Photo: Stock picture / Freepik.
I am not cheap. I would consider myself economically enlightened, maybe frugal. I simply don’t like waste and I know that every little bit adds up. Mostly, I try to take emotion out of monetary exchanges.
This is why, over the next few days, I will have a lot of trouble with the colorful explosions of fireworks that will rock this city.
Here are the names, the seconds of fun and the prices that are advertised online for three firework displays that you can purchase for your private party:
- The Wanted — 179 explosions over 160 seconds for 2,600kc.
- Let’s Party — 216 explosions over 150 seconds for 2,932kc.
- Hornets Sky — 308 explosions for 195 seconds for 5,907kc.
There are smaller-caliber boxes of fireworks artillery but all of them cost a not insignificant amount.
And for what? Some color. Some booms. Some crackling. Some flower-like patterns. And . . . it’s over. Three minutes is not a lot of time.
It just seems to me that spending money on fireworks is money that is not well spent.
Here is an analogy that is not perfect, but it is close. Think of all of the DVDs that you have. I have a shelf full of them: the Sopranos box set (original price around 4,000kc); all three seasons of Deadwood (1,500kc a piece); the Simpsons, Season 4 (1,000kc); the Godfather Trilogy (700kc); Chappelle’s Show, Season 1 (700kc); two DVDs about the White Sox winning the 2005 World Series (400kc + 400Kc); 20 popular-when-I-bought-them movies (400kc), 40 discount DVDs (20kc) and my 2012 wedding video (1000kc, err, I mean priceless).
Some were presents. Most of them I bought. A few I stole from my brother. Regardless, that shelf cost more than 20,000kc to fill out.
Most of those DVDs, like fireworks, were watched once and will never be watched again. Music CDs are another waste of space in this day and age.
Suggested reading: New Year’s Eve Will Be Marked in Náměstí Svobody with a Lightshow, Not Fireworks
At least if you watch an old DVD again (assuming you find a DVD player) you get around two hours of entertainment. A music CD may only have one three-minute song that is worth listening too, but that is probably the song that got you to buy the CD and the song to which you have listened dozens of times.
The fireworks boxes mentioned above, however, are basically three minutes and done, except for the vague memories.
Czech people love fireworks. Brno is famous for the Ignisis Brunensis international fireworks competition, which draws tens of thousands of people to the Brno Reservoir for several nights every spring. And, yes, those are among the most impressive and innovative firework displays in the world and definitely worth experiencing.
On New Year’s Eve, the displays will not be nuanced and timed to music. They will be set off at random times (including days before New Year’s Eve and before it is even dark outside that night) and from random places. A lot of money will, literally, go up in smoke.
To each their own.
I don’t want to be too negative. I appreciate fireworks. They do add to the festivities of New Year’s Eve and, while you stand there with your head turned upwards, watching, oohing and aahing, you have time to reflect upon the year that was and the year that will be.
Happy New Year and good luck in 2020.
I hope that this column will provide thought-provoking observations of local life that will be interesting for a Saturday-morning read. If you have any suggestions or comments, please pass them along to bruno@brnodaily.cz.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors. The publishing of this article does not constitute an endorsement of or any other expression of opinion by the management of Brno Daily.
