A liberal application of fireworks
January 1, 2015 7:51 PM Subscribe
By pure chance, I was listening to Richie Hawtin's "Decks, EFX and 909" when I clicked the link. I was riveted for the entire 20 minutes. Fantastic video.
posted by davebush at 8:36 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by davebush at 8:36 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous.
Ugh, you can have it. Trying to walk around a German city on NYE means risking injury dodging fireworks being thrown at you (or even more irritatingly, being set off on your subway train), and then for the next few weeks the streets are covered in rubbish because so many people don't clean up after themselves. The only nice thing about it is that fireworks are banned the rest of the year.
posted by cmonkey at 8:41 PM on January 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
Ugh, you can have it. Trying to walk around a German city on NYE means risking injury dodging fireworks being thrown at you (or even more irritatingly, being set off on your subway train), and then for the next few weeks the streets are covered in rubbish because so many people don't clean up after themselves. The only nice thing about it is that fireworks are banned the rest of the year.
posted by cmonkey at 8:41 PM on January 1, 2015 [8 favorites]
From this reddit discussion (and linked scary video), there's also a flood of cheap fireworks (including some banned stuff) from Poland into Germany that enables this as well.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:52 PM on January 1, 2015
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:52 PM on January 1, 2015
My god. The Germans have a traffic signal for "get ready to to go." It's so simple and so genius.
Those fireworks look a little dodgy though, in some cases literally.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:59 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Those fireworks look a little dodgy though, in some cases literally.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:59 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I spent New Year's Eve in Germany once, and honestly, I found it really frightening. I don't like having things exploding around me all the time at random. It must suck to be someone with military PTSD in Germany on December 31.
posted by threeants at 9:19 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by threeants at 9:19 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous.
The video reminds me of East Oakland on the 4th of July, but with way fewer fireworks.
posted by telstar at 9:25 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
The video reminds me of East Oakland on the 4th of July, but with way fewer fireworks.
posted by telstar at 9:25 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
As they say, NYE is when Kreuzberg tries to destroy itself.
Berlin is by far my favorite spot for NYE, usually wind up there after c3. I wound up stuck in Hamburg though this year though. :(
We need a post about 31c3 if anyone is game btw. I saw some talks so feel free to ask for tips on what's particularly interesting.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:46 PM on January 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Berlin is by far my favorite spot for NYE, usually wind up there after c3. I wound up stuck in Hamburg though this year though. :(
We need a post about 31c3 if anyone is game btw. I saw some talks so feel free to ask for tips on what's particularly interesting.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:46 PM on January 1, 2015 [3 favorites]
Du bist so wunderbar, Berlin...
posted by Seeba at 10:19 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Seeba at 10:19 PM on January 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
This becomes a very cool drivelapse video when you change the speed to 2x.
posted by not_on_display at 10:39 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by not_on_display at 10:39 PM on January 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
We need a multi-player first-person-shooter based on shooting off fireworks on NYE in Berlin, meaning PCs find, steal, etc. caches of fireworks and shoot them at one another.
In theory, too many civilian NPC casualties brings down the in-game cops' wrath, but PCs cannot call the cops on PCs. There is maybe no way in current engines to simulate being immobile in the crowd near the Brandenburg gate while the fireworks are going off all around you.
posted by jeffburdges at 11:06 PM on January 1, 2015
In theory, too many civilian NPC casualties brings down the in-game cops' wrath, but PCs cannot call the cops on PCs. There is maybe no way in current engines to simulate being immobile in the crowd near the Brandenburg gate while the fireworks are going off all around you.
posted by jeffburdges at 11:06 PM on January 1, 2015
This is incredible. My city had a lot fewer fireworks and a lot more idiots firing off 18-round pistol magazines into the air this New Years.
posted by Green Winnebago at 11:47 PM on January 1, 2015
posted by Green Winnebago at 11:47 PM on January 1, 2015
Oh man, that video reminds me when I used to spend 4th of July in Santa Cruz, California. The beach would be plastered with camps launching illegal fireworks making the actual beach quite dangerous. Youtube has a video from from 2010, when they had already started busting up the party (hence the spotlights).
posted by fragmede at 12:44 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by fragmede at 12:44 AM on January 2, 2015
The main reason you Americans can't have this is that all German houses are built from solid stone and bricks. This means it is far less likely that German cities burn down to the ground...
