and Andree McLeod, an Anchorage activist who filed state ethics complaints against Gov. Palin. 

While neither Moore nor McLeod attended, both Zaki and Griffin were there. After they signed in at the media table that morning, they were told they were banned from attending and escorted out of the building, even though HarperCollins paid $475 to rent only the turf court and mezzanine sections of the sports center. 

Suddenly, with news of a "banned" list, the signing became big news. 

Hastings said that as a result of the hubbub, he plans to end the "handshake and a gentleman's agreement" approach the city has had for one-time rentals. 

"In the next 30 days we're going to have a rental agreement so you write down what you want," Hastings said.

I knew it got a lot of attention, and for awhile Dennis and I even flirted with the idea of suing Harper Collins, but eventually I figured things went back to the usual for the sports center.

Apparently I was mistaken, and our little fracas, for which I continue to proclaim my innocence, resulted in a policy change that continues to this day.

You know the other thing this did was start a trend which Tina Dupuy noticed in 2011, and which inspired her to compile her now famous Sarah Palin's Enemies List.

Of course Dennis and I are on there along with Joe McGinniss and Levi Johnston.

In fact this list became such a status symbol that people were campaigning for the right to be added.

However not to split hairs or anything, but there is "I wrote something critical and now she doesn't like me" enemies, and "The crazy lady hates me so much she keeps throwing me out of book signings" enemies.

Oh, but if you don't think she likes me now, you just wait.

"Alaska's Corrupt Bastards Club" a new documentary by our friend Dennis Zaki.

From the site:  

The true story of the ongoing corruption that runs rampant in Alaska. 

Alaska-based oil companies bribe politicians, engage in racketeering all in a conspiracy to rob Alaska of its oil wealth, much of it done right out in the open. They were so brazen that a girlfriend of one of the criminals had hats made with CBC on them. 

I'll also delve into a murder plot, underaged sex, extortion, and con artists masquerading as lawmakers doing the bidding of their oil company bosses.

Dennis has done extensive research and has gotten his hands on information and film footage that has never yet seen the light of day.

I guarantee you that this movie will shock even those of you who think they have seen it all when it comes to corruption in the great state of Alaska.

Dennis is also looking for donors to help finance the film (I have already pledged my $150), so if you have any money to spare this is a worthy cause. 

You know what they say, "You ain't seen nothing yet."

Mark Begich says he is not worried about a challenge from Sarah Palin for his Alaska Senate seat, and again expresses doubts that she is even a resident.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) is not a serious threat to Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) in the 2014 senate race because she is so "disconnected" from the state, the incumbent told the Huffington Post in an interview published Monday. 

"She would be a formidable opponent in the Republican [primary], but I have no worry or fear of her," Begich told the Huffington Post. "I think she is so disconnected from Alaska now that I'm not sure she even knows what's going on." 

Begich isn't positive Palin is a resident of Alaska anymore. 

"I'm not even sure if she still lives in the state," he said.

I think Mark is well aware that the Caribou Barbie of Alaska has now been replaced by the Scorpion Sarah of Arizona. And as for her understanding of Alaska polities, well it really was not all that good to start with, and there is little doubt it has degraded since then.

By the way I chose that picture of Mark because Dennis sent it to me, and becasue it made Begich look aggressive, and "usually he is always smiling."

I think I would be smiling too if people thought my biggest challenge in 2014 was Sarah "I quit" Palin.

Alaska painted with fall colors.

On the road

Near Tok, Alaska

So my friend Dennis Zaki is driving out of Alaska toward California right now, and these are pictures he has sent me thus far from his trip.

I thought that they may serve as a pleasant sight this early Monday morning.

I will share more as they arrive.

Remembering the one and ONLY time that I interviewed Sarah Palin.

I am sure that many of you will remember this video as the one from my "Bloggers and the Barracuda" post.  However many of you will also remember that it, and many of my other videos, were taken down when Dennis Zaki decided that he had had enough of Palin and took them all off of his You Tube page.

So I decided that I would post some of them periodically and remind people that they exist, now hosted on MY You Tube page.

For those who want to read the entire account jut click the ling above for the entire bizarre story of my one interview and what happened afterward.

