Serendipity

MM asked 'why do we do this'. Thoughftul answers have ensued. It strikes me that the few of us here, that have STUCK here are thinkers as well as tinkerers. Collectors but doers. Writers as well as engineers. Poets really in addition to opticians and electricians. Teachers in addition to artists. Musicians and scientists. Each in our own way, doesn't matter what we do for a living.

So why do I do it? I've seen Ron and Owen and Ken eloquent on this question, I see MM and Charlier equally eloquent. Recently someone new asked a similar question.

I keep coming back in my own mind to word I head George Martin use in his biography of recording the Beatles. Serendipity. A Blue Nun bottle left on a Leslie speaker cabinet begins vibrating at the end of a White album cut and they leave it in .. that sort of thing

Serendipity is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated.

Coined by Horace Walpole (1717-92) in a letter to Mann (dated Jan. 28); he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of."

I wasnt in quest of any of this when I went to Adlier in 1964, or the Abrahms in 74 and heard the band in the starchamber. Those same weeks I probably went to movies, plays, classes, stores etc. When I projected stars in the closet I wasnt in quest of writing and giving shows, stuffing barns full of strange objects. When I bought a plant light I wasnt in quest of an aurora projector, it was just a yardsale trinket. When I had a Sky and Tel in my hand reading about a star cylinder in Arizona I wasnt in quest of HPA, I was looking at telescopes and planning on seeing M42.

Its like I'm exploring a cave and new undiscovered chambers keep opening up, dark at first but filled with wonders if I but shine in a light. Its like everything I do links in.. everything I remember. everything I ever loved or wanted to do keeps popping up

Why do I do it? Its my lifestyle now. I cant NOT do it.

Do Not Fear the Birthing Broth

After spending 3 days with my retired father in Florida, I returned to my farm and drew comparisons. His is a pristine house, after losing mom 7 years ago he has functioned with signature frugality that I admire in so many ways. Returning to my farm (we've both been in the same place 25 years), I noticed a complete difference. Being a boomer, I don't know the meaning of 'frugal'. I have sheds full of stuff, and when they filled up I built lean tos onto lean tos, new sheds rose up .. and filled .. Now its true my father has his garage with an odd mixture of his fishing, hunting, mining (geodes, saphires) gear .. lawn care .. washer/dryer - typical garage fare .. but neatly arranged. Contrast the tiny covered work area I built onto the back of my planetarium - junk is piled in random piles .. and this despite innumerable trips to the landfill, a dozen yardsales .. the problem may be I keep bringing it IN ...

But I've come to call my junk 'the birthing broth' .. for where else can I find exactly the strange part I need to hold up a pyramid, or clamp on a twilight lamp. I gaze in awe at the cast metal fittings on commercial planetariums - I'd have used a coat hanger there, and a hose reel there .. but out of my stuff comes dreams.. they are birthed by ideas that lie in the woodpile so to speak

So whether you live in suburban pristine-ness .. or on an old country estate .. a friend of mine has stuff in airplane hangars .. another in an old tire shop .. or an apartment with a storage cage .. do not fear the birthing broth. Who knows what lurks there, what idea will see light .. today.

Dare to be Boring

A friend the other sent a planetarium program he had written and produced on DVD .. I praised it, but he responded .. it was a bit boring, I'll do better next time. But shouldn't.. mustn't education be at least a LITTLE boring? Can education always be riveting?

If we accept education and entertainment as one in the same, boring is a problem. But reality all too often IS boring, and if we as planetarium builders arent a little geeky, we probably are in denial. Perhaps its time to embrace a little bit of our inner geek, and dare to be boring sometimes. Will this not lend a little dignity to the proceedings? Make clear this is education too, not just thrill a minute.

Include some arcane details in your show .. not too much, but for those present who are looking for deeper waters, an invitation to dive in cannot be such a bad thing.

Console-ation or the Odd Ballet

To console is to make feel better - and I'm definitely needing some consolation in my home planetarium as my first show laboriously comes together - an hour to write and 5 years to produce! To wit - I dont have a console .. a control console, a place where all my switches may be conveniently switched. Surely this is universal in live performance - how do they see in orchestra pits. behind stages .. in the dark... but surely all their dimmers and faders and such are marching in glowing rows in front of them, ripe for the tweaking.

