We had a great time last night, celebrating the 4th at our friend Barbara’s house in Pasadena. She lives just above the Rose Bowl where they have an annual orgy of fireworks. This year it was called AmericaFest, a day-long carnival that culminated in a huge fireworks show. We didn’t want to actually pay money to see any of this, so the plan was to have a BBQ at her house, then head down the street a block or two and watch the fireworks from the cliffs overlooking the Rose Bowl. I’ve heard that this is quite a spectacular show, but had never seen it. We had to have a special permit to even drive onto her street – it’s that crowded in Pasadena on the 4th. So we hung out and ate and drank and generally made pigs of ourselves, then trotted over to see the show at 9pm. Wow!! It really was as amazing as hyped. 30 minutes of pretty much non-stop oohing and ahhing. I made a vailant attempt to catch at least a bit of the flavor of it all with the digital camera, both with flash and without. The results were pretty interesting, IMHO! Check them out here. Also made a little Quicktime slideshow. Happy birthday, America!