The bombs bursting in air/gave proof through the night/that Boom City was still there

On Thursday, I met up with dravalen and foxhunt006 to go to Boom City. This has become a….once every three years tradition for us to risk life and limb out on the field; where you can light your firework, run away, and directly into someone else’s lit firework. Sadly, no ‘sweet honeys’ were lit on fire by errant fireworks this time, but I suppose there’s always next year.

Even more sadly, I can’t seem to figure out how to operate my camera in low light and ended up with a couple of really shitty pictures and a whole mess of black-as-night images that reveal that they once WERE something when super-grained-up in photoshop. Sad.

Boom City is basically like Tijuana, but for fireworks and minus the donkey shows. If you’ve never been to Tijuana, let me explain: there are tons of stalls, everybody basically sells the same shit, but are super aggressive about cutting you the ‘best deal’. In TJ, I’ve had people follow me down the street, lowering and lowering and lowering their price until you buy something to prevent them from throwing their daughter into the bargain as well. You can also have your picture taken seated on a donkey painted like a zebra if that’s your thing, but that’s not the sort of donkey show I was talking about. Here, the vendors differentiate themselves by decorating their stands with different themes–the Pink Cadillac stand, the Stoopid Prices stand, the Pot vs Head stand, the Kwik E Mart stand, etc.

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No one seemed particularly thrilled at the idea of having their stand photographed, for whatever reason, so I didn’t want to fiddle around with my camera overly much lest I really piss someone off.

I bought a ‘Raptor’s Revenge’ for a super-sweet price and hauled it around with me as everyone had been ushered off the firing area for a ‘show’ that didn’t ever really seem to take place. I could barely get my arms around it, which means that as far as explosions go, this one was going to be particularly awesome.

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We went and bought some highly-caffeinated beverages to fire up our nerves before we hit the field, and whilst doing so, the proprietor leaned over and gave me some instructions that made me feel as if I were in a video game:

“If you want more fireworks, go to the first aisle. Make a left. Halfway down, you’ll see stand 23. Talk to Bubba; tell him Crazy Kyle sent you. He’ll hook you up with the best stuff you’ve ever seen.”

Right at that moment, the lighting area opened up again and fireworks started blasting madly; we had approximately an hour before the field closed and we wanted to get out there before things got even more insane–that night was the last night of the season, and as it’s way illegal to transport anything acquired on the reservation off of tribal land, items purchased in a last-minute frenzy need to be lit off the same night, and I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of that.

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This warning sign was NOT here the last time I came.

Let me tell you, dodging other people’s fireworks while holding an explosive of your own is a sure way to get your adrenaline pumping. I’m happy to report that all of us have come through another explosive holiday unscathed!

20 Comments The bombs bursting in air/gave proof through the night/that Boom City was still there

  1. shadowstitch July 8, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    It only starts with Revenge.

    I don’t know who gave the goddamned dinosaurs the secrets of explosives technology but whoever it was, you’ve doomed us all. Great job, Judas.

    1. admin July 8, 2008 at 8:11 pm

      I did it for Science!

      Wouldn’t the lack of opposable thumbs prevent dinosaurs from doing too much, even if they had access to explosives?

    2. admin July 8, 2008 at 8:11 pm

      I did it for Science!

      Wouldn’t the lack of opposable thumbs prevent dinosaurs from doing too much, even if they had access to explosives?

    3. darth_nater July 9, 2008 at 2:59 am

      Re: It only starts with Revenge.

      Mel was “blinded by science”. Har.

    4. darth_nater July 9, 2008 at 2:59 am

      Re: It only starts with Revenge.

      Mel was “blinded by science”. Har.

  2. shadowstitch July 8, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    It only starts with Revenge.

    I don’t know who gave the goddamned dinosaurs the secrets of explosives technology but whoever it was, you’ve doomed us all. Great job, Judas.

  3. darth_nater July 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    The entry from last year about sweet honeys nearly sent me to the floor laughing. How do you always manage to get caught up in these situations?

    1. admin July 9, 2008 at 7:00 am

      I’m pretty sure that one of the functions of my Freak Magnet is to repel everything from my existence that could be considered mundane or boring, while simultaneously drawing in the polar opposites of Super Freak-ay and Spectacularly Awesome. That’s the only way I can explain it, really.

    2. admin July 9, 2008 at 7:00 am

      I’m pretty sure that one of the functions of my Freak Magnet is to repel everything from my existence that could be considered mundane or boring, while simultaneously drawing in the polar opposites of Super Freak-ay and Spectacularly Awesome. That’s the only way I can explain it, really.

  4. darth_nater July 9, 2008 at 3:00 am

    The entry from last year about sweet honeys nearly sent me to the floor laughing. How do you always manage to get caught up in these situations?

  5. poetrix618 July 9, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    dinofireosaur

    So, what was Raptor’s Revenge like? Did the thing burst into razor-sharp dewclaws and tear into the crowd? If not, I’m disappointed.

    1. admin July 9, 2008 at 9:24 pm

      Re: dinofireosaur

      No dewclaws, unfortunately, but it shot off a good twelve large fireworks in rapid succession.

    2. admin July 9, 2008 at 9:24 pm

      Re: dinofireosaur

      No dewclaws, unfortunately, but it shot off a good twelve large fireworks in rapid succession.

  6. poetrix618 July 9, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    dinofireosaur

    So, what was Raptor’s Revenge like? Did the thing burst into razor-sharp dewclaws and tear into the crowd? If not, I’m disappointed.

  7. poetrix618 July 9, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    oooooooooh pretty!

  8. poetrix618 July 9, 2008 at 10:43 pm

    oooooooooh pretty!

  9. foxhunt006 July 10, 2008 at 2:10 am
    Boom City!

    I stole your pics and highlighted them a bit! I think that warning sign is new- I wonder if someone had a spectacular ending last year.

    1. admin July 10, 2008 at 5:44 am

      I’ve googled but I can’t find any information. 🙁

      Thanks for the lightened pics! We probably shouldn’t let another year go by before hanging out again, because that is ridiculous.

    2. admin July 10, 2008 at 5:44 am

      I’ve googled but I can’t find any information. 🙁

      Thanks for the lightened pics! We probably shouldn’t let another year go by before hanging out again, because that is ridiculous.

  10. foxhunt006 July 10, 2008 at 2:10 am
    Boom City!

    I stole your pics and highlighted them a bit! I think that warning sign is new- I wonder if someone had a spectacular ending last year.

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