Here’s the latest bit of rambling thought-rain from perennial sophomore Bubby Spamden.
Hey Mr. C.,
I think I already told you that I’m under a lot of pressure to make some decisions about my life from here on out. People are making a big deal out of me picking a career and getting ready to live a life outside Wendell Wilkie High School. As if that’s something worth doing!
Anyway, I’m wondering if you know anybody in the Blowing Up Buildings Industry. I’ve been watching all these cool videos on You Tube and it looks like there’s a never-ending supply of buildings and stuff that need to get exploded. It would be really neat to have a BUBI job, since my name is Bubby and it would seem like I was born to do it.
And I really have a knack for this kind of work.
I first started thinking about it last week when I saw that cool/scary video of the smokestack in Ohio that fell the wrong way and came way too close to whipping people with live power lines. Good thing nobody was hurt! Here’s the video of you haven’t seen it yet.
And here’s the thing that really hooked me – a fond look back at some of the greatest explosions of 2002.
I could watch that all day! The Blowing Up Buildings Industry is a place where I think I could be happy! There are a couple of conditions any job would have to meet before I would consider taking a specific offer.
1) I wouldn’t want to work on any projects that go wrong like that because it would be a really crummy feeling to be accountable for bad stuff happening. That’s a very stressful place to be, mentally. So any job I get would have to be with the absolute best company in the entire worldwide BUBI, and I would have to always be free of any real responsibility for what happens once gravity takes over.
2) I don’t really like explosives too much because they’re so … y’know. Violent. So no direct handling of dynamite and stuff for me.
3) And dealing with smoke and dust and stuff is really a drag. A lot of times I feel short of breath, especially when Heather walks by, and that’s just too unsettling and scary. So I’d have to make sure my BUBI job was always upwind from the debris cloud.
4) And I’m not really into math or science, so you can count me out of any jobs that ask for a lot of figuring and head scratching. Besides, getting the math right connects you directly to responsibility. (see item 1).
Mostly I’d like to watch things fall down from a safe upwind distance. Maybe some kind of PR job is right for me? What do you think? If I list you as a reference, will you put in a good word for me?
Your friend,
Bubby
I told Bubby that given his list of conditions, I couldn’t really get on board with the idea of endorsing him as a valuable worker anywhere in the worldwide BUBI. And besides, it looks like the one thing he’s best at blowing up is any chance he has of ever being hired by anybody.
His best opportunity might come in the interstellar version of the same business. “Watching things fall down from a safe upwind distance” is exactly what astronomers are doing with regard to Supernova 1979C, an implosion project that happened 50 million years ago.
Have you ever watched something being demolished?
Trail Baboon 
Rise and Implode Babooners:
Bubby, I think you might have found a great profession, watching buildings fall from a distance. I am not sure how much that pays, but clearly you don’t seem invested in a high income kind of life. If you can figure out how to turn that into a journalism career with an on-line component for which people would pay you, you could be credited for saving print/written journalism in the 21st century.
Things I have watched being demolished:
*The NYC towers on 9/11 (TV only, but as it happened, after Dale announced on the air in a puzzled voice that he had received a strange bulletin about planes hitting the towers and I turned on the TV).
*My first marriage
*Other people’s lives as they make very bad decisions
*21st Century newspapers
*New Orleans by Katrina also via TV
Buildings, then the ground beneath the Humphrey Metrodome as it was built–lots of really big rocks under that! They blew some of them up.
Best Wishes Bubby — the world is rife with opportunities for observing demolition. The most interesting demolitions, though, are often not physical.
LikeLike
Anybody out there besides me?
LikeLike
No, there is nobody here except you, Jacque.
I always liked this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiNrzmbdC1Q
LikeLike
Good morning and watch out for falling structures,
Lightening hit the big concrete grain elevator in Clarks Grove a few years ago and they decided to take it down and replace it. They evacuated they area around the elevator when they found the damage. Later it was clear that there was no chance it would fall over without a lot more damage than that caused by the lightening strike. It took many weeks of smashing into it with a wreaking ball to bring it down little by little. It was heavily reinforced with metal rods embeded in the concrete.
My Dad had major responsibilty for designing large power plants. When asked by an engineer about designing a smoke stack, he said the engineer had better be sure it was strong enough so that it could never fall over onto the power plant. I guess he was joking with the engineer because I think there are established guide lines for making structures strong enough to prevent them from falling over.
LikeLike
Several months ago, they tore down the old Purina plant on Hiawatha Ave. We didn’t see it go down, but during the summer we smelled it–either a lot of rats and/or pigeons had died during the demolition, or decades of processing offal into pet food had permeated every brick and tearing into the place released it all. Fortunately the odor didn’t waft as far as our house; we only got whiffs when driving by. We wondered how the neighborhood had smelled when the plant was in full production, and how often people closed their windows, gritted their teeth and made themselves grateful to have a job.
