Tanglewood!
Tanglewood report, huzzah!
I tell ya, our Star's Club rocked that place, almost as much as John Williams did. If you've never been there before and you live in the New England area... OR, if you're ever planning a visit around here/NY state, see if you can hop over there. It's a gorgeous area, with loads of lawn space to picnic on, and 'The Shed' (it's actually a giant coliseum where the orchestras play), which the Boston Symphony Orchestra visits throughout the year, amongst other big groups. I WISH I could've gotten video--shoulda brought our DVD-camcorder. :P
ANYWAY. Our Star's Club hosted the astronomy part of the day, where Hofstra University and a NASA group joined in the fun. Pan was there to keep Gavs in line, pretty much all day to let me help and get into the group, so a big thanks to him!
Setting up
Mmm... Celestron. *drools*
These beauties in the boxes, omg. Telescopes from heaven! The guy who owned 'em, Don, was nice, but I dunno... me and some of the others were quirking our eyebrows at times. Nancy, one of the volunteers was awesome; we clicked immediately and hung out loads through the day. She wasn't really that into astronomy, as it was her husband that was in the clu and stuff. She came with Riff however, and I loved her to pieces.
So we were sent to a set of astronomical binocs to get the eyepieces into it. Me being an amateur and Nan not knowing much at all, lol--it was like we were the Three Stooges -1, looking at each other and 'uhh'ing. We knew where to put them, and it had ridges to screw onto something, but they wouldn't stay. So I tip the binocs on its tripod to get a better look and BANG, they slipped free from the holder. Lucky-as-fuck, I had both my hands on the thing and it didn't crash to the ground. Still, I was all, "omg, haaalp!" and Nan scrambled to get the eyepieces in their canisters to help me steady 'em. I saw Riff nearby, and though I was panicking that they'd see me as a klutz and tell me, "I know what you can do! Go back to the food and make sure the ice isn't melting too fast in the lemonade!" I called him over. As it turned out, Don hadn't set the thing properly, and ANYONE that put one finger on the thing would knock it down. Even Riff made a few comments about the guy throughout the night. ;)
A huge watery mess! There's been a lotta rain, and apparently Tanglewood can't drain properly. The rest of the lawn was immersed in water. I gave up on my sandals minutes into setting up; they were sooooaked. Everyone else decided it was a good idea after a while, as well.
Riff wanted some pics of him ankle-deep in the pond...
"Get a shot of me with the scopes in the background!" he said, lol.
The big water and lemonade canteens, plus Riff's sweet lil' bear Violet. She's been everywhere, he said, and even has her own website.
Set-up's just about there. Those big canvas posters were a BITCH to set up, but gorgeous.
The gorgeous banner, which greeted everyone right at the door.
Riff and Nancy; She went with me on my first smoke-break, and all we could talk about was how STRICT the staff was in letting us go in and out. They really were; I can understand that people try to sneak in, and even though the event was to start at two o'clock, HUGE lines had started forming at the entrances moments after we began unloading everything and setting up. But every time we'd walk out then try to get back in, someone gave us crap.
The foreboding entrance...!
We didn't have ID cards or even NAMETAGS, but we were waiting for our special t-shirts to help identify us (which has the design of the banner, plus a solar eclipse pic on the back). One of the guards, when he saw me coming back from the lot, actually went to shut the gate in my face.
Me: No, no, I'm one of the volunteers.
Him: (snide frown on his face) Well, do you have any identification?
Me: (blinking and ready to flip him off) No. But I'm with them, right there (points to set-up mere yards away). I'm with the Springfield Star's Club.
Him: (looking to be in great pain, opening the gate: sighs) All right.
I don't doubt that he watched me like a hawk. I made sure to head to the back part of the tents where the food was put out, JUST so he knew that I really, REALLY was part of the event. Dork.
Joan, the woman who brings food for the club showed up, too, which got me excited. It was nice to see familiar faces.
