Nowhere To Go But Up

This posting is a little out of sequence, but that's just how it goes. We had a rave at the south pole a couple of weekends ago. The rave took place in the gym with the use of the parachute as the main prop. Now, many of the main ingredients of a rave are not available at the south pole, so this was a rave in the sense that there were glow sticks, techno music, bright pretty colors, and a lounge area. There were no psyhadelic drugs, big home-made pants, or underage kids. I have a long-standing policy of not taking flash photographs of the inside of a rave due to the sometimes unfortunate effect it has on someone who may be tripping hard (though, I'm pretty sure it would have been a safe thing to do at this party). Instead, I took a photo of the parachute arrangement. The chute was hanging from the ceiling and there were images projected onto the outside that could be viewed from within. Groovy. Overall, the space was pretty cool and just the right size for the amount of people we have available here.

A popular saying here at the pole is "Sometimes you're the pigeon, sometimes your the statue". I participated in the first two hash events by following the trail that was laid by others. This time I, along with Erik, was a hare. This meant I got to lay out the trail that everyone else had to follow. The two previous trails were pretty straightforward, our trail had a lot of looping back to where you had just been. The other trails were mostly flat, this one was like doing a stairmaster. The other trails were highlighted by going somewhere new, this trail was highlighted by going somewhere new on a snow slide. All previous trails were laid with sign, we used green goo (and signs). Everyone hated the two previous trails and well, they hated this one too. If runners hate the trail, then it means a down-down for the hare. I enjoyed making the trail and I think at least it was a little memorable.

Denis has been so gracious as to post his movies online. Others may get posted soon, so check back.

8 o'clock news

fire & ice

What is that smell???? It must be the Winterover Half-way International Film Festival. Last Friday was a wonderful feast to celebrate the mid-winter and last night, during the actual mid-winter, we conducted our second film festival during my stay here: the first annual WHIFF.

The event was very well attended, more than likely because there was free beer. About a dozen films were shown ranging from a minute to almost half an hour in length. Some of the films were actual movies, some were trailers for fictional movies, several were 'How-To' videos, there were films about life here (like we don't already know), and even a news segment. Several of the movies were directed, produced, filmed, and/or starred UT Bob. During the summer he brought us such classics as "UtiliDora" and "Bidet Bugs". He followed up those smash hits up with films on how to clean toilets, how to use a urinal properly, how to turn off lights (with a full cowboy vs. ninja fight scene), a movie about a brain, and an in-depth look at how to *not* take a 2-minute shower (starring, infamously, me). Other films included a spoof entitled "March of the Beakers" by Brien (with a cameo by me), the news (co-hosted by me) and a documentary about fire directed by Denis, and a movie about south pole beards by UT Craig (there were many beards featured, but the best was the one on me).


There was a good variety of entertainment to compliment the movies. We had the lead-ins to the event provided by Don & Patrick, who also made witty (or is it whiffy?) comments on each feature. It should be mentioned that the whole event was put together and organized (read: they provided the free beer) by these two valiant underachievers. Also, during the intermission (yeah, this thing ran on for over two hours), we were enertained by the poetic sci-fi original readings by Bob. We were then treated to a slideshow of the Men of the South Pole calendar as well as a few other random visual treats. Also, for a snack the galley provided us with this:

My personal highlight of the evening was getting to have a sip of Fat Tire. I also started spurting blood out of my nose during the fire movie, which prompted an emergency evac to the men's room. All in all I thought the whole thing was a success. At the very least, it wasn't a normal Wednesday night.

I'm warning you now that if you don't want to see my furry little balls, then don't click here.

Can't say that I didn't warn you. If you clicked anyway, then click here.

Probably my favorite time of day is around 3pm when the galley puts out fresh cookies. If you get there just as they're out of the oven, they are so gooey that they just fall apart when you pick them up. They're so yummy. We get a variety of favors: chocolate chip, M&M chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, snicker doodle, sugar, gingerbread, etc. I love all of the flavors and I ususally eat as many as I can fit without actually ruining myself for dinner. Don't worry, I do things the healthy way. I always wash the cookies down with some milk. As you can see from the picture above, I had already snagged one before snapping the photo. Mmmm, it's almost 3pm now.....

It has begun. Why am I not posting it on my site you ask? Because it's Jeff & Don's project and more importantly, I don't want to be posting the same thing as somebody else.

You can only talk about science for so long....
The mid-winter (don't call it a party) celebration is coming. This is a time for us to reflect upon the fact that we still have only made it half way through the darkness. We've only lost half of our sanity. We're only half as pale as we're going to get (paleness probably has a half-life really). One of the ways that we are marking the occaision is with our Winter Half-over International Film Festival (WHIFF). As some of you know (and a few have seen), I am the star of a major instructional production down here regarding the 2-minute shower limit. I am also involved in an all-star cast film that explores the depths of human nature and the virtues of a nut. I shot my parts this weekend with the producer/director Denis and co-star Scotty.


I don't want to spoil the plot at all since the film has not aired (or completed the editing stage for that matter), but suffice it to say that I might have missed my calling as an actor. The creation of any art requires a vision, which our director wielded like a Hattori Hanso sword. Scott and I worked all of our scenes together as if we had been working together in movies for decades. With pre-shot scenes being interwoven into our footage, I think the movie will be a hit watched and enjoyed by dozens of viewers around the station.

