BOOM
Hope you all still have all your fingers and eardrums intact post 4th. It's this time of year that I recall the brilliance of a pal of mine who, while riding in a car on the 4th decided to toss a big pack of firecrackers out the window.
He lit the fuse and then frantically cranked the window knob to toss them out within the second or two before they started exploding. (Yes, cars used to actually have things you had to crank to raise or lower the windows which required moving more than your pinkie finger. Amazing, but true.)
Only there was one tiny detail he'd overlooked; the window was already down. So he'd lit the pack of firecrackers, quickly cranked the window UP, tossed the fireworks against the now closed window, which resulted in them falling into his lap and blowing up in a deafening blizzard of bits of paper and sulfurous smoke.
He didn't get hurt as I recall, but I'm sure that the occupants of the car were half-deaf for a few days. So remember kids, check that window BEFORE you light the explosives.
Here's a few shots from the "Red, White, & Boom" fireworks shoot between Rock Island & Davenport on the 3rd. They followed a dramatic come from behind win by the Swing over the Clinton Lumberkings in the bottom of the 9th at John O'Donnell stadium.
As always, click on image to view larger.
He lit the fuse and then frantically cranked the window knob to toss them out within the second or two before they started exploding. (Yes, cars used to actually have things you had to crank to raise or lower the windows which required moving more than your pinkie finger. Amazing, but true.)
Only there was one tiny detail he'd overlooked; the window was already down. So he'd lit the pack of firecrackers, quickly cranked the window UP, tossed the fireworks against the now closed window, which resulted in them falling into his lap and blowing up in a deafening blizzard of bits of paper and sulfurous smoke.
He didn't get hurt as I recall, but I'm sure that the occupants of the car were half-deaf for a few days. So remember kids, check that window BEFORE you light the explosives.
Here's a few shots from the "Red, White, & Boom" fireworks shoot between Rock Island & Davenport on the 3rd. They followed a dramatic come from behind win by the Swing over the Clinton Lumberkings in the bottom of the 9th at John O'Donnell stadium.
As always, click on image to view larger.
The display was over the river with the soon to be no more Rock Island Armory in the background.
Oooooooooooo. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
And if I have to listen to that nauseatingly insipid Lee Greenwood song one more time I'm going to hurl.
...and the rockets red glaaaaaaaaare.
Smoke billows from the launching barge below a riot of exploding colors.
...and the sky glimmers with color before fading to black.
And of course, you can't stand within a mile of the Centennial Bridge with a camera and not take at least one shot of it.
posted by The Inside Dope @ 7/05/2007
7 comments
7 Comments:
TID,
This post was submitted on July 5th - so you decided to post some pretty pictures (and they are) before posting anything before Al Gore's kid.
Do you think that you would have made the same decision if this were one of the Bush kids?
I'm sorry, but I sincerely don't know what you're talking about.
I haven't caught anything on the news about any of Al Gore's kids. I assume one of them got in trouble, and it's supposed to reflect on Al Gore, a guy who very likely won't even be a candidate for anything?
I'll try to find out what the story is. If it's worth discussing, I'll put something up. If it's ridiculous and has no bearing on Gore or anything else, I doubt I will.
I don't recall my posting about Bush's girl's drunken antics in the past, do you? Or his neices mugshot after she got busted trying to score dope while on probation, or Jeb's wife getting popped for attempting to smuggle goods into the U.S. without paying duty, or his nephews getting in some sort of trouble which I don't recall the details of?
You know, as a staunch Republican, I really find it amazing that you'd sit there looking desperately for any hint of hypocrisy on my part, when hypocrisy has been a defining trait of the Republican right for almost a decade or longer.
Well, after doing some digging (and it DID take some digging, a story about the new hot dog eating champ was much easier to find) I found the story about Gore's son getting pulled over for speeding and possessing pot, and about 5 different prescription drugs for which he had no prescription.
First of all, that's not good. The kid is obviously caught up in some sort of west coast high life and needs a little wake up call.
Secondly, they say he was doing around 100mph on the freeway.... in a PRIUS. Huh? There must have been one hell of a tailwind.
He may be running with some fast California types, but at least he's not too hip to drive a Prius.
Thirdly, you ask if I would mention it if it was one of Bush's kids. Yep, I would.
I bet you can't figure out what the difference is, beyond Gore being Democrat and Bush Republican, right?
Well, it's a bit more than that.
Bush is the President of the U.S., Gore is not. Gore isn't even running for office as of this moment, and likely won't.
So why compare the two as if they'd be the same story?
Face it, the Secret Service has been shown to have served as nannies for the Bush twins, stepping in to rescue the or their dates when they get too hammered, and otherwise ensureing that their partying stays out of the press.
And that's fine, as long as they're not getting to flaunt laws, which of course they are, both while they were underage and likely to this day.
But there's no reason that the children of politicians can't be free to be screw ups just like most other young people at one time or another. As a matter of fact, it's much more likely that a kid from a family involved in that sort of bizarro-world would hit the sauce or escape with drugs than an average kid. Their lives are about as far from "normal" as it can get, though some parents have done an excellent job of guiding their children through the glare of attention and strain of their parents being attacked and their every move followed, such as Bill and Hilary Clinton have done with Chelsea. The Ford kids turned out alright, though they had their wild days as well. Reagans kids? Talk about a dysfunctional family. And the Bush family.... I don't even want to think about it.
So I hope that this is dealt with like I would anyone's kids would be dealt with. He'll pay the cost, but will pay the extra burden of having his screw up magnified and broadcast across the world, and will have to live with the fact that he didn't just embarass his parents, but he embarassed an internationally known politician.
Pretty heavy stuff for a young kid to deal with.
I hope he gets it together and this turns out to be a good thing, as it will bring him up short before things got even worse.
Any other Dem who's kids I should be keeping an eye on? After all, it doesn't even have to be limited to Dems who are actually running for or hold office apparently.
By the way, I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. I wonder what I could do if I actually had a real camera instead of a point and shoot? Maybe worse.... who knows?
Did you use a tripod?
anonymous has a point. when did this turn into the Gold Book?
Cal,
No, as is probably obvious. I was just trying to hold the camera as still as I could, and there was nothing around to brace against.
I did try to ensure that the exposure time was long enough to get a good image, even if was going to result in that time lapse kind of effect. I thought that might look more interesting than just frozen points of light and capture the shape of the fireworks and cascade effect better.
Anon, If you think this is the gold book, you have no idea what the gold book is, and obviously no idea what this blog is either.
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