January 11, 2001

11:09 PM

Tuesday's Lunar Eclipse has come and gone. How did you mark its passing? Here's how some of our global neighbors celebrated. Some seemed inclined to shoot the Moon in Turkey. Others in Nigeria believed the eclipse was caused by Sinners, so they burned hotels and bars. Some Hindus in India said the eclipse was sent by Lord Shiva, and took a dip in the Ganges as part of Kumbh Mela. Iraqi children sang to the heavens asking "Please Great Whale, give the moon back". And in Europe & Canada, up to 1,500 White witches gathered to ward off doom.
posted by kokogiak (12 comments total)

Uh... lunar eclipses are natural phenomenon that happen due to perfectly explainable laws of physics and probability. I ignored the lunar eclipse. To me, it doesn't even seem like something worthy to drink a toast over. There are still people on this planet who believe it's caused by evil spirits? Scotty beam me up before I'm captured and burned as a heretic.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:22 PM on January 11, 2001

Oh, I dunno. There's something comforting about all those friendly witches getting together for our sakes.
And deeply, deeply silly. I like that part too.
posted by lbergstr at 11:59 PM on January 11, 2001

Lunar eclipses are a natural phenomenon that is damned cool. Sorry you're such a stick-in-the-mud, Zach. Better luck in the next life.
posted by dhartung at 1:09 AM on January 12, 2001

I like that whenever there's a news story about an upcoming lunar eclipse, the article usually contains the line: "Scientists note that unlike solar eclipses, an eclipse of the Moon is entirely safe to watch." Duh.
posted by gluechunk at 1:29 AM on January 12, 2001

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Rampaging Muslims burned down scores of hotels and bars in a northern Nigerian city in reaction to the lunar eclipse which they blamed on sinners, residents said on Wednesday.

Damn. I guess I'll just have to go somewhere else for Spring Break. Stupid Jihads.
posted by Optamystic at 4:03 AM on January 12, 2001

In general, my family was opposed to this event and we tend to view this as but anoher Big Government intrusion into our lives. Socialism, plain and simple.
posted by Postroad at 4:06 AM on January 12, 2001

Good to see you decided to join MeFi, fred ;-j
posted by lagado at 5:44 AM on January 12, 2001

I think Rampaging Muslims would be a good name for a band.
posted by jennyb at 6:50 AM on January 12, 2001

I watched a lunar eclipse once at a resort hotel, and was disgusted when during the totality I started seeing camera flashguns going off.

They're going to illuminate the moon for their photographs? (clue: round trip time is 3 seconds at speed of light. clue: effectiveness of a flash bulb decreases as the square of the distance.)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 8:23 AM on January 12, 2001

Right, wasn't there a post about this somewhere? People trying to photograph the sun, the moon, rainbows and such?
posted by tiaka at 10:36 AM on January 12, 2001

I always experience a little bit of evil glee when the point-n-shooters start volleying flashes at the Golden Gate Bridge, the Space Needle, the moon... It ought to be sad, but something about the sight of clueless people banging away in glorious futility with expensive pieces of machinery they don't know how to operate just makes me think Ah, for once knowledge is rewarded.

-Mars


posted by Mars Saxman at 11:24 AM on January 12, 2001

Well, to give those people a little credit, most modern point-and-shoot cameras automatically turn on their flash based on the ambient light. And sure, the option can be turned off, but then again, some people's VCRs still blink 12:00 --:-- 12:00 --:-- 12:00.....
posted by CrayDrygu at 5:33 PM on January 12, 2001