Sunday Salon: Eclipse and other fun times

The Sunday SalonWe seem to have packed in a fair bit of the fun stuff over the last few days, which means I’ve done almost no reading. I should probably feel worse about that, but frankly I woke up far too early today to feel bad!

On Friday Tim and I watched the solar eclipse from Castle Park in central Bristol. A fairly large crowd had gathered, with people from Bristol Astronomical Society and @Bristol bringing along lots of fun telescopes and pinhole cameras to view the Sun through and BBC Sky at Night had brought a bunch of eclipse-viewing glasses. It was pretty cloudy but we could see the eclipse really well and it was great to share the experience with a big crowd. I’d made a homemade pinhole for my own camera and got some half-decent photos.

Local press got a pic of me and there’s even a brief glimpse of me in this video about the eclipse!

Yesterday we went to Bristol Zoo with friends. It’s not exactly a once-in-a-decade-or-so experience like the eclipse but it’s always fun. We usually go on cold, wet days to avoid the crowds so yesterday’s sunshine meant a different subset of animals from usual were active and playful. I particularly liked this hyperactive penguin.

Now I need to get back in the reading habit. What are you guys up to this weekend? Read anything good?