Normally I'd make fun of them, but it's actually pretty awesome
July 31, 2010 3:16 AM   Subscribe

 
A few years back I poured two lightsticks (glowsticks) into the bowl of a toilet and photographed it. This became internet famous for a few days: Lightsticks In Toilet. (Self link disclaimer goes here, if not obvious already.)
posted by c0nsumer at 3:28 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Having lived near the Sellafield nuclear power station, I can only say that this effect is nothing new.
posted by quarsan at 3:30 AM on July 31, 2010


It's all your fault c0nsumer. All. your. fault.


OMG Thank you
posted by dabitch at 3:33 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


I was half-expecting it to suddenly turn into a shrieking vortex of evil, à la cell phone in a microwave.
posted by Rhaomi at 3:33 AM on July 31, 2010 [12 favorites]


"Oh, Man, my hand's on fire!"
"This is the most awesome thing I've ever seen!"
"I'm not that high!"

No. It's not awesome.
posted by CCBC at 3:34 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Yeah, the really cool stuff was the the swirl of color on their hands and the walls. They should have sat back in the dark, turned on some Floyd and enjoyed.
posted by njbradburn at 3:43 AM on July 31, 2010


Waste treatment plants don't do well with this sort of waste.

Probably wouldn't be as funny if they dumped it directly into the river/ocean, but this is basically what they are doing.
posted by three blind mice at 3:47 AM on July 31, 2010 [24 favorites]


one step (well maybe two steps) from dumping millions of gallons of oil in the gulf. If we could just flush it, we would probably solve the problem.

naw...not funny, unless you're high.
posted by HuronBob at 3:53 AM on July 31, 2010


We all live downstream, you drug-addled wankers.
posted by mmoncur at 3:57 AM on July 31, 2010 [10 favorites]


Geez, really? This is the kind of experience that goes through the capabilities of waste treatment plants? Seriously? Really???

Really?
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:04 AM on July 31, 2010


That was pretty cool, and I'm not even high.
posted by sebas at 4:05 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'll bet every public toilet in the world would look exactly like that under ultraviolet light, no glow sticks required.

Come to think of it, so do probably the hands of every college-age guy on the planet.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:08 AM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


Best of the web? I think I saw this on Jackass.
posted by headnsouth at 4:11 AM on July 31, 2010


Looks like they brutally murdered a unicorn in there.
Not that I have any experience with that kind of thing.
*looks around nervously*
posted by Pseudonumb at 4:38 AM on July 31, 2010 [19 favorites]


The art of the offspring of the zombie corpse of the sixties.
posted by srboisvert at 4:44 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


"I would totally love to take a shit in that toilet"
Made me smile and deapair. Smile mainly....
posted by kenaman at 4:50 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Hasn't anyone noticed that these are in the tank?
posted by megatherium at 5:08 AM on July 31, 2010


Pseudonumb, I take it you're responsible for the "It looks like you guys slaughtered a unicorn in your bathroom" comment on the video?...
posted by gene_machine at 5:08 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


This explains the ending of Lost.
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:15 AM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


It looked like glowing vomit when they flushed. Bleah.
posted by zarq at 5:17 AM on July 31, 2010


Yay! This is why youtube is great.
posted by ph00dz at 5:19 AM on July 31, 2010


The punctum should have been a turd suddenly reappearing at the very last shot, followed by one of the guys spontaneously vomiting.
posted by a non e mouse at 5:20 AM on July 31, 2010


Daddy, why do I have twelve fingers?
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:20 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Wow. I have to say, I'm more into the fourth suggested link: 1988 Elger Toilet. Can you believe it! ADA height! What a score! As the commode ravers would say, this is the best idea ever!
posted by thejoshu at 5:23 AM on July 31, 2010


Mmm, yeah. The MSDS for DNPO (one of the common ingredients in glowsticks) says:

36: Irritating to the eyes
37: Irritating to the respiratory system
38: Irritating to the skin

26: In case of contact with eyes, rinse immediately with plenty of water and seek medical advice
27: Take off immediately all contaminated clothing
28: After contact with skin, wash immediately with plenty of ... (to be specified by the manufacturer)
29: Do not empty into drains
30: Never add water to this product
33: Take precautionary measures against static discharges
35: This material and its container must be disposed of in a safe way
36: Wear suitable protective clothing

