|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2009 19:42:42 GMT
Inspired by Canada Day,remembering all the great firework shows I've ever seen. I have to say that it was the year of the US Bicentennial and in New York Harbor near the Statue of Liberty with the tall ships on display, the Grucci Bros. (legendary pyrotechnics ) from L.I. N.Y. put on a truly memorable show. Really,really glorious.
|
|
|
|
Post by imec on Jun 10, 2009 19:45:40 GMT
I remember seeing that on TV - must have been sensational live!
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2009 19:50:27 GMT
The Eiffel Tower millennium fireworks were pretty damned good -- but I saw them on television.
The best fireworks I ever saw in person were at the annual Geneva international fireworks festival, which I attended several nights in a row by the lake.
|
|
|
|
Post by hwinpp on Jun 11, 2009 2:57:59 GMT
The best fireworks I've seen were in Hanover at the annual international fireworks competition: www.hannover.de/english/tourism_culture/fireworks.htmlIn the early 90s you could jump over the walls and get a free show, now security is everywhere. The competitions are of course still worth paying for  |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2009 3:03:54 GMT
I love hearing about different pyrotechnic displays. We had some really beautiful ones that you could watch on the beach on Long Island from miles away. George Plimpton who was quite the pyrotechnic fanatic and apprenticed with the Grucci Bros. used to put on a big display every year up until his death in 2007 or 8. A very generous member of the community.
|
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jun 11, 2009 9:24:07 GMT
best fireworks i saw were at a festival in my peruvian village. none of the safety rules that are normal in europe were held there. the fireworks consisted of three "castles" made of bamboo sticks or something put together, each maybe five or six metres high and decorated with all kinds of fireworks that when you lit the first one successively would start lighting. one of the castles had a picture of the virgen (not sure which one, the one that festival was for) on the top, that caught fire in the end... though i guess that wasn't part of the show. afterwards they brought various smaller figures made in the same principle (of sticks, with fireworks attached on them) these were held while the fireworks went off by different people. one of them was the figure of a man, on which in the end a penis would start spitting out red sparkles and by the power of the firework on it also rise up... all the fireworks took place on the village square with the people standing around them, close enough to sometimes having to dodge sparks from the fireworks...
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 11, 2009 15:30:31 GMT
Oh, you are so right, Rikita! The disregard for safety is what makes fireworks here sooo fantastic. I was in the Plaza de la Danza once when it was packed for some festival -- literally, people shoulder to shoulder.  <--- big area! There was a big fireworks display and one went over into a crowded food area into a pot of hot oil for frying bananas. Fire! Drama! The crowd laughed merrily! The kind you describe that people dance with are called toritos here. Sadly, we don't have the spitting penis ones. This video of a castillo is long, but good resolution: Can't find a video of my favorite, the rain of lights -- fireworks are strung across the eaves of large public buildings and when lit rain down in a beautiful, dramatic torrent of white light. |
|
|
|
Post by rikita on Jun 11, 2009 22:40:49 GMT
oh, that is a cool castillo! the ones we had were smaller and simpler, but well it was a poor andean village... but it was the same principle...
|
|
|
|
Post by palesa on Jun 16, 2009 14:01:39 GMT
The best fireworks display I have ever seen was in Udaipur 2007/8 at midnight. We stood on the roof of our hotel and their were fireworks being set off 360 degrees around us, and each hotel seemed to be trying to outdo the other. There was also a boat in the Lake setting of fireworks, it was an awesome experience and memory.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2009 15:40:32 GMT
*envy* It can truly be said of fireworks that more is better.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2009 10:52:21 GMT
In the fall of 1982 the Grucci Bros. fireworks factory exploded in Bellport,Long Island. I remember people talking about it for years afterwards. Between the explosive noise heard for miles around,the visuals and the smoke which everyone said resembled a giant mushroom cloud,it's not surprising that some thought it was the end of the world. Two family members died,along with a couple dozen factory workers. Over 100 homes were damaged.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2009 12:11:15 GMT
The fireworks on the 14th of July this year in Paris are supposed to be more spectacular than usual, purportedly because it's the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. I suspect that in reality the government heard the peasants saying "We have no bread to eat," and Marie Antoinette Carla Bruni said "Let them watch fireworks."
