I’d see your POV if it applies to an area of permissive use. I for one (and several others) have pointed out it’s quite different when they’re illegal/banned, and especially if it’s putting entire communities at risk due to fire weather or ongoing fire hazards. Especially (using @Der_Trihs’ example for one) if the community has enacted the rules and substantial losses occur despite that.
I think this path leads to a debate over a definition of transgression, which I tend to think of in terms of harm deliberately and maliciously inflicted. Like setting off fireworks inside a kindergarten class full of tots. I have come to view all laws as a bite out of someone’s liberty, however, and as such am inclined to view them primarily as someone’s attempt to impose their will on others who may simply have different opinions about what is reasonable. Laws, therefore, are not to be obeyed simply because they are laws, IMHO (see: ‘just following orders’). Which is not to say I’m all about ‘yeehaw, F the law’ and acting like an irresponsible lunatic. We are not disagreeing about behaving responsibly, just the absolute sovereignty of laws. Which is probably a different thread.
I’d love to see a drone show IRL, although it’s hard to say how impressive they are IRL just from the YouTube videos I’ve seen. My day will come, one supposes.
All forms are illegal here but so many people do it anyway that the police are overwhelmed. The first boom, a few weeks ago, made me miss the dog we put to sleep a few years back.
You raise a valid point. I think that the language used in the OP is weaker than the definition you prefer for “transgressive” (not devaluing YOUR preferred usage though).
But, let’s ask the OP! @HeyHomie - would you please share your intent/definition for the use of “transgressive” in the title?
At its most basic, a dick move. Driving 71 in a 55? Borderline transgressive. Passing a stopped school bus with the STOP sign out? Totally transgressive. Failing to mow your yard for a few weeks and your yard looks unsightly and overgrown with weeds? Borderline transgressive. Deliberately letting your yard grow unsightly and accumulate cars up on blocks, broken children’s toys, and rotting food? Transgressive.
The bigger ones (more drones) are definitely better. Think of each drone as a pixel; you can get a much better picture with more pixels. I’ve seen larger drone shows do things like animation. I saw one at NFL HoF; they had a pass thrown & caught, so the QBs arm ‘moved’ forward in a throwing motion as the various drones turned on/off; then the ball moved thru the air to the receiver who pulled it in. You just can’t get that kind of animation with a minimal amount of drones in your show.
The most recent one I saw, last month, was pretty lame; mainly because they started it too early; there was still enough light left in the sky that it was hard to see some of the colors that they were showing. Also, while they did some things that I recognized, they had some shapes that HellifIknow what they were supposed to be. It was also a smaller show & while they did something that I could recognize as a bird, it looked more like a dove than an eagle, which is what I would have expected given it was an America 250 event.
Thank you. I think your definition is somewhat different than mine, and probably from @Inigo_Montoya - but at least we have a baseline for purposes of this thread. Much appreciated.
This is way too close to the truth for me. I wouldn’t spend my money on so much as a smoke bomb–the joy of the thaumaturgy is too fleeting even for the 50¢, potential for fires (Colorado is a tinderbox), needless release of noxious fumes, etc. But my neighbor two doors down, who tends toward boorish under even normal circumstances, reliably delivers a significant amount of his cash to Cheyenne, WY this time of year and regales the 'hood with his incendiary acquisitions. More than once I have emerged bitchy from my front door, muttering all manner of epithets about him to myself, and deciding I may as well enjoy the inevitable display. Begrudgingly, of course. Best to keep an eye on the situation you understand. Yes, I am aware there is likely some self-exploration to do regarding this reaction. I have a little video drone (not to be confused with a videodrome!) I intend to send up this Saturday night to document whether folks in this area are more likely to align their behavior with drought conditions or the 250th birthday of their superpower homeland.
Never mind. Failed to read to the end before posting.
I recall as a kid that my parents put out a few bucks on the fountains and sparklers that were legal in CA at the time. Nothing stingy, but nothing huge either. As an older kid I can recall some whining trying to cajole more spending out of them. Did. Not. Work.
But usually some a neighbor down the street went all out, and somebody else had brought back some bottle rockets or firecrackers from a visit to nearby Mexico … Wow, I was in kid heaven soaking up all the free show!
Seriously???
Yeah. I grew up in Southern California and my parents stopped buying fireworks when I was about 6 years-old. There were always neighbors with a stock of illegal Tijuana fireworks that made the legal “safe and sane” stuff look pathetic. Sparklers, snakes, and cones were less exciting than just lighting a garbage can on fire.
Same here, as far as growing up on SoCal. My Dad stopped bringing fireworks home probably when I was six or seven, however it was due to private fireworks being made illegal, iirc. Before that, we would do a show in our driveway, mostly the cones, and of course sparklers. I also remember my brother getting in big trouble because of the mess the snakes made on the sidewalk.
What I see no value in is firecrackers, piccalo petes and whatever else is solely to make noise. Useless and fecking annoying.
I’m good with it until around 0000-0100 in the AM. Some of us gotta work the 4th and the 5th friends.
It’s a bit transgressive, my wife hates them, and they’re illegal within the city limits. I’ll actually go outside and watch most of them, my current neighbors really do put on quite a show. But even I start thinking “really, jackasses?” when I’m still hearing them long past 1AM.
But I’ll take it over the celebratory gunfire any day. The police plan to crack down on that using drones this year. I wish them the best of luck.
When you launch a firework into the air, the belief, nay hope (and most of the time that hope is valid), is that the falling and burning embers will burn themselves out before they reach the ground - so there won’t be, you know, a fire risk. When you shoot a bullet into the air, it’s still going to be a bullet when it comes down, and it’s going to sill be moving at a lethal velocity.
Yeah, celebratory gunfire is transgressive.
I’ve never understood that. Fireworks are supposed to go up & mostly burn off but there is some small debris that does fall. It will hurt someone because it’s hot, or because they’re looking up w/o glasses on & a piece gets into their eye; however, a properly shot firework is not very dangerous or even deadly in & of itself when the pieces fall back to Earth.
On a separate note, I worked at a professional fireworks show last night. It was a park/school. I was there with the FD to make sure that the field/trees (behind where they launched from) were out after the show. Collectively we used part of a (as in one) water can & some shoe sole to rub out some embers in the grass. It was hot so it was the standard summer uniform - navy BDU shorts & a dept t-shirt. Of course, we have to be there early to get all apparatus in position before the crowds show up.
I was walking down the street & some woman flags me down. “Excuse me, sir. I just wanted to let you know that someone left two gas cans over there”
[Looks over there] “No ma’am, that’s one small gas can & the generator * that powering all of the speakers that’s playing the music you are listening to. Do you see the wire going from the generator to the speaker?” ::Le Sigh::
-* I don’t know if if was that exact model of generator but it was roughly the same size as the random intertubez photo I found. They’re not very large; therefore, their fuel tank isn’t very large but it was running for hours. Having spare fuel right there is not at all suspicious.
In her defense, that generator does greatly resemble a gas can. And the modern ones are so quiet they could be mistaken for a gas can.
Depends on if I’m invited or not.