Home
About this Journal
Links:
List of the books I have read in 2007 List of the books I have read in 2006
Current Month
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
May. 23rd, 2019 @ 04:40 pm Welcome

Welcome to my journal! Please feel free to post comments or add me to your friends list!

I have pretty much stopped adding people to my Friends List since I got down to Antarctica. I simply don't have the time to keep up with existing people on my FL. But that doesn't mean you can't add me. Please go right ahead!

I will be working at McMurdo Station, on Ross Island in Antarctica from 9/08-10/09 and 1/10-9/10.




Click for McMurdo, Antarctica Forecast





How to send me mail in Antarctica
How I got this job


web tracker
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 23rd, 2010 @ 10:26 pm my videos
The McMurdo premiere of the 2010 Antarctic Winter Film Festival is tomorrow night and I couldn't be more excited! This is, for me, the culmination of months of preparation and planning. I figure I have easily spent 80-100 hours working on this project. Luckily the most important of the FF, the films, are fantastic. All around wonderful work that amazes me. I am always impressed by the creativity that spends the winter down here.

Eventually I will get more of the other films online but for now I will post the two films I made. The first was for the "open" category is from my dumpster dive back in June. The second one is my 48hr film, made last weekend (if you view this immediately after I post you might have to come back as youtube is still processing it).



About this Entry
ant
Jul. 21st, 2010 @ 06:59 am impressed
The beginning of this week was a flurry of activity as stations from all over Antarctica began to submit their film entries. I should be receiving the last batch of entries this morning. I can't say how impressed I am, both by the turnout and the quality of the films. This year 21 stations, representing 12 nations, created 41 films. And then emailed them all over the continent. Not too shabby for one of most remote and desolate places in the world.

Some have asked if I will share the links.... I probably will, just not until next week. I will definitely share the links that are on youtube but am still undecided about the films that were direct downloads.

At McMurdo we will be viewing all of them on Saturday night. I am really excited for this, it's going to be a lot of fun.
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 18th, 2010 @ 11:38 am 2010 Winter Film Festival
I still remember the last time I drank a full glass of wine. It was last August, 2009, while attending a viewing of the 2009 Antarctic Winter Film Festival. Running more than a few hours in length, my friends and I consumed copious amounts of alcohol while enjoying the short films made by winterovers all over the continent. Being a bit of a lightweight and the most social of introverted social drinkers the bottle and a half I consumed over two hours just about did me in. True, I was jovial and merry and full of good cheer but the next morning. Well, the next morning wasn't all that fun and I haven't been able to drink wine since.

That lasting trauma not withstanding it was the funnest night of my time in Antarctica. Timed to occur right before the winter season officially came to an end it was one final chance for the community to gather together, to share in laughter, to share in good cheer and to enjoy the creativity of the larger Antarctic community. See, because the Winter Film Festival is not limited to McMurdo residents. It is open to any person, at any station, spending the winter in (sub)Antarctica.

Photobucket

First started in 2008, with 8 stations participating, the film festival has grown larger and larger each year. Last year 17 stations participated and this year I have heard from 24 stations all expressing a desire to make a film. The festival has two categories: open film and 48-hr films. The open category can be about anything, filmed anytime although it is prefered to be about Antarctica in some way. The 48-Hr category get's a bit exciting. Every filmmaker is given 48 hours to conceive, script, cast, film, edit and produce a film of 5 minutes or less. To make it more interesting and to keep it honest each film needs to have 5 elements included in the film.

This season I am the "official" organizer for the event and have been working on it since Jan although most of the work has occured over the past few months. It's been really enjoyable and I love hearing about the excitement that this event has created both here and at the other stations. Plus, I won't lie, it's pretty cool to answer the "what did you do last night?" question with "well, I sent an email to the entire continent. THE ENTIRE CONTINENT." :)

Friday evening I announced the 5 required elements and started the clock ticking. By Monday morning I expect to be receiving links to uploaded movies from stations as far flung as the US's South Pole to Norway's Troll Station. I have been working on two films, an open one which is just about done and a 48hr film which is half way done. I have about 6 scenes to shoot today before I call it a wrap. It's been incredibly fun.

Photobucket

Next weekend the McMurdo community will be gathering together to watch all of the submitted entries before voting for our favorites. Two weeks later the first of 7 flights will land here, bringing an official end to what has been a fantastic winter.

Photobucket
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 10th, 2010 @ 07:10 am squeeing with delight
One of my favorite activities at McMurdo is the lingering dinner. It's not uncommon to sit down in the galley to eat dinner with the intention of being out of there within 15 minutes but to then suddenly find yourself in a conversation that lasts for hours. Last night was one such night. But that's not what I want to talk about.