LikeLike
It looks like they are taking down another old grain elevator on 38th and Hiawatha, too.
LikeLike
That would be an offal smell, I bet. Urf, urf, urf!
LikeLike
Steve – so sad…………..
LikeLike
Urf, urf, urf!
LikeLike
I watched a little bit as crews demolished the old four story hospital I once worked in at Faribault Regional Center. That institution was taken over by MN Dept of Corrections and is now the Faribault prison. They didn’t need the hospital – with its long halls, terrazzo floors, solid marble bathrooms, excellent old brass plumbing fixtures and towering windows. I watched only a little. I couldn’t see very well. The tears kept blurring my vision.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of 9/11 while watching that video too, Jacque.
I also watched myself destroy a large part of my life. I’m the one who blew it. I have no one to blame and no excuses to make. ‘Nuff said.
LikeLike
Morning all…. once about 12 years ago, when I was in California for a few days, I experienced the Santa Ana winds. My host was trying to get me to the airport, so unfortunately we were out in the winds. I saw two big rig trailers blow over and then saw a power pole come down. When it hit, it blew the transformer for a nice little explosion.
Jacque… your experience on 9/11 mirrors mine. I heard Dale say something and then I got onto CNN.com. The internet clogged up right after that; lots of people in my building were crowded around my desk to watch since they couldn’t connect. We all saw the first tower go down together – I’ve never heard so little noise in my building before or since!
I agree with Dale…. Bubby in BUBI would not have me sleeping well at night!
LikeLike
Same here. I heard Dale’s announcement, and the hairs on my neck went up because there was something in Dale’s voice that hinted at the darker side of the story. I was sure he was thinking about things he wasn’t saying, so in confusion I turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit.
LikeLike
I watched a couple of neighborhood landmarks dismantled in recent years. The green stairs were taken down after a boulder tumbled down the bluff and destabilized the structure. At the time, we were told the stairs would be rebuilt, but that’s stalled now. For about a year, whenever I caught a bus somewhere, I kept forgetting and walking toward the stairs, since my preferred departure point was always the bus stop across Wabasha street from the bottom of the stairs.
The other landmark was a house on my street that was always known as Hildegard’s, although it had been fifteen years or so since Hildegard moved out. The more recent and more anonymous owner had lost the house to foreclosure, and the next-door neighbors bought it and tore it down. It was built in 1880. One of the few houses in the neighborhood that was senior to mine.
LikeLike
For twenty years I have watched an abandoned farm building along I-94 slowly lean east until finally this year it leaned so far it collapsed. That was kind of painful to observe. I agree with you, Jacque, that sometimes people make very poor decisions and all you can do is sit there and watch the Titanic go out to open sea one more time.
LikeLike
Perhaps it’s because of my cancer journey or perhaps it’s just my own evolution, but I’ve found myself feeling grateful for every mistake I’ve made in the past. Seems to me that each & every one contributed to learning as many life lessons as I could in this brief stay. If there is such a thing as coming back to “get it right” the next time, the only experience I haven’t had is having a healthy, robust, long-term relationship. The cool thing about this however is that I’m 95% contented “as is”. It’s more of a notion in my head that having a partner would be kinda nice.
LikeLike
Good point.
LikeLike
Went to see Inception last night, and saw enough explosions to last me a lifetime. What a strange, strange movie. Will try to think of others, but gotta go – have a good day, ‘Booners.
LikeLike
Morning!
My wife returns from the warm sunny place today… boy is she in for a shock! … I’ve got a coat for her in the car…
Bubby… you are so funny! Confused maybe, certainly unfocused and lacking in direction… but you do make me laugh. I’m not sure yet if its ‘At’ you or ‘with’ you…
I think that ‘greatest implosions of 2000′ movie is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time! Thanks for that Dale.
There was an online game that where you placed explosives to try to make the building fall down. You only got so many explosives so that was the challange… I’ll have to see if I can find it again.
It’s also curious you talk about people’s lives imploding. Hmmm… yeah; seen a few of those and that’s very sad.
My favorite memory is my brother and Dad knocking down an old silo on the farm. It was only 14′ diameter and 40’ tall… they loosed some rings, and started knocking blocks out with a sledge hammer. They had to go 3/4 of the way around before it finally fell over. The ground literally shook when it went. But it was cool! Made a mess too.
Stay warm and dry out there–
LikeLike
Ben, I could be wrong about this. My understanding is that the method your brother and Dad used used is considered to be kind of dangerous. Were they able to get well away from the silo when it came down? I think the Mn Extension service has warned againest taking a silo down the way your Dad and brother did it.
