Back Porch FanHouse http://backporch.fanhouse.com Back Porch FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif Back Porch FanHouse http://backporch.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/6-Year-Old Balloon Boy Falcon Heene Found Safe at Homehttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-balloon-boy-falcon-heene-found-safe-at-home/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-balloon-boy-falcon-heene-found-safe-at-home/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/6-year-old-balloon-boy-falcon-heene-found-safe-at-home/#commentsFiled under: ,



Falcon Heene, the 6-year-old kid who earned the nickname "Balloon Boy" when news outlets reported that he was stuck in a runaway helium balloon over Denver, Colorado, has been found safe at home. He was not in the balloon and had been hiding out at his house.

Channel 7 news in Denver quotes Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden as saying, "He's at the house and he's fine." He was hiding in a cardboard box in the attic above the family's garage.

Authorities spent more than four hours searching for Falcon, who was thought to be in the helium balloon that crashed at 1:35 p.m. local time in Weld County, Colorado, but when rescue personnel got to the balloon, which had traveled about 50 miles, he was not inside.

All the cable news channels broke into their regularly scheduled programming to offer live coverage of the balloon sailing through the air, with anchors breathlessly speculating on what might happen to the boy inside.

Falcon is the youngest son of Richard and Mayumi Heene, a family described as obsessed with weather and science experiments. The family has appeared on the ABC show Wife Swap and frequently appears in videos chasing storms. On Wife Swap, the Heenes were accused of "chaotic parenting." But on Thursday, the chaos was on cable news, while Falcon was at home all along.

For updates, follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

6-Year-Old Balloon Boy Falcon Heene Found Safe at Home originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Michael David SmithThu, 15 Oct 2009 18:20:00 EST Helium Balloon Flies, Crashes, No Word on 6-Year-Old Boy's Conditionhttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/helium-balloon-flies-crashes-with-6-year-old-falcon-heene-insid/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/helium-balloon-flies-crashes-with-6-year-old-falcon-heene-insid/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/10/15/helium-balloon-flies-crashes-with-6-year-old-falcon-heene-insid/#commentsFiled under: ,



A 6-year-old boy whose family was known for loving science and seeking adventure reportedly got stuck in a giant helium balloon near Fort Collins, Colorado, leaving ballooning and aviation experts scrambling to determine how to rescue him before it crashed to the ground just after 1:30 PM local time. But when it hit the ground, rescue personnel said the boy was not inside.

Related: Heene's on Wife Swap | Family chases Hurricane Gustav

The boy, who has been identified as Falcon Heene, apparently climbed into the experimental aircraft built by his parents and floated into the sky when it became untethered. All the cable news channels broke from their normal schedules to give viewers non-stop coverage of the boy in the balloon, who became something of a 21st Century Jessica McClure.

The ABC show Wife Swap featured the Heenes for its special 100th episode, referring to them as "the storm-chasing, science-obsessed Heene family from Colorado." The description of the Wife Swap episode said:
When the Heene family aren't chasing storms, they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm. In this ultimate swap, the Heenes swap lives with a psychic mom who speaks to the dead and can control the weather, her husband and her children -- who believe they are destined to be stars. This show will feature aliens, punk rockers, past-life regression and, for the first time ever, the children from the two families will face off in a kids' table meeting. "Heene/Silver," the 100th episode of Wife Swap, destined to become a classic!
The balloon has been described as a saucer-shaped, Mylar-coated helium balloon that is 20 feet long and 5 feet high. After it crashed to the ground rescue personnel immediately converged on it, but there was no immediate information about Falcon, who may have fallen out or may never have been in the balloon in the first place.

For updates, follow me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.

Helium Balloon Flies, Crashes, No Word on 6-Year-Old Boy's Condition originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Michael David SmithThu, 15 Oct 2009 15:37:00 EST Six-Year-Old Boy Killed in Monster Truck Accident at Tacoma Domehttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/17/six-year-old-boy-killed-in-monster-truck-accident-in-tacoma-dome/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/17/six-year-old-boy-killed-in-monster-truck-accident-in-tacoma-dome/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/17/six-year-old-boy-killed-in-monster-truck-accident-in-tacoma-dome/#commentsFiled under: ,

Tragedy struck at the Tacoma Dome on Friday night during a monster truck show when debris shot into the crowd, killing a six-year-old boy and sending another adult male to the hospital.

