Marvel Us Music: New Alaska rap label and release spur tour

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Hip-hop and rap performers Daniel Buitrago, known as Soiled Seed, and Josh Boots will perform Friday night at The Hangar on the Wharf. Opening for them at 8 p.m. is Sea Life with DJ Judo.

The show is part of a statewide tour inspired by Boots' and Buitrago's new enterprise, Marvel Us Music, a label that replaces their previous project, Arctic Flow Records. The show also celebrates the scheduled June release of Soiled Seed's first collection "Tree Top High." Boots wants the fans to be excited about their show, promising to give 110 percent.

"We definitely earn our money - it's not going to be a few minutes show, it's going to be a couple hours show," said Boots in a phone interview. The duo will stop in Sitka, Juneau, Girdwood, Homer, Kodiak, Kotzebue, Bethel, Fairbanks, Valdez and Anchorage.

"We're really excited about doing the Alaska tour," he said. "We've been to Sitka and Juneau before, but now I actually have my own CD to sell. I'm really excited to go to villages like Kotzubue and Bethel and the Island of Kodiak." The group will then tour down south from Wisconsin to the West Coast.

Buitrago wrote his first song when he was 13, but didn't start taking song-writing seriously until he was 20. He said he was influenced by Latin music such as salsa and merengue because of his Columbian heritage, and by gospel music because of his religious mother. He eventually found rap in the '90s, liking Woo Tang, early Outkast and Most Def. Now he also likes Lupe Fiasco, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Dizzie, and Tupok for their lyrical style. After simmering for years, these influences emerged when he and Boots formed a group in 2000.

"Josh Boots and myself started a local group called 'Star Spangled Grammar' and we made a demo that ended up being an LP," he said. "The response from that was so good we just decided to keep it going," Buitrago said.

They started selling their CD's on the streets of Anchorage.

"We would be everywhere - UAA, the mall, hockey games, anywhere there were people, we would go sell them," he said. "People would start burning them and duplicating them for their friends and pretty soon it ended up in the hands of Jeremy, who called us up and said, 'Let's try and do something here.'"

It seemed natural to join forces.

"Jeremy, 'AKream,' was doing the same thing with his single and we decided to form a label and just basically put all our equipment together and make a name for ourselves, for all of us," he said. "That's how Arctic Flow Records was started."

The label had five releases and the rappers performed hundreds of shows but it ran its course. Now Boots, Buitrago and new partner Jason Zastrow are starting something new.

"We decided to split ways (with AKream) and he started doing his own thing with his company, and Josh Boots and myself started Marvel Us Music in 2010," said Buitrago. Akream will be releasing music through his new label, Ice Box Entertainment.

Buitrago likes the symbolism of Soiled Seed representing their fresh start.

"It means a new beginning, like a new seed that's planted that's going to begin to grow. I thought about where my music was headed and I thought since it was just the beginning I'd just go with that."

Buitrago also pointed out that a seed is grounded and rooted. "My head isn't in the clouds," he said.

When he isn't creating music, Buitrago teaches English to Spanish-speaking elementary students.

Josh Boots' third album, "Built to Last" will be released in October, and will be followed up with "Soul Matters" in May of 2011.

Boots said his new projects are more soulful because of a life changing experience.

"One of my sons just got diagnosed with cancer five months ago and that whole process kind of influenced the new music, which is more soulful and more reflective and mature than anything I've ever done," he said. His son has B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Buitrago's favorite song on "Tree Top High" is "Blue Music," also influenced by challenging experiences.

"I had three friends of mine and a cousin die all last year, Buitrago said. "It's a sad song explaining my feelings about how I didn't leave on the right situation and you never know if the person might be gone the next day." Buitrago had a falling out with all three friends a month before they died.

"It is also thanking all the people that have helped me out in my life, my family, Josh and Jeremy - overall thanks and forgiveness you know."

Not all the songs are sad, Buitrago said

"The opening track called 'Whose Listening,' says, I'm here, this is what I got, I want you to listen to me because I'm doing this for a reason, I want people to hear my music and I want to influence people with the things I'm saying."

