tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post8788075728902687328..comments2024-03-27T15:59:11.066+00:00Comments on Prometheus in Aspic: Hooptedoodle #410 - Big Bang in OmanMSFoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-11720218200320791172021-10-25T15:40:25.232+01:002021-10-25T15:40:25.232+01:00Yes that would work for me. Especially the bit abo...Yes that would work for me. Especially the bit about the people. šMSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-17706051072745675092021-10-25T15:33:23.489+01:002021-10-25T15:33:23.489+01:00I am quite fond of fireworks ā¦ so the idea of the ...I am quite fond of fireworks ā¦ so the idea of the whole lot going off in a one minute barrage might be rather funā¦ as long as was a good distance awayā¦ of course š<br />I wonder how much the lingerie laundry bill wasā¦š³<br /><br />I am lucky to have the river Trent between me and one of the big Guy Fawkes displaysā¦ I get an excellent view well outside the blast radius with a comfortable seat and plenty chilled beerā¦ and of course no annoying peopleā¦<br /><br />All the best. AlyAly Morrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12178180028439005095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-25455379623670908642021-10-23T19:45:24.506+01:002021-10-23T19:45:24.506+01:00Obviously the electrician's two weeks holiday....Obviously the electrician's two weeks holiday.Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578412472163593374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-90260808934810817472021-10-23T17:37:43.908+01:002021-10-23T17:37:43.908+01:00Interesting possibility; that Kuwait show might ha...Interesting possibility; that Kuwait show might have been an accident - collateral damage from some other fireworks project. Apparently the 1 minute firework show in Oman had taken 2 weeks to set up, not counting the building and landscaping. Maybe they should have had some grown-ups there to check on what was being done.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-22983373771861521432021-10-23T17:32:26.557+01:002021-10-23T17:32:26.557+01:00This is an excellent story - thanks for this Matt....This is an excellent story - thanks for this Matt.<br /><br />I was put off when I was a small kid (my mother was permanently put off at the same event) when our firework party in our back yard was wrecked by my mad Uncle Arthur...<br /><br />https://prometheusinaspic.blogspot.com/2013/10/hooptedoodle-102-uncle-arthur.html<br /><br />...setting off some of his home-made fireworks, including an anti-personnel device packed in a cocoa tin. This was a literal show-stopper - all the kids were screaming, everyone went indoors, white faced and shocked. The only good news was that Arthur burned his hand.<br /><br />Since that evening, I've always had a fear of loud noises - I can't stand shotguns - when I was working I used to get invited to corporate clay-pigeon shooting events at Gleneagles, and had to come up with all sorts of embarrassing lies to explain my refusal to take part. I also used to hate the circus because they set of firecrackers etc.<br /><br />What a killjoy, I guess, but I could never see the attraction. I also had a friend at school who had to get skin grafts on his leg when some prankster put a lit banger down his Wellington boot. Oh what fun.<br /><br />I associate neighbourhood firework parties with the very strange tradition of eating potatoes which were charcoal on the outside and raw in the middle. That was crap too. MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-3088450687168484682021-10-23T17:23:59.297+01:002021-10-23T17:23:59.297+01:00A cracking tale, so to speak. The same firm weren&...A cracking tale, so to speak. The same firm weren't set on by Saddam Hussein to do that little job on the Kuwaiti oil fields were they?Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578412472163593374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-31044515242011641372021-10-23T10:26:53.282+01:002021-10-23T10:26:53.282+01:00Apparently the Big Bang was followed by a rain of ...Apparently the Big Bang was followed by a rain of smouldering bits of cardboard, which went on for quite a long time. I have a sad vision of the Vienna Philharmonic sheltering under their music stands.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-22856833280130069702021-10-23T10:24:39.832+01:002021-10-23T10:24:39.832+01:00Thanks for this Hugh. My personal plan is to stay ...Thanks for this Hugh. My personal plan is to stay a long way from the blighters. If God had intended us to set fire to stuff he would never have given us the iPhone candle flame app.<br /><br />Prometheus who?MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-75587165804868995502021-10-23T10:22:21.441+01:002021-10-23T10:22:21.441+01:00I'll transfer a modest sum to your terrorism a...I'll transfer a modest sum to your terrorism account - send me details.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-26459406211686462922021-10-23T10:09:01.826+01:002021-10-23T10:09:01.826+01:00Big shows are spectacular and worth watching, agre...Big shows are spectacular and worth watching, agree. Our big Hogmanay show in Edinburgh is rather spoiled by the vast crowds of drunken idiots, but we can see it from our attic windows, 40 miles away!<br /><br />I knew a guy who was blinded and severely injured when he was a volunteer helper at a public display in Edinburh in 1986 or so - he later became rather a famous worker for blind programmers. He was hit by a big sky rocket - he was standing over it when it took off. These things are weapons. Apart from my Nanny State concerns, I just don't like the noise or the smell. Maybe I would like films of fireworks better?MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-21026077865748468452021-10-23T10:03:40.194+01:002021-10-23T10:03:40.194+01:00Gosh - do you think so?Gosh - do you think so?MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-10618803709884203842021-10-23T10:03:19.581+01:002021-10-23T10:03:19.581+01:00I really like big professional displays, but the d...I really like big professional displays, but the domestic version is expensive and pretty feeble really, and some desperado will always mess about. I don't like the smell at all! Somone once gave me a knickerbocker glory ice cream with a sparkler stuck in it at a birthday party, and the ice cream was covered in disgusting crunchy particles... MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-46165646781777864042021-10-23T09:59:38.044+01:002021-10-23T09:59:38.044+01:00This is a very sad tale Paul. You can probably sue...This is a very sad tale Paul. You can probably sue them, even after all these years. You could certainly sell your story to the papers...