So anyway, this year the fireworks will be shot off the Eiffel Tower itself like for the year 2000 spectacular, including an effect where the whole tower will be "on fire" like a sparkler.
I'm expecting a full report from members visiting Paris at that time since I will be out of town.
|
|
|
|
Post by imec on Jun 17, 2009 12:54:20 GMT
Look, kerouac, the next 16 days will be difficult enough without you throwing in these teasers! I can't believe this!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2009 10:50:07 GMT
Happy 4th of July to those whom it matters. There will be a display on the Mississippi River tonight. They are set off from a barge. Usuually a pretty good show. Plan to watch with some friends a little upriver from the spot.
This year in NYC the fireworks are being launched on the Hudson River as opposed to the East River. The reason being that it is the 400th Anniversary of the discovery of the Hudson. My niece's office building is up high facing the show,she and family and friends will be having a fantastic view.
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 4, 2009 13:52:10 GMT
Fireworks over a body of water are always doubly exciting. Lucky niece! (Not exactly on topic, but this might interest people who know Manhattan. It's about the island in its pristine state.) |
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Jul 4, 2009 14:34:21 GMT
I have great fireworks memories. This is only one.
Once, in the late 1950's, at the North Haven, CT County Fair, there was a bucolic or rustic sort of display. It was notable in that two stout posts were sunk into the ground about 100 feet apart. When the Catherine wheels on the posts went off, reciprocating pulses of colorful fire were sent shooting along a wire strung between the two posts.
(There were also especially good, "helicopter" type aerial spinners that would spiral up and explode. There were special Japanese mortar shells that after rising to a considerable height, would splinter into a thosand floral fragments, zig-zagging the night sky.
The Hayseed Rube climax was unforgettable. Back at the right post, a firework donkey, outlined in blue fire suddenly appeared. It lazily "walked" towards the left post. About midway, it halted, and emitted a huge stream of golden fire as if it were peeing.
After that, the obligatory American Flag set piece; one of the few times when it's o.k. the burn the Flag in public.
I also remember the food concessions area and the huge kettle of lard in which rough dough balls were fried into snacks, covered with powdered sugar and sold still semi raw in the center. I loved it all!
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 4, 2009 14:36:27 GMT
Wow, THANKS, DonC ~~ that was almost like being there!
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Jul 4, 2009 17:03:46 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Jul 4, 2009 19:29:33 GMT
And you of course are linking to AnyPort on your blog, right?
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Jul 4, 2009 21:56:16 GMT
And you of course are linking to AnyPort on your blog, right? I could do that? But so far, I've only linked to a very few other blogs. The floodgates would open if I start putting my favorite web forums on, and I wouldn't have much time left for blogging. I DID turn the listserve owner of Michoacan_Net Yahoo Group onto APIAS. He may join. I want to note here that overall, APIAS has turned out to be a jolly good bunch of fellows and fellowesses. I'll stop there. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2009 16:36:11 GMT
Those are the best fireworks I've seen, DC.  |
|
|
|
Post by spindrift on Jul 6, 2009 17:13:00 GMT
Kerouac said: * the peasants saying "We have no bread to eat," and Marie Antoinette/ Carla Bruni said "Let them watch fireworks.*
This creases me with merriment ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Cuevas on Jul 6, 2009 17:49:37 GMT
Those are the best fireworks I've seen, DC. If only I could have been there! Maybe they'll do it again. Zacatecas, apart from fireworks, is a wonderful city, comparable in some ways to Guanajuato, but it's "its own hombre". It's a long way from where we live. |
|
