Hai All,August 6, 2001.
If you were the President of the United States of America, and received this bit of information, what would you do?
05 August 2007
A Day To Remember
Hai All,August 6, 2001.
If you were the President of the United States of America, and received this bit of information, what would you do?
01 August 2007
ANTARCTICA: 48 Hour Film Competition
So.
This weekend the Antarctica 48 Hour Film Competition is scheduled to take place. My skills of filming/scheduling/editing will be tested. Here's an example of what I'm up against:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iofP_egi0rY
Pretty funny stuff.
And pardon the blogspot confusion. I'm changin' templates.
This weekend the Antarctica 48 Hour Film Competition is scheduled to take place. My skills of filming/scheduling/editing will be tested. Here's an example of what I'm up against:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iofP_egi0rY
Pretty funny stuff.
And pardon the blogspot confusion. I'm changin' templates.
Palmer Station Weather II
I shot this video on the 29th, at the end of a big storm day. The weather had changed into a relative calm. Though it was still windy, there was no snow falling. We got bailed on with a couple of feet of snow during the day. Then we had a waxing gibbous moon.
29 July 2007
Palmer Station Weather
First I have to say that the weather here at Palmer this winter has been so mild (in comparison to other stations I've worked at) that it never really felt like there was much to write about. We've had maybe two "major" storm events so far this winter, and then this morning when I woke up I could hear the wind howling outside, and realized that I wouldn't be going boating today. Sure enough, we've got winds gusting up to about 50 MPH (back in April we had gusts up to 90 MPH!) and lots of snow. I was almost knocked to the ground by the wind while walking from my dorm to the BIO building. No boating today, as the winds need to be <20 MPH.
Temperatures here in the winter are almost always below freezing (though currently it's a balmy 0.5C) but nothing too intolerable in comparison to Pole or McMurdo. Even when taking windchill into account I haven't experienced anything here like some of the temperatures at those stations, where it can get mind-numbingly and dangerously COLD. Mother Nature is serious trying to kill you at Pole, and without lots of warm layers and an abundance of caution, frostnip or bite is always waiting for you. Here, the greatest cold danger is falling out of one of the Zodiac boats into the sea, where the water temperature is actually slightly below freezing, and it feels like you're being stabbed with one million tiny knives. Panic quickly sets in, and you can't get out of the water fast enough.
One fact about Palmer Station and the Antarctic Peninsula in general is that the temperature has risen 3C over the last fifty years as a consequence of global climate change. The peninsula is truly becoming the "banana belt" of the continent. Here is a link to a good article about what's happening to the Marrs Piedmont glacier directly behind Palmer as a result of the increase in average yearly temperatures. As I look out of my office window some days to witness the glacier calving, I can't help but wonder if there will be any of it left in 100 years. Or if humanity will still be in Antarctica.
Temperatures here in the winter are almost always below freezing (though currently it's a balmy 0.5C) but nothing too intolerable in comparison to Pole or McMurdo. Even when taking windchill into account I haven't experienced anything here like some of the temperatures at those stations, where it can get mind-numbingly and dangerously COLD. Mother Nature is serious trying to kill you at Pole, and without lots of warm layers and an abundance of caution, frostnip or bite is always waiting for you. Here, the greatest cold danger is falling out of one of the Zodiac boats into the sea, where the water temperature is actually slightly below freezing, and it feels like you're being stabbed with one million tiny knives. Panic quickly sets in, and you can't get out of the water fast enough.
One fact about Palmer Station and the Antarctic Peninsula in general is that the temperature has risen 3C over the last fifty years as a consequence of global climate change. The peninsula is truly becoming the "banana belt" of the continent. Here is a link to a good article about what's happening to the Marrs Piedmont glacier directly behind Palmer as a result of the increase in average yearly temperatures. As I look out of my office window some days to witness the glacier calving, I can't help but wonder if there will be any of it left in 100 years. Or if humanity will still be in Antarctica.
27 July 2007
Ice Nine: VERNADSKY STATION
Finally.
Two months to the day, I've finally got this video put together. The goodwill trip from Palmer Station to the Ukrainian station Vernadsky. I have few skills of video composition or editing, the beauty and/or pain of which was doubly compounded considering that I:
A: Borrowed a friend's video camera. (Technical difficulties. Upload was horrific.)
B: Asked Dave Wiemer to be my cinematographer. (He's got a good eye, and he's a great actor. He was supposed to be in my movie SAFETY SLAPDOWN: A Rage of Safety, but he's in Alaska now, manicuring his property in preparation for Sara's arrival and their eventual wedding. I'd better get an invite Weimermuns!).
C: Thought about the context of the trip and actually wrote a speech for it. Which got translated into Ukrainian.
This video is not for everyone.
However, it is BENEFICIAL FOR ALL MANKIND.
As is this:
And this. Part II of the Vernadsky Trip. Teh Race to the Laurence M. Gould:
Two months to the day, I've finally got this video put together. The goodwill trip from Palmer Station to the Ukrainian station Vernadsky. I have few skills of video composition or editing, the beauty and/or pain of which was doubly compounded considering that I:
A: Borrowed a friend's video camera. (Technical difficulties. Upload was horrific.)
B: Asked Dave Wiemer to be my cinematographer. (He's got a good eye, and he's a great actor. He was supposed to be in my movie SAFETY SLAPDOWN: A Rage of Safety, but he's in Alaska now, manicuring his property in preparation for Sara's arrival and their eventual wedding. I'd better get an invite Weimermuns!).
C: Thought about the context of the trip and actually wrote a speech for it. Which got translated into Ukrainian.
This video is not for everyone.
However, it is BENEFICIAL FOR ALL MANKIND.
As is this:
And this. Part II of the Vernadsky Trip. Teh Race to the Laurence M. Gould:
24 July 2007
Time Capsule
Hi All,
Just a quick update this morning. The pipefitters here had to dig a meter deep trench through the permafrost near the boathouse to lay in some new piping, and someone had the great idea to place a time capsule in the trench to be opened sometime in the next 50 years. We took pictures of everyone in their work areas and of all the buildings here to be placed in the capsule, along with some other odds and ends (including a vial of someone's blood...not mine). Anyway, here's a slideshow, and the pics are also posted full-size on Picasa. Thanks to Phil Troska for taking all of the photos.
Just a quick update this morning. The pipefitters here had to dig a meter deep trench through the permafrost near the boathouse to lay in some new piping, and someone had the great idea to place a time capsule in the trench to be opened sometime in the next 50 years. We took pictures of everyone in their work areas and of all the buildings here to be placed in the capsule, along with some other odds and ends (including a vial of someone's blood...not mine). Anyway, here's a slideshow, and the pics are also posted full-size on Picasa. Thanks to Phil Troska for taking all of the photos.
21 July 2007
HAI!
I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?NO YOU CAN'T HAS CHEEZBURGER.
Late night entertainment, featuring LOLcode and Caturdays.
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