Eclipse News

Up here in Redding, CA area everyone is revving up for the anular eclipse tomorrow.  http://www.shastaastronomyclub.com/eclipse.html
Yes this should have been a Friday blog entry, but jet lag from the short trip to Munich still drags on the body and the brain. However, there's enough chutspa to take the long drive north for the best view of tomorrow's event.
 http://earthsky.org/tonight/annular-eclipse-of-the-sun-china-to-texas-on-may-20-or-may-21
The moon's first contact with the sun will be at around 5:11pm, so eat dinner early, get out those true eclipse shades, and relax on your patio lounger for the event. That is, unless you will be managing a camera. The camera also will need a solar filter so you don't fry your eyes while looking through the eyepiece. Here's the equipment you'll need.

for the slr camera lens

This was a purchased filter that blocks out all damaging uv and infrared rays. As stated in a previous blog entry sunglasses won't be enough, not even polarized ones. Homemade ones are produced from fully exposed and developed black and white film. The result will be a picture of the sun in a black field, because all the light but the sun's light will be blacked out as in the photo here:

taken with 55-200 mm lens

Be careful when producing your own solar filter. It must be the old fashioned black and white film that has no touch of color in its emulsions.  Many newer films do not fit this criteria.

 Safer than any homemade filters is the use of the projection method as described by http://www.mreclipse.com/Totality2/TotalityCh11.html#Pinhole

The Pinhole Projection Method

One safe way of enjoying the Sun during a partial eclipse--or anytime--is a "pinhole camera," which allows you to view a projected image of the Sun. There are fancy pinhole cameras you can make out of cardboard boxes, but a perfectly adequate (and portable) version can be made out of two thin but stiff pieces of white cardboard. Punch a small clean pinhole in one piece of cardboard and let the sunlight fall through that hole onto the second piece of cardboard, which serves as a screen, held below it. An inverted image of the Sun is formed. To make the image larger, move the screen farther from the pinhole. To make the image brighter, move the screen closer to the pinhole. Do not make the pinhole wide or you will only have a shaft of sunlight rather than an image of the crescent Sun. Remember, this instrument is used with your back to the Sun. The sunlight passes over your shoulder, through the pinhole, and forms an image on the cardboard screen beneath it. Do not look through the pinhole at the Sun. 

Any serious astrophotography can be done best with the help of knowledgeable astronomers from your local astronomy club. They often have the filters and telescopes needed for grand photos of eclipses. An ordinary camera mounted on a tripod for stability and covered with eclipse shades can still produce a good photo.

Sad Moments

Ost Friedhhof

It's a quiet place in the middle of a major city. People come here to remember their dead, or just jog through the park. Yet it isn't just a park. It is my favorite "Auntie's" final resting place.

Family and friends come to bid farewell to Marianne Junkes.  Burial rites are held at the crematorium.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=639232

A visit to the grave site of Marianne's sister and husband begin the occasion. Flowers for Marianne were declined. Donations to Kenya's poor were accepted.

In Liebe und Dankbarkeit nehmen wir Abschied von

With Love and Thanks we take our leave of

Frau Marianne Junkes

* 18.08.1922 + 06.05.2012

                                                          Ursula Fuchs
                                                          im Namen aller Angehörigen

            Die Trauerfeier findet am Montag, den 14. Mai um 11.30 Uhr im Krematorium

            Ostfriedhof statt.

The funeral will take place on Monday May 14 at 11:30 at the East Cemetery in Munich

            Anstelle von Blumen und Kränzen bitten wir um eine Spende zu Gunsten von:

            Baobab Family e.V., KontoNr: 8896400, BLZ 700 20 500, Bank für Sozialwirtschaft

In place of flowers, please donate to Bakobab Family for their social works.

Aufwiedersehn

Sad news of a favorite aunt who has passed away calls me away from my desk. I will resume blog entries next week upon my return. Thank you for your understanding.

The Composer's Children

Deanna with her father, Ara Sevanian

When Composer Ara Sevanian offered information on his life as a composer, he mentioned little about his family. Perhaps his musicianship, having taken center stage, prevented his elaborating on other aspects of his life. The following paragraphs taken from his memoir, Kanon, present Ara’s son Alex. Sadly, Alex preceded his father in death.  Ara’s daughter Deanna, remains a faithful friend and follower of these notes on her father’s life. 

