-

Isn't ice amazing.

Today was a good day off. It even felt like a day off. My activities for today started with a fantastic breakfast as an encore from an awesome Thankgiving feast last night. I had my favorite food in the whole world as shown in the photo, smoked salmon with red onions and capers, two custom fried eggs, a salt bagel, a fresh biscuit, cranberry juice, coffee, a slice of melon and some assorted cheeses. I had Mike take this photo of my breakfast. Antarctica is very harsh, just not this morning. Note the two "green brains", one in my pocket and one on the table.

After that we went up to the ham shack as a encore of my most-excellent contacts last night from Japan, Patriot Hills Antarctica and Pacific marine mobiles. I got my climbing harness on and climbed the tower to rotate the tri-band antenna more towards North America. The 20 meter amateur radio band is tricky down here. We have to follow the dark line. We are still experimenting with some very challenging radio propagation solar cycles. Currently things are pretty much at the unfavorable trough for shortwave conditions, which normally run on an eleven year cycle. (more on that...science payload 3 on the LDB this year).

I also got to see a world premiere of Werner Herzog's movie "Rescue Dawn". It will be released by MGM in March. Herzog is in Antarctica creating a film here about us, science, and the drama. The movie I saw today was a very moving movie. It will be something you will want to see if you like real life drama. Herzog appears to be a "bridge" producer between documentaries and feature films and he discussed with us the nature of doing just that. I could easily identify with what he described as his role. He is by all accounts a very special individual. I don't say that lightly. His life's experiences are profound.

Tonight for dinner I really hit it off with more of the ANITA team. I had a great talk with the PI (principal investigator). They are doing some great stuff. I have a personal invitation for the launch. http://amanda.uci.edu/~anita/

I am off to watch another Herzog film right now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

California, Berkshire NY, Baltimore Maryland and Washington DC

-
Image
I am back from a speaking engagement at a familiar conference (CIDM) in San Jose California. Afterwards, I met Angie at the ATL airport and headed to the farm and to see my cousins, Aunt and Sister (and my newest relative) in Baltimore and Washington DC. It was a densely scheduled trip, but nothing compared to our typical overseas vacation trips. I have been having educational fun with my recent birthday gift. It is a Radiacode 103. It is a very sensitive scintillation radiation detector. Loads of fun. The 1k µS/hr spike shown is what the carry on baggage x-ray machine doses out. I am glad I wasn't inside the x-ray equipment. Stopping at some antique stores along the way, I found a number of uranium glass pieces. Yes, they are radioactive. Yes, the dose is comparable to that you get from riding in a commercial airplane. I took a couple of pics of property in Upstate NY. Unbelievable. It will beat out images of the best trailer trash anywhere. And yes, the vehicles are systemica...
Read more

Rituals versus Routines

-
Confucious impressed on us the importantance of ritual. The modern world demands our attention more and more. The external grabs of attention continue to expand and our time is very finite. We cope with our limited attention by shorthanding, by repeating what we can do over time, hours, minutes, days and years. Although the words ritual and routine are quite different. Maybe the concept is the same.
Read more

Busy and Busier

-
Image
It has been busy and somewhat stressful. I am reflecting on the comparatively relative low stress of traveling alone in Southern Africa last year at about this time. I mean in Africa, I only had to worry about getting in car accidents (maybe running someone over), missing flights, getting robbed or attacked. All of these possibilities in a very unfamiliar land. Now interestingly, I seem to have more stress -- over what? It is probably a very good example of good stress versus bad stress. Good stress comes from calculated self-directed challenge. Bad stress comes from captivity and what we feel we "should" be doing. "Should" indicates there are external forces we are beholden to --without our own devices or agency. In April, I am speaking at CIDM Convex in San Jose CA. https://convex.infomanagementcenter.com/ . I also learned I am speaking at LavaCon in October https://www.lavacon.org/ . There were 150 speakers considered and only 40 selected. It will be my first t...
Read more

Updates Storm and Other

-
Image
We had a storm last night in Georgia just like the recent storms that have seemingly have covered the whole country. We lost power and I have been doing a 3 hour on- 3 hour off with the generator. I am definately prepared. Generator started up 2nd pull, plenty of gas and all the other stuff incluing supply chain readiness getting more gas, oil, etc. I like helping neighbors when things go wrong. I have my service truck, my large chainsaw and lots o' tools. I can be quite helpful. Someday (perhaps soon) we will be amazed that we have to have these noisy reciprocating gas engine generators. I like the quiet. I also like having electricity in the house I think I am going to sell my IFR 1200S Service Monitor. Its a fantastic tool. Although they aren't the the newest, they are in great demand because they are incredibly versatile, durable and most of all- trustworthy. It will be on ebay. I am looking forward to Spring. I will be working on the humvee and boat and the property in...
Read more

Non, Je Ne Regrette Pas Rien

-
Image
[Chorus] No, nothing at all No, I regret nothing Neither the good that was done to me Nor the evil, I couldn't care less No, nothing at all No, I regret nothing It's paid for, swept away, forgotten I don't care about the past [Verse] With my memories I lit the fire My sorrows, my pleasures I'm no longer in need of them Swept away the loves With their tremolos Swept away forever I'm starting over [Chorus] No, nothing at all No, I regret nothing Neither the good that was done to me Nor the evil, I couldn't care less No, nothing at all No, I regret nothing For my life, for my joys It starts with you  today Non, rien de rien Non, je ne regrette rien Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait Ni le mal Tout ça m'est bien égal Non, rien de rien Non, je ne regrette rien C'est payé, balayé, oublié Je me fous du passé Avec mes souvenirs J'ai allumé le feu Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux Ba...
Read more