May 2012 – Page 2 – Into the West

Moon + Sun = Eclipse

I woke up Sunday to nearly complete overcast. In fact, I went to bed with the same sky, or so it seemed when I looked out my bedroom window. I should have returned to bed for more sleep, especially since I had my first night as a volunteer staff team member at a public night at Powell Observatory in Lousiberg, Kansas and didn’t get home until close to midnight. Even though the skies started clouding up before sunset Saturday, over sixty people stopped by in the vain hope of seeing Mars, Saturn or even some of the spring galaxies visible this time of year. We (meaning other members of the ASKC) entertained and educated them with a program on galaxies, featuring M31, commonly known as the Andromeda galaxy. We were able to lock up the observatory a bit early, but the hour long drive home still put me three hours past my normal bed time.

I wiled away Sunday reading sixteen chapters of Insurgent. My daughter spent the afternoon with friends and planned to attend the Tbones baseball game that evening. As the afternoon wore on, I could tell from my library window that the clouds drifted away and more blue began to dominate the sky. After six o’clock, I started transferring the telescope and photographic equipment to the vehicle for transport to the spot I had picked out to observe the solar eclipse.

Solar Filter and Sheild on the Front — Meade ETX90 with Solar Filter and Shield on the front and Pentax on the back.

I got to the site a bit after half past six and began setting up the scope. I called my dad and woke him up from his nap. He said he would be on his way in just a few minutes. I called him back and asked him to bring a level, since I had forgotten to grab one from the garage before I left home. Just as I had everything hooked up and ready to go, the sun slipped behind an extra large cloud and stayed there for several minutes. Since the solar filter only lets through one one-millionth of the light emitting from the sun, I couldn’t orient the scope until the cloud passed by.

Cloud Conditions During Solar Eclipse (Lansing, Kansas)

Dad arrived before the sun peeked out again. Using the level he brought, we fine tuned the tripod for better tracking in a polar mount configuration for the telescope. I had barely enough time to take a few test photographs of the sun to attempt to get the focus dialed in as much as possible. Focusing the telescope with the Pentax attached to it can be very challenging. The telescope becomes a large telephoto lens for the camera, but the digital camera is completely unaware of the telescope because the camera normally talks to a ‘smart’ lens which feeds it information about light conditions and focus. The telescope is completely passive and completely manual (except for the tracking motors which slew during observations to keep the object centered in the eyepiece).

To focus the Meade ETX90, whether using the eyepiece or the camera, I need to turn a small knob on the back of the scope that adjusts the mirror inside the scope. The viewfinder of the camera gave me a live image of the sun about the size of a dime (or smaller). I tried using my naked eye and my reading glasses, but neither one would resolve the sunspots to a fine acuity. I had to hope I got the focus ‘close enough’ for the camera. I don’t know of a technique to correct focus after the fact with photo editing software, so if I didn’t get it as close as I could, I would be stuck with slightly blurry photos.

Partial Solar Eclipse — Pre-eclipse photo of sun (click image for rest of album)

The eclipse began earlier than I thought it would, by about five minutes. I took several photographs over the next hour, as the sun (and moon) continued to sink through the clouds towards the western horizon. I had some problems with the wind and of course the clouds. With about ten minutes left before the sun (and moon) dipped below the horizon, I detached the camera from the telescope and instead took some photos of the stunning sunset occurring simultaneously with the solar eclipse.

Solar Eclipse Sunset — Sunset during Solar Eclipse (click image for rest of album)

Several people stopped by and asked about the eclipse. I could even show them some of the photos I’d taken using the preview feature and the view screen on the back of the Pentax. Here are a couple of crowd favorites among the shots I took:

I gained great experience during this solar eclipse. I feel more prepared and confident for the Transit of Venus, which happens in just two weeks from tomorrow! I’ll be in the same spot, clouds permitting. Otherwise, I may be forced to settle for a webcast of the event, because one way or another, I will witness it.

Saturday Stroll Around the Plaza

Rachelle and I spent Saturday morning participating in the Kansas City Heart Walk. Getting, there, proved to be more of a challenge than the actual physical exertion.

I woke up at my usual time (between five and five-thirty in the morning). I came downstairs to find Rachelle asleep in the hide-away bed in the living room. I gently shook her awake enough to ask her when she had gotten to sleep. She mumbled something about two (or maybe it was three) in the morning. I let her drift back to sleep.

