Happy F'ing July Fourth

I like America and I'm proud to be one of its citizens. It's many of my fellow Americans with whom I'm not too enamored. Specifically the ones who are launching fireworks perilously close to my front door. My feline-American housemate chimes in that she doesn't appreciate the whistling thunder, either. The offenders appear to have a pick-up truck full of explosives so the mammoth-scale snap, crackle and pop will likely continue well into the weekend.

NPR had a story this morning (shortly after the Hawaii Spam sushi recipe story mentioned below) about how supply disruption from their source in China made fireworks harder to get and more expensive to buy. The difficulties were not nearly enough.

Does it surprise you to hear that these are the same nimrods who don't pick up after their dogs? Not that it's a home owners association rule or anything. Or a county ordinance. Oh, wait. It's both.

In other news I watched the U.S. Olympic swimming trials tonight. The broadcast mentioned that Dara Torres made the team as a 17-year-old in 1984. Why did her name come up? Because she qualified again this year by winning the 100-meter freestyle. And, yes, the 41-year-old mother of a two-year-old daughter is still hot.

On that subject, Amanda Beard, as well known for posing nude in Playboy as for her Olympic swimming medals, also made the team again. No one on NBC mentioned the Playboy spread in recounting her career achievements.

Now on the DVD player, courtesy of the Hillsborough County Public Library, is The Accidental Tourist that Yahoo! Movies defines as "Comedy, Drama and Romance." Roger Ebert called it "one of the best films of the year." The year being 1989. It looks so long ago. Kathleen Turner and William Hurt still look young and thin.

I don't know if the movie looks fun but it will help me pass the time until the explosions outside finally subside.