Interesting Items...

prpr said:
Apparently, having ISO 12312-2 on glasses 'guarantees my safety'. I'll have to get my felt tip pen out. How do you trust anything these days when anyone can sell anything and you have no idea whether it's fake or not? Even the fakers can put an ISO number on something.
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That's why I stick with the glasses that came with my RGO 1999 book. I'm pretty confident they're the real thing.
 
HugeMaximum said:
I may travel to the next full eclipse... Google says "August 2, 2027. Dubbed the "eclipse of the century," its path of totality will cross southern Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East."
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6.5 minutes of totality. Centre line goes pretty much through Luxor. I'd love to go, imagine 6.5 minutes of totality in the temple at Luxor or Karnak, in the hypostyle hall. Sadly it will be about 40C there on 2 August so there's no chance of me being able to cope. Nearly all of the Nile from a bit south of Cairo to just north of Aswan will get totality.

Gibraltar also gets totality for 2 August 2027, but it will likely be a) packed and b) nearly as hot as Luxor.
 
Here's my curated pick of YouTube eclipse coverage, all from Spain or the Balearics:

(long view only)

(close-up, then long view)

(medium shot)
 
Black Hole said:
I think it's a "got to be seen to be having your best life" thing.
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By making everyone else's a misery.
I bet Bay View Cafe wasn't open! I like Burnham, but I did get arrested there once...
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I wasn't anywhere near there and the tide seemed to come almost right up to the wall from my viewpoint. I was north, beyone the lighthouse, probably nearer Berrow, well away from the riff-raff and grockles. Nothing west to get in the way, all the way to Canada I believe.
You'll have to add that story to the 1999 one.
Owen Smith said:
That's why I stick with the glasses that came with my RGO 1999 book. I'm pretty confident they're the real thing.
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Likewise.
Black Hole said:
The best ones are reflective rather than just dark.
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Mine are shiny plastic stuff. Does that count?
Owen Smith said:
6.5 minutes of totality. Centre line goes pretty much through Luxor. I'd love to go,
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Me too. We could organise a hummy.tv away-day or something.
Sadly it will be about 40C there on 2 August so there's no chance of me being able to cope.
Gibraltar also gets totality for 2 August 2027, but it will likely be a) packed and b) nearly as hot as Luxor.
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c) England will be about the same temperature. I'm slowly getting used to it. The first week this year nearly did me in. I'm coping better this week.
I expect they're better set up there than we are here to get out of it.
 
prpr said:
Go on then.
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When I was at school, I ran the astronomy club. We had quite a little gang, and had our sights on the 1999 eclipse (which was like 20+ years away). We all stayed in touch for a few years, then with about 3 years left on the count-down I block-booked a small hotel in Cornwall for a week and filled it with the club members (and their hanger-ons) not yet fallen by the wayside, and the rest to friends and family.

Meanwhile, my circumstances changed (Jean!) and I couldn't go for the whole week, and I knew it would be no good trying to get into Cornwall on the day. I had to let it go, so they had a Black Hole Convention without Black Hole! I got a bit of ribbing for that.

However, I could be free on the actual day. I entered a ballot in the newspaper (Mail?) for places on a chartered ship sailing from Southampton into the eclipse track south of the Isle of Wight. The weather predictions were already iffy, but being on a ship meant some manoeuvrability to find the best seeing. I set out with a friend in the middle of the night to get to the early morning sailing, and by picking the best frames from some low-res video (as it was in those days) I constructed this:

big_d.jpeg

Meanwhile, in Cornwall, it was raining.

prpr said:
You'll have to add that story to the 1999 one.
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I'm dubious, but what the hell (and it might be useful to somebody):

As some will know, I was carer for Jean when she was suffering from Alzheimer's. She only liked outings, so we were out every day on outings (seasides being the best, with flat walking, public loos, and cafes). We were in Burnham, she was having a paddy, and what you can't do with vulnerable people (including children) is just walk away and leave them to it. At times, she had to be controlled like a child. A passing patrol car spotted what they regarded as an affray, took Jean into protection and me under arrest (which is just an administrative thing, you're not actually clapped in irons and dragged to the police cells unless that's warranted by circumstances).

I went home to wait and see what happened, and got Jean's social worker in on it (nice chap, very sympathetic to my problems and even willing to come for a pint when needed). Meanwhile, the Burnham police were unable to cope with Jean, and unable to find a care placement, so before the end of the day they were begging me to go and collect her (which I did).

However, the arrest had not gone away. A few days later, despite the social worker pleading on my behalf, I was called in to be charged with (IIRC) assault. The sergeant said he was unable to disregard the witness accounts of his patrol officers (I think there was far less understanding of mental conditions in those days), and said I had a choice to accept a police caution or face a magistrate. I didn't know whether the particular magistrate I came before would have an enlightened view, and anyway it would drag on and have implications on my caring availability, so I just accepted the caution.

All a very annoying storm in a tea cup. I have no idea whether my police record is still on file, or whether it has ever affected anything, but I have never had the need to test that.
 
Outrageous. They cause the mess and then call you back to clear it up when they can't cope. They could have de-arrested you when it became clear what was happening. I think I would have taken the other option.
 
Black Hole said:
Which debars me from what – being responsible for children? What a shame.
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If you don't need/want to do anything that requires a clean DBS check (or signed declaration claiming a clean record), then your all good. Something may crop up at some stage that will catch you out - like maybe in a visa application for a far-flung place (e.g. to view an eclipse). So, could challenge - even just for the principal of it.
 
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