Walk Across the World

I met this guy today.

His name is Karl Bushby and he wants to be the first one to walk with unbroken steps from the bottom tip of South America all the way back to his home country of England. His website says, "It is possible to journey by foot from the southern most point of South America back to England and leave behind you an unbroken trail of footprints!"

He seemed like a nice gentleman. He's my age, 33, and he's from Yorkshire, England. Since my dad was born in that area, we had a bit to talk about. He has already been walking for six years. He finally got to Nome a few days ago. I bumped into him in the teacher's lounge as he was waiting to talk to the high school journalism class.

His next step is to cross the Bering Strait. This is the shortest point to Russia and there is a lot of ice on the sea now. He said what he can't walk he actually has to swim a bit. Our school website says, "The distance across the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska's Seward Peninsula is approximately 55 miles, and for several periods during the Pleistocene Ice Ages the trip could be made entirely on land instead of water. During additional periods, the passage from Siberia to North America could also have been made by small watercraft moving along coastlines."

Hilariously, some of the teachers at lunch were saying good luck and going about their business. One teacher told me that every other year or so somebody comes through here thinking they are going to walk right across a nice little patch of ice. She talked about pressure ridges where the ice buckles together like the Himalayan Mountains. Remember, this is the bloody ocean. There will be a lot that is not frozen solid and almost unpassable. He says he may have to go even further north in order to make the cross, and if he does that, he has to go across way more than 55 miles. Yeah, 55 miles is nothing--it's an hour's car ride at 55 mph. Nothing. However, my mom wouldn't let me play on the ice on the little pond out back growing up half the time. That was a pond in the back yard. This is the ocean that Bushby is trying to cross on foot.

I think it is an amazing accomplishment, even though I couldn't imagine talking six years and still not being near done. If he does cross, he has to walk across Siberia and Asia, for Pete's sake. Look at a map. He's got at least six more years.

That's if he crosses. Apparently, no one has ever done it from this side. Two people supposedly did it from Russia to Alaska a few years ago but they got lucky with the icefloes. There is some kind of current issue one way or the other. The other teacher kind of shook her head and wished him well, thinking to herself that he'll never make it. People have come before, some with contraptions and vehicles and still couldn't do it.

It was interesting to meet this guy along his trek though. Just imagine that time though--six years so far. I think about what I've done in the last six years and try to put a time commitment on that. This is not just a month's vacation. This isn't even walking across the United States. I look at a map and I just think to myself that there's no flippin way.

Papas Fritas
Buildings and Grounds
2000

You’ve heard one of these songs, but you have no idea who sings it. It is in that one Dentyne Ice gum commercial where the babe writes her phone number on the subway window with her “cool” breath.

You can see the a-ha inspired video of “Way You Walk” at this website and you’ll know exactly which song I mean.

The album was a stretch for me. I had never heard of it, not even the song “Way You Walk,” when I first bought it. I was reading Seattle Weekly and looking through the music section when I came across this short article:

CITIZEN JOHN (March 29 - April 4, 2000)

by John Richards

Something very strange happened today. Not only did I discover one of the hippest feel-good bands of the new millennium, but I learned something new in the process. Papas Fritas is Spanish for french fries. I'm sure you already knew that. I'm sure you know thousands of Spanish words, but like an idiot I took German in high school. The only thing I can remember are dozens of swear words and the phrase "Ich Liebe die Kuh," which I believe means, "I love the cow," though I could be wrong. It's also the name of your new favorite band. No, not the band "I Love the Cow"; I think they're a death metal band out of Spokane. The band I'm talking about is known as "French Fries" in English, and they are your new favorite band. For us non-Spanish speaking music fans, think of Papas Fritas as standing for "Pop has freed us" and save yourself from the confusing world of translation. (I first announced on the air that Papas Fritas was French for giant sausage.) The amazing new record from this Boston trio, Buildings and Grounds (Minty Fresh), surely has freed us. I haven't figured out from what. I assume it saves us from the tiresome pop acts that pollute our airwaves. The third track, "Way You Walk," is one of the catchiest songs I have heard in years. I don't know if it's a dance hit or a pop hit, but it sits right on the edge of being either the friendliest song that never made it on commercial radio or the greatest song that most people have never heard.

Listen to John play track 3 every weekday morning from 6-10am on KCMU, 90.3 FM, and live on the Web at www.kcmu.org

So what did I do? I ran out and bought the CD. I needed that exact kind of recommendation at that moment, somebody into pseudo-underground music to tell me exactly what to listen to. I was sure that tons of stuff was out there, but how was I ever going to hear it. I try listening to KCMU but you have to sit through five or six just-ok songs to get to something good. It was on KCMU I also first heard The Old 97s singing “Singular Girl” with the lyric “Talking to you, girl, is like long division,” a simile that seemed so deftly perfect for some relationships that I couldn’t believe this wasn’t more popular. Looking further, they also did the ultra-cool “King of All the World.” So good music was out there but I did not want to root through the crap. So I took a chance on such a wonderful recommendation by the columninst/DJ John Richards.

I couldn’t have been more pleased. Some of the songs are satisfyingly weird and slow, but they all tend to come together as a greater whole. There is almost a little mini-album of three of the middle songs starting with “Way You Walk” then “Vertical Lives” which keeps beating drumsticks until and as “What Am I Supposed To Do?” starts. These songs are pleasant and poetic. There is a hint of early-80s Yaz/Book of Love feel to the songs but there is more. These are well-crafted songs. I am happy when I put this in the CD player, happy for finding a small band that still cared about the music. They must have broken up because their website lists nothing new, one entry poking fun at themselves, saying “We sold out! Our song 'Way you Walk' is featured in a Dentyne Ice Commercial.”

However they may be perceived, their music holds true on this one album. “Way You Walk” simply has to be one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard, something simple yet contains a longing that is heartbreaking. This is one of my favorite CDs.

Walk Across the World update

I'm amazed. Over a year ago, I wrote about this guy Karl Bushby walking around the world and crossing the Bering Sea. I thought he was crazy.

He did it.

Last year, he managed to trek across the ice from Wales, Alaska, to the coast of Russia. He was the first man to cross the Bering Straits.

I watched the BBC Inside Out on his Bering Straits adventure from his own website.

What strikes me as odd is that he was arrested soon after his arrival. It seems he never obtained the necessary permits for entering at an unauthorized checkpoint and carrying a GPS and a handgun. He was deported back to Alaska.

He obtained some permits and went back. Just last month, he had his GPS tracking equipment taken again. Now he is stuck somewhere in Russia, waiting for approval of that equipment.

I'm still a bit floored that he made it across the Straits, especially after watching those videos. It was no easy feat. But after all that, you think he would have had somebody worry about his permits? I mean, it has been over a year now of pretty much wasted time because he never got those permits and now sits in limbo. I guess, since he started back in '98 from the bottom tip of South America, another year is no big deal. This apparently is what this guy "does" now.