About an hour after I finished eating, my plate, which still harbored some rice, was pushed in front of me and I was talking to some people. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I noticed some movement on my plate. This shocked and confused me because during the winter the only things down here that can move are humans and this movement was distinctly smaller than a human.

Fearing that my descent into winter madness had finally started I leaned in closer to see just how great a trick my mind was playing on me. That's when I saw it. It was black, it was tiny and it had legs. And it was certainly crawling out from my pile of rice. It was a bug.

Now you have to remember something as I tell this story. Bugs normally aren't a big deal in the States but I haven't seen a bug since Jan. There are no indigenous bugs at McMurdo and while it's not uncommon to find some indoors during the summer season it's pretty rare to come across one during the winter. Especially outside of the food warehouses. So my reaction was as much shock as it was delight. Far from being turned off or upset about this I was thrilled. It felt like a special treat. It was so unexpected.

As I watched it move I screamed to my friends, in an effort to share the discovery but mainly to have witnesses to attest to my saneness, and they all leaned in to watch as well. Their curiosity and amazement as deep as my own. It crawled to the edge of my plate, jumped off on to the table, walked for a bit and then took wing! I had never seen such a remarkable flight. It flew over my plate, over my blue tray, over the edge of the table and then we lost it in the air. For a few moments I sat with hope that it would come back but it never did.

This experience has lent itself to hours of speculation: where did it come from? how has it survived so long? how long was it in my food? The pile of coincidences and twists of chance that were required to have it end up on my plate are endless, a quagmire of questions that grows in an indirect proportion to the answers. I will never know theses answers. I will only know the fun that the questions have caused. I do think it was probably a fruit fly but it seemed a bit too big. Unless the unique environment down here is breeding mega-giant fruit flies. hmmmm.... :)
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 9th, 2010 @ 11:33 am mystery box rules
the rules )
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 8th, 2010 @ 10:21 pm The 4th of July, Antarctic style (no fireworks, but we had lasers)
While Midwinter is the biggest celebration on the continent the 4th of July is probably one of the funnest parties at McMurdo. Last year was my first 4th of July down here and I had no idea what to expect. It tends to be a bit less popular because it falls so close to midwinter. The people that would normally plan it are exhausted from planning the midwinter celebration.

This being my second time around I knew what would be going on and more importantly I knew what I could do to participate more fully in the event. See the "theme" for 4th of July is carnival. We might not have rides, we might not have decent prizes but we do have creativity and that always wins the day down here. This year there were a bunch of "gaming" booths setup for people to play. Tickets were required and could be bought at the door. Some of the big crowd pleasers were the "insult booth", "back that @ss up" (a veiled critique of a company policy rolled out earlier this year requiring anyone driving in reverse to have a spotter)the "pie toss" and my own, while not hugely popular did get some good feedback, "mystery boxes."

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket


I agreed to help some friends out with the booth as it was originally there idea. It was a pretty simple concept: I got a bunch of boxes, cut holes in them and then people had to reach and try to guess what was inside. There were 5 boxes, each with a theme: misc, medical (featuring my speculum), nuts and bolts and bar. It was really fun to see which ones people got stuck on and which ones were easier than the most. A lot of the guys did not guess the speculum (but the few that did were a bit uncertain) and of course all of the women guessed it, usually with a shocked shriek! Just to make the game a bit interesting (and complicated) I added a few rules to it. 7 sheets, over 1300 words, discussing rules and a bit of the lore/history of mystery boxes. Few read it in completion but those that did really liked it.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Beyond the game booths there was also delicious food served up. Of course we had a BBQ but because it is Antarctica and it is cold and windy the grill was kept outside inside of a milvan. The few glimpses I got of it involved a lot of smoke. We had funnel cakes, we had McM's first cotton candy, there was a chili cook off and my personal favorite, three flavors of freshly made ice cream!! And beer. Lot's of beer.

After the food was finished we had the traditional auction. Unlike previous auctions this one came with a bit of a twist. Our station manager, who is knew to the ice, offered (beforehand) to match the total amount we raised with a personal donation to the red cross. I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into as this definitely encouraged people to bid a bit more than they would have normally. We had rolls of toilet paper going for 60 dollars, a box of cereal went for 65. One guy offered to have his head shaved -- this went for 300 dollars. There were multiple bids over 400 dollars. This is what happens when you get a lot of drunk winterovers, who haven't had a chance to spend money since Febm, in the same room together. I bid nothing. By the end of the auction we had "raised" over 5,000 dollars. Money that will be spent on a series of parties etc for the winter folk. Some party.

Photobucket
The auction begins

Photobucket
Freshly shaven head




Auctioning off the 2-ply.