I finished off the last bit of a box of cereal and started reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth, a recently released sequel to last year’s Divergent. The hardcover edition I checked out from the Kansas City Public Library is a strange size, being shorter than most of my other hardcovers, but still thick. The font is adequate in size, but almost double-spaced on the page, so I can breeze through quickly. I reached Chapter Eight and page 87 before putting down the book to prepare for the Heart Walk. Time to try waking up Rachelle again.

I shook her awake again at 7:15 a.m. and she asked for another fifteen minutes. I gave her another twenty or so and finally got her up and moving at about a quarter before eight. I needed to leave soon, as the warm-up for the walk began at a quarter to nine, and we still had to drive from Lansing to the Plaza, which takes thirty to forty minutes most days. We pulled out of the driveway at five minutes to eight.

The Building I Work In — Plaza Colonnade building (where I spend most of my weekdays)

We encountered no traffic of any kind on K-7 or I-70 or even US-71. As we approached the Plaza from the east, we began to see evidence of the walk as people (walking) and cars converged on Theis Park, the staging area for the Heart Walk. Since we were arriving so close to the start of the Walk, parking near the art gallery was non-existent and most of the walkers we saw were walking from the west and the parking garages at the Country Club Plaza. I opted to park in the parking garage at my building, which overlooks the intersection of Ward Parkway and Brookside Boulevard.

Rachelle and I walked a couple of blocks from the parking garage to Theis Park in about five minutes. We didn’t have time to stop at any of the sponsors’ tents. We wove our way through the crowds towards the north, where we could hear someone announcing the top five teams for fundraising for the event. I had no idea where my team was supposed to gather, and in fact only saw one other person from where I work briefly pass me in the crowd. We reached a spot just north of the Information Booth, and waited for a few minutes.

Before the warm-up, a local artist led us in the National Anthem. Then, someone led us in a quick jazzersize warm-up, most of which I couldn’t follow because I could not see the stage well enough to determine what stretches and exercises I was supposed to be doing. I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Soon after the warmup, the announcer told us to start walking, and we all did. Rachelle, and I, and several thousand other people took over the streets around the Nelson-Atkins art gallery. Rachelle and I had already planned on walking the longer route. By the time we walked up, around and down past the art gallery and along Brush Creek to where the 1 mile route diverged, thirty minutes had elapsed. That’s a slow pace! But with the press of so many people, even using the entire street, we couldn’t have increased our pace without resorting to rudeness.

The walkers committed to completing the longer three mile route stretched out along Brush Creek’s north side. I really dreaded this portion of the walk as Brush Creek can be odoriferous on good days. Since the sky stayed overcast and the wind gusted, neither Rachelle and I suffered too much.

We climbed out of Bush Creek on the west side of the Plaza, headed north to 47th street, and proceeded east. As we approached J.C. Nichols Parkway, I asked Rachelle if she wanted to continue to the finish line, which was just a couple of blocks beyond Main Street, or turn right and walk the two or three blocks to my building. She didn’t care, so I opted to head back to the building. Interestingly, while our first mile took thirty minutes, we completed the last two miles in a bit less than thirty minutes (a pace we’re both more used to walking).

We returned to the parking garage and left the Plaza behind around ten o’clock. We made one brief stop in the Legends area, to purchase tickets to Sunday’s Tbones baseball game. Our local minor league team just celebrated the opening of their tenth season in Kansas City last Thursday evening.

Rachelle and I had a good time walking with many other Kansas Citians in the Heart Walk. I want to thank all my sponsors for supporting me and the American Heart Association. Your donations fund critical cardiovascular disease research and education. I am also proud to work for an employer who takes an active part in the community’s health and wellness. I thank them for sponsoring not only a team, but most of the three mile route I walked Saturday morning.

Oh, and in case you’re wandering about my step statistics for this week, except for the two days I was either in Texas or driving back from Texas (after attending my daughter’s college graduation), I exceed my goal of 7,000 steps per day, especially on Saturday (which totaled 13,531 steps):

Graduation North Texas Style

A week ago Friday, Rachelle performed for family, friends and faculty at her senior voice recital:

Rachelle Moss, Senior Voice Recital (click photo for rest of album)

Saturday, the actual commencement ceremony held in the UNT Colliseum:

RayaBeforeCloseup — Rachelle Before Commencement (click photo for rest of album)

Saturday evening, her graduation party, hosted by her friend and former landlord, who also stayed up all night Friday to barbecue ribs and brisket:

Rachelle About to Cut Her Cake — Rachelle After Commencement (click photo for rest of album)

Good food. Good fun. Good times. Great memories.

