16 Friday Sep 2011
Posted in My Likes & Interests
caffeine & codeine [vol. 2]
12 tracks for when I don’t know how I feel or what I want. Chill but with a beat or some punch. Including music by Beirut, Dimes, and Freelance Whales.
15 Thursday Sep 2011
Posted in Antarctic Life
Tags
Okay, getting back to catching up on the winter events.
One difference in my winter season, as compared to last year, was my involvement in open mic nights. I have been tempted in previous seasons to do some small performances, play piano pieces, but I just never did. The nights would fill up, or I wouldn’t have anything practiced and ready to perform, or I would lose my nerve… for whatever various reasons, I’ve never performed at any of the various music events over the years, either playing piano or singing. (*Disclaimer: karaoke, of course, does not count.) Apparently, most people weren’t even aware that I played piano or that I had any skill to speak of – I was scolded afterward for not letting people know that I was able and available for keys in band projects. Oh well.
So my first milestone was putting together a last-minute song with Jen and Josie to sing at an acoustic jam/open mic night in March. We got a great response and it was a lot of fun to sing. Mark was our time keeper, slapping his knee to give us a beat. Way to be, Poobacca. 
It wasn’t a big deal, just one a cappella song, but it was the first time I made any serious attempt to sing in front of an audience.
Key of Q (as in "questionable") performing at Open Mic Night. (photo by K. Nelson)
The song was “Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby” (from the Oh, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack). Sorry, I don’t have any recording of our version, but you can hear can hear Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, and Emmylou Harris sing it if you’d like:
So that was the first step. The next was to polish up some piano-only pieces to play at the wine tasting (more on that to come), and then finally to put the two together – to play the piano and sing at (get this) the same time!
That’s right. It really took some crazy hand-eye coordination exercises to prepare, but in the end I came through and did my first play-and-sing performance for an audience. I was a nervous wreck, but I did it. I played the piano for “Hallelujah” (the Rufus Wainwright version), which the girls from Key of Q (Jen, Josie, and Emily) performed with me. I forgot to ask for a light to illuminate my sheet music, so I was having a hard time starting that one off, and in my squinty attempt to sing the first verse actually sang the word “hallelujah” promptly followed by the expletive “GODDAMMIT!” So, yes, I’m still a blasphemer. But immediately after that gem somebody brought me a light and I was able to read my music and made it the rest of the way through the song with fewer comic expletive stops. After that one, I did a Fine Frenzy song – “Almost Lover” – by myself, playing and singing. Like I said, it was nerve-wracking, but I had a lot of fun. Go me. 
15 Thursday Sep 2011
Posted in My Likes & Interests
Tags
This is not an Antarctic-catch-up post. I haven’t had the energy to do one of those in the last week. This is just a what’s-up-with-Me post. Which might not be all that thrilling. BUT. I wanted to share some of my current musical obsession. If you like to listen to an amazing voice complimented by fairly stripped-down music, and singing some gorgeous lyrics (in my opinion), do yourself a favor and listen to Chris Bathgate.
This whole album is good, but I am in love with this song:
You can listen to most of his albums and purchase music from his website. Enjoy!!
07 Wednesday Sep 2011
Posted in Antarctic Life
Tags
Once we sent off the last flight on March 5, Winter was finally able to start. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the overlapping time with some good summer people. But we’re kind of in a stalemate during that overlap. We can’t really take over the station and make it ours until that last flight takes off.
Establishing routines is important to the Winterover. Our routines are an important part of what keeps us at least relatively sane during the months of darkness we’re about to undergo. Plus, making sure you’re involved in something helps ensure that you don’t turn into a reclusive lump sitting in your room (eating Cheetos and watching donkey porn in some crazies’ cases… but we won’t name names).
One very important routine that I was eager to get back into the swing of was (drumroll….) Pants Optional Radio!
Wayne Deer sans pants, as is the requirement for the DJs of Pants Optional Radio.
