Whoops, (not a full) Eclipse

An email to the mailing list from Wed Aug 11, 1999 12:17 pm. A partial eclipse of the sun sends a nation into mild curiosity:

Standing in Golden Square, in London's Soho, all I heard was:

Woman [ refusing to even face the right way]: "Ooh, I'm frightened, will I go blind?"
Jim [sarcastically]: "Yes, cos you go blind all the time when there's complete sun, don't you!"

Boss: "Is that it now, can we go back in?"
Jim [ tiring]: "It's got about another ten minutes before it reaches maximum, but it's not going to go pitch-black"
Boss: "Oh, so it's not like a proper eclipse then? I'm going back in".

Meanwhile everyone is pissing round with pinhole cameras (or envelopes with *pen*-holes in).

To be honest, I thought it'd be darker too, but I still enjoyed it. And for those that wanted a "Day of the Triffids" experience, ther's forecasts of quite a nice meteor storm tonight if the sky's clear.

I seem to remember I stood there scorning everyone else's makeshift sun visors while viewing the thing through a pair of CDs.

I mean, *honestly*!