• courtney nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net">nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.

'Friends' star Aniston's bathtub crafted in Haines

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

SeaOtter Woodworks in Haines was recently tapped by Hollywood.

Actress Jennifer Aniston's designer, working on the remodel of the star's Beverly Hills home, wanted to purchase a Japanese soaking bathtub for Aniston, famous for her role as Rachel on the show "Friends" and, more recently, her divorce from ex-husband Brad Pitt. The specialty tub, called an "ofuro," would smash the traditional his-and-her bathroom and create a spa room for her.

Only a few places currently make the tubs, so SeaOtter Woodworks owner Bill Finlay thinks the design team probably found his company in Alaska by doing a simple Internet search.

"We're one of only two builders that make these specialty Japanese style wooden bathtubs," said Finlay, who has shipped the tubs worldwide.

Ofuro tubs are handcrafted using a combination of ancient and modern woodworking techniques and are created from a rare and special hinoki wood that emits a healing lemon citrus scent.

"In Japan there is a lot of mysticism around the hinoki wood, that is certainly something that is talked about a lot because it's a beneficial wood to soak in," Finlay said.

The ofuro experience promises to turn bathing into an art, like Japanese tea.

"In Japan, hinoki is beloved for its healing qualities," he said. "They believe that when the bath steam is inhaled, the hinoki oil acts as a decongestant of the respiratory system, helps to cure asthma and is a tonic for the nervous and circulation systems."

The other use for hinoki wood is for building Buddhist and Shinto temples.

"The most remarkable thing people notice right away is the aroma," he said. "It has a citrus-type aroma and it holds up well in a wet environment which makes it a good wood for making a bathtub," said Finlay. "A lot of the wood we use for the tubs is from the Tongass National Forest - western red cedar and Alaska yellow cedar. We buy high-quality wood from a few small mills in Ketchikan, Craig, and Kake."

Aniston's tub was special.

"The size of it was custom, it wasn't just pulled off the shelf," said Finlay said.

The tub is featured in the March issue of Architectural Digest. Finlay has yet to get his hands on a copy of the magazine. He went to the library to look at it, but the April magazine was already on the shelf when he searched around Whitehorse.

Finlay hasn't heard from Aniston but said he followed up to make sure it had arrived.

"I got in touch with her assistant who said it had arrived and everybody thought it was beautiful and they were looking forward to installing it."

Finlay doesn't know if this is his first celebrity client because he sells to designers and architects who sometimes don't reveal the client.

"I don't know if the Queen of England has one, I'm just not sure," Finlay said.

Finlay, whose customers are mostly from outside Alaska, started making the tubs when the former owner of a salmon-smoking business was entertaining Japanese clients in his waterfront home in Juneau.

"Sometime in the mid '90s he asked me to build one for him and it was kind of an experiment. Then I noticed that people were starting to look for them, so over the last 15 years I have developed the product to fit that niche. It's a small niche, but it's there."

To see SeaOtter's custom tubs, visit www.japanese tubs.com.

• Courtney Nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net">nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.

Snap out of it

Tips to stop cycle of violence against women

By Courtney Nelson | Straight Talk

Whether you live in a big city or small town, assault crimes happen. But Alaska has the distinction of being 2.6 times the national average.

Snap! This is ridiculous. We should be outraged and actively making changes to protect Alaska women and children. Gov. Sean Parnell has declared his intention to address this, and I want to throw in my two cents. Here are some personal safety tips I learned growing up in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.

Attitude

There are several things researchers have discovered about assault crimes, one being that perpetrators are more likely to prey on victims that don't look they will fight back. So, women could deter a predator if they convey a message of confidence, and awareness with their body language. Head up, glancing around, confident stride, no eye contact. If a woman values her life and thinks it's worth fighting for, she will exude that energy in her general demeanor.

'Her' story

One way to find value in oneself is to learn about the history of women - the roots and genealogy. Pick up a few autobiographies and discover that women throughout history have been abused and have overcome unfathomable horrors emerging stronger and wiser in many cases. Women are fighters and survivors. My best friend and I used to work with children who had been abused. We taught dance classes at their shelter. Their favorite song to dance to was "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. I would go home humming the powerful lyrics and I'm sure those kids needed to have those lyrics echoing in their heads.

