Something 4 July 3rd

Something somewhat soothing 4 the day b4 July 4th, and have ya had enough fours 4 this go round now? For real, yo, the neighbors were blowing off bottle rockets and firecrackers as late as 2 am this past Saturday night, so apparently nobody called the cops and complained, though who knows - there were 250,000 folks jammed into Warner Park earlier that night for Madison's Rhythm & Booms, and that's more people than the city's actual population, so you know they had their hands full...And of course, this year's fireworks display featured a small forest fire right there in Warner Park that smoldered until earlier today, Tuesday, July 3rd, when we finally got some much-needed rain.

So, the cops and fire department had their hands full over there on the NW side of town, and so the drunken Cali transplants two doors down from me put on their own show out on their driveway, on and off to as late as 2am, and I didn't really care, cuz I was reelin' Foul Play for the second time and trying to suss out some pages of Jeff The Second (aka Warlord Jeff) , my screenplay about drug dealing in the suburbs circa 1985 that is mostly a rewrite of Shakespeare's Richard II, based on a few real characters I knew, including myself. Of course, Brick came out last year, and that film basically beat Jeff The Second to the punch, not to mention that I used to know a guy named "Brick" back then, so I've kinda lost my will to see the script through to the end...Once again, the universe has beaten me to the punch...

Anyways, I didn't really mind that my neighbors were blowing things up, and drinking and laughing and whatever cuz it's their country too, and it didn't interfere with my thing, and apparently didn't bother anybody else down my block either, so...Ain't that America?

I don't think overt patriotism has ever been my thing, and while my friends and I used to get our teenaged kicks from firecrackers and bottle rockets and potato cannons and Right Guard flamethrowers and whatnot, nowadays I'm just a middle-aged dude hanging out on a Saturday night and doing my things, which sometimes involves Warlord Jeff and other times involves Reaktor drum machines and sampled bass loops...

Can't knock tha hustle, and hustlin' is sooo American...

Almost Independence Day, and tomorrow is my dad's anniversary with Audrey, my stepmom. I ain't gonna get into a long history of my family after my mom's death in 1987, but let's just say there's a bit of irony involved in the July 4th wedding, especially since my dad kinda dotes on Audrey.

What's even more interesting to me is that my dad's always been a bit of a fireworks fanatic, and when I was growing up he would buy bags of stuff and put on semi-elaborate dispays out by the big rock on the corner of our yard...And when he married Audrey (1994?) there was a big reception at one of my stepbrother's farms (farmers and mechanics in her huge family), complete with a fireworks display that rivalled those of any small town's...

There was also a huge stump that they coated with motor oil and lit on fire, and the only other place I've ever seen an oil and/or tire fire was when I hung out with bikers intermittently between 1988 and 1995...Anyways, I recall one of my stepbrothers telling me that the oily stump fire kept away mosquitos, and I also recall not being able to argue otherwise...

So, my dad's a bit of a fireworks freak, and that's cool with me, though it really ain't my thing anymore, though I will admit that I miss those nights when him and I, and a couple of my friends, and maybe even my sister, would climb up on the roof of our garage, and we were able to see at least half a dozen fireworks from Grafton to the horizon. Cedarburg, Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Thiensville, Saukville, Port Washington.

So, it's almost Independence Day, and I'm rambling here because there's a thunderstorm raging outside, and the rain is falling flat and hard, and the internet connection is down, so I might as well keep typing until the signal is regained...

Van Morrison: "Almost Independence Day": 128k mp3

"Almost Independence Day", and why not spin that very song by an Irish Soul belter who's steppin' out in San Francisco's Chinatown with his lady, and even though Van Morrison lays it on thick and dramatic as he often does, moaning and howling as he's known to do, this song still comes off as a meditation, a rolling sootheness that underlies Morrison's wailing, a testimonial that doesn't really say or mean much, and I'm thinking that' America too - alot of surface, alot of dramatics, but not alot of depth, and I wonder if Morrison meant it to be that way - a reflection of spectacle that means little to the Dubliner,

And correct me if I'm wrong on this, but if I understand the lyrics well enough, the singer and his girl are looking to score heroin (buy some Hong Kong Silver)...

I might say, "ain't that America" too, cuz we do love our drugs here in the states, but maybe Morrison was literally out to buy silver trinkets in Chinatown, and considering that, now I gotta mention blinging out, and hells yeah that's America too, so maybe Van Morrison was a prophet when he sang this song in 1972, but again, I'm just rambling while the internet connection is down, and HEY, I'm connected again...

The thunderstorm has mostly passed now...Quick and severe, but the farmers needed it...I'm gonna post this post while the wires are working, and do a little toasting like it's 4:20, and maybe slap up something about #4 on my laminated list if I'm lucky...

Have a great Fourth of July, my fellow Americans...I'm probably gonna run the AC and play BLACK on the PS2, cuz I borrowed if from Thump 5 months ago, and hey, isn't a FPS like BLACK so totally American too?

Grill some brats out back, bake some beans and see what happens...

Hotcha!

Hank