Good morning. Hello. How are you? #1127
Jane is still sick, I am 51 years old and still have not chosen a sleeping position, a reminiscence on Alaskan malls of the 80's
GOOD MORNING. Hello. How are you? Cough cough. Still sick. Jane is still sick. Being sick is a lifestyle now, I have become sick, destroyer of energy. Apparently she’s “the mayor” this week at school too. Not sure what that means, but that class is without their mayor, things might get ugly. We should tell her teacher she is “hiking the Appalachian trail.”
Speaking of missing figureheads, I do not care. I just don’t care I don’t get why people care. I made the mistake of clicking on a “what is all this brouhaha about Kate Middleton” primer article link on Threads and they have taken that as evidence that I care and are now showing me endless articles about Kate Middleton. This seems like an absolute rookie mistake of algorithm programming and I am somewhat shocked that a company so supposedly sophisticated would make this kind of crap-ass algorithm. I am in a royalty k hole please help me get out.
Hi Jane.
“Oh Hello. What are you doing? Writing?”
Yes Jane, I am writing. I write every morning, remember? I am writing to a bunch of people. It is called a “newsletter.”
“Why do you write?”
Well, I write to feel better, I write because it helps me figure out problems, and I write because it is my favorite art, like drawing or crafting is your favorite art. Why do you draw?
“Because it is a fun thing to do and I don’t like being bored and because it’s..”
Satisfying? Rewarding?
“No.. it makes me think about what plans I have sometimes.”
Yes I think those are all very good reasons and I think that is the same with me. Different people like different arts. My favorite one is writing, you seem to like drawing and music. I like music too!
Jane is now looking at photos of the singer yeule on my Spotify interface. We are going to turn off Craig Finn and play the new yeule cover of Broken Social Scene from the soundtrack to the forthcoming film I Saw the TV Glow, about which I am pretty excited. I enjoyed this director’s previous film, We Are All Going to the World’s Fair and am mildly curious to see Phoebe Bridgers act.
Yesterday as I was writing this, Jane came over and asked me about the music I was listening to. It was the new ambient Laudadio jam. I told Jane this kind of music was called “Ambient music.”
“Do you like Ambient music?” I asked.
“Not my favorite.” She said diplomatically and succinctly.
Man I am just becoming a dude who quotes his kids this is not good. That’s okay I have other topics.
Next topic. This is a one line observation, but I am curious how universal it is or if I am alone in this situation:
I am a grown-ass adult and I still have not settled on a sleeping position.
If this situation applies to you please leave a note in the comments. Like and subscribe and click the bell icon so you never miss a video.
Tik Tok. I’m gonna go on record as saying I support the Tik Tok law. Tik Tok should free itself from its Chinese ownership if it wants to stay in America. This is not a reflection on the internet or the state of social media or Biden or Trump or any of that shit. Straight up tit for tat. If Tik Tok were a peanut butter maker, I would support this position. China bans our companies that do X, we are under no obligation to let a repressive regime run companies unfettered in our society while they do so. Seems pretty straight forward.
From an internet point of view, it doesn’t matter. Social Media powerhouses rise and fall and eventually die. While this pattern may change, at the moment it seems to be the rule, and generally speaking, life moves on. I mean, every past social media company that I loved leaves a little hole in my heart, sure: I miss LJ and Tumblr and Foursquare and whatnot and I will hold them beloved forever and would immediately participate in any rebound but also I am fine. I know how these Tik Tok creators feel but Google and Meta and Jimbob have all been putting extraordinary effort into recreating TikTok anyway, they can all just move somewhere else. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters.
It Doesn’t Matter, Nothing Matters: a daily newsletter by a Gen Xer.”
That is a lie things matter. Politics. Gardening. Youtube, maybe. Pedestrian domesticity as a political movement. Etc. Etc.
Alaskan malls. I would like to take a moment to reflect on the various Alaskan shopping malls of the 1980’s.
Gotta start with the beast, of course: Dimond Center. Felt like you were in another state, felt like a little mini Mall of America what with its movie theaters and skating rinks and arcades and whatnot. Was way too big even for Anchorage, the place always felt empty, but that was kind of its charm. To this day I wonder what kind of person goes to Dimond Center.
What age was I when I learned that it was “Dimond” center and not “Diamond” center. I think maybe 12, and I think maybe in my 30s when I learned who Dimond was. Dimond has new relevance today because he literally changed the world. Dimond is the man chiefly responsible for convincing FDR to not make Alaska a Jewish homeland.
Imagine if Dimond failed in that effort.
I did not know that Dimon’s godson was Bill Egan, Alaska’s first state governor.
Then there was 5th Avenue mall in Anchorage. Most notable for the skybridge from the parking garage to the mall. And the other skybridge from the mall to the Nordstrom. Were these Alaska’s only sky bridges? I cannot think of any sky bridges in Fairbanks. This mall was considered a bit more upscale and, ultimately, became the home of Alaska’s only Apple Store. It had a Hot Dog on a Stick. It wasn’t near as fun for a kid except for maybe the food court. Oh it had a Musicland aka Sam Goody. Oh and Sunset Video. That place was pretty great that is where I bought my VHS copies of Depeche Mode 101 and New Order Substance so that mall was not all bad.
