I like that story. SOrry it has taken me so long to reply. Yeah a lot of
time kids don't get interested because parents don't provide them with
inspiration. If I ever get the funds I with get a Meade or some good
RFT telescope and carry it around with me or maybe just and good pair of
binocs or if I had the funds both. Telescopes are hard to come by. I
think Watsonville could try to buy one fot parks and rec as they buy
plenty of computgers. However even though parents are less paranoid here
about the usual stuff, the place is still pretty agricultural hertiage
oriented. SO staying up at night. is hard to get people to agree to do
or let their kids do. This time of year and at 37 DEG North and further
south I could always take the kids "Canopus Hunting". Of course if they
like to ger up real early at some times there is "Mercury hunting".
too. Anyway thanks for the nice letter, the good memories and the
inspiration. Giggle it would be strange if I went out with a bunch of
young kids. Might be pleasant. Talk about the star and avoid politics.;)
Have Fun,
Sends Steve
.
Lynne Jolitz wrote:
>I completely agree, Steve. Many parents don't spend the huge amount of hands-on effort it takes to develop lifelong hobbies with their kids (music lessons and sports possible exceptions), and then complain that their kids "play video games on the Xbox all day long" and don't have hobbies.
>
>Whether cooking, hiking, astronomy, drawing, or some other hobby, it takes appropriate equipment (if you can't find anything through that telescope, how can your kid?), dedication (time outside of formal lessons set aside to fool around and make mistakes), and lots and lots of patience and humor "'cause it don't come easy".
>
>That's why Rebecca got a Celestron C-5 SCT for Christmas a year ago - she wanted a telescope that she could grow into, use, and enjoy for many years. She even brought it to teach other girls last summer at Stanford how to use a telescope and how hardy it is - see http://jolitz.telemuse.net/rebecca
>
>Girls in particular are often very worried they will do something "bad" and break an instrument or somehow look unattractive and stupid if they handle it slightly "wrong". These girls learned from Rebecca that instruments are a lot more hardy then may appear, and can be "played with" without the player looking silly. (Ben in contrast worked on improving the heirloom telescope his Grandpa built with his Dad - see http://jolitz.telemuse.net/ben).
>
>As to video games, why buy an Xbox when there's so much going on with MMP (massive multiplayer) gaming? Ben and Rebecca have even competed against each other online. They may burn up a bit of bandwidth on the Internet, but they often have to build new tools themselves and tune their systems to perform better - kind of like how another generation tinkered with cars - and it's still more social than playing against yourself. :-)
>
>Regards,
>Lynne.
>----
>We use SpamQuiz.
>If your ISP didn't make the grade try http://lynne.telemuse.net
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----Steve Kudlak
>>Sent: Monday, February 28, 2005 12:17 PM
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>Old Science type mags are such a joy. Anyone miss Edmund Scientific?
>>Telescopes are "real toys"; I mean if your son or daughter convinces you
>>to buy a Meade for them and then gives up you might be able to use it,
>>or someone else you know. Nice thing unlike an XBOX it is not going to
>>be xtinct in 5 years;). Better yet more hopefujlly they might grow into
>>being a real astronomer either Amateur or professional. SO all that does
>>fill my heart with joy or as a friends daughter used to say "The Pretty
>>Sky fillls we fill with joy feels all over...." Giggle "joy feels all
>>over" is a good way of saying things are kind of good and neat and yep
>>olf S&T's and old Electronics mags are mostly like that for me. Of
>>course I know an embarassed cosmologist who sheepishly admits she got
>>into astronomy and cosmology via "What's My Sign?" Giggle "I blinked
>>and said 'neon' I thought I'd blow her mind...." --- Tom T Bone Shanks
>>Anyway all this not much clear dark sky at night and depending on
>>research from Planetarium programs is making me a bit strange. Although
>>even seventh graders seem to like my little lecture on precession and
>>how the sky did not quite the same to the Romans and Greeks as it does
>>to us andf the Mayans were in tropics so things work differently for
>>them too. So even on miserable rainy nights I can do things and I do
>>like my local supply of agricultural goodies so we do need the rain.
>>
>>Have Fun,
>>Sends Steve
>>
>>
>>
>>Peter Santangeli wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>In my teens I spent hours and hours and hours in the Toronto city
>>>library pouring through their collection of old S&T. At the time (the
>>>early 80's) it was fairly complete. My main joy was going through the
>>>old "Gleanings for ATM's" columns. So many of the tips were still so
>>>useful, and probably still are.
>>>
>>>Pete
>>>
>>>PS: last time I was at that library a few years ago the collection
>>>seemed to have disappeared :-(
>>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike J. Shade" <mshade@No-Spam>
>>>To: "The Astronomy Connection" <sf-bay-tac@No-Spam>
>>>Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 7:39 PM
>>>Subject: [TAC] The fun of old Sky and Telescopes
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Since you people over there have been sending all of your foul
>>>>weather here, I have finally been able to tackle the rather ponderous
>>>>stack of old Sky and Telescope magazines I picked up at a telescope
>>>>shop in Tucson. While I do not have the complete collection (wouldn't
>>>>that be cool), the earliest ones I managed to find were from the
>>>>early 1950s running up to the late 1970s (I have been a subscriber
>>>>since then). While much of the scientific information is dated,
>>>>there is still a wealth of information including original articles
>>>>from such folks as Fritz Zwicky and George Abell. Perhaps the most
>>>>interesting is the progression of the instrumentation, back in the
>>>>1950s a 6" reflector was pretty big stuff and wow, the Cave Model D
>>>>12.5" reflector with mount for $1500! Dream stuff to be sure (well,
>>>>in 1957). I really like the Cave Optical adds, wouldn't it be fun to
>>>>go back with some cash and stock up. Furthermore, the images or more
>>>>correctly the pictures taken with such instruments as the 60" and
>>>>100" reflectors on Mount Wilson and even with the 200" pale to some
>>>>of the images taken by folks with off the shelf telescopes and CCD
>>>>cameras.
>>>>
>>>>While perhaps not the most exciting aspect of this hobby, I wonder if
>>>>anyone else finds these old magazines to be a treasure...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Mike J. Shade: mshade@No-Spam
>>>>Director, Sonoita Hills Observatory, Sonoita Arizona
>>>>www.sonoitaobservatories.org
>>>>
>>>>See work done at the observatory: http://c3po.cochise.edu/astro
>>>>under the "images & photos" panel on the left of the page
>>>>
>>>>Fight wasteful and obtrusive outdoor nighttime lighting:
>>>>International Dark Sky Association: www.darksky.org
>>>>
>>>>"I like the dark, it's cheap." Ebinezer Scrooge
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
Received on Wed Mar 2 00:31:31 2005