Sometimes the Dream

Sometimes we have the Dream. And sometimes the Dream has Us

Photography is one of those dreams many people seem to have. I think like other passions, its good to examine from whence it comes .. what is the wellspring that is inside that drives it. Some dreams are accomplished, then we can rest. Maybe your portraits were like that - unfinished business that is now complete. I know playing live music and writing music was like that for me. Traveling places - climbing mountains .. we do it till its done, then we can be content. We see to make it a lively would mean to take wedding photos endlessly, or to play bars the rest of our lives. Or to give mountain climbing lessons. We have the dream. We come to terms with it eventually. If we do not, we have regrets, and no one should have regrets. I vow to not have regrets.

But it begins to seem to me there is another category entirely. We dont have a dream .. A dream has US ... and it wont let us go. Thats what writing, planetariums, and some of the music I did began to look like. Maybe your photography is like this. It wont be content .. the tail wont stop wagging on the dog. Im not sure it wants to be discovered or to make it big ... Im not sure what it wants .. but it keeps knocking on the door . beckoning .. The only way to figure out what IT wants, since the dream has US, is to figure out what drives it. Where it comes from. Why this wellspring never runs dry . Again though, to ignore it is the road to regret.

Seems like when we have the dream, we can either achieve it, or at least come to terms with it. But when the dream has us, we are in for a more uncertain, but certainly wilder ride. We don't know where it will take us, this dream.

But I wouldn't let go.

For It Is a Feeble Light

I am taken back by the garish light of day, and i am called gare-ish ..

Routinely I run from sunlit fields into the dark of my humble planetarium chamber, and my eyes cannot relate.. I burned out another projector led bulb today .. I come from light into eternal night and i cannot see my stars.. so I goose my projector up and up and up till i burn out the bulb

for it is a feeble light. that light of the stars

the past week without sleep have i been, yet the stars were absent .. luna held sway, bathing my victorian house in fitful pale illumination thru my floor to ceiling wavy glass windows.

even then the feeble light of the stars was hindered.

and thus it is ever so in my own star theater .. i must camp there in the garish light of day for 30 minutes if I am not to burn out a bulb until i can see that feeble light

that feeble light of grandeur . how we take for granted the night vision

and little realize that our eyes mostly are attuned to the grandiose lights of broadway .. the strip in vegas ... walmart in gallatin

how little we realize how quickly we miss that feeble light that is eternity. g

Public outreach is so important to us all: afterall, todays' children are tomorrows architects of the future.
Public outreach is so important to us all: afterall, todays' children are tomorrows architects of the future.
Public outreach is so important to us all: afterall, todays' children are tomorrows architects of the future. by Owen Phairis aka Professor Fantastic

This is going to become the HPA Mantra going forward, with full quote credit to Prof. Fantastic. It hit home that the future is in giving, not hoarding, in a recent incident I have captured with the following true story from 2 weeks ago!

I was squirming in Church two Sundays ago. The topic was money .. giving .. and I knew I had issues. Who doesn't? Alot of people don't. But apparently far more do. Like me. The pastor, an eloquent imposing man over 6 foot 4 in height, had implored the congregation that by giving you received more than you could imagine. A special envelope was included in the program. Now I give a 25 dollar check each and every Sunday. I recently completed a 2 year pledge to help build several new campus childrens centers. That was expected. But this was beyond. I fidgeted... finally with a supreme shrug, not believing a word of it, I forced myself to remove my wallet, take out my last bill, a 10, and put it in the envelope. I just made the plate as it went round. I left church vaguely thinking maybe I should be more cynical.

Two days later Im working at my Sprint Store. Over 5 years I cannot but help size customers up - form judgements that are sometimes spot on, sometimes grossly mistaken or unfair. I do not let this affect my job performance, but its a human thing I tell myself. In hobbled a little old man - with an oxygen tank.. he slowly plodded towards me and I saw that I needed to help him. No hiding in the backroom, no putting him on the list and hoping someone else would get him. I had him. He literally had to gather breath before he could speak .. he needed another phone activated, his ancient cellphone wouldnt work anymore, almost like his body I couldnt help thinking .. as I put onto his line his equally ancient spare phone, he smiled at me .. a crooked smile. I told him about new phones, I couldnt be sure he heard me. But as he slowly began to leave, he held out an almost clawlike, limp hand to shake mine. I forced myself to shake it, and helped him to the door. And resumed trying to make money, my way..

After he had left I returned to my station, and before I could wait on the next customer, I noticed something crumpled up beside my keyboard. It was a ball of paper, or something.... Picking it up, I unwrapped it..

It was a 10 dollar bill.

Had the old man tipped me? Tips were unheard of in my line of work. No I came to realize .. the 10 I had given came back to me.. in a way not only proving the point, but in a way I would examine my preconceived notions about alot of others things too. And alot of other people.