The night came to an end with a few hours of live music from some of our local bands. All in all one of my funner 4th of Julys and yet another extremely memorable moment from what has turned into be an extremely memorable winter in Antarctica.

Finally a photo, that like all of the other photos here I didn't take, that does a wonderful job capturing what it is to winter down here. Note the aurora on the side. It's behind a cut because it's a huge photo and will screw up your friends page!

Read more... )
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 7th, 2010 @ 10:57 pm help with painting
I need a little help with a painting project I have undertaken. I am designing a rather large (7.5'x4') sign for an upcoming event. I have sketched it all out on fairly sturdy paper (it's large banner paper designed for a printer) that has a bit of a gloss/sheen to it. Now I need to paint it. I will only be using three colors but they are bright and need to stand out.

I have a ready supply of enamel paint that I can use or possibly acrylic. What should I use? Enamel will definitely be easier for me to get in the quantities needed. What is easier given my inexperience with painting anything other than a wall and the need to get it right the first time?

If I use enamel do I need to do any prep work with it?

I would like this sign to last for a few years if possible.
About this Entry
ant
Jul. 1st, 2010 @ 07:15 pm traveling...
ABout a week ago everyone on station received an email from the travel department informing us of our fare credit and our travel home options for when we start to leave Antarctica in a few months. The fare credit is basically what it would cost for RPSC to buy a one way, full fare, ticket from Christchurch NZ to our home town airport. This year we have a lot of options for leisure travel. Free layovers are available in Auckland, Sydney, Honolulu, LA and Dallas -- which can make for some really fun trips. I am really bummed that I will be skipping Sydney this year.

What you choose to do with this information is the source of much debate and speculation around town. It seems like overnight many people are starting to firm up travel plans. What began as vague destinations at the start of the season are now starting to seem a bit more real. One of the major perks of working down here are the travel options afterward. Unless you do some serious drinking in the bar we all leave here with some pretty substantial savings and a lot of pent up wanderlust. As a rule Antarcticans tend to be very well traveled. Aside from doing the layovers that are free you can also use the fare credit and apply it towards leisure travel (be it individual tickets or a RTW ticket) provided you use the approved travel agency.

For my part I have gone back and forth with travel plans. My sister is getting married in mid October so I have to be home for that. Afterward I was thinking about taking a 7-8 week US roadtrip, driving to Seattle, San Diego and then to my parent's house in SC. I have friends all over the country who I haven't seen in a long while (and in some cases ever). I also toyed with the idea of spending a few months in Africa. I have only visited Egypt and so I feel a bit bad "checking off" Africa from my continents list considering Egypt isn't really representative of Africa. But the costs of traveling in Africa and the awful flight options have turned me off for the moment.

A week ago I started thinking about a trip that I have been wanting to do for awhile. China. Since then what began as a late night daydream has started to shape up a bit. It's looking like I might be flying to China shortly after the wedding to spend a month traveling overland towards the Vietnam border. Then from there I will spend 3 weeks traveling, overland, to Bangkok (via Laos/Vietnam/Cambodia; the only place I have to stop at will be Angkor Wat) where I will catch a flight over to Burma for about a week before returning to Bangkok and flying back home to NY just in time for Xmas. 3 weeks later I will be back in Antarctica. It's a lot of flying. I will be crossing the international date line 4 times in 3 months.

I haven't bought tickets yet and won't do so for some time. I need to make sure I take care of things for my contract next season. I have doctors to visit, dentists to smile for and a 2 day trip to Denver to prove that I am still mentally capable of continuing to come down here. I have to drive from SC to NY. I have to attend the wedding and related events, spend time with out of town relatives, apply for and receive a China visa (and possibly a Vietnamese visa). This all has to be done in about a 2 week time span. Like last year there will be little time to relax. :)

Some exciting things to occupy my thought over the next few months. Exciting things indeed.
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 28th, 2010 @ 05:03 pm Midwinter Dinner
Ever since 1898, when the unwitting crew of the Belgica became the first party to spend a winter in Antarctica, winter overs have been celebrating Midwinter Dinner as a time of reflection, of joy, of relief. It's the oldest tradition on the continent and one that transcends nations and stations.

Last week we celebrated MWD with a delicious feast full of delights and friends (note: we did not actually eat our friends). The galley staff, rightfully so, gets most of the credit for making this event happen. Planning for the meal takes months and the limited staff ends up working 7 days a week, in excess of 12 hrs a day, in the week or so leading up to the dinner. But the galley crew only provides the food. Everything else is provided by the community and this is what always impresses me, this is what makes me proud to be living down here. For it is in everything else that the community has a chance to plan their own event.

