I'm sorry but I've been laughing for three days...

[icerose]

Poor guy. I do wish him all the best but I can't help the laughter. It's so darn funny that anyone would do this to themselves. I keep picturing himself strapped into a lawn chair and sailing away. (Not the case but still!)

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/21/priest.balloons.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-04-22-brazil-priest_N.htm?csp=34

Not to mention the whole cause is for raising funds for a "Spiritual truck stop."

Darwin Award anyone?

[Don Allen]

This is hysterical, have you ever read something and thought gee, I wouldn't want that on my tombstone.

HERE LIES WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE REMAINS OF A HOLY MAN
WHO SAILED OFF IN A BALLOON TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR
A CAUSE. UNFORTUNATELY HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY A BALLOON VERY WELL
AND WAS NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN. PROOF,,, THAT DURING HIS LIFE HE WAS

NOT FULL OF HOT AIR. AMEN

[donroc]

The angels were jealous and gathered him in?

[z10]

so why the sorry?

[icerose]

This is hysterical, have you ever read something and thought gee, I wouldn't want that on my tombstone.

HERE LIES WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE REMAINS OF A HOLY MAN
WHO SAILED OFF IN A BALLOON TO RAISE MONEY AND AWARENESS FOR
A CAUSE. UNFORTUNATELY HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY A BALLOON VERY WELL
AND WAS NEVER HEARD FROM AGAIN. PROOF,,, THAT DURING HIS LIFE HE WAS

NOT FULL OF HOT AIR. AMEN

Haha, exactly. My husband and I have been cracking jokes about it and making comments such as "I guess he just wanted to go home...idiot...Wheeee!"

so why the sorry?

The sorry is because I should be laughing at other people's misfortune but this one is just too much and brought on by himself.

[Plot Device]

I love The Lord of the Rings. (Is this a thread derailment???? No --read on. ;) )

I always take note of all the actors who were in that movie:

Elijah Wood
Viggo Mortenson
Sean Bean
Sir Ian McKellan
Sean Astin
Liv Tyler
Miranda Otto

(I promise this is NOT a thread derail!)

And a few years ago an Australian movie (http://www.dannydeckchairmovie.com/) co-starring one of the LotR cast came out. It was called Danny Deckchair (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337960/) (and I regret I never saw it). It's based on the true story of a guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters) (in America in 1982) who strapped a bunch of ballooons to a lounge chair and floated away. He unfortunately drifted into controlled airpsace above an airport and after he landed he was arrested. He breifly became a pop icon, then faded into oblivion.

The story resurfaced during in the mid 1990's at the beginning of the internet craze as a grossly over-embellished urban legend. It currently has an entry on the snopes (http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp) web site where it's declared to be an initially true story that has been exaggerated over the years.

The Australian film ofa few years back resurrected the tale yet again.

It's now called "cluster ballooning" when you use a bunch of little balloons to go aloft. I think the practice is being made illegal in various municipalities because of the true story of the American guy who did it back in the 1980's. And I won't be surprised if this latest stunt (resulting in a death) will spur even more legislation against it.

[icerose]

Yeah the 1980's won a guiness book entry which this guy was trying to beat. The problem they don't realize is they have no control of ups or downs and no control of direction. They are literally at the wind's mercy and if they go up too high as this guy did, whoops.

:e2drown:

I especially laughed at the part where he radios back and says he's going to have to have the guys on the ground show him how the GPS tracking works. You think he would have asked before take off? :e2hammer:

[Appalachian Writer]

The angels were jealous and gathered him in?

What a beautfiul sentiment. You should write epitaths.

[RumpleTumbler]

:) Me too.

I've been loading the story up periodically and cracking up.

I guess I'm bad.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8297/264042308balloonpriest0xz5.jpg

[icerose]

Yeah, just looking at that picture, how can anyone think that's a good idea?

