Home Made Star Wars Movie Injury

SaleNowOn writes "Rather than use expensive cgi techniques to make the light sabres glow for their home movie. This couple instead used fluorescent tubes filled with petrol. Which they then set alight. If they don't survive they must be Future Darwin Award winners. It makes me proud to be British." And me embarassed to be a Star Wars geek.

Comments

Glow Sticks

[Rolyat69]

Why oh why didn't they just use Glow Sticks? Here is a nice article on how they work. Crack them, cut them open, and dump into some sort of clear plastic tubing and seal. From what I understand, Glow Sticks are nontoxic and come in nifty colors! I guess the force just isn't that strong with them. :)

Re:Glow Sticks

[tehshen]

I guess the force just isn't that strong with them. :)

Of course it isn't. That's why you have to crack 'em.

Re:Glow Sticks

[AndroidCat]

Why not just pack the tubes with radioactive material and heavy water? Or Radium and Zinc Sulfide for that retro-look Undark glow? (Risk doesn't seem to be a problem for them.)

Re:Glow Sticks

[AKAImBatman]

More seriously, Tritum + Phosphor would do nicely without posing much of a health risk. The only catch is that Tritium cost $$$ for very small quantities. For something the size of a lightsaber, it's likely that the cost of the Tritium would be too high.

The original poster had the best idea. Filling clear plastic tubes with a phosphorescent solution would have given them all the effect they wanted, but without the inherent danger. Of course, Adobe After Effects would have been even cheaper and safer, but these guys were obviously amatuers.

Re:Glow Sticks

[javamann]

Last year on the 4th of July we were driving back from the fireworks. My son was chewing on a glow stick in the car. I warned him that they could break but being a kid he didn't listen. As soon as we stop at home I hear this 'eeewwwww' from the back and when he got out both his mouth and shirt were glowing. That was a Kodak moment.

Re:Glow Sticks

[dr_dank]

As soon as we stop at home I hear this 'eeewwwww' from the back and when he got out both his mouth and shirt were glowing. That was a Kodak moment.

Does your son now grow 10 times his size and smashes shit when he gets angry?

Re:Glow Sticks

[dgatwood]

Heck, just get yourself a power cord and an upstep transformer and put a few hundred thousand volt charge on one end of the bulb. IIRC, it should then glow through simply leaking electrical charge into the air. Wear nonconductive gloves.

Yes, I've seen this done, but I don't remember the details.... It may have involved a Vandegraaff generator....

Re:Glow Sticks

[cavtroop]

LOL - I did this myself - I was in the Army at the time, and I was hanging glow sticks on a tree to setup a trail for the tanks to follow. I was nailing one to a tree, and had another in my mouth, managed to chomp down just a bit too hard. I was spitting red glowing goop for about 20 minutes. Lets just say I was the butt of many jokes that evening.

Re:Glow Sticks

[hey!]

This works amazingly well.

I have a friend who is machinist who made a number of beautiful plastic broadswords that were designed to be filled with something like twenty glow stiks worth of juice. The effect was spectacular, even in moderate lighting. They were exquisitely beautiful creations with several different colored plastic, finely shaped, finished and furnished. His best one he took to an Boskone years ago, where Larry Niven, who was staggering drunk at the time, asked to see it. Naturally Niven waved it around and smashed it against an elevator door, putting an ugly chimp and spiderweb cracks in it. My friend was pissed -- it took forever to make one that nice.

Personally I would have got a Sharpie and had Niven autograph the sword for me. Something like this: "To Dave -- Sorry about the sword, but I was being a drunk asshole at the time. All the best, Larry"

Re:Glow Sticks

[e_slarti]

First sign of why you should ignore an overly-judgemental poster: "Anonymous Coward".

Second sign of why you should ignore an overly-judgemental poster: Underwear is too tight to permit blood flow to the brain.

Third sign of why you should ignore an overly-judgemental poster: Making a big deal out of a really small incident.

Re:Glow Sticks

[Rei]

You need tight field lines to get coronal discharge - and if you use them, you'll probably see lightning coming from it in the dark. Tight field lines generally require fine wires. Also, the glow will be unicolor unless you outgas different gasses from your saber.

Not that I'd recommend using fluorescent light tubes filled with anything - that's a shatter risk. And while tritium isn't dangerous in most situations, that much tritium in a fragile container is asking for trouble - getting that much on your skin (where some may soak in) and in the air (which you'll breathe), you'll probably get a couple years to a couple decades of background radiation equivalent (based on the fact that drinking an entire tritium rifle sight is a two years dose).

Re:Glow Sticks

[javamann]

Dude, either you don't have children, or you are one of those parents whose children do no wrong. You know the type, no matter what the child does, it's not their fault. These are the kids that grow up, start a war, and then never admit they screwed up.

Re:Glow Sticks

[dgatwood]

Well, in that case... it already contains phosphorus. It wouldn't take a very thick layer of radium at all to emit enough alpha particle radiation to light the tube. Find somebody who still sells radium paint, paint the outside of the tube with a thin layer. Wear lead gloves. :-D

Re:Glow Sticks

[AndroidCat]

"Tritium requires a $40,000 dollar license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with secure facilities and weekly medical exams because of its radioactivity. Don't even think about trying to get Tritium. It is dangerous and illegal." (And this from people doing home-built fusion reactors!)

Re:Glow Sticks

[WoBIX]

If only they had done this in the US.

They'd already be counting their settlement money from George Lucas.

Re:Glow Sticks

[oddaddresstrap]

The only catch is that Tritium cost $$$ for very small quantities.

I always buy it in bulk. It's way cheaper.

Re:Glow Sticks

[spike hay]

You need tight field lines to get coronal discharge - and if you use them, you'll probably see lightning coming from it in the dark. Tight field lines generally require fine wires. Also, the glow will be unicolor unless you outgas different gasses from your saber.

