iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I also saw the first two episodes of Crave’s Yaga. They were fun but now I have to wait over a month for the rest! Sad that Hudson Williams, Noah Reid or Carrie Anne Moss weren't at my showing, but it at least gives the more minor actors time to shine.

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Meanwhile in Toronto I went to two TIFF shows. I liked The Assassin(s) a lot, though the conclusion was a little disappointing — not much you can do there, though, since it’s based on true events and that’s how they ended. It was cool to see the director and leads given it wasn’t the premiere.

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Midsummer Night’s Dream is always a romp, though I’ve never liked the “Oberon wants the Indian boy” plotline so didn’t care for the expansion on that here. This was my first encounter with Othello and I liked it, but it made me want to go home and read up on the subtler lines I missed.

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Ontario theatre/film layover in brief: I think I had more fun with shows at the Stratford Festival than in NYC this time around. Something Rotten remains a crowd pleasing delight. Guys and Dolls was a joy, though I think the romance didn’t have much chemistry.

Now onto my Ontario theatre layover!

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No ticket lottery luck, but I was able to rush everything but Hadestown 🎉 In other news I am mourning my favourite NYC bakery. Schmackary’s is okay now but not as good as it used to be. My cookie GOAT :(

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Masquerade was my standout of the new (to me) shows! I like Phantom and immersive shows so it had an unfair advantage. Having the Phantom reach out his hand for me to hold during “touch me, trust me” and Christine melting my face off from feet away during Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again 💯

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The Lost Boys I think was my second favourite of the newbies this trip, though I think it’s underbaked. The vampire/horror elements were cool, but the comic relief/family storyline was dull. Should have been queerer. Bourzgui was electric and underused, I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

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I’ve never actually seen Rocky Horror before so I had no idea what was going on, but I had fun anyway lol. Sad I just missed Luke Evans.

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The Great Gatsby was thoroughly mediocre. One of the very few Broadway shows I’ve seen without a standing O, which says a lot. The Outsiders had excellent stage design, but I struggled with the audio in the nosebleeds.

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NYC theatre layover in brief: Hadestown remains my love, though the pre-September cast wasn’t very notable to me outside of Ghee who was an excellent Hermes. I love that they let the musicians improvise a bit — the guitarist was giving it some extra juice.

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Farewell, Ilulissat and your beautiful ice fjord! Now back to warmer places 🥶 (Spot the boat for scale)

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Humpbacks! There was a pod of about 6 of them

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Luckily once the evil chili was purged from my system I felt better within hours 😅

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

First in my bloodline to vomit due to suspected chili food poisoning within the Arctic Circle

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I’ve entered the Arctic Circle 🎉

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This is the first time my Youtube algorithm surfaced something I was actually involved in 😆 youtu.be/nrKRaMcwY4s I give it an 8/10. I think she's reading pretty closely off the initial reports, but she gets Peglar's rank wrong (petty officer, not officer).

youtu.be

Have archaeologists just solved the mystery of the Franklin Expedition?

YouTube video by The Archaeologist's Notebook

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Gorgeous! How’d you find Qeqertarsuaq? It’s on my “maybe” list but I’m not sure if it’ll take too much time away from Ilulissat

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The last batch included letters from his siblings Harriet, James, and Susan, so now I have letters from 5 of his 11 siblings. I finished going through James and Susan's letters, and there was only a single mention of John. But still a lot of material on the family overall! Still have to read Harriet

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There's only a few letters from Eliza, and unfortunately the scans are a bit harder to parse, but doable I think. However, she didn't include the year when dating her letters, which is a little frustrating!

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I won't have time to go through them before I'm on vacation, but at a glance William has easily legible writing which I am very happy about. There's about 100 pages of letters from him, starting around 1870 so a little later.

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And 2 months have elapsed which means I get to request more scans from Stanford! This batch contains the letters of Charles Best's siblings Eliza (1814-1848) and William Andrew (1829-1901).

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I didn’t realize they even got mosquitos until my current trip planning — I thought it’d be too cold. It seems very unfair to live in arctic climates and still have to deal with mosquitos!

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

FYI arctonauts is raising money for their domain renewal! ko-fi.com/arctonauts

ko-fi.com

Buy Wuyts a Coffee

Become a supporter of Wuyts today!

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I knew the latest I’d want to go anywhere arctic-y was the beginning of September but July got away from me so I had to make a snap decision! I looked into Churchill but the polar bear season was pretty much booked up already. Norway was also on the list but for some reason Greenland was calling me

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I touch down in Nuuk Sept 1! It's very last minute haha, but flights to Greenland are always expensive so that didn't actually make a price difference.

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I booked a flight to Greenland! Nuuk, Ilulissat, and then possibly Qeqertarsuaq. With some buffer days in NYC (the flight to Nuuk is from Newark). And then as a bonus I gave myself a couple days in Ontario on the way back to go to the Stratford festival.

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Reposted by Katie G

Terror Camp @terrorcamp.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Announcing Terror Camp VI! After a much-needed break, we’re so excited to be back for our SIXTH YEAR of polar conferencing! Terror Camp VI will take place online, February 6th & 7th, 2027.

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

I really loved Station Eleven but haven't read anything else by her! Is there a favourite of yours out of them that you'd recommend over the others for me to read next?

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I hope it's released on DVD so I can sing it again and again and again

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Amber Gray, Patrick Page, Eva Noblezada, and Andre De Shields were all phenomenal. While I'm mixed on Reeve in this show generally, I think it's one of the best times I've seen him, he was a bit more restrained. I can't believe how mobile Page was on a ruptured achilles!

Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I cannot believe my favourite Broadway show ever had such a spectacular proshot 😭 Hadestown in cinemas is a 9.9/10, only losing a point because I wish there were more wide shots during Doubt Comes In. One of the best shot stage shows on film I've ever seen.

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I read it as “Pinter off the boom” too 😑 I thought maybe it was some archaic slang or phrase but google was giving me nothing Maybe it's a family in-joke 🙃

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Instructions on how long to bake it in a oven

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I'm asking for transcription help again! No stakes, this one is just for fun. From a ~1850s recipe for sponge cake. "You can try it with a ????? ?? ?? ????? as Mrs DeBloises girl says."

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Katie G @katiegors.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

It turns out, annoyingly, that practise and repetition *does* actually help, and now I'm racing through reading these old handwritten letters.

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I'm currently unlocking her tragic backstory rn and the woman was going through it that year so now I feel bad 😬 A man she loved who was essentially her fiance died, and she was having chronic migraines for months.

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Now she's complaining that a niece-in-law she's living with is not being kind or attentive to her. Said niece is in the final 2 weeks of a pregnancy 😂 Charles's sister Susan reminds me so much of a curmudgeonly, grumpy 80 year-old grandma, but in these letters she's only around 50.

A gem from this last one, talking about her nieces at Christmas: "Edith is a dear little thing, but Gertie is very rude... & always crying about something -- I cannot even like the child, she is much more trouble than Edith." Edith is an infant and Gertie is 3 years old 😭

Susan's letters to her sister Helen are 90% an itemized list about who's been well and who's been poorly lately, and 10% being a bitch lmao. "Our sister Isabella hardly ever writes to me, anyway she wrote to me and invited me to stay for Christmas, but I didn't care to go."

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Most of these are known from previous studies, but there's a couple new ones like William Wentzell. The people in red have been identified; most of the people in black are not identified, but some are pending and have their tests still in the mail (e.g. Charles Best).

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