Rocky Mountain Roller Girls vs Windy City Rollers – This Time it’s Polar

We’re friends again at the geographic pole

But Eric sneaks in a sucker punch

The Greenhouse, aka “Growth Chamber”. Is starting to look green again. A few days ago we transplanted the seedlings we’d started a couple of weeks earlier into the hydroponic slots. Sunflowers, basil, kale, strawberries, lettuce and tons and tons of tomatoes. I suggested to Lane that perhaps he let someone else transplant the eggplant lest it meet an unfortunate “accident”. I’m sure someone among the winter-overs probably likes eggplant.

Dwarf sunflowers – boy are they going to be confused.

Basil!

Aaron’s solo effort

We’re coming up on the weekend of the snow sculpture contest. We hope. Shortly the roughly 6×6 foot blocks were dumped in front of the station last month, one of them was carved into a form deemed, um, inappropriate, by some, and station management had to bulldoze it to preserve the peace (“It’ a rocketship!” “No, it’s a mushroom!”, “Uh, guys?”). The showdown seemed to take the steam out of the contest, and as of this time last week, no one else has started in on a carving. The deadline was pushed out another week, and finally folks have started in on artwork. Efforts vary from teams of UTs using full power tools – chainsaws and Sawzalls – to single-man efforts like Aaron’s, chipping away with a carpenters hammer.

There’s a surprisingly strong urge to create art down here, often out of the most unexpected quarters, and using the most unexpected materials. Maybe it’s because, as Beth has observed, this place strips everything else away, and we’re left with the raw sensory experience of existence. And out of that comes loneliness, and crazy giddy dancing, and inappropriate relationships. And art.

I think this one was named “Betty”

Case in point: a couple of weeks ago, visitors to Summer Camp lounge were greeted by an assembly of inflated “condom people” that had been crafted during the night by a, um, spirited group of folks informally referred to as “Team Testosterone”. Ah, yes. I’d wondered who was using all those supplies…

The next official opportunity for creative outlet is at the end of the month, with the screening of SPIFF – the South Pole International Film Festival. The SPIFF retrospective last month featured a couple of hours of short films made by Polies in previous years. Most based on you-wouldn’t-get-it-if-you-didn’t-live-here memes, and a large proportion highly awkward for “all ages” audiences. I have no doubts that this year’s crew will be up to the task in terms of volume, quality, and most importantly, level of inappropriateness. I cringe in anticipation. (But yes, I’ll be bringing home copies, if anyone wants to understand what I’m talking about).

Okay – what else? I guess that’s it for now.

Logistics Arch always makes me think of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”