Not that I'd recommend using fluorescent light tubes filled with anything - that's a shatter risk. And while tritium isn't dangerous in most situations, that much tritium in a fragile container is asking for trouble - getting that much on your skin (where some may soak in) and in the air (which you'll breathe), you'll probably get a couple years to a couple decades of background radiation equivalent (based on the fact that drinking an entire tritium rifle sight is a two years dose).

If you are outdoors, you would probably be just fine. Tritium, after all, is hydrogen. It will rapidly ascend through the atmosphere. If it is inhaled, it is not metabolized by the body or taken into the bloodstream in significant quantities, so no huge problem there. The main with radioactivity is when you inhale a solid dust, and the material sits in your lungs, irradiating them for years on end. Tritium does not do this.

Also, the radiation can't penetrate the epidermis, which is a plus.

Re:Glow Sticks

[LurkerXXX]

Funny, I work with tritium all the time in a biology lab. No weekly medical exams needed. Maybe you should do more research on the subject before spouting all that stuff.

Re:Glow Sticks

[Random_Goblin]

In the US they could sue the manufactuer for selling flammable petrol.
especially when they specifically ordered inflammable petrol and he gave them flammable stuff instead.

Re:Glow Sticks

[Rei]

Tritium is hydrogen, but you don't buy it or store it that way; it would be just plain silly (why make it more reactive and less dense than necessary?). Tritium is stored as heavy water.

The heavy water passes through your system relatively quickly (I've read that about half of it is gone within three days), but even still, that's a significant exposure to something whose half life is only a little over 12 years, even with its weak beta. As I mentioned, ingesting 100% of the contents of a laser sight is estimated to be about two years of background radiation equivalent (I can dig up the paper again if you would like).

Re:Glow Sticks

[JDevers]

Your campus or facility has a site license. I've never heard of the medical exams, but the license is real and you will have to take certification courses in order to use the material as well as use appropriate safety devices.

If your institution DOESN'T follow these procedures (and is in the US...), let us all know so we can call your RSO and your state health department and get you shutdown for making the rest of us look bad.

Re:Glow Sticks

[Y2]

Tritium, after all, is hydrogen. It will rapidly ascend through the atmosphere.

By that logic, all the oxygen would have settled down here and the nitrogen would be up at 20,000 ft.

It ain't like that.

Re:Glow Sticks

[LurkerXXX]

I never said we don't have a license or weren't trained to work with radiation. I called bullocks on needing weekly medical exams when using tritium.

Re:Glow Sticks

[Idarubicin]

Funny, I work with tritium all the time in a biology lab. No weekly medical exams needed. Maybe you should do more research on the subject before spouting all that stuff.

Yes, but how much do you use in your lab? Most biochemistry protocols I know of use amounts measured in microcuries or even less. The University of New Hampshire requires routine urinalysis for tritium exposure for workers who handle more than 100 microcuries.

An emergency exit sign with six-inch lettering contains about 10 curies. In order to handle those quantities (or the substantially greater amount required to make a bright light saber) I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were fairly strict licensing and medical monitoring requirements.

Re:Glow Sticks

[fnord_uk]

So, you're actually pointing out the silliness of the Latin language, not the English language.

The best thing about the English language was dropping the daft notion of gender in inanimate objects.

Re:Glow Sticks

[flynns]

I called bullocks on needing weekly medical exams when using tritium.

...Sandra, is that you?

Re:Glow Sticks

[thatguywhoiam]

Dude, either you don't have children, or you are one of those parents whose children do no wrong. You know the type, no matter what the child does, it's not their fault. These are the kids that grow up, start a war, and then never admit they screwed up.

Funniest Bush troll ever.

Yay, validation! :P

[coupland]

>If they don't survive they must be Future Darwin Award winners.

Oh that would be so cool. Finally, the Star Wars fandom community recognized by a mainstream award!

*crosses fingers*

Better link on BBC

[IainMH]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/beds/bu cks/herts/4575291.stm

Re:Better link on BBC

[cosmo7]

In England I would expect that, should they not survive, a coroner would deliver a verdict of 'misadventure'. If they survive then unless they had maliciously endangered someone else they probably won't be prosecuted.

For all its faults, the UK does allow - and even encourage - a far greater degree of eccentricity than most other countries.

By now obligatory

[jaymzter]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

someone had to do it.

Re:By now obligatory

[fallen1]

I thought the obligatory quote would have been the BBC (or other news) reporting that the third person at the scene muttered "I have a bad feeling about this..." right before the petrol-fueled saber exploded. ;-)

Re:By now obligatory

[identity0]

A more likely quote from the scene:
"A light-saber. More elegant than a clumsy blaster, a weapon from a more civilized e- OH SHIT IT'S ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT, PUT IT OUT AAAAGGH I'M ON FIRE AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

Yeah...

[Kaisum]

The force was strong with that petrol.

Re:Yeah...

[joshdick]

That petrol doesn't need hokey religions and ancient weapons.

The petrol shot first.

Are people really this stupid?

[yotto]

I feel bad for these guys and their injuries, but do people NOT know that you don't light glass tubes of gasoline on fire?

How did these guys make it this far into life?

And, lastly, where's the video?

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[caino59]

Never understimate the power of stupidity.

The other day I was talking to someone that couldn't tell me whether the end on what ended up being his ethernet cord was metal or plastic.

Even after he told me he could see the wires inside - He still thought it looked like a metal end to him.

The guy was in his 30's. I have NO idea how people like this make it through an average day.

I was wondering as well - where's the video?

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[WankersRevenge]

Why do you want to see two teenagers being almost burned to death?

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[digidave]

I used to work in a party supply store and had a lady who was looking at our plates, which are available in plastic or paper. She asked me if we had any clear paper plates just like the clear plastic ones.

I told her we were all out of them, not being mean, but knowing that if I said there is no such thing as clear paper plates I would have had to argue with her about it.

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[Harassed]

Personally I think it's disgusting that the manufacturer of the fluorescent tubes didn't provide explicit warnings that filling their tubes with fuel was likely to cause injury. In fact, if I was a) in the US and b) one of the injured parties then I would seriously consider sueing. Maybe enough other people have also been injured in that way that they could start a class action suit.