And yes, cheap Polish firework can be quite dangerous, because it's usually more powerful. But it's also illegal, and more of a teenager thing. Besides, the awesome "batteries" (ignite once, watch for several minutes) got really cheap this year...
posted by SAnderka at 1:24 AM on January 2, 2015
And yes, cheap Polish firework can be quite dangerous, because it's usually more powerful. But it's also illegal, and more of a teenager thing. Besides, the awesome "batteries" (ignite once, watch for several minutes) got really cheap this year...
posted by SAnderka at 1:24 AM on January 2, 2015
This means it is far less likely that German cities burn down to the ground...
It's happened before.
posted by thelonius at 2:20 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's happened before.
posted by thelonius at 2:20 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes, but I'm talking about the year 2015 and modern fireworks as a fire hazard, not the middle ages.
posted by SAnderka at 2:33 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by SAnderka at 2:33 AM on January 2, 2015
What this video can't depict is the sheer noise and smell involved.
I live in Austria which is, with regards to fireworks culture, not too far removed from Germany and my feelings on this way of celebrating NYE line up with cmonkey and threeants. Rockets and mortar launched fireworks explode (at least in most cases) a certain distance above ground. The firecrackers explode wherever they are thrown to.
It seems to me the noise level where I live was at least a bit reduced by changes to the law that regulates pyrotechnic devices. Until then the class II firecrackers sold to the general public in Austria were allowed to use flash powder to create their effect. The new equivalent class is F2 and now this purpose is explicitly forbidden.
What really puzzles me every year is that according to this law use of F2 devices (which most rockets, firecrackers, etc. sold to the public are) is not allowed within city limits without special permission. Where the vast majority of fireworks sold are nonetheless used doesn't need much imagination.
posted by mirage pine at 2:49 AM on January 2, 2015
I live in Austria which is, with regards to fireworks culture, not too far removed from Germany and my feelings on this way of celebrating NYE line up with cmonkey and threeants. Rockets and mortar launched fireworks explode (at least in most cases) a certain distance above ground. The firecrackers explode wherever they are thrown to.
It seems to me the noise level where I live was at least a bit reduced by changes to the law that regulates pyrotechnic devices. Until then the class II firecrackers sold to the general public in Austria were allowed to use flash powder to create their effect. The new equivalent class is F2 and now this purpose is explicitly forbidden.
What really puzzles me every year is that according to this law use of F2 devices (which most rockets, firecrackers, etc. sold to the public are) is not allowed within city limits without special permission. Where the vast majority of fireworks sold are nonetheless used doesn't need much imagination.
posted by mirage pine at 2:49 AM on January 2, 2015
My god. The Germans have a traffic signal for "get ready to to go." It's so simple and so genius.
That works as long as cross-traffic stops when they are supposed to, instead of treating the end of the cycle as a chance to push through. Around here I deliberately wait a moment when I am at the front of the line before entering an intersection, because so many people don't just keep going on yellow but end up going through at the beginning of the red and it's safer to delay just a moment to avoid an accident.
The fireworks are beautiful but I'm not sure I'd want to be out in the open on the street.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:23 AM on January 2, 2015
That works as long as cross-traffic stops when they are supposed to, instead of treating the end of the cycle as a chance to push through. Around here I deliberately wait a moment when I am at the front of the line before entering an intersection, because so many people don't just keep going on yellow but end up going through at the beginning of the red and it's safer to delay just a moment to avoid an accident.
The fireworks are beautiful but I'm not sure I'd want to be out in the open on the street.
posted by Dip Flash at 3:23 AM on January 2, 2015
Berlin is not, and never will be, a completely reasonable city. I find that the anarchy that constantly bubbles under the surface in Berlin and that manifests itself in a million small ways and also, periodically, in large explosions like on New Year's Eve either drives you crazy and makes you angry and sad and resentful of the dirty, chaotic city around you, or it waters your hungry heart like rain after a long drought and makes you feel like you've been given the chance to start again, to become again who you wanted to be when you were small and young and not so disillusioned.
posted by colfax at 3:25 AM on January 2, 2015 [11 favorites]
posted by colfax at 3:25 AM on January 2, 2015 [11 favorites]
It has seemingly always been so in Berlin. The contrast during the days of the Wall was exceptionally vivid, as I think the only state-approved fireworks in the East were single red rockets. It always seemed like a particular "Fuck You" to the Osties back then.
posted by pjern at 4:28 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by pjern at 4:28 AM on January 2, 2015
Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous.
