impending Pennsic
2 years ago at Pennsic our tent (and most everyone else's) became uninhabitable shortly after the sun rose above the tree line. We had brought a large (7m x 4.5m (23'x 15')), reflective tarp that became a communal gathering spot. Last year our camp had a lot of people who didn't pre-register, and since camp space allotments are based on the pre-registrations, the camp was too crowded to set up the communal tarp. (It worked out fine for us though. We ended up pitching our tent down the hill on a heavily-shaded small level spot, and we tied the tarp between the trees to give us some additional area covered from rain.)
Something I didn't get to before Pennsic last year (and it didn't matter anyway because it turned out there wasn't space in the camp) was trying various riggings of the tarp at home to figure out how to shade the tent. Well I did that today, and what seems to be a good arrangement is 2 poles 2.75m (9') tall at each end of one long side of the tarp, and a 3rd pole in the middle of the opposite side. 2 more 1.8m (6') poles at the other 2 corners should finish things off. This is high enough for our tent to go underneath, it will keep the sun and the rain off, and the breezes can blow through. If things are tight enough, I don't think the tarp will sag and collect water either. Our tarp is big enough to cover 2 tents, so it may eat more space than we're entitled to - but maybe we can find someone else to share the space with us. (dglenn is an obvious candidate, but getting 2 tents close enough may require free-standing tents, without guy lines.)
I'm really liking KBCS radio, from a community college near Seattle. Before this koto program, the medieval program played Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady), the earliest-known (14th c) mass written by one person.
And I found an error in the Pennsic Choir music, which impressed the director.