Who the hell blogs anymore?

So it’s been, what….almost a YEAR since my last blog post?  Twitter has ruined me as a blogger.  Oh well.  If you want to see what’s happening in my life these days, go to twitter.com/n8duke.  However, I felt like I had something to say, so here goes:

For those of you who don’t know, I got married in July.  The wedding was a lot of fun, and I couldn’t be happier.  However, planning a wedding takes a hell of a lot of time and energy.  Yikes.  I did not have time to plan a bachelor party beforehand, so I had my stag night two weeks ago.

I flew into Chicago to hang out with my good friend and ex-Cheese Weed member, Matt Zatkoff.  On the plane ride there I saw something I’ve always wanted to see….another plane flying in the opposite direction.  I just happened to look out the window at the exact right moment, and saw this little plane ZOOM by underneath my plane at a crazy speed.  It was amazing.  I guess I always figured that one would see that kind of thing all the time, but that was my first time.  :)

Upon arriving in Chicago, Matt and I went to work.  He was shooting a music video (http://www.vimeo.com/7194130) for a reggae/hip hop group at a night club, and I tagged along as the lighting guy.  The whole experience was hysterical.  These dudes must have dropped a TON of money on this video…hiring a camera crew & hot dancing ladies, renting out the club, etc.  The highlights included one of the members ‘tricking’ the hot lady into feeding him a whipped-cream covered strawberry with her mouth, being told we were ‘the coolest whiteboys’ they knew, and the depressingly small amount of people who showed up for the ‘live’ shots.

The next day, Matt went off to work and I hung out Teresa.  We played games, were amazed by Bumpity Boo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPghzjAytBM), and listened to old Cheese Weed tapes (more on that later).  At one point, I was sitting on the couch, and Matt & Teresa’s African Gray Parrot (Greybird) attacked me and tried to bite off my thumb.  I bled.

After meeting up with Evelyn, James, and Sean for Indian food, we went to the Vic Theatre to see THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS!  TMBG is my all time favorite band.  They were on tour for their new science themed kids album, but in select cities, to celebrate the 20th anniversary, they played the entire Flood album.  It was incredible.  The entire sold out crowd was dancing and singing every word to every song.  Great fun.

The next day I woke up and headed to James’s house to meet his new five week old daughter, Brennan.  She is a hilariously cute little alien.  I brought her one of my favorite childhood books, The Story of Ferdinand.  She said thanks by pooping in my hand.  :)

That evening we met up with David and Adam, and we all went to the final show of Riot Fest.  I got to fulfill a 15 year dream to see Screeching Weasel.  I can’t think of anything else I’ve wanted to do for half of my life.  It was amazing.  There were 5000+ people at the show.  And, again, everyone there was signing every word to every song.  They didn’t even need a mic.  I’ve only been to three shows like that in my life….Screeching Weasel, TMBG (the night before), and Gorilla Biscuits.  YEAH!

After Alkaline Trio bored us to tears, we headed out to the ’secret show after party’ featuring one of my favorite new bands: Teenage Bottlerocket.  It was free, and totally awesome.  I can’t wait to see ‘em again in PDX on Nov 13th.

So, that was my bachelor party.  Fuckin’ A!

Do I Have the Largest Old School Nintendo Collection Ever?

I was having a talk with Shane about this.  

1.  Do I have the largest NES collection in Portland?  Mostly likely.

2.  Do I have the largest NES collection in Oregon?  Probably. 

3.  Do I have the largest NES collection on the west coast?  Maybe.

4.  Do I have the largest NES collection west of the Mississippi?  Probably not, but who knows?  

I mean, I’ve never seen anyone who has a bigger collection.  I’d like to meet someone who does….

Aside from Indiana….

So, my prediction was pretty damn close as far as which states would go for who in the election last night.  The only one I didn’t call (and besides my dad, who would have) was Indiana.  Insanity.  

2008 Presidential Election.

I can not and will not vote for anyone who has said that they would increase the military’s budget.  I can not and will not vote for anyone who wants to send more troops into Afghanistan, and who wants to go kick ass in Iran.  I can not and will not vote for anyone who voted to give the $700 billion to the banks who fucked up, and allows corporations to run wild.  I can not and will not vote for anyone who approves nuclear power.  I can not and will not vote for anyone who does not wish to impeach Bush/Cheney.  I can not and will not vote for anyone who will not open an independent investigation into 9/11.  