That’s right, Wayne Deer and Barb Dwyer were back at it for a second season. Every friday night, Wayne (Brooks) and I would settle in for two hours of pantsless musical awesomeness, as well as our usual self-entertaining commentary. Here’s a link to download the kickoff show (until it expires).
Then there are just the things we do that characterize *Winter*. Our traditions. Our habits.
Such as the kickoff of Prank and Practical Joke season. Things are a little more lax around here in the winter, so we feel a little more comfortable screwing with people. Harmless fun, really, and we need to get our kicks somewhere. Roo-Roo (some of you may know him as Jeff) is a master:
Jeff thought MC might be bored and so brought him a year's supply of movies. Or... I guess on winter time, it's a least a week's supply. (photo © J. Urbaniak)
~
Jeff figured the office needed some redecorating. Yes... sometimes we have some time on our hands. (photo © J. Urbaniak)
And the Kiwis can always be counted on to join in, taking our hi-jinks to an international level. We had a Delta break down right at the bottom of the hill by Scott Base, and the Kiwis did this:
The boot that the Kiwis at Scott Base put on our broken-down Delta. They also stole the steering wheel. 
(photo © G. Sorbello)
Horseshoes. A monthly tradition for us winterovers. On the Saturday of our one two-day weekend each month, the Heavy Shop hosts a BBQ and horseshoe tournament in their shop. Good friends, good food, and a good excuse to drink beer all day.
Poobacca, Johnto, Keith, Jen and I. (photo © C. Wilson)
And then there was drinking. Let’s not sugar-coat it: winterovers drink a lot. I think I did better this year and didn’t spend nearly as much time at the bar – which is good both from a liver and a wallet standpoint – but there was definitely some partaking. And what winter featuring Mark *Poobacca* Scowden and I would be complete without…
Mind erasers!!!
The Mind Eraser tradition was born last winter between Jack, Mark and I. Ol’ Man Krick did not join us this winter season, so the Mind Eraser may not have been quite as prevalent as last year, but Mark and I could still be relied upon to be ever so slightly irresponsible when it came down to it.
Unfortunately, in the midst of kicking off our winter and re-establishing traditions and routines, there also occurred a series of events that set the precedent for a general mood or theme for the rest of the season: Shit Went Wrong.
Right around the time we were sending off the last flights, on February 22, there was another catastrophic earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Not only did that have the direct effect of halting air traffic in and out of the city (including the C17 flights that were supposed to leave from CHC to come get the last summer people out of here), but it also had a hugely sobering effect on most of the people here. Christchurch is like a second home to people who have been coming down here for numerous seasons. We travel through the city twice every year on our way to and from the Ice. We stay in the same places, we visit the same pubs and restaurants, we shop in the same stores. We know people there, people who take care of us and treat us like friends instead of tourists when we pass through. Watching them suffer and watching their city fall apart around them was not a happy time for anybody. Luckily, none of our close friends, program workers, or family members (in the case of the Kiwis that work here) were seriously injured, but we still mourned the loss of life and the destruction of the city.
The iconic cathedral in Christchurch, afer the big earthquake that toppled the steeple. (photo © B. Mellott)
We also had a ton of Ice people in the area since all the summer people were redeploying, and some winterovers were still incoming. Again, luckily they were all okay, but many of them had some big scares.
Once the airport in Christchurch was cleared and we were able to resume flights, we had further problems. The massive breakup of the sea ice extended farther back to the ice shelf than it ever had, and we became concerned about the road out to Pegasus Airfield. There were significant cracks running along and across the road. For the very last flight, we were actually ordered to convoy back so that we could ensure everybody made it across the cracks safely. Thus, the need for a new Pegasus road became evident and was added to Fleet Ops to-do list for the winter.
Satellite image of the Ross Sea ice break-up. The red line is the road - it was a bit of an adrenaline rush to be driving on it!