Beautiful Start to a Busy Weekend

Friday Sunrise — Sunrise, Friday, May 18, 2012 (click photo for rest of album)

The sun rises early enough now that I can take a few minutes out of my morning routine to setup the tripod and camera to take some nice photos. I took all of these from my driveway while eating my cereal. Gorgeous morning! I had hoped to capture the tiny sliver of a crescent moon, but the pink, orange and gold clouds obscured it.

Tomorrow morning, I walk in the KC Heart Walk. Tomorrow evening, I have my first night as a team member at ASKC‘s Powell Observatory, with a topic of ‘Galaxies Galore’ to learn and observe. Sunday, I hope to get a chance to catch my breath, and maybe catch a movie.

Remembering Roxy: Did a Horse Just Gallop by?

Roxy might have been related to a camel. As far as we could tell, she only drank water from her two gallon dish once or twice a day. When she decided to quench her thirst, she could easily drain half or more of the water from said dish. And if we happened to be watching a television show or movie, we had to pause it because we could not hear anything over Roxy’s obnoxious slurping. It reminded Terry and I of Monty Python & the Holy Grail; specifically, the knights use of coconuts to simulate the sound of a trotting or galloping horse.

Terry remarked that he could hear her drinking half a house away, beyond a closed door and down the stairs in the band room. Rachelle remembered being able to hear her slurping while standing outside the house with the door closed. I just remember worrying that she would cause her stomach to torsion. We lost one of our previous Rottweilers in the prime of his life to that malady.

I don’t fill up the water dish nearly as often now. Apollo, stealth dog that he is, sips water silently from the oversized (for just him) water dish. He might be quieter than Roxy was, but he drips more water on us (deliberately or so I believe).

Movie Review: Destination Moon (1950)

Destination Moon (1950)

3 out of 5 stars

Hmmm … quite the blast from the past. I watched Destination Moon via Netflix DVD while visiting my daughter last weekend. I placed this movie in my queue based on a recent post (one of his last) by John Scalzi over at his FilmCritic.com blog, wherein he mentioned nine science fiction films often overlooked or underappreciated.

Even with the help of legendary science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein (both on the script and as a technical adviser), Destination Moon just doesn’t hold up well when viewed through the lens of the space age. Yes, they got some things right and tried to demonstrate weightlessness, pricinciples of inertia and some of the obstacles needed to overcome and survive space travel. For a hard scifi flick from the mid-20th century, I give the film an A for effort.

I did not care for the ending though. If you’re going to go to all the trouble to get to the moon, and almost not make it back due to poor planning (i.e. too much weight to return with the fuel alotted, no slack planned for when they had trouble landing and used extra fuel). The only real drama from the entire movie boiled down to who might have to stay behind and die on the moon. The characters finally achieve their weight goal with just seconds to spare and successfully take off from the moon.

And that’s it. The movie ends there. We have no idea if they made it back to Earth or if they splashed down safely in the ocean (another idea they got ‘right’ as proven later by NASA and the Gemini, Mercury and Apollo programs).

I found it interesting to compare and contrast with science facts from 1950 and what I now know in 2012, I don’t know that I’d consider this a ‘must see’ science fiction film. Maybe at the time (in the early 50s), but not now.

Steps Shortfall

As I predicted, I reached my goal of seven thousand steps per day only one day (Tuesday) out of seven last week. I got close (within five hundred steps) on Thursday, the day I walked around the UNT campus with my daughter.

I’m off to a better start this week, reaching almost ten thousand steps last night on a post-sunset walk with Apollo and my daughter around our Lansing neighborhood.

Only three more days until I walk in the KC Heart Walk this Saturday morning. You still have time to donate to the American Heart Association and support me.

Thanks and have a heart healthy day!

Remebering Roxy: Mother’s Day 2007

Five years ago, my daughter, Rachelle, wrapped up her senior year of high school. This year, the day before Mother’s Day, she graduates from college, which is probably the best present a mother could ever receive and I am truly thankful Rachelle persevered, am proud of her achievement and excited for her future adventures and dreams.

