What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

David Blaine's Ascension (1 Viewer)

I thought it was pretty cool, but the amount of preparation he went through, the certifications... all the learning and training he did in such a short time is even better. 

 
Maybe I am in the minority but this was terrible IMO.  He took a hot air balloon to 25k feet and parachuted from there.  He had to have his hand held at every point and his parachuting instructor talked to him like a beginner.  So many people and resources dedicated to this nothing burger.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe I am in the minority but this was terrible IMO.  He took a hot air balloon to 25k feet and parachuted from there.  He had to have his hand held at every point and his parachuting instructor talked to him like a beginner.  So many people and resources dedicated to this nothing burger.
It’s weird to say this- but i feel like I agree with you and disagree with you at the same time. My agreement basically stems from the fact that it’d seem that it didn’t have to be david Blaine doing the stunt. Really any of those experts or instructors could have done it with far more ease and less stress. However, probably zero chance that YouTube finances or funds it.  With that said- for me the actual stunt was relatively underwhelming. The part where i disagree is the nothing burger part. I think the beauty is that it was life imitating a dream. Every kid probably had the thought of floating up into the sky holding balloons. They effectively recreated that imaginary tale in realistic form. I do think there is a certain beauty to that.

 
Maybe I am in the minority but this was terrible IMO.  He took a hot air balloon to 25k feet and parachuted from there.  He had to have his hand held at every point and his parachuting instructor talked to him like a beginner.  So many people and resources dedicated to this nothing burger.
In the Rogen interview he talked about some of that.  The reason for all the talk though and handholding was they were not able to practice any of the put the parachute on part. The first time they did it was that time.  Obviously if something goes wrong there he’s dead.   

 
Maybe I am in the minority but this was terrible IMO.  He took a hot air balloon to 25k feet and parachuted from there.  He had to have his hand held at every point and his parachuting instructor talked to him like a beginner.  So many people and resources dedicated to this nothing burger.
Next Blaine will attempt to drive his SUV a little over the post speed limit on an empty highway

 
It’s weird to say this- but i feel like I agree with you and disagree with you at the same time. My agreement basically stems from the fact that it’d seem that it didn’t have to be david Blaine doing the stunt. Really any of those experts or instructors could have done it with far more ease and less stress. However, probably zero chance that YouTube finances or funds it.  With that said- for me the actual stunt was relatively underwhelming. The part where i disagree is the nothing burger part. I think the beauty is that it was life imitating a dream. Every kid probably had the thought of floating up into the sky holding balloons. They effectively recreated that imaginary tale in realistic form. I do think there is a certain beauty to that.
But he's not an expert or instructor. Love watching him. My fav.

 
another one I'd forgotten.

the imitators at the end of that...

Yoshikazu Suzuki departed from Lake Biwa in Japan on 23 November 1992 with 23 helium balloons. He was spotted by a Japanese coast guard aeroplane on 25 November 1992, located about 800 km offshore over the Pacific Ocean, at altitude between 2,500 and 4,000 m, and was never seen again.

On January 13, 2008, the Brazilian Roman Catholic priest and human-rights defender Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from Ampére, Brazil, suspended under 600 helium-filled party balloons, and reached an altitude of 5,300 metres (17,400 ft) before landing safely in Argentina.[18] On April 20, 2008, lifting off from Paranagua, Brazil, in an attempt to fly 725 km (450 mi) inland to Dourados, Brazil, he flew using a chair suspended under 1,000 party balloons, reaching an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 m). Not having checked the weather forecast, he got caught in a storm. He had a GPS but did not know how to operate it. He was last heard on the radio eight hours after liftoff approaching the water after flying off the coast, unable to give his position, and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean; part of his body was found by the Brazilian Navy near an offshore oil platform on July 4, 2008. The act won him a 2008 Darwin Award.
 
That Luke guy was incredible.

With that said, I still liked the Blaine stunt.  I didn't watch all of it, but caught bits of the preparation and the ascent.  Watched all of the descent of course.  There were a lot of things going on and something could have gone wrong pretty quickly, so I was impressed.

 
Maybe not something a ####-ton of other humans can’t do, but dude is a magician not an Army Ranger. He’s got big balls. Was most impressed with how chill he seemed in the 30 min leading up to launch.

As an aside, I found all the daughter stuff cringey. 

 
Why couldn’t he wear the parachute from the start? 
Was that the kicker? That he had to put the  parachute on while free-falling?

If I read right ... he had to GRIP all those balloons in his hands all the way to 24,000 feet? As opposed to the balloons being tied to him or otherwise attached? If he had to grip those balloons the entire time, that couldn’t have been easy.

EDIT: Finally found a descriptive account of the stunt — Blaine’s balloons were attached to a harness, not held in his hands.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Funny how we're all so smug, or whatever... where a guy who rose to 25k feet by being kinda connected to a bunch of balloons with a device without a parachute immediately at the ready... lifted off in an image we all recognize... and we're like... meh...

 
Why couldn’t he wear the parachute from the start? 
On Rogan he mentioned that everyone wanted him to wear it from the start. He wouldn't due to the appearance of this whole stunt was very important to him. He really wanted it to look like a guy hanging on to balloons floating away.

It was really interesting to hear about all the prep for this. His breathing technique was cool to hear about. I was amazed at how low he can get his heartbeat and how long he can hold his breath. I believe someone above said this and I agree. The real story here was the preparation in a very limited amount of time. 

 
Funny how we're all so smug, or whatever... where a guy who rose to 25k feet by being kinda connected to a bunch of balloons with a device without a parachute immediately at the ready... lifted off in an image we all recognize... and we're like... meh...
I feel the exact opposite.

I probably watched less than a minute of this video and thought to myself.... "Who actually finds this entertaining?". But people sit and watch complete strangers play Minecraft for hours on end so what do I know? For me this stunt hits that sweet spot of slightly less entertaining than NASCAR but slightly more entertaining than "The View". Wait, is there cleavage on "The View"?

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top