On the Panoscan scene, I drove down to Pico Blvd. to visit a store called MacEnthusiasts in hope of finding an older G4, but they didn't have any, so I bought an new iBook (it will boot into OS 9).

Then... more shopping. Got a nice new sturdy tripod and ball head on which to mount the Panoscan securely, and level it quickly and accurately.

Got home in time to play Star Fleet Battles On-Line in a previously sceduled tournament match against a guy with the game nickname of Mars. His Klingon versus my Romulan ship. We played four hours, but a chunk of the time near the end had us dealing with a program snafu. Both our ships have suffered a little damage, and mine has taken the brunt of the game so far. But it's not over and we have to finish later.

While playing, during short breaks, I got the iBook configured, updated, and talking to the Panoscan system -- YAY!!! Did a preview of the office, then turned it over to Shelley for the first real scan while wrapping up the gaming session.

Then we picked up Jenn and Kenny and drove over to the Griffith Observatory Mars viewing party. Lots of people (as expected -- perhaps 1,600 there), and some 79 'scopes set up, ranging in size from about a foot long to an estimated 17 feet long. This big one was mounted on a car, for cryin' out loud. All the scopes belong to local astronomy enthusiasts. I called them streetwatchers... cuz they came from the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers club.

Some 'scopes projected on to computer screens, and the one we looked through -- moderate amongst those there -- showed us a caramel-colored blob with evident polar caps. Fun atmosphere. Cool to look at Mars.

Then we had ice cream at Denny's. And I've got a new goal: comment on journal comments. More.