Back in 2007, Rachelle spent her senior year creating beautiful art, including a large self-portrait in oils that hangs in our great room next to the fireplace, several 2-D pieces, and another oil portrait of Roxy. She also received a I rating at the Kansas State Music Festival for her solo.

As a special Mother’s Day gift back in May 2007, Rachelle painted a portrait of Roxy in oil on gesso masonite, using the photograph I took below (in August 2005) as a basis for her painting. She finished it in just three days. This photo (below) of Roxy is one of my favorites, and spent months as my Windows wallpaper back in 2006.

The portrait of Roxy hangs in a place of honor in my kitchen/dining area and is almost the first thing you see when you walk in my house.

I even managed to include it in an updated avatar profile picture I took with my cell phone. I spent the rest of that Sunday afternoon updating all my avatars at various social networking sites, replacing the one I had been using (a closeup of Roxy from last fall) with the more recent one you see to the right. At least this way, people can recognize me and I can still provide a tribute to my favorite ditzy Rottweiler, Roxy.

Today marks the second month anniversary of Roxy’s death. We still miss her and continue to think about her often.

Sherlock Returns, Adler Strikes

A Scandal in Belgravia

4 out of 5 stars

Masterpiece Mystery finally began airing the second season of Sherlock Sunday evening, May 6, 2012. Based loosely on Doyle’s original story entitled “A Scandal in Bohemia“, and featuring the provactive Irene Adler, revamped and rewritten by Stephen Moffat (of recent Doctor Who fame).

The scandal erupts in Belgravia, instead of Bohemia, and reaches as high as the British throne, and as far away as across the pond to involve the Americans (heavy handed ones .. poor Mrs. Hudson). The episode begins, though, where we left off at the end of the first season. Moriarity bookended the episode, but pulled the strings on many of the key characters.

Sherlock and Mycroft are two peas from the same pod … no doubt about it. They have quite the surreal conversation at one point, musing to each other if they are odd for their lack of emotional attachment to others.

I’ll have to wait a couple of days to watch next week’s episode “The Hounds of the Baskerville” but the previews look thrilling.

My Walking Week

I did very well the first week of May, managing to meet my goal of 7,000 steps six out of seven days:

I took Sunday off from fitness because Terry and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary two days early.

Monday, Apollo and I took our longest walk of the week, an hour long meander around the neighborhood at dusk. We saw a few flowers and a strange small dog with a pink mohawk who got very excited when Apollo walked by the front yard on the sidewalk. Pedometer: 10,790 steps

Killer pink pooch — Click photo to see the rest of the album.

Tuesday, Apollo and I took a brisk forty-five minute walk around the area. Pedometer: 7,941 steps

Wenesday, I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to walk Apollo in the evening because Terry and I were meeting a couple for dinner and a concert after work. So I took half my lunch hour and walked around the park behind the American Century towers on the Plaza. Pedometer: 7,640 steps

Thursday morning, I took Apollo on a short pre-dawn walk for thirty minutes. My vanpool is leaving later now (at a quarter to seven), so getting up at my normal alarm time of five o’clock leaves me quite a bit of time to get some exercising in before getting ready for work. And, it allowed me to mow part of the lawn in the evening. Pedometer: 8,313 steps

Friday evening, Apollo and I walked for thirty minutes or so, and saw a pretty nice sunset and the almost full ‘super’ moon. Pedometer: 8,810 steps

Saturday overflowed with activities. I mowed most of the rest of the yard (push mowing for an hour). I cleaned house (more steps vacuuming and toting things up and down three flights of stairs). I ran errands (shopping). Apollo had a play date with a potential adoptee at the dog park (date didn’t go well, but I got more steps in). And I still took him for a walk that evening, for about a half an hour. Pedometer: 11,309 steps

The second week of ‘in training’ for my walking regimen to prepare for the KC Heart Walk seems to be a success. I’ve increased my activity. This week will be a challenge, though, to get enough walking done. We’ll see how well I do and how dedicated I remain to my goal (and to increasing that goal) of seven thousand steps each day. Especially since I didn’t get to walk at all on Sunday thanks to spring thunderstorms. And to show you I wasn’t the only lazy one in the house, here’s a photo of Apollo eating his supper … laying down.