The snap

Once women have embraced themselves as worthy and found strength in history, it's time to find the inner "snap," expressed outwardly as the "Z-formation."

Take a firm stance, like Wonder Woman before she starts spinning, then place one hand over your head and snap your fingers. Make a Z by snapping at the Z corners down the front of your body. You can make the move more dramatic by saying something like, "oh no you didn't," or "take a step back now" For advanced attitude, also move your head from side to side. This body language is a visual boundary saying, do not pass the snap or there will be trouble.

No more Ms. Nice Guy

Women walk a fine line. They need to be tough and protective yet are expected to be polite and nice. My mom admired Ms. Kitty on "Gunsmoke" for balancing both. Refer to Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie" for another example of fierce grit under an attractive demeanor. Being nice when all your alarms are ringing can get women into trouble, like the lady who helped the serial killer move a couch into his van in "Silence of the Lambs."

Empowerment

Growing up in Los Angeles, I took a self-defense course to help give me an edge in the dark empty parking lots and alleys I faced daily. When I showed up to the first IMPACT self defense class, there were about 20 other women, including a famous actress with a stalker.

As we went around the circle, each woman told her unique story of why they wanted to learn how to defend themselves. Rapes, molestation, verbal abuse, stalkers - the stories were sad and scary. The abuse was from relatives, strangers and neighbors alike.

I picked the IMPACT class because we were allowed to use full force against padded mock attackers. By re-enacting realistic scenarios, I learned how to verbally de-escalate an attacker, assert myself, and set boundaries.

When the attacker couldn't be reasoned with, we would fight while the rest of the class cheered on. They yelled, "eyes, eyes, eyes" as I jabbed my fingers into the attackers eyes, then I would knee them in the groin, kick them to the ground and start pounding their face with the heel of my foot. I actually lifted one of my instructors off the ground with a groin shot. The environment was physically safe and emotionally supportive, which helped us gain self-confidence and a sense of personal power. I wish every woman could take this class. (Take note, Gov. Parnell.)

Heal old wounds

A strange thing happened during the IMPACT course. As women learned to fight, many broke down sobbing as they reached a point where it was so real, they were brought back to the moment of the abuse and trauma. They tapped into a pattern and then broke it by reacting differently and fighting for their lives. By changing reactions, studies show people can actually re-program their brain, break a cycle and begin healing.

Snap out of it

The biggest help could come from the community making a collective "snap" and not put up with violence anymore. They should empower the women in their lives and fiercely protect them. Women and children are being assaulted in Alaska more than other place in the United States. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, girlfriends and wives. Men wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for women. If someone assaults or abuses a woman, they are hurting themselves and the community as a whole. Perpetrators, keep your hands to yourselves.

I'm aware that assaults happen sometimes regardless of tough demeanors and that men also are victims of abuse. This column is intended for the empowerment of women.

Snap out of it!

'Mean Machine' goes down swinging in possible retirement bout split decision

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

At 50 years old, heavyweight Al "The Mean Machine" Valentine fought and narrowly lost his retirement bout against a friend, Gabe Steele Duckworth, 27, at Marlintinis' Lounge Roughhouse Boxing on Friday.

"Al's retiring and he wanted to fight me, so how could I turn that down?" said Duckworth, who had the reach on Valentine and tagged him with a hard right uppercut, which was his strategy going in. "I'm going to try and keep him on the end of my jab and when he ducks, I'm going to uppercut him. I love him - but I'm going to uppercut him."

Valentine said of his pre-fight strategy, "He's weighing in tonight at 247 and he's 6-3, so I'm most likely going to attack because I'm kind of short compared to him."

The "Mean Machine" turned it on halfway through the second round and Duckworth's head popped out of the ropes. Duckworth had the edge in Round 3 and he won the fight by split decision. Valentine has since said that he wants to fight one more time.