[maxmordon]

I am the only one who doesn't think this is funny? I am worried for this person

[Joe270]

Yeah, I'm a bit uncomfortable with it, Max.

Yes, it was a stupid move, but the guy was trying to do some good for his community and his congregation. Plus, he was a priest, so I'm a touch worried about getting struck by lightning if I laugh at this one.

It doesn't fall into the typical mullet-head Darwin award category for me.

[Appalachian Writer]

I am the only one who doesn't think this is funny? I am worried for this person
You're not the only one who doesn't think this is funny. I don't.

[Williebee]

Do I think it's funny? Sure, a bit. But laughter is how we deal with the "there but for the grace of God" feelings.

Am I worried about the guy? Well, yeah, I was concerned. It's a bit late for that now. By this time, if he was right, he's with his Lord and he's good.

But, that's beside the point. I think you can worry about something and still see the humor in it.

[kristie911]

It doesn't bother me, nor do I think it's funny (mildly amusing maybe but not funny)...but it did make me shake my head and wonder what the hell this guy was thinking.

It also made me wonder why there wasn't someone in charge of watching where he went...

[maestrowork]

I really like Danny Deckchair. And Miranda Otto reminded me of a friend of mine -- well, let's just say I had some feelings for her other than just friends. That's why her character in LotR was my favorite, and I liked her in Danny Deckchair as well.

[AnneMarble]

This story is so bizarre that I think it's a natural reaction for a part of our brain wants to laugh, even as the rest of us says "Holy bleep! I hope he's all right!"

Also, the idea is totally nuts, but on the other hand, what a cool priest. He also seems to have picked out appropriate equipment for this (buoyant chair, supplies, etc.).

This article (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/04/24/balloons-found-but-no-sign-of-missing-rev-adelir-antonio-de-carli-89520-20392816/) has a better picture:
http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m3/apr2008/8/2/7A9DF90C-A421-1E2C-609E59B0DF280E47.jpg

[RumpleTumbler]

You think he used enough balloons? :roll:

[Jcomp]

I don't think it's funny, but I'm not particularly worried about him either. It is what it is...

[icerose]

This story is so bizarre that I think it's a natural reaction for a part of our brain wants to laugh, even as the rest of us says "Holy bleep! I hope he's all right!"

This is precisely my response. I laugh because the story is so far out there, and you see pictures of this guy dangling from popable balloons, at the mercy of the wind, and he thinks it's a good idea even after his skydiving teacher told him he could be blown all the way to South Africa.

I am concerned for this guy but at the same time the whole situation around it is so funny, at least to me, but then my first reaction to these kinds of things are to laugh while being concerned for their safety. Much like those funniest home videos where someone gets hurt in a funny way, I'm laughing but at the same time I'm saying: "I hope they're all right!"

[RumpleTumbler]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wgF0RYOmdDw

[mscelina]

raising money for a rest stop for truckers...

oh dear.

*claps hand over mouth and flees from AW*

[chartreuse]

It's now called "cluster ballooning" when you use a bunch of little balloons to go aloft. I think the practice is being made illegal in various municipalities because of the true story of the American guy who did it back in the 1980's. And I won't be surprised if this latest stunt (resulting in a death) will spur even more legislation against it.

I wouldn't be surprised either, Plot Device.

But doesn't it seem like "cluster ballooning" is just one of those things that we shouldn't NEED a law against? People can't figure out this is a bad idea on their own?

Anyway, I don't think that we should make laws against things like this. Anyone who would attempt such a stupid thing is better off not passing on their genes. That's the whole point behind Darwin Awards, isn't it? Leave it legal and help to boost the quality of the gene pool, that's what I say.

[HeronW]

This goes right under the heading of 'Stupid People Tricks'...
Doesn't matter if he's a priest or a professional pilot doing this for a worthy cause or a publicity stunt. Sometimes tragedies caused by stupid tricks are a deterrent to those who think that common sense isn't exotic enough for them.