Because fireworks are really dangerous.
I mean they're not like firearms that are totally safe when handled responsibly. People get hurt from fireworks.
posted by sour cream at 4:55 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Because fireworks are really dangerous.
I mean they're not like firearms that are totally safe when handled responsibly. People get hurt from fireworks.
posted by sour cream at 4:55 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
zardoz: "Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous."
Isn't that your 4th of July?
posted by HFSH at 5:01 AM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Isn't that your 4th of July?
posted by HFSH at 5:01 AM on January 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
I wonder at what time this video was taken, the streets seem too empty and quiet for midnight.
It has seemingly always been so in Berlin. The contrast during the days of the Wall was exceptionally vivid, as I think the only state-approved fireworks in the East were single red rockets. It always seemed like a particular "Fuck You" to the Osties back then.
I complained to a colleague about all the people here (minutes 0 to 4 in the video, formerly East Berlin) setting off their fireworks far too early (which I guess in itself is a giveaway that I'm not truly a local). Fireworks are only on sale for a few days shortly before New Year's and people in other parts of Germany are usually really good about not setting off the fireworks before midnight on New Year's Eve. He told me that this is nothing compared to how it was shortly after the reunification when people were so excited about finally having access to proper fireworks that people didn't do much else except set off fireworks during the days they were on sale.
posted by snownoid at 8:20 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
It has seemingly always been so in Berlin. The contrast during the days of the Wall was exceptionally vivid, as I think the only state-approved fireworks in the East were single red rockets. It always seemed like a particular "Fuck You" to the Osties back then.
I complained to a colleague about all the people here (minutes 0 to 4 in the video, formerly East Berlin) setting off their fireworks far too early (which I guess in itself is a giveaway that I'm not truly a local). Fireworks are only on sale for a few days shortly before New Year's and people in other parts of Germany are usually really good about not setting off the fireworks before midnight on New Year's Eve. He told me that this is nothing compared to how it was shortly after the reunification when people were so excited about finally having access to proper fireworks that people didn't do much else except set off fireworks during the days they were on sale.
posted by snownoid at 8:20 AM on January 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is definitely not just limited to Berlin. I'm an American living in Frankfurt, and while I generally love Germany, I really am not a fan of the NYE fireworks madness that goes on here. I live in a fairly quiet residential area, but still had multiple groups on the street outside my building on NYE shooting off all the fireworks they can get their hands on. This included one group shooting bottle rockets *at* our apartment building, landing a few shells on the roof (really??). Makes me glad wood-shingle roofs are so rare here. The video also doesn't show the trash and shell remains littering the streets and sidewalks for several days afterwards.
Because fireworks are really dangerous.
I mean they're not like firearms that are totally safe when handled responsibly. People get hurt from fireworks.
Agreed! For a country that generally seems to be very responsible and safety-conscious, it seems very out of character.
posted by photo guy at 8:45 AM on January 2, 2015
Because fireworks are really dangerous.
I mean they're not like firearms that are totally safe when handled responsibly. People get hurt from fireworks.
Agreed! For a country that generally seems to be very responsible and safety-conscious, it seems very out of character.
posted by photo guy at 8:45 AM on January 2, 2015
Isn't that your 4th of July?
I imagine it varies a lot by region, but everywhere I've lived, you'd never see this density of fireworks, especially in any kind of city. It's a lot more sporadic and spread out.
For a country that generally seems to be very responsible and safety-conscious, it seems very out of character.
I don't think everyone can be buttoned-up 100% of the time.
posted by cosmic.osmo at 8:56 AM on January 2, 2015
I imagine it varies a lot by region, but everywhere I've lived, you'd never see this density of fireworks, especially in any kind of city. It's a lot more sporadic and spread out.
For a country that generally seems to be very responsible and safety-conscious, it seems very out of character.
I don't think everyone can be buttoned-up 100% of the time.
posted by cosmic.osmo at 8:56 AM on January 2, 2015
Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous.
We used to have it in Honolulu. It was insane. Constant complaining and whinging by the usual suspects - the ones who whine and complain about everything - finally pressured the city and state to restrict it about ten years ago. And we lost part of our culture.
