A Squid on the Ice
September 13, 2009 8:39 PM   Subscribe

A Squid on the Ice. From fermion, an Antarctic mefite: "The continuing saga of Science and Adventure with the Squid (that's me) in and around Antarctica's McMurdo Station. Includes cool science, musings on Lovecraft, the logistics of Antarctic life, and lots of pictures. We're hoping to get out to the Dry Valleys sometime soon." [via mefi projects]
posted by ocherdraco (21 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Some beautiful photos on that site; thanks. It's had a fair number of posts since starting, so there's promise of more nature goodness to come. And because of this site I've found my 'earworm' word for the next week: 'galumphing.'
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:52 PM on September 13, 2009


Oh nice. Very nice.

Ftagn.

China Mieville has written an introduction to Mountains of Madness? Nice one - that's something I have to read.
posted by Artw at 9:06 PM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]


Was meaning to post this. Really great stuff.
posted by Damn That Television at 9:09 PM on September 13, 2009


Am I the only person who can't see the name McMurdo without thinking of "Windows" in Carpenter's The Thing trying and failing to contact that station?

Also, this is very, very cool.
posted by brundlefly at 9:13 PM on September 13, 2009


Oh, this is wonderful. I probably say that about all Antarctica posts, but that's only because it's true.
posted by rtha at 9:34 PM on September 13, 2009


what would I give to work down there. oh lucky man, fermion!

I would love to run a project there for a season, during which I would experience both the night, as well as the endless day. I was always always intrigued by the antarctic and refuse to bastardize my dream with only a 2-week cruise.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:37 PM on September 13, 2009


psst: fermion's a woman.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:39 PM on September 13, 2009


Every time I start to read a first-hand account of living and working in Antarctica, I think, "I would so love to do that," and then I read more and I think, "I should never, ever do that."
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:41 PM on September 13, 2009


sorry regina, I hadn't read your bio when I posted my previous comment

I've lived and worked in many far-flung places north and south of the equator, and the swedish arctic was a high point. I would love to know what it's like to be part of a small research community below the antarctic circle, I've been dreaming of this for years.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:54 PM on September 13, 2009


Some pages are ommited from this book preview

Fuck you Google!
posted by Artw at 10:04 PM on September 13, 2009 [1 favorite]


That should be fuck you publisher; they're the ones who decide what can or can't be displayed. (Unless it's out of print but still in copyright; then Google's default is to only show a preview.)
posted by ocherdraco at 10:14 PM on September 13, 2009


No worries, seawallrunner, it's pretty hard to tell under all the cold-weather gear anyway.

I am trying to find more cephalopod. Possibly the folks with the remotely-operated underwater vehicle will be able to help me out. The nice thing about being down early in the season is that we can actually get to know all the other science groups here.
posted by fermion at 10:17 PM on September 13, 2009


This is awesome. Thanks.
posted by jokeefe at 11:20 PM on September 13, 2009


Very interesting, I'll have to read through this stuff, but it looks fascinating so far...
Oh, and I need to link to Frostbytes, a photoblog from Antarctica.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 12:12 AM on September 14, 2009 [2 favorites]


At first, I thought this post was about this.
posted by ericbop at 8:23 AM on September 14, 2009


Very cool.
posted by notashroom at 10:09 AM on September 14, 2009


Thrilled to learn that this blog exists.

> And because of this site I've found my 'earworm' word for the next week: 'galumphing.'

As someone who memorized "Jabberwocky" for fun when I was younger, I'm here to report that "galumphing" is one of a number of marvelous words invented therein:

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.


..which passage is now permanently and immeasurably improved by the mental image of a young man, carrying the severed head of a fearsome monster, triumphantly laying on his belly and flopping along the ground to return to his village.
posted by churl at 4:02 PM on September 14, 2009


If you can't get research jobs down there, you could always be the sous chef, janitor or hairstylist.

They're hiring for Antarctic Summer.
posted by chiababe at 6:02 PM on September 14, 2009


I'm in the middle of a Lovecraft project and it's pretty shocking the way some of his letters will flip between fictionalized versions of what he has seen (imaging a house full of corpses sloughing off into the void) and sudden, shocking racism (damn Pollocks!). It makes republishing the letters for a modern audience tricky, especially considering Lovecraft is still only clawing his way into the fringes of literary canon.

One subject that Lovecraft dwells on a lot in his letters is ice cream. He loved ice cream. He would have ice cream eating contests with members of his circle.

Based on my own (slapdash) research at this point, the three non-Mythos topics that have the greatest probability of coming up in a Lovecraft letter are as follows:

1) How Much Ice Cream I Ate
2) How I Love Anglo-Saxons And Despise Those Who Are Not
3) Cats Whom I Have Met And What The Seemed To Think Of Me
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:21 AM on September 15, 2009 [3 favorites]


How I Love Anglo-Saxons And Despise Those Who Are Not

That's not completely un-mythosy.

Cats Whom I Have Met And What The Seemed To Think Of Me

More of a dreamlands thing.
posted by Artw at 7:25 AM on September 15, 2009


Icecream on the other hand....

/headscratch

/turns cone upsidedown

Great Race of Yith!
posted by Artw at 7:26 AM on September 15, 2009


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