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[Blkdeath]

Personally I think it's disgusting that the manufacturer of the fluorescent tubes didn't provide explicit warnings that filling their tubes with fuel was likely to cause injury.

Should that be a blanket warning on anything with a fillable orifice?

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[javamann]

"How did these guys make it this far into life?"

That has been one of my main complaints with modern life. There is no more natural selection. Ten thousand years ago these people would have been eaten by lions while going "here kitty". We can no longer depend on the stupid killing themselves off anymore.

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[alc6379]

Or perhaps he was the "third party" giving technical advice.

I can see it now!

Make a noise like this now! ZEWWEEWWEWWWEWW

Now, you do like this: SCCHHHHHHH! PSSSH!

...and then I'll come in like, "CHAAAA ISSSSSH, SSSSHAAAAHHH ISSSSSHHH!"

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[hey!]

Never understimate the power of stupidity.

The other day I was talking to someone that couldn't tell me whether the end on what ended up being his ethernet cord was metal or plastic.


That's not stupidity, that's him not understanding the information that you needed. Not knowing an RJ45 from an RJ11 would cripple you or me. Some people would be crippled if they couldn't remember the difference between TIA-568A and TIA-568B. This guy probably almost never has to plug a cable in, so it doesn't matter to him, nor should it.

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[sharkey]

Should that be a blanket warning on anything with a fillable orifice?

This should be a wake up call to the makers of Real Doll.

Re:Are people really this stupid?

[flyingsquid]

I feel bad for these guys and their injuries, but do people NOT know that you don't light glass tubes of gasoline on fire?

Well, not unless you're the freakin' Red Army and trying to take out a Panzer, you don't.

Too bad for the guy though. I mean, I heard he'll get prosthetic limbs and be breathing through a respirator the rest of his life. He's more machine now than man.

A lesson to be learned for jedis and fans alike:

[Borg453b]

Mess with the force, and you're bound to get burned.

The mercury poisoning addled their brains first

[G4from128k]

I bet the mercury vapors in the fluorescent tubes scrambled their brains enough to convince them this was a good idea.

Talk about doing it the hard way!

[BandwidthHog]

The bitch of it is that in my high school electronics class, when we covered Tesla Coils and Van de Graff Generators, our teacher showed us how to have a light saber fight by holding a flourescent tube in one hand and the center tap of a Tesla Coil in the other. Sure, you've gotta be careful not to break the thin glass tube, but at least the results aren't quite so nasty if you do. Probably looks more convincing as well.

And if you work it right, it also gives you the ability to do the ever popular Jedi trick of throwing someone across the room with the open palm of your hand.

High voltage beats high temperature any day of the week.

Re:Talk about doing it the hard way!

[CoffeeJedi]

we did this in college, holding the tubes with a tesla coil between us, as long as the light was within 3 feet or so of the coil, it lit up

Re:Talk about doing it the hard way!

[WormholeFiend]

I cant wait to read the news about how Star Wars fanboys killed themselves with a Tesla Coil, trying to re-enact Palpatine's lightning bolts shooting from his hands.

Re:Talk about doing it the hard way!

[BandwidthHog]

I used to carry a Volkswagon ignition coil and a couple of lantern batteries in my backpack with a wire run down each sleeve. You couldn't get the visible blue arcs or the range, but you could get damn near the same effect if you were careful about it.

Positive Side-Effect

[catdevnull]

Now they won't need make-up for Anakin's "Burn" scene.

[-4 Poor Taste]

Re:Positive Side-Effect

[dr_dank]

Another positive side effect is that they won't have to crib any of Lucas' dialogue.

OH ANAKIN, SET ME ON FIRE JUST LIKE YOU DID BY THAT LAKE ON NABOO.

Questioning Third person

[bitswapper]

"Police say a third person present at the incident was questioned."

Who found the cops' lack of faith disturbing...

Re:Questioning Third person

[Ruprecht the Monkeyb]

He probably just waved his hand and said 'I'm not the third-party you're looking for.'

Darwin Himself was there to witness it?

[CokeBear]

Police say a third person present at the incident was questioned.

No doubt he was an elderly English gentleman, who had been encouraging our friends to try out their little experiment.

Re:Darwin Himself was there to witness it?

[mshmgi]

No. Actually, he was they guy they turned to and said: "Dude, hold our beers and watch this ..."

Slightly more information

[gowen]

From The Currant Bun and The BBC.

NB : Before you make any cheap cracks, the people involved are seriously injured.

Re:Slightly more information

[Alan Shutko]

That should justify cheap cracks.

Think of it as evolution in action.

Re:Slightly more information

[ack154]

And I don't think a dude and a dudette deserve to die because they used an astonishingly-ill-designed fake lightsabre.

And if it's of their own "astonishingly-ill-design"? And incredibly stupid?

Re:Slightly more information

[technomancer68]

And I don't think a dude and a dudette deserve to die because they used an astonishingly-ill-designed fake lightsabre.

Deserve has nothing to do with it. This is natures way of adding a little chlorine to the gene pool. People should realize anytime that someone says "Hey, this would be awesome!" .. you might want to sit and think about it a little while.

I'm from the southern US, and anytime I hear the words "Hey ya'll watch this!" .. I run!

Re:Slightly more information

[BigDogCH]

I'm from the southern US, and anytime I hear the words "Hey ya'll watch this!" .. I run!

That is the funniest thing I have read on slashdot for a LONG time!!! Most of my family is from the southern US, so I can openly laugh at this.

Is it commonly followed by a splash of chicken feathers, cool-whip, and weed-trimmer parts? Maybe that is just my family.

Re:Slightly more information

[gothzilla]

How completely and utterly pathetic that you can compare two morons using flaming glass tubes to fight with, to people risking their lives to bring some good to this world.
If you think your life is worth so little that you're willing to sacrifice it for a cheap stupid dangerous stunt instead of something as noble as helping out in Iraq then yes I AM GOING TO LAUGH MY ASS OFF AT YOU.