We can't have it because: It is bad for our health. And the health of our children.
posted by kanewai at 9:36 AM on January 2, 2015
We used to have it in Honolulu. It was insane. Constant complaining and whinging by the usual suspects - the ones who whine and complain about everything - finally pressured the city and state to restrict it about ten years ago. And we lost part of our culture.
We can't have it because: It is bad for our health. And the health of our children.
posted by kanewai at 9:36 AM on January 2, 2015
zardoz: "Why can't we Americans have that? I'm jealous."
It depends on what state you live in. Indiana is extremely lax about personal fireworks, so my neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis looks and smells like a war zone on the 4th of July from dusk until everyone runs out of either fireworks or beer at 2 am. Illinois is very strict, allowing essentially no personal fireworks beyond sparklers, so I saw very little of this in and around Chicago. Shooting off fireworks is fun, but people around here definitely lose more fingers. It's not so fun if you have a baby, a scared dog or have to be at work at 6 am.
posted by double block and bleed at 10:11 AM on January 2, 2015
It depends on what state you live in. Indiana is extremely lax about personal fireworks, so my neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis looks and smells like a war zone on the 4th of July from dusk until everyone runs out of either fireworks or beer at 2 am. Illinois is very strict, allowing essentially no personal fireworks beyond sparklers, so I saw very little of this in and around Chicago. Shooting off fireworks is fun, but people around here definitely lose more fingers. It's not so fun if you have a baby, a scared dog or have to be at work at 6 am.
posted by double block and bleed at 10:11 AM on January 2, 2015
Poor doggies is all I can think of when I see mad fireworks. Count me in as another party-pooper.
posted by feste at 10:34 AM on January 2, 2015
posted by feste at 10:34 AM on January 2, 2015
Isn't that your 4th of July?
It's different. As someone who has always been inclined to treat the 4th as a kind of pyro-Christmas, it's still a pretty localized phenomenon: either you go to a fireworks show, or you do stuff with your friends and/or family in a parking lot or along your street or whatever. I've never seen fireworks blanket a city like this, except for when I went to Buenos Aires about 15 years ago and the explosions were positively fractal, with them going off as far as the eye could see, which in a flat city like BA resulted in a glow across the entire horizon. They seriously just kept on going into the distance.
posted by rhizome at 10:38 AM on January 2, 2015
It's different. As someone who has always been inclined to treat the 4th as a kind of pyro-Christmas, it's still a pretty localized phenomenon: either you go to a fireworks show, or you do stuff with your friends and/or family in a parking lot or along your street or whatever. I've never seen fireworks blanket a city like this, except for when I went to Buenos Aires about 15 years ago and the explosions were positively fractal, with them going off as far as the eye could see, which in a flat city like BA resulted in a glow across the entire horizon. They seriously just kept on going into the distance.
posted by rhizome at 10:38 AM on January 2, 2015
Head to Northeast DC for NYE you'll see some shit that makes this look sane. I actually saw two dudes having a wild west style shootout one hanging out the window of his 2nd story apt blasting bottle rockets while the guy on the ground, shirtless, sprayed a huge gout of flame at him and they were both like XD yaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:22 PM on January 2, 2015
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:22 PM on January 2, 2015
Where is the obligatory Downfall parody?
posted by lagomorphius at 1:22 PM on January 2, 2015
posted by lagomorphius at 1:22 PM on January 2, 2015
Our city has official fireworks celebrations about ten times year but they're always localized and shot from barges on the river(s). I've never seen such a display of random urban fireworks.
posted by octothorpe at 3:09 PM on January 2, 2015
posted by octothorpe at 3:09 PM on January 2, 2015
This would make the winter inversion in SLC even worse. I'm sort of glad that fireworks as a thing here on NYE haven't quite got the same widespread display as they do on 7/4 and 7/24 (local Mormon holiday that is celebrated more rampantly than Independence Day). Even the city switched from fireworks to a light show (supposedly for air quality issues). Driving around residential streets in July is pretty similar to this, although not as urban.
posted by msbutah at 3:52 PM on January 2, 2015
posted by msbutah at 3:52 PM on January 2, 2015
« Older Future so bright | They opened up a bank account in her name with it. Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by zardoz at 8:14 PM on January 1, 2015