$20 million worth of fireworks in five minutes

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DUBAI (AFP) — Shrugging off the global financial crisis, Dubai overnight toasted a new luxury hotel with a 20 million dollar bash attended by film stars and sporting greats and marked by a spectacular fireworks display...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLy5JmQO0rujtgIhagTrOSwBRkfg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHAIItGzjRw
 
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That's a little excessive.

Someone should remind them that the price of oil is a third of what it was.
 
LowlyPion said:
That's a little excessive.

Someone should remind them that the price of oil is a third of what it was.

Its Dubai. Their entire culture is based on havnig large amounts of money and letting everyone else know it. What do you think they would do with all that cash, give $20 million to the red cross or use it to fund research to help cure diseases? :rolleyes: Only stupid saps like us spend money on such practical things.
 
It is off the scale - it is a phenomenon that cannot be properly appreciated.

Fireworks seen from the air defeat the purpose and lose their awe and majesty. Yet the display is far too large to be appreciated from the ground (since it obviously spans the entire Palm Dubai, an area of 25 square kilometers).

That, in itself, is kind of awe-inspiring and kind of sad at the same time.
 
It's more than just showing off. They know their days as an oil-rich nation are limited - something like twenty years, IIRC - so they have invested tremendously in a future of tourism. They are trying to position themselves as THE resort destination in the ME.
 
When the sirens when off at the end, all I could think of was "fire alarm!" like they had caught the new hotel on fire.
 
turbo-1 said:
When the sirens when off at the end, all I could think of was "fire alarm!" like they had caught the new hotel on fire.

Heh, I was thinking that air raid sirens may not be the best choice for a ME resort.