Hasta La Gadget!

Oct 08

Darth Vader, Spider-Pig fly at International Balloon Fiesta

Darth Vader has a big head.

(Credit: Amanda Kooser/CNET)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In all my years of living in Albuquerque, I have managed to completely miss one of the city’s marquee events, the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This year, I finally dragged my sorry self out of bed at 3:30 in the morning, caught a school-bus shuttle, and arrived in the dark and cold to huge crowds and hundreds of balloon teams setting up on a massive field.

I knew hot air balloons were pretty. What I didn’t realize is just how geeky they can be. Among the usual colorful entries there was a certain contingent of balloons that stood out on my geek radar.

The event kicked off with a dawn patrol, in which a dozen balloons take flight in the darkness to get an early look at wind conditions. The balloons light up dramatically on the ground before launch. One of the early risers was an Intel-branded balloon. Neighboring Rio Rancho is home to a huge Intel chip plant, so it makes sense to see a company-sponsored balloon here.

The term “mass ascension” sounds like a religious affair, but it’s really the mass launch of hundreds of balloons shortly after the sun peeks over the nearby Sandia Mountains. I hunted through the crowded field to uncover sights like the Spider-Pig balloon (a “Simpsons”-inspired mash-up of a pig and Spider-M… [Read more]