Aside from food there is no real budget for this event. Which means all of the decorations are things that are created down here, brought down here by individuals or found on station and repurposed. Planning for the decorations began almost two months before the big day. Volunteers met regularly to pick a theme, design invitations, decorations and musical selections. Those without creative leanings volunteered to prep food, wash dishes, serve appetizers or wine (wine all donated by the community). And of course everyone volunteered to eat.

I have a few pictures of the dinner that I stole from some friends. They don't really do the night justice nor do they fully capture how impressive the night was. The decorations were quite stunning and it's important to remember that we don't have access to supplies, we can't run out to walmart to pick something up.


Photobucket



The cocktail hour. Note the decorations on the ceiling -- creative use of bedsheets and light strings.

Photobucket



The menu.

Photobucket



My table.

Photobucket



Our baker shows how much she loves us.

Photobucket



One of the centerpieces.

About this Entry
ant
Jun. 25th, 2010 @ 07:31 pm magic words
There are two magic words that we have at McMurdo. Like all magic words they hold great power when wielded by the right person at the right time. Their mere utterance can cause even the crustiest winterover to momentarily discard their blank stare and break out into a brilliant smile, a radiant jewel that reminds us of the sun.

But I won't give those words away yet.

We are definitely in the middle of winter now and everything seems to be starting to accelerate. The social calendar is filling up rapidly as people start to realize that all of those winter plans they had have to happen soon or they won't happen at all. I am watching my free days rapidly disappear as projects I have been working on come together and big stationwide events start to get planned. Along with all of this activity comes the acknowledgement of the physical toll wintering in Antarctica takes on you.

I am tired. I go weeks when my sleep is broken and unrestorative and then weeks where I seem to want to do nothing but sleep. I forget things more easily than I used to. A few weeks ago a coworker asked if she could borrow our forklift, which is parked inside a few feet from where I was sitting. I told her I needed it soon and she said she would be back in ten minutes. 30 minutes later she hadn't returned and I started to get mad. I got up out of my desk to see if she parked it outside only to discover that she had returned it. She had parked it inside. I had no recollection of this. No recollection of her coming in, opening a garage door, driving a piece of machinery that is so loud we are required to wear hearing protection into the building, parking it and then leaving all within 10 feet of where I was. It never happened. But it did. And I had nothing else to do but laugh. Earlier this year someone told me that the effects of T3 syndrome are cumulative and get worse each year. I laughed at that. it's true. But I still laughed.

In a mere 7 weeks we will have our first of 7 flights arriving on station. Those planes will bring (in order of importance): mail, fresh food, germs, friends, new people and cargo. A few days ago we got our first glimpse of the flight manifests for the August flights. I couldn't help but get excited as I glanced through the list and started to recognize names, ice friends, who I haven't seen in months. Those first few flights are going to be like a homecoming, a reunion, for many of us.

Many of those names belong to FNGs, the new people, folks for whom this will be their first time coming to the ice. I couldn't help but think about my own first season when this was all still new, all still uncertain. I remembered my nervousness. I remembered my uncertainty and doubts. But most of all I remembered my excitement, that undefinable feeling that something big was going to happen. And it did. I am about to finish my 20th month in Antarctica and I still find that this place captivates and inspires me. Each day I realize how special this community is and how sad I will be when I finally decide to leave the community for good. If you're reading this and your name is appearing on those August flight manifests read that last line again.

But those two words that carry more power than beans? Redeployment date. It's the date you are scheduled to fly out of here. People are slowly starting to receive theirs. I am gone on Sept 25th, in an Airbus A310 plane with business class seating. Then it's a few days in Christchurch, a few days in Wellington and a few days in Auckland. Home by Oct 2/3. My first fall since 2006.
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 22nd, 2010 @ 10:11 pm my "hair"
Some have asked so I give you the dying experience:

Photobucket

First parts of it were bleached. Note the bullseye on my head. sigh.

Photobucket

Then the dye was applied. It was easiest to just dye everything, including the parts that weren't bleached.

Photobucket

Finally the color was added. It was supposed to be teal but not it has turned into a nice aurora green!
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 21st, 2010 @ 11:35 am HELP! ID this French song...
I need some help IDing a French song. It appears at the end of the following video and has gotten itself thoroughly lodged in my brain. Ideally I need the Artist and Song title but will settle for anything at the moment.

The video was an entry in the 2008 Antarctica Winter 48-HR Film Festival from the Germans at Neumayer station. It tied for 1st place for best film.

HELP!


About this Entry
ant
Jun. 20th, 2010 @ 03:02 pm Midwinter
Tomorrow the sun reaches the end of it's journey away from us and slowly starts to return. It brings the light that has been lacking, the promise of flights out of here and inkling of travel plans beginning to take shape. Tomorrow is our Midwinter Day.

