texascavers Digest 20 Sep 2011 09:50:32 -0000 Issue 1395 Topics (messages 18609 through 18622):
[Light!]
18609 by: Don Arburn
NSS related
18610 by: David
Re: TSA elections
18611 by: Ron Ralph
LED flashlight review - part 2
18612 by: David
TSS Survey Mapping Workshop - 3rd announcement
18613 by: Leslie Bell
18616 by: Geary Schindel
old cave-related movies
18614 by: David
a tourist cave slideshow
18615 by: David
Announcement: 2011 NSS Board of Governor's meeting!
18617 by: Mallory Mayeux
18619 by: speleosteele.aol.com
Caving for Troop 1913-Talks and Whirplool, Anyone?
18618 by: Mark.Alman.L-3com.com
Pirates!
18620 by: Jim Kennedy
18621 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net
UT Grotto Meeting - Wed Sep 21
18622 by: Gary Franklin
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--- Begin Message ---http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsIHyRyETKg&feature=youtube_gdata_player Sent cellularly. -Don
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--- Begin Message ---Someone asked for ideas about how the NSS could move forward. There is a new event in east Texas each year that encourages all of the ideas that the NSS cherishes. This event is hosted by NaturFest Association and is held just 1 1/2 hour east of Austin. There are about 5 million people that live in the region near this event, so there is a huge opportunity to spread the NSS message and raise money. The NSS needs to endorse this event, and encourage NSS members in southeast Texas to attend it. It wouldn't take much effort. Allow the event to show up on web-sites, newsletters, and forums, etc. And to use the NSS name or affiliation to help the reputation of the event in correspondences with other organizations. For example, the gracious landowner offering his beautiful forest to the cavers might want to know that the event has the blessing of the NSS. Thus far, attempts at any level of cooperation have been futile. NaturFest 2012 is going to be the best one yet. Mark your calendars May 18-20, Camp Happy Hollow, Brenham, Texas. https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123955237690228 Membership in NaturFest Association is currently free. There are no politics - just the simple goal to host a fun inexpensive campout in a beautiful natural setting, and to maintain a positive relationship with with the owners of this setting - Camp Happy Hollow. David Locklear President of NaturFest Association
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--- Begin Message ---Oops, wrong date. I should have said October 16 at Flat Creek Ranch. Readjust your calendars if you wrote it down. See you after breakfast under some Live Oak tree. And keep those nominations coming. Ron _____ From: Ron Ralph [mailto:ronra...@austin.rr.com] Sent: Friday, September 16, 2011 8:58 AM To: 'texascavers@texascavers.com' Subject: TSA elections Cavers, There will be an election of officers at the Texas Speleological Association meeting on Sunday morning, October 23rd around 8:00 am. To have a successful election, the first thing needed is a slate of candidates. Please nominate yourself, your best friend or your worst enemy by sending a simple note to the Nominations Committee (ronra...@austin.rr.com). Please do it soon to avoid the rush. Ron
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--- Begin Message ---This is a follow up to one of my last LED post on May 16th. I finally got around to purchasing the Kobalt 500 Lumen LED flashlight at Lowes. # 0079129. http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j355/benw8887/IMAG0086.jpg It was a better light than I expected, but not as good as I had hoped for. It has a high setting and a low setting which is not mentioned on the package. http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j355/benw8887/IMAG0087.jpg The light pattern works best while pointed at objects about 200 feet away. Anything closer and you start to see a pattern of rings. So could be used for video in long cave passages that are walking size. Uses 4 lithium non-rechargeable batteries, which some people might find inconvenient. It is too heavy for most caving trips, but it would come in handy to shine up at some high domes. When lights with multi-LED's advertise lumens, the product is going to have a different brightness than a single LED with the same lumens or even a light with more LED's. So the 500 number is misleading. This is the brightest retail-store flashlight that I have seen, but only slightly brighter than those advertised in the 175 to 250 lumen range, that I have posted reviews on before. Rumor is, that you can put 3 Li-ion rechargeable batteries and a dummy-spacer in it and it will work: http://www.batteryjunction.com/dummy-cr123a.html http://www.batteryjunction.com/uf16340.html David Locklear caver in Fort Bend County, Texas Ref: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5141/5637906228_4b400ab33a_b.jpg http://greensboro.craigslist.org/spo/2576781590.htmlhttp://greensboro.craigslist.org/spo/2576781590.html
