Pyro Pete's Final Fawkes ? CRIKEY !

Dispensing heartlessly with tradition, we celebrated Guy Fawkes night on the 4th November this year. Saturday evenings are just easier to organise. After a series of ever more creative and frankly bizarre experiments with sparkler-clustering designs, we wanted to give my old mate Pete Austick (aka Pyro Pete) a seriously memorable send-off before he (with family) emigrates to Australia in 10 days' time.

Planning sessions (such as they were) are recorded here - http://amazingforums.com/forum/ORANJE/6.html

SO - an Australian theme it was.

The Giant Prawn has already been covered on this site (see previous posting), but little did we suspect the other HUGE contenders for Immense Immolation, namely -

• Voluminous VB Can
• Bl**dy Big Barbie
• Colossal Croc

..not to mention 'Guy Day, Ned' Kelly in effigy, wrestling Matthew Page to the floor in a spirited final bid for freedom.


WHOOMF ! Tremendous team creativity, and our thanks to everyone who participated.
There was a slightly dodgy moment with the Sp@rkler Bat for which we are all very sorry (memo to team : roman candles are not designed for horizontal use) , but the final airborne journey and flare-up was as impressive as ever and, personally, rather touching.

Even more so when PP himself presented me with the SB itself to preserve in perpetuity (well, in our garage, more likely)



So - the end of an era. What does the future hold ?
Pete, Lianne and I discussed this at some length afterwards, sitting round the fireside in the small hours of Sunday morning. You could view the last few years events as some of us (we know who we are) reliving our childhoods, only with bigger budgets and less parental restraint. There is a limit as to how far this can go (the authorities have some fairly strict views on this, and certain local dog-owners are also pretty vocal), so I think we'll be re-assessing the nature of Nov 5th for 2007. Perhaps it should be just a simple do for the kids and their friends, perhaps a quieter get-together for our mates, but I doubt we'll continue with the same approach in years to come. So - if you missed it, - too late! If you came but hated it - sorry. If you came, saw and enjoyed it, then I'm delighted , and I'm glad we all came out in one piece.

Like we said on the invite :

"....and gentlemen in England still a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here."



The St Johns Ambulance, Fire Service and other bodies may disagree, however.