So, 9 hours of driving through the desert, from Tucson to west Texas. Shortly after we passed through the ruined and abandoned town of Victoria, we came across random desert Prada.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/s480x480/13428412_1135803846471270_7472736007572408001_n.jpg?oh=d15453f4e1e0acd3a50e1dc558d67032&oe=57DB353A)
I have no fucking idea, so don't ask.
Driving down county 555, we found the anti-LMNO.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13417555_1135801343138187_2440475325416962779_n.jpg?oh=8a0d9d21b356925ef2e52848c5c5ee47&oe=57C1CB59)
HET dome. where the sex is.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13442276_1135798826471772_2687503508279663592_n.jpg?oh=9cc69b767c92fb016e60cd01c88a9c49&oe=57C79911)
Air bearing plenum, as I mentioned earlier.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13502078_1135799139805074_6433639308976917692_n.jpg?oh=176ee5691f29478dceb854b39a37ca45&oe=57E00085)
Part of the mirror lab. More later.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13450835_1135798979805090_8432520841516701229_n.jpg?oh=fa5a24862fc14f867262e4068477e728&oe=57D38DB4)
91 FUCKING MIRRORS
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13428414_1135799369805051_7337327813132020647_n.jpg?oh=1c70bfa46dccb1ae5205d8a65cf64e33&oe=57D1E238)
Airlock being prepped for Bethany and I.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13466115_1135800883138233_870332944669770482_n.jpg?oh=d531b0df98ff95ee9f5575db7264ea95&oe=57D3AFAA)
I learned 3 things that you never say to Bethany in an airlock. No matter how bored you get.
1. You ever get one of those sweatballs running down the crack of your ass, but you can't do anything because you're in a Michelin Man pressure suit? Because that's a thing. As we speak.
2. I can hear you farting over the intercom.
3. Can you hear me farting? Because that's like a lazy man's commo check.
(It's worth mentioning that even in a pressure suit, you fart non-stop when pumping down to, say, 4 Pascals of pressure)
Then she threatened to cut my suit with her wire cutters, which I felt was unreasonable escalation.
Then the HET lens, above the 91 FUCKING MIRRORS:
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13423760_1135801903138131_7627694869735847162_n.jpg?oh=19b0357cfa91ad24c895b3e628981fca&oe=57D15340)
Calibration Telescope, pic 1
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p296x100/13502047_1135801566471498_3327325333029434966_n.jpg?oh=7483cc5232938dbf3865b2be2c059e0e&oe=57C9604E)
Cal scope, pic 2
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p296x100/13432252_1135803433137978_2519183880994852982_n.jpg?oh=90d9c9c3dc92280ef3d3ba0dd1705364&oe=57D71EA3)
HET catwalk
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p296x100/13502056_1135802283138093_835569728713527750_n.jpg?oh=b7256e4a1e413ae2258d77bb53a59525&oe=57CFC249)
"The Mangler", 1940 telescope, still useful for calibrating the HET.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p296x100/13423830_1135803196471335_1229093450165143143_n.jpg?oh=6282ed20286f896201203061e1a793b9&oe=57D4CB45)
As for what's going on with all of this, that's next installment. But it's like the Manhattan Project and the Apollo Program added together while you bugger congress in broad daylight. It's fucking amazing.
I love how the sighting scopes are bigger than my fucking house! Reminds me of that joke where the cop pulls over the limo for speeding and the pope is driving :lulz:
Also this photo has been fucking my head in for days
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13428414_1135799369805051_7337327813132020647_n.jpg?oh=1c70bfa46dccb1ae5205d8a65cf64e33&oe=57D1E238)
I can't figure out what the hell I'm looking at, cos there's a bit in the middle that looks like a photoshop fail. Something about mirrors I think but I cant figure out where they are :eek:
Academically I can understand the air plenum bearing. Seeing it and trying to tell my brain it floats is kind of like Escher in reverse. Reasonable, scientific reality that the hindbrain still doubts
Which thing has the fleshlight?
