Hal and I got home about an hour ago and the fireworks are still going off all around us. My LTG friends, Lisa and Tom, had a party at their house which is straight up the hill from our house. You know how we are always bragging about our incredible sweeping 180 degree view of the entire central valley? They have an even better, vast-er view. Probably 500′ higher, no trees, no houses, not a single thing blocking that unbelievable vista. Perfect place to see all the fireworks.
And what a show! The Booms have been sporadic all day, but started in earnest around 10:30pm. Steady… then from 10 minutes till midnight till almost 1am, it was deafening. We were 2,500′ above the fireworks and miles away and, at the high points, you couldn’t talk to the person standing next to you!
When we got home, Mo had taken a video of The Big Moment from inside our house with our little Canon point and shoot. It is a microscopic tidbit of what we saw at Lisa’s, and of what he saw from the house… He says it sounds like you are in a really busy bowling alley.
If you can stand it, watch the whole thing and turn the volume up a little for the effect. ALL of the black in the video is actually lit up in real life, but the little camera can’t get it all in. When you look out over the valley at night, all you see are lights. Take the lights you see here and multiply by 100. At least.
Next year, we will take a real video. You just won’t believe it. This kinda fun is against the law in the U.S. You know, protecting us from ourselves and all. Funny, after tonight, I believe this is the sound of freedom. I hope you are feeling as free. Blessings on us all! Happy happy 2008.
2am 2008
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Happy New Year to all at your house from our house!
I may not like the overuse of electricity and all but the Central Valley does look really pretty at night. I can imagine all the lights clearly right now. All the fireworks sound like a blast – and definitely sound like a bowling alley in the video. Happy New Year 🙂
You know, Sally, you’re looking to make money to be able to stay in CR, yes?
How about next year’s fireworks as an hour-long video, maybe taken with several fixed cameras just rolling. You can take the sound(track) from one of the cameras and edit together the best visuals filmed throughout the time span to show the most spectacular stuff.
It might be a hit! You know, they sell videos of things like aquariums with fish swimming in them for offices or homes as background, or for the cats to watch. There are videos of birds or wild animals in nature, some being chased by predators, which are offered for both the cats and dogs to watch. There are even videos of roaring fires in fireplaces for people who don’t have one and want the ambience.
But Costa Rica would be an ideal place to record fireworks.
Just my mind running on, as usual. Don’t want any of the ‘take’ for coming up with the idea if this should turn out to be a successful gambit, but maybe a free copy of it.
Happy (BOOM!!) New Year . . .
Paul M.
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well let’s see, from my backyard I can also see interesting fireworks
PROBLEM!
two of my 4 dogs are traumatized by loud noises/previous abuse/etc
end result, me & Mrs Wolfie end up awake until 1 AM (when we were actually sleepy) because the dogs keep shaking and trying to get on the bed next to us in an mega effort to achieve ultra safety
of course that they won………and our bed is full (Even more than usual) of dog hair
I can tell you that my dogs are happy these holidays are OVER………next year I will take a video of the whole circus and we can exchange points of view 🙂
Happy New Year to you and your family
We saw a little bit from our house as well (from Gus’s bedroom window). Quite amazing to watch. I. says this is NOTHING compared to the Philippines. They would have started at about 4pm. Also, just to let you know, I have been informed that techinically they are illegal here too. And if you watch all the kid tv that we do, many commercials attest to the dangerousness of these activites. When I. went looking to procure our own little show, the storeowners looked at him like he was on a drugbust. Alas, no firecrackers for us (I like all his fingers and eyes – no tears here). And 2/3 kids slept through it (which was nice for us). Still, fun to ring in the new year here. See you soon. Jen
OK, Paul: NYE 2008 Video on the $ list. It’s pretty amazing.
Wolfie: our three dogs were in mom’s room all trying to get in or under her bed. It was like being in a war zone, my mom said. You can add your video to the Master video – that would be perfect. We’ll donate some of the profits to local animal shelters. Will assuage some of my guilt for enjoying the spectacle so much while everyone else tries to calm their animals!!!
Jen, it is dangerous and some of the big ones are illegal. Sigh. All the fun stuff is. See you!