I put the 10 back in the plate last Sunday. Without a single regret. g

the birth of Cakebox Productions

How did I get interested in Home Planetariums? With a cakebox ..

In 1967 on Holly Court in Villa Park, outside Chicago, I took a cakebox from the old Topps Department store up on North Avenue and punched star holes into it. Then I took a flashlight bulb on a board, hooked it up to 2 D cell batteries, and carried this contraption to my friend Alan's house.

In a darkened bedroom, Alan first said 'I see nothing'... After fiddling with the wires however, Alan then proclaimed ... I SEE STARS! I was hooked for life but this interest lay dormant until the 90s, when I purchased a Dick Emmons starglobe and HPA was born.

A recreation of that first cakebox may be seen on HPAs website www.planetariumsathome.com

Traction

Traction

I keep thinking of certain famous bands I used to read about - before a long tour, they'd rehearse just like the real thing .. they'd play full sets, full energy, bring in people (like movie test screenings).. full lights .. effects... sleep in hotels (like NFL football teams do even at home before games) ...

Theyd be like a car revving at floored speed, but with the rear wheels lifted off the ground

So when the very first people came to see them for real .. it wouldnt be like they were starting out .. it would be like they were already in mid tour glory .. and people would assume this .. they would wonder .. wow.. where did all this come from.. it must have always been here!

When those rear wheels hit the pavement for whatever we do .. Im thinking it will be like that for us ... wow look at this planetarium museum .. look at this thing this guy has on his farm .. its been here for YEARS ..

before it finally got TRACTION .

The Bygone Parade

The Bygone Brigade

Theaters and Popcorn Machines. Tessla Coils and Waffle Irons .. what do they have to do with Planetariums? Everything and nothing... they do far different things, or do they? Picture a fantasy parade .. all of humanity's creations perhaps marching down Pasadena Blvd .. the Rose Parade of Progress.. there are people in the crowd that appreciate the basics .. they applaud Alec ... Alec-tricity... they applaud Steam.. and King Coal .. and Iron and the older crowd (much older) digs Bronze .. the Romans are out in force for Marble.. why arent marbles made of marble, or were they? In our parade of the Progress. many in the crowd squeal approval for Henry Ford.. Thomas Edison .. Einstein .. Michelangelo . All inventions parade down the boulevard, but there are a few in the huddled masses that look for stranger marchers ... here they come! Dumb-bell shaped Star Machines! They roll on carriages, they lead a strange menagerie of zoolike machines that most people know but few .. appreciate ... Carmel Apple makers .. Sno Coners.. Cotton Candy Blowers .. and here come the carnival rides ... A Tilt a Whirl rolls by .. Ferris Wheels also careen down the boulevard .. and bringing up the rear a literal zoo of yard sale refugees... Wood burning kits .. Bedazzlers .. a Slide Rule Marching Band, followed closely by a band of all the instruments nobody plays .. Bass Flutes and Clarinets .. Saxophones and Sousaphones, neither of which make calls as phones normally do .. And so the parade passes .. the icons of progress .. the staples of every era of life .. and lastly the bygone brigade.. planetariums .. phone booths .. ringer washers .. hand cranked pencil sharpeners .. model trains of all gauges

At last the Icons and the Bygones have passed .. the crowd fills the streets behind it as it passes .. wondering what next will join the neverending march. And wondering what is now among us that we cant see .. we take for granted .. that tomorrow will suddenly turn charming, and join the Brigade.

Little Fires Burning in the Night

Little Fires Burning in the Night

Home Planetariums as we have defined it, is almost as if we havent defined it, thats why I think we see so many posts on so many related topics. Most other areas are sharply focused on one thing - even our other projection stellarium folks, while sharing our diversity for domes, are very focused on only one type of delivery system, and they have little history to draw from. The observatory folks have also this diversity of buildings, but add in a diversity of instruments, yet the instruments are not the focal point. We on the other hand have as many focal points as there are stars in the sky. I believe this movement we have started has no end, because it has such an incredibly diverse base. And as time passes, more and more commercial machines become available! Home built machines will never repeat themselves. There will always be toys coming out that can be brought past the toy stage. And the buildings, domes, and presentations will never end, I've spent much of my time trying to get the music end of things more creative - not content to put on 'a record', I feel this is a major area (with people like George) that other creative endeavors can be involved - yes we can end up on youtube and myspace and facebook .. So we are like a United Nations.. with as many outlets as these massive deathstars .. we add a lense to each outlet, each possibility, and bring it into focus.

Its ironic that Home Planetariums mirror in analogy these actual beasts. Perhaps amongst the stars of our multi-faceted interests, we the people are the Milky Way flowing through them, the pathway of souls. The campfires .. I've often thought of us that way.. little fires burning in the night. gare