Earlier on Saturday, the Tacoma News-Tribune printed a statement from Jessie Hizey, whose six-year old son Sebastian died at a local hospital soon after being transported there from the arena:
A Frisbee-sized piece of metal slammed into the side of Sebastian's head and "took a chunk of his skull ... around 3 inches long and 3 inches wide," the father said. The accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Father and son were enjoying the noise, action and drama of the Monster Truck Jam when Sebastian was "struck by a large metal ring from one of the trucks," the statement said. Natural High was the truck that was performing at the time of the accident, but it's uncertain from where the piece came. An adult man also was hospitalized, but his identity and condition have not been disclosed.

Jessie Hizey described the shrapnel as about three-quarters of an inch thick, weighing between seven and 12 pounds.

The family is "grief stricken and angry" that no one from the show has contacted them or expressed condolences, the father said.
The Web site for the truck in question, Natural High, has been pulled down, though you can find the Google cache by clicking here. Not surprisingly, somebody was in the crowd shooting digital video at the time. Click here to see the raw video that KING-TV in Seattle posted of the truck doing what appears to be some tricks, but be sure to follow the video to the end, where you'll see an individual retrieving debris from the event floor. For the full report from KING-TV, one which includes a harrowing report from an eyewitness, click here.


Also, according to the KING-TV report:
Witnesses who were sitting behind the victims say debris from a red truck flew some 30 to 50 feet into the stands. They say there was no netting or glass between the stands and the arena floor.
To someone like me who has never attended a monster truck event, that seems like something of a revelation. Even the NHL now has netting above the glass on either end of the ice, though that wasn't instituted until after 14-year-old Brittanie Cecil was struck by a puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets game in 2002 before dying a few days later.

Compounding the anger of some of the eyewitnesses, was the fact that the show was allowed to continue while arena staff waited for help to arrive. According to a statement in the KING-TV report, staff allowed the event to go on because they believed that if they cleared the arena immediately, the departing crowd could very well have impeded emergency personnel arriving on the scene.

Despite the child's death, the 2009 Monster Jam Finals continued through the rest of the weekend. Two more shows were performed on Saturday and another two held on Sunday. The lights were dimmed and a brief moment of silence was held at the arena before the second show on Saturday night.

As it turns out, there is a governing body for the sport, and it's the Monster Truck Racing Association based in Union, Missouri. In business for more than 20 years, the association's rule book makes it clear that all vehicles must be inspected before the start of every season. Here's one passage from the home page of MTRA's Web site that seems more than a little insensitive in light of Friday's events:
When "it" happens, and "it" gets together with "sh" and runs into the fan, the $2000 an hour shister lawyer employed by the people affected when "it" happened to you will be looking for any defect in your preparations for "it". Rely on the fact that the lawyer acting for the people affected by "it" will be looking for "preventability" i.e.: could you have prevented "it" from happening? Being an MTRA member is the best opening defence you and your $2000 a day lawyer can have. The history and reputation of the MTRA will be invaluable at such times. Beyond this members of the Board of directors will be available to be called in your defence.
That certainly provides an interesting insight into the mind of the person who wrote that passage.

Six-Year-Old Boy Killed in Monster Truck Accident at Tacoma Dome originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Eric McErlainSat, 17 Jan 2009 23:25:00 EST Naked Skier Found by TheSmokingGun.com Is Internet Sensation, Probably Embarrassedhttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/07/naked-skier-found-by-smokinggun-com-is-internet-sensation-proba/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/07/naked-skier-found-by-smokinggun-com-is-internet-sensation-proba/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2009/01/07/naked-skier-found-by-smokinggun-com-is-internet-sensation-proba/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The SmokingGun.com is notorious for -- among many things -- finding bizarre legal documents and mugshots of famous people. They are darn good at what they do and everyone loves them for it. But they scored one of their biggest coups yesterday when they stumbled upon pictures of a skier hanging from a chairlift by his pants in Vail, Colo.