Joan and Nancy
Ed, the president of Arunah Hill was also there. He's such a fun guy, loves to teach things to anyone willing to listen.
Riff setting up binocs
At 2, the gates opened and people poured in. It took a little time for people to edge their way on over, but they soon gathered around.
This scope was made with a coffee can, a lens made out of a $5 piece of military infrared something-or-other glass and duct tape. Riff said that the eyepiece was $75, but geez.
The man in the light red shirt is Ed, and I believe the scope in front is his; it has a hydrogen-alpha lens, which is a super-cool lens that can not only look at the sun without shattering and blinding you, but its special filters allow you to see solar flares and I THINK sunspots, as well (only flares, no sunspots were available for viewing). There were other scopes set up to look at the sun, but were white-lights filters, no flare-spotting.
Our club's banner (Riff made it with Photoshop!)
At one point, while we were by the stand holding two scopes and the binocs, this kid walzted over and started ATTACKING the most expensive one, twirling the eyepiece around like it was a loose screw. Riff, whose rule is "You can either touch it or look through it, but not both", sped over, crying out, "No, no, no!" Me, Nancy and Joan watched on as he made this evil grin, took the kid's arm and said, "Now, if I bent your arm this way..." The kid looked sheepish but giggling. It was obvious that Riff was joking and not about to beat the kid senseless, but we couldn't have blamed him if he did, lol. The kid looked about 10-12, old enough to know that you do NOT walk up to a piece of expensive equipment and throttle it. I had to turn my back and bend over to laugh with Nan, who was dying just as bad as I was.
Gavs! He had enjoyed some pizza. :)
This was the scope that I eventually became the babysitter for. I'd been kinda following Riff throughout the day, needing his help; when the people arrived I kinda hung back, seeing as I didn't know everything about the scopes. But when I went over to help some kids look through without moving the eyepiece and entire scope away from its target (the waxing gibbous quarter moon was out in the daylight, whee!), I ended up standing there to help *everyone*. It was neat to see how excited people were getting--especially the kids--in getting to see the moon. I've seen it a lot, so it's not as super-special to me anymore, but the people around me hadn't really EVER seen anything like it. And I knew how to work it, too--I was actually more adept at using the finder scope to get the moon in view than Don, the Hofstra professor who's actually the OWNER of the thing. THAT made me puff out my chest a bit. ;)
The buses and many, many cars of the main lot. You can't see it all too well, just how many cars and people were showing up. This pic is zoomed in, though my cam doesn't zoom well. You can't make out the perspective wel, because the front lot extends waaaaay out; the large blobs of cars in the way back are actually across the street, about a quarter/half-mile away:
Crazy stuff.
I tried getting some night shots of the main field where thousands of people were camped out to watch the concert, but they came out crappy. It was lovely with the big screens, showing off the orchestra and John Williams and his superb conducting.
But for me, the best part of the night came when we'd moved the scopes closer to the food tent to get a better view of the moon, which had moved through the trees to another clear part of the sky. Though clouds had rolled in through the day, we still got a few hours of great viewing. Anyway, Pan cam by with Gavs and we brought him over to a scope. I didn't know if he'd actually look and be able to see, as he'd been feisty last fall with trying to get him to see. But he got up on the stepstool, I directed his hands to the stool's bar and he peered in. He got this wide-eyed look and he turned his head to the sky to look right at the moon, then excitedly looked back into the eyepiece. He'd actually made the connection! I was almost crying. He GOT it, y'know?? :D We'd run into his school's librarian as well, and she was gushing about him, saying that he was such a sweet, loving boy.
So the rest of the night was spent showing people my Sky Scout, which one kid took great interest in. He was a total hoot, so excited about the event and looking at all the equipment. We sat around identifying stars and using the 'Scout to make sure we were right. He kept making quirky comments, then saying, "Sorry, I'm spazzing!" I told him it was great to spazz-out sometimes. :) Eventually Jupiter came out, and it was clear enough to see--the moons came through the scopes like lil' pinpoints, so clear!