Jack "Jackhammer" Duckworth, 50, a Ketchikan youth counselor, challenged and then defeated comedian and tire technician Dan "Animal" Fink, 31, bringing Fink's record to 11-8-1. "I'm a lot slower than Jack. I knew he was fast but being four years out of the ring really showed tonight," Fink said. "I just wanted to stop him from running and he's really technical."

Duckworth, fighting his last career fight, had the reach on Fink, scoring points by staying on the run, and then tagging him with hard shots and using fancy footwork to escape. Round 2 was more of the same, with Duckworth ducking Fink's shots.

Duckworth started swirling one glove then surprising Fink with the other in round two. Then Fink exploded in the third but it wasn't enough to overcome the reach.

"It was just a way for us to get in shape," said Duckworth, who calls Fink was a good friend.

Duckworth lost 23 pounds for the bout and also just survived tonsil cancer, and he hadn't fought in 5 years.

Fink lost 18 pounds for the bout.

Jack Duckworth's son, 30-year-old Tyson Duckworth, 31-5-1, defeated 24-year-old Alaskan Brewing Company Employee Henry Dehling, 5-4-1, in one of the best matchups of the night.

Dehling attacked early, getting Duckworth to the ground, but he wrestled and gained power over Dehling.

"It felt good. He was real tough, I was real nervous about it but getting the victory was nice because he's what you call nasty tough," Duckworth said.

The fighters put on a good show, but Duckworth had the edge in all three rounds.

"My take down defense needs some work," Dehling said. "Every time I went to throw some strikes, he was just ducking under."

"They both got into good advantages positions and they got stood up, but it was a good fight," said sparring partner and corner man Damien Horvath.

A State of Alaska employee hailing from Sitka, Selina Slack, 26, brought her record to 6-1-1 with her defeat over her cousin, 26-year-old Anita "The Bomber" Durgan, 10-3-2, of Ketchikan.

Slack fought a different cousin her last bout and found out Durgan was her cousin as well.

"I haven't seen her in 15 years and we're both very shocked," said Slack before her win, saying her family saw Durgan's photo and figured it out.

Slack said she fights because "it's about making memories and savoring them."

Slack stayed tough all three rounds, despite the heavy leather blows from "The Bomber."

Experience won over youth when Rudy "No Introduction Needed" Vonda, 45, brought his record to 53-14-3 with a defeat over Sitka's much younger Eric Moy, 18, in a match that had both fighters thinking they won two out of three rounds.

Moy bloodied Vonda's nose in Round 1 and seemed to take that round. Vonda's corner repeatedly yelled "hands up," and then Vonda woke Moy up with a right left combo and the two traded blows to the bell.

Vonda attacked Moy's body in the third round, and made an impact.

"I think I was robbed in the end, but he did a pretty good job in the third round. The body shots really hurt me a bit, but I think I took the first two rounds," said Moy after the bout.

Vonda was on the attack, winning with an edge of sheer determination and domination to the bell.

"I trained hard for a month and in the end, my hard work paid off," Vonda said.

Klawock's Steven Roberts, 19, defeated Romy Yadao, 37, in one of two MMA fights, bringing Robert's record to 3-1-0.

The fighters, evenly matched with a one-pound weight difference, went the distance. Roberts had another come-from-behind win, repeatedly getting Yadao on the ground, but was caught in an arm bar. He recovered and turned the tables, but Yadao was saved by the bell.

Roberts recovered from an unfortunate low blow, and answered by taking Yadao to the mat and breaking out of an arm bar, then delivering a series of kicks to his head. Roberts got Yadao on the ground again and it was over in Round 3.

Tawn Green, 29, weighing 149 pounds and hailing from New Orleans, picked up his first win with his defeat of Logan Henkins, 27, of Juneau. Henkins, now 3-8-0, fights to try and even out his record and "because I need a job."

Henkins was delivered a standing eight count and they stayed pretty even through Round 2. Henkins took a pummeling from Green in Round 3, and was delivered his second standing eight count, but he stayed tough to the end.

The next Roughhouse Boxing will be held April 9.

