Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Imitation is the best form of flattery!!

A few short years ago, Alaska Stock put out our direct mail piece titled "Alaska: Discover White Space Road Trip." This was our version of the journal motif complete with coffee stains, taped in photos, scribbles and doodles, funny commentary, receipts, postcards, etc. all made to look like someone's personal account of their trip in Alaska.

Imagine our surprise to recently discover Hewlett Packard's latest direct mail piece titled "Mike's Photo Journal" that is made to look like a homemade journal complete with pieces of tape, coffee stains, taped in photos, scribble, and other signs of wear and tear.

Although the journal theme can be argued to have been around for quite some time in the design world, these two pieces are SO similar that it is hard to deny our creative influence over HP's design team! We're talkin' coffee stains and grease stain effects that are almost exactly in the same placement and have the same look! The handwritten font is also strikingly similar. Ok, there is one difference: we used duct tape and they opted for masking tape. Go figure!

We'll take it as a compliment...and be happy that our direct mail pieces are making it around the advertising world. Thanks HP!

~ gina

Friday, March 23, 2007

Cool Iditarod 2007 slide show

This year's race was one of the wildest
on record.
Check out this cool slideshow featuring some of the memorable moments from Iditarod 2007 ~ The Last Great Race! http://www.alaskastock.com/iditarod/slideshow/index.html


I also found this cool Iditarod Limited Edition Border @ http://www.printroom.com/pro/iditarod/
Enjoy the ride!
~ Laurie

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Halfway to Ninety!




Happy Birthday Laurie! Today is Laurie's birthday and we all had a fun lunch Thai food fiesta! Thanks to Jeff! I was asking Laurie about what to blog and she told me to mention that Alaska has over 3 million lakes, yet only 650,000 people live in the whole state! Also, Alaska can brag about the 44,000 miles of coastline compared to the rest of the Continental US, which has only 6,053!..... So Happy Birthday Laurie from all of us here at Alaska Stock, and interesting facts about Alaska's lakes and coast lines.. (not to mention two awesome photos!) Woo Hoo! Double Blog Day! - Jessica

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A legacy in the making.....




It's official, Lance Mackey is this year's Iditarod champion!! To most people "outside" this is an unknown name, but the story behind Lance's run is pretty darn cool.


First of all, Lance is this year's Yukon Quest winner which is probably the most comparable sled dog race to the Iditarod that draws big time names and money. The Yukon Quest took place only 2 or 3 weeks ago and running in both races is challenging but winning both is un-heard of. This will be the first time in the history of the races!


Secondly, and I think more amazing, Lance's is the third musher in his family to become an Iditarod champion. Both his father and half brother have won the race. In fact, father, Dick Mackey, won it in a "foot race" with only one second separating him and the second place winner Rick Swenson.


Finally, what really makes this cool is that both his father and brother won their races in their sixth attempt at the race AND wearing bib #13.


You know where this is going, right...?




Yes, this is Lance's sixth time in the Iditarod and he is wearing bib #13 this year! Feel those shivers go up your spin? Stories like this is what Alaska is all about

~ gina

Monday, March 12, 2007

yes Virginia it's BRUTAL out on the Iditarod this year



and after being out at 35 below zero for 2 hours in Nikolai.


Don't you just love a warm fire.
~ Jeff


Photos by Al Grillo

Friday, March 9, 2007

Legends on the Iditarod Trail


Leading the race, Iditarod champs Martin Buser and Jeff King high-tailed it in and out checkpoint Shageluk (SHAG-a-luck) this morning around 8:30. Shageluk is an Ingalik Indian name meaning “village of the dog people,” and when the Iditarod hits town, that is especially true.

They are headed to Anvik (pop. 82), the first checkpoint on the Yukon River, which is the longest river in Alaska, stretching 1,875 miles from its headwaters in the Yukon Territory of Canada to the Bering Sea. The church bell signals the arrival of the first musher to this picturesque village. The Millennium Alaskan Hotel serves a seven course dinner to the first musher arriving at this checkpoint as well as a cash award.

At this point the dog teams of both contenders are looking strong for the long push through the steady, cold head winds on the frozen Yukon River. They'll have to keep a pretty good clip to keep veteran Iditarod racers, Zack Steer, Lance Mackey, Paul Gebhardt and Ken Anderson away from the prized feast in Anvik.

We are fortunate here to see the action from the trail from our owner and official Iditarod photographer, Jeff Schultz. From the comfort of our office we catalog, convert and post images Jeff sends us from the various checkpoints. You can see several of these daily updates at http://www.alaskastock.com/daily_iditarod.asp

Trail conditions have been exceptionally brutal this year, particularly through Dalzell Gorge in Rainy Pass. Barren, bumpy, frozen trails and freezing high winds characterized the harsh ride into Rohn and took their toll on dogs, sleds, and mushers, resulting in 16 teams withdrawing from the race, including veterans DeeDee Jonrowe, G.B. Jones and Doug Swingley. Yesterday the temp at the Ophir checkpoint was around -40!
~ Laurie

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

The Iditarod is Here!















Welp, it's that time of year again... The Iditarod! Dog mushing across the 1049 miles in the vast beauty of Alaska. Here at Alaska Stock, we have the best collection of Iditarod photos ever! The owner, Jeff Schultz has been the official photographer for over 25 years! I was fortunate enough to photograph the start, and I've never seen anything like it before! Dogs were everywhere, yelping and howling and jumping in excitement. Spectators taking photographs and requesting autographs of the mushers. It's not uncommon for offices to have bets on who they think the winner will be. The winner gets a free lunch at Alaska Stock! My bet this year is Martin Buser who has raced in the Iditarod over 20 times, winning four, last in 2002. His son Rohn won the Jr. Iditarod this year, and I think that will inspire Martin to achieve another win. Like Father like son! Here's a couple pics I took, one of Martin Buser at the ceremonial start in Anchorage, and the other of a little surprised spectator! How cute!

-Jessica

Friday, March 2, 2007

Lunar Eclipse


I shot this image of the nearly full moon earlier this week while I was snowshoeing in Hatcher’s Pass (A beautiful mountainous area about an hour’s drive north of Anchorage). Tomorrow, not only will the moon be completely full, but most of the world will experience a lunar eclipse. Alaska will miss out this time. In North America the best place to experience totality will be along the eastern half of the continent. The eclipse will be at its maximum at 6:21 p.m. EST.

-Greg