We used to love the 4th as kids. My dad was a NY State trooper and fireworks were illegal in NY. But not on the Indian Reservation where we have our cottage. Troopers would bring in trunk fulls of fireworks and every other type of explosive you could imagine. They used to give us these cracker balls that you could throw at concrete and they would go off. But if you took a whole box and duct taped it to a sledge hammer, now you're talking some serious fun. 1 sparkler was cool, 40 taped together on a broom handle was even better. Bundle together 50 bottle rockets,? no problem!
One year, I must have been 10 or 12, the Capt of the local State Police barracks dropped off the ultimate in rockets. This thing stood almost 5 feet tall and said" the big one" one the side. I'm sure my younger brother went into convultions as soon as he saw it.
Well the 4th rolled around and we did our best to try and blow up everything on the beach. It must have looked like Normandy with all of the crap flying through the air.
My younger brother just couldn't stand it any longer and positioned "the big one" on a piece of steel rebar into the ground at a 45 degree angle and lit it off. Now mind you, it was only 8 o'clock at night when this thing got launched. It shot out between the trees at an elevation of less than 100 feet over everyones head on the beach and out over the water. It made an abrupt turn and headed down the beach in line with numerous other cottages along the water. When the grenade in the warhead went off, the ensuing flash and bang took out 6 or 7 windows on 2 of the cottages.
Worst beating my brother ever got. My mother banned fireworks for the next 25 years.
Hence my fasination with explosives and dirtbags. I just got another brilliant idea! Tape 4 or 5 boxes of the cracker balls to the dirtbags haed and drop them off a 4 story building head first, with almost 4 stories of bungie cord. The ensuing explosion upon contact would shoot his ass back up in the air, the bungee cord would go taught, and slam his back into the concrete. So many ideas, so little det cord
