Grand Opening Party


(Brightcove link)

Nice fireworks! What's the occasion? It's the grand opening of The Atlantis, a luxury resort on the man-made Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. To get a scale of the fireworks, keep in mind that the "trunk" of the palm island is five kilometers long!
One million fireworks – almost 10 times the scale of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony – lit up the Palm, with the organisers claiming the display was visible from space.

Even in Dubai, a part of the world renowned for excess, there had never been a party like it.

"We built something that's quite extraordinary. We've got to tell the world about it," said Sol Kerzner, the South African billionaire hotelier and casino tycoon.

The 1,539-room Atlantis took two years to build and cost £1 billion. Mr Kerzner admitted that the global economic downturn would have an effect on business.

The launch party cost £15 million ($30 million). Link

"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....
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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."
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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@ 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.
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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)
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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.
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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.
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