"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler
by Smitty
FMJRA salutes Stacy McCain, out tracking down the news the less gonzo journalists simply cannot.
Props to Fishersville Mike for two years longevity.
Now I’m off to the big GOTV event for Patrick Murray! Continue reading Featuring McCain’s Jaunt ‘Round America →
This year, for the first year in . . . well, forever, I didn’t get to shoot my usual super-awesome Fourth of July fireworks show. Darling Daughter scheduled her wedding for this week, so I was forced to scrap my annual Alabama expedition. One day, I’ll find it in my heart to forgive her, but Sunday night I was profoundly depressed.
Anyway, my good buddy Rick — about whom I could tell you some hilarious stories — was able to shoot his customary super-awesome Fourth of July fireworks show and, now that I’m beginning to emerge from the depths of my daughter-induced pyro-deprived depression, I’ll share his videos with you:
This show was produced with consumer fireworks and, as I’ve often explained to friends, a well-organized consumer fireworks show is actually better than most professional shows. Why? One word: Proximity.
Professional shows require “set backs” of at least a hundred yards between the audience and the launch site, and the shells burst several hundred feet in the air. Bigger shells, but they’re seen at quite a distance. Whereas with consumer fireworks, the safety distance between shooter and audience is only about 50 feet, and most of the shells burst less than 100 feet overhead. As people have often said after seeing my shows for the first time, it feels like being inside the show.
Anyway, if you really know what you’re doing with consumer fireworks — as Rick does — it’s pretty doggone awesome, and completely safe. (Unlike the idiot who got his arm blown off in New York.)
So enjoy the videos, and if you want to cheer me up, contribute to Darling Daughter’s wedding fund. Proceeds in excess of the actual cost of the wedding will help ensure that next year’s Fourth of July is extra-awesome.