was great to be there again.. a real buzz. alex cherney and i had fun at the start taking photos at the dish on friday night (and still found a pizza shop open for dinner when we got back before the rest of his family had starved waiting for us).
i really appreciated the talks on saturday as in previous years.. i could listen to john sarkissian tell the unfolding saga of the apollo tapes every year, mike salway and i were gobsmacked looking at anthony wesley's jupiter and saturn images on the big screen during his presentation and the john bolton lecture is also fascinating to hear of the world class science and discoveries coming out of or associated with the Dish (this time about major advances, patents and royalties for WiFi that originated with CSIRO and research at the dish) - for a town of 10,000 people Parkes packs a lot of punch!
i was very happy to get the widefield prize, everything else was a bonus. i was a little surprised (read: embarrased
) to get four awards in the one animation category. hopefully next year a few more people will get the bug and there will be a bunch more entries!
aside from seeing all the amazing images people have been working on, the best bit of the weekend is just meeting new faces and catching up with folks again. between SPSP a few months ago and now Parkes, i have met a lot more IIS folks this year which has been great. adds so much value knowing the characters behind the posts. also very beneficial to speak to others about plans for the solar eclipse in 2012. what seemed very hard with little local knowledge from home suddenly seems a lot easier.
thanks to the organisers and everyone there.. i had a ball.
Phil
P.S. you could be forgiven for thinking that I should know what i'm doing.. but after two evenings out at the dish setting up timelapse gear (thanks to Alex and Brad) and then two early morning trips out to retrieve the gear, i have nothing to show for it.. i botched two perfect nights in a row.. beautiful soft moonlight, crystal clear skies.. 'user issues' both times
. if there was a prize for biggest screw ups i'd be a serious contender for that too!