Joan came by later to say that some people watching the concert started complaining that we were talking too loud, so we started toning it down. Then all of a sudden, Don decided it was the PERFECT TIME to start setting up the inflatable movie screen for the show he was gonna put on after the concert. The inflator-thing was loooud. A guy walked over to poor Nancy, who was just trying to pin one end down, and complained loudly about it. Most of it was during the intermission, but the guy wasn't too unjustified imho; but she wasn't in charge. LOL. Whatta mess they were making; Joan was all, "They're treating it like a star party, and shouldn't!" True enough. They eventually stopped trying to set it up, thank god.
Me and Pan really needed to Gavs home, so we couldn't stay for clean-up. I felt bad about it, but dude, Gavs kept saying, "I want car, please!" So I went to Riff and let him know, and he let ME know that anyone that showed up as early as we did (an hour before volunteers were told to come) should get to LEAVE early. He was thrilled with our help, from food to tossing sandbags around to scope-sitting. I sent him an e-mail linking him to my LJ-album with the pics, and he wrote back a bit ago, saying that we were awesome and he had a great time with us. So cool; I learned a lot from the guy. Most of it is stuck in my head, minus a few details. But oh, so great. And I got an awesome t-shirt for freeee, an UBER-SPESHUL one that only volunteers got! So many people asked me, "Where did you buy that? I want one!" I had to say, "Ohh, I'm sorry--this one was for volunteers!" Heehee, because we were awesome, y'know. ;)
We got home at about 11. Gavs was tired...
...can ya tell?
So I'd sweat like a mule (sooo hot), I'm still sore and I feel like a truck came by and smacked into me, but it's SO satisfying. Hope you enjoyed my account of awesome stuffz!!
EDIT!: UT OH. Me and Riff are currently e-mailed, and my name through yahoo is 'Cazekiel'. He just asked, "What is Cazekiel?" LOL, should I tell him??
I tell ya, our Star's Club rocked that place, almost as much as John Williams did. If you've never been there before and you live in the New England area... OR, if you're ever planning a visit around here/NY state, see if you can hop over there. It's a gorgeous area, with loads of lawn space to picnic on, and 'The Shed' (it's actually a giant coliseum where the orchestras play), which the Boston Symphony Orchestra visits throughout the year, amongst other big groups. I WISH I could've gotten video--shoulda brought our DVD-camcorder. :P
ANYWAY. Our Star's Club hosted the astronomy part of the day, where Hofstra University and a NASA group joined in the fun. Pan was there to keep Gavs in line, pretty much all day to let me help and get into the group, so a big thanks to him!
Setting up
Mmm... Celestron. *drools*
These beauties in the boxes, omg. Telescopes from heaven! The guy who owned 'em, Don, was nice, but I dunno... me and some of the others were quirking our eyebrows at times. Nancy, one of the volunteers was awesome; we clicked immediately and hung out loads through the day. She wasn't really that into astronomy, as it was her husband that was in the clu and stuff. She came with Riff however, and I loved her to pieces.
So we were sent to a set of astronomical binocs to get the eyepieces into it. Me being an amateur and Nan not knowing much at all, lol--it was like we were the Three Stooges -1, looking at each other and 'uhh'ing. We knew where to put them, and it had ridges to screw onto something, but they wouldn't stay. So I tip the binocs on its tripod to get a better look and BANG, they slipped free from the holder. Lucky-as-fuck, I had both my hands on the thing and it didn't crash to the ground. Still, I was all, "omg, haaalp!" and Nan scrambled to get the eyepieces in their canisters to help me steady 'em. I saw Riff nearby, and though I was panicking that they'd see me as a klutz and tell me, "I know what you can do! Go back to the food and make sure the ice isn't melting too fast in the lemonade!" I called him over. As it turned out, Don hadn't set the thing properly, and ANYONE that put one finger on the thing would knock it down. Even Riff made a few comments about the guy throughout the night. ;)
A huge watery mess! There's been a lotta rain, and apparently Tanglewood can't drain properly. The rest of the lawn was immersed in water. I gave up on my sandals minutes into setting up; they were sooooaked. Everyone else decided it was a good idea after a while, as well.
