Showing off equipment

Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.

Mr Mustard, I guess Star Parties can be many things.

Lately, every Star party our Club seems to have, basically turns into an
Indian Rain Dance! lol. The weather can be great for a month straight,
then call a Star party, and here comes the bad weather, guaranteed!

Yeah, I've met a couple of snobs/mafia members/cultists/whatever ya
wanna call them, that come off as real A-holes. One once in particular
with a $40K rig (Won't mention what scope/mount, as it would almost be a
dead giveaway who it was)

Another time, I had a guy cry like a freaking baby because I accidently
momentarily shined my little Red LED Flashlight into his eyes while at
his scope. lol

Still, I've been to quite a few really nice gatherings, and the memories
will last a lifetime.

Even one Star Party, a rained out Astrofest, perhaps 2000, or 2001?
(Roland C. jinxed that one! lol) And no viewing took place at all that
weekend, but we all wound up in the town of Kankakee, ILL. for Pizzas
the one evening!

It was Thomas Back, Gary Hand, Markus Ludes, Eric Jamison, Stew Squires,
Bob Luffel, Bob Hunt, and I (was two other people, and I can't recall
his name, or Daughter's at the moment)

We must've ordered 10 large pizzas (And enough Pitchers of Beer to wash
it all down with). It was grand!

The old Astrofests were huge Star Parties though, and I can understand
how being at smaller, or local club parties could be problematic if
there's someone there you don't see eye to eye with.

I guess the only thing you can do, is avoid those that are like that,
but try not to let them spoil your outings, and make you refrain from
going. They're usually the exception, and not the norm. Clear skies,
Mark

Mean Mr Mustard kvetched:

Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.


Oh, please. You're upset because the well-heeled now shun you in favor
of Mean Mister Grey Poupon.

--
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mark Gingrich San Leandro, California

"Mark Gingrich" wrote in message ...
Mean Mr Mustard kvetched:

Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.


Oh, please. You're upset because the well-heeled now shun you in favor
of Mean Mister Grey Poupon.

LOL

--

Hilton Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35.3"
Lat +42° 11' 06.7"
---------------------------------------------------------------
Webcam Astroimaging
http://home.earthlink.net/~hiltoneva...troimaging.htm
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ChemPen Chemical Structure Software
http://www.chempensoftware.com

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:02:32 -0800, Mean Mr Mustard wrote:

Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.
Hmmmm. I suppose that could be the case, but it certainly isn't a given.
I went to a High school astro club meeting and while I didn't have the
best scope there, the fact that I knew where things where made my
telescope very popular. There were about 30 kids and about 5 scopes.

Perhaps what you are experianceing is not bad *star* parties, but just bad
parties. I've been to plenty of those. Xmas seems to generate a lot of
them.

If I had a severely expensive scope, I certainly would not take it to a
start party. I wouldn't do that to a nice eyepiece.

Tom R

It rather depends on whether the rich guy is willing to share the
views.

It's not every day you get to ride in a Ferarri.... or even to kick the
tyres... :-)

I'd be more worried about this fellow with the blinding red flashlight.

It's his type who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a star party! ;-)

Chris.B

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:
Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.



Seems like a major generalization. Some of the most interesting "toys"
at star parties are the ones made by the users, who are not particularly
wealthy. The other reason I like them is an opportunity to see what new
stuff is out there (e.g., last year the PST .. a $500 H-alpha scope for
the non-wealthy).

Maybe you've been going to the wrong star parties

Phil

"Mean Mr Mustard" wrote in message
oups.com...
Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.


'Bye.

Mean Mr Mustard wrote:
Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys. I'm done with star parties.


Amateur astronomy is no different than a dozen other hobbies where
middle age men collect and display their (sometimes) expensive toys.
Gatherings of these guys usually involve phallic symbols, machismo, and
numerous references to past triumphs. As a result, the men typically
outnumber women 50:1.

Of course, nobody forces us to attend these things ;-)

On 30 Nov 2005 18:02:32 -0800, "Mean Mr Mustard"
wrote:

Star parties have become yet another place for the wealthy to show off
their toys.

And that's bad, why?

A really _good_ star party is one with lots of cool stuff to examine
during the day (typically expensive stuff, but not always), and lots of
opportunity to evaluate performance at night. I can't think of anything
more boring than a star party with nothing but ordinary equipment- what
point? If my main goal is observing or imaging, I can do that anytime-
certainly no need for a star party.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com