MWD is the only true Antarctic holiday. It has been celebrated and observed for as long as people have been wintering down here. This weekend stations all over the continent will be celebrating this event, fellowship will be shared, thanks will be given and bellies will be filled with the good ingredients the cooks have been holding back all season long. At McMurdo we will be feasting tonight. Tomorrow we will be heading over to Scott Base to jump into the Ross Sea to celebrate MW with a polar plunge.

One of my favorite "new" MWD traditions is the exchange of greetings from the other stations. For the past week we have been receiving messages of congratulations and wishes for a good winter from them. I love this shared experience, I love being reminded that we are not alone on this desolate continent. The following is one of the greetings prepared by McMurdo (the one that went out had everyone's name instead of the group photo).

Photobucket
--

Last night I left my room at 10:30 pm to get some ice cream from the galley. Before I could return to my room I noticed some activity in the barber shop and so I headed over to see what was going on. I found that there was a hair dying party in full swing which I was quickly invited to join. 3.5hrs later I left with teal streaks running through my hair. All in all 10 people were dyed last night. Oh, antarctica.
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 13th, 2010 @ 09:54 pm (no subject)
The walls of the gallery are adorned with pictures from around McMurdo. Most of them are color photos showcasing areas of the surrounding enviorns that most of us will never get to see, never get to experience. But amongst all of these images of modern McMurdo there are few scattered historical photos. Black and white images that have been blown up monster size as if to remind us of the historical precedents that we are following by being down here.

These images haven't changed since I first came here in 2008. I have looked at them almost everyday, I have looked at them so many times that I haven't really looked at any of them. They are wallpaper, fancy unique wallpaper to be sure, but wallpaper nonetheless. The stories they hold rarely seem to impress more than the stories that your friends will tell while sitting at a table eating your meal.

About a month ago I found myself staring at a large historical picture that was across the room from my table. It is black and white and features three old looking ships in a harbor, presumably down here. As I looked at it more closely I started to realize that the shoreline looked familiar. I glanced more closely at the large lump of rock on the right side of the picture. Then I glanced out of the galley window at Ob Hill. I returned to the photo and was dumbstruck when I realized what I was looking at. The picture, the one that held no meaning to me, was of McMurdo before there was a McMurdo. It was taken out at hut point looking at Ob Hill. Except at that point hut point was just being named hut point.

Photobucket
The three ships are the Discovery, Erebus and Morning and they were here in 1904. The latter two ships came to rescue the Discovery which had become, intentionally, lodged in the pack ice.

For days I found myself thinking about this photo and what it depicts. It shows McMurdo before the buildings came, before the bars were built, before the bowling alley was constructed, before the windfarm was installed before we had c-17 flying regular missions down here. It was a time when this place was new, when it was still undiscovered and largely uninhabited. This all struck me as so strange. Obviously I knew it, in my heart, to be true but part of me just couldn't believe it. The station as it is now seems so permanent, like it has always been here.

My picture:
Photobucket

Merged together:
Photobucket

Photobucket
Today I was looking at the picture again and realized that I have a picture, a few actually, taken from roughly the exact same spot as the old photo. That has filled me with wonder all day, that I have stood at the same spot where this historical photo was taken. My photo is slightly off, the angle is just not quite right. Once the sun comes out and I am going to take another picture and get the angle right. When I get home I am going to have it printed and then buy a copy of the 1904 picture, frame them both and put on a wall I don't have yet.
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 11th, 2010 @ 09:50 pm waka waka
Apparently there is this big soccer match taking place in Africa and for some reason the organizers selected Shakira to make/produce/sing etc a song in honor of this event. Shakira ended up making a song called "waka waka" that is catchy and has a fun beat and also has a simple little dance that goes along with it. For reasons that I am not entirely clear she, THE Shakira, wants us, us little people, all over the world to videotape ourselves dancing to Waka Waka and then upload it to facebook in an attempt to raise awareness. For something. Perhaps simply awareness.

Anyway, last week about 40 of us got together outside and filmed us doing the waka waka dance. It was a fun little time. Since it is dark outside we had to setup portable lights, massive flood lights that you find at a stadium. We also setup some killer speakers and even though it was only 6:30pm noise complaints were called in. That makes me laugh. I am wearing red in the video. I am dancing on the far right side and about half way through I break out of the pack. You can also spot me as the guy who has no idea how to do the simple dance.




And in a particular brand of silliness, that is often found down here, we all had to use duct tape to cover up the NSF patch on our parkas. Presumably so no one thought that the NSF was supporting this cause (whatever cause it is). I just find it hilarious because anyone who can find the video in youtube can easily google McMurdo and discover that the NSF runs the place. Ahhh....