What more will it take for people to realize that voting for McCain or Obama is throwing your vote away.  McCain will lose, and Obama will win.  Just prepare yourselves to be disappointed.  

That’s not to say that I will not vote.  I definitely will vote.  I will be voting for Ralph Nader.  I was considering voting for Cynthia McKinney, and I still love her to death, but I just don’t think she has the experience that Nader does.  Maybe she could be on his cabinet.  

votenader.org

My NES Collection is FAMOUS!

Check it out, y’all:

Shaners, put up a photo of my new NES shelf on Digg! Thanks Shane. For those of you wanting to see a list of my games, check this out. And if you have any of these, let me know.

Ok, fine….

So, here’s a little update….

My ankle is still not 100%.  I’m going to a physical therapist and doing all sorts of odd exercises such as picking up marbles with my toes and putting them in a jar, balancing on one foot while throwing a heavy medicine ball at a trampoline, & electrocuting my ankle while wrapping it in ice.  It’s a weird experience…but I think I’m getting better.  I’ve got a re-evaluation on Wednesday to find out how much longer I’ll need to continue with this.

On Wednesday of this past week, I finally broke down, and with the help of Drew, built one kick ass shelving unit for my huge NES collection.  It was quite a project, and ended up taking two days due to a mistake in measurement….but everything turned out just fine.  It’s really a site to behold.  It is 6.5 feet high, and 3.75 feet wide, & 13 shelves of pure video gaming craziness.  It’s really amazing.  If any of you would like to come over and play Rampart with me, drop me a line….let’s make it happen.  

Saturday was the big Beer Pong tourney at the Ass Chapel Duex.  There were 24 (?) teams of two with partners chosen randomly….it was madness.  My partner was some guy named Jesse….good guy.  Oh, for those of you wondering, no, I didn’t drink any beer.  Jesse had to drink for two…like a pregnant lady.  There were three sXe-ers there: Shane, Bookis, and me.  Anyway, the tournament was double elimination, and, of course, we lost our first match and were forced into the losers’ bracket.  Jesse and I swept through four rounds (including a solid pounding of Shane/Hannah) of the losers’ bracket before we were beaten in a close match.  the whole thing was a lot of fun, and I love the idea of Shane’s sXe-pong.  OH, and it turns out that the girl didn’t die….she was just hiding in the closet.  

The next day was of course 420….lots of weed….lots of hilarity.  I saw a guy walking out of some glass/head shop near my house with a bong the size of a large cat.  Shane, Ingrid, Hannah, Bookis, and I went to Paradox for ‘brunch’, which was great, and exactly like last time….we had to wait for EVER for a table, and then the SUPER DUPER cute waitress (Ashley) served us.  After taking Shane to the Amtrak station, and Hannah/Beaky to the boys’ to catch a ride, I went to Sarah’s house for a new tattoo!  I really like it a lot.  It’s a little boy swinging on a rope…. I’ll put up a photo soonish.  

Thanks to everyone who made my weekend a LOT of fun: Ingrid, Shane, Hannah, Bookis, Dustin, Drew, Casey, Brandon, Tyler, Jesse, Danny, Brit, Lucas, Sarah, Blaine, ad everyone I’m forgetting!  

Podcast

Last night I was a forced participant in the Victory Brothers Podcast. Listen to it by downloading it on iTunes, or go to their myspace page.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-jig.

Well, it’s been a while.  So here’s the story: Things were wrapping up nicely in Antarctica.  I was doing as little work as possible.  I was planning my travels with Shane and my visits to good friends in New Zealand.  I was excited.  On the night of the 7th (the night before I was to leave Antarctica), I gathered up a gang of friends and we headed out to the Happy Camper site so that I could see the finished Quinzee that I worked on.  We hiked out to the Happy Camper site out on the sea ice and it was a beautiful evening.  The sun was shining brightly and we were all in good spirits.  

I got to go in the quinzee and let me tell you, the rest of the gang had done a great job finishing that structure.  It was HUGE.  As I climbed out of the quinzee, however, things took a turn for the worse.  I took two or three steps and the next thing I know, my ankle turns inward and I collapse on the ice.  It hurt like hell.  I got up and with some help hobbled back to the road and flagged down a shuttle that took me into town.  I went into medical and got x-rayed.  No broken bones, which is nice….or so I thought.  Apparently, sprains can take longer to heal that broken bones.  My ankle hurt like hell and I couldn’t put any weight on it.  It was swollen and bruised and I had to be on crutches.  My flight the next day was cancelled and I ended up laying in my bed watching movies for a few days.  It was horrible.  I couldn’t do anything.  I couldn’t get my own food, I couldn’t carry anything….I was useless.  I was so afraid that my travel plans would be screwed up.  

