if there's no evidence of drug or alcohol abuse, this guy's just stupid:

Lava lamp left on hot stovetop explodes, killing man

Tuesday, November 30, 2004 Posted: 2:53 AM EST (0753 GMT)

KENT, Washington (AP) -- A man who placed a lava lamp on a hot stovetop was killed when it exploded and sent a shard of glass into his heart, police said.

Philip Quinn, 24, was found dead in his trailer home Sunday night by his parents.

"Why on earth he was heating a lava lamp on the stove, we don't know," Kent Police spokesman Paul Petersen said Monday.

After the lamp exploded, Quinn apparently stumbled into his bedroom, where he died Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Police found no evidence of drug or alcohol use.

Sometimes I feel really bad for the stupidity of other people. However, part of me is happy that people like this off themselves before they procreate too much.

My pops is a doctor. He used to, when doing his residency, work in an ER in northern california. He said that one of the most horrifying things he ever saw was when 4 kids came in with severe lacerations all over their bodies. How'd it happen? They got a hold of dry ice and stuffed loads of it in the glass soda bottles that used to exist. Then, they put the cap on it to watch it explode. Unfortunately, it exploded much faster than they expected. My dad said it was one bloody mess.

I mean, I am sure at one stage or another, at least with the boys on here, we've all had our moments of playing with hairspray and fire, but honestly, rampant stupidity at 24 is just unacceptable.

Anyone who's ever been to Kent wouldn't be surprised at all by this.

wow. you just reminded me of a few things i did as a kid:

-we collected "dud" fireworks from the alleys and streets the day after fourth of july and drilled a hole in an old croquet ball and it got blown into shards after just leaving my brother's hand.

-once me and my best friend ralphie were mixing all kinds of stuff together in his basement and we mixed chlorine bleach with amonia and it instantly melted down the styrophoam cup we poured it in. the fumes were overwhelming and we just ran out of his basement.

there's loads more stupid stuff. i guess we had a lot of free time on our hands.

Otherwise intelligent people have always done stupid stuff as kids. I wonder how many other lava lamps have been abused in a similar fashion, that didn't end so tragicaly?

If that shard of glass hadn't hit his heart, he'd have lived and we never would have heard about this.

Now, I'm curious - what would a super-heated lava lamp look like?

You know, he might not have been heating it on the actual burner. I mean, in my apartment, we sometimes keep the coffee maker or the George Foreman on the stovetop, between burners. Maybe it just got a little too hot.