I couldn't do that to poor 'ol Bubba cuz I no he'ud do it!
Someday, I'll have to tell everyone the real story of what I did in 1977 as a high school band member who got to be Obewon during a one-time-only Star Wars halftime show. Ah heck, I'll go ahead and tell it now.
RayBob truly learned about heat, heat transfer, and flames through two events related to that halftime show. They involved a rubber Obewon mask, some butane, a butane lighter, Estes model rocket igniters, 3 aluminum pie pans, a 12V battery, and 8 oz of theatrical flash powder (a kissing cousin of gunpowder):
<ul type="square">[*] Ray flash-burnt all of the hair on one arm off, along with both eyebrows, during pre-game rehearsals in the bandroom when he tested the extremely dangerous act of breathing fire. Everyone said it was about a 6 ft ball of blue flame that appeared right above my head. I had my eyes closed, so I couldn't tell where my arm was and blew the butane straight up my arm (instead of above it) to the lighter I was holding. The band director and a few parents about fainted when they saw my head light up. Some of the butane ended up inside the mask and got my eyebrows. The sudden change in pressure in the bandroom caused a very large whoommpp and caused quite a few ears to pop. At the urging of the band director, I decided not to breathe fire during the show.
[*]When I set off the flash powder at the end of the halftime show, it was between the band and the drum major. You'd have to see it to really understand the amount of flash and smoke that was produced. The band was holding a note at the very end, but was left without a way to see the drum major's instructions to quit playing, so we had to just kinduf wind down. What we also couldn't see, but hear, was probably the loudest standing ovation ever in the state for a high school halftime show. As the igniter, I was quite proud. However, that was short-lived. In addition to the flash powder's smoke, the other 3 guys had set off a total of 6 military smoke canisters. Well, we hadn't thought this idea through. There was absolutely no wind that night! We earned our team a 15-yard penalty for delaying the start of the second half for 30 minutes while everyone waited for the smoke to clear. The four of us were also treated to stern lectures from the band director, the football coach, the principal, a policeman, and our parents. At school the next week, the students treated us like rock stars.[/list]
Yes, this really did happen. I really did do this. And I can't stress enough how idiotic and extremely dangerous the act of using butane to breathe fire is. The risk of burning your lungs and dying are very, very real. I had been taught how to do it by a performer, but I will not say how to do it. After that night, I never did it again nor have I taught anyone how to do it!
So, you see, when I say RayBob might not be the brightest bulb but he's not blown either, I mean it. I was gifted with a good bit of book sense, but I've earned every bit of my common sense!
Okay, back on topic...
I do have a few unique, but safe, ways to test the USL. I'll see how they turn out, though, before I reveal them.
