Last Dispatch

While I was at Northern Voice, Pam’s final email came in:

There won’t be many photos from the Zodiac cruise through Pleneau Island, also known as ‘The glacier graveyard’. Getting from iceberg to iceberg for observation proved to be a wild ride. Wind, waves, and snow hindered picture-taking for all but those being paid to do it. The rest of us clung to the side robes with heads turned into sleeves. I suppose we learned that form of protection from the penguins.

When icebergs become grounded, it’s erosion that shakes them apart, eventually becoming ‘burger bits’. It might take an iceberg 10 years to rot. They look snowy from a distance but up close you see accumulated rocks frozen in the solid ice. We cruised through icy chunks where a leopard seal hid out and taunted Zodiacs trying to land.

The next day opposite weather in quiet, sunny Cuverville Island. We observed more gentoo penguins in a big smelly rookery. One of the guides noted that in the past 3 years, snow cover has retreated from the shore exposing sharp rocks and producing new mosses. We could hear the penguins squish as they stepped across the tour trail.

In the evening a British base commander lectured on ‘A Year in Antarctica’. He described how a particular scientific group physically and mentally handled a 12-month rotation. In addition to working in pairs, they also had to deal with personal annoyances such as soup slurping. If a coworker got the better of you, they were asked to ‘repair a meter’ in the outermost hut. (It was equipped with essential overnight gear.) When the base supply vessel returned the following year, the commander explained that, naturally, outgoing crew went through withdrawal and grief. Replacements were to allow them a few days for introspection before they left.

Our stops over the last 5 days have included Deception Island, Petermann Island, Halfmoon Bay, Paradise Bay, and Neku Harbour. We crossed 66-degrees south latitude, a joyous moment for the captain, within spitting distance of the Antarctic Circle, the furtherest south this vessel and this captain have ever been.

We’re now thinking about home. Tonight at the Captain’s farewell party ‘Las Penguinas’ my picture-taking buddies and I will reminisce about this incredible journey to the awesome Antarctic.

Pam will be back on Tuesday, and I’m hoping that her photos will be up shortly after that.

Northern Voice 2008, Day 1 Continued

The highlight of the afternoon was for me, as it turned about, PhotoCamp. That’s the session on photography led by Kris Krug, President of Bryght. I’ve been to this session in past years, but this year Kris had a slightly different format (although he had done PhotoCamp this way at other venues like BarCamp): A group of different experts in a variety of photographic techniques and topics followed. Tim Bray talked about what ideal small camera to get, even if you already have a larger Digital SLR (and I was glad to see that he promoted the site DPReview, a site that Steven had recommended many times when I was shopping for a camera.) Local art photographer Rachael Ashe showed some stunningly psychedelic effects you can get by using long exposures in a dark room along with various kinds of coloured lights; a kind of light painting. You can see an example done today here. I’ve seen other examples of this online, but the ones she did had an almost iconic (in the religious sense) quality. Novak Rogic of Microsoft showed how you could make elegant and almost picturesque little planets from stiched together panoramas, Duane Storey (who I am hoping to purchase one of his stunning photomurals of the Vancouver skyline from) talked about how to set up a store to sell your photos on SmugMug.com and Miranda Lievers, a local portrait and wedding photographer, gave a superb show of how to make the best pictures from available light. It was that last presentation that particularly impressed me, and I hope I’ll be able to use some of what I learned in future photos.

After Photocamp, I went to the session on WordPress (partly as a prelude to tomorrow’s keynote by Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of Wordpress, one of the most successful blogging software packages today, and the software I use to publish all of my blogs.) While that was mainly a breakout session where we all had the opportunity to avail ourselves of local experts, it was followed by a terrific presentation called ‘More than Cat Blogs’, which was how WordPress can be used to build web sites that are either not blogs at all, or don’t look anything like blogs. (unfortunately I didn’t get the presenters name and he hasn’t posted any links to his session or himself on the Northern Voice Wiki).

After all of these presentations, I went with several others to the nearby Mahoney’s bar, where Voxant Newsroom, a digital news video hosting service, was offering free drinks and t-shirts in return for filling out a short survey regarding blogs and other demographic information. It was nice to be able to get drinks (and eventually dinner) so close the the conference, and I was home at a decent hour, ready for a full second day of Northern Voice tomorrow. It starts early (at 8:30 AM), so hopefully I’ll be up and ready.

Northern Voice 2008

I always have a hard time concentrating on trying to blog in the middle of an event, even if in this case, it’s an event about blogging.

All right, let’s fill in the when and where: It’s lunchtime, and I’m sitting in the atrium of the Forestry Sciences Building on the UBC Campus. I like this space. It has 3 levels of balconies and bridges, as well as a glass roof, where this year, the sun is streaming down. Being the Forestry Sciences building, there is wood everywhere, from supporting beams and a system of structural supports to desks and paneling that covers most of the walls. Despite the fact that it’s clearly a modern building (and a little bit utilitarian), it has some natural warmth, which is also enhanced by the crowds of people all taking pictures, chatting, and writing on their laptops (in other words, acting like students).

The morning’s sessions that I attended were mostly about blogging in corporate environments: how to cultivate Wikis inside of companies, navigating the IT Department, dealing with a technological decision, and finding someone who can be an effective ‘Wiki Gardner’ (Now there’s an interesting title for a business card!)