Fight Card

Tawn Green defeats Logan Henkins

Rudy Vonda defeats Eric Moy

Steven Roberts defeats Romy Yadao

Tyson Duckworth defeats Henry Dehling

Selina Slack defeats Anita "The Bomber" Durgan

Jack "Jackhammer Duckworth" defeats Dan "Animal" Fink

Gabe Steele Duckworth defeats Al "Mean Machine" Valentine

Historic Alaska in 'Sound and Motion'

UAS to show treasures from the State Film Library

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Rare footage of the 1935 Douglas Bridge opening ceremony in color, a 1969 Alaska Airlines commercial for Mt. Alyeska Resort and Senator Ted Kennedy speaking at the Democratic Party Convention in Sitka just three days after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. are a few of the treasures to be shown Friday night at the University of Alaska Southeast.

Beginning at 7 p.m. in the Egan Lecture Hall, people can view hand-picked historical Alaska films, many shown for the first time publicly. The collection was put together by The Alaska State Film Library Historical Collections and is part of the University of Alaska's spring arts and humanities series "Sound and Motion."

James Simard, head librarian of historical collections at the Alaska State Museum, said some of the films had media degrading or were in outdated and obsolete formats, so they began to digitize them.

"We've been putting a lot of effort into converting our materials to make them accessible and preserve them," Simard said, adding "film projectors are damaging to the film so we feel the most responsible thing to do with original films is to get them transferred."

Simard and Damon Stuebner, Alaska's digital archives media technician, got to work salvaging the historical media and it seemed like a natural time to showcase the collection.

"They are so entertaining and they really truly are slices of life from the period they were made," said Stuebner, who was the first to see the films in many cases.

The collection comes from many sources including an obsolete 16mm film library that was split up after the emergence of video tapes but saved because of historical interest. "We also have private donations and we continue to get family films and some that are commercially produced," said Simard. Stuebner says the home movies are some of their greatest treasures because "they are real snippits and slice of life in Alaska."

After the laborious process of repairing film reels and other media forms, Stuebner would run a clip for the first time and the hard work would pay off. On a few occasions the footage was so intriguing the office would gather to watch. After viewing over two hundred hours of archives, Stuebner narrowed it down to ninety minutes.

"We wanted to try and pull from different places around the state - we picked a fair number of short films ranging from home movies to news reels to commercially produced documentaries to a political speech which pretty much encompasses what we have in our collection," said Stuebner.

On loan from Alaska airlines are several hundred audio and video tapes pertaining to the travel industry in Alaska from the 1940s to the 80s.

"One of these is called 'Mt. Alyeska Resorts' and it's an absolutely wonderful, almost comical film about the slopes and the party life at Mt. Alyeska outside of Anchorage," Stuebner said. "What is a film festival in Juneau without a ski film?"

Some other highlights are "Timber and Totem Poles," a 1949 piece produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing the Tongass National Forest as a great resource for timber and describing the meaning of totem poles. The Nixon, Polluck and Rasmuson Campaign Ads, an Inupiaq legend called "Three Stone Blades" filmed in Point Hope, and newsreels from Screen News Digest covering the history and economies of Alaska will also be shown, as will "The Farthest North School" from 1968, a weekly television show hosted by Elmer Rasmuson and Roger Laube that highlighted Alaskan subjects like history, art and literature.

UAS is a good venue to show the films, as UAS Marketing Director Katie Bausler had been informally asking the library for an educational collection for UAS students for years.

"One of our missions is to make the collections available to the public and it's pretty much up to us how we go about doing that and having a venue where we can show just a few of these films is definitely part of that mission," said Stuebner.

Stuebner thinks the Kennedy speech will be especially strong.

"The Alaska Ted Kennedy speech was during the Democratic Convention, but what makes this film really special is not Ted Kennedy but the scenario around the speech which was three days after the death of Martin Luther King Jr,. so much of Kennedy's speech highlights Dr. King's influence on the civil rights movement - that connection between someone that is culturally recognizable to a historical event that still has historical meaning and impact - that combination - and then to have it in Alaska makes the film really important."