Riff wanted some pics of him ankle-deep in the pond...
"Get a shot of me with the scopes in the background!" he said, lol.
The big water and lemonade canteens, plus Riff's sweet lil' bear Violet. She's been everywhere, he said, and even has her own website.
Set-up's just about there. Those big canvas posters were a BITCH to set up, but gorgeous.
The gorgeous banner, which greeted everyone right at the door.
Riff and Nancy; She went with me on my first smoke-break, and all we could talk about was how STRICT the staff was in letting us go in and out. They really were; I can understand that people try to sneak in, and even though the event was to start at two o'clock, HUGE lines had started forming at the entrances moments after we began unloading everything and setting up. But every time we'd walk out then try to get back in, someone gave us crap.
The foreboding entrance...!
We didn't have ID cards or even NAMETAGS, but we were waiting for our special t-shirts to help identify us (which has the design of the banner, plus a solar eclipse pic on the back). One of the guards, when he saw me coming back from the lot, actually went to shut the gate in my face.
Me: No, no, I'm one of the volunteers.
Him: (snide frown on his face) Well, do you have any identification?
Me: (blinking and ready to flip him off) No. But I'm with them, right there (points to set-up mere yards away). I'm with the Springfield Star's Club.
Him: (looking to be in great pain, opening the gate: sighs) All right.
I don't doubt that he watched me like a hawk. I made sure to head to the back part of the tents where the food was put out, JUST so he knew that I really, REALLY was part of the event. Dork.
Joan, the woman who brings food for the club showed up, too, which got me excited. It was nice to see familiar faces.
Joan and Nancy
Ed, the president of Arunah Hill was also there. He's such a fun guy, loves to teach things to anyone willing to listen.
Riff setting up binocs
At 2, the gates opened and people poured in. It took a little time for people to edge their way on over, but they soon gathered around.
This scope was made with a coffee can, a lens made out of a $5 piece of military infrared something-or-other glass and duct tape. Riff said that the eyepiece was $75, but geez.
The man in the light red shirt is Ed, and I believe the scope in front is his; it has a hydrogen-alpha lens, which is a super-cool lens that can not only look at the sun without shattering and blinding you, but its special filters allow you to see solar flares and I THINK sunspots, as well (only flares, no sunspots were available for viewing). There were other scopes set up to look at the sun, but were white-lights filters, no flare-spotting.
Our club's banner (Riff made it with Photoshop!)
At one point, while we were by the stand holding two scopes and the binocs, this kid walzted over and started ATTACKING the most expensive one, twirling the eyepiece around like it was a loose screw. Riff, whose rule is "You can either touch it or look through it, but not both", sped over, crying out, "No, no, no!" Me, Nancy and Joan watched on as he made this evil grin, took the kid's arm and said, "Now, if I bent your arm this way..." The kid looked sheepish but giggling. It was obvious that Riff was joking and not about to beat the kid senseless, but we couldn't have blamed him if he did, lol. The kid looked about 10-12, old enough to know that you do NOT walk up to a piece of expensive equipment and throttle it. I had to turn my back and bend over to laugh with Nan, who was dying just as bad as I was.
