Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Two derbies

Our team has a connection with the demolition derby show in Ogden, so some of us went down to exchange volunteer time (timing between car hits) for roller derby promotion. Timing cars was actually kinda fun... must remember ear plugs next time!!!


Check out the car that came down from British Columbia! I don't understand the penguin... but whatever...

Pretty setting for an ugly event.

  
This guy from Idaho liked our logo so much he painted it on his truck.

 This guy was quite the dancer across the way in the audience... I think his "vest" is made out of balloons???



And then, this weekend my old roller derby team made the drive from Bakersfield to come play my new roller derby team. It was a blast, and a lovely reunion and a good bout and we won!




Friday, May 24, 2013

The semester ended, and I went into the field

Field work this spring involved borrowing some rafts and getting a couple of special permits to collect samples in Desolation-Gray Canyons... while rafting down said canyons...

It started out pretty ominous and with a few snafus, but by day 2 everything had worked itself out, including the weather! Many samples were collected during the week on the river, it was spectacularly beautiful, hot, loads of dead animals floating down the river, too much food, and overall a grand success.


 stormy beginnings

 open skies

 
 just the right amount of white water

 

 desert blooms


 gorgeous camps


mountain lion tracks



parking boats at awkward landings to reach awkward outcrops to do field work - hooray for lots of field assistants!


can't complain about that.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

One week later.

Today is Tuesday. Taco Tuesday, if you will. If Kiki was allowed to eat tacos, he would've LOVED them. Not just the taco meat, which is obvious, but also the cheese and sour cream, and guacamole too since the weirdo liked avocado... so, in honor of Kiki and taco Tuesday, here's an early photo of Kiki from when I first rescued his little kitten friend Loki, and a video (thanks Brock) of a happy Kiki being petted by Mazzy back in Bakersfield.



Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Goodbye to Kiki

Back in the summer of 2002 I went to the Kingston Humane Society with my roommate at the time, Joanne, to adopt a short haired cat. A mangy looking orange thing picked me through the bars, and Joanne insisted that I bring that one home. The Humane Society identified him as a "domestic short hair". About a month or so later, ear mites, parasites, and other ailments gone, his fur grew in and it became obvious that this was no short haired cat.

This was a food-stealing, long-haired, attention craving, loving ball of fur, a dog in a cat suit, who accompanied me at 4 different homes in Kingston, my parents home in Barrie, a ski trip to Val David in Quebec, a cross-country week long driving move to California, 6 years in Bakersfield, and another move to Utah with a stopover in the mountain wilderness of the Sierra Nevada.

I named this blog for Kiki. I was attempting to toilet train him when I started blogging. The toilet training was a failure, probably due to the cat-falling-in-the-toilet incident...

Kiki's tolerant nature and role as entertainer, comforter, and allergen will all be missed terribly.

No one has any idea how poor, stupid, Loki will survive this loss.

Sad days around here for sure.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Visit from Sister

Lulu came out to visit, and building on the theme of weird California, I immediately took her out to see the "Metaphor: Tree of Utah" that Utah is not famous for.

Metaphor.

Then we drove a little further along to the Bonneville Speedway.

It was a lake, thus we could set no land speed records.

Since it's winter, we went cross country skiing a couple of times. The first of these times it was too warm to ski... so instead I accumulated huge wads of snow above and below my skis and plodded along awkwardly on ski-stilts.

Lulu did enjoy that we got to ski into Idaho though.

Conveniently there was a derby scrimmage on this weekend as well, so some watching of derby got to happen for Lulu as well. Here Roll X and I are doing something useful AND the photo isn't blurry. Success!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Rockets are cool. Science is fun...

I'd rather watch NASA launch a new LandSat than work on edits any day.

Then, while I'm watching said launch on my computer, I take a bunch of screen captures. Then I compile them. Then I post the compilation on my blog:


So, if you missed it. This gives you a bit of a play-by-play.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Antarctic Adventures - Penguins are Adorable

Throughout the course of the trip I took video of penguins (because they are hilarious and adorable). In lieu of bringing back a live penguin, which was requested but essentially impossible, I assembled video clips and edited my little summary of favourites and cutest penguin-i-ness. Then I put it on youtube. Now it's also here.




Richard Alley (also on the trip - awesome, right?) captured an amazing clip of penguins that he also put on youtube, so I might as well share that with you too:


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Antarctic Adventures - Livingston Island - South Shetlands

Our final landing before the Drake Passage was on Livingston Island where we saw the only "flowering" plants of the Antarctic - in flower! In addition, we were blasted by the most horrendous of foul stenches imaginable. So horrendous they were, in fact, unimaginable. Consequently I bee-lined for the rocks as far away from the horrifying odors as possible.

Day 19:
Cobbles and lichen at peninsula Hurd
The to Hannah Point all covered in turds
The penguins were sharting
Elephant seals farting
And plant fossils for geology nerds

Hairy lichen - in "flower"

"Pixie Cups"

Hairy lichen

Plant fossils!

Pearlwort

Antarctic Adventures - Port Lockroy & Neko Harbor

This was our final landing in the Antarctic before heading north. Port Lockroy is a British research station that has been around for several decades, and naturally, being British, has a post office. Part of the station has a "museum" set up the way Antarctic scientific research was done in the 40's and 50's (it's basically just preserved, complete with food, from that time). It was really cool, and this is where I sent a few postcards. Mail from here goes by boat to the Falklands, then military plane to the UK, then enters the British postal system!

Day 18:
Postcards were sent from British Base A
Then back on ship for BBQ day
Humpbacks, zodiacs
Snowslides on our backs
Then from the Antarctic we sailed away

Food shelf!

Recipe book, complete with instructions for penguins, seals and cormorants

I knitted a vengeful fur seal, here it is looking satisfied after a hearty whale snack. Picked those bones clean!

Weddell seal

Neko Harbor sunset

Antarctic Adventures - Cuverville & Booth Islands

Cuverville and Booth Islands, just along the Antarctic Peninsula, were both spectacular. Spectacular ice, sunset, and penguin chick cuteness.

Day 17:
Today truly feels Antarctic
Gentoos stealing stones and feeding chicks
Leopard seals afloat
On ice near our boat
Icebergs at midnight - all over too quick

Line of porpoising penguins in the foreground of a spectacular scene

Porpoising Gentoos near calving glacier front

Penguin highway

Gentoo chicks eating barfed up krill

Gentoos!

Gorgeous iceberg

Leopard seal

 Metamorphosed, sheared & folded iceberg!

 
Rather phenomenal sunset

I couldn't resist!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Antarctic Adventures - Deception Island - South Shetlands

Deception Island is a volcano that most recently erupted in 1969. Immediately prior to that eruption, it was home to a British base for research and "strategic positioning". Prior to that, it was a whaling station (of course). I bet you can't guess what caused the destruction here...

Day 16:
On Deception Isle the wind did blow
While we explored the pyroclastic flow
Went for a polar swim
On a geothermal whim
What a wild day, what a volcano!

Chinstraps on steaming cinder beach, British base (ghost "town") in the background

British base remnants, volcanic background

Pyroclastic flow, sweet blocks, lapilli & cinders lodged in this tuff!

Pretty sweet glassy pahoehoe core in this scoria block (also didn't take this home with me... sigh)

Whaling station "water boat" - possibly was used to cart fresh water out to the whaling ships that operated on steam

Most ridiculously unbelievable thing I have done (possibly) - while the sand was steaming, let's just keep in mind the fact that the air temp was freezing and the water temp was 1ºC, so the 16ºC sand was warm by comparison... but not THAT warm... Also, winds happened to be blowing 50-60 kph.