Not so the home planetarium such as me. For each effect - from the star projector on down .. has been home built. Some are electric .. some battery .. and they are mounted everywhere. Some are in the center on the projector support, where they hang like my parakeets to the side of their cage .. others are off to the side, precarious and hopefully pointed to where they will need to show a ghostly Orion etc .. some are not mounted at all - they will need to be grabbed by me at the opportune moment

And where are those switches? Some are on the side of duct taped flashlights .. one is inside a blackened tin can .. commercial laser levelers have tiny switches on the bottom.. some are knife switches .. some are 50's vintage variacs .. at points in my show I must reach in between five other effects to flip on a power strip which the whole star cylinder rotates upon ..

Is it any wonder the creation of these things took X time, now the placement is taking Y time, and then the actual smooth operation will take Z time. X plus Y plus Z = ?

So the next time we admire modern commercial anythings, let us take a moment to admire that organizing console - or better still, that remote control .. every at our fingertips.

I dont have console-ation.. rather I will be performing a rather odd ballet in the dark. Excuse me, for I must go now .. its time to hit the next switch .. and its way in ............. HERE ...

Where Time Disappears

I've noticed a new Einsteinian effect when I'm working in my planetarium - time disappears! This is counter intuitive at first, for if I am master of my stars, my season, with the very night and day at my command, how can there BE no time?

Shut off from the outside world, hours don't seem to pass. Perhaps we have such easy access to time in the outer world .. we are never far from cellphones, watches, computers, the very sun itself in the sky .. that we always have an innate sense of what TIME IT IS, or at least how much time has passed .. its getting dark.. morning is wearing on .. the mailman just went by ..

But in the pristine chamber of our secret theater .. time stands still. I will go in to fiddle with a speaker or try a new effect .. and emerge after an imagined 10 minutes to find 2 hours in fact slipped by!

This is neither good nor bad in itself I suppose. But .. are we not happiest when we detach from time? Is that not the floating suspension of sleep .. the universal feeling of love, of having FUN .. the best times of our lives seemed to be timeless. Thus it is in my planetarium.

Therefore .. it is good!

It Really Is All About You

What is a home planetarium?

Nobody KNOWS, because its undefined really, perhaps thats part of the charm. In my current introduction, I say something to the effect

Anybody here have hobbies? passions?
Anybody have more than 1?
Well, youre sitting in a combination of ALL of mine I wanted to share!

planetariums. history. astronomy. modeling. drama. music. construction. special effects. making things yourself. writing .

Picture the old one man band, with cymbals between his knees .. sortof that image

I think if I defy expectations, then its impossible to fail expectations. Maybe one group is silent and I feel lousy .. another is bouncing and want to hold the laser pointer and pass it around . thats why I keep insisting to myself you HAVE to pick up a guitar and play something during a show - alot of preachers down here in the bible belt even do that .. show people who you are ..

Its not supposed to be about US in life .. but somehow in a home built planetarium .. I kind of think theres no escaping that it IS about us

Because nobody else is this crazy

IPS Recognition!

There has been a remarkable resurgence of the "Home Planetarium Association". The Home Planetarium Association (HPA) is the world’s first organized group of Home Planetarium builders, collectors, and enthusiasts! Founded in the mid 90s, HPA helps keep the dream alive of having your own star theater at home through a combination of how to tips, networking, and archiving. The main supporters are Ron Walker, a film producer, (walkprod@att,net) and Gary Likert who began this group. (mrgare5050@hotmail.com) Members communicate through an electronic magazine with a readership of over two hundred or more. http://www.planetariumsathome.com/


HPA has been somewhat detached from IPS for the past few years as our remarkable Observatory Central based resurgence has been a 3 year juggarnaut of activity, which has seen the rise of the Planetarium and Science Museum (to which HPA donated the first and only homemade planetarium, the Emmons/HPA projector made from one of Dick Emmons hand drilled starballs. As we look into the future, perhaps IPS looms larger again in our writings and networking!