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--- Begin Message ---TSS Survey Mapping Workshop 24 September 2011 You just bought the TSS Map CD. Congratulations! Time to put more cave maps in your grotto presentations and trip reports for The TEXAS CAVER, right? But wait, these scans haven’t been cleaned yet! Worse yet, the maps for the caves you really want to talk about are not even there yet! What do you do? Come to the TSS Survey Mapping Workshop, that’s what! We will walk you through all the steps of digitizing hard copy cave maps, rotating, cleaning, editing, and relabeling them using PhotoShop and GIMP, a similar (but free!) software. We will also briefly introduce you to producing your own map entirely digitally, straight from your survey notes, using WALLS and Inkscape, both free programs. This workshop will run from 10:00 to 6:00, and will include pizza and drinks, for a suggested donation of $10. Bring any cave maps (preferably no bigger than 8.5”x11”) you have that you want to digitize, a flash drive to take your maps home, and survey notes of a small cave if you wish to get started on the drafting process. If you don’t have hard copy cave maps or survey notes, don’t worry! We have plenty! There are 8 workstations currently available at the TSS office, or you can bring your own computer if you have the software already loaded before the workshop. GIMP http://www.gimp.org WALLS http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/sponsored_sites/tss/Walls/tsswalls.htm Inkscape http://inkscape.org Any finished maps of Texas Caves will be added to the TSS archives, and placed on the next edition of the Map CD. Topics for the first portion of the workshop (map editing) include: Sources of maps needing work Overview of PhotoShop/GIMP Scanning hard copy maps (settings, resolution, output format, etc.) Editing graphic files (mode, resolution, rotation, contrast and brightness, filters, erasing “noise”, moving map elements, re-lettering, saving and exporting) Using maps in publications and talks Topics for the second part of the workshop (digital drafting) include: Scanning hardcopy survey notes Introduction to WALLS (data entry, file management, data reduction, scaling maps, exporting lineplots) Introduction to Inkscape (creating projects, working with layers, importing survey scans and lineplots, common drawing tools, adding scale bars, north arrows, and text, and exporting and printing) Texas Speleological Society Survey Mapping Workshop Saturday, September 24th 10AM - 6PM J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Building 18-A Austin, TX Workshop instructors are TSS Directors and Associates. For more information, or to register, contact Jim Kennedy, TSS Office Manager, at jkenn...@batcon.org or Leslie Bell at bellem...@yahoo.com. Leslie Bell
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--- Begin Message ---Leslie and all the TSS officers, Thanks for making this great opportunity available, especially during the weekend where folks from out of town can take advantage of it. I’m very sorry I won’t be able to attend as I have a previous engagement I really can’t break. However, I would encourage you to offer this opportunity again later in the year (maybe every quarter). I’m sure that similar training on the commercial market would be worth hundreds of dollars and would encourage anyone with an interest in cave mapping to attend. Not only will you learn some great skills, but you’ll also meet the movers and shakers of Texas caving. Thanks, Geary Schindel From: Leslie Bell [mailto:bellem...@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 11:26 PM To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] TSS Survey Mapping Workshop - 3rd announcement TSS Survey Mapping Workshop 24 September 2011 You just bought the TSS Map CD. Congratulations! Time to put more cave maps in your grotto presentations and trip reports for The TEXAS CAVER, right? But wait, these scans haven’t been cleaned yet! Worse yet, the maps for the caves you really want to talk about are not even there yet! What do you do? Come to the TSS Survey Mapping Workshop, that’s what! We will walk you through all the steps of digitizing hard copy cave maps, rotating, cleaning, editing, and relabeling them using PhotoShop and GIMP, a similar (but free!) software. We will also briefly introduce you to producing your own map entirely digitally, straight from your survey notes, using WALLS and Inkscape, both free programs. This workshop will run from 10:00 to 6:00, and will include pizza and drinks, for a suggested donation of $10. Bring any cave maps (preferably no bigger than 8.5”x11”) you have that you want to digitize, a flash drive to take your maps home, and survey notes of a small cave if you wish to get started on the drafting process. If you don’t have hard copy cave maps or survey notes, don’t worry! We have plenty! There are 8 workstations currently available at the TSS office, or you can bring your own computer if you have the software already loaded before the workshop. GIMP http://www.gimp.org WALLS http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/sponsored_sites/tss/Walls/tsswalls.htm Inkscape http://inkscape.org Any finished maps of Texas Caves will be added to the TSS archives, and placed on the next edition of the Map CD. Topics for the first portion of the workshop (map editing) include: Sources of maps needing work Overview of PhotoShop/GIMP Scanning hard copy maps (settings, resolution, output format, etc.) Editing graphic files (mode, resolution, rotation, contrast and brightness, filters, erasing “noise”, moving map elements, re-lettering, saving and exporting) Using maps in publications and talks Topics for the second part of the workshop (digital drafting) include: Scanning hardcopy survey notes Introduction to WALLS (data entry, file management, data reduction, scaling maps, exporting lineplots) Introduction to Inkscape (creating projects, working with layers, importing survey scans and lineplots, common drawing tools, adding scale bars, north arrows, and text, and exporting and printing) Texas Speleological Society Survey Mapping Workshop Saturday, September 24th 10AM - 6PM J.J. Pickle Research Campus, Building 18-A Austin, TX Workshop instructors are TSS Directors and Associates. For more information, or to register, contact Jim Kennedy, TSS Office Manager, at jkenn...@batcon.org or Leslie Bell at bellem...@yahoo.com. Leslie Bell <http://www.squeezebot.com>
