'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Vernadsky Station
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater
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Sorry, it's been a while since I've updated the files;
been busy with these pictures.
I went to Antarctica last month, and have spent the last month looking at the pictures taken by me and my mother. Digital cameras meant we could take a staggering amount of pictures and not worry about the weight or bulk of film.
The National Geographic Endeavour had the rare opportunity to visit Vernadsky Stationon December 4, 2005. Officially called Antarctic Station Akademik Vernadsky, we were semi-officially on Ukrainian territory. Antarctica itself is not the territory of any country, by international treaty of 1959, but the research stations like to think of themselves as outposts of their home country, and we got our passports stamped. Anyone looking at our visas, checking the dates, will see a journey from Chile to Argentina to Ukraine.
Herein are some of the pictures from our stop at Vernadsky Station Dec. 4, plus a bonus which I'll get to later. To see all 2389 pictures plus a Best Of Porpoising album go to Porpoising To Antarctica, a Shutterfly site. The pictures on Shutterfly are uncropped, unedited and uncompressed. The thumbnails are fairly small, but my pictures average about 850K and my mothers' about twice that. Hope you have a fast connection.
All pictures from December 4, 2005, taken by Baron Dave except the one he's in.
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| Zodiacs approaching Vernadsky Station | The buildings of Vernadsky Station |
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| Greeting | Bird over entrance |
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| As far South as the Expedition travelled | For all you ham radio operators |
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| Our guide a Ukrainian scientist, explaining his work |
Skis in the equipment shed |
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| Snowshoes in the equipment shed | Expedition members in crowded hallway |
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| Some of the things you can get in Souvenir Shop |
Selling postcards and CDs Card I mailed my self hasn't arrived |
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| 21st Century version of roughing it | Plaques and pictures in stairwell up to 2nd floor |
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| Vernadsky Station from Zodiac | Small iceberg off Vernadsky Station |
The best souvenir in the whole place was not in the souvenir shop. Offhandedly, the table selling postcards also sold a CD of pictures from the station. I traded another Shockwave CD for this CD, and will share some of the pictures. The CD is 696 megs of the most gorgeous pictures of the Antarctic, taken (presumably) by Ukrainian photographers. Herein is a very small sample, cropped.
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| Club Foot anemone | Exploring ice caves |
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| A species of penguin I didn't see | Kestrel? Albatross? |
But wait, there's more! At Vernadsky Station, this CD goes for $20 US. For $40 plus $3P&H, I will make a copy of this CD and send all the price of the CD to Vernadsky. You'll get an unadorned CD plus thin case (pretty much how it comes) filled with astonishing pictures and the knowledge that you are helping a scientific station perform important work... but you don't have to travel to the South Pole! What a deal! E-mail Baron Dave for mailing address and details on how to order.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a Live Journal demi-blog, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E , and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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Freshly Updated
Dick Eats Bush
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bill Radford: DC's iconic war hero returns ... with the first of a six-issue Jewish-themed miniseries (jewishworldreview.com)
"The Prophecy" finds Sgt. Rock and his men in Nazi-occupied Lithuania, assigned with retrieving a mysterious valuable object. The "object" turns out to be a young rabbi. The tale is inspired by the true story of a rabbi who was spirited to safety just before World War II so he could tell the world what was happening to the Jewish people under Adolf Hitler.
Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : Ethics of Being Overweight; Being overweight in a world full of hunger (jewishworldreview.com)
It is certainly praiseworthy to eat in moderation, and the Talmud tells us that ideally we should eat and drink only to two-thirds of fullness. But I wonder about a society where people ask if it is unethical to engage in excess of eating, which is in itself a constructive activity, but no one asks if it is unethical to engage in excess of television watching or other activities that endanger our spiritual health much more than overeating endangers our physical health.
Omar Sacirbey: The 'Bono' of the Muslim World (beliefnet.com)
Pakistani rocker Salman Ahmad is more than a musician--he's out to prove to fundamentalists that music has a place in Islam.
Hesham A. Hassaballa : Finding the "Light in Your Eyes": How Sheryl Crow brought me closer to Allah (beliefnet.com)
Some Muslims may find it objectionable that I find God in a rock song, especially one sung by a woman with musical instruments. Yet, the Prophet (peace be upon him) once said that wisdom is the "lost animal" of the believer: wherever it may be, he should seek it. One of the places I have found such wisdom is Sheryl Crow's song.
Bob Hall: Pro-Bush, pro-equality (Advocate.com)
Trust me, no true heterosexual wakes up and thinks, Hey, I'm really angry with my partner. I think I'll try dating someone from my own gender from now on. So who has destroyed traditional marriage in America? How about men-and increasingly women-abusing their spouses? How about the heterosexual trend toward infidelity, led by the example of our highest elected leaders? How about men fathering and then abandoning children to poverty and state support? How about a large number of straight people deciding serial marriage and divorce is a cool lifestyle?
MARC WATREL: Drag-a-licious! Varla Jean Merman's new one-woman show is of biblical proportions (frontierspublishing.com)
Varla Jean Merman, billed as the illegitimate daughter of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine, began to take shape while Roberson was attending LSU on a full scholarship for voice. "I met these Ethel Merman freaks in the music department and they had me read her autobiography," Roberson recounts. "For the chapter about her marriage to Ernest Borgnine, she had left the page blank. I created Varla Jean to explain that blank page."
