The Other Soul Food

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart sing “The Greatest Strongest County In the World”

Independence Day is dedicated to patriotism, but celebrated with beer and explosives. So it might not be a shock that every Fourth of July, America sees a massive spike in fireworks injuries — especially among children and young men.

And every year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission engages in a noble, quixotic quest to persuade Americans to set off explosives more responsibly. CPSC does that by blowing up mannequins on the National Mall.

The demonstration emphasizes that fireworks are dangerous. Seriously dangerous. Blast-your-hand-off dangerous. Bottle-rocket-in-the-eye dangerous. Where’d-that-mannequin’s-head-go dangerous.

The point, of course, is not that fireworks should be forbidden. The CPSC is striving to suggest that if you’re using fireworks, you should try to be smart and safe — and not emulate the dummies on the Mall.

Government Blows Up Mannequins In Annual Plea For Fireworks Safety

Memory: An aglet.

Me: And how do you jumpstart a car?

Memory: Red to red, black to frame.

Me: And what’s the name of the computer game I played at a friend’s house once in 1998?

Memory: Bad Mojo.

Me: And what’s the name of this person that I’ve met several times recently and am about to socialize with?

I know “aglet” from some trivia book, jumpstarting because I used to drive a van with a bad battery, and Bad Mojo because my friend really did have that game.  Those are the only connections for me.

Birds of Asia 

By Gould, John, 1804-1881  Sharpe, Richard Bowdler, 1847-1909

Historically accurate leggings. Lorica Clothing’s inspiration is straight out of the Metropolitan Museum’s Arms and Armor exhibit.