'Cannabis North': A fictional piece with a political message

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Political activism and fiction come together in Douglas resident Dick Callahan's new book, "Cannabis North." Centering on the cannabis trade in Alaska, the book took Callahan three years to write and was begun after the author had an inspired moment in 2006.

While listening to then-Gov. Frank Murkowski attempts to increase penalties in arrests involving cannabis, and hearing testimony from lawmakers in Washington, Callahan realized he hadn't been paying enough attention. He started digging through the layers of information and, after learning about the changes in policy over the last 40 years, found himself pro-legalization.

Callahan will discuss and sign copies of "Cannabis North" tonight at Hearthside Books' in the Nugget Mall at 7 p.m. and then have a signing during the First Friday Art Walk from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the downtown store.

The author came up for an Alaskan adventure in 1981 from New Hampshire with a friend, a backpack and $400. When asked if the main character Dan Turpin, a cannabis smuggler, represents his own views, he said, "I've got a great crowd of people that live in my head. I've spent a lot of time with them and the characters in the book are composites of these people, including myself."

Turpin and a second character, Finn Wentworth, also appeared in his first book, "Alaska Titan in a Cruise Ship Theme Park," which focused on the cruise ship industry and its effect on Southeast communities.

Callahan said he views his new book as the solution to raising awareness without making people apathetic.

Callahan himself went through shock, disbelief, anger and apathy after reading about the arrests, prison terms and financial numbers involved in the war on drugs.

"I graduated from high school in 1973 and since I graduated there have been almost 20 million cannabis arrests," he said. "That's a staggering number of people, and it has compromised so many people's lives."

He noted that young people in their 20s make up the majority of those arrests.

"What young people face today is a lot more serious than what many people in parts of the country faced 40 years ago - things like losing their student loans - and the number of opportunities that can be lost with a simple pot bust has grown so much and for what?"

He also noted that these arrests lead to an abundance of prisoners.

"There are more prisoners per capita today in the United States than any other country."

Callahan said Harvard economist Jeffrey Meyer estimated the war on drugs costs $12.9 billion a year.

"For all those arrests and with all that money, we have more people than ever that are using it, it's more potent than ever and more available than ever."

Callahan believes prescription drugs are a much bigger problem, pointing out that while the government was putting a huge emphasis on marijuana, the number of people using serious drugs continued to rise.

Callahan has degrees in biology and education but was an activities coordinator at a drug and alcohol rehab center and used this information for his book.

"It was a great job because people there wouldn't front for me and they would just tell me stories, things that they wouldn't say to their counselors," he said.

Callahan lays out his views through character Turpin, who risks smuggling because it's his civic duty.

"I don't like them putting my friends and neighbors in prison for what we all smoked back in my day, and I don't like paying for the damn prison either," Turpin says in the book. "They can't build schools, they can't build hospitals, they can't feed the poor, but they can build prisons, pah!"

He noted that there are also many positive developments in the drug war.

"I think the most important thing a person can do in a democracy is pay attention and not be distracted by hysteria on either side but become educated on issues," he said. "If you feel things need to be changed, then people have to stand up and be counted. Change has to be from the bottom up."

• Courtney Nelson can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net">nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.

Pounding the competition

Lauth takes Guthrie in main event; Klawock's Roberts brothers win their bouts against Hoonah fighters

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

Friday was a night full of knockdowns during Roughhouse Boxing at Marlintini's Lounge which was postponed a week because fog prevented promoter Bob Haag from landing in Juneau.

In the main event, Brian Lauth outlasted Guthrie to grab the win, and brothers James "the Beast" Roberts, Jr., and Steven Roberts both won their respective bouts against boxers from Hoonah.

Brian Lauth, 19, defeated 2008 Southeast Showdown middleweight champion Shaun Guthrie, 27, again in the main event earning Lauth his third win in four bouts against the former champ.

Lauth said his strategy going in was to stay loose and calm, and save his energy for the fight. He got tips by reading Muhammed Ali's books and studying his fights.

Guthrie said he was looking to even the record by getting on the inside so he could "hit him in the body, tire him out and cut him off every chance I get."

