While getting frozen yogurt the other night, I observed a posse* of little boys–maybe 5 or 6 years old–swarming around a small pink "Little Mermaid"-themed chair.  They were goading one of their little buddies to body slam himself into the chair, chanting "Dooo it, dooo it… Destroy IT, destroy IT!!"  Ah, the complete purity of that human impulse to see some stuff smashed all to hell.

In honor of today’s American holiday devoted, in some part, to that impulse:

• Gene Gable features some cool vintage Fourth of July artwork on CreativePro.com.
• Similar goodness comes from American U.  Go heavy or go home, right?
• The NYT hosts a slideshow from explosives summer camp in Missouri. Adios, watermelon. (Here’s the accompanying article).
• In the spirit of fire-breathing, wheel-popping patriotism, check out these shots from a Wisconsin tractor pull (recalling a little slice of my youth).  Not pictured: Sierra Club reps.
• Not tied to the Fourth, but in the vein of vintage artwork, check out these fruit crate designs. [Via]  (See also previous.)
• Update: For more bombs bursting in air, see Firework-Art.com. Man, all this really makes me miss summer car trips as a kid, where we could buy legally questionable goodies from web-footed Southerners by the roadside. [Via]

Happy (and grudgingly safe) Fourth,
J.

*What would the correct term (a la "pride of lions") be? Gaggle of boys? Hootenany? Fisticuff?