Quote from: Trivial <insert joke> on June 19, 2016, 03:34:01 PM
Which thing has the fleshlight?
wrong place entirely. That is of course here in Arizona. The pics above are in Texas.
Quote from: Richter on June 19, 2016, 01:20:19 PM
Academically I can understand the air plenum bearing. Seeing it and trying to tell my brain it floats is kind of like Escher in reverse. Reasonable, scientific reality that the hindbrain still doubts
The hindbrain is usually to be trusted.
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on June 19, 2016, 07:37:00 AM
I love how the sighting scopes are bigger than my fucking house! Reminds me of that joke where the cop pulls over the limo for speeding and the pope is driving :lulz:
Also this photo has been fucking my head in for days
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13428414_1135799369805051_7337327813132020647_n.jpg?oh=1c70bfa46dccb1ae5205d8a65cf64e33&oe=57D1E238)
I can't figure out what the hell I'm looking at, cos there's a bit in the middle that looks like a photoshop fail. Something about mirrors I think but I cant figure out where they are :eek:
P3NT, exact center, reflective honeycomb. It's 91 one-meter hexagons that form the bigass mirror. It looks funny because it has no declination.
So the next installment? What's this baby looking at?
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 19, 2016, 05:17:54 PM
Quote from: Richter on June 19, 2016, 01:20:19 PM
Academically I can understand the air plenum bearing. Seeing it and trying to tell my brain it floats is kind of like Escher in reverse. Reasonable, scientific reality that the hindbrain still doubts
The hindbrain is usually to be trusted.
For certain values of trusted.
Does temperature or barometric pressure change throw the rig off much, or is that compensated for?
:eek: Wow!
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on June 19, 2016, 09:33:24 PM
So the next installment? What's this baby looking at?
Just making a real time map of the galaxy, is all. :lulz:
Astrogation, baby!
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 20, 2016, 04:57:38 AM
Quote from: P3nT4gR4m on June 19, 2016, 09:33:24 PM
So the next installment? What's this baby looking at?
Just making a real time map of the galaxy, is all. :lulz:
Astrogation, baby!
..Astrogation map!! :fap:
Some really cool pics, there! And really enjoying this series overall :)
This is a thing of beauty, it's in one of the best locations in the world as well if I am correct many clear nights.
The Irish observatories while having very little light pollution, suffer with cloudy weather more often than not.
That desert Prada. :lulz:
I keep coming back to look at it, and I don't know why.
Quote from: SuuCal on June 20, 2016, 09:40:36 PM
That desert Prada. :lulz:
I keep coming back to look at it, and I don't know why.
It's a warning, I think.
Quote from: Faust on June 20, 2016, 09:24:23 PM
This is a thing of beauty, it's in one of the best locations in the world as well if I am correct many clear nights.
The Irish observatories while having very little light pollution, suffer with cloudy weather more often than not.
Yes, Arizona and West Texas are awesome for that. When we're not on fire.
Like right now. God's mountain is burning like a torch (pics tomorrow), and visibility is potato.
"Nothing is true; everything is on fire."
--Ancient Tucson proverb.
Quote from: SuuCal on June 20, 2016, 09:40:36 PM
That desert Prada. :lulz:
I keep coming back to look at it, and I don't know why.
Same, it has some sort of magnetic attraction.
"Desert Prada". Has a kind of knock-off feel to it, like it might not actually be real at all.
Hey, QG, can I interest you in sending things to desert Prada? It feels like the kind of place that would appreciate it.
And if not, fuck them, it'll be entertaining.
It looks completely abandoned? But yeah, if there's a mailing address I'm game.
Quote from: Cain on June 21, 2016, 01:18:22 PM
Quote from: SuuCal on June 20, 2016, 09:40:36 PM
That desert Prada. :lulz:
I keep coming back to look at it, and I don't know why.
Same, it has some sort of magnetic attraction.