Guthrie gassed out in the second round then retired by spinning away and resting his arms on the ropes.

"I run five miles a day for endurance and that was all I got for five miles a day?" he said after the fight. "I couldn't even lift my arms."

"I did what I did and I stayed calm," Lauth said. "Round two I kept seeing the openings and going for them."

Lauth will fight again March 12.

In one of two MMA contests, Charlie Gallant, 20, with a record of 28-3-0, defeated the previously undefeated 241-pound Patryck "The Animal" Willis, 20, who had two wins under his belt.

Gallant just returned from Afghanistan where he was stationed in the Army. He also spent time in a Florida training camp where he racked up some Muay Thai fighting experience.

"I trained with much heavier guys (but) I haven't trained in a while," he said. "So, that was a tough fight and he hit me pretty hard."

The two were evenly matched, trading blows in the first two rounds, when Gallant couldn't get Willis to the mat. Then Gallant landed some head shots and a knee to Willis' face to get him on the ground. Both boxers were gassed by the third round, but Gallant out-grappled Willis and hung on for the win. Afterward, he said he was motivated by the crowd.

Klawock's 177-pound Steven Roberts, 19, brought his record to 2-1-0 with his MMA win over Hoonah's sawmill operator Nathan Nichols, 28, a first-time fighter who said he wanted to test himself.

He had no official boxing experience or physical training, but said he'd been a street fighter in Hoonah because "anywhere there's drinking there's streetfighting."

"I don't have time to train, I'm working," said Nichols, who was filled with adrenaline from the bell.

He attacked Roberts, a skilled grappler, who was calm and focused.

The much larger Nichols lifted him up and slammed him to the mat appearing to be winning the match. But by round two he was completely gassed. Most of round three, Roberts, who'd been the underdog, had him in an arm bar submission hold and that's how the bout ended.

"I locked my legs around his arm and pulled back - it hurts," said Roberts.

His brother, 322-pound James "The Beast" Roberts, Jr., 24, of Klawock, brought his record to 7-4-0 after he defeated Hoonah's 210-pound Eric Larson, 21, now 2-5-0.

Roberts remained solid as Larson landed some heavy leather to Robert's mouth. The fight remained pretty even until Larson was sucking air and Roberts poured it on to grab the win. "I'm gonna work his sides until he's tired," Roberts said prefight.

Matt Richardson, 27, a Super Bear employee looking for extra cash, defeated first-time fighter and co-worker Jacob Scanlon, 20, in a fight that started off evenly. Then, Scanlon was on the run from the aggressive Richardson. By round three he was repeatedly turning his back until referee Joe Isturis issued a standing eight count and Scanlon was saved by the bell.

Logan Henkins, 27, brought his record to 3-7-0 when he earned a TKO over Klawock's Mitchell Edenshaw, 19, early in round one.

Henkins, unemployed, fights for money for propane to heat his camper until the next fights.

"I knew I had more experience so I just had to go with it," said Henkins of his strategy to combat Edenshaw's reach early in the first round.

In a bout pairing two first-time fighters, Home Depot employee Doug Nichols, 23, defeated Wrangell fisherman William "Zeitgeist" Musser V, 27, by standing his ground in the center of the ring.

In round one, the boxers tested each other while bobbing and weaving, but Nichols had more moves. Early in round three Nichols clocked Musser with a huge right uppercut that dropped Musser to the mat. He finished the round but Nichols out-tagged him with some heavy leather to the head.

In another bout pairing first-time fighters, Sitka's Eric Moy, 18, defeated Peter Hisler, 29, from California in an adrenaline-filled fight.

Hisler was knocked down by Moy when he walked into his glove in round one and was issued a standing eight count. Moy dominated the second round, tagging Hisler multiple times when he was against the ropes. Hisler had nothing left for the third round and was sucking air, but stayed tough to the end.

The next fights will be March 12 and will feature Al "The Mean Machine" Valentines' last fight, and Ketchikan's Duckworth father and sons will be on the card.