MARC WATREL: Delightfully ditzy Varla Jean's two cents (frontierspublishing.com)
I think that because of recent world events, it is fairly obvious that the world is coming to an end. Is God punishing us because we are morally bankrupt? I decided I wanted to do a show that explored one of the world's most revered and respected moral codes, the Ten Commandments! But then I thought if I was going to do a Ten Commandment show, that would mean that I'd have to write ten new songs! I couldn't! I'm lazy. Then I thought, Hey, isn't that a sin? Laziness, or sloth, is one of the seven deadly sins. Hey! That's a great theme with three fewer numbers! Places!
Sharon Hadrian: Teaching Love and Acceptance Through GLBT-Themed Children's Literature (afterellen.com)
Several decades ago, the children's literature market lacked nearly any sense of diversity, and all kids had to be content with reading stories of white two-parent households--two straight parents, that is. But things changed in the late 1980s, when a woman approached author Leslea Newman on the street and asked her to write a children's book featuring two moms. By 1988, Newman had self-published Heather Has Two Mommies, and the door to lesbian-themed children's literature had been opened.
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
On an opening night of the Chicago Film Festival, Winters was given the key to the city by our mayor, Richard M. Daley. Accepting it, she told him: "You look great. You haven't aged a day since I met you 20 years ago. Who does your work?" Did she know she was talking to Richard M., the son, and not Richard J., the father? With Shelley Winters, you never knew.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Profoundly Incredible Lunar Landing
Suspicions confirmed on a lunar mission?
January 23 - Vote for Avery Ant
Avery Ant
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & windy.
No new flags.
NBC Cancels After 7 Seasons
'West Wing'
The new president on "The West Wing" will be a real short-timer: NBC announced Sunday it was pulling the plug on the Emmy-winning political drama after seven seasons in May.
"The West Wing" announcement wasn't much of a surprise. Although this season's story line with a presidential campaign involving a Democrat played by Jimmy Smits and Republican portrayed by Alan Alda has been strong critically, ratings have sunk with its move to Sunday nights.
The series finale will be May 14, preceded by a one-hour retrospective. The campaign to replace the fictional Josiah Bartlet as president will be settled, NBC said.
'West Wing'
ABC Defends Cancellation
Heather Graham
One minute, Heather Graham was the face of ABC. The next minute, she was gone. Her comedy series "Emily's Reasons Why Not" was promoted relentlessly by the network as the linchpin of its post-football Monday night schedule, but was only given one airing before being yanked earlier this month.
ABC committed to the big promotional campaign before even seeing a script for the show, said ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson on Saturday. The series turned out to be a dog creatively, he indicated.
A total of six episodes were filmed, and McPherson said no determination has been made about whether they would be burned off.
Heather Graham
Near Decision On ABC Radio Sale
Disney
Walt Disney Co. could pick a buyer for ABC Radio within as little as a week or two, and sources close to the deal said Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Entercom Communications Corp. may end up bidding against each other to determine a winner.
The protracted sale of ABC Radio has drawn a variety of bidders, including radio rivals Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Emmis Communications Corp. and Cumulus Media Inc.. But Emmis pulled out of the process last year, and Disney eliminated Cumulus after saying its offer of at least $2.6 billion was too low.
Citadel, which is largely owned by private equity firm Forstmann Little & Co., still remains in the running. Most of the sources said it is more likely either radio broadcaster Entercom or private equity firm KKR will win the asset, though some said Citadel may be aiming to pull ahead at the last moment.
Disney
Rejects Offer From Dish Network
Lifetime
Lifetime Entertainment Services said Sunday it rejected a "take it or leave it" offer from Dish Network that it had deemed unfair and unreasonable.
Dish customers stopped receiving Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network after Lifetime's contract with Dish parent EchoStar Communications Corp. expired at the end of 2005.
New York-based Lifetime is jointly owned by The Walt Disney Co. and The Hearst Corp.
Lifetime
Found In Swedish Forest
Garden Gnomes
Twelve garden gnomes kidnapped in western Sweden a month ago have been found in a snowy forest, standing in a ring beside a lighted bonfire and a small hut, Swedish news agency TT reported.
The gnomes mysteriously vanished from their gardens just before Christmas.
A letter from the "Garden Gnomes Liberation Army" later claimed responsibility for their disappearance, explaining that the dwarfish figures had pined for freedom.
Garden Gnomes
International Highlife
Hemp Fair
Marijuana growers gathered in Europe's pot-smoking capital on Sunday for a trade show that is taking on the trappings of a major industry fair, complete with scantily clad models, glossy brochures and, of course, samples.
But instead of posing next to muscle cars, the models explained the intricacies of hydroponics culture such as the "iGrow-box Intensive Irrigation System" and exhibitors showed off their bongs, grinders, rolling paper, reflective film, hemp-fabric apparel and how-to marijuana growing videos.
Andre Beckers, the organiser of the International Highlife Hemp Fair, said he was expecting 15,000 to 20,000 visitors at the fair, held for the first time in Amsterdam instead of Utrecht, a smaller Dutch city to the southeast of the capital.
Hemp Fair
Vegas Paid Off
Miss America
Miss America rolled the dice moving to Las Vegas, and the gamble paid off, pageant organizers said Sunday.
Held outside Atlantic City, N.J., for the first time in its 85-year history, the pageant wrapped up Saturday night with the crowning of Miss Oklahoma Jennifer Berry - and with new buzz for the faltering grande dame of beauty competitions.
Yet it remains to be seen whether what happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas. Pageant CEO Art McMaster said that no decision had been made on where Miss America was headed next, although the Aladdin Resort & Casino wanted it back next year.
Miss America
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