If I had spent the time to draft a 4th of July essay for 2006, the topic would've been "the language of violence." I would've discussed the origin of terms such as "blockbuster" (WWII bombs big enough to take out the entire block, used by the US Air Force and the UK's RAF) and cliches like "more bang for the buck" (sarcastic reporter's quip from the 1950's, summing up Eisenhower's first strike foreign policy which used the threat of a nuclear attack to save defense budget money by cutting the standing armed forces), however I've been busy getting ready to go down to Philadelphia for our Grape Street show so there are the cliff notes, how were your fireworks? I added two new pics to the Images page - self portraits from my trip to SD.