Then there were the Norwegians. The Norwegian yacht Berserk sailed into McMurdo Sound in February with a crew of five, two of which set out across the continent in an attempt to commemorate the centenary of Amundsen’s South Pole expedition. On tracked 4-wheelers. In late February. You know, because it’s a fantastic idea to sail a yacht into Antarctic waters and attempt to cross the continent at an unstable time of year when the summer is ending and weather is hugely unpredictable. So it came as a big surprise when the yacht sent out a distress signal during a storm at sea and disappeared on February 22 (yep, the same day as the quake). New Zealand search and rescue efforts were unable to find any trace of the yacht, and the expedition received international criticism for not obtaining proper permits and following Antarctic regulations. The two Norwegian crew members that had attempted to set off across the continent (and of course did not make it) had to catch a ride on our last flight out. The ATVs were left behind, as a physical reminder to irresponsible and ridiculous behavior in Antarctica:
This is the ATV the Norwegians thought they were going to drive to the pole. Yep. Oooo-kay. (photo © G. Sorbello)
It has to be said, there is some comedy inherent in a lot of this. The ridiculousness of the Norwegian expedition. Our scramble to shuttle people to Pegasus before the road broke apart underneath of us. The things that happen down here that just baffle you, make you shake your head and ask “what the f*#k?!” But then there are the parts that aren’t funny. People dying because they didn’t have enough respect for the environment they sauntered into, not fully prepared. People down here get sick of hearing that annoying expression “it’s a harsh continent.” Or they say it tongue-in-cheek. But then something like this happens, and you know it’s true. This place can kill you at the drop of a hat, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.
So yeah… it was a rough start to the season. And that was just the beginning. Things continued to go awry throughout the winter, but I’ll save the rest for later posts. I am, after all, trying to keep all of this sequential. And I’m really not trying to be a Debbie Downer. There were good things that happened too and I will post about them in order too. But, as I’ve previously warned, I’m not going to eulogize this winter. Things were up and things were down, and these are all the things that happened right off the bat.
More to come. Hasta,
Ceds
06 Tuesday Sep 2011
Posted in Antarctic Life
It’s funny to be attempting to update this blog and write about this winter now that the season is drawing to a close. It’s funny because, as some of you may have heard, this was not the most ideal winter season. A lot of things went wrong, a lot of drama occurred, a lot of people are not happy right now. In fact, some are downright angry. Some are thinking very carefully about whether they want to come back next winter, including yours truly.
I am trying not to let that flavor my posts too strongly. I am also trying not to paint some false positive picture. I don’t want to eulogize the winter and pretend that it was better than it was. But I don’t want to forget the things that were good about it either. Because there were good things, the things about this place that do make me want to come back. And one Antarctic truth that never goes away: Antarctica is beautiful.
I mentioned in a previous post all the wildlife that was around at the beginning of the winter and the expanse of open water in the sound. I thought it would be good to share some more images of that time. You can’t deny that this place is beautiful in a way that nowhere else quite is.
Sunset over the open water of McMurdo Sound. (photo © J. Urbaniak)
~
Marching Emperor penguins... how stereotypical! (photo © L. Romero)
~
Waves on the "beach" by Hut Point. (photo © DJ Jennings)
~
Seal peaking through a tidal crack. (photo © L. Romero)
~
Cruise ship visits McMurdo Sound. (photo © DJ Jennings)
~
Adélie penguin with some specially selected rocks. I don't know what he's planning to do with the nest he's buidling since they don't nest here. (photo © C. Miller)
~
Sun getting low on the horizon in March, setting through the mist at Hut Point. (photo © C. Moore)
~
Seals taking advantage of the sun while it's still around. (photo © C. Miller)
~
This guy looks like he's having a rough time. 
(photo © C. Miller)
Antarctica… you can be a cruel bitch. But you are beautiful.
Love,
Ceds
