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14
Jul
2012
7:25pm, EDT
Taking flight in Oregon on lawn chairs
Dan Cook / Reuters
Fareed Lafta and Kent Couch (L) lift off from Couch's Stop & Go Mini Mart in Bend, Oregon, July 14. The two men, sitting in lawn chairs tied to a cluster of 350 helium-filled balloons lift-off in a bid to break the Guinness World Record for the longest two-man cluster balloon flight.
Jeff Barnard / AP
Oregon gas station owner Kent Couch and Iraqi adventurer Fareed Lafta lift off Saturday, July 14, from Couch's gas station in Bend, Ore., as they attempt to fly some 360 miles to Montana. The flight is a warm-up for a future flight planned in Iraq.

FROM AP- BEND, Ore. — An Oregon gas station owner and an Iraqi adventurer took flight Saturday aboard a pair of lawn chairs suspended from helium-filled party balloons in an attempt to fly across Oregon and Idaho and into Montana.

About 90 volunteers and several hundred onlookers counted down and then cheered as Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta lifted off from Couch's Shell gas station. The duo safely cleared a two-story motel, a coffee stand and a light post. Click here to read more about this world-record attempt.

1 comment
Hope they're outfiitted with parachutes. Traveling 360 miles in lawn chairs supported by ballons may not be as easy as they think. Lets suppose a weather storm quickly arises? How do they lower their altitude, start shooting some of the ballons? BTW, if you'v never seen the movie "UP", I highly r …
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3
Nov
2011
4:33pm, EDT
Oregon lawn chair balloonist plans Baghdad flight, hopes to avoid floating into Iran
By Jim Seida
On July 5, 2008, Bend, Oregon resident Kent Couch tied more than 150 large helium balloons to a lawn chair and floated 235 miles before landing in an Idaho field. He reached 15,000 feet of elevation during his flight.
Jeff Barnard / AP
This July 5, 2008 file photo shows Kent Couch flying away from his gas station in Bend, Ore., riding a lawn chair rigged with more than 150 giant party balloons for a flight that ended in an Idaho farm field. Couch headed Thursday for Dubai, where he will prepare for a Nov. 15 launch of a double lawn chair with 300 balloons to inspire Iraqi youth.
Now Couch is planning to fly a double lawn chair with even more balloons rigged to it up to an elevation of 25,000 feet over Iraq. He'll be accompanied by Iraqi daredevil Fareed Lafta. Read our full story here, and visit Couch's site to learn more about his balloon adventures.
Jeff Barnard / AP
This July 5, 2008 file photo shows Kent Couch just before flying away from his gas station in Bend, Ore., riding a lawn chair rigged with more than 150 giant party balloons for a flight that ended in an Idaho farm field. Couch headed Thursday for Dubai, where he is preparing for a Nov. 15 launch in Baghdad of a double lawn chair with 300 balloons to inspire Iraqi youth.

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14
Feb
2011
2:06pm, EST
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
A man carries a bunch of balloons as he walks down Union Street on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2011, in San Francisco, Calif. Valentine's Day is actually a Catholic Church sanctioned holiday, as Pope Gelasius deemed Feb. 14, St. Valentine's Day, near 498 A.D.
A San Franciscan delivers a colorful bunch of Valentine’s Day balloons
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24
Jan
2011
7:13am, EST
Anthony Anex/EPA
Two men prepare a hot air balloon during the 33rd International Hot Air Balloon week, in the skiing resort of Chateau d'Oex, in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Jan. 23. Over 80 balloons from 15 countries are participating in the ballooning event in the Swiss mountain resort famous for ideal flight conditions due to an exceptional microclimate.
Anthony Anex / EPA
A hot air balloon taking off during the 33rd International Hot Air Balloon week, in the skiing resort of Chateau d'Oex, in the Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Jan. 23. Over 80 balloons from 15 countries are participating in the ballooning event in the Swiss mountain resort famous for ideal flight conditions due to an exceptional microclimate.
International Balloon Festival in the Swiss Alps

By Elena Grothe
I love the simple composition of these images.
2 comments
Elena, doesn't the bottom shot look a bit like the MSNBC fan tail?
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10
Jan
2011
11:10am, EST
Ishara S.kodikara / AFP - Getty Images
A Sri Lankan vendor walks to find customers at a sea-front promenade in Colombo on January 10, 2011.
Colorful ballons in Sri Lanka
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2
Oct
2010
1:16pm, EDT
Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP
An Afghan boy sells balloons in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Oct. 2.
Balloons in Kabul
2 comments
In a country rocked with violence over the last decade this image succeeds in capturing the humanity that has prevailed through it all. It captures a quiet moment suspended between the turmoil. With more violence rolling into Afghanistan from the Pakistani border (attack on NATO oil tankers) this …
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