"Desert Prada". Has a kind of knock-off feel to it, like it might not actually be real at all.
It seems to be the real thing.
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on June 21, 2016, 03:43:18 PM
It looks completely abandoned? But yeah, if there's a mailing address I'm game.
There wasn't a living soul for 30 miles in any direction while we were there.
That all looks awesome - is it in Marfa?
(I was all trying to be coy, showed pix to my girl: "Hey, girl-friend, check out /this/ Prada store!". She all like, yea, "Is it still there? By Big Bend and the Thunderbird?". Me, "WTF?!")
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 08:19:57 PM
That all looks awesome - is it in Marfa?
(I was all trying to be coy, showed pix to my girl: "Hey, girl-friend, check out /this/ Prada store!". She all like, yea, "Is it still there? By Big Bend and the Thunderbird?". Me, "WTF?!")
It's 40+ miles from Marfa. If you tell me what this is about, I will make you pay.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 21, 2016, 08:34:26 PM
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 08:19:57 PM
That all looks awesome - is it in Marfa?
(I was all trying to be coy, showed pix to my girl: "Hey, girl-friend, check out /this/ Prada store!". She all like, yea, "Is it still there? By Big Bend and the Thunderbird?". Me, "WTF?!")
It's 40+ miles from Marfa. If you tell me what this is about, I will make you pay.
The store? I have no idea... (consulting resident expert...). Hmmn, signs point to it being a "conceptual art piece". Not sure if I'm buying it.
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 08:54:44 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 21, 2016, 08:34:26 PM
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 08:19:57 PM
That all looks awesome - is it in Marfa?
(I was all trying to be coy, showed pix to my girl: "Hey, girl-friend, check out /this/ Prada store!". She all like, yea, "Is it still there? By Big Bend and the Thunderbird?". Me, "WTF?!")
It's 40+ miles from Marfa. If you tell me what this is about, I will make you pay.
The store? I have no idea... (consulting resident expert...). Hmmn, signs point to it being a "conceptual art piece". Not sure if I'm buying it.
Never speak to me again.
Magic ruined.
Quote from: Q. G. Pennyworth on June 21, 2016, 09:06:46 PM
Magic ruined.
Yep. I think I'm done with this. I'll be back when I think of something else to write about.
FUFFs... I really thought you were joking about not wanting to know. My bad. Harikiri now underway.
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 10:12:32 PM
FUFFs... I really thought you were joking about not wanting to know. My bad. Harikiri now underway.
What, you think you're the only person with google? Anyone here could have figured out what was going on with an internet search, just using the terms "west texas desert prada", but sometimes it's fucking okay to let the surreal be a little surreal.
But congratulations. You are the Smartest Guy in the Roomâ„¢.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on June 21, 2016, 10:17:04 PM
Quote from: LuciferX on June 21, 2016, 10:12:32 PM
FUFFs... I really thought you were joking about not wanting to know. My bad. Harikiri now underway.
What, you think you're the only person with google? Anyone here could have figured out what was going on with an internet search, just using the terms "west texas desert prada", but sometimes it's fucking okay to let the surreal be a little surreal.
But congratulations. You are the Smartest Guy in the Roomâ„¢.
Fair point. I should have googled it first to see if the answer was indeed that readily available, instead of presuming that just because I didn't already know the answer, it actually was hard to find. Amateur SGitR mistake.
When a narrative gives you a mystery that twists your head, go with the twist. At least until it threatens your existence.
Quote from: LMNO on June 21, 2016, 11:55:35 PM
When a narrative gives you a mystery that twists your head, go with the twist. At least until it threatens your existence.
This. Sometimes you HAVE to know what's going on. Am I really on fire, or was that just really good peyote?
Other times, you let shit ride. I hate the people that sonar'd Loch Ness, and I will not thank the man that proves that there are no sasquatch.
A little mystery and weirdness is good for the brain. Otherwise things get so boring
Well, that got ruined quickly.
On a slightly different subject, let's hear more about that sweet air bearing.