Fires notoriously act up at parties.
Maybe you've been at a party and noticed someone working for hours trying to get a fire started. Sometimes it's even a group of people - each with an opinion on why it's not working. It normally goes something like this. The firebuilder brings in the logs and carefully places them in the fireplace in a position that, uh, well, looks good. He then puts some newpaper under the logs and, uh, maybe a few well-placed sticks of kindling will do the trick. After opening the flue and a few minor adjustments the paper is lit and the fire is off to a roaring start! Hey, I'll have that drink now!

Flames dance around the logs for a couple of minutes. For a while it looks like everything is going great. Our hero settles back in a nearby chair, drink in hand – half admiring his work and half pretending to hide his growing concern. After a few minutes, and like all the other fires in recent memory, the jig is finally up and the fire looks like it did just before it was "started". Hey, have we got any more newpaper?
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