So first, let me tell you about my astronomy classes, which are going really great! In particular, in the last few weeks, our tutor's been taking us to SF State University, where he teaches the "real" astronomy students. We've had a few sessions in the university's planetarium which has been a real treat and a great way to understand astronomy better in situ. But this last time was even more exciting, as we were allowed into the university's observatory where they keep all the big telescopes. A few astronomy students were there, hard at work, star gazing and they very graciously agreed to show us some stars and other stuff. It was amazing! All we had to do was name a celestial body and after inputting some data into some computer, the students would get their telescope to swing round in the desired place and give us a peek at in in the telescope. We got to see the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn (which you can never normally see with your naked eyeball...), the twin star system which forms the head of the Cygnet constellation and more! Jupiter completely blew me away, it was so beautiful in all its layers of yellow and orange. The students were really great, I think this was probably the first time they'd ever got the chance to show off to people with such limited knowledge of astronomy. They were eager to answer any of our questions! I really only had one question... How much for one of these bad boy telescopes and could I please add it onto my Christmas list ??? ;-)
This week was also fleet week, some sort of big army recruitment event, during which loads of military personel suddenly pile up in town, military boats are on display in the harbour and the Blue Angels prepare for their yearly airshow with fighter jets. All this is in preparation for the big week-end event where there are military parades all the boats in the harbour take to the sea and the Blue Angels treat us to a hell of a show. This is obviously a great attraction to all the tourists and the average population in Fisherman's Wharf suddenly quadruples for the time of a week-end. The school being close by suddenly becomes much harder to access, but it's worth make it there as it provides front row seats to the air show. As an aviation buff, I was so excited to see these fighter jets whizz about and create beautiful shapes in the sky, however not everyone was of this opinion. San Francisco being such a staunch libertarian city, there was a very clear divide between those who were looking forward to the show and those who thought it was another imposition from the armed forces showing off their might and imposing their presence on a population who considered them unwelcome. One of my friends Sam, also new to the city, was just as psyched as me, but said she had a distinct impression that she had to be careful who to speak to about it, because she was made to feel that she was somehow betraying her liberal ethics by enjoying the airshow... ^^ One of my tutors actually said that he felt that the passage of the fighter jets was an invasion of his privacy. Personally I think you can be a liberal and still see the beauty in the spectacle of a skillfully controlled plane and my enthusiasm for avionics doesn't stop me from being anti-war either. although, I must admit that I'm only a visitor in this city and if I had to put up with the aggressive sound of these jets year in, year out, maybe my patience would wear a little thinner...
Next exciting event of the week, was the visit of Geoff Manaugh to SFAI. Geoff Manaugh is the author of BLDGBLOG, a blog which looks at architectural conjecture, urban speculation and landscape futures. I really recommend this blog to anyone who's interested in the language of architecture outside of traditional architectural academia or simply anyone who has been seduced by urban landscapes and all its opportunities for expression and whimsy. While Geoff Manaugh was visiting, I had the opportunity to take part in his workshop on blogging, where we discussed the opportunities that keeping a regular blog on a clearly defined topic and establishing a voice of authority on this given topic can open up in someone's chosen career. It was very inspiring despite the somewhat unorthodox format of the workshop, which started with a discussion on the idea of keeping a blog on the Blue Angels using sky writing to the possibilities of writing ads on the moon that would be so small that they could only be read with the correct level of magnification of an advanced telescope...
To finish off the week, I was invited to go to Auckland to the Oakland Art Murmur, where all of Auckland art galleries and artist studios open their doors for free on the first Friday of every month to the general public with an opportunity to buy affordable art direct from the artists. Apparently, since rents in Oakland lower, a lot of artists choose to relocate their studios there rather than in San francisco, which has led to a thriving art community. It was a great night, with throngs of people making their way from one gallery to the next. Alcohol was for sale in all the venues and there were some food trucks offering all sorts of delicious food. I got to taste my first tamale courtesy of my friend Gregg. If you've never been to Oakland, the first Friday of the month is the time to go!
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