Yes, it is the gentleman you see above in the left corner, and no, he is not comfortable. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, I'm terrified of heights. So I can't imagine having to hang from a ski lift without knowing whether I would plummet to certain limb breakage or not. Add being, ahem, 100 percent fully exposed to the harsh chills of winter and the certain embarrassment of other skiers' eyes, and I'm fairly certain that I'd rather not even be brought down.

Pictures of said skier being rescued after the jump (They are SFW, but, yes, there is some male buttocks.)


Naked Skier Found by TheSmokingGun.com Is Internet Sensation, Probably Embarrassed originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Naked SkierNakedSkierSmoking GunSmokingGunSmokingGun.comWill BrinsonWed, 07 Jan 2009 09:50:00 EST After 19 Straight, Del Potro Eyes the Openhttp://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/08/17/with-legg-mason-in-the-bag-del-potro-eyes-the-open/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/08/17/with-legg-mason-in-the-bag-del-potro-eyes-the-open/http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2008/08/17/with-legg-mason-in-the-bag-del-potro-eyes-the-open/#commentsFiled under: , ,

In a world dominated by always on broadband Internet connections, it's hard for any athlete to sneak up on sports fans anymore. But over the past few weeks, with the sports world focusing relentlessly on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a 19-year old Argentine may very well have put himself in the best position to win the Men's Singles Title at this year's U.S. Open.

The young man I'm talking about is 19th-ranked Juan-Martin Del Potro, and the reason to get excited about his prospects is that he hasn't lost a tennis match since he exited the second round of Wimbledon back on June 25. Toss in the fact that he's got the sort of looks that could win him a second career as a male model, and you can see why plenty of folks think he's ready to break out in a big way.

After an early exit from Wimbledon, Del Potro won a pair of clay court tournaments in Europe -- his first wins on the ATP Tour -- before decamping to the USA for the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles where he beat Andy Roddick in the final in two sets. Here all week in Washington at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, it's been nothing but more of the same, as Del Potro ripped through his side of the bracket as the tournament's second seed, running his consecutive win streak to 18 matches. Meanwhile on the other side of the ladder, #1 seed Roddick was upended in the quarterfinals on Friday night by the unheralded Serbian Viktor Troicki, Del Potro's opposition in today's final.

The Serbian proved to be little more than a speed bump as Del Potro cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory, stretching his consecutive match streak to 19 and his tournament win streak to four. It's an astounding feat, as no other player has ever even won a second straight tournament after winning of the first of their career on the ATP tour, and now Del Potro has strung together four straight.

Now there are some, with more than a little bit of reason, who would say that we shouldn't get too excited about what Del Potro has accomplished. After all, as ESPN's Cliff Drysdale noted in the aftermath of Del Potro's semifinal victory yesterday over Germany's Tommy Haas, much of the world's tennis talent has eschewed the hardcourt U.S. Open Series in favor of a shot at Olympic gold in Beijing -- a fact of life that has denuded the talent pool playing stateside over the past few weeks.

Still, 19 wins in a row and four straight tournament victories is an impressive achievement no matter the level of the opposition. And while Del Potro may very well have passed up the chance to win an Olympic medal for Argentina, there's more than something to be said about putting yourself in the proper position to win your first grand slam.



So while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are celebrating gold medals in Beijing, they've still got to fly half way around the world to get to Flushing Meadows in time, while Del Potro could walk from Washington and still get to the Open ahead of most of the world's top players. Something tells me he'll find a way to use all that extra time to his advantage.

After 19 Straight, Del Potro Eyes the Open originally appeared on Back Porch FanHouse on Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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]]>Andy RoddickAndyRoddickJuan-Martin Del PotroJuan-martinDelPotroEric McErlainSun, 17 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EST