Parents visit Jos Claerbout in Alaska, 1994 Here's the 30 minute video. If you don't have the 30 minutes, find some highlights below.

We arrive at the Girdwood ski resort. [Dad says to Jos] Mr. Claerbout, where are we? What's that behind you? It's a moutain I believe, with some cables going up it. We're going to go up there? Well, what we're going to do is-- we are going to jump, onto the cables and then swing, arm over arm, till we get to the top. Will your mother be able to do this, or you will be helping her? I will actually have a rope fixed to my waist; it will then be running to her to carry her all the way up. Uh huh. Of course, if she does fall, she will swing, from this rope fixed to my waist. OK, and what's the name of the place where we're at? Monkey Swing Lodge, I believe. See this in 2 Mbytes streaming Quicktime video.

On the Seward docks we pass a boat named "The Dawn".

[Jos says] "The Dawn" makes me think of the secret Alaskan method of subterfuge, which I will explain to you...

.."the magic of Joy Soap".

Joy Soap?

You have to understand that on a boat... Boats are always spilling oil, in one sense or another. You happen to be pumping it out of your bilge by mistake or anything like this... There's a $5000 fine for putting oil on the water such that it produces an oily sheen or sticky mess.

So when you already see an oily sheen, your captain will scream,

Get me Joy Soap!

Get me Joy Soap!

whereupon you will pour Joy Soap into a bucket and toss it overboard. What this does is it weighs down the oil, something really amazing.

You can do this experiment at home by putting some oil, motor oil [laughs] in some water, and then pour Joy Soap on it and it will make the motor oil disappear.

So, it is proposed that if Captain Hazelwood [of the infamous tanker, Exxon Valdez] had enough Joy Soap on board, Exxon would be five billion dollars richer.

Jos tells this story on quicktime video.

Is anybody seasick over there?

We arrive at the base of Mount Marathon. [Jos says to Diane] See this sign that says, "Unmaintained Trail"? We're going to head up that trail. It looks like Hansel and Gretel here! Wait a minute! Exactly. Now the most important thing to remember is that whenever the trail splits to the left, you go to the right. If you go to the left... Pfftt!!  You drop right off. You don't want that. So... It's dark! The second thing to remember.. Holy cow! It doesn't look like Cow Hill! We're not in Kansas any more! You hear a hissing sound... A sand pit's going to open up underneath you! So it is important that when you hear a hissing sound, you jump up into the tree canopy above you. The third thing is, never ever feed the bears.... See this in 1.5 Mbytes of streaming video.

That's The Spit! The spit of Homer, that's where I lived.

We arrive at the Homer docks. There's my boat! There it is. That evil one. Right there! That evil white boat called the "Anna Maria"! The pernicious boat. I will secretly sink it right now! It's actually a nice boat, but an evil captain.

Oh dear! So... Good bye.

Other Jos Alaska Links: Fishing diary. Big fish. Audio tape diary. Election campaign. American Country Magazine. Mine guiding.