January 10^th, 2004   MAAG.

The McMurdo Alternative Art Gallery.

When I was offered a job on the Ice, I had no idea what I was getting into. That was kind of part of the excitement. I figured, me, Sandwich, selling out. Ack. I’m working for a government contractor. I’m a .gov. I’m a lunchlady. What the hell?

I considered all of this. But it all came down to one thing.

Antarcitca.

And another thing.

The community.

You stick 1000 people in a small town, give them a bowling alley, a couple bars, and Science as their raison d’etre, and what do you get?

That’s what I wanted to find out. In the back of my head, I was kind of expecting governmenty, straight-laced, normal, humourless types. I mean,freaks like myself don’t sell out and work for Raytheon, do they? I thought I was the only one who chucked my morals out the window. In reality, of these 1000 residents of McMurdo, I believe that outside of the dormitories lie the morals of about ¾ of the population.

I went to the first MAAG meeting a month and a half ago. There were quite a few people interested in displaying their Antarctic art pieces, some acts, and the highlight would be a bra show followed by a fashion show. This is so up my alley. This is so like the events I attend in San Francisco.  We discussed how the evening would go, how to line up the acts, where to put the stages, what equipment we had at our disposal, how to arrange the Science Support Center (the bldg where the MAAG would traspire). It was agreed that since this was a special event, we wanted to catch everyone’s attention from even before they entered the doors.

That was when I mentioned that I had just ordered a dozen kazoos and had plans to start a kazoo marching band.

After scoring some 25 last minute tyvek suits, a color guard flag team, a drumline, and a conductor, we opened up the MAAG with much success and many many onlookers. We dubbed ourselves the Super Slappy Marching Band. (And yes, I’m capitalizing on Extra Action) We played ‘The Ants Go Marching One by One’ and then as we entered the building to our final resting place before the big opening speech, we spilled into the chorus of  ‘Hey Jude.’ I wailed the solo. My kazoo was loud and golden.

(In the above picture, I’m the one holding the sign on the left. And my dorm is directly behind the color guard girls. And my room in on the bottom floor, first window on the left, behind the trash bin.)

I painted another keyboard. This one is Antarctic themed, so some of the keys may not make sense unless you are privy to Mattracks, LDB’s, and Quinzies. Our craft room here leaves much to be desired, so my medium was 12-year-old model paints (many of which were too thick, too runny, or stuck shut, therefore my palette was limited). My brush failed me towards the end. But anyway here it is.

End of part 1
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