Sunday Night and I've Still Got All my Fingers and Toes
And really, after a weekend of alcohol and explosives, what more can you ask for?
I will get pics posted ASAP tomorrow but there are also some videos that I will need to work on a bit.
Nothing too outrageous as I was still burning things when Johnny attempted to rally a huge crowd of people into a massive streak. It didn't quite happen but it was another memorable moment of Johnny sprinting around the neighborhood all a floppin'.

Some mystery police action stuff towards the later end of the evening. Rumours abounded about the what-fer's. It turns out that the most dominant story is that someone whacked someone else in the head with a shovel. Said smackee apparently took some measure of umbrage with the action and retaliated by pulling out a knife and stabbing the smacker in the chest a few times. [Update: Here's the item from the Santa Cruz Sentinel: Two Stabbed in Seabright during 4th Festivities]. And there's one excellent bit in there that MUST be reprinted here:
"A Soquel woman was injured when she fired a shotgun into the air and the butt of the gun knocked out some of her teeth, said Santa Cruz Police Sgt. Terry Moore."
Which just goes to say, don't hold the stupid shotgun in front of your face and fire it, dumbass.

Which is generally not the most favored way of spending a holiday or any other day. No news on Saturday and none today although I've not checked the local police report yet.

But other than random and theoretically justified stabbings, it was a pretty good night overall. Enough excitement to cause an old housemate to blow a fuse and toss a beer on me. For P to eventually fall asleep standing up next to me as we surveyed the beach below.

I got to watch the rangers clear the beach like a well oiled machine, six or seven trucks moving from firepit to firepit and rousting people. A second exodus from the beach after all the festivities had officially ended. It strongly reminded me of one of the last dead shows I went to years and years ago in Chicago at Soldier Field.

Once the show was over, the police showed their arm in arm marching capabilities and rousted every single one of the hippies that had hoped to party all night long in the parking lot. Instead, the mass was expelled into the city. But it was the ruthless efficiency and absolultely-do-not-fuck-with-us-'edness of the clearing that struck me. That and their shiny knee high jack boots, soooo reminiscent of the Gestapo but perhaps that was the mild acid we were all on?

Anyway, it was a happy fourth, spent on bicycles among friends and lots and lots of strangers and with the ever present accompaniment of a frosted beverage.

The best new past time I've got going these days? Researching land or houses to potentially buy. There are some crazy deals for land on Ebay and other spots but it would appear that lots of the land available in California is in Ridgecrest where the crime rate is twice the national average and houses selling for $30,000 are lauded as examples of the prime investmentness of the area.

But its fun to check out what's there. And the insane prices that people want to get for their land or houses or whatever. What? Are these people unaware that the economy is sliding and the dotcom bubble burst like two years ago? Ahh, more likely they bought at the top of the boom and are being absolutely abused for it now.

Next weekend is big time wedding planning weekend.
With some beach time, volleyball and bike time thrown in to keep me from going insane.

Sorry the Cheddar X didn't really happen this week, got side tracked and didn't really get around to it. But there really wasn't any crazy outrage so I'm guessing that the world can run a little longer without the questions.