Remember, remember the 5th of November

November 5, 2001 11:42 AM

Remember, remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder treason and plot.
We see no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
(where was the best fireworks display you've ever been to? have you ever burnt something important? and was Guy Falkes framed?)
posted by feelinglistless (20 comments total)

guy fawkes used to be a pretty big deal when i was growing up in new zealand (fireworks for home use are pretty much banned now, which is a good thing, although it has taken some fun out of proceedings)

since halloween isn't really celebrated in this part of the world, it was our golden opportunity to run amok around the neighbourhood after school (reaping the benefits of daylight savings time) - shooting fireworks at each other and blowing things up

i do miss playing with matches :)
posted by sawks at 12:07 PM on November 5, 2001

since it is my birthday today, i always remember the fifth of november!
posted by whoshotwho at 12:28 PM on November 5, 2001

Happy Birthday...

When I said burnt something, I meant of course on a bonfire -- I wasn't trying to attract arsonists...
posted by feelinglistless at 12:42 PM on November 5, 2001

A good thing sawks? A good thing?
I weep for bottle rockets.
You can only buy pathetic pop-sticks here now, thanks to general policies to protect the idiot majority from itself. What is it with this "dumbing down" process? Is it Flouride in the water or the increasing Ozone hole? To hell with it I say, viva Darwinism! Let those who cannot learn to operate a simple firework choose not to buy them or blow themselves out of existence. Rant over, phew.

The best bonfire I ever had, we emptied the farm's 200 litre petrol tank. Bad Teenagers.

Happy Birthday whoshotwho. I got you this.
posted by Catch at 1:08 PM on November 5, 2001

Guido Fawkes? His name was Guido? I never knew that. It doesn't have quite the same ring as Guy, does it?
posted by witchstone at 1:09 PM on November 5, 2001

The best bonfire I ever had, we emptied the farm's 200 litre petrol tank.

That paragraph explained the previous one.
posted by terrapin at 1:19 PM on November 5, 2001

Here in this neck of the woods whenever you find that someone has let you down(for instance, by not being ready when you call)you go: "Yeah, yeah, don't tell me - the cat pissed on the matches again..."
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:27 PM on November 5, 2001

had it not been for the brilliant mind of alan moore, i would never have given two pennies for the pooy guy. as it is, moore's v for vendetta used the conspirator's visage to mask one of the most charismatic anti-heroes in the history of comicdom.

posted by grabbingsand at 1:49 PM on November 5, 2001

As an Umerikin, ah know that he wuz an Evil-doer. An' what he did will not stand. It is the duty of our country to make sure that evil doers like Guy Fawkes git hunted down. We will smoke them out ov their hidin' places an' bring 'um to justice.

Cours'n, you Brits celebrate Guy Fawkes day... I don' reckon we'd cotton to no 'McVeigh Day' over here... Yer good folk, as furners go, butcha really are a lil weird.

-Your Friend,
George
posted by Perigee at 2:16 PM on November 5, 2001

Touché, begad!
posted by Catch at 2:20 PM on November 5, 2001

Happy birthday whoshotwho. It's mine too, and my 21st at that... better do my MeFiing early today, don't plan to be in any shape to read later. It'll just give me a good excuse to celebrate every year from now on. Thanks listless!

Living in the States all my life, I've never heard of this guy. How much is the holiday celebrated?
posted by krakedhalo at 2:20 PM on November 5, 2001

How much is the holiday celebrated?

I live at the top of a tower block in the centre of Liverpool. As I look out across the horizon the entire sky is ablaze with firworks displays and bonfires. There are organised displays everywhere from the city centre to local parks to universities. For two months beforehand shops throughout the country are selling fireworks to families who in some parts of the country have BBQs and parties. It's also tradition to save scrap wood from throughout the year for the bonfire so that we can cook baked potatoes and in some places chestnuts.
posted by feelinglistless at 2:55 PM on November 5, 2001

Mistah Kurtz - he is dead!
A penny for the old Guy.

-T.S. Eliot
posted by alex3005 at 2:57 PM on November 5, 2001

In India everyone and anyone bursts firecrackers during Diwali (the festival of light) The best fireworks display I've seen was at the end "I Love Mumbai" week a few years back. Another good display was when France and India held a cultural unity event that lasted a month or so. UK's fireworks display on 1/1/00 was great too.

In '97 I bought some of the best bottle rockets ever. They were about two feet high, with a nice big engine, and the fuse was generously long for an Indian bottle rocket. Firing from the street, those rockets went much higher than 35 stories (36 for you all in the US).
posted by riffola at 3:02 PM on November 5, 2001

I was aboard the Queen Mary in Los Angeles several years ago for a party, which culminated in a large fireworks display. I was standing next to a Brit, and we spontaneously turned to each other at one point and said in unison:

"Just like the 4th of July!" (me)
"Just like Guy Fawkes day!" (him)
posted by Oriole Adams at 4:34 PM on November 5, 2001

Best fireworks display I've ever seen was July 4, 1994. I was spending the summer in NYC (I had an internship there) and went to see the fireworks with a group of my fellow interns. We sat on FDR Drive and watched the fireworks get shot off barges on the East River. Way cool. Nothing I've seen before or since even compares. (Although the displays in Washington DC, when you see them exploding over the Washington Monument, come close)
posted by SisterHavana at 7:38 PM on November 5, 2001

The woman who came (years ago) closest to utterly destroying my big, drunken wonderchicken heart was born on Guy Fawkes day.

I'm reasonable sure that whoshotwho is not that woman, but you can never tell.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:00 AM on November 6, 2001

As noted above the display in London on 1/1/00 was pretty special. Almost worth 5 hours of hanging around on Westminster bridge before hand and 5 hours of trudging back across a rainy and spectatularly drunk London. Just for those 10 minutes of wonder next to Big Ben.

And our firewords yesterday were insane remind me not to set any firework that shoots bright coloured lights upwards under the overhanging branches of a tree. Much 'hilarious' deflection ensued.
posted by nedrichards at 3:34 AM on November 6, 2001

The Brits really do go all out for Guy Fawkes. There's been large of bonfires every day for the last week at a vacant section near my place in South East London.

The fireworks are like small bombs. And cheap as chips they are too.

Best fireworks display for me was in Philly on 4 July 2000.
posted by oddity at 1:03 AM on November 7, 2001

London has been banging and whistling non-stop for weeks - every night someone blows up their garden. I hesitate when I say its like a warzone, but that is the main thing that goes through my head at every explosion.
posted by mook at 2:25 AM on November 7, 2001