TV series: Ferdinand Fairfax: The Last Place on Earth (U.K. 1985) Based on Roland Huntford’s seminal book, this is a British TV series of seven episodes about the race for the South Pole. It’s definitely the best movie or tv series of any kind I’ve seen about the Heroic Period Continue Reading
Antarctica
Antarctic Research Blog #73: Encounters at the End of the World
Documentary: Werner Herzog: Encounters at the End of the World (U.S.A. 2007) A kind of a sequel to Herzog’s scifi speculation documentary The Wild Blue Yonder, this is a movie about the people who go to work in Antarctica. Its a very good movie, poetic and beautiful even when it Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #72 – Shadows on the Wasteland
Non-fiction: Mike Stroud: Shadows on the Wasteland (Penguin, 1994) The copy I got from Amazon’s used books is signed! The book also has an unusually poetic title, with the reference to the T.S. Eliot poem Stroud also quotes at the beginning of the book: Who is the third who walks Continue Reading
Lumimyrsky documentation
(Photo by Aarni Korpela) I created a documentation page for my larp Lumimyrsky (Snowstorm), played in Ropecon 2008. You can access it by clicking on the link in the right sidebar or here.
Antarctic Research Blog #71: Scott of the Antarctic
Film: Charles Frend: Scott of the Antarctic (U.K. 1948) This is the old Ealing Studios version of Scott’s fatal, final adventure. At the time the movie was made, Scott was still a saint, and you can see it in the film. This is not a movie so much as a Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #70: Virus
Film: Kinji Fukasaku: Virus (Japan, 1980) Virus is an Eighties catastrophe movie about a virus that kills everyone on Earth except for the people living on Antarctic bases. Its definitely a Cold War movie, with the Americans and Russians sharing the blame for the apocalypse that follows. As sometimes happens Continue Reading
Polar index
Professor Laura Kay sent me a link to her website, which has an amazing index of books, movies, genre fiction, events, and other things related to polar matters. Here’s the link.
Juhana Pettersson in Ropecon
The roleplaying event Ropecon is on 8.-10.8.2008 in Espoo, Finland. I have a number of programs there. Friday 20:00-22:00, the panel discussion Roolipelien dokumentaatio, in Sali 26 A Finnish-language discussion about the documentation of roleplaying games, led by Jaakko Stenros and featuring Johanna Koljonen, Juhana Pettersson and Jussi Ahlroth. 23:00-01:00, Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #69 – Zombie Zombie: Driving
I spotted the link to this in the irc. It’s described as a “non-official video” for the Zombie Zombie song Driving, directed by Simon Gesler and Xavier Ehretsmann. It manages to combine a whole load of things I love, from French electro and Antarctica to the G.I. Joe toys and Continue Reading
Antarctic Research Blog #68 – Ice Bound, the Movie
Movie: Roger Spottiswoode: Ice Bound (U.S.A. Canada, 2003) Based on the story (and book) of Dr Jerri Nielsen who was wintering at the U.S. South Pole station when she found out she had breast cancer. The script of this schmaltzy movie seems to consist entirely of characters spouting homilies and Continue Reading