On the 11th (I think) was was told that I’d be leaving Antarctica.  I had my roommate take my bags over the the bag drag area and a shuttle picked me up and took me to the airfield.  I had a hard time keeping back my tears of frustration.  The plane ride was horribly uncomfortable.  Five hours crammed in a military flight doesn’t help your ankle.  My plan was to wait it out in New Zealand until I was able to walk again without crutches.  I had no idea how hard that would be.  After the first few hours I knew that I couldn’t do that.  I had been told that it would be maybe two full weeks before I’d be able to walk without crutches and then another two weeks before I’d be back to normal.  I couldn’t do ANYTHING.  I had to take a taxi across town to get food.  I had to ask my friends to help me with everything.  I was miserable.  so I had to make the tough decision to leave my travels behind.  The hardest part was telling Shane.  I still feel bad that he’s there all on his own.  I’m sure he’s fine, but I feel bad about how the whole thing turned out.  

Anyway,  my pal Alex was also heading back to the states to go on tour with The Pharmacy so the plan was that he’d help me through the airports and be able to cruise through to the head of the lines with me.  However, when we got to the ticket counter in Christchurch, it was revealed to him that he would not be able to travel due to ’structural damage’ to his passport.  Bummer Alex.  However, he did eventually make it back to Seattle.  So I’ve been hanging out with Ingrid, ‘the wieners’, Maggie, and Hannah even came down to visit.  But basically I’ve been laying around with my foot up and watching illegally downloaded movies, listening to a bunch of mosh metal/hardcore, and reading comics.  Not a horrible life by any means, but I’m kind of sick of not being able to get around.  I can hobble without the crutches now, but not for very long distances before my ankle gets angry with me.  

So, if you’ve got  suggestions of media I should check out, I’d appreciate it.  

Sickness, burns, & bowling

It’s been a while, and for that I apologize. Things have been kind of hectic and crazy here. Summer is coming to an end and the sea ice is getting thinner and thinner as it melts away. As you all know I got booted out of the power plant, which was not the best thing that could have happened to me. I was really enjoying working there, and I felt like I was putting all of my energy into doing the best I could there so that I could get the pay increase only to be shot down and sent off to do pointless busy work for the rest of the season.

I may as well have just walked off the plane because I now had to do all new things in all new settings with all new people. I knew NOTHING. I was a sheet metal worker for a day, then a plumber for a few days, then an electrician with short stints in the sewage plant again (which felt so strangely home-y and familiar that I kind of enjoyed sucking up shit with a wet-vac).

And then, of course, I got sick. I felt horrible. I would be out of work for a day and then I would have to go to medical and check it. I got tested for the flu THREE times (which involves a nasal swab….strangely ticklish and painful at the same time) as well as a strep test. They just determined that I had a bad case of the “McMurdo Crud”. I ended being out of work for six days in a row. It was crazy. At least I was not quarentined. I ended up watching a LOT of television and movies, which was fine, but got boring after day three or four.

After finally healing, I headed back to work with Kevin the electrician. Kevin is a super awesome guy. He and I had to put in electrical meters and CTs. I learned a bit about electrical work, which is nice. And then I was told that I’d be going to Happy Camper!

Happy Camper is an over night camping trip out on the sea ice. You get to learn basic survival skills and have a great time with your team. Our group was nice and small (ten people), plus it was composed of almost all DAs and janitors (the two closest knit groups of workers on the station). Great people in my group including Moira, Eli, Severin, & Alice. We put up tents, built a quinzee (a kind of igloo type shelter), built wind walls, dug trenches, and just generally worked our asses off….which is good to stay warm. The helicopter pilots here on station like to buzz the happy campers and we were no exception. They flew over us at about 20 feet above the ground! It was so scary and exciting. Kind of felt like I was Rambo (in Rambo 4, you know, when he’s doing all of that winter snow training). Then it was time for dinner. We had to melt snow and boil the water to make our food. The next thing I know, someone has accidentally poured boiling water all over my left hand and I’m on the back of a snow mobile headed back to town & into medical. I ended up with second degree burns on my palm and thumb and was unable to go back and actually spend the night with everyone else. Bummer. And after I’d spent so much time shoveling.

