Well, it’s Friday, and I’m all thunk out and too tired to write much of anything. So, this seems to be a good time to share a video that PastaKeith (a/k/a Pastor Keith a genuine clergy guy and a sometimes reader of this blog – go figure) mentioned a while back in a comment to a post.

The video answers the question, “What if the Beatles were Irish?”

Funny stuff, that.

Well, New Jersey has kicked off yet another Fireworks Crackdown. Since I was kid, it has been unlawful to even possess fireworks in New Jersey. If we were caught with firecrackers, cherry bombs or the like, the local police would confiscate them on the spot, which, of course, meant that the cops’ kids always had the best fireworks.

When one grows up in a state where fireworks, by law, are contraband (i.e. something the mere possession of which is unlawful), it is easy to forget that other states have different rules. So, when Ken, my friend and bodyguard, and I were in Tennessee last October, we could not resist taking a side trip to a fireworks store (I believe it was this one, or one just like it).

I remembered as a boy traveling with my parents by car to Florida seeing grubby looking fireworks stands, but this was different. The experience was much like that of a life-long junkie visiting a Heroin Superstore. We walked around the large, neon-lit, spotless store marveling at the things that one could buy in Tennessee, the mere possession of which in the Garden State could put you in deep shit. There were fireworks of every description, all nicely displayed. It was farookin’ amazing!

At one point, the clerk ambled up to us as we were wide-eyed checking out a “Super Pack,” which included mortars and God knows what else. He fired up a video of the contents of the kit in all their explosive glory. He said, “If you boys are interested in this, you really need to check this out,” at which point, he directed us to the MONDO COLLECTION of fireworks that contained an array of colorfully blasting, banging, flying, poofing, “ooooooh” and “aaahhhhhh” provoking explosive know to man.

I think Ken would have been game to fill up his SUV with a shitload of fireworks, including the MONDO COLLECTION, but out of respect for my desire to not be arrested as a “fireworks smuggler” and thereby jeopardizing Mr. Law License, he didn’t press the issue.

I’d be willing to bet that some Jersey cop’s kid has the MONDO COLLECTION ready to go on the Fourth of July.