Photobucket
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 8th, 2010 @ 10:19 pm DD 10
Over the years that midafternoon break has become legendary. I doubt, if you were to ask them, that any of the participants would have believed how far the idea that was sparked then has come, has grown. I wasn't there for the meeting, it was one season before me but I heard about.

It began as a boast, an ego thing. One of the jano's said that he had heard that people can survive off of food that they find in dumpsters (specifically, food that people leave nicely in dumpsters) which quickly turned into another jano saying that not only was that true but he knew someone who spent a year doing just that. Debate ensued, arguments were tossed about and before the 15 minute break had ended a decision was made to spend one night, during the off season, attempting to dumpster dive to see if it was possible.

It should have died there. It should have left the mind of everyone the minute break ended. But it didn't. Unlike most on ice plans, for some reason, this one actually became a real off-ice plan and a few months later, June, a few of the janos converged on a KFC in a smalltown in CO and rooted through the dumpster. This was in 2008.

They went back in 2009. This time more people came, people flew in from all over the country. The one night became a planned weekend with trips to a national park, camping and even alligator wrestling. It was a success and plans were immediately made for 2010.

I missed 2009 because I was wintering at McMurdo but I longed to be with them, in a dumpster. I missed 2010 also because I was still in McM. However I decided that just because my friends were thousands of miles away I couldn't participate in the DD. So on Sunday night, as my friends in CO were preparing for their dive, myself and a veteran of the 2009 DD went for a walk around town. We walked into every dorm and basically rooted through all of the food waste containers. Then we walked to some of the outside dumpsters. And all throughout we.... ate some of the stuff we found.

It was hilarious. And disgusting. But a wonderful time. I have some pictures that I grabbed off of the video I took. The pictures really don't tell the tale, you need the reactions, the gags, the groans to get the full effect. We shot 18 minutes of video that will eventually be edited down to 5 minutes so it can be submitted to the Antarctic Winterover Film Festival at the end of July.

cut for the squeamish )
About this Entry
ant
Jun. 1st, 2010 @ 07:34 pm it's easy to forget
It's not my fault. I suppose I could just blame life, just blame the daily inertia that comes from a routine or the self centeredness of my own drama. But lately I have forgotten my place, forgotten where I am and forgotten who came before me. More importantly, I have forgotten how lucky I am to be where I am.

A few days ago I came across a review, in the NYT, about a new exhibit opening up at the Natural History Museum in NY (one of my favorite museums): "Race to the End of the Earth” which deals with two expeditions, run simulanteously, that attempted to reach the South Pole. One, led by Admundsen, ended successfully and everyone made it back alive. The other, led by Scott, ended in tragedy with the party dying on the way back. These guys did the whole thing on foot. They didn't have GPS, they didn't have advanced fibers or exotic windbreakers. They didn't have search and rescue teams armed with the latest in high tech gadgetry nor did they have air support. They didn't have heated tractors to pull their gear. They had sleds and dogs. It's important to remember this, especially down here when on any given day during the summer we have half a dozen flights departing for the South Pole.

Reading through the website about the exhibit I find myself quietly beaming as I make connections in my mind and find myself exclaiming "I have been there". Because I have. This history that this exhibit explores I have explored on my own. I have literally walked in the footsteps of those explorers. I have tramped through their huts. I have looked at their, perfectly preserved, abandoned provisions. I have done these things and taken it all for granted, taken my pictures and wandered off in search of more imagery for my head.

But...

These are all real things. These are not just props to clutter the stage of my Antarctic experience. That cross that I posted a picture of the other day was erected, almost 100 years ago, by the team that went out and found Scott's dead, cold, frozen body. That hut across the station that I see everyday and pass at least once a week during my hikes is real. It once sheltered people during the long cold winter. The contrast can't be more striking -- I spend the winter with heat (and complaing about it being too hot), internet, TV and an assortment of recreational activities while 100 years ago men took shelter in the wooden hut, gazing off onto an island that had yet to be blighted by the USAP.

This article has filled me with excitement. What has been getting me really excited is that this exhibit will be open until Jan and my entire family will be in NY in October. I am really hoping we can all go in to see it and they can get the tiniest better understanding of this place, of what it means to me. I often times feel that my working in Antarctica is an abstraction to them. They have no reference to compare it to in their mind, nothing that they have done even comes close to this lifestyle that I am leading. Unlike at my previous job they can't drive by the store and see what goes on.

When we go I am going to wear my Antarctica hat and walk around with a smug smile on my face trying not to make asshole comments "well, when i walked in the REAL hut, it looked like this.."

