The Toothless Rottweiler

Big Hollywood has a fairly young audience so I don’t think the pluses and minuses of old age would much interest them. However, my self-appointed assignment here as Sarah Palin’s guard dog has brought me more than a few black comedy dramas as the toothless Rottweiler I am. The attack dog’s “growl” within me starts the second I hear or see anyone looking down on the former governor of Alaska.

Why?

I’m a survivor of parents who chose to have not just one but two abortions.

Learning about abortion at the age of 9 automatically enlists you in the Survivor’s Guilt Club. Toss in an ugly divorce and you have a domestic war zone with two, indelibly damaged “Survivors”, my sister and I. Add “Children of Alcoholics” and, well, we have a play by Eugene O’Neill and August Strindberg, plus Freud’s Oedipal theories running riot in a young artist farmed off at 11 years of age to Prep-School-As-A-Safe-Zone.

Further dramatic details of my upbringing are peppered through my memoir, The Haunted Heaven, available, chapter by chapter, at enterstageright.com.

I have, however, made it into my 71st year and am quite proud of the few achievements that have adorned my life and, thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous, I have made peace with my ten lost years as a drunk in Canada.

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The finale of Sarah Palin’s Alaska aired Sunday night on The Learning Channel.   The series garnered great ratings and stirred up plenty of discussion.  I am willing to bet it surprised a lot of people as well.

When Sarah Palin said she would be doing a reality show, most commenting on it thought it was a horrible idea.  What could she be thinking?  Maybe this meant she didn’t want to run for President, because what could be less presidential than a reality show?  Or maybe it did mean she wanted to run because why else would she want to open her family up to such exposure. 

I won’t speculate too much on the effect of the show on Sarah Palin’s future political pursuits other than to say I think any effect of the show will be positive.  In Sarah Palin’s Alaska, Palin is shown as a tough woman who can hunt for her food, rear five kids, and create new words.  She appears calm, good natured, steady, and solid.  And she shows she has a sense of humor, a great family and an intense love for the beautiful state where she has lived her life.   

Above all, in Sarah Palin’s Alaska we see that Sarah Palin is a real person.  Her kids make fun of her sometimes (“Mom, take your prom hair back home”) and don’t always do exactly as told.  Sarah talks like many of us do saying things like “flippin’” and “freaking out.”  Instead of that decreasing her presidential factor, though, it just makes her more relatable.  We also saw her as a mother, interacting with Trig and her other kids in some incredibly touching scenes.

In addition to seeing what an incredible woman Sarah Palin is, we were introduced to some amazing characters.  Her daughter Piper was a constant companion of Sarah’s in the show.  She is beyond adorable, says all the things a smart-as-a-whip witty little girl would say, and makes lots of funny faces.  We see a lot of her husband Todd who is a hunky, smart companion to Sarah Palin. (more…)

In tonight’s episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, the family goes whitewater rafting, four-wheeling,  panning for gold, searching for fossils, and dog mushing.  We also see Sarah spending some mom time with Trig and Piper.  And we meet more great Alaskan characters like Mudflap and Bones.  In other words, it’s just another week with the Palins.

In the beginning of the episode the family (sans Todd who stays back to play Mr. Mom to Trig) goes whitewater rafting in a glacial stream with a guide named Mudflap.  We are told this is the largest glacier in the United States that you can drive to.  Sarah’s dad, Chuck Heath (somebody give this man a show please), talks about having lost hunting partners to the cold waters of glacial streams.

Sarah’s mom and dad and brother and sister are along for the trip this week.  Sarah talks about how this reminds her of so many summer adventures they shared as a family. She says they found thrills, adventures and good family time in the wilds of Alaska.

As always, the scenery is breathtaking.  And as in past episodes, we get a deeper look at the Sarah Palin the public knows. Talking about being one of those in the boat responsible for much of the rowing, Sarah says it is more work, but that she doesn’t want an ordinary ride — she wants it to be extraordinary. That could be said about the way she approaches so many other things in her life.

Additional adventures in this episode include four-wheeling to a remote camp to visit their old friend, Bones, a trapper, and panning for gold and searching for fossils.  Sarah’s dad Chuck shares more information about Alaska — she refers to him as the Cliff Clavin of Alaska.  (Seriously, someone needs to give this man his own show.  He is a retired teacher with a passion for Alaskan wildlife and he presents facts in an interesting way.  I’d watch him.) (more…)

When I heard that on this week’s episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska the Palins took Kate Gosselin and her eight kids camping, I’ll admit I groaned.  It was easy to imagine Kate on a camping trip whining and complaining about dirt and bugs and no bathroom.  I am not a huge fan of crossover episodes of series anyway– when a series like CSI (Las Vegas) ends up following a case to CSI: Miami, for example, it often comes off as gimmicky and forced.  If plugging Kate Plus Eight was what this episode was all about, I don’t know if I would have lasted until the end.

Thankfully it wasn’t though.  Sure there are the obligatory comments from Kate about how crazy all this outdoorsy, gun shooting, camping stuff seems to her.  But this episode was really more about how much kids can learn from being exposed to the great outdoors.  And about how experiences like that can bring families closer together.

Sarah’s father, Chuck Heath, is featured again in this episode.  He is a retired science teacher and his house is like a nature museum — full of fun and interesting things for kids to look at and touch like beaver skulls and porcupine quills and stuffed animals (of the taxidermy, not teddy bear, variety).  Kate’s kids appear fascinated by the things he shows and teaches them over the course of their visit.  (Note to Mark Burnett:  Give this man his own show.  I could listen to him talk about wildlife for hours. He is a great teacher and is obviously passionate about the world around him.) (more…)

This week Sarah Palin’s Alaska is all about family and fish.  The Palins visit Todd’s family in Dillingham and at a fish camp in Ekuk.  And they do a lot of fishing.  Sarah and Todd’s son Track is back from Iraq and eager to make money following in his father’s fishing footsteps.  But first he has to prove to his father that he can be the next of the great Palin fishermen.

In addition to watching Track catch fish (or not catch fish), Todd’s Eskimo grandmother, Lena, teaches Willow and the other girls in the family how to process the fish properly.  Willow describes the scene as being covered in blood (and fish guts) and says she doesn’t think any of her friends do this.  She is a good sport though and pretty good at it.

Later at the fish camp in Ekuk, after learning to process salmon for smoking, Piper says “I think I’m the best fish fileter in the whole third grade.”

The episode shows the Palin side of the family (5 generations) and what a big part of their lives fishing is.  Willow celebrates her sweet sixteen birthday with a family party at her great grandmother’s house.  The most powerful moments in the episode though focus on Trig and his teenage cousin Matthew who both have Down syndrome.

Sarah chokes up and tears up (and so did I) when talking about  her visit with Matthew because it gives her a look at Trig in ten years.  She says she hopes that Trig will be embraced by others and treated just like the other kids and talks about how Trig is the heart of her family and how much he teaches them all.  This is an emotional side of Sarah Palin that her fans have not seen — at least not to this extent. (more…)