Sadly, I suspect that 'sidewalk lutenists' wouldn't attract the same queues as sidewalk astronomers. Even I, as a lutenist, have a much clearer recollection of my first view of Saturn's rings through a telescope than I have of first hearing a lute.
Bill P.S. You made a 12" mirror! I'm hugely impressed! 8.5" was my limit. From: Sean Smith <[email protected]> To: lute <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 11 August 2013, 20:36 Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness - astronomy analogy? G's and O's indeed. I remember how my lute hand coordination grew as I ground and polished my first 12" mirror. Just as I finished it (mid 90s) Saturn and Jupiter were both visible in the early evening sky. My buddy (who had intruduced me to John Dobson for the ATM classes) and I had a great year setting up our scopes on street corners in San Francisco for the public. Constant lines half a dozen deep every Fri and Sat night. Fun? Educational? Rewarding? Oh, lordy. Now, how do we do that for lutes? Sean On Aug 11, 2013, at 11:27 AM, William Samson wrote: Gadzooks and odsbodikins (as we lute-playing chappies are wont to say)! Do you think there's a case for an astro-lute breakaway group? I was curator of a public observatory in Dundee, Scotland for five years, before I retired. [1][1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Observatory How many of us will be watching for Perseid meteors this evening? . . . And perhaps playing our lutes? Bill From: Mark Seifert <[2][email protected]> To: Geoff Gaherty <[3][email protected]>; "[4][email protected]" <[5][email protected]> Sent: Sunday, 11 August 2013, 17:12 Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness Dear Geoff Gaherty, et alia, et aliens Its so gratifying and exciting to encounter another astro- interested person, as I attempt email near the Julian Starfest here in southern CA (communications are spotty here). The skies last night were breathtaking, stunning, in this very dried up rural region not far from Palomar Observatory. Only 25 miles away is Bruce Lamb who makes the extreme instrument cases, so I took a couple of caseless lutes to him. He lives across the street from a 101 year old man who dwells and shuffles with his walker on a 5-acre dried up estate full of coyotes and gophers. Bruce Lamb is amazing. He once starred in a 5-year long TV show about do-it-yourself home improvements, but it went belly up during the switch from VHS to DVD. He also has a big potbellied pig who does pirouettes for watermelon chunks. I also met a little deer eared Chihuahua here named "Frijolita" or "bean." Don't know when I'll get my lutes back because Bruce is very, very busy making extreme cases for musicians worldwide. He's trying to connect with the Navy for lucrative contracts, but the Navy is so clueless it thinks plywood is eco-friendly when the truth is just the opposite--even currogated polypropylene is more eco-friendly than plywood. Thank you for writing in and sharing your website. Mark Seifert From: Geoff Gaherty <[2][6][email protected]> To: [3][7][email protected] Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 8:08 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness On 11/08/13 9:41 AM, Ron Fletcher wrote: > My main point is that true historical re-enactment is > not fantasy, but a desire to generate public awareness of our great > heritage. For a number of years, I was music director for Poculi Ludiquae Societas, the medieval drama society at the University of Toronto's Institute of Medieval Studies during the 1980s: [4][8]http://groups.chass.utoronto.ca/plspls/ We were committed to meticulous historical research as well as lively performances. My job was to select music appropriate to the time and culture of the plays being performed, and to provide suitable musicians to perform it. We worked in very close association with the professional early music performers in Toronto, to everyone's mutual benefit. We used to cringe whenever anyone mentioned the Society for Creative Anachronism! Geoff -- Geoff Gaherty Foxmead Observatory Coldwater, Ontario, Canada [5][9]http://www.gaherty.ca/ [6][10]http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/ To get on or off this list see list information at [7][11]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- -- References 1. [12]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Observatory 2. mailto:[13][email protected] 3. mailto:[14][email protected] 4. [15]http://groups.chass.utoronto.ca/plspls/ 5. [16]http://www.gaherty.ca/ 6. [17]http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/ 7. [18]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Observatory 2. mailto:[email protected] 3. mailto:[email protected] 4. mailto:[email protected] 5. mailto:[email protected] 6. mailto:[email protected] 7. mailto:[email protected] 8. http://groups.chass.utoronto.ca/plspls/ 9. http://www.gaherty.ca/ 10. http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/ 11. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_Observatory 13. mailto:[email protected] 14. mailto:[email protected] 15. http://groups.chass.utoronto.ca/plspls/ 16. http://www.gaherty.ca/ 17. http://starrynightskyevents.blogspot.com/ 18. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
