Comments on: Readers Cameraphone: The Continuing Saga Of The World’s Largest Piñata

By: petenerd

petenerd — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:15:28 +0000

It wasn’t a real wrecking ball. It was paper mache over a wood frame. I checked out it while I was there and I could move it with one hand.

By: C. The Impaler

C. The Impaler — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:06:33 +0000

PCC, have you ever seen a wrecking ball used? They can be used with some finesse. It was a real wrecking ball, but they were never going to operate it at full swing. You can, in fact, through the miracle of modern technology (actually wrecking balls are not exactly cutting edge), tap something with a wrecking ball in a manner that would trip a circuit triggering a device, in this case a mechanical door. It’s very Rube Goldberg, but entirely doable, provided your “Pinata” is wired properly.

By: Philly Chit Chat

Philly Chit Chat — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:52:45 +0000

I hear the wrecking ball was paper mache. But when I saw it it looked like metal to me.

By: C. The Impaler

C. The Impaler — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:42:33 +0000

My fave comment on this is the one I read saying it was filled with Mexican soldiers.

The mechanical failure a cop told me about, makes sense. No one would seriously swing a wrecking ball in any proximity of a crowd at real wrecking ball force. The ball was supposed to basically “tap” the pinata, triggering a mechanical belly door that would dump the candy (though I don’t know if that would technically win a pinata record). The trigger circuit failed, which given Carvinal Cruise Line’s (and pretty much all cruise lines’) penchant for mechanical failure, is not all surprising.

I was there from 1-3 outside the fence. From what I saw the event and tech staff were talking more with each other and a couple of teams inspecting the pinata than they were with the police who were on the scene. Whole thing looked pretty safe, but still a massive bummer.

By: Perfectly Disgraceful

Perfectly Disgraceful — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:08:25 +0000

The pinata is on the lot that used to be the home of a really gorgeous old warehouse that was knocked down probably 12 years ago. Now the Cirque de Soleil parks there whenever it’s in town, otherwise the lot is empty and ugly, except for, apparently, giant P.R. fiascos. Yes, we love Philly, but sometimes it seems a little like Philly smacks us around, apologizes, and then begs us to come back because, baby, it loves us so much and we are the only one for it.