Los Angeles

 A growing circle of friends asks, “When will the book be finished?”  They follow his history.  I pursue his composing credits.   The University of California at Los Angeles takes interest in both.  I make arrangements to transfer two of Ara’s scrapbooks containing photos, letters, press releases, programs, and critic’s reviews to its Schoenberg Music Library archive.  Ara is grateful that his volumes will be preserved for future generations.  His close friend, Tessie Chuachiao, arranges the setting—a November 2001 concert.  I prepare a press release and enlist UCLA archivist Steven Davison for the donation.

I seek approval from Ara’s son, Alex, on the decision to reveal family photos and history.  “Ara, will you introduce us?” In fifteen years of friendship, Ara has never presented either of his children to me.  Ara agrees, planning a meeting over lunch since his son lives nearby.

Alex, a USC professor, speaks eruditely and with distant courtesy about the treasure of Armenian musical motifs and his father’s work to preserve them.  Tall and darkly handsome, his quiet demeanor and long-sleeved shirt and tie usher in a formal introduction.  When I voice my intention to make Ara’s music the primary thrust of the memoir, Alex’s reserve melts.  He breaks into occasional smiles under his moustache. As the conversation warms I fix my attention on his words, listening for unspoken concerns. I wonder if he worries about family confidentiality.  Memoir writing can have legal repercussions.  I ask myself, Do I create a romance, or stay true to Ara’s interviews? I assure Alex that I will deliver a faithful account of his father’s life.

Jerusalem to Gaza

The upcoming Sunday reading focuses on Philip. Philip, like so many of the Apostles, was a traveling man spreading the Gospel message. The reading says Philip was sent by an angel from Jerusalem to Gaza. That point might escape anyone who is distracted at Mass or just locks on the basic idea presented; i.e., that Philip was out to baptize converts. Much more is presented in so short a reading.

http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Easter/BEaster5_RCL.html

To get a real sense of the depth of information given by the reading, pay attention to the finer details.

An angel sent Philip by way of the desert road to Gaza. From Jerusalem that’s about 48 miles, not a short trip around the corner. Even today a good horse goes no more than 30 miles a day comfortably.

Gaza today is always a place of friction between Palestinians and Israelis. To get a sense of location, we can search maps and see the topography of the area. Since Gaza lies near the Mediterranean, the land to the east and around Jerusalem is a dry wilderness as mentioned in the reading. The road from Jerusalem to Gaza is a downhill run. Jerusalem is hilly, Gaza is flat.

http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Maps/Story584.html

Philip got up immediately. Would you? He took the journey, meeting a man from Ethiopia, a Eunuch of the court of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. Candace was not the name of the queen. History notes that it was a reigning title, such as the title Pharo. The reading goes on to mention that the eunuch was a court official in charge of the treasury. Of course that meant the man was well provisioned and educated. He may have been of Nubia, where such wealth was common.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia

He was reading from the Prophet Isaiah about the sufferings of Christ. Philip, who had been moved by the Spirit to join the man in his chariot baptized him at his request. The result was the formation of the Ethiopian church which even today maintains the true faith from the apostolic time.

 http://www.kidusmichael.com/EthiopianChristianity.htm

As regards eunuchs, a number of interpretations exist. Generally it refers to castrated males. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch

Monday Monday

Happiness is driving a tractor

Remember that 60's song by the Mama's and the Papas?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81Ojd3d2rY
And so I feel a little blue having left the grandchildren and come back home to the retired lifestyle.
"Every other day of the week is fine." But "Monday, Monday leaves me crying" because I have to leave the grandkids behind, and get back to our own tractorless ranch to work the soil.

Stephanie's First Communion

Saturday Entry

"Gina," said a voice to me
Get strong; I have a gift.
It is the cross that keeps you free
so that your burdens lift.

And Jesus came to comfort me
that First Communion day
and gave a sliver of his tree
ever with me to stay.

I laid my head upon His heart
To rest a little space.
"Gina" he said, "I send you home.
Your parents need this grace."

And in a heartbeat I felt strong,
my legs, my arms, my head
no longer hurt so terribly.
He raised me from my bed.