DavePlym

I've loved fireworks since I was about 5 yrs old but now I'm 42 it has become a problem thanks to a rancid old git of a neighbour. He's one of the typical nosy, opinionated, unpleasant, right-wing old imperialists. Last Sat eve about 8.10 we went out to let off the real tiddlers from the selection boxes, just to get them out of the way and within a few minutes he's shining a bright torch in my face as i move around. When that did nothing he's out on his patio shouting how he doesn't like fireworks , how i shouldn't be setting them off as it's not Bonfire night, threatening to call the police, and when I said 'feel free, I'm within my rights he threatened to turn his hosepipe on me (he got to the point of dragging it from the shed and turning it on but didn't turn it on me). Bizarrely he then got his dog out into his garden which started barking even more than normal, but because I was aware that a misfire could hurt the thing and was shaking by rage at this point, I gave up and went indoors. That was just the tiddlers from the £5 selection packs and even though I don't like really noisy or big fireworks I have a fair number of medium/reasonably large ones so can't wait to see when we try to let them off. Subsequently I've recorded the matter with the police.
Anyone near Plymouth with normal neighbours and a spare bit of garden?

Admittedly I normally go for traditionally sized garden firworks, however, I've a few bigger barrages/cakes which instruct you to attach to a stake. This instruction doesn't ring a bell from the past, so is it necessary as I can't imagine the average scummy chav adhering to that. Any thoughts/advice?

I know Plymouth is a concrete toilet full of yobs, inbreeds, scuzzbags and chavs (and me), but is no-one going to mention the final of the UK firework championships this Tuesday and Wednesday, coz it's one of the year's highlights for me.
Fingers crossed for clear evenings with a bit of a breeze and no rain.
I'll be half way up the hill, near the cafe on the jutty-out bit with the 2 cannons. Even my 82 year mum who hasn't the best health is up for it, so good on her.
If anyone else from the forum is going, hope you have a fab time.

Although over 40, I'm just as interested in current music as the 'old stuff'. Anyway, in the last couple of years there have been a few fireworks in the following -

Ladyhawke - paris is burning (not much, she walks thru a cloud of sparks basically)

Patrick Wolf - Bluebells (a few garden fireworks let off outside the window plus a screaming rocket sample is used as percussion in the track)

BUT THE BIGGIE . . .

Feist - I feel it all - the whole video is her in a field of fireworks which start small and grow into a nice big display in time with the song, stylewise it's american acoustic pop-folk

these are all on youtube.com, it'd be interesting what you chaps think of the feist track, and yes, if anyone looks for patrick's song - yes, it's a bit camp but at 6'5" tall, that's fine by me.

How no-one else used this pun is beyond me.
Anyway, back in the summer i got a box of men-shun's rhapsody (last year's) at half price and although i haven't set them off each firework feels like there's a reasonable amount of powder inside. yesterday i bought a box from their current range, and although it's a smaller sized box, when i opened it up, most of the individual fireworks are light as a feather and have gone down the path of 'impressive packaging but only a tiddler inside'. I guess that rather than put prices up they've cut the actual powder content per box - at least in the old days even though the fireworks seemed small at least it was a tube full of powder rather than this current trend where a firework is 'outer packaging with a big empty space and a firework the size of an old standard 'rainbow' in the middle'.
on a brighter note i got a nite star barrage pack (10/12 mid sized barrages) for just £10 today. in firework terms that's almost free :-)