An Art of Air and Fire: Brazil’s Renegade Balloonists
November 4, 2014 4:52 PM   Subscribe

 
Much like balloons rise and fall, baloeiros came from modest roots, launched into an explosive phenomenon... It seems that for now, they remain in a state of suspension.

That author is a gasbag.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:00 PM on November 4, 2014


I remember seeing these when I visited Brazil a long time ago. We were at a restaurant high in a hill overlooking the city. Lots of balloons carrying fireworks. Also a pretty big fire consuming several houses below. Lots of fire truck sirens. I recall thinking the whole thing was pretty fucked up.
posted by ryanrs at 5:17 PM on November 4, 2014


Oh, my god - the video from the first link is incredible. It's like... it's like... I dunno... it's like watching a space battle in broad daylight:

“They’re going to come up our stem, think we don’t know they’re down there. Think we’ve got some kind of soft underbelly. Well, then. Let’s see the Empire’s little toy TIE fighters give it their best shot. Lobot! Have Weather Control lower the cloud ceiling as far as it can go, and initiate main level Repulsor Fog, I want a clear view of them, not the other way 'round. As soon as they come in range of Ring Zero’s offensive batteries, let ‘em have it, and keep it coming ring by ring all the way up-Stem. Bespin may not be able to win this outright, but we’ll give ‘em a damn good reason to make a deal with us to keep from finding out.”

That said, running one of these over a densely packed urban neighborhood dance party is about as murderously negligent an act as I can comprehend. Out in the woods with onlookers at a safe distance, wow, beautiful!
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:59 PM on November 4, 2014


Elizabeth Bishop!
posted by smrtsch at 7:04 PM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


You do that in the woods here in Australia and your sorry ass will be in jail. What's left of it after you get burned to death in a bushfire, anyway.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:06 PM on November 4, 2014


The simpler form of these balloons is actually pretty fire-safe, because they don't come down until the fire is out. It's the pyrotechnics and other fancy stuff not related to lift that is prone to start a fire.
posted by localroger at 7:16 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Australian forests are typically full of eucalypts, which are basically designed to encourage bushfires. They're full of flammable oil and they're surrounded by flammable leaves and debris. Australians are pretty paranoid about bushfires; most roads in the country around here have big signs indicating the current "fire danger", and during summer it's usually illegal to light fires in the open.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:22 PM on November 4, 2014


I thought this was pretty amazing. Great post.
posted by carter at 11:24 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


We can't have nice things.
posted by Naberius at 6:50 AM on November 5, 2014




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