The last few days have been easy though, because I am physically only able to do one hand-work (not “one hand-jobs”). So I did a bit of work for the electricians, but it’s basically been me standing around doing watching. And if everything goes as schedueled, I’ll be out of here on the 8th, which translates into two more working days! I’m so excited to get out of here. I can’t even put it into words. My travel plans (which as pretty loose) are as follows:

- about a month in New Zealand visiting old friends, meeting new ones, hanging out with my McMurdo friends in Wanaka, and sharing it all with my great buddy Shane who is coming down to meet me.
- one week in Australia hopefully feeding a baby kangaroo to a crocodile (you’d better be right, Taavo)
- one week in Hawaii getting more second degree burns from lava flows
- back home to beautiful rainy Portland, OR!

Oh, and the other night I FINALLY got to be a pin setter at the McMurdo bowling alley! I’ve wanted to do that since day one. The McMurdo bowling alley is, apparently, the last manual pin setting bowling alley on the whole planet. The Brunswick bowling pin company has tried to buy the equipment back from McMurdo, but they won’t sell it.

Wish me luck!

Doom, gloom, and FUN

Did you hear about the three holes in the ground?

Well, well, well. things have definitely settled down here, but that doesn’t mean that I’m happy with them. I’ve got my plans for revenge, but I don’t really want to put them in writing. It took me a long time to come up with the perfect plan that would hit the people that need to be hit and not those that do not deserve extra work (janitors, DAs, GAs, etc). It’s not going to happen right away, but when it does, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.

Since being moved out of the power plant to do ‘important’ work, I have done next to nothing….partially due to my resolution to do as little as possible, but also because there ain’t shit for me to do. My basic day now consists of standing around and watching other people do things that I’m not qualified or trained to do. And since my redeployment date is Feb 8th, they figure it’s not really worth the time to train me….so I do a lot of watching and chatting it up with the plumbers, electricians, and sheet metal guys they stick me with. I did spend half a day re-caulking panels on top of the water plant with Rob the GA. Oh, and a few days a week they stuck me in the waste water plant to suck up shit with a dry-vac. As gross as the shit mine is, it was kind of welcoming to go back there and work with Bec and Simon. However, I hope I don’t get the black lung.

Two nights ago the DAs rented out Hut 10 for a little party. Before things got going, a group of us were sunbathing out on the back porch looking out over the path left by the Oden ice breaker. We could see little seals dotting the path. All of a sudden someone noticed a poof of water/air and a fin/tail! Orcas! It was amazing. for a long time the group of us would sit in silence just watching…then the orca would make its presence known and everyone would cheer and yell and point…then silence again while we waited it out. It was a great time. I tried to take some photos for y’all, but they just didn’t capture the amazingness of the whole experience.

On Saturday I got to go on a true boondoggle. I meet up with the other 7 people chosen for ‘hard work’ by our supervisors at the Science Support Center (SSC) for our briefing. We made our way down to where the snow mobiles were kept and got to take our pick. I, of course, picked the best one. After a very short introduction to the controls, we were off! And boy were we off. I got up to about 55 mph, which is REALLY fast on a snow mobile. The first stop was the Pegasus Airfield (named after the Pegasus plane that crashed there) which is about 14 miles out on the sea ice. We got to get out and explore the plane, climb on it, and even try to make snow angels. When people had had their fill we jumped back on the snow mobiles and went to Room With A View (RWAV). RWAV is a spot about 1500 feet up the side of Mt Erebus (14000 feet). The ride up there was amazing, because very soon we were WAY out of town and no signs of life of any kind (aside from the flags marking the safe route). 1500 feet up a 14000 foot volcano doesn’t seem like much of anything, but when looking back towards McMurdo, you realize how high up you actually are. We could see the backside of Castle Rock, open ocean out near Cape Evans, the Oden ice breaker making its rounds clearing out the path it had made weeks before, Scott Base, the Mt Erebus glacial tongue, and a fantastic view of Mt Ereubs itself. About five feet of snow had fallen up there since the last group took the trip (which is insane, since they went the day before!), so it was fun to sink into the deep snow. We had lunch, dug holes in the snow, played in the little yellow tent that was set up for emergencies, threw a frisbee around, and just generally hung out. then we made the trip back down the side of the mountain, which was amazing. The view was great, flying through the fresh snow, and racing each other back to the refueling spot really put a good ending to the trip.

My redeployment date is Feb 8th, and I’m really excited to get out of here and do a bit of traveling before I head back to the wonderful land of Portland, OR. I can’t wait. And for those of you who wanted a ‘facial hair update’. Here you go!