>Is LSA open to all TAC members and TAC readers?
I'm gonna take this one on. Vast enough a question to cause one to
take a breath. Over the just over 3 years I've been on TAC I've
noticed occasional voices of people who find the group daunting.
Usually seem to be UC undergrads (was one myself long ago).
Evan, TAC prides itself on being inclusive. Really, no rules, no
officers, bylaws, dues nor meetings. We let all kinds of riffraff in,
with or without optics. My kid and I wandered up to the Peak with
binocs and found a big welcome. "Here, have a loaner scope, here,
look thru this, here, lemme give you a lesson. Nice scope you
bought." One of my colleagues here at Gonzales High took a bunch of
kids to LSA last spring and they wandered into a TAC group, carrying
white lights. Czerwinski gave 'em the deluxe cook's tour. We're nice,
don' let anybody tell you different.
As to Messier planning, the idea of a marathon gives me the willies.
Two years back I wrote RichardN quietly and asked if there were extra
etiquette rules at Messier nights. He wrote back, "You kidding? This
is TAC." I was between LeFevre and Shah that night and got a contact
high off their industrious work. Nilesh even forgot to breathe, much
less talk. I did get a lot done that night. Then next year we had the
Exclusive Marathon, with Aperture Man, the Li'l Dude and DDK expertly
shooting sucker holes.
And of course there are the legends of the Wet Marathon that I missed
up by the horse paddocks at Pacheco.
So Evan, just show up with lots of white light and make a bunch of
racket and we'll tie you to a tree slathered with peanut butter for
the wild pigs.
DDK
-- Jamie Dillon, speech pathologist, Gonzales Schools <*> <jdillon@No-Spam> <http://observers.org> "If there's a hull breach I'm screwed." - Michael Garibaldi making a bold rescue on Babylon 5