Crazed, cooped up children, tightly-wound parents at their wit's end, lighter fluid, baking soda, and burning sugar -- what could go wrong?

Image: YouTube Read the rest

That's not actually Paul Stanley; it's Bobby Jensen playing the part of the Starchild in the Minneapolis-based classic rock tribute band Hairball in concert. But either way, it's still pretty badass (at least until you remember the tragic Great White fire of 2003, and start to wonder why the hell there weren't more contingencies in place to prevent this kind of accident).

After the incident, Jensen, who also performs in an Alice Cooper tribute act, spoke to Ultimate Classic Rock and said, "I live an Evil Knievel kind of life, so if I'm on fire a little bit, I don't care, that's just part of the fun. I knew I was on fire right away, and that wasn't a wig, that's my hair. It was really nice and foofy before the show, now I have a much better Alice Cooper cut."

(This insanely metal moment actually happened over Valentine's Day weekend in 2019, but the band returned to Sioux City again this year, making the video spread like fire all over again.) Read the rest

In Wyoming, an attempt to break the world record for the most sparklers lit at one time failed on a technicality. Bummer. Read the rest

As a kid I set my friend's kitchen on fire melting potassium nitrate and sugar on the stove, so be careful when making these cool colored smoke bombs, which use oil pastels as pigment. Read the rest

The Yokohama Board of Education has posted scans of six fantastic catalogs from Hirayama Fireworks and Yokoi Fireworks, dating from the early 1900s. The illustrated catalogs are superb, with minimal words: just beautiful colored drawings depicting the burst-pattern from each rocket. Read the rest

Ever wonder what the inside of a giant firework looks like as it explodes? This super-slo mo footage shows what happens when a shell that's been cut in half gets lit. Read the rest

Brimstone & Glory is a new documentary about the annual National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, Mexico, a ten-day orgy of sparks and sulfur. Almost everyone in town manufactures fireworks, so the festival is beyond the beyond. Read the rest

Japan's many summer fireworks festivals have inspired enthusiasts who specialize in photographing hanabi (literally "flower-fires"), and Keisuke is emerging as an Instagram favorite thanks to works like these. Read the rest

Luis Wachong is a member of Costa Rican firedancing troupe Pyrodanza. Here he does an impressive sunset routine with a series of fire-tipped props. Read the rest

https://vimeo.com/user30654404

For their film Fire, Saulo Jamariqueli and Dirk Rees put a couple of fire breathers in a dark studio with a reflective surface, then ran the impressive footage through a kaleidoscope filter, making it even cooler. Read the rest

This weekend was the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, so The Tate Modern erected a fire garden with performers and fire-spewing sculptures. Read the rest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeEyOQJsdi0

This entry into a Thai town's annual fireworks competition puts all the pyro I've seen in person to shame -- the fact that it was a homemade, amateur entry is even more impressive. If only this was a thing where I live -- safety third! (via Kottke) Read the rest

https://youtu.be/p4RLi2EWmkU

PyroGirl took one of those rubber squeeze toys with the popping eyeballs, put 2000 match heads in it, and ignited them.

2000 matches chain reaction - match bomb fail. Stress-Pig volunteered that I could experiment by stuffing 2000 match heads into him, some filler material, a fuse and that I could seal him off well. Why? Stress-Pig wanted to demonstrate what can happen if you don't manage stress well and vent your emotions in positive ways. Bottling things up can eventually or (in this case, due to intense stress for Mr. Pig... understandably), quickly lead to an uncontrollable breakdown and catastrophic release of tension. We are really grateful for Stress-Pigs contribution and hope he's recovering well (though we doubt it).

Pyro-Trombonist Valentin Guérin performs Arthur Pryor's Fantastic Polka, accompanied on piano by Valérie Guérin-Descouturelle. Wonder how they lit the candelabra? Read the rest

The Slow Mo guys are back at it with an amazing, totally unsafe, possibly illegal homemade pyrotechnics display. Read the rest