Grand Opening Party

1. seekshelter
   November 21st, 2008 at 4:49 pm

   “We’ve got to tell the world about it”…..??? why?? so 99.99999999999999999% of the world that can never afford to go there can see fireworks? this is like watching a rich guy go on a shopping spree….

2. Video Game Dork
   November 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm

   Hmm.. a place called Atlantis built upon a man made island?

   …

   To quote Robert Jordan…

   “The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legends fade to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.”

3. Sully
   November 21st, 2008 at 5:02 pm

   Does the resort take up all 5km of the “tree” or is it just part of the island? If so, which part?

   Were these “enhanced” like the Chinese fireworks?

4. Justin
   November 21st, 2008 at 6:00 pm

   They have the other Hotel Atlantis in the Bahamas and it looks nearly identical to this. Btw that section in the middle connecting the two structures is a single room. The tour guide in the bahamas said the toilets were literally made of gold.

5. Johnny Cat
   November 21st, 2008 at 6:09 pm

   Pretty impressive show, even though it smacks of chest pounding exuberance. And what was up with the abrupt ending?

6. CheeseDuck
   November 21st, 2008 at 6:22 pm

   Oh god. Everything is bigger in Dubai.

7. Perceive
   November 21st, 2008 at 7:23 pm

   I used to be impressed by the architecture in Dubai until I read this devastating article:

   http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/08/middleeast.construction

   All the infrastructure and seeming prosperity there is made possible by slave labor. They lure workers from other countries under false pretenses, confiscate their passports and withhold plane tickets to strand them there, then make them work brutal hours. If you have to glorify Dubai, at least give some thought to the suffering that made it possible.

8. Geekazoid
   November 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pm

   Let them eat cake.

9. mrmuggles
   November 21st, 2008 at 8:39 pm

   30 million gone in smoke… literally.

10. Carl
    November 21st, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    HAHA, Take that, starving Somalians!

    / it’s okay to have money but…come on now.

11. raina_c
    November 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 am

    How pathetic to spend this much on fireworks…uhm, but over here in the U.S didn’t a baseball team just pay over 100 million dollars for a pitcher??? Well, I guess that’s okay since I think since Reese Witherspoon gets $15-20 million a picture.

12. DB
    November 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 am

    So is this designed by the same people who did the Bahamas “Atlantis” resort, or is it just a really bad ripoff? Because it looks way too similar not to be a coincidence, except that… it’s worse. I don’t really see what makes it “Atlantis”-y.

    If anyone actually knows, I am very curious because I’m studying the Bahamas’ Atlantis for a project.

13. mR pSYcHo
    November 22nd, 2008 at 1:05 am

    This is one of the tackiest things I’ve ever seen.

14. JenDiggity
    November 22nd, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Spending money like this (or for a pitcher or for some twit to be in a stupid movie) is just wrong. I’m not saying people shouldn’t be ALLOWED to spend their money how they want. I’m just saying this kind of extravagance is revolting and just wrong. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing I was wasting such fortune on such inconsequential ridiculousness.

15. rageagainsttherobots
    November 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    The 4th of Dubai?

16. Ali S.
    November 22nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    @ Perceive

    Thank you! Thank you for reminding us who exactly built all those structures. There is no grand parade or public acknowledgment given to those hard working men and women who toil in intolerable heat and living conditions.

    If anything, yes, this is an impressive display but come on. This is an island catered to the rich and nothing more.

17. PotatoCouch
    November 22nd, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    The party cost $30 million, not the fireworks. That includes the drinks, food, and I think transportation for all the celebrities they flew in.

18. heth
    November 23rd, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    What about pollution? That must have caused an amazing amount of smoke over that part of the world. That is one place I have no desire to visit - give me a sleepy Greek island any time (Heth from the UK)

19. Dubai is a bad place.
    November 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm

    Yeah look at how spectacular Dubai is, it’s great until you realize you are not in a free country. Don’t accidentally track an illegal seed on your shoe through customs or get drunk and have sex on a beach because all the cool fireworks will get you is prison time. From the Wikipedia entry: Human rights in Dubai - Zero tolerance drug policy

    Drugs found in urine or blood testing count as “possession” under UAE law. BBC DJ Grooverider (real name: Raymond Bingham) was sentenced to four years in prison after a pair of jeans in his luggage was found to contain just over 2 grams of marijuana.[19] The Dubai authorities have been known to stop tourists on layovers the airport and are now using extremely sensitive electronic detection equipment, including urine and blood screening, to search for traces of illegal substances. Keith Brown, a British national and father of three, was arrested on September 17, 2007 after authorities claim to have discovered a speck of cannabis on the bottom of one of his shoes. According to an article in the Daily Mail,[20] the alleged illegal substance was smaller than a grain of sugar - weighing approximately .003 grams. He has also been sentenced to four years in prison. Another UK citizen, Tracy Wilkinson, was arrested and accused of being a “drugs baroness” in 2005 after authorities found codeine in her blood.[21] Wilkinson has a bad back and received an injection of codeine at a Dubai hospital. She ended up spending two months in a cell where she contracted dysentery, head lice and an infestation of fleas before she was eventually released on bail. German television producer Cat Le-Huy was arrested in January 2008 for possessing a bottle of the over-the-counter hormone sleep aid Melatonin.[22] Authorities claimed that some dirt in Mr. Le-Huy’s luggage was hashish. A Vancouver resident named Bert Tatham was arrested at Dubai International Airport returning home from Afghanistan (where he was ironically working with farmers to try and convince them not to grow poppies). The anti-narcotics officer was found to have two dead poppy bulbs and a tiny amount of hashish melted into the seams of one of his trouser pockets.[23] After spending more than 10 months in prison, he was eventually pardoned by U.A.E. President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

20. Dubai is a bad place.
    November 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Please forgive me for my tirade. I find Dubai to be a horrible place that needs to stop being glorified in anyway.

21. Arrrrrr
    November 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm

    Impressive in sheer volume, but utterly lacking when it comes to eliciting any emotion other than disgust. This is the mindless opulence that is now Dubai, great.

22. Rocky Rook
    November 25th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    they should have let those guys jump off the tower again ..that would have been impressive.

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