Now that the winter season at The South Pole is nearing its end, I figured some self-reflection was in order. In conversations amongst Antarctic workers much is always said about wintering on this continent. Some describe the experience as magical, others simply tolerate the long, dark night as an alternative to what their life might be like elsewhere. There are usually stories of shenanigans, debauchery and occasionally even a bit of the ultra-violence. This winter has so far been one of the quiet ones. There was a fire at McMurdo, a couple of small incidents in our own power plant at Pole, a few injuries and an almost medevac but when the season ends the stories will most likely be pretty tame in comparison to other, more eventful winters.

Antarctic lore dictates that one is forever changed by enduring the perpetual night. For my part I have pretty much dismissed the widely held and often talked about belief that conversation is reduced to monosyllabic words with a grunt here and there. I have only experienced very isolated instances of being “spaced out”. I would say that perhaps I have gained an ability to truly let things that don’t matter slide. This comes with great effort and is definitely a conscious decision, but the fact is, is that not much really truly matters on anything other than a very small scale. Being locked in for nine months with a group of people really drives that point home. It certainly isn’t advantageous to “rock the boat” and it’s definitely not worth it to nitpick at somebody else’s work habits or personality traits. Things that might normally upset me about how a co-worker or fellow community member conducts his or her business are easily dismissed here. I really like that about me and am curious if I can maintain the ability to let such things slide.

During the 2006/2007 Austral Summer research season, Werner Herzog came to Antarctica under the auspices of the NSF’s artists and writers program. This program is a PR tool to help the good folks back home understand what their hard-earned tax dollars are paying for. Programs such as this have helped government agencies secure funding for as long as there has been a government.

Late in the 07/08 research season, a copy of Herzog’s documentary, entitled “Encounters at the End of the World” made it to McMurdo for a screening – in fact, several screenings to ensure that everyone who wanted to watch it got a chance. After having become somewhat emotionally invested in the film and its quality, I was excited to finally be able to get a chance to see it. Of course after the on-ice premier the film was the centerpiece of most mealtime conversations. It took me a while to form an opinion on the film. It’s sort of like when you buy something for a lot of money and you immediately realize that it’s a piece of crap – but admission to that reality is undesirable so you go on telling yourself that your purchase was sound. No, I didn’t enjoy the movie.

Marsha, having gone to film school and forced to endure hours of film, was a Herzog fan and was very excited that he was coming to Antarctica. On the day he arrived she went to the building where arriving passengers first go to meet him. To paraphrase, his first comments were about the sun, the warm temperatures and the ATM. He had his mind made up about what Antarctica was after only spending a few hours there. And his film reflected that.

With preconceived notions Herzog defaulted to the M.O. for which he is famous. After all, it’s never been about the place for him, and he’s been to some amazing places. It’s always been about people – or as he said it himself “truth in cinema”. He immediately sought out the egomaniacs among us. He found a community full of Kinskies and Treadwells, people who like Herzog himself completely buy into the legend of themselves. He singled these folks out, interviewed them and in typical fashion, interjected his own opinions over theirs.

I’ve seen a couple of reviews for “Encounters” some seem to be a bit patronizing but this one – in the Austin Chronicle is about the most accurate and best reflects this particular film. That’s to say that, like the film itself, the review really doesn’t say much. It’s packed with a lot of words and descriptions but really has no substance.

My opinion of “Encounters” is that it came off like the family vacation slideshows you had to endure at the neighbors house when you were young. While it was refreshing to see footage of the people behind the science rather than another penguin movie – the film was, at best, a mish mash of several different ideas, none of which really made much sense and had no relationship with any other part of the movie. There just didn’t seem to be a point.

Mr. Herzog was delightful to be around and surprisingly unpretentious. He did have an overall positive impact on the McMurdo community, save those who thought him invasive. He hosted a screening of Freaks, a 1932 film made by an undereducated circus performer. He also hosted a screening of his unreleased (at the time) “Rescue Dawn” which I did think was a wonderful film.

He also found time to play a role in this masterpiece – originally shot for the 2007 McMurdo Film Festival and featuring not only Werner Herzog but also 2/3 of the crew on the other film being shot that same season – Ice People. Without further adieu – the Internet premier of Chickenman:

Locally, I make lots of jokes about “getting the dumb…must be the T3″…I use it as an excuse for just about everything. It’s a great excuse for…well, just about everything really. But what is it? There really are no solid conclusions – the jury seems to be still out, maybe that’s because someone can still see a way to milk money out of doing studies, or maybe the suspected causes don’t have a large enough study group. Maybe there simply aren’t enough people affected by it worldwide to be able to market some magic panacea so nobody is really interested in it beyond the occasional research grant.