Northgate Mall. First mall you run into as you arrive in Anchorage from the parks. One long hallway, so it didn’t feel as grandiose as 5th Avenue Mall or Dimond Center. I don’t remember any of the stores except Sears was an anchor. But we’d always make a point to hit it on Anchorage family shopping trips because it had Red Robin, which was maybe the best burger in the state for a short time around 1994. Well, for a twelve-year old.
Hold please I just paid 19.99 for another month of ChatGPT that I do not use that was a failed experiment, gotta cancel it.
Moving north, we have the Cottonwood Creek mall in Wasilla. Came a bit later, but was definitely in existence before 1990, so it makes our cutoff. Indeed, you could argue its heyday was before 1990, though I suppose its current iteration, where the original mall is destroyed and it has been transformed into a box store lot, is probably more popular. Back then it had that awesome book store. Bought a Josef Sudek portfolio book there. I liked that place but it was always a bit… sad.
The small strip mall attached to Carr’s in Wasilla. Not worth speaking of. Back then it had not much of anything. For a long time — I think to this day? — it had the great used book store (well, great for Alaska) but I don’t think it opened until the 90’s.
The super long strip mall in Wasilla between the old airport and the Parks that has been there forever. Just the best. Value Village. MattSu family diner. A Thai restaurant. None of those were there in its first incarnation in the 80’s but that mall has shocking, thrilling longevity. It really is a miracle.
Moving 360+ miles north we hit our next malls, in Fairbanks. What did we have?
University Park by the Airport. Had Waldenbooks, that place was great. Lotta highbrow erotica. Bought my first copy of The Sorrows of Young Werther there. We hosted the Key Club high school haunted houses there, that was fun. Had a computer store that sold the Franklin Ace clone of the Apple II. I wanted one so bad. Pay n Save was a great drug store.
Shopper’s Forum was actually the best mall in Alaska. Had the hobby store (oh there was a good hobby store in Dimond center too gotta give it props for that), the camera store, the screen printer of novelty t-shirts, the Hallmark shop. Just a fantastic collection of stores for a kid. My god the number of hours I spent in that hobby store. Lamont’s was pretty good for a department store. The grocery store sold the beef jerky disguised as tobacco chew and the gum disguised as tobacco chew and the gum disguised as cigarettes: all important youth staples in the 80’s. This mall never got the attention it deserved. Oh man it had a pet store too.
Gavora Mall. My dad worked here as a butcher for a while when I was a baby, before he got his state job. The drug store was solid (Pay n Save?). Ditto grocery store. Not a lotta kid friendly stores but I loved the way it had that branch that went north off of the main hallway and had that circle. That was cool. Only mall in Fairbanks that was more than a single hallway, even if it was an affectation.
And, of course, the grandaddy of Fairbanks malls, Bentley Mall. Musicland. Waldenbooks. Jay Jacobs. GameStop, was it, later? I bought the PS1 there. That was the 90’s, though. Chris worked at Musicland, that place was a mecca. One day Chris and I were walking down the mall and an old lady looked at us and said “oh! They’re both boys!” I shoplifted a lotta Playboys from that Waldenbooks. Bought the first NIN 12” at that Musicland and oh shit Clown Town. The most important store in the history of Fairbanks. What an amazing toy store. It will be forever missed.
There as that fake two-story mall up the road from Bentley mall. Still there. Regency Court. Never hit the right note as a “mall” but it looks like it’s actually doing well? I see it has a Thai restaurant now: Siam Square. Anyone been there?
The innumerable corner strip malls of Alaska do not count but I do want to make a special shout-out to the corner strip mall next to the old Fred Meyer where for a while Freddies had its music department and that cute girl was there and Frank and I would go in and flirt with her and we bought the Sweet Child O Mine cassingle from her and we all agreed that none of us liked Guns N Roses but that that song was really good. River Mall. Apparently it has a vintage shop now I will check that out next trip.
Were there any other malls in Alaska? I cannot think of any in Nome or Barrow or Palmer or the southeast at the time. I bet I am missing an Alaskan mall.
Were I Craig Finn, I would sing a song: “pour one out for the 80’s malls of Alaska.”
I’m sorry. I know you don’t care, nothing matters, etc. But someone has to document these things. I have spent a significant portion of my life on the internet researching Clown Town and there is just not a lot out there.
Until tomorrow.
Today’s Media of the Day is a covers playlist, on which I have been working since early December. Today’s discovery of a Mick Harvey cover of “Song to the Siren,” and yesterday’s release of the aforementioned yeule cover but us over the 1 hour top on this one.
Oh sweet Jane just put on the “So Hard” cassingle by the Pet Shop Boys man I am a good parent.
I think the guy in that pic is Rick Koller