It's going to be great.
--

If you are in NY I hope you go and visit this exhibit. Tell me how it was. If you've enjoyed reading my blog I have a feeling you will enjoy it. Plus you will even get to try on an authentic "big red" parka, just like the one I wear everyday! Be sure to count all of the pockets and think of me trundling off to work, each one bursting open trying to contain gloves, googles, headlamps and hand warmers.

Here are pictures that I took, in 2008, of one of the huts: http://mananath.livejournal.com/466194.html
About this Entry
ant
May. 30th, 2010 @ 12:45 am Observation Hill
Observation Hill, a 750ft high scraggly collection of rock and ice, stands guard over town. It's visible from anywhere outside and is often one of the first things new arrivals notice. If you look closely at the hill, or hike to the top, it's possible to see a large wooden cross. This cross has been here since 1913 when it was erected by the search team that discovered the bodies of Scott's illfated attempt at making it to the pole. The cross stands in memoriam for those that died on that attempt and has become quite an iconic item at McMurdo. It has been photographed countless times by myself and others in an infinite variety of poses. One of my favorites, not taken by me, recently appeared on our common drive down here.

Photobucket

I don't do this hike all that often. I did it once when I first arrived in Sept of 2008 and haven't done it again until this afternoon. While the views are fantastic I don't like walking downhill and the trail is very steep and often very slippery. It has also been known to get extremely cold and windy at the top. Weatherwise today was one of those days that made me question where I was. It was cloudy but otherwise beautiful with temps hovering around -1F. Since there was no wind I could have easily done this hike in a light pullover but instead I overdressed and by the time I returned to my room my base layers were literally dripping with sweat.

Photobucket
I took this photo from a helo in Jan of 2009
About this Entry
ant
May. 23rd, 2010 @ 08:30 am murder mystery?
I am hoping to, one day soon, host a murder mystery dinner. I have never done anything like this but it sounds like it might be fun. Do any readers have experience with this? Any suggestions or tips? Any good online resources? We have a couple of kits down here but they are all limited to 6 people and I was hoping for 8 people.
About this Entry
ant
May. 22nd, 2010 @ 07:03 am the meat smoothie
Antarctic winters can be filled with boredom forcing winterovers to seek out their own forms of weird, twisted, entertainment. Every so often my department hosts "smoothie breaks" where smoothies are made with non-fresh fruit, fresh bread is made and some good natured conversation is had. Last year I skipped every smoothie break. I don't eat fruit. I don't like yogurt and while I don't mind socializing I feel silly standing around drinking water while everyone else is throwing back redish concoctions. This year some folks were trying to get me to attend and, jokingly, I said I would attend if we had meat smoothies.

The first SB came and I skipped it but heard afterwards that they had gotten meat just for me. The 2nd SB came and I went, with a promise of sausage, only to find that I had been duped. Yesterday was the third SB and I came prepared. Shortly before the break I had 4 beef patties and a hotdog blended up to make a meat smoothie. Once at the break I had my smoothie made with everything the fruit people had except fruit. This included ice, water, yogurt and honey.

Photobucket
before the addition of yogurt and honey.

The resulting beverage was frothy with an odor that slowly announced it's presence before taking over the room. The first sip, egged along by the watching crowd, wasn't that bad. I think half of the onlookers were hoping that I would throw up. Plastic bags were handed out beforehand in case this happened. THe second sip, as the novelty began to wear off, became a bit harder. It was very pulpy with a thick layer on the top of meat and fat. It tasted like vomit. I remember thinking as I drank it that it tasted pretty bad. It wasn't until an hour later, with the memory still fresh, that I began to contemplate just how awful it was.

My plan was never to finish the whole thing. I knew that would just be too rough. In the end I probably had about 1/3 of a cup. I could have finished it but it would have taken hours as I was slowly sipping it. The thought of chugging it rapidly made my stomach churn as I contemplated breaking through that top layer. I did however get a really cool meat mustache.

I don't think I will be trying this again.

Of course there is video.

About this Entry
ant
May. 14th, 2010 @ 08:12 pm two photos
....of the bulldozer that fell through the ice. These are not my photos and were taken minutes before it was resurrected. This is after almost 11 hours of it sinking and being dropped 3 times.

Amazingly the dozer is fine, they drove it back up to the vehicle maintenance facility. The only damage was a busted headlight. However there was a lot of rapid rusting that occurred after the vehicle had sat in the salt water for so long.

Yes, this is a repost. My initial entry was friends locked for a good portion of the first 24hrs
Read more... )
About this Entry
ant
May. 12th, 2010 @ 10:40 pm two photos...
....of the bulldozer that fell through the ice. These are not my photos and where taken minutes before it was resurrected. This is after almost 11 hours of it sinking and being dropped 3 times.


