I love fireworks. And I love fireworks shows. The Fourth of July has always been special to me for that. So tonight, I went to the Greendale fireworks display. This is a big deal. Thousands of people come pouring in for this. You can meet anybody there. And it is the biggest display I've ever seen -- as big as (or bigger than) the closing show at a National Jamboree, and that's saying something. Still, it sucked. Fireworks displays should start slow and build up. They should showcase individual pieces, leading up to pairs and groups, then building up to a grand climax where the ground shakes and the sky is lighted up like noon. At Greendale, they just start hurling ordnance into the air. Everything goes off simultaneously, for as long as they can make it go, until they've burnt up everything in the inventory. It lasts a long, long time -- but, no theme, no class, no artistry. I knew all this going in, but still -- it's fireworks, man. So I went. The fireworks were overwhelming, but somebody kept the damn PA system playing canned rockabilly crap at full volume. It was louder than the explosions! And it wasn't timed with the display -- hell, it wasn't even themed with the holiday. It was just noise. As if, the more noise, the better. So I left early, to comfort my poor, freaked-out doggy. And to mourn for what might have been. O tempora, O mores.