April 22, 2008

"We are absolutely confident he will be found alive and well, floating somewhere in the ocean."

The priest with his 1,000 balloons and dreams of glory.
"very cold, but fine"...

"losing height"...

"He knew what he was doing and was fully prepared for any kind of mishap."

10 comments:

Tibore said...

It just kills me that the labels for this post are "disaster", "religion", and "sports"

rhhardin said...

Adding a few balloons to the cross at the memorial service would be a nice touch.

vbspurs said...

Oh boy. I've been to Paranaguá, in the Southern state of Paraná in Brazil.

Southern Brazilians are mainstays of the X-Games. They are daredevils by choice and breeding, it seems, and even priests are not immune.

Hoping Padre de Carli is found, safe and sound. His cause is unusual and I'm scared Brazilians, not known for their charitable impulses, will be scared off if this turns tragic.

"Father Carli was hoping to raise money to fund a rest stop for lorry drivers in Paranagua, one of Brazil's major ports for agricultural products."

Cheers,
Victoria

Michelle said...

This calls for Neil Halstead's beautiful song, Hi-Lo and Inbetween.

One day it just snowed I guess
and they closed the roads into your heart
You came home like a dead star
no light left, no loving anymore

Years ago you sent a postcard,
it's the one that always made me laugh
It said "send for reinforcements
cause there's too much here for me to love"

What would they say
What would they say to make you feel OK
What would they do
What would they do to make you feel OK

Years ago I read a story
about a man who had a plan
Tied himself on to a balloon
yeah, cut the ties and tried to reach the moon

Rescued by an airline pilot
15,000 feet above the world
Dragged him down, they wished him luck
they'd hoped that he learned his lesson well

What would they say
What would they say to make him feel OK
What would they do
What would they do to make him feel OK

Kathy I can still see stars
the same ones that we wished upon
I know you know your way around
but I can tell you're losing ground

I can see you on the radar
but you know I could never bring you back
You cut the ties, you're floating free yeah, hi and lo and inbetween
you cut the ties, you're floating free yeah, hi and lo and inbetween

Steven said...

Perhaps the money he raised will cover the cost of the rescue effort.

Peter Hoh said...

I'm hoping he's found safe, too. Nonetheless, a mischievous voice inside wonders if, should things turn out badly, the priest would be eligible for a Darwin Award, seeing as he had already removed himself from the gene pool.

Hoosier Daddy said...

Nonetheless, a mischievous voice inside wonders if, should things turn out badly, the priest would be eligible for a Darwin Award,

I wonder if that same kind of sentiment would be there had he not been a priest. After all, the same kind of expense is done all the time for folks who go hiking in mountains durig snowstorms all the time for example.

KCFleming said...

Priest or no, people who do publicity stunts like this should have to post an insurance bond to cover expenses should rescue be needed.

Folks are often put in danger trying to get these stupid kittens out of trees, and it ain't cheap, neither.

rhhardin said...

Tony Powell on Imus : the search for intelligent life won't be going to the coast of Brazil.

And a riff on sharks feeling it's their lucky day.

After an intelligent life comment on marrying five wives and not one of them good looking; what you have is five people nagging you to take out the garbage.

It's what Imus used to do before he was emasculated. A job taken over now by a safely black comedian, in a bid to hold the audience.

Peter Hoh said...

I'm not sure I catch your drift, Hoosier.

My cheeky question is entirely dependent on the fact that the balloonist is a priest, but I didn't express any sentiment other than my hope that he is found safe.

I said absolutely nothing about the expense of the search, nor did I suggest that it be called off, but you seem to think I did. Perhaps a re-reading is in order.

It does seem to me to be a rather foolish thing, to send oneself into the wind with little ability to control one's altitude. Controlling altitude is necessary to control the flight of a manned balloon. A successful balloonist must rise up and descend -- repeatedly -- to take advantage of favorable winds and avoid winds that would blow him off course. This would be impossible in the contraption on which the priest took flight.

When someone does a foolish thing like this, and it ends in his death, he becomes eligible for a Darwin award.

The Darwin awards are given to people who remove themselves from the gene pool. A priest is not supposed to be in the gene pool. This, and this alone, is the basis of my cheeky question.