It is rather long but here is a taste:  

We finished packing things up, thanked her for the interview, and exited the building to load up the car. 

After we finished I left Dennis outside with the equipment and went inside to get my friends and tell them that we were ready to hit the road. 

When I located them in the sports center one of my friends asked “Did you see her?” 

“See who?” I asked warily. 

“Sarah Palin! When you left she handed Trig to Piper and charged across the middle of the basketball court in hot pursuit of you guys!” 

Uh oh! 

As we walked toward the exit we kept our eyes peeled, but did not see any sign of the Governor, so I figured that maybe it was no big deal and that she had given up and decided to rejoin her kids on the basketball court. 

However when I climbed into the car I asked Dennis if HE had seen Palin. 

“Oh yeah” he said. “She came out with a notebook and wrote down your license plate number.” 

Uh oh!

Oh yeah, THAT happened!

The other reason I wanted to revisit the video is because sometimes newbies seem confused as to how we know that Trig needs hearing aids. 

Well for one thing we have information from Palin herself and others that Trig communicates in sign language and as far as we know he is not yet speaking.  It is fairly common for those with Down syndrome to suffer from hearing loss, and it would seem that Trig is among that number.

However I personally first began to suspect that was the case during the interview at the top. If you watch it carefully you will notice there is a quite a lot of background noise and that Trig is seemingly asleep. (He was.) That might not seem that unusual, but at the 1:21 mark there is a very loud buzzer which, to be honest, startled me more than a few times. And yet Trig remains in a deep sleep.

THAT is when I first became convinced that he had some type of hearing loss.

A hearing loss that seemingly is not taken seriously, as evidenced by the fact that Trig is NEVER photographed wearing his hearing aids. Not even on the first day of school.

After all who needs to hear in order to learn in school? Right Sarah?

Dennis Zaki presents his own version of "Jaws." Alaskan Jaws that is.

Alaska Salmon by Dennis Zaki from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.

Yes those are Zaki's skinny legs at the end there.

Dennis so enjoyed my Russian Tampax commercial the other day that it inspired him to look through the reams of salmon footage that he has filmed (And believe me, he has TONS!) to put together his own clip.

I thought it was worth sharing.

Last camping trip of the summer!

Well here I am again sleeping outside in a leaky tent instead of back at home in my cozy house and my comfy bed. I think my friends hate me.

There are no mosquitoes this time around but there are overcast skies with the chance of a deluge. Oooh, lucky me!

As usual I have chosen a location where I can still get WiFi access, because let's face it, we can do without flushing toilets and central heating, but the lack of internet is simply barbaric!

Later this evening I am looking forward to a meal of undercooked processed meat with splinters in it, washed down with warm beer, and for dessert charcoal black marshmallow flambe.

Of course as you know I love Alaska and will soak up as much nature (Hopefully NOT in the crotch of my jeans this time) as I can before the snow arrives, which gauging from the fact that there is termination dust on that mountain over there may be much earlier than we are prepared for.

Okay seriously, is that snow? Goddammit!

I will provide you updates as events warrant.

Back on YouTube, Shailey Tripp's very first interview, which was NOT in the National Enquirer.

You know I have great affection for my buddy Dennis Zaki. But sometimes Dennis does things on an impulse which can have unpredictable consequences for others.

About a year ago Dennis called me and said he was done with that bitch, and was going to take everything he had on his YouTube account pertaining to Sarah Palin off.

Since a number of my posts had video that still linked to his site, I freaked out.

Dennis assured me that he would save them for me, and give them to me on a disc. Which he did.

However around this same time period Dennis was helping me to build a new computer.

We installed a disc drive, and it worked fine, right up until I got ready to upload the videos from his disc.  That was the day I found that the disc player would no longer function.

After numerous attempts to fix it, it still remains on the fritz.

In the meantime none of my links to his YouTube videos worked.

Until now.

Now I have the video on a thumb drive and they have been uploaded to MY YouTube account.

So for those of you who have never heard this interview, or have not heard it for a very long time let me present Shailey Tripp in her own words, before she was famous, and before she wrote her book  "Boys Will Be Boys: Media, Morality, and the Coverup of the Todd Palin Shailey Tripp Sex Scandal."

