The McMurdo Crud and a few too many movies

I’ve been informed that I’ve just passed my initiation into true McMurdo Society by drudging my way through the local version of the common flu – the McMurdo Crud. Having the typical flu symptoms back home is nothing compared to 0% relative humidity, the frigid air and constant winds with a dry cough and super-awesome congestion…plus being away from home always makes a cold feel that much worse. However, the good news is that I’m finally on the upswing and the bad news for all you dedicated readers is that I don’t have a tremendous amount of new stuff to relate. I have finally turned my attention to some nice pics that we took during a day-hike out to Castle Rock, a regional high point on Ross Island. Turned out to be a great hike with a couple of friends I met here up to the rock, down past some ice-falls then around by Scott Base – like 9miles all together. Also, more random shots from the Scott and Shackleton shelters. And now I must turn my attention to a more pressing matter brought to my attention by a devoted fan and widely considered “meanest man to every play football”, Conrad Dobler (for more on this see: http://www.mosportshalloffame.com/inducteebio.asp?inducteeid=298). In an earlier post he brought to my attention, and reminded me just last week that I had forgotten this matter, so here you go Conrad – I hope you enjoy.

Conrad Dobler Wrote:

“Sometimes I think that Kevin Bacon from Footloose is a much better dancer than Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing. But, if Swayze used his dancing to successfully amend a county ordinance by quoting the bible in a town hall meeting - I'd probably think differently. Any thoughts?”

Doctor Rock Responds:

The real question here is not so much about dancing, because if it were I think the obvious response would be point out that Martin Short in Three Amigos performing My Little Buttercup was much better than either Bacon or Swazy in either of those roles (and incidentally went on to defeat El Guapo, his plethora of pinatas, and saved an entire Mexican village); but the real question at the heart of Conrad’s question is the issue of modern male role-models and the idealistic view of a heroic male figure in the context of the cultural complexities within present-day America. To answer this question, I turn to a man who is undoubtedly a living legend and already an iconic hero of American Cinema – Kurt Russell.

To effectively illustrate the magnanimous heroics portrayed by Russell, time and time again, I would need to cover his early works such as his role as Snake Plisken from “Escape from New York” or as R.J. MacReady in “The Thing” (takes place in Antarctica, just so you know). But in the interest of brevity, I need look no further than the closing statement made by Jack Burton, conductor of the Pork Chop Express from “Big Trouble in Little China”. This classic film takes place at an ill-defined interface within the miasma of societal and cultural complexities that embody modern America…yea, that stuff and some evil shit goin’ down in SanFran Chinatown as well. Through the chaos and fog of Ming-dynasty demons and curses from centuries ago, our stoic and selfless hero pushes forward with his life, having defeated the cursed Lo-Pan and his evil minions (and totally dissing Kim Catrell, by the way)…he pulls a long slug while at the conductors seat of his big rig and says: … just remember what Jack Burton does when the earth quakes and the poison arrows fall from the sky and the pillars of heaven shake, yea Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm straight in the eye and says – “Gimme your best shot pal… I can take it.” Just a total Badass, plain and simple. Well that's all from McMurdo this week... looks like I should get the hell outta bed and see what's up at work next week...or maybe not.