(emphasis mine) There are alternatives to DNPO but they're all just as nasty.
posted by kcds at 5:48 AM on July 31, 2010 [6 favorites]


37: For boring scientific purposes only. STRICTLY NO FUN ALLOWED
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 5:54 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


What dopes.
posted by idest at 6:03 AM on July 31, 2010


Drugs are bad, mmmkay. Don't do drugs.
posted by punkfloyd at 6:04 AM on July 31, 2010


So, how are you supposed to dispose of glowsticks?
posted by dirigibleman at 6:09 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


Were these guys already in South Korea when this was shot or still back in the States? (You can see from their video posting history that they were there in March '09, this was shot in January '09 in their barracks, I believe.) It looks funny until the pranks they are pulling end up hurting locals or confirming the stereotype overseas that American soldiers are jerks. (Says I, who have many family and friends who have served recently overseas and are not insensitive jerks.)
posted by jeanmari at 6:11 AM on July 31, 2010 [4 favorites]


Damn. Upper-decker droppers everywhere are going to have to work to top that.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 6:12 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


So, how are you supposed to dispose of glowsticks?

Just like batteries, in a campfire.
posted by horsemuth at 6:13 AM on July 31, 2010 [16 favorites]


Brings new meaning to the technicolor yawn!
posted by drlith at 6:16 AM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


We all live downstream, you drug-addled wankers.

Indeed.
posted by pracowity at 6:17 AM on July 31, 2010


Man, ever since "Touch of Grey", deadheads have just gotten dumber and dumber.
posted by not_on_display at 6:41 AM on July 31, 2010


The easy solution to disposing of glow sticks is to not purchase them in the first place...
posted by HuronBob at 6:47 AM on July 31, 2010 [6 favorites]


That poor, poor Gerber.
posted by Evilspork at 6:49 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


Christ, what an assglow.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 7:33 AM on July 31, 2010 [7 favorites]


Drugs are a hell of a drug.
posted by Bookhouse at 7:36 AM on July 31, 2010 [5 favorites]


It kinda looks like the credits to Doctor Who.
posted by Lucinda at 7:50 AM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


a non e mouse: "The punctum should have been a turd suddenly reappearing at the very last shot, followed by one of the guys spontaneously vomiting."

"What does that chunk want?"
posted by bwg at 7:56 AM on July 31, 2010


Glows dicks.
posted by ColdChef at 7:58 AM on July 31, 2010


I remember at Lollapalooza '97 (the last touring Lollapalooza) during the Prodigy's set (right in the midst of their incredibly slim window of mainstream relevance) a bunch of these types breaking open some glowsticks and guzzling them and spitting the fluid everywhere. I regarded them with contempt. I figured they would wake up with their mouths having become one giant uninterrupted canker sore.
posted by anazgnos at 8:04 AM on July 31, 2010


not as satisfying of the murder of the washing machine
posted by angrycat at 8:19 AM on July 31, 2010


stupid and inconsiderate on so many levels.
posted by zombieApoc at 8:23 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was about to post something like, "I sure feel sorry for somebody's mom," because you just know that, sober or high, those dudebros are not cleaning up a bathroom any more than they would have when they were eight.

Then I noticed the tags. Private.

I am told that, when my grandfather was in Japan in World War II, he and some pals took a leak on a sacred site, and were subsequently chased away by shouting priests (?). It was repeated as a funny story, but it made me cringe, and it occurred to me now because pouring dangerous chemicals down a drain for fun is an equally pointless, rotten, childish thing to do in another country. (Or this one. I'm considering what jeanmari said that they may have been in South Korea at the time.)
posted by Countess Elena at 8:38 AM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


I really enjoyed that on an eschatological level.
posted by Casimir at 8:41 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought 1) that looks interesting but 2) what the hell is in glowsticks, and 3) who is going to clean up that mess.