The people who are supposed to know and understand things believe that Polar T3 syndrome is caused by the body’s overconsumption of the T3 hormone (produced by the thyroid) in an attempt to keep warm. The muscles consume the hormone, the brain isn’t left with any, or at least not enough to perform at its normal levels. Anyone who understands how hypothermia works knows that the body shifts to “keep core warm” mode at the first sign that a body is exposed to the cold, the core is kept warm at the expense of the extremities and the brain (confusion is a symptom of hypothermia). But does cold make you stupid or are you stupid to be in the cold in the first place?

Thyroid function is also closely related to the much wider known SAD or seasonal affective disorder. It is thought that light, or the lack of, has more to do with SAD than cold but it seems obvious that the two conditions are closely related and that notion is affirmed by the requirement of undergoing a psychiatric evaluation to be allowed to even spend a winter in Antarctica.

For my part…I notice that my speeling has gone all to hell, though I spend very little time exposed to the cold. People around me seem stupider than normal too…often pausing during conversation while they search for a word. Is it T3? SAD? Something undefined yet very common to most if not all Antarctic winterovers? Locally we just say “toasty” – a catch all phrase that might mean irritable, fatigued or bear reference to the 1000 yard stare. Myself, and the station as a whole however seem to be in pretty high spirits and I would not describe myself as toasty at least not at this point. Check back on me in August.

It’s 70 below, we won’t see the sun for another three months, but damn it, it’s Memorial Day and we’re Americans. We’re having a barbecue!

To celebrate the Memorial Day holiday, the 60 winter-over residents of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station celebrated the only way they know how; with copious amounts of food and libations. Photo: Homeless Heidi

Fortunately, this holiday celebration remained free of the shenanigans of the prior Christmas holiday.

It would seem obvious to folks in warmer climes that a barbecue grill should never be set up inside. That wisdom, however, was lost on last year’s winter crew – but in the spirit of “learn from your mistakes” the grill Photo: Homeless Heidi

was set up outside in -70 degree temperatures this year. That did little to quell the fire alarm system, however. But what party is complete without a fire alarm, right? And what party is complete without a flame thrower? Well, just to clarify, there was no “flame thrower” at this party either, so it must have been an incomplete party. There was, however, a a boiler burner – set up as a training aid – and to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea about what goes on down here in the winter – the picture of that training aid has been removed.

Seen written on a whiteboard near the party:
The flamethrower is proof that someone, somewhere said “I want to set those people on fire, but I don’t want to go all the way over there to do it”.

With all the necessities of a good party in place, Photo: Homeless Heidi

the mirth makers had but to set themselves apart in true “Polie” fashion. Usually, this involves dressing up in gaudy outfits and wigs,

but not this time. The Memorial Day ’08 fiesta was differentiated by the making of [expand title=liquid nitrogen]ironically, the amount of money spent to keep things cold at the South Pole is astronomical[/expand]martinis. Photo: Homeless Heidi

Myself, having grown up on a [expand title=dairy farm,] you see, vials of bull semen are stored inside liquid nitrogen tanks – the semen is put in a straw to accomplish the task of insemination[/expand] seeing liquid nitrogen and a straw doesn’t exactly invoke a “drink me” type desire; nonetheless, the specialty drinks were a hit and well received by all – well, all except the station’s chef, who relayed this message by email the next morning:

“Subject: vomit (in Antarctica, we get a lot of emails with this or related subject lines..???..)

who ever chose to use the galley mop, bucket and mop sink to clean up vomit should finish the job by cleaning the soiled mop, mop sink, and mop bucket that was simply left dirty in the galley. It is not the galley staff’s job to clean up after you.

Regards,
Name Removed

With the exception of the ill-placed vomit and resultant clean-up supplies, the party was seen as a huge success.

Other weekend events at the South Pole included selection of a geographic [expand title=Pole Marker]the ice over the South Pole is constantly moving. This means that the official USGS marker over the geographic South Pole is not actually over the Pole after a period of time. Each year a new marker is placed over exactly 90 degrees south latitude. The winter-over crew each year has the honor of designing the Pole Marker for the next year.[/expand] to be placed at the geographic South Pole on 1 Jan, 2009. The crowd favorite was this:

however, the National Science Foundation must first approve the design. Approval of this particular design is not expected.

The 2008 Pole Marker:

Photo: Steffen Richter
Design: Laura Rip