LikeLike
Well, it fell length-wise, if that makes sense. Kinda just laid right out… and they were on the sides so it was OK… The scary part was only having one sledge hammer and having to run around the front as they knocked blocks out. Because it was attached to the barn you couldn’t go ‘around back’. After they got half way round; that’s when it got exciting!
LikeLike
Game:
http://www.arcadewild.com/play/demolition-city
This is a free online game for practicing BUBI…. kind of addicting…. I’m stuck on level 19….
LikeLike
Thanks for the black hole images, Dale. There is something to be said about distance from the im/explosion in question.
And you’re right, Jacque et al. about there being other kinds of implosions in people’s lives. Large families sometimes have a way of blowing up after the pat/matriarch dies, as the divergent adult children try to sort out what’s left. Would be much better to watch from a distance…
Watching the Implosions 2002 video with that cheery music was a little surreal – reminded me of that battle scene in Good Morning Vietnam that was set to the music of Louis Armstrong singing What a Wonderful World .
LikeLike
Back when I was doing a lot of theater, I saw several sets demolished, sometimes more gracefully than others. Some we went at with big hammers and crowbars when they were done as nothing needed to be saved or reused. Others came down carefully, piece by piece, to be re-purposed and reused. I have to admit that “strike” is one of my favorite parts of any show – not because I’m glad the show is ending, but because it shows how magic theater can be. In a mere fraction of the time it took to put a stage set together and create a new space and location, the stage is stripped bare and back to a bare floor and perhaps curtains waiting to become another new place. (The effect is really complete when I also get to repaint the stage floor to matte black from whatever I painted for the show.) Magic.
LikeLike
Lovely post, Anna.
LikeLike
And I was just the opposite… it seemed an evil reality that you could undo all the set work in such a short time at the end of the production. I probably wouldn’t be good in the BUBI as I would probably feel this way about the buildings that get blown up as well!
LikeLike
So true and well put, Anna. I miss the magic of theatre. One of my first jobs out of college was working at The Children’s Theatre in Minneapolis in the ticket office, so I got free tickets to shows. They do an outstanding job and attract the best and brightest designers, actors, directors, etc. First show I saw was “The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.” Even though I knew how it was done, I was still astounded at Bartholomew’s hats disappearing and a bigger, fancier one appearing out of seemingly thin air. They did such beautiful stuff, it made me weep.
LikeLike
I’ll agree with this Anna. Strike gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean and prepare for a new adventure.
Even a really fun, quality production must end.
Mr. Magorium says in his movie, “All stories, even the ones we love, must eventually come to an end and when they do, it’s only an opportunity for another story to begin. “
LikeLike
Greetings! Like the other theater folks, I’ve seen sets go up and come down quickly. One play I was in during college had rehearsals in the warehouse where they stored all the old sets for re-purposing. That was fun to see the beautiful double curving staircases from “No, No Nanette” or other lovely sets.
The most amazing demolition I’ve witnessed was from when I worked at the Pillsbury Bake-Off. A huge hotel ballroom is set up with 100 mini-kitchens complete with a stove, cabinets and utensils as needed for each contestant. Several refrigerators, freezers, microwaves and small appliances were at the ends of aisles to hold ingredients. The entire ballroom is fitted with klieg lights for TV and photography. It takes 7-8 days for a crew of engineers to lay sufficient cable, calibrate ovens and ensure enough electrical load for all ovens and lights to be on at once. After the Bake-Off is over, a crew will break down all cable, appliances, lights, decorations and cabinets within 2-4 hours.
They have an “appliance parade” where all stoves are lined up and taken directly out, one after the after, to the truck where they’re sold as special, slightly used “Bake-Off” stoves at a store. That is an amazing experience. Well, the whole Bake-Off is an amazing experience and it was the highlight of my career and an honor to work on it.
LikeLike
I think Bubby’s list of job requirements has described the position of lawyer for the BUBI company.
LikeLike
You’re absolutely right!
LikeLike
Or, he could be the videographer and make more clips for Dale!
LikeLike
running hard this week the first clip made me laugh the second mesmorized me. the black hole is co to be aware of thanks dale for figuring out how to spin that into bubby of bubi. priceless. now is that really bubby or is it your secret desire to start connelly demolition? i think you could have a blast. kind of the opposit of sitting in a sound proof booth for all thos years . let er rip dale.
i saw a cuple of casinos blw in vegas . those old oceans 11 casinos. i must have been out there more than i thought because i saw 3 or 4 go down. the one where te wynn s now was the last i saw. the desert inn where howard hughes hid out and i played baccaret for 1000 dollars a hand one night and came out the furthest ahead i ever remember. did so well i went home with a forgotten 1000 dollars in chips in my pocket i had to figure out how to cash em in later.
my computer may have done the crash and burn today. im gonna go see about mouth to mouth to bring it back around. see ya later.
LikeLike