This begins with a question that we should all ask ourselves. At what point do fun and games go beyond just being "fun and games?"Walking home the other night at about 3:15 am we stumbled upon a bondfire in the middle of the street questioning ourselves "what the f#*% is that?" Coming closer, we found that a few rascals had set a Christmas tree on fire, virtually illuminating a city block. Crackling, the tree was surrounded by hipster looking folks passing around bagged pints of liquor (I believe it was some sort of bourbon) as well as each wielding a 40 oz of Old English (yum yum). Around the glowing bush, those that had lit it were relatively considerate being the time that it was. There was no yelling or screaming but a little dancing around the fire, continuingly consuming alcohol and enjoying the freedom that inebriation provides. Along with being entranced by brilliance of the fire from blocks away, coming closer I couldn't help be attracted to the atmosphere that had been created, greatness in a way had been achieved.
How often do you see a bondfire in the middle of the street in your neighborhood? As we continued walking I saw one of the gentleman capturing the torrid branches crisp on a higher-end video camera eluding that he most likely was a film student. Walking towards, it would not be akward or strange to just go up and talk to them, there is this normalization about San Francisco that makes everything in other parts of the world not the same here. Beginning to manifest that idea I was grabbed and held back as my girlfriend as she mentioned the vicinity of the fire to the cars both to the left and behind and the possiblity of an explosion.
Was it entertaining? Most definiately.
Does post 3:oo am consist of little goons running around San Francisco lighting things on fire, to then video tape them and post to youtube?
Apparently so, view videos here of that in a multitude of ways, the first with San Francisco and the second with 1,450+ other recordings of just that: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NxjaPLU9n9g
Could lighting a Christmas Tree on Fire have easily made either of the cars less than four feet from each side of the fire explode? Yes, I believe it could have and thus was the reason I was instructed to keep my distance and also was the thought that lead to the first sentence of this entry. When should we ask ourselves...
What I really find interesting is this: Living only 2.5 blocks away, no one felt (including myself) as though there was a reason in this case to call a fire truck or alert the authorities (we would have heard the sirens or saw for that matter the lights going by). It seemed as though there was a mutual understanding between all parts involved - that the actionable items by these drunken late-teen, early twenty-somethings was something they found pleasure in, the creation of something that glowed, that was clearly out of the ordinary, that perhaps even could be seen as artistic. Also it could be seen as potentially harmful - yes, but upon thinking for a second about the situation at hand, the most that in all likliness would have happened and that did was that those involved might somehow burn themselves, which doesn't really concern passer-bys either. In that case, from the lyrics of Mark Ranson, they or in the first person form, "you did it to yourself."
Viewing situations in society where one can for example: light a Christmas Tree on fire in a residental neighborhood lighting up a CITY BLOCK and by doing so at the right time, in the right place - it can happen and be enjoyed as if nothing happened at all... they somehow captured that theorized veil of ignorance and blanketed it over the city - somehow shifting what the human condition otherwise would allow, and that is of interest.
