Re: OT/ IT'S A MAN THING

[Robatoy]

Brilliant! Thanks for that; a wonderful read.

. . and happy 4th to you!

[dadiOH]

Right. Idiocy survives generational change :)

[notbob]

ROFL!

If you haven't had a firecracker go off in your hand, you haven't experienced real fireworks fun!! I've done it twice, never suffering any damage. If you want some real pain, hold a shotgun primer on the end of a screwdriver over a candle flame (seven yrs old and dumb as a post). Howzabout hitting a Bullzeye explosive target, on a concrete floor, with a 20 lb sledge hammer? That'll cost you yer hearing for a few hours. ;) Ahh... the memories. ;)

I jes moved from CO from CA. While the CO gun laws here are amazing, CO fireworks laws are just as stupid as CA. Safe and sane crap, only. IOW, why bother. I get more pyrotechnic action shooting my 44 mag revolver in the dark.

Check this map:

you live next to a green state, time for a trip! If not, have them shipped to you. Say what?

When I still lived in CA, I was intrigued when a bobtail no-name shipping company truck pulled up to my FIL's house and delivered a tv-sized box to the door. I was flat-out stunned when my FIL opened the box to reveal a veritable treasure trove of serious kick-ass illegal as hell fireworks. Yes, it may be against the law in your state, but see if those AL and TN fireworks companies give a goodgoddamn! You send 'em money and they will ship them to your front door (or used to). But, it's yer ass after they deliver! Give 'em a call and see.

nb

[Larry Blanchard]

In my younger dumber days a few of us were into making explosives. Including nitroglycerin. I decided to put a drop on an anvil and hit it with a hammer. Split the anvil and we never did find the hammer head. I was standing there with a wooden handle and a terrified look :-).

[notbob]

Omigod, you can make yer own nitro!? Don't tell me that! ;)

nb

[Josepi]

Who did you rip off for their heart medication?

Some here have trouble differentiating between movie scams and reality...LOL

[ChairMan]

Sometime stupid is a dominant gene

[ChairMan]

In news: [e-mail], Robatoy spewed forth:

I try to share it ever 4th. After almost 10 years, I still laugh my ass off every time I read it Almost as good a taser story

[notbob]

Unfortunately, like most other forms of fun, our govt has outlawed M80s. They are now classified as class D HE (high explosives) along with cherry bombs and anything larger than 50mg of flash powder. Mores the pity. Back in the 60s, I used to have a ball with them. Never did anything stupid (er.. once!) or illegal, but they were a hoot.

One experiment enlightened us to the real power of M80s. An old firecracker trick was to punch/drill a hole in the closed end of an empty soup can. Make the hole just big enough for the firecracker and shove the cracker in about 3/4 way into the can. Now, put the lidless end of the soup can facing down in a container of water, like a small saucepan, so the water came at least a third of the way up the sides of the can. When you lit the firecracker and it popped, the can acted like a rocket and would ascend 100-150 ft in the air. Pretty much harmless fun.

We tried the same with an M80. Yikes! The can went nowhere. It just flattened out like a butterflied shrimp, the soldered seam having been ripped apart, and the lid disappeared. It ruined the saucepan, too, making a bulge in the bottom rendering it useless for cooking. Never did find the end lid and we rightfully assumed it could have as easily been embedded in one of our skulls. From that time on, we just set them off to hear the report, making sure we were standing well back and the M80 not near any potential shrapnel.

I still lament M80s being declared illegal, though. We never suffered any harm, despite being collectively dumber'n a bag o' hammers. ;)

Happy Independence Day, whatever your pyrotechnic proclivities may be!

nb

[billw]

