Thanks for the thread. My wife and I were on station at 12:30 Pacific time. Immediately we began to see occasional singles and doubles from Leo. As 2:00 AM approached the display increased to several per minute - some REALLY bright and MANY pairs and some "triples". We were on a hill with a clear view to the east and it was the first time we had seen clearly the "origin" of the shower from which meteors radiated 360 degrees. SO NEAT! I was taking 60 second exposures with 400 ASA film through a wide angle lens. I'm off now to get them developed. I must have caught at least a few.
People I e-mailed to watch who live in NYC, say they saw some that threw shadows. For a while about ever 5 minutes there was at least one that did so, plus a fair number that were just flashes, and about 5:40-5_50, I was one with almost no tail that was bright enough that it stung.
For quite a while, more than one a minute threw out a trail that glowed for three to four seconds. A few that glowed for more than 30 degrees. Last night some were mentioned to have travelled from horizon to horizon.