Look kids, playing with mercury is fun, but it will fuck you up. Before you break open your toys, know what's inside.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:11 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


out, out, damn spot.
posted by Edward L at 9:23 AM on July 31, 2010


The best thing about turning out the lights, splattering a bunch of glowsticks all over your kitchen and marveling at how much it looks like outer space (drugs optional), is that once you turn the lights on, the whole mess disappears. No clean up required! It's the perfect activity for stupid, stoned people who hate consequences.
posted by moons in june at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


filthy light thief
posted by dmd at 10:38 AM on July 31, 2010


From the YouTube comments: "It looks like you guys slaughtered a unicorn in your bathroom."
posted by Frank Grimes at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2010


It doesn't look like any unicorn I know. More like the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms commercials.
posted by Fizz at 12:02 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


Pseudonumb: "Looks like they brutally murdered a unicorn in there."

Look at the type of altar they sacrificed it on. Infer their alignment.
posted by brokkr at 1:02 PM on July 31, 2010 [3 favorites]


In college, I once tried to open a glowstick to do cool stuff with the contents. The liquid squirted right in my eye, and I spent the next 45 minutes with my head underwater in the bathroom sink flushing it out. The good news is my eye turned out all right. The bad news is I was completely sober when it happened and really am that stupid.
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:13 PM on July 31, 2010 [2 favorites]


WHITE PUNKS ON *FLUUUUSSSSSSHHHHH*

(In case you're wondering, I did not return their security deposit.)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 2:08 PM on July 31, 2010 [1 favorite]


The real payoff to this video is the one in 25 years where they are all laughing about their hilarious skin cancer.
posted by DU at 5:50 PM on July 31, 2010


d'oh
posted by DU at 5:51 PM on July 31, 2010


And what, they have to either stay in the cubicle or keep checking back to see how glowie it is. I can think of better things to be doing at a rave, like um...
posted by the noob at 9:30 PM on July 31, 2010



So, how are you supposed to dispose of glowsticks?


An old coworker of mine had this very problem, and this is how he dealt with it:

He proceeded to dump several hundred glowsticks on the crowd at a Hank III show.

There was glowstick carnage everywhere. I had some that had broken open all over my hands (the first few not on purpose) and suddenly several people wanted me to put my luminous handprints all over them. Soon, everyone was breaking them open and rubbing the glowcrap on themselves; on their clothes, on their faces, in their hair. Some people emptied them into their drinks (DO NOT DO THIS. In addition to the other nasties, they have GLASS in them, or at least, they did - I have not partaken for a long time.)

All the while, glowsticks were being flung through the air with reckless abandon and yeah, getting hit by a glowstick flying at drunk-pitch-yee-haw-country-metal speed kinda hurts. It was definitely a sight to behold.

So he really didn't dispose of them so much as transfer the problem to another department.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:12 AM on August 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Anyway, it looks like The Care Bears left them an upper decker.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:14 AM on August 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


"Looks like they brutally murdered a unicorn in there."

Look at the type of altar they sacrificed it on. Infer their alignment.

Chaotic Stupid?
posted by KingEdRa at 6:47 AM on August 1, 2010 [2 favorites]


It's a shame it didn't even look that cool.

reminds me of Magick, by the Klaxons
posted by codacorolla at 7:16 AM on August 1, 2010


I want what they had.
posted by lkc at 11:51 AM on August 1, 2010


obviously it's not a particularly responsible thing to do, but come on, you're stoned and it seems like a good idea and you do it...and it actually does look brilliant.

there are bigger environmental concerns to tut over than some stoned men flushing a chemical down a toilet once.
posted by 6am at 3:19 PM on August 1, 2010


filthy light thief: Look kids, playing with mercury is fun , but it will fuck you up. Before you break open your toys, know what's inside.

From the Wiki article: Glow sticks contain hydrogen peroxide, and phenol is produced as a by-product . . . Despite reports to the contrary, it is not safe to smoke or ingest glowing phenol, and it will not produce any drug-like effects.

Something that would never occur to me? Smoke a glow stick.
posted by IvoShandor at 10:57 PM on August 1, 2010


That was several orders of magnitude less awesome than I thought it'd be.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:37 AM on August 2, 2010


One time for fun we poked holes in a couple glow sticks and shook drops all over our bodies and ran around the yard. Everything was fun and dandy till I got a drop in my eye. I spent over 20 minutes in the shower looking directly up into the faucet. Not fun.
posted by daHIFI at 2:03 PM on August 2, 2010


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