Willmark:
Ironically going to the Olde Toad pub tonight for dinner. The Toad is an actual English Pub here and the staff is exchange students from the UK who work here for a year.
nitroglysarine:
Going to a fire works demo with the kids, 4 and 1 yrs olds should have a blast!
- i hope they have cocoa. 
cornixt:
I miss it. Here’s the explanation for forrinas: Years ago a man tried to blow up the British parliament but he was caught. Every year, the British children make an effigy of that man and burn it. Traditionally, they would have carted the effigy around the streets and raised some cash but that doesn’t happen much any more. Plus there are lots of fireworks and it is at a good time of year so that children don’t have to be kept up way passed their bedtime (I’m looking at you July 4th!).
nitroglysarine:
And of course there is this lovely mask.
Oh, well the severe weather warning that was out in West Wales seems to for a change been accurate, the fireworks display has been cancelled
vulcanologist:
Lots of death rockets being launched tonight!!
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Ahhh…British Halloween! 
GRNDL:
Er, no. Brits have Halloween AND Bonfire/Guy Fawke’s night. One is pagan traditional, one is british political. Bonfire Night is truly one of the things I miss the most since I moved to Canada. I have fond memories of helping the local PTA build the bonfire as a kid and crawling around inside the venting tubes inside a massive 20-30 ft tall, soon-to-be flaming conflagration in a farmer’s field. Those things would burn all night and you’d feel the heat from it from a hundred feet or more away.
Awesome. Also, candy apples and treacle toffee!!
K!
PS: These were Somerset traditions.
vulcanologist:
I live in Somerset! Unfortunately I’m working tonight so my conflagration of doom will have to wait until tomorrow evening!
nitroglysarine:
The local bonfire has been moved to monday because of weather, which is kinda soggy.
Roll on summer!
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Funny that Romania celebrates Halloween on the 26th.
nitroglysarine:
Funny that Romania celebrates Halloween on the 26th.That'd odd, any historical reason for it being three weeks later than GB?
Tarrakk Blackhand
How quick was communication across Europe back in the 17c? Perhaps 3 weeks? ;P
Interesting the image above was make from a calculation from the local university, if the gun powder plot had succeeded it would have created a hole in London, quite a big one! He had created such good quality gun powder it was basically TNT!
snowblizz:
I miss it. Here's the explanation for forrinas:You know, we *have* seen "V for Vendetta"...:~
cornixt
How quick was communication across Europe back in the 17c? Perhaps 3 weeks? ;PDepends on where you were going... and where you started.
nitroglysarine
Interesting the image above was make from a calculation from the local university, if the gun powder plot had succeeded it would have created a hole in London, quite a big one! He had created such good quality gun powder it was basically TNT!I don't believe that for a second. I'd like to see the source of that, I would.
nitroglysarine
cornixt:
I've not seen that film, I just thought he used the Guy Fawkes mask. So they explain the history of it?I miss it. Here's the explanation for forrinas:You know, we *have* seen "V for Vendetta"...:~
cornixt
snowblizz
nitroglysarine:
Hate to say this as i get irritated when people say it to me but.....watch the film, it would spoil it to explain it really.I've not seen that film, I just thought he used the Guy Fawkes mask. So they explain the history of it?I miss it. Here's the explanation for forrinas:You know, we *have* seen "V for Vendetta"...:~
cornixt
snowblizz
cornixt
-sorry.
Kered:
I’m watching my neighbors fire works from my window at this very moment.
Willmark:
Having Bangers & Mash right now!
dncswlf:
I’m going to be playing a game of warhammer Chaos dwarfs vs wood elves! yeah!
Ishkur Cinderhat:
I don't believe that for a second. I'd like to see the source of that, I would.I read on Wikipedia yesterday that there was a documentation on British TV on the whole gunpowder plot which showed that the explosion would have been quite a bit more impressive than anyone had anticipated. But if the drawing presented by nitroglysarine is from that docu, I couldn't know. ^^
snowblizz
nitroglysarine:
The drawing is very close to a drawing a friend of mine made in the Physics department in Aberystwyth, she was in the Energy and Explosives research team. The gunpowder was well packed and good quality, it would have made (using some equations she had for destruction and fall out, windows upto a mile would have been broken, death toll would have been significant, and the Thames would have forever had a wide bulge in it.
-trying to track down a better picture, but racked down an article missing the pictures here:- The Times & The Sunday Times
snowblizz:
So issue here is exactly what I suspected.
1) the Guy Fawkes legend - makes everything take on a bit of mythical shimmer
2) we have sketchy historical records, and there was good reason for them to exaggerate
3) there’s no way gunpowder is as goods as TNT, that’s one reason why other explosives were invented
I don’t believe the claim that “had it worked we would have had THIIIS big a hole in London”.
From the Wiki about the show, 100-200 meters would be the killing zone, 400 metes out would dangerous, looks vastly smaller in size than the one nitro posted.
From the Times article:
There is no doubt that Fawkes had provided more than enough gunpowder to blow up Parliament.That I can agree with, but it looks to me that the legends is blowing up more than just the original parliament.