Re:Slightly more information

[Blkdeath]

NB : Before you make any cheap cracks, the people involved are seriously injured.

You're absolutely right. We should set up a foundation for them - donate money to help the victims of this horrible travesty. We should do all in our power to coddle them, make them feel better and be understanding of their plight. In doing so, we should strive to send a message to people everywhere that while there may be consequences to their actions, they will gain sympathy, attention and financial support for their ordeal.

In all seriousness; this is one of those rare opportunities where stupid behaviour affected only those responsible rather than harming innocent by-standers. I'm not sure how we became so left-leaning and bleeding hearted that we can't hold people responsible for their own actions, but the condition of society at large today tells me we're going too far in the wrong direction.

The lesson here? Set something on fire, burn yourself, learn lesson. These people are themselves in a unique position to positively affect others' lives - they can talk to others, perhaps in a school setting, about the consequences of immitating art. Their pain and scars should be enough to scare most kids straight.

Re:Slightly more information

[danigiri]

Serious burn injuries hurt.

I know what I'm talking about... they hurt like nothing you can imagine.

They hurt, and hurt, and hurt, and hurt some more, and then even more. It's just undescribable.

Pray that your superior genes and sheer luck preserve you from such injuries, they destroy your world.

Re:Slightly more information

[utexaspunk]

And I don't think a dude and a dudette deserve to die because they used an astonishingly-ill-designed fake lightsabre.

Really. Well, call me callous, but I think you deserve to die for using the terms dude and especially dudette. Okay, maybe not die, but a good flogging is certainly in order...

Re:Slightly more information

[swillden]

Let's make a list here: Fire, Gasoline, Flying glass

You forgot the best one: soap.

They mixed the gasoline with soap. The resulting mixture is a sticky, highly flammable sludge often called poor man's napalm. I'm guessing they did it so they could coat the insides of the tubes with a mixture that would stay in place while being swung around. Obviously, gasoline alone would tend to slosh and pour out.

But when the "saber" shattered, and the stuff splashed on them, it stuck to them, just like napalm does. Gasoline alone would have been much less dangerous since except where it soaked into clothes it would have mostly slid off the people and onto the ground. What little actually did stick would have burned away fairly quickly. This stuff, on the other hand, can stick to skin, hair and clothes in thick globs and continue burning for a very long time. Worse, it's very hard to smother effectively. If you drop to the ground to smother it, the lack of oxygen will stop combustion, but the mixture will probably retain enough heat to reignite as soon as you roll over. It also retains enough heat to continue burning you for quite a while if you wrap up in a blanket or something.

Very, very nasty stuff to be playing with. It's no surprise that these two may not survive.

Real napalm, by the way, is also a mixture of gasoline plus other stuff to stabilize it and slow the rate at which it burns.

Re:Slightly more information

[DarkSarin]

I don't know what combination of alcohol and spare time brought that particular combination of things together, but I am certain that there is a story.

Don't share it.

Re:Slightly more information

[DarkSarin]

No.

You believe that they are there because of lies. Some of them, presumably, are there because they believe those statements to be true. Some are even there because even though they believe the statements to be of questionable validity, they feel that Iraqis can benefit from reconstruction despite that.

Finally, whether Bush "lied" or not is academic only. The fact now is that the people in that country need help of some sort.

Did Bush lie? I am not certain, and I doubt anyone save himself and a few of his closest advisors will ever have enough of the story to be able to say with a reasonable certainty if there were lies or statements that those individuals believed to be true at the time they were spoken.

Certainly you believe that Bush lied, but that doesn't make it so.

I am NOT saying he is perfect or that he never colored the truth. I am merely saying that the world is much more complicated that you want to paint it with your "lied and lied an lied and lied" comment.

Re:Slightly more information

[P3NIS_CLEAVER]

The difference is the contractor is making a risks vs reward choice. I will not argue that 200k per year is worth the risk but some think so. Risking your neck to play 'star wars' is just plain stupid.

Re:Slightly more information

[stanmann]

Just remember however that the lies that we went in for were not told by George Bush. George Bush recieved poor/misleading intelligence. Sadaam Hussein lied and claimed both to his own people/government/army that there were still weapons and that they were sufficient to stop the US. Those were the lies that brought the US into Iraq. If Sadaam Hussein had not lied, and had complied with the cease fire(NOT peace) agreement. the US would not have needed to CONTINUE the war.

Re:Slightly more information

[Nopal]

No, they are there because George W. Bush and many others lied and lied and lied and lied.

So if there were WMDs you'd be OK with the invasion and subsequent liberation?

If your answer is yes, then your talk of nobility means squat, since there is nothing noble in letting people continue to live in an oppressive regime had we known there were no weapons. In other words, you come from a selfish and shortsighted point of view where WMDs to you mean the difference between doing the right thing or turning a blind eye to brutality and oppression.

If you answer no, then your argument that Bush lied is meaningless since either way you'd be against the war. Again, there is no nobility in that.

There is nothing noble about fighting for lies.

You seem to confuse objectives with reasons. Our reason for action at the time was in part, the mistaken view that Saddam has weapons. Our objective now is a free and democratic Iraq, and there is plenty of nobility in that. We are there, and rebuilding. That my friend is nobility, but I seriously doubt that someone so hung up on hate for the president will be able to see past the hate.

Re:Slightly more information

[k98sven]

Real napalm, by the way, is also a mixture of gasoline plus other stuff to stabilize it and slow the rate at which it burns.

Real napalm is originally a soap and gasoline.
Sodium (Na) palmitate --> Na-palm, which is a detergent still used today in some soaps.

Although I've heard about aluminum salts being used as well.

Re:Slightly more information

[Anonymous Coward]

In the same vein:
Northern Fairy Tales: "Once upon a time..." (Or, to keep this barely on topic, A long time ago...)

Southern Fairy Tales: "Y'all ain't gonna belive this sheit..."

And, yes, IAAS(southerner)!

Re:Slightly more information

[ToastyKen]

According to Webster's napalm is not sodium palmitate, but naphthene palmitate.