Gavs! He had enjoyed some pizza. :)
This was the scope that I eventually became the babysitter for. I'd been kinda following Riff throughout the day, needing his help; when the people arrived I kinda hung back, seeing as I didn't know everything about the scopes. But when I went over to help some kids look through without moving the eyepiece and entire scope away from its target (the waxing gibbous quarter moon was out in the daylight, whee!), I ended up standing there to help *everyone*. It was neat to see how excited people were getting--especially the kids--in getting to see the moon. I've seen it a lot, so it's not as super-special to me anymore, but the people around me hadn't really EVER seen anything like it. And I knew how to work it, too--I was actually more adept at using the finder scope to get the moon in view than Don, the Hofstra professor who's actually the OWNER of the thing. THAT made me puff out my chest a bit. ;)
The buses and many, many cars of the main lot. You can't see it all too well, just how many cars and people were showing up. This pic is zoomed in, though my cam doesn't zoom well. You can't make out the perspective wel, because the front lot extends waaaaay out; the large blobs of cars in the way back are actually across the street, about a quarter/half-mile away:
Crazy stuff.
I tried getting some night shots of the main field where thousands of people were camped out to watch the concert, but they came out crappy. It was lovely with the big screens, showing off the orchestra and John Williams and his superb conducting.
But for me, the best part of the night came when we'd moved the scopes closer to the food tent to get a better view of the moon, which had moved through the trees to another clear part of the sky. Though clouds had rolled in through the day, we still got a few hours of great viewing. Anyway, Pan cam by with Gavs and we brought him over to a scope. I didn't know if he'd actually look and be able to see, as he'd been feisty last fall with trying to get him to see. But he got up on the stepstool, I directed his hands to the stool's bar and he peered in. He got this wide-eyed look and he turned his head to the sky to look right at the moon, then excitedly looked back into the eyepiece. He'd actually made the connection! I was almost crying. He GOT it, y'know?? :D We'd run into his school's librarian as well, and she was gushing about him, saying that he was such a sweet, loving boy.
So the rest of the night was spent showing people my Sky Scout, which one kid took great interest in. He was a total hoot, so excited about the event and looking at all the equipment. We sat around identifying stars and using the 'Scout to make sure we were right. He kept making quirky comments, then saying, "Sorry, I'm spazzing!" I told him it was great to spazz-out sometimes. :) Eventually Jupiter came out, and it was clear enough to see--the moons came through the scopes like lil' pinpoints, so clear!
Joan came by later to say that some people watching the concert started complaining that we were talking too loud, so we started toning it down. Then all of a sudden, Don decided it was the PERFECT TIME to start setting up the inflatable movie screen for the show he was gonna put on after the concert. The inflator-thing was loooud. A guy walked over to poor Nancy, who was just trying to pin one end down, and complained loudly about it. Most of it was during the intermission, but the guy wasn't too unjustified imho; but she wasn't in charge. LOL. Whatta mess they were making; Joan was all, "They're treating it like a star party, and shouldn't!" True enough. They eventually stopped trying to set it up, thank god.
Me and Pan really needed to Gavs home, so we couldn't stay for clean-up. I felt bad about it, but dude, Gavs kept saying, "I want car, please!" So I went to Riff and let him know, and he let ME know that anyone that showed up as early as we did (an hour before volunteers were told to come) should get to LEAVE early. He was thrilled with our help, from food to tossing sandbags around to scope-sitting. I sent him an e-mail linking him to my LJ-album with the pics, and he wrote back a bit ago, saying that we were awesome and he had a great time with us. So cool; I learned a lot from the guy. Most of it is stuck in my head, minus a few details. But oh, so great. And I got an awesome t-shirt for freeee, an UBER-SPESHUL one that only volunteers got! So many people asked me, "Where did you buy that? I want one!" I had to say, "Ohh, I'm sorry--this one was for volunteers!" Heehee, because we were awesome, y'know. ;)
We got home at about 11. Gavs was tired...
...can ya tell?
So I'd sweat like a mule (sooo hot), I'm still sore and I feel like a truck came by and smacked into me, but it's SO satisfying. Hope you enjoyed my account of awesome stuffz!!
EDIT!: UT OH. Me and Riff are currently e-mailed, and my name through yahoo is 'Cazekiel'. He just asked, "What is Cazekiel?" LOL, should I tell him??