I’ve seen many old friends, and am trying to keep from spreading whatever may be left of the my cold (which has been around me so long that I almost feel as if we are on a first name basis). The technology I’ve spied is not all that surprising: mostly Macs, both MacBooks and Macbook Pros (plus a sprinkling of a few Vaios and Dells). I’ve seen at least 4 iPhones.

Which brings me to my good news: After a period where I thought I had ‘bricked’ it (i.e. turned it into an expensive paperweight), I got my iPhone working. It is Jailbroken, Unlocked, and seeing the Rogers network (Rogers, incidentally, announced their massive earnings today, which doesn’t surprise me in the least given that our phone bills are the highest bills of anything we pay in Vancouver, surpassing electricity, cable TV, Internet and gasoline ) Everything is working fine except for the ‘where am I’ feature, which I haven’t been able to get at all. Fortunately for me, I know where I am without having to consult the phone.

This afternoon will be some more ‘techie’ sessions (I think). I’ll write about those and put in the few snapshots that I’ve taken, this evening.

The View from 65.36.21S, 64.46.65W

The news from your’s truly is that today I finally was able to go back to work, after about 5 days of on-and-off fever and chills. It sure feels good to be almost normal (coughing and weakness is fine by me compared to that other stuff). Unfortunately, during my retreat into a fetal position under the blankets, I missed about 5 days of sunshine, or so they tell me. Never saw any of it. So much for any Vitamin D that doesn’t come out of a bottle…

Anyway, at least Pam wasn’t here to have to hear me whining about how crappy I felt. The news from her is quite a bit more interesting and far more uplifting:

We’re all back inside after a morning of seeing and smelling Gentoo and Adelie penguin colonies on Petermann Island. We had to tread very carefully as the little guys blend in with the rocks. Fortunately guides were placed next to chicks sleeping on the path. As we knelt to take their pictures, some curious chicks approached to nibble on camera straps. At some point you don’t take pictures but just have to take a breath and stand in awe in the quiet, majestic, surroundings.

Today’s snow got everyone in the mood for exploring, but after the crew planned a festive BBQ on the pool-deck, we had other ideas. Entertainment was provided by a band and passengers willing to dance in the slush (including me), and then an impromptu snowball fight broke out and everyone, including the captain, were on deck as some point.

Outside temperature is about 39°F/4°C. The red Explorer jackets are quite warm, as are the insulated rubber boots. It’s a good thing they are waterproof, as we have to step in “decontamination” buckets before and after leaving the ship and zodiac rafts.

Just moments after everyone came in from lunch festivities, and as the crew was breaking down, the ship suddenly rocked, hard. Chairs tipped over and there was a loud crash from the kitchen followed by another crash on the return wave. The captain has turned off the stabilizers as they also slow the ship and having them off is better for navigating around ice. He’s announced that as of an hour ago, we’ve come farther south in this ship than ever before because of the good weather and relatively ice-free conditions. We’re actually now less than 6 hours sail from the Antarctic circle. Although we’re not planning to cross, it’s exciting to have come so close to that point on the Earth.

Yesterday evening (after 2 landings and a zodiac cruise past ice shelves 40 metres high) we started heading through the Lemaire channel. The Channel is in every guide book of Antarctica. A National Geographic ship was in the area and we watched it disappear thru a tiny speck of an opening off in the distance. At around 22:00 the captain invited everyone up to the bridge as we slipped through the passage. With shear mountains on either side, and glaciers, which could have spilled off at any moment perched atop them, we glided into the opening and away from the sunset. The captain got a round of applause; it was an unforgettable moment. Many people have been moved to tears, (me included), by the astounding beauty of the scene.

Pam goes on to say that her next message will come on the sail back toward Tierra del Fuego.

Here’s the kind of picture those guide books of Antarctica have of the Lemaire Channel:

Another Dispatch from the South

Another email from Pam arrived about mid-day today:

Today, Monday, we went to Deception Island. The day started off sunny, around 37°F. Then it started to sleet but we nevertheless got to take a dip in the thermal water of Whaler’s Bay. I handed my camera to a stranger and shouted “Please take me”, and she did, so I have some smiling photos of me briefly dipping into the pool. I didn’t need my bathing suit as I only went up to my ankles.

I’ve been doing activities with the woman from Chicago (mentioned earlier), a woman from Annapolis who lives on a boat, and another woman from Texas who’s on the trip to celebrate her 40th. We had a birthday bash last night complete with a Mariachi band. It was fun but we all knew we’d have to face the dip this morning. I can’t believe I did it but we ‘girls’ made a pact! It’ll be something to talk about tonight.

Today I saw my first iceberg. It’s so hard to describe; it takes your breath away. Also saw loads of chinstrap penguins and fledglings. We really wanted to run up and hug them, they are soooo adorable. Also saw fur seals, and yesterday, an albatross with an 11-foot wingspan. I honestly can’t describe how awesome it’s been.

This is the first successful attempt to send mail from my room and and I’m excited to send this off. Right now, my room faces an Argentinian military ship. They gave us a bit of a problem coming ashore where we wanted to, but eventually relented. Our Captain is a good negotiator.

Well, I have 35 min left on the clock so I’ll try to send another dispatch in a day or 2. There’s so much more to describe so next time I’ll have everything in a note pad and then send it off.

The ship’s log hasn’t quite caught up with Pam’s account, but I suspect it will, soon.