It was 30 years ago today...

[wayang]

Well, actually 30 years ago the day before yesterday...the day I got to McMurdo for my first season 'on the ice'. The past few weeks, I've been having dreams about the place mixed with insomnia ('big eye', as we used to call it)...like an old cavalry horse hearing a bugle in the distance...

So I've been revisiting my aging photos and beginning the work of scanning them before they disintegrate completely, something I've been meaning to do for some time. Here are just a few from my 'FNG' season, 1979...

[wayang]

[wayang]

My workplace, '79-'80:

And one more that I just received from a friend who was on the crew...ridin' the 'headache ball' at the topping-off party for the new Water Plant ('83-'84 season):

(Shh...don't tell OSHA...)

[cjj]

Cool pics! (pun intended )

I always thought Antarctica would be a great place to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there...

[scotty]

Great pictures Dane i bet they take you back.

[electrofaro]

So, how "warm" was it in those sunny pictures?

And, did you play any guitar down there?

[wayang]

Well, 'warm' is a relative term...

Yeah, I played guitar, bass, drums...whatever I needed to do to make it happen...

[wayang]

[beatlefreak]

Dane -

I took a stab at color correcting the second and third photos to remove some of the red in them. I've had to do this to a bunch of my old photos, too.

[wayang]

Hey, that's cool Kris...thanks! I'm intending to do a lot of that kind of thing once I get 'em all scanned. The colors definitely fade at various rates, and these poor little photos have been in and out of a lot of storage units and garages over the years...all the more reason to get 'em all digitized now.

[jimk]

I'm a little surprised that the weather allowed you to play in what looks like light jackets and jeans. Antarctica would be an interesting place to visit some day...preferably when it's winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
JimK

[electrofaro]

Well, 'warm' is a relative term...

Yeah, I played guitar, bass, drums...whatever I needed to do to make it happen...

I'm always cold, you know...

Thanks for sharing those. I'd never expect a kind of Antarctic gigs? Wow!

[winston]

Fantastic Dane. It's always interesting to look back at our exploits when we were young.

[cjj]

Hmm, cold, huh? Looking at historical data for McMurdo, it's not a whole lot different than where I live at least for the lows. The record low there, -59F is only 3 degrees lower than our record of -56F! We get a tad warmer in summer though...


McMurdo Historical Weather

[longboard_ric]

Nice pics of times gone by Dane.

A little bit of reminiscing never hurt anyone.

Having lived and worked in the Antarctic puts you in an elite club.

Thanks for sharing.