of meteors and men
Posted by:
Jazz_Sue (---.in-addr.btopenworld.com)
Date: September 17, 2007 01:34PM
Sorry, meant to post this yonks ago. Did anyone (probably applies to UK/Europe - not sure re rest of world) go meteor searching back in July, i.e when the Pleides (forgive me if my astronomy is up the Swanee) meteor showers made their annual appearance? Actually, it wasn't so much a shower as a light drizzle but, since the skies were nice and clear for once I thought I'd go and see what all the fuss was about. Perhaps I shouldn't have reread my TN collection beforehand because it was all a bit of a, um, disappointment. Found myself a nice little spot on Box Hill, baseball glove at the ready, but all I saw was these flashy light things in the sky. One every 15 minutes, by my reckoning. No mad dash to catch them as they came sizzling and swizzling down to Earth, no 'heavies' demanding to know why the planet Uranus gets so mispronounced ... The only signs of any out-of-control conflagration occurring was when some twit knocked their hurricane lamp over ...
Seriously, though, it was kind of nice being with so many like-minded people. One thing Jasper didn't put in his book was the noises people make when confronted with bright lights cascading across the night sky, especially when it's a not particularly warm night, and the agonising crick in their necks suggests that, much as they feel they SHOULD be there, their energies could be much better utilised elsewhere but, at the end of the day, it's only one night a year, it's a free public display and besides the kids wanted to see it. It's a group sound and it goes: 'Ooh, aaahhh!" (Actually, it was more the sound you get at your Dad's private firework party in the back garden, with the dirt @#$%& fiver a box Brocks specials and fifteen minutes between some rather disappointing explosions. You know: 'Ooh .... (wait for it, wait for it) .., aaah ...' With the occasional 'Eek' thrown in when the milk bottle falls over)
I take all that back. Jasper did describe the sound effects very well, it's just that, in the TN world, people go: 'Aarrgh! Owwwooohhh!' with the occasional 'Run! FOR GODSAKE RUN!' thrown in.
Perhaps things are better in Mexico?