Fight Card:

Logan Henkins defeats Mitchell Edenshaw

Doug Nichols defeats William Musser

Eric Moy defeats Peter Hisler

Matt Richardson defeats Jacob Scanlon

Steven Roberts defeats Nathan Nichols MMA

James "The Beast" Robert Jr. defeats Eric Larson

Charlie Gallant defeats Patryck Willis MMA

Brian Lauth defeats Shaun Guthrie

Techno madness?

Tales of a techno gone mad

By Courtney Nelson | For the Juneau Empire

University of Alaska Southeast Media Communications professor Jason Ohler once taught our class how to blog but warned that when we plug into a new technology we unplug from something else.

Like a Jedi student, I took the technology with some awe and awareness. Like so many others, I am so plugged in now that I might blow a circuit. But is our quality of life better? Are we less stressed? Or are we instead saturated and over-stimulated? Here are some observations of life with new gadgets that are supposed to make our lives easier.

DVR

The good: We added Digital Video Recording capability to our cable, and so far I'm thrilled. We save time by automatically recording entire series or movies and then watching them later, without commercials.

My first Olympics with DVR has been different. Growing up in the dark ages, our family gathered around our television set to see figure skating drama unfold, in real time. Commercials were a time for processing and discussions.

Now we already know the medal winners from the Internet, so I click on my recorded Olympics series, fast forward to the medal-winning performances and call it a night. No more anticipation, just the best, forget the rest.

The bad: I think there is something cool about millions of people watching the same thing at the same time. The ups and downs are part of the experience and everyone gets their moment in the spotlight.

Another problem is limited disc space. When we start to max out, my husband and I start secretly deleting each others shows. Does my husband really have time to watch five episodes of Battle of the Bods or Jim Rome's smack talk? Delete. Ah, 5-percent more disc space.

iPhone

The good: My favorite iPhone app is - nerd alert - the stop-watch and timer. I consider my time-management extreme having gone from someone easily distracted by shiny objects to timing everything so I don't space out for a precious second. It takes me 4 minutes to fry an egg, 5 minutes to drive from Vanderbilt to JDHS, 8 minutes to fill a perfect bath, 9 minutes to blow dry my hair and 6 minutes to get from my front door to work. My friends are worried about me, but I know they are using the information for their own time management.

My second favorite application is the calendar. I input commitments, then alert myself 1 to 2 days before the event and then again one hour before. I've also started programming my husband's phone. On Friday, his phone will ring at 7:30 a.m., reading "take out the garbage," then again at 7:45 a.m. when he's forgotten. I program his phone to nag him for me. Brilliant!

My third most-used application is the microphone. I do spontaneous story interviews, record million-dollar ideas, things to do, where I parked.

The bad: The downside to the calendar is I'm either extremely punctual or a no-show. If I've forgotten to program something in, it doesn't exist. Sorry for the missed school work day!

Pretty soon I will be hunched over like a legislator or politician, constantly typing into a device. My memory brain cells will become weak.

Jump drive

The good: I have a jump drive, a disk that can hold lots of data, around my neck in case I have a chance to do some writing. This has sprung me from being tied down to a desk. My documents are accessible and I don't have to email things to myself.

The bad: Wearing a jump drive instead of a necklace is nerdy and a step toward becoming a robot. If I saw R2D2 or C3PO rolling down the street, they would probably register me as family.

Blogging

The good: Blogging is a modern-day journal, and I love to share my thoughts and ideas. I save trees while keeping my writing skills honed. Blogs could lead to potential income.

The bad: I'm a closet blogger. Once I learned how to create a blog, I became addicted and maintain too many, anonymously. The day will come when I will share them.

•••

So what are we unplugging from with these new connections? Friends and family? If we stay up late blogging and catching up on shows, are we tired the next day and frazzled from zooming through complete series of shows without pausing for reflection? Should it be more about energy management than time?

I don't text and drive, but millions plug into texting and unplug from driving then crash into people while typing - "not much - just driving ... "

All texting drivers say they are different, that they can do it. Oops - my timer went off. Time to end this story.

• Courtney Nelson is a Juneau resident breaking it down with sassy, sensible truths. She can be reached at nelsonfamily@acsalaska.net.