Re:Slightly more information

[glesga_kiss]

Our objective now is a free and democratic Iraq, and there is plenty of nobility in that. We are there, and rebuilding.

You are one of the most moronic people I have ever had the misfortune to reply to. Iraq has nothing to do with democracy. Go read some South American history and see how many democracies the US has replaced with dictators. Most of whom were worse than Saddam, e.g. Gen Pinoche. There are numerous states worse than Saddam's Iraq, who are ACTIVELY commiting the crimes Saddam is accused of doing 10 years ago. Right now, as you read this, US allies are boiling people alive as a form of torture. I kid you not, this is happening right now. Sudan is also fucked right up due to ethnic cleansing and power struggles.

If you think Iraq is being done for "noble" reasons, then I'm glad that it makes you sleep soundly at night. The US now has a strategic foothold in the Middle East. A state with the second largest oil reserves when the rest of the planet is about see large rises in gas prices due to availablity (peak oil). It also allows them to withdraw their troops from Saudi Arabia, which incidentally is Osama's biggest beef with the USA as they are the only thing keeping Saudi's non-democratic dictatorship alive

Oh, and Bush DELIBERATELY MISLED people to get them behind the war. Go get some transcripts from the speaches he made. See how often Iraq is used in the same sentance as terrorist. See how often Saddam is mentioned alongside Al Qaida. Of this there is no doubt. It was a propaganda war, and you seem to be the loser. When 50% of Americans responded in a poll that they believed Saddam was behind 9/11 it was NO accident. It was a concerted effort to place the smoking gun in Iraq, irregardless of truth and justice. That seems to be the American Way now.

Planning for the Iraq invasion PREDATES 9/11. The Project For A New Amercian Century took advantage of 9/11 to get the public on side. This is a documented fact.

EVERYTHING that has happened in Iraq was completely predicatable. With some of your politians having Vietnam experience (from both sides), you'd think they'd know a little better. NO ONE wants their country invaded, regardless of the reasons. Especially by a nation that isn't all that popular in the region to begin with. It's your quagmire and 100,000 people are dead because of YOU. And I mean you personally, as you are for their death it would seem. 25,000 of these are double-verified lists of civilans. You can take your 9/11 3,000 deaths and stick them up your arse as far as I'm concerned. Fuck you, and the horse you rode on.

Re:Slightly more information

[radtea]

You believe that they are there because of lies. Some of them, presumably, are there because they believe those statements to be true. Some are even there because even though they believe the statements to be of questionable validity, they feel that Iraqis can benefit from reconstruction despite that.

Ergo, they are all there because of Bush et al's statements. Every single one of them. If Bush et al had not repeatedly and forcefully made those statements, and thereby garnered sufficient political support for the invasion, which made the subsequent reconstruction necessary, none of the people who are in Iraq due to the invasion and reconstruction would be there.

Were those statements lies?

Perhaps not. Perhaps they were even more venial--the result of putting ideology before facts in such a way that the whole institution of the American government was twisted by that distorting influence.

There were no WMDs. Iraq did not support al Quaeda. There was no clear and present danger to the U.S. or any of its allies from the Hussein government. There was no attempt to acquire yellow-cake. The aluminum tubes were not suitable for gas centrifuges. American and British intelligence had more than sufficient information to be acceptably sure of all these things. Bush and many other senior administration officials, as well as foreign leaders and their senior people, had or should have had sufficient access to that information to know that.

So were they criminally incompetent, or just criminal? Those are the only two choices available.

Nor is this purely academic. Aside from the congressional elections next year and in the years that follow, there are war crimes tribunals, and in the fullness of time they will reach even to the highest places.

Saberology

[Stibidor]

They obviously haven't heard of saberology. Silly sots. :)

hmm

[Tebriel]

the dumb is strong in these two...

Re:hmm

[turgid]

the dumb is strong in these two...

The farce, surely?

Who won the battle ?

[ggzeama]

I bet on the girl ...

Stupid Star Wars stunt, in the woods...

[blcamp]

...Any chance they are distant ancestors of Jar Jar Binks?

Re:Stupid Star Wars stunt, in the woods...

[nathanmace]

If anything they would be descendants not ancestors. Remember that "Star Wars" happened a "Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far Far Away...."?

The Grammar Nazi Strikes Back

[Anonymous Coward]

Rather than use expensive cgi techniques to make the light sabres glow for their home movie. This couple instead used fluorescent tubes filled with petrol.

s/. T/, t

C'mon, Slashdot editors, do your job and edit. It looks really stupid when the first "sentence" in the first article posted on the Main page is actually a sentence fragment. Have some pride.

Fluorescent light tubes?!

[TomorrowPlusX]

OK, sure, I've had some fun with pyrotechnics. My father -- being a machinist -- had welding equipment, so he and I would fill balloons with mapp gas and oxygen and would shoot them with burning bolts from a home-made crossbow. Good times. Not to mention my blacksmith uncle who would, on the fourth of july, take a special anvil he'd hollowed out the bottom of and fill the hollow with gunpowder. You can imagine the fun. Again, good times.

But, come on. Fluorescent light tubes?! You would have to be some sort of catastrophically stupid person to not realize how fragile those tubes are. I mean, for christ's sake! Filling a fragile glass tube with a burning liquid and then hitting things with it! Oh my god. If you *have* to do this, and obviously, you do because it's cool and fun, at least put some thought behind the mechanics.

The only thing I can really think about all this is that, somewhere, modern culture isn't teaching people important, basic, rules about material properties.

On a side note, I previously associated this kind of behavior with my fellow Americans. We're a stupid, raucous bunch. I'm glad to open my arms to the UK, I welcome you to our stupid bosom. May you whittle your gene pool alongside us.

Re:Fluorescent light tubes?!

[SaleNowOn]

On a side note, I previously associated this kind of behavior with my fellow Americans. We're a stupid, raucous bunch. I'm glad to open my arms to the UK, I welcome you to our stupid bosom. May you whittle your gene pool alongside us.

