wow... I wonder what the thought process was that ended in "yeah, I think a blowtorch will do the trick."

One of the painting contractors that I worked for in the early nineties had us strip paint from the eaves of houses using propane torches. We had to carry a five gallon bucket containing your torch, a scraper, sandpaper and a fire-extinguisher up a forty foot ladder and burn all the paint off the woodwork at the roof-line (most houses are brick here so you don't usually paint the body of the house).

I'm amazed that we never managed to set any housed on fire, I was very glad when I found a job with a less craze contractor.

In a related story, The Goofus family of Stoneham blew down their modest ranch-style home from dusting their living room with a jet engine.

My next door neighbor in Madison did this when we first moved into our house. Only he was going after earwigs with a blowtorch. Our house was probably about 4 feet from theirs. He cackled wildly as he did it too. Really crazy.

Happily for both me and his ex-wife, she kicked him out of the house shortly after that and divorced him, so I never had to do anything about it.

Every so often, someone would invite me to see the guy's band (he is a popular local-to-Madison musician) and I'd have to think of an excuse why I didn't want to go.

near miss for darwin award.

Wasp and hornet nests merit the blowtorch treatment, yes, but cobwebs? Get a broom, slackarse.