From: gerg@netcom.com (Greg Andrews)
Subject: Re: Any Available Jewish Men Out There??
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 07:18:13 GMT

ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:
>tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu (trygve lode) writes:
>>
>>Superficially, perhaps, but only superficially.  While it doesn't require
>>too great a stretch of the imagination to believe that a Jewish woman
>>would be 'surrounded by Christians' in a medium-sized midwestern city,
>>it is much harder to accept the notion that the entire female population
>>of a large Texas city should use a bodybuilder-type paradigm as an 
>>inflexible and absolute dating criterion.  
>
>Okay, Trygve, put up or shut up.
>
>I can find at least a hundred gyms and health clubs just by
>opening the phone book.
>
>Open your phone book and tell me how many laboratories you 
>find selling memberships to the general public.
>

How about astronomy clubs?  There may not be as many as five in most
urban areas, but there are probably at least two.  If you think that's
boring, you'd probably be surprised.  Star parties can be a lot of fun.

>
>If you've misplaced your Yellow Pages, just go down to your
>local K-Mart.  Go to the scientific department.  It should
>be easy enough to find.  
>

Yes, there's a photo counter that sells some interesting stuff.
If you're not willing to consider photography a "science", they
usually have a telescope or two.

Not the same as going to a dedicated camera store or telescope shop,
but you chose the store, not me.

Oh, yes.  They also sell these boxes called "computers" too.  True,
they aren't Crays, but you can explore things like fractal images,
the nature of sound, and the movements of planets and stars with a
few pieces of carefully selected software.

>
>I have no trouble spotting K-Mart's sporting goods department, and
>you tell me that science is much more popular.  Now, tell us the prices
>and brand names of the telescopes, microscopes, and other scientific
>instruments you find on sale there.  
>

Like most other things at K-Mart, the cameras, telescopes and computers
won't be very expensive.  Maybe 200-300 dollars max?

>
>While you're at it, tell us the last time you attended a
>science lecture on a date.
>

I can.  This was in June, but I've gone back several times since.

I saw a "Community Calendar" public service announcement on a local TV
station mentioning a local observatory was open to the public every
friday night.  I forgot about it until a few weeks later, when I was
searching for something different (and cheaper) to do with my sweetheart.

As it happened, we caught them on the night the local astronomy club was
holding a star party.  There were a dozen telescopes on the hillside
next to the observatory, all different types.  Some were store bought,
but most were built from kits or from scratch.  My date and I went from
one telescope to the other, looking at Jupiter's moons (the red spot
was just barely visible), distant galaxies, binary stars, and, of course
Earth's moon, about one quarter full (mountain ranges casting long
shadows near the sunrise line).  We chatted with the owners of the
telescopes about how they made them, what type (mirror reflector, lens
refractor, Newtonian-Cassagrainian-Gizmoid, whatever) their telescope
was and the benefits and drawbacks of their chosen type.

Inside the observatory, it was standing room only (not that there were
acres of space, but there were a LOT of people looking through the 
telescope).  We could look through the most powerful instrument on the
hill (a 16-inch Newtonian reflector), and listen to the astronomers
talk about the things we were looking at through the eyepiece.  (Did you
know Saturn has two moons out on the rim of the rings that play a game
of tag?  One moves faster around the planet, and when it catches up behind
the other, they swap orbits and the other one goes faster.)

I've gone on a few dates in my time, and even gone off on weekend jaunts
to interesting places on the coast, but that night beats them all for the
best date I've ever had.  (plenty of opportunities to snuggle and look up
at the stars)  The entire evening was spent talking about scientific things,
and it was The Best.  Science can capture your imagination in a powerful
way if you let it.  

>
>Tell us how the attendance compared to even a run-of-the-mill
>major-league baseball game.  Tell us which network handled the
>live television coverage.
>

Some of my worst dates have been to places with large crowds and
television coverage.  I don't need network TV to have a good time.
I don't even need cable.

The better dates have been to places like local wineries, art or
history museums, small towns on the coast, and that star party.

>
>If you can answer any one of these questions, I'll admit
>that you're not full of bull puckey after all.  So go
>ahead, put up or shut up.
>

Ed, does the phrase "money where your mouth is" ring a bell?

-- 
:::::::::::::::::::  Greg Andrews  gerg@netcom.com  :::::::::::::::::::
"I'd play with your mind, but I prefer bigger toys."
                                             -Tyger
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