You guys (and girls) set the standard and us Brits can only hope to keep up. However I'm sure our next generation will raise the bar still further. 3 Daughters aged 12 14 16 all pregant. mother blames school

We're doomed aren't we ?

Only in England

[mustafap]

Fortunately this would never happen in America, since they cannot get hold of Petrol ( which is unique to the UK ). Gasoline would not have the same effect. Thats why Petrol is so expensive in the UK :o)

Copy Cat'ing

[HaydnH]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure one of the chucky movies got banned as a pair of kids we're dangerously copying it - they killed someone by tieing him to a railway line iirc. Does this mean they're going to ban star wars movies?

Re:Copy Cat'ing

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

If you ban something for having someone tied to train tracks.. You'd have to ban Dudley Do-Right.

Re:Copy Cat'ing

[sbowles]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure one of the chucky movies got banned as a pair of kids we're dangerously copying it...

Sorry, but I must have missed that penultimate scene in the final duel where Anakin switches his lightsaber for a fluorescent light bulb filled with flaming petrol.

Flourescent Tubes

[bsd4me]

Flourescent tubes will also glow if you hold them while standing under high-tension power lines.

Re:Flourescent Tubes

[Preston Pfarner]

A friend in middle school did that; they were having fun, sabers flickering from the power lines, and one of them brought his "saber" down in a centered two-handed downstroke above my friend. My friend held his "saber" horizontally to block -- and it would've worked, too, if the descending saber hadn't shattered -- sending a cloud of sharp glass fragments into my friend's face.

He did eventually recover.

Darwin Award winners?

[lheal]

Hall of fame inductees!

This is worse than powering a powering a go-cart with a chainsaw (not a chainsaw engine, a chainsaw). Or any attempt to juggle objects meant to fell trees.

No, this couple gets a waiver straight into the Hall.

They deserve their own wing.

Re:Darwin Award winners?

[Marko DeBeeste]

Shouldn't that be "Hall of Flame"?

Reminds me...

[Anita Coney]

I had a friend, who at the age of 16, decided to build his own flame thrower. Unfortunately for him, it worked. It worked SO well he burned about 80% of his body.

He was one of those guys who was incredibly intelligent with absolutely NO common sense. Or maybe better put as, smart enough to be dangerous.

Gotta be said...

[StuffJustHappens]

Use the Extinguisher Luke...

It's in the Mirror...

[David Horn]

That means it must be true...

OT: Re:stupid stupid stupid

[Caspian]

Why does everyone insist upon writing "Mac" as if it were an acronym? It isn't. It's short for "Macintosh". It's "Mac", not "MAC".

RTFA

[weierstrass]

A 20 yr old man and a 17 yr old girl, FYI.

Citizen, you have committed thoughtcrime!

[Thud457]

Apparently someone didn't read the talking points sent out in last week's media packet!

Changing lightbulbs

[atomic-penguin]

Q. How many Star Wars fans does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. It depends on the number of light bulbs and the amount of gasoline on hand.

Fire!Fire!FIRE!

[Thud457]

"Faces of Death LXII : Special Star Wars Edition"

Probably on rotten.com.

(Doesn't the Darwin Award presuppose that one was in the gene pool in the first place?)

When there is glass and burning petrol

[Analogy Man]

A fool and his eyebrows are soon parted.

More proof

[hikerhat]

More proof that violent movies cause violent behaviour! How many more lives need to be ruined by exploding glass tubes full of gas before we ban these movies forever?

call the lawyers

[wes33]

I hope Lucas is ready to pay out the huge award the jury will provide since he is *obviously* responsible for putting this idea into impressionable young minds.

Well ... at least if they can launch the suit in America.

Re:Our loonies fight with petrol-filled fluorescen

[failure-man]

Hey, do we have to throw nationalism into this? To be properly cynical one must realize something: a huge number of people, wherever they're from, are idiots.

(Where national generalizations come into place is what the rest do with the idiots. Yes, we in the USA, make them our leaders.)

Napalm?

[YrWrstNtmr]

According to an article in The Sun about this,
"They filled them with fuel and washing-up liquid to act out a Jedi Knight fight scene from new movie Revenge Of The Sith. "

Gas + soap may make a crude napalm

Re:WHAT????

[TexVex]

If these 2 live, and produce offspring, I will lose all faith in evolution.

First off, it's spelled "two".

Secondly, there is a bit of irony to be found in your statement about evolution. Irony, aside from the bit about having faith in a scientific theory.

The theory of evolution is that what doesn't kill the species only makes it stronger. Human beings are evolved to be risk-takers. As amazingly stupid as it was to set glass tubes filled with gasoline on fire and then swing them around, mankind never would have gotten anywhere at all if nobody ever did anything stupid and risky. It's also possible here that something in the genetic makeup of these petrol-sabre duelists makes them resistant to immolation, and so having them breed would both reinforce humankind's propensity for risk taking and also help make future generations more resistant to fire.

I know that what I've said here is a tad on the absurd side. I just wanted to point out that evolution doesn't breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria without bacteria being exposed to antibiotics.

Master Replica

[The employee can cho]

When I went to see the movie, a guy in the audience brought his Master Replica lightsaber. I had never seen one of these before. In a dark theater, the glow was convincing and impressive.

This would be a realistic and safe alternative to playing with gas.

(Whenever he would hold up the lightsaber the crowd would fall silent, waiting to hear the ignition sound - each time followed by a round of applause.)

Re:my home town - finally made famous. Yay!

[mikerich]

Thank god (or the Force), at last something for which people will remember Hemel Hempstead.

Nonsense - Hemel is already famous for its 'oh my god! oh my god! we're all going to die!' 'magic roundabout'.

But then I live in Milton Keynes - spiritual home of the roundabout - and we're secretly jealous.

Mike.

Think Positive

[c0ldfusi0n]

They did the lightsaber duel and Vader being burned in the same sequence!

Re:Stupidity is relative

[tomstdenis]

Swing and a miss...

THEY ... DID ... IT ... TO .... themselves!!!

