It's been a busy and tiring week. Weather has been crazy waking me up frequently one night with 50 – 60 MPH wind gusts banging on the walls. I've been working hard on a big project at the office. And in my off hours I've been treading water on the publishing project, and actively putting together a presentation about Mars. Actually, that last thing, while it was at first causing me anxiety, has been refreshing and fun. The announced title of the talk I'm to give is "The Great Mars Hoax." Our club's representative had to come up with something late last year when working out a schedule with the county park system. I quickly volunteered to be the speaker but, just as quickly, transmogrified the theme from "Mars Hoax" to Mars "MythUnderstanding." The talk is tomorrow night and, while it looks good for travel, the weather will not be good for a post-talk stargazing session. My show will be the only attraction! I hope the turnout is good… I've put a lot into preparation. Mars always takes a lot of preparation and often disappoints!
PhotonStopper 
Good luck tomorrow. Hope the talk goes really well and that there is a good turnout for you. Hopefully you get a bit of post-talk stargazing …
Thanks for the good wishes, Emjay! The park folk tell me 39 people have registered for the program; we'll see how many actually show up. Observing conditions are expected to be poor but a couple of guys from the astronomy club will be showing up with telescopes should any stars or planets actually be visible! I'm really looking forward to this. — JG
What's the hoax? 🙂
Actually when a club officer came up with the title for the talk, he was thinking of the email that (at least) annually goes around… the one that says that on August 27 Mars will be as big and bright as the full Moon! In the talk I also covered early misconceptions or "mythunderstandings" such as the canals and seasonal changes some early astronomers thought they saw, and the infamous "face" on Mars. Strung throughout the presentation were facts and images of real features and observations of the planet. The talk was well-received and I had a great time doing it. — JG