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--- Begin Message ---The 1959 film classic, "Beast from the Haunted Cave," was uploaded to YouTube last week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB4gd5ZX9yo skip to 1 hour 3 minutes 26 seconds into the video to see the cave action, for about 2 1/2 minutes. After that, the cave imagery is more about the beast and the gangsters. So if you have a YouTube app on your tablet, you can add this link to your favorites and show it to people, for the fun of it, or plug in a cable to your projector/TV and show it at a party or grotto gathering. The video DVD is commonly found for $ 5 at Half-Price books. David Locklear
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--- Begin Message ---Many tourist who visit caves these days often publish a video to YouTube. For example, there have been several posted for Lewis & Clark Caverns. The one below was posted nearly 2 weeks ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPdEbtEang This slideshow is half-decent, but clearly shows the direction this trend is going. I got to be the 1st person to click, "Like," which gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. You can be 2nd, if you hurry. Since portable broadband devices with built-in cameras are mainstream now, just about anybody can click a few buttons to upload the video. You just have to be above ground and in range of a cell-tower. Meaning, this phenomenon is likely to explode in the coming years, and with better quality videos. While I am on this subject, I would like to point out that the NSS does not have a video on YouTube. When doing a search, the first hit is a link to a lovely acoustic guitar melody. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcPmeqxmrZ0 I am only saying that even though there are thousands of caving videos on YouTube, there is still something an enterprising and creative caver could do to make a video worth watching. David Locklear
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--- Begin Message ---Good morning Cavers! I hope Monday is treating everyone well. On behalf of the Greater Houston Grotto, I am excited to announce that we are hosting the annual 2011 NSS Board of Governor's meeting! This event will take place October 21-23, 2011, with the main business meeting being held on Saturday, October 22. We would like to invite all Texas cavers to attend. The Howdy Party on October 21 and the Saturday night social on October 22 are open to all, and the first half of the NSS BOG business meeting on Saturday is open to viewers as well. This weekend will be a great opportunity to learn more about NSS business and socialize with the NSS Board of Governors and many movers and shakers in the caving community. It'll also be a ton of fun! Our Friday night social will be held at the Ginger Man located centrally in Houston. Our Saturday night party will be located at Dr. Louise Hose's hanger just south of Houston. The party theme will be "BATS!" Accessorize with your favorite bat stickers, t-shirt or belt. We will have fajitas for all, beer donated by Shiner, and margaritas made by our rockstar bartender "Cave Dave" McClung. While everyone is invited, we ask that you register online so we have an accurate headcount and can prepare accordingly. Visit http://nssbog.webs.com/ to register. This website includes information on event locations, times, hotel suggestions and other fun things to do in Houston. If you have any questions contact me or any member of our planning committee who are CC'd in this email. Thanks to additional event sponsors--the Texas Speleological Association, the Rice University Anthropology Department, Bexar Grotto, and DFW Grotto. We look forward to seeing you there! Clint Ladd, Kevin McGowan, Lyndon Tiu, Roger Moore and Mallory Mayeux 2011 BOG Planning Committee
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--- Begin Message ---Good job! I can't wait. Diana and I are going for ALL OF IT! It's sure to be a fun time. Thanks a lot, Bill Steele Irving, Texas -----Original Message----- From: Mallory Mayeux <mmay...@gmail.com> To: Texascavers@Texascavers.Com <texascavers@texascavers.com> Cc: Lyndon Tiu <lyndon....@gmail.com>; Clint Ladd <btberser...@fastmail.fm>; Roger Moore <cavera...@aol.com>; Kevin McGowan <ke...@kevinmcgowan.com> Sent: Mon, Sep 19, 2011 9:39 am Subject: [Texascavers] Announcement: 2011 NSS Board of Governor's meeting! Good morning Cavers! I hope Monday is treating everyone well. On behalf of the Greater Houston Grotto, I am excited to announce that we are hosting the annual 2011 NSS Board of Governor's meeting! This event will take place October 21-23, 2011, with the main business meeting being held on Saturday, October 22. We would like to invite all Texas cavers to attend. The Howdy Party on October 21 and the Saturday night social on October 22 are open to all, and the first half of the NSS BOG business meeting on Saturday is open to viewers as well. This weekend will be a great opportunity to learn more about NSS business and socialize with the NSS Board of Governors and many movers and shakers in the caving community. It'll also be a ton of fun! Our Friday night social will be held at the Ginger Man located centrally in Houston. Our Saturday night party will be