Sunday, 16 August 2009
Butt Juice or Lunker Lotion?
I really liked Alaska perhaps, as I noted in my Nome blog, because so many Alaskans are boys. They may all have beards, but none of them are over 12 years of age. Lots of the girls are boys as well, they’d leave me for dead when it comes to fishin’, shootin’ or huntin’. They know the truth about vegetarians for example.
Then there was the Alaskan equivalent of the perfume counter, who needs Chanel No 5 or Obsession when you’ve got Butt Juice and Lunker Lotion on offer? Presumably an Alaskan girl can head straight for something a real male would really appreciate, something that would attract a halibut if nothing else. 
I really liked the wry artwork from Ray Troll which pops up on postcards, T-shirts and posters, often taking a sideways glance at the Alaskan enthusiasm for fishing. This one was a favourite:
If you’re travelling in bear country it’s wise to make some noise to warn bears of your approach. Although Alaskans joke that these souvenir bear bells are really dinner bells, ‘you ring the bell, the bear comes and eats you.’ I liked the handy instructions:
• Ring bell
• Scream
• Run
• Change underwear
This wall of signs was on a building in Nome:
Once while Travelling: The Lonely Planet Story