What part of that is so hard to understand? If at 21 you don't know gasoline on fire is not a toy ... you're likely to be too stupid todo anything productive. Thus your death is not in vain as you're just making room for others.

Tom

Re:What is causing this idiocy in an English coupl

[wenit]

Mr. T, I didn't know you read slashdot. Then again I show have know since you are not a fool but instead only pity them.

Master Yoda Says...

[the pickle]

"Lead to Darwin Awards, the path of stupidity does."

p

What about his friend

[Darthmalt]

Ah yes the famous lastwords of a redneck. But how many know the last words of his friend?

Around here "hey Yall watch this" Is usually follwed by "aww heck I can do that"

Which they then set alight?

[Chasuk]

Which they then set alight

And it says this where, exactly?

Does anyone who post links on Slashdot actually fucking read them before doing so?

Re:Which they then set alight?

[slim]

> Which they then set alight

And it says this where, exactly?


Why would you fill a tube with petrol if you weren't intending to set it alight?

Why would you end up in a specialist burns unit if the petrol hadn't got lit?

Re:Obsession with All Things "Star Wars"

[sickofthisshit]

"Star Wars" is a good sign for Western society....We support democracy.

Star Wars != support democracy, you dweeb. What, did you attend the George W. Bush school of political science? Where democracy = feel good, with no actual considerations for what defines a democratic society?

The whole point of the saga is that democratic institutions are weak, and we need princely heros (who have the blood of Anakin coursing through their veins) to protect us from despotism. Queen, Princess, Knight...those are the heroes. Who voted for Luke Skywalker? Who exercises civilian control over the Jedi?

The Star Wars story *might* correspond to a desire for a constitutional monarchy, respectful of basic human rights, but with a quasi-religious independent military. No democracy there, bub.

Genii

[ifwm]

Plural of genius.

THE REAL QUESTION ISN'T ANSWERED.

[Picass0]

Did it look cool?

Did anyone get pictures?

Gowen's a maudlin pussy

[Thud457]

"If everybody jumped off a bridge, would you do it?" -- EVERYBODY'S mom on the importance of common fucking sense.

"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." --Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban

I can feel for the pain that these people are going to feel for the rest of their lives. But they brought that upon themselves by their epic, incredible (as in un-fucking-believable) stupidity. Because of their industrial-strength stupidity, these two are probably be on the public dole for the rest of their painful lives. The ONLY thing these two bring to the rich tapestry of the grand history of Mankind is someone to point laugh at as an example of how to not be so goddamned fucking stupid. If John Fucking Donne himself had heard about these fuckwits, he would have rightfully mocked them himself.

"It may be that your whole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others" -- unattributed

They should of used these...

[Kickassthegreat]

Force FX LightSabers
My cousin has a pair of these, and my wife and I checked them out about a week ago. He paid about 99$US each at a chain movie store. This would have covered their visuals and their sound effects (at least so much as you would need for a home movie). And, according to the guys at ThinkGeek, they will hold up to some small-scale combat.

200$US has to be less expensive than their medical bills will be...

Reminds me of when I...

[Ancient_Hacker]

Reminds me of my young tender years. One of my friends had parents that were at work during the day in the summer. His mother was a nurse. In their garage there were some (old-style) intravenous infusion jars (glass), the jar caps and plastic hoses, a 5-gallon can of gasoline for the lawnmower, and an ancient but still chugging air compressor. Put all these things together, and you have a pressurized glass jar of gasoline with a convenient squirter hose. A poor-kid's flamethrower. I'm amazed we didnt all burn up several times over.

Don't be a facilitator of stupidity, be a BOFH

[Thud457]

"I told her we were all out of them, not being mean, but knowing that if I said there is no such thing as clear paper plates I would have had to argue with her about it."

Now she gets into arguments at family picnics because "the guy at the party store did too tell me there was such a thing"!

ObScotty

[Rufus88]

The other day I was talking to someone that couldn't tell me whether the end on what ended up being his ethernet cord was metal or plastic. Even after he told me he could see the wires inside [...]

Haven't ye ever heard a' transparent aluminum, laddie?

A horrible tragedy..

[FidelCatsro]

That said..

Obi-Wan: The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together. Though it does not make you flame retardent , ask vader

They Should Have Used Gasoline

[ReadParse]

The problem, of course, is that they used petrol, whatever the hell that is. They should have used good ol' American gasoline.

English: If it was good enough fer Jesus, it's good enough fer you.

RP

Re:Ed Wood had better dialog than Lucas!

[Ithika]

Nothin' wrong with that... Norse communities used to elect (and remove) their kings. Just cos all our royalty are hereditary, doesn't mean everyone else's are.

Fiberoptic Lightsabers

[Pfhorrest]

I know someone who built what looks, in the dark or not right up in your face, like a real functioning lightsaber. A good many of them actually, he pulls them out at renaissance faires after hours to entertain the guilds with lightsaber duels. They're basically real swords lined with side-luminous fiberoptics, and a laser (or at least a strong, colored light source) shining into one end of the fiber. You wouldn't even need to use swords properly to make them... a transparent plastic tube (hard acrylic like they build marine exhibits ala Sea World out of) would probably work better, twist the two lines of fiberoptics down the center, and let the lens effect of the plastic tubing "fill in" the space in the middle.

The problem with the segmented plastic lightsabers you can buy is (A) they're weak as fuck and you can't fight with them, (B) you can see the segmenting and it's clearly soft plastic between!

Re:two people are seriously injured

[NanoGator]

"We should celebrate events like this."

Only if I feel like an elitist asshole who thinks his shit doesn't stink.

I've never fought with flaming flourescent tubes, but I have done stuff that by all rights should have earned me a maming. I seriously doubt you should be casting any stones.

Re:WHAT????

[Gulthek]

We aren't evolved to be risk takers. We are evolved to have a sufficently powerful intellect that we can think our way out of the flight or flight reflex and critically analyze a sitution for benefit.

Three humans once sealed themselves inside a tin can sitting on top of tons of combustibles, then ignited them.