<br /><br />MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-5149528421541775762021-10-23T03:42:48.157+01:002021-10-23T03:42:48.157+01:00Talk about the Big Bang! :-)Talk about the Big Bang! :-)Gonsalvohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16531623280789478092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-73869348365485852832021-10-23T01:03:53.941+01:002021-10-23T01:03:53.941+01:00Tip with sparklers - start them nearest the hand a...Tip with sparklers - start them nearest the hand and they burn away from you, so never get too hot to hold . . .<br /><br />HHugh Walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10689023221814673819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-15914926262017053182021-10-23T00:05:43.765+01:002021-10-23T00:05:43.765+01:00Hate fireworks but Iād never pass up the opportuni...Hate fireworks but Iād never pass up the opportunity to legally burn an effigy of Alexander de Pfeffel Johnson. Penny for the guy anyone?The Jolly Broom Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14037134974588645559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-16133579473281554642021-10-22T23:07:23.563+01:002021-10-22T23:07:23.563+01:00Entertaining story. I was petrified of fireworks f...Entertaining story. I was petrified of fireworks for many years but managed to cure myself on the turn of News Years Day 2000.<br />Picture an 11 year old lad taking his younger brother to the local school firework display in 1977. We arrived early to get to the front and as the evening wore on I decided to kneel down. Midway through a roman candle began pushing out a series of sparkling balls of coloured flame to great oohs and aahs. Until it fell over and fired into the crowd, hitting yours truly just above my right eye and ending up fizzling away in the hood of my coat. I remember pulling it out and burning my fingers. I also remember the smell of burning hair and lots of blood. Three stiches later I was back home determined never to meddle with these things ever again. (If only I had been standing I would have had a scarred knee instead).<br />Roll on to New Years Eve 1999 - everyone is going out to parties but as nominated driver (no one was going to get a cab home the next morning that year) I was sipping fizzy drinks and watching the rest of the world getting mightily plastered. I thought at the time the greatest risk was a Y2K non compliant Jumbo falling from the sky - but no it was host. He had bought enough fireworks to have done the parliament job itself, including what he called "the most powerful rocket you can legally buy".<br />Picture the scene then when my quite inebriated host struggles out clutching his box of incendiaries. The Plan was to walk inside and stand as far away as possible but as I watched him falling flat on his face with everyone falling about laughing I realised I was the only sober one present (alright there was my wife and 3 young kids but the inner coward was even more scared of the shame of asking them to step up). So I put my best quivering foot forward, adopted a devil may care air (Errol would have been proud) and set the darn things off myself at a minute past midnight.<br />I don't remember if my scar throbbed in the Harry Potter/Voldermort fashion, in fact all I remember was making sure the fuse was alight and that I was as well back as possible a nano-second later. <br />Greater love has no man than saving his drunken mate from setting his own house on fire, as they say.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751744958434403184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-11704724424881473072021-10-22T21:29:47.034+01:002021-10-22T21:29:47.034+01:00Sadly, Iām a sucker for them. Something very visce...Sadly, Iām a sucker for them. Something very visceral about the whole sound and vision experience. Probably the closest Iāll get to experiencing black powder warfare. Marc the plastics fanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17126208985662052998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-56868034186714120702021-10-22T21:02:57.869+01:002021-10-22T21:02:57.869+01:00Sounds quite plausible to me and I think your reac...Sounds quite plausible to me and I think your reaction is known as Socialist Schadenfreude!rrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07316317334203888350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-53977413192868432942021-10-22T20:06:09.057+01:002021-10-22T20:06:09.057+01:00Agreed! While it was fun as a small child to go w...Agreed! While it was fun as a small child to go with our parents to the annual July 4th celebration, which culminated in a fireworks display put on by the city in which we lived almost 50 years ago, I generally avoid stuff like this now. Too noisy, too many people. . . and too many people behaving very stupidly. Even when they are not directly involved with the municipal display. Fireworks (large ones too) are legal for purchase in Michigan, and why there are not more horrible accidents each summer in late June and early July I'll never know. <br /><br />Kind (and Quiet) Regards,<br /><br />Stokes WSTKS-FM Worldwidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14173042438761572040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-33840173245388199272021-10-22T16:03:18.312+01:002021-10-22T16:03:18.312+01:00A cracking yarn, I too am a fireworkophobe (a medi...A cracking yarn, I too am a fireworkophobe (a medical term) from when I was two years old and scared shitless by a firework display.Paul Liddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07671334487545618109noreply@blogger.com