Kites can kill

Some people take there free time seriously........

http://www.nbc11.com/news/11110154/detail.html

 

that's horrible, and they call it a festival, huh?

 

they do tend to take things very seriously in pakistan even sport

 

Those are the risks of kite running, I guess...

I wouldn't call it taking it seriously. To me these are all accidents for an event they've been doing for quite some time. They expect to have at least bloody hands from dealing with the kite strings and trying to cut the other kites down.
It seems goofy that police arrested people for sharpened kite strings when they're supposed to (at least from what I've read) use wire or glass-encrusted strings for this kite-fighting event. If you call kite-fighting taking it too seriously, I won't argue there. Maybe the event has changed a bit since I last read about it.

 

I wonder why some enterprising soul hasn't developed a suit of "Kite-proof" armor . . . The inventor would make a killing! (no pun intended . . . )

 

Yeh Petaluma.....was just having a squiz at that in "way off base" articles on the home page!

Boy, I have heard of road rage, but come on!!!

Its the poor kids that breaks my heart.

Regards....

 

Why would you even fly a kite on top of your house? And what happened to good old regular string?

 

If it's what it has been, it's more than just flying kites around. It's a kite-fighting competition. Kids steer their kites and try to cut the others down with the sharp kite strings. The last kite to stay in the air is the winner, and when a kite's string is cut, kids dash towards the plummeting kite in hopes of catching and keeping it for memorial sake (hence the name "kite running" to some). Either this year was especially bad in terms of injuries/deaths, or the news crew needed a filler.
As for flying kites from roofs...maybe they think it gives them a better vantage point. *shrugs*