288 replies to this topic

[martini]

^
Fabulous!

[VicHockeyFan]

^^ real nice.

[sebberry]

I like that photo of the fireworks. He has some really good photos in his albums.

[Pyroteknik]

fantastic shot you found and posted, aastra! I'm inspired to post my own shot.. so here it is! as some remarked, the show is short.. but still a bunch of fun. Some question whether it's worth continuing.. I love living downtown and being able to see this right outside my window. Regarding the party atmosphere downtown, that exists across Canada. We're new to it, that's all. I moved here twelve years ago back when hardly anything happened on Canada day. When I lived in Ottawa there was drunken revelry everywhere as you can imagine.. It should not be a surprise to Victoria or be canceled because of such rowdy behaviour. That's how most people have fun on Canada day.. Yes, control the property damage with large fines, but you will never stop Canadians from celebrating Canada day with beer and parties! It seems that Victoria is going through some growing pains, and I hope it doesn't snuff out the fun in the process.

[Caramia]

^ Well said!

[jklymak]

I preferred it when the fireworks were out on Clover Point. Things seemed a lot more mellow, though it was always really cold!

[Holden West]

I preferred it when the fireworks were out on Clover Point. Things seemed a lot more mellow, though it was always really cold!

The traffic situation afterward resembled the Kuwait-Basra highway after the first Gulf War. Though I'm sure Port Angeleans appreciated the fireworks.

[aastra]

It seems that Victoria is going through some growing pains, and I hope it doesn't snuff out the fun in the process.

The funny thing about Victoria is that events tend to get smaller as the city gets larger, and yet the amount of trouble tends to increase. Consider: the attendance for the nightly festivities during the Commonwealth Games was well in excess of anything Victoria has seen since then, and yet it all went down very smoothly.

Cpl. Darrell McLean summed it up: "The Games scored a 9.8 out of 10. "Crowd estimates were over 100,000 on Saturday night and we only had 19 overnight arrests - which is nothing. Normally we have that number anyway. "I'd say this city put on an extremely good show."

Times-Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Aug 29, 1994.

Not much need for .50-calibre "Grisly" machine-guns when 100,000 people can amass down in the harbour for an international get- together virtually without incident.

Times-Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Aug 29, 1994.

"When there's 70,000 people and 15 arrests, that's pretty damn good," Victoria Police Staff Sgt. Dave Thornley said Thursday. "At Swiftsure, there are 10,000 downtown and 500 arrests."

Times-Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Aug 26, 1994.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Nice photos! (couple of posts up, from forumer and from flickr)

Here's another good one from a blog called muddylaces.ca (the link takes you to his/her fireworks/ Canada Day post, with more photos):



I like how you get an image of the city here - which is what's also so attractive with the flickr one that aastra posted. The buildings in that one look magical. In Pyroteknik's photo you get the full effect of the firework explosion - also very impressive.

I didn't go out to watch them - but I have to add my 2-cents to those who commented on how brief they were. And faint. My dog usually freaks out at fireworks, but he slept right through this set...

@ aastra: good points re. the city getting larger, events getting smaller, but problems appearing as increasingly intractable. What's up with that?

[G-Man]

@ aastra: good points re. the city getting larger, events getting smaller, but problems appearing as increasingly intractable. What's up with that?

That is easy. There are more people to complain about events and subsequently they get downsized and people then complain even more!

[Holden West]

All fireworks suck.

No way were all men created equal. According to some of the country's top statisticians, exactly half of them are below average, and that is the segment of the population most likely to get too excited about fireworks. Other species highly intrigued by bright lights include moths and venison.

[aastra]

The traffic situation afterward resembled the Kuwait-Basra highway after the first Gulf War.

In retrospect, it probably wasn't such a great idea to strafe the post-fireworks traffic from helicopters. If you can't move, you can't move, regardless of how great the incentive to move might be.

[Holden West]

In retrospect, it probably wasn't such a great idea to strafe the post-fireworks traffic from helicopters. If you can't move, you can't move, regardless of how great the incentive to move might be.

Never underestimate the iron will of the Fairfield Community Association.

[sebberry]

Never underestimate the iron will of the Fairfield Community Association.

I laughed so the laughter and helicpoter shall live in harmony.

[maniac78]

Canada is NOT a free country and I don't know why people don't understand this yet. We are subjects of the crown and always will be.

[Baro]

Everyone is subject to someone else unless you're living on a raft in the middle of the pacific ocean, and even then there's some international treaties and such.

[Phil McAvity]

Other species highly intrigued by bright lights include moths and venison.

The analogy to moths is obvious but I don't get the analogy to venison.

[Rob Randall]

The analogy to moths is obvious but I don't get the analogy to venison.

Spotlighting

[Phil McAvity]

^venison is deer meat though, not deer, which is why I was confused because I thought, "why would meat be attracted to bright lights?"

It helps to use the right words.

[todd]

-Todd