Things Forgotten & Things Ahead

Current Conditions
Temperature: -13F
Wind Chill: -13F

The days are getting back to normal again. Sunlight for about 11 hours today, with the sunset and dusk extending well into the evening. I haven't been taking many pictures lately. I guess the sights have grown familiar, just like I don't take pictures of Mt. Hood back home very often anymore. My thoughts are elsewhere anyway: warm places. So I've riddled this post with pictures from my New Zealand trip last year that have nothing to do with the text around them, but represent the constant background hum in my mind.

Te Paki sand dunes near Cape Reinga, Northland. Oh man, that looks so warm!

That aside, I'm settling into this increased population thing now. It was much more stressful than I expected it to be, if you couldn't tell by the last post. I still find myself avoiding the crowds and trying to sit with winter-overs, but I've accepted the new noise level somewhere in my sub conscience. I've even enjoyed meeting some of the returning folks, although I do try to avoid actual FNGs because they're still a little too excited for me. My energy level remains extremely low, and this deficit is pronounced by the newcomers.

Punakaiki, West Coast. Look at that greenery! I can't wait to float down a river!

Despite the languor, my schedule remains as busy as ever. Monday volleyball, Wednesday travelogues or burger bar, Friday soccer. Tuesdays and Thursdays end up filling with personal events like dinner at Hut 10, racquetball, making pop can camping stoves (I'm currently on an ultra-light backpacking kick, thinking about travels to come), or band practice.

Botanical Gardens, Christchurch, Canterbury. The smell of flowers is only a vague memory.

You may recall that I've been in a band over the winter, McBand. We were gigging every other weekend for a while. We even went international and played at the Kiwi station. It was getting to be too much by the end, and I have to admit that I was a little relieved when two of the primary members, Kish and Jimmy, left at Winfly, thus ending the tour, not that they won't be sorely missed. It was just a lot of work to be a roadie, a soundman, recording engineer, and a performer all at once. We had to set up and tear down the entire sound system for each show: PAs, mixers, monitors, amplifiers, microphones, cabling, etc. Between McBand, E Minor's Daughter (my folk duo with Jen), and my solo acoustic act, I think I've played every venue on the island now: the Carp Shop, the MEC, the Library, Gallaghers, the Coffee Shop, the Tatty Flag, Derelect Junction, the VMF, the Galley, the BFC. Holy crap!

Mt. Maunganui, Bay of Plenty. Surfing!

Anyway, I swore not to get involved in another band here, just to have more free evenings, but now I find myself joining an Irish punk band complete with fiddle player. Well, at least it's a change. And it should only be a few tunes, specifically for "Winstock" in a couple weeks, our winter/winfly version of "Icestock".

Somewhere between Wanaka and Haast, Otago. Camping!

It occured to me that a long time ago I intended to put some McBand recordings on Surlyjam. Well, I finally did it. I've put some of the better takes up, as well as my version of the Gourd's version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice", which was a big hit this winter.

French Pass, Marlborough Sounds, Marlborough. Rolling green hills!

It also occurs to me that we had a continent-wide winter film festival that I've failed to document here. Traditionally, McMurdo and Scott Base do a 48 hour film festival over a long weekend in winter. This year, for the first time, the invitation went out to all the wintering residents on the continent, and we had film submissions from many stations: Casey (Australia), Halley (U.K.), Mawson (Australia), Neumayer (Germany), Rothera (U.K.), and SANAE (South Africa), as well as several from McMurdo and Scott Base. The first International Antarctic Film Festival. Most of them were surprisingly good.

Rotorua, Waikato. Huck! (No mom, that's not me... winking emoticon)

The films had to be done within a 48 hour period, and several randomly-drawn requirements had to be included. This year's requirements were a cardboard box, an FNG or new guy, a bodily noise that is not speech, and the line "What do you mean you want a day off for Mid Winter?"

Antz, who has spent several winters here, wrote a bunch of funny lyrics about the initial allure of Antarctica and the rapid decline to the state we're in now, much assisted by the fact that we all have to do dishes every few weeks. With the help of McBand, it became a song and music video in the film festival. It doesn't seem to want to post here, so it, too, is on Surlyjam. Sidenote: Antz is a Kiwi, so don't expect to understand a word he says.

And I'll leave you thinking about my favorite New Zealand location:

Wharariki Beach, near Puponga, Tasman. Oh, to sit on a beach!