located at Dr. Louise Hose's hanger just south of Houston. The party theme will be "BATS!" Accessorize with your favorite bat stickers, t-shirt or belt. We will have fajitas for all, beer donated by Shiner, and margaritas made by our rockstar bartender "Cave Dave" McClung. While everyone is invited, we ask that you register online so we have an accurate headcount and can prepare accordingly. Visit http://nssbog.webs.com/ to register. This website includes information on event locations, times, hotel suggestions and other fun things to do in Houston. If you have any questions contact me or any member of our planning committee who are CC'd in this email. Thanks to additional event sponsors--the Texas Speleological Association, the Rice University Anthropology Department, Bexar Grotto, and DFW Grotto. We look forward to seeing you there! Clint Ladd, Kevin McGowan, Lyndon Tiu, Roger Moore and Mallory Mayeux 2011 BOG Planning Committee
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--- Begin Message ---All, I received this after a cave talk I gave to a large contingent of adult Scout leaders a couple of weeks ago near Salado. Would anyone from the UT Grotto or elsewhere be interested in talking to these folks and taking them to Whirlpool Cave? They're from Buda, which is not close at all to Mesquite, where yours truly lives. Please email me and them, if you can help out. Only serious responses, please. No smart a** ones. Thanks! Mark ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Devin Knighton <devinknigh...@gmail.com> To: texascav...@yahoo.com Sent: Sunday, September 18, 2011 4:57 PM Subject: Mark - caving for Troop 1913 Mark, Last week when you spoke at Powderhorn, I was the one who kept asking a lot of questions to you and showed a great deal of interest in caving. I am a Venture Crew Advisor and work with our Scoutmaster for Crew/Troop 1913 in Buda, Texas. This afternoon I spoke with the other adult leaders, and we want to give our young men a positive caving experience. Ideally, we'd help them do the Venturing Badge for caving. http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Cave_Exploration_(Ranger_Award_elec tive). I'd like your help to find someone who can come teach our Scouts about Caving and help us do one outing. We want to take an hour on Wednesday, September 28 and another hour on Wednesday, October 5 to teach & prepare them, so they can go on a cave crawling experience either October 8th or November 5th. You suggested we look into going into some caves near William Cannon. That would be awesome because it's so close. Would you be interested in teaching us or do you recommend someone else who can? Devin Knighton (801) 722-8187
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--- Begin Message ---Avast, me hearties! Bein' as how today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (http://www.talklikeapirate.com/), then it be the proper time to be remindin' ye of the costume contest at the TCR. Buxom wenches, scurvy bilge rats, and dashing privateers will all be competin' for fabulous treasures, worth a kings ransom in doubloons! So scupper yer kippers, batten yer hatch, and fire three guns to port. Be there in yer best (or worst) Pirate Garb during the minstrel show on Saturday night. Hoist the Jolly Roger! -- Cap'n Crash
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--- Begin Message ---Or you can pretend you are Rupert Murdoch or a Somali Rupert Murdoch.T
Sep 19, 2011 11:55:23 AM, jkenn...@batcon.org wrote:Avast, me hearties! Bein’; as how today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (http://www.talklikeapirate.com/), then it be the proper time to be remindin’; ye of the costume contest at the TCR. Buxom wenches, scurvy bilge rats, and dashing privateers will all be competin’; for fabulous treasures, worth a kings ransom in doubloons! So scupper yer kippers, batten yer hatch, and fire three guns to port. Be there in yer best (or worst) Pirate Garb during the minstrel show on Saturday night. Hoist the Jolly Roger!
-- Cap’;n Crash
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--- Begin Message ---Howdy Caver, You are cordially invited to attend the Underground Texas Grotto meeting on Wednesday September 21, 2011 from 7:45 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. University of Texas Campus in 2.48 Painter Hall (156 West 24th Street, Austin TX 78712) http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/pai.html Aimee Beveridge will present a slide show on the June 2011 Galapagos Speleological Survey Trip. The Galapagos Islands are rich in biota, geology, and history with restricted access to this enchanted land. Come check out the great program and to visit with Austin Texas Cavers. For information on Underground Texas Grotto activities, please see www.utgrotto.org Officer contact, trip reports, event calendar, and new caver training links to beginner trips or vertical rope training are available. Before the meeting, take advantage of Sao Paulo www.saopaulos.net for happy hour specials. This area is the best place to park and meet folks walking over to the meeting. Then after the official meeting, we continue with the decades long tradition to reconvene for burgers, beer, and tall tales of caving at Posse East. www.posse-east.com The UT Grotto needs you, the caver with photos and a story to share about your caving adventures, scientific research, or something else really cool. Contact me. Sincerely, Gary Franklin UT Grotto Vice Chair & Program Organizer 512-585-6057 v...@utgrotto.org
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