Now, a few of my long-time readers will remember that back during the summer we had the South Pole International Film Festival (SPIFF). The SPIFF has gone on for a few years now, while this will be the first WHIFF. McMurdo Station also did a film festival, which we got to watch down here at pole and it sucked. Will the WHIFF be better than the SPIFF? We shall soon find out. One thing that I did learn during the shooting of this movie is that it's pretty much impossible to devise a costume that hasn't been used before...

Tonight I'm not going to talk about the yummy dinner that I had, that I got tickled in Scottish Dancing Class, or that that the French have thrown down the gauntlet for some chess smackd0wn. Nope. At the request of Mike C., who wants to know that his tax dollars aren't going exclusively to pay for parties, dancing, and oily eggs, we're going to talk about science. Specifically, I'm going to say a few words about auroras, which I'm here to study. This will be a (very) watered down explaination of what is going on. Any words I use or concepts that I bring up can be easily searched for on the web (I know, this is a cop out, but I don't feel like filling this post with dozens of links).


Auroras are quite simply glowing lights in the sky. The aurora is often called norther lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis). To explore the cause of auroras, we must start at the sun, which is the center of our solar system. The sun is constantly expelling special gasses called plasma. This plasma is sweeping out through the cosmos. The earth has a magnetic field surrounding it, called a magnetosphere. The earth's magnetic field lines start and stop at the magnetic poles (not to be confused with the geographic poles, where I reside currently).


When plasma from the sun reaches the magnetosphere of the earth, the magnetosphere will direct some of the plasma around the earth and some will be funneled into the area around the poles called the CUSP (there point where the magnetic field lines protrude from the earth). Plasma enters the earth's atmosphere equally at the north and south magnetic poles. Plasma entering the earth's atmosphere through the CUSP will interact with various gasses (at elevations between 60-180km). These gasses (O, NO, & N2 for aurora and OH, Na, & O2 for the much fainter airglow) will illuminate visible & non-visible light upon coming in contact with the plasma from space. The color, intensity, and duration of the light will be determined by the type of gas in the atmosphere and the amount of plasma that is entering the atmosphere.


There are a variety of reasons for studying the aurora ranging from better understanding of solar activity (space weather) to tracking activity in the earth's upper atmosphere (aeronomy). The instruments used for gathering information about auroras are interferometers, spectrometers, photometers, and cameras. Essentially all of these instruments are collecting data about light at various wavelengths, which corresponds to light of a certain color. The color tells us about the chemical reaction occuring in the sky, which we can then infer information about what is going on miles above our heads.

Ideal conditions for collecting data about aurora exist (normally) at the south pole. We have months of darkness for ease of viewing the aurora. Instruments can be turned on and left on. We have a relatively clear atmosphere and we're close to the magnetic pole (the magnetic pole is actually out in the ocean right now, but moves about constantly). Our high elevation brings us closer to the action as well. This year though, we're having a variety of conditions that are making the study and viewing of aurora challenging. First, we are in a low point in the 11-year solar cycle. This means less solar activity that causes the aurora. We're simply seeing fewer and smaller aurora compared to previous years. Second, the weather is bad this year. We have had several storms and days of high wind. The wind stirs up snow and storms bring clouds, which both obscures our view of the sky. Every time we finally get a clear night, the moon comes out and overwhelms most of the sensors. Finally, we have the fact that we just moved most of the data taking equipment this past summer. It has taken awhile to adjust to new locations, new setups, and the new tech (me).

I'm still having trouble with posting photos. I was going to post a picture that was taken the other day of (almost) everyone on station in our nice gym. It's a photo that we share with other stations during our mid-winter point. I was going to talk about how goofy I look and you could see what (almost) everyone else down here looks like. Instead just imagine in your mind how great the photo turned out. The photo reminded me of the class pictures we had taken during grade school. If I can ever figure out why photos aren't working, I'll update this post.

It has occured to me that I really don't have much going on in my blog without photos.

**UPDATE**
Looks like I can make photos appear using a different computer.
There are about 10 people missing from this photo, most likely they are the day-sleepers, but it gives you an idea of the sort of creatures that I'm dealing with down here. I thought it was great to not have to ben in the back row, where the tall folk are usually relegated to.


Let's see if I can name everyone (left to right, starting in the back): BFK, Clayton, John F., Mike H., Dan B., Erik, Danella, George, Victoria, Mike, Alan, Greg, (second row down, left side) Scott, Guy, Allistair, Brien, Doc Will, Heidi, cookie Dan, Rechelle, Suzy, Noah, Phil, Renee, Denis, Jon, Jodi, Lynette, Richard, Liz, John N., Jared, Stephan, (back to the left) Robert S., cornholio, Holly, Jonny O., Don, Nate, Tom, Joey, Tim, UT Bob, Patrick, Michael R., Ethan, (front row, left) chef Judy, Safety Bill, Tracy, Craig, Bob, Lane, Janice & John, Steph, Liesl.

Some folks down here can't post anything to their blog, so I thought I would try and see what happens. Below are some random links and pictures.



Here are links to other Antarctic blogs from our friends in the UK:

Brits at Halley

http://bigjuli.blogspot.com/

http://76south.blogspot.com/

http://chillydave.blogspot.com/

http://www.antarcticlife.com/

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Stations/Halley/Webcam/index.php

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Diaries/Halley/2006/index.php


Brits at Rothera

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Stations/Rothera/Webcam/index.php

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Diaries/Rothera/2006/index.html


All Brits:

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Living_and_Working/Diaries/

http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/index.php