For those who wonder about Shailey's back story here are a few of my posts leading up to this interview.

The beginning.

The Police deny Todd Palin's involvement.

Sarah defends the pimp.

I realize just how important Shailey's story is to the babygate mystery.

And finally the original interview post.

There that should bring you up to speed.

I will probably write other posts while reintroducing you to more lost videos. When know when time allows.

Here is an Alaskan "moment of zen" to send you off to dreamland.

Backyard Moose in Palmer, Alaska from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.
My friend Dennis Zaki recorded this out of his back window in Palmer the other day.

They are pretty majestic alright.

Let's take a short break from politics to enjoy something uniquely Alaskan.

These pictures below come to us courtesy of our friend Dennis Zaki who was downtown yesterday for the unofficial start of the Iditarod here in Anchorage.

 I have sometimes been critical of the way sled dogs are treated up here in Alaska (Though I have to admit things are much better for them now than in the past.), however you cannot help but to be impressed with the enthusiasm these beautiful animals demonstrate at the opportunity to pull that sled.

As somebody who has ridden on the back of a dogsled I can tell you that getting the dogs to run is NEVER the problem, the problem is getting them to stop.

According to my e-mail it looks like Dennis is headed out to Willow for the official start of the race today, so perhaps he will gift us with a few more of his amazing photos.

A little beauty provided by our friend Dennis Zaki.

Dennis has been working with a seafood company out in Dutch Harbor and during his down time took some simply amazing photographs which he suggested all of you might like to see.

Wait until you see these!

Scenic Alaska

Processing crab

Dutch Harbor, Alaska

The harbor in Dutch Harbor

Smile!

Emperor Goose

fishing boat

Bringing in the catch

Dennis said these guys were EVERYWHERE!

 See? Alaska is not just about crazy Right Wing politicians and teabaggers.

A little Alaskan beauty for you this morning courtesy of our friend Dennis Zaki.

Dutch Harbor stock footage - Outtakes from a film I'm making from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.

Dennis has been working on a film out in Dutch Harbor, Alaska recently and this is some of the gorgeous footage that he uploaded for me to share with all of you.

Let me know if after you watch it you have the same hankering for a crab dinner that I ended up with.

Some Alaskan beauty for you courtesy of Dennis Zaki.

It is currently snowing pretty hard right now, but I thought you might like to see some of the colors Dennis captured during our rather short autumn season.

Just yesterday these magnificent beasts showed up in Zaki's back yard. Moose are almost as plentiful up here as cockroaches in the lower forty eight, but this group of animals are still damn impressive looking.

Last night we were dazzled by a rare display of the Aurora Borealis.

While they are quite common in northern Alaska those of us down here in the city usually don't get that many opportunities to see them. Last night sort of made up for that.

Good night my friends. See you in the morning.

A second helping of snowy Alaska.

My friend Dennis Zaki noticed my sad little I-Phone pictures from this morning and figured I needed a little help, photography wise.

Here some pictures he took today out in the Valley.

Well sure, everything looks better when you shoot it in focus.

By the way most of that early morning snow has already melted away, but I have little doubt that it will be back very, very soon.,

Sometimes Alaska blows.

So as some of you realize we have been dealing with some very serious windstorms up here in the Great Land.

Two weeks ago I lost my electricity for almost two days, and last night I lost power repeatedly.

The wind has been blowing so hard that it has blown away everything not nailed down.

For instance here is my neighbor's tree.

And here is a copse of trees we saw along the bike path which were completely uprooted.

The entire group was laying across another neighbor's fence.

And another one just down the street.

However the wind has not simply been blowing the hell out of Anchorage, it has also extended out to Palmer. This is video that my friend Dennis Zaki took about two hours ago out in Palmer, which is about forty three miles away.

Did you hear that wind? That is what it has been like outside of my window for weeks now.

That giant tree you see laying across the ground is just one of the many trees that Dennis has had crash down on his property, and there are a number of other giant trees uncomfortably close to his rather tiny cabin.

Anyhow that is what it has been like up here for the last three weeks, off and on. So if I suddenly disappear from the internet for several hours at some point in the near future you will probably have some understanding as to why.

I love Alaska, I just love it better when it is not picking shit up and throwing it at my house.