Photobucket



Photobucket


About this Entry
ant
May. 11th, 2010 @ 07:26 pm something is sinking...
This morning a call came over the radio that the station was activating the "emergency operations center" or "EOC". This is done whenever an incident occurs that requires the response and coordination of multiple departments. While it often brings to mind a medical emergency it is usually activated for more mundane stuff like a power outage.

When I got in touch with the person who made the announcement i was told that no information about the incident could be given out in an attempt to prevent onlookers. Naturally this worried me. My thoughts turned to a serious accident, frozen blood in the street or a critical building burning down (each winter, for the past 3, a non-critical building has burned down). Luckily this is a small town and an attempt to prevent onlookers is laughable so I found out about 10 minutes later, from someone else, what had happened. A bulldozer (a CAT D8R) had fallen through the ice.

This had the potential to be extremely serious. There is a memorial on station for someone who died in the 50s when his dozer fell through the ice and he sunk to the bottom. Thankfully today's driver was able to get out pretty quickly and the dozer was close to the shore so whatever water existed wasn't very deep.

Details of how this occured are sketchy and come to me third hand. But it sounds like there was a tidal crack that the track hit and then busted through. The ice by now is probably, easily, 4 feet thick and we routinely drive heavy vehicles on it. Heck, we land planes on it. It was just bad timing, bad location and bad luck. Just this morning I was looking at the 'wall of shame' gallery at my work center depicting other vehicles that have met unforunate ends.

So far attempts to retrieve it have been unsuccessful. The vehicle weighs around 80,000lbs and right now the entire rightside track is fulyl submerged underwater while the left side rests on the ice. It's easy to understand why the three attempts at rescue have all resulted in snapped chains and cables (like inch thick braided cable). The word is that there will be one more attempt, though not much hope is being held out for it, before the decision is made to leave it until the summer.

It's easy, in the boredom of winter, to find humor in this event. It's a 400,000 dollar machine stuck in the ice. If it is left there until summer it's going to freeze into the ice and become the most photographed icon of the winter. However it's not easy to forget the potential dangers of this. The ice in this area is fragile and right now there are people and equipment surrounding the vehicle.

ETA -- At 7:17pm, the vehicle was freed. This really is an amazing accomplishment and I can't get over how impressed I am by all of the departments (no, no, people) who were involved with this. Now I wait for pictures!
About this Entry
ant
Apr. 19th, 2010 @ 09:48 pm station photo
Below the cut you will find the 2010 Winterover station photo, all 198 of us. It's a really wide photo which is why it's behind a cut. I am to the left of the girl in the yellow jacket.

Read more... )
About this Entry
ant
Apr. 18th, 2010 @ 11:36 am auroras
I like to imagine myself 1000 years ago, inhabiting the life of some lonely polar resident, some solitary explorer cast asunder from his crew, wandering a desert of ice, the cold eating it's way through the fur lined skins that passed for clothing. In my imagination these wanderings occur at night, when darkness fills the land and is so thick and so seemingly permanent that light, however thin that promise might seem, is a distant memory, some fleeting thought left over from a past life. For there in my wanderings, when my own sense of solitude, of bleak desperate despair, reaches it's zenith a vast apparition, green in color, appears before my eyes, filling the sky, it's undulations beckoning me, the movements of a belly dancer from the deepest recesses of my fantasies.

I wonder what it would have been like to experience things before science had all the answers, before thought lost the duality of good and bad, before photos and videos informed of what was to come, of what was to be. I wonder how I would have felt in those first moments when a brilliant green light lit up the sky and danced before me? Would I have thought it a courting God? A celestial bush, it's flames made all the more grander by the twinkle of the stars? Surely I would not have felt fear or trepidation, for how could something so beautiful be the fore bearer of dismay? These are the things that consume me on nights such as the past few, on nights when the sky becomes consumed by auroras, endless ruminations on others experiences.

We have been blessed lately, solar activity has hit a peak and clear skies have let us see a bit of the majesty, of the green, of the blobs. Vast auroral rainbows, of green and red and purple, have filled the night sky, their promise of gold and treasure spilled out for all to grasp, abandoned by the leprechauns, left for us. I have gone out two nights and two nights have been rewarded with multiple auroras, filling and dissecting the sky, claiming ownership of the heavens and my imagination. At night, when I close my eyes and darkness sets in, my last image is of them, their beauty burnt so deeply that my mind can't quite release them. For this is Antarctica, this is winter, this is beauty.

Photobucket
This past thursday. I didn't take this photo, but it is representative of what I saw.
About this Entry
ant