Mind-bogglingly stupid simplification. If that were what happened then the Apollo program would have been appropriately mocked. Those humans relied on a lot of work, a lot of dedication, a lot of design, a lot of safety, and a lot of will to get to the moon. Sure it was a risk, but it was a calculated risk.

These gasoline swinging idiots didn't take a calculated risk. They didn't even know that they were taking a risk, I highly doubt they thought it through.

To compare these morons to the US space program is...aahh!

BTW, the statement: I refuse to allow myself to feel contempt for them. implies that you do feel contempt for them, but are supressing it.

REPOST!

[MuMart]

NOTICE: Due To Its Mass, This Product Warps Space and Time in Its Vicinity.

WARNING: This Product Attracts Every Other Object in the universe, Including the Products of Other Manufacturers, with a Force Proportional to the Product of the Masses Divided by the Square of the Distance Between Them.

CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85 Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight. The Manufacturer warrants that this product is to be used only as matter and will not be responsible for injury or damage if it is converted into energy.

HANDLE WITH CARE: This Product Contains Minute Electrically Charged Particles Moving at Velocities in Excess of Five Hundred Million Miles Per Hour.

CONSUMER NOTICE: Due to the "Uncertainty Principle," it is impossible for the User to know precisely and simultaneously where this product is located and how fast it is moving.

ADVISORY: There is an Extremely Remote Chance That, Through a Process Known as "Tunneling," This Product May Spontaneously Disappear from Its Present Location and Reappear at Any Other Place in the Universe, Including Your Neighbor's Domicile. The Manufacturer Will Not Be Responsible for Any Damage or Inconvenience That May Result.

READ THIS BEFORE OPENING PACKAGE: According to Certain Suggested Versions of the Grand Unified Theory, the Primary Particles Constituting this Product May Decay to Nothingness Within the Next Four Hundred Million Years.

THIS PRODUCT IS 100% MATTER: In the Unlikely Event That This Merchandise Should Contact Antimatter in Any Form, a Catastrophic Explosion Will Result. The Manufacturer cannot be held responsible for resulting injury or damages.

PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW: Any Use of This Product, in Any Manner Whatsoever, Will Increase the Aggregate Amount of Disorder in the Universe. Although No Liability Is Assumed Herein, the Consumer Is Warned That This Process Will Ultimately Lead to a state of "Warm Death" of the Universe.

NOTE: The Most Fundamental Particles in This Product Are Held Together by a "Gluing" Force About Which Little is Currently Known and Whose Adhesive Power, therefore, Can Not Be Guaranteed Indefinitely. No responsibility is therefore assumed for the structural integrity of this product.

ATTENTION: Notwithstanding Any Listing of Product Contents Found Hereupon, the Consumer is Advised That This Product Actually Consists of 99.9999999999% Empty Space.

NEW GRAND UNIFIED THEORY DISCLAIMER: While the Manufacturer is Technically Entitled to Claim That This Product Is Ten-Dimensional, the Consumer Is Reminded That This Confers No Legal Rights Above and Beyond Those Applicable to Three-Dimensional Objects, Since the Seven New Dimensions Are "Rolled Up" into Such a Small "Area" That They Cannot Be Detected.

PLEASE NOTE: Some Quantum Physics Theories Suggest That, When Unobserved, This Product May Cease to Exist or May Exist Only in a Vague and Undetermined State. Therefore all warranties are in effect only while this product is under the direct observation of a human being.

COMPONENT EQUIVALENCY NOTICE: The Subatomic Particles (Electrons, Protons, etc.) Comprising This Product Are Exactly the Same in Every Measurable Respect as Those Used in the Products of Other Manufacturers, and Competitors' Claims to the Contrary are neither Justified nor Legitimate.

HEALTH WARNING: Care Should Be Taken When Lifting This Product, Since Its Mass, and Thus Its Weight, Is Dependent on Its Velocity Relative to the User. The manufacturer cannot be held liable for injury or damage resulting from relativistic mass increase.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PURCHASERS: The Entire Physical Universe,Including This Product, May One Day Collapse Back into an Infinitesimally Small Space. Should Another Universe Subsequently Reemerge, the Existence of This Product in That Universe, and its performance and suitability for any purpose, Cannot Be Guaranteed.

Re:WHAT????

[Lovesquid]

We're not joking about the fact that they were injured. We're joking about the fact that they are incredibly fucking stupid.

true Star Wars fan

[chegosaurus]

He has a seventeen year old girl with him who is obviously none too bright and easily led, and what he wants to do with her is - have a lightsaber fight. The young people of today...

We are not laughing at their injuries

[mangu]

Before you make any cheap cracks, the people involved are seriously injured

We make cracks at their stupidity, not at their suffering. With death and suffering all around us, one gets a strong sense of relief from the perception that at least our intelligence spares us from something as dumb as what these people were trying to do. Relef brings laughter.

There, feel better now? We aren't as inhuman as you seem to think. Perhaps you should read something about one of the human qualities that sets us apart from other animals?

The Empire should have won

[sbrown123]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Artic les/000/000/001/248ipzbt.asp

A litmus test.

[Grendel Drago]

I have a bit of a litmus test for anything like this. How would I explain this if I woke up in the hospital? "Well, Timmy and I thought it would be a lovely idea if we put napalm in glass tubes and swung them merrily about! Cheerio! Bollocks! Knickers!"

It's saved me from many a stupid act.

--grendel drago

Alternative ending

[jonoverdose]

[igniting Luke's saber]
Darth Vader: I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete, indeed you are powerful as the Emperor has foreseen.

Luke Flamethrower: It's the new petrol powered model. Here, give it a shot.

*whoosh*

if it had been a videogame...

[zr-rifle]

Police said copying scenes from Star Wars was 'the latest craze' among children and young people. Despite this, officers were keeping an open mind about the exactly what had happened.

If they had imitated a videogame, in a related news we would have heard about lawsuits and crusades.

And so you see Evil will always triumph over good

[fussili]

Because Good is Dumb