The internet thing is getting difficult to deal with now. It's going off-line just after I get to my desk, and does not become available again until I am ready to go to sleep.
There are not too many changes here. Last week was amazingly busy for me, but this week should be a bit calmer. We are trying to get all the oil and other fluids stored in our work area so they don't have to be retreived during the winter. Once winter settles in, and assuming the engines don't give us any trouble, we will try to update our inventory counts. We house a lot of different parts here, but the computer system is lame and over the years, people have not properly accounted for the parts they have used. Maybe we'll have it right by the time we leave in November.
Friday, I was in an undisclosed location enjoying a couple of movies. Actually, enjoying may not be the right word. The company was great; all good friends here. But the movies...not so good. By the time the 2nd movie had finished and I was back at my dorm, it was 3:30am. I have to be to work at 8am. It goes without saying that Saturday was a little rough.
After work on Saturday, it was full-on recovery mode. Later Saturday night, my firefighter friend Will invited several of us to watch an animated movie called "Howl's Magic Castle" (or something like that). Another awful movie! I couldn't even finish this one; had to walk out.
Sunday after brunch, I was invited to view another flick, but this one I knew would be a winner. Friend and fellow winterover Mike received the new 25th anniversary edition of The Blade Runner. This may be my favorite movie ever. I have been watching VHS rips of it for years. I don't like the Directors Cut DVD (which has been out for a long time) because they stripped the main character's narration from it. I guess Ridley Scott felt it sounded cheesy, but I think it makes the whole movie. There have been 4 versions of this film. The new edition DVD package includes all 4 four. We watched the latest version called "The Final Cut". This also lacks the voice-over, and has a few dialog changes. The most impressive thing about it was the quality of the picture. I was able to see details that were never before viewable.
After Blade Runner, I found a previously undiscovered (by me) guitar. It is a Fender Stratocaster. It has been well used over the years, but it still quite playable. I had a good time yesterday playing it and getting new sounds programmed into the Pandora's Box (PX4D) (Guitar players: You must own one of these!) I expect to do a different kind of band this winter. We will learn two sets: First, 70'-80's music. Then, 90's -00's. I have already selected the 70's songs. These are songs that have been influential on me since I first started playing the guitar. I intend to learn the guitar solo's note-for-note rather than just getting close like I always have.
While I was working on the Strat, I was approached by a group of D/A's (dining attendants) who needed some technical help with thier SPIFF (South Pole International Film Festival) recording. I filmed a cameo for this on Saturday night. Now, I helped them record their voices singing over a karaoke sound track. It seemed to go pretty well! I found out later that with the assistance of a SPIFF veteran, they were able to edit all their film in about 2-3 hours. Everyone's SPIFF film will premier next Saturday. Knowing how creative many of the residents here are, this should be a very entertaining evening.
After filming/recording, it was back to the theater for a showing of "Heavy Metal". This is another animated movie from 1981. The last I saw it was on VH-1 and it was terrible! VH-1 had editted so much of it, that it was barely recognizable. Our version was uncut, but sadly, this movie just doesn't hold up over time. Although considered a cult classic, it is super dated. The dialog is so obviously 1970's.
Following Heavy Metal, it was time for Pub Trivia. Our ringer, Ethan (see blog link at right of this column), is at McMurdo on R and R, so we knew it would be a tough round. Our MC, Mike (the guy with the new Blade Runner DVD's) had some very tough questions in catagories with which I have very little, or no, experience. As the team predicted, we did not win a single round. Hurry back Ethan!
After the crushing defeat of Pub Trivia and the abundance of not-so-good animated films, I wanted to clear my movie palette with a classic live-action/animated movie: Pink Floyd's The Wall. The music, of course, is brilliant. As I scanned my hard drive for this movie, I discovered that I don't have it! I'm 99% sure there is a VHS copy of it here somewhere, but I wasn't hunting for it at 10pm.
It's Monday, so: Back to Work!!
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