I loved the story. It could have happened to me... My next door neighbor's uncle worked at a fireworks factory and he gave my neighbor a case of cherry bombs. Only Tom didn't have anyplace to shoot them. My grandfather's farm was a few miles outside of town where we could set them off without bothering anyone except a few cows and pigs. Oh, and my grandmother... Anyway, our parents dropped us off one morning and we started blowing up everything that looked interesting. Only a cherry bomb dropped into a rat hole, doesn't make much of anything except a dull thump. So, I pored in a pint of gas, lit one and tossed it in! BOOM!!!!!! The earth shook for 10 ft. So, if a little bit is good a whole lot is better! We pored 5 gal of gasoline down an old abandoned toilet that had rat holes running everywhere. Then before we could toss a cherry bomb in the toilet my Grandmother called us in for lunch. So for the next 30 minutes or so the gasoline fumes spread throughout the ratholes and filled the shaft of the toilet. After lunch we walked out to the toilet and I lit and tossed in a cherry bomb. Tom looked at me, I looked at him and said: "You know, we might need to run." "No SHIT Shirlock" was his answer. I almost didn't hear it, cause I'd already started running. We were at the perfect spot when the cherry bomb went off. Any closer and the blast would have killed us, any farther away and the falling lumber, rocks and chunks of nasty stuff would have killed us. All the windows on that side of the house were blown in and my grandmother came out to see if we were dead! When she found out we weren't, she picked up a stick and I think she tried to kill us herself. When my grandfather came home he beat us pretty good too, same for my parents and Tom's folks as well. And for the next two or three days while my dad was fixing the windows, I'd be walking by and for no reason at all, he'd snatch me up and spank me again... Even a half a year later at New Years, when I asked if we could shoot the rest of the cherry bombs, dad snatched me up and beat me again. I don't know what was dumber, blowing up the toilet or asking if we could shoot more cherry bombs. One good thing came of the blast. We didn't need the old toilet out next to the outbuildings anymore and the resulting hole was about 60' in diameter and 20' deep. It was right next to the creek and it filled up pretty quick. A pond is always a good thing on a farm...

On Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:54:56 GMT, notbob wrote:

[notbob]

The whole thing sounds fictional, but knowing how truly fearless ...and BRAINLESS!.... kids can be, I believe your story. Gasoline is unbelievably dangerous and kids are astonishingly clueless. I'll not bore you with the story of how we almost burnt down the house with our homemade gasoline-ignited match-head propellant BB gun.

It's a wonder I survived childhood. ;)

nb

[Lobby Dosser]

Our HS had 50 gallon drums in every stairwell for trash. The sound of an M-80 going off in an empty 50 gallon drum in an enclosed space is just awesome!

[Buddy Matlosz]

The last person I saw do something like that looked suspiciously like a coyote.

B.

[Josepi]

An old friend tells a similiar story. He was a grown, adult at the time, having a pig roast on his rural property by digging a hole and putting a wrapped whole pig in the hole with a bonfire etc.. etc..

He poured the gasoline in and his only match didn't work. Went back to the hosue for a new set of matches and, knowing the danger, stood back as far as he could. ... ran for his life for 100 yards to his house while it rained kindling on him the whole way.

I copied him your story as it sounded even more dynamic and he will love it!

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 4 Jul 2010 21:33:33 -0400, "Buddy Matlosz" wrote the following:

-- It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now, with its aches and its pleasures, is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. -- Pema Chodron

[Larry Blanchard]

Maybe I should sue the cartoonist for stealing my idea :-).

[Steve Turner]

I wonder how many Acme anvils Wile E. went through during his career? :-)

[Robatoy]

Kid stuff.

48 oz can of fertilizer ( I know which kind), some diesel fuel and a blasting cap, auger into a 20 stump, down 24", drop in can, walk away...awaaaaay.... set it off. One stump went up so high, we almost lost sight of it. The others that farmer did just exploded into slivers. That was a fun afternoon.

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 5 Jul 2010 15:30:47 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard wrote the following:

There ya go. Sue _Disney_ for sharesies!

-- It's also helpful to realize that this very body that we have, that's sitting right here right now, with its aches and its pleasures, is exactly what we need to be fully human, fully awake, fully alive. -- Pema Chodron

[ChairMan]

In news: [e-mail], Larry Jaques spewed forth:

I'm sure someone will hit me with an anvil if I'm wrong, but I think it would be Looney Tunes and Warner Bros. Unless Disney bought 'em, which wouldn't surprise me.