Fireworks!

[Bryon_Soulweaver]

All I can say is, for arizona and its no major explosive fireworks law, i think I'll be going to tempe town lake and watching other people shot off bottle caps, how I miss them. If I can, I'll be blowing up some things.

 

[The_Universe]

I guess I hadn't noticed it, but I haven't seen any fireworks stands. In Kansas/Missourri/Arkansas, we'd see them all the time.

There was even this place on the highway my wife and I would pass called "CRAZY DEBBIE'S FIREWORKS". It was there year 'round, but presumably only open during the summer. But it was enormous.

I always thought it'd be a hoot if they could hire a crazed looking female actress to come in with a straightjacket on to harrass all the patrons screaming profanities and spitting on people saying, "I'M CRAAAAZY DEBBY! BUY MY FIREWORKS! BECAUSE I'M CRAAAAAZY!!!" I've have bought fireworks there if they did that.

I guess they aren't legal to purchase in Virginia? Not that I ever buy fireworks anyway. I can't see my daughter wanting to play with sparklers, though the little snake things might be fun.

You can buy small fireworks in VA, but nothing that explodes - just little fountains.

 

[The_Universe]

Here in Massachusetts, you cannot buy the stuff, but across the border in NH you can. Lots of people buy them there and bring them home.

I hate the "personal" fireworks with a passion. Love the professional shows, but hate the stuff you and I can buy. I had a complete fear of them from when I was a little kid (5 or 6 maybe) and saw another kid get hurt when someone threw a string of firecrackers into the crowd at the city fireworks show. In high school, my friends used to travel to get fireworks and then would invite me over to set them off. One year I decided my fear was ridiculous, based solely upon improper use, and joined them. First thing they lit was this block with 36 little rockets that are supposed to launch in succession. The first rocket out of the brick rose to eye level with me, then turned straight at me. I dove out of the way and spent the rest of the evening in the house waiting for my friends to finish.

I'm not advocating it, but a nationwide ban on home fireworks would not bother me in the least.

That's too bad - you're really missing out. I had a buddy that got hit square in the back with an artillery shell once...and then it exploded. Minor burns, but it was TOTALLY worth it.

 

[der_kluge]

They said on the news that fireworks were illegal in my county, and most of the counties in Richmond. So, that would explain why I hadn't seen any. Strangely, I hadn't even noticed.

 

[Jamdin]

I had an uncle lose his sight in one eye due to a mishap with a parachute back in the 1970s. As a kid, my dad tossed a whole bunch of fireworks near me and almost took off my left arm. Ever since then, I've been very skittish when it comes to other people and fireworks. My grandfather, may he rest in peace, tossed a match in a whole box of firecrackers and watch them go off at once one year. Of course, he was banned from being around fireworks by grandmother after that.

Personally, I like the jumping frogs, which are hard to find anymore. I used to toss them in my grandparents' chicken coop and watch the chickens run away from them. When I got older, I used to toss the jumping frogs off a bridge over a creek and watch them skit across the water. Didn't always work but it was fun trying.

The only firecrackers I remember blowing up was Black Cat and the tiny firecrackers called ladyfingers. If the firecracker was a dud, I would carefully break them in half with one side still attached and make sizzlers out of them.

Now, I just love smoke bombs and the novelty fireworks like the tanks and the drag cars. I'm not fond of the new bamboo sparklers. I'm still looking for the monkeys and dogs that used to smoke tiny cigarettes. I haven't seen them since my uncle bought me a smoking monkey at a fireworks stand in the late 1970s.

 

[frankthedm]

My [police] state sux. Nothing that goes boom is allowed.

But i don't like to waste money anyhow. [i also am too much of a chicken to mix my own]

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

A handful of cities around the Bay Area sell "safe and sane" fireworks (lame ones, IOW), but it's only legal to detonate them in those city limits.

Not that I'm in any hurry to buy some, mind you. My buddy once accidentally torched a hill a stone's throw from his and other houses playing with fireworks once.