Eclipsed

We have just a little over a week to go before we leave McMurdo Station for our round the world travels and our thoughts have turned to warmth, grass, rest and fine dining. Life is still pretty frenzied here as most of the personnel on station are involved in unloading the giant re-supply ship that arrived on February 6. Every year it seems that the weather turns cold and ugly just at the precise moment the ship arrives and this year was no different. It has been bitterly cold and windy for the past several days (nothing compared to the interior of Alaska, though, which is reporting minus 70 degrees F today); however, this didn't dampen my enthusiasm for standing outside to view the near-total solar eclipse yesterday afternoon.

At 3:22 pm local time, the moon started to pass in front of the sun and by 4:30 we had a near total eclipse. The light was gray - more like a storm was coming than darkness. Luckily, we had contacted one of the metal workers in advance to get a welding helmet filter so we could view the sun safely. Here are some photos of the event.

Another Marathon

Preparation before the start. The start.

Another year, another marathon. This was my third one and it was tough. Weather conditions were just perfect: bright sunny, temperature around freezing point and no wind whatsoever. The surface however was a different story; in places there was a layer of powdery snow which makes it feel like you are running in sand and forces you to always look for a better spot to run. Very tiring. Support was the same as last year (some refreshment stands along the way and some mobile support crews that were able to hand stuff from the runners personal bag that they were carrying in the vehicle. I didn't need any of that since the weather was good and I was carrying my own supplies) with 1 noted difference; This year Sheri was one of the support staff and so I received special encouragement and hugs twice (out and back , the second time accompanied by remarks from me to remind me never to do this again ) along the way.

I was doing quite well up until the final 2 miles of the race, when my legs totally cramped up to the point where even Sheri's encouragement couldn't get me to continue running longer than 2 minutes at a stretch. My final finish time was 3 minutes slower than last year.
Afterwards we were rewarded with a nice after party featuring food and drinks and a volunteer giving massages.
All in all there were:
23 full marathon runners
6 full marathon skiers
24 half marathon runners
6 half marathon skiers

My marathon times:
2006 (first marathon ever) 5:20
2007 4:18
2008 4:21



Dedicated to Pam for encouraging me to run my first marathon and inspiring so many people to run and dedicated to Sheri for supporting me and joining me during my training.

IceStock - Take 4!

Tomorrow is the big day - live music from 10:45 to 6:00 pm, a chili cook-off and the judging of the beard growing contest. This wonderful festival is called IceStock and is always my favorite day of the season. This will be the 4th IceStock I've performed in and it is forecasted to be the coldest one yet. With a high of 27 degrees F (-3 degrees C) and a potential wind chill of 9 degrees F (-13 degrees C), we are planning appropriate (full body coverage) costumes.

Playing in 2 bands this season has taken up a lot of spare time, but the big pay-off is when we get to perform for very appreciative crowds.

Today, a large part of the community is preparing for the event by erecting the stage, getting the containers (milvans) in place for each chili cook-off team and getting the dive shack prepared for its annual role as "Sawbucks", the coffee house run by the Carpenter Shop.

Here's a photo of Sawbucks:



Stay tuned for photos from the event!

Pinsetting

This season, Michiel decided to try out something new - manual pinsetting at the McMurdo bowling alley. The bowling alley is one of (if not, the only) remaining manual pinset system in the world. On each alley, a pinsetter waits for the bowler to throw the ball and (hopefully...) knock down some pins. Considering that the lames are totally warped, knocking down pins is more a question of luck and power than finesse.

Once the pins have been knocked down, the pinsetter jumps off his/her perch and puts them in the rack so that they are out of the way. The ball is then placed into the chute for return to the bowler and the pinsetter jumps up onto the perch out of harm's way.

Bowling tournaments and games usually involve some drinking so the pinsetters wear bright pin-striped (naturally!) socks so that the bowlers can see their legs when they are working.

Pinsetters have the optional responsibility of jeering, cheering or harassing the bowlers with cymbal playing, boos, comments, etc. One pair of pinsetters even pre-prepared cut-out pictures and comments from magazines to stuff into the finger-holes of the balls before returning them to their bowler friends.

Bowlers also have the option to go Cosmic style and play in black light. Did you know that under a black-light, tonic glows fluorescent green? Very cool

Here are some photos of the bowling alley and Michiel at work:

Jah Chant Goes on TOUR!

The reggae band that I play drums in, Jah Chant, was invited to play our first international gig this past Saturday night. The New Zealand research station, Scott Base, had a big beach party and what better way to feel "irie" than to have live, original reggae music. Here are some photos from the event and of the band and our wonderful groupies. What about the tall dude with the dreadlocks - He looks familiar, mon!