Cool or sick?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
ups.com:

Since I can't figure it out, I'll stand on the side of "sick" for the
reason that he takes a form of public transportation that most people
trust the representatives of that company with their lives and then
says "this is what can happen to you if you fly".

Now you understand my question.

Personally, I can't decide whether I'm being hypersensitive to this, as
a pilot who has grown skittish about public scorn toward aviation, or
whether it really IS sick -- but I think it's sick, too.

On the other hand, I find most of the "hand sticking up out of the
ground" Halloween/grave-yard stuff to be sick, so maybe it's just me?
I've got plenty of friends who have gone to great lengths to scare
people, under the guise of "it's only Halloween"...which I find goofy.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"


On the one hand, it doesn't really bother me. Plane crashes are a reality
of life, and I really don't think his message is to promote anti-aviation
sentiment. He made his version of a haunted house out of the parts that he
had readily available.

Admittedly, I didn't think it was all that cool either, though. Scrapyard
planes on the ground don't get me all that excited...

On 23 Oct 2006 13:14:09 -0700, "Jay Honeck" wrote:

http://lang.dailynews.com/socal/gall...1806_halloween

I can't decide...

I have enough old airplane parts to make a pretty realistic crash scene. Been
tempted to pull an April Fools joke by splaying them out in the back yard and
waiting until a traffic chopper happens by. Then I figure there's probably SOME
obscure law against it....

Ron Wanttaja

Admittedly, I didn't think it was all that cool either, though. Scrapyard
planes on the ground don't get me all that excited...

but a Gulfstream 5 is a lot cooler than a 172. If he wanted to be
really scary he coulda just put a Piper Traumahawk in his front yard.

Cool or sick?

Neither. Just not very good, nor really fitting for the theme of
Halloween. Halloween is about ghosts, ghouls, witches on brooms,
spiders, and weird icky creatures. It's not really steeped in reality,
but in a visceral sense of what we dread.

His example is steeped in reality (in the sense that we really do fly on
airplanes, but don't fly on brooms). This removes it from the ghostly
sense of Halloween - it's like breaking the fourth wall in the theater.

Consider the difference between setting up a ghoulish multple
axe-murderer scene, and setting up an ordinary crime scene where a
murder took place. Although both are =possible= in real life, the
latter one, being more commonplace, is more "steeped in reality" (and
thus less viscerally fearful), and the former one, although things like
that have happened, is so far "out there" that it reaches for the
visceral sense of horror.

Now, if he had a few witches on brooms crashed into trees, being pursued
by a ghost in a C-172, which also crashed into a tree, that would work.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
-----------much snipping-------------

You DO understand what Halloween celebrates, don't you? Your post
implies
that you don't.

Pete


Actually, that's a very good point; because I am not at all sure what
Halloween now celebrates.

Halloween today is a reason to have a party that has an overall Horror
theme. Just like St. Patrick's Day is a day to have a party with a green or
Irish theme and Super Sunday is a day to have a party with a football theme.

Jose wrote:
Cool or sick?

Neither. Just not very good, nor really fitting for the theme of
Halloween. Halloween is about ghosts, ghouls, witches on brooms,
spiders, and weird icky creatures. It's not really steeped in reality,
but in a visceral sense of what we dread.

How about just in poor taste? I don't like to see stuff like this
because it makes light of a horrible situation, that unfortunately
happens all too often. Jim may have read into the display's intent a
little too far, just like Peter D's deconstructing the meaning of
Halloween in his rebuttal. I'm just not comfortable with what I see as
sensationalizing something as terrible as a jet crash. Some things
shouldn't be taken lightly IMO.

Now, if he had a few witches on brooms crashed into trees, being pursued
by a ghost in a C-172, which also crashed into a tree, that would work.

Or, an effigy of a certain Chicago mayor on a broom being chased by
armed Skyhawks... aviation-themed humor at its best

"Kingfish" wrote in message
ups.com...
[...] I'm just not comfortable with what I see as
sensationalizing something as terrible as a jet crash. Some things
shouldn't be taken lightly IMO.

Some people take very seriously the possibility of being doomed to an
eternity of walking the planet as an undead construct, sent neither to hell
nor heaven. These people are not comfortable with Halloween celebrations
that sensationalize or take lightly that possibility.

Perhaps we should eliminate Halloween altogether, to ensure that we avoid
offending anyone who is uncomfortable with terrible things being portrayed,
lightly or otherwise.

Pete

Jay Honeck wrote:
Personally, I can't decide whether I'm being hypersensitive to this, as
a pilot who has grown skittish about public scorn toward aviation, or
whether it really IS sick -- but I think it's sick, too.

On the other hand, I find most of the "hand sticking up out of the
ground" Halloween/grave-yard stuff to be sick, so maybe it's just me?
I've got plenty of friends who have gone to great lengths to scare
people, under the guise of "it's only Halloween"...which I find goofy.

I personally am not offended, but that's mainly because it would take
an awful lot to offend me. As far as whether or not one can use
Halloween as an excuse for goofy displays like this, well, it sure as
heck beats all these displays I've noticed this year that put some of
the Christmas displays to shame... lit up, animatronics, figurines,
fake spider webs, the list goes on and on... and these are just the
houses I see on my normal commute every day. I can only imagine how
overboard the general populace is in the rest of the country when it
comes to Halloween. That's probably the scariest part of the holiday!


--
Guy

Peter Duniho wrote:

Some people take very seriously the possibility of being doomed to an
eternity of walking the planet as an undead construct, sent neither to hell
nor heaven. These people are not comfortable with Halloween celebrations
that sensationalize or take lightly that possibility.

For those fringe elements of society, I sympathize. I'm not seeing the
relevance here, though. Jay's original premise was that he wasn't sure
if he approved or disapproved of the G3 crash display. To me, that
display hits a lot closer to home than the typical cheesy Halloween
display with ghosts & witches etc.


Perhaps we should eliminate Halloween altogether, to ensure that we avoid
offending anyone who is uncomfortable with terrible things being portrayed,
lightly or otherwise.

Your patronizing tone aside, the suggestion is absurd. I never said I
found the crash scene offensive, just in poor taste. Maybe I assume too
much when I assume most pilots (like yourself) would also find it
tasteless.

How about just in poor taste? I don't like to see stuff like this
because it makes light of a horrible situation...

Well, yes, a horrible situation that does happen often enough (thus my
point about "steeped in reality").

Or, an effigy of a certain Chicago mayor on a broom being chased by
armed Skyhawks... aviation-themed humor at its best

Now =that= is in good taste.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.