Fireworks

On the fourth, where there's folk, there's fire. Fireworks, that is. All over the Delaware Valley the signing of the Declaration of Independence will be celebrated with spectacular pyrotechnic displays, an appropriately explosive end to a whole day of festivities, games, and parades. Here are some places to go for a rousing July 4th weekend. PENNSYLVANIA Philadelphia: Fireworks and laser show tonight at 10:40 after "The Sounds of Freedom: A Tribute to the Past" concert, postponed from last night, at the Art Museum.

The Fourth of July and fireworks are almost synonymous, but firecrackers and other explosive "toys" are dangerous and illegal. In New Jersey, fireworks are illegal unless they are part of a display being handled by a group that has received approval from the local governing body and fire officials, said Mount Laurel Fire Marshal Greg Collier. Under New Jersey law, only plastic or paper caps for use in toy guns may be sold or used in New Jersey by unauthorized people, according to a statement issued by Collier's office.

A holiday weekend warning: "July 4th is the single busiest day of the year for most pediatric emergency centers," says Paula Elbirt, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Although, increasingly, families are leaving fireworks to the experts, emergency rooms still expect to treat patients of all ages who have been seriously injured by fireworks set off by amateurs. "We see fingers torn off by fireworks and burns and wounds to faces," says Dr. Ronald Charles, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

Almost 50 pounds of Moon Travellers, Jupiter missiles, B-1 Bombers and other fireworks were confiscated by police Wednesday night at the home of a Manayunk couple who allegedly sold firecrackers to a 10-year-old boy. The boy was later injured seriously while playing with them. Police charged Glen Calhoun, 38, with reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe. His wife, Grace, 43, was charged with selling explosives. The couple lives in the 4400 block of Baker Street. Police said yesterday that had the 50 pounds of fireworks caught fire, they would have blown up the rowhouse.

Looking for a good excuse to whoop it up tonight? Here are two: it's Saturday, and it's Independence Day. And if Mother Nature decides to smile upon us, you'll be able to take advantage of the Shore's many alfresco nightspots, where you can enjoy fresh bay or ocean breezes - and fireworks. One of the best vantage points can be found on the upstairs deck at C.J.'s Key West Bar and Grill, 939 Bay Ave., Somers Point - the newly renovated former site of Crazy Jane's dance club.

There is that moment, just as darkness arrives, when the wait becomes unending. The children are the first to fidget. Someone begins to clap, and the crowd responds with that we-want-the-show rhythmic applause. The show is billed to begin at dark, but it never does. Shadowy figures in the distance seem to linger until . . . the first shell is loose, soaring toward the stars to deliver its burst of bright light and a resonant boom. America celebrates its birthday with sparks in the sky. It's tradition, one borrowed from antiquity.

There will be fireworks this weekend when the Phillies play the New York Mets in a three-game series at Veterans Stadium beginning at 7:35 p.m. today. The series features a matchup of two of the top RBI men in the National League: The Phillies' John Kruk and the Mets' Howard Johnson, who is also one of the league's top home-run hitters. A 20-minute fireworks display will come after tonight's game. The series will continue at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow and conclude at 1:35 p.m. Sunday. Preceding Sunday's game will be the annual game pitting Phillies players game against their children, scheduled for 1 p.m. Children 14 and younger attending Sunday's game will receive a card book, colored in Phillies red, which contains several Phillies baseball cards.

The Tchaikovsky Spectacular has become something of a tradition at the Mann Center. Fiery music, fireworks to close - a combination that Monday drew one of the largest crowds of the season to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra. Charles Dutoit, wearing black shirt and trousers, led a program that caught the mood of czarist re-evaluation going on in modern-day St. Petersburg. He led a coronation march to begin, and the 1812 Overture to close. Clearly he was here to raise the Romanovs, not to bury them.

In a perfect world, Philadelphians would spend the Fourth of July celebrating the United States' independence, enjoying the city and the great outdoors with family and friends. But we're not naive. Plenty of you plan to hit the department store sales, come home, flop on the couch and flip on the TV. Heck, maybe it'll rain all day. So here are the holiday viewing highlights. There are programs for people celebrating the nation's history, and there are programs for people just celebrating their day off. At 10 a.m., Channel 6 covers the morning's Liberty Medal ceremony held in front of Independence Hall.

The Detroit Pistons held visiting Dallas to its worst game offensively this season and Rasheed Wallace backed up his talk with 21 points and nine rebounds in a 90-67 win yesterday. The center scored over Dirk Nowitzki on a fadeaway in the third quarter as Detroit pulled away, and screamed toward Dallas' bench, "He can't guard me!" In related news, a trailer carrying $75,000 worth of pyrotechnics to be set off before the game was stolen. In another game: At Washington, Kobe Bryant put up 19 points in the opening period on his way to finishing with 30, and the Lakers ran their offense so well there was no need for newly acquired Pau Gasol to don a uniform in a 103-91 victory over the Wizards.

Celebrate Memorial Day weekend with dive and animal shows at the Atlantic City Aquarium. From Saturday to Monday, the daily program begins with a 20-minute Live Diver Feeding Show at 11 a.m. Guests can watch and interact with a scuba diver who will hand-feed sharks and stingrays in a 25,000-gallon tank. The diver will also dive into the tank with dogfish and answer questions after the show. From noon to 3 p.m., visitors can purchase a bag of food and feed fish including bat, southern, and juvenile cownose rays.

The Bucks County man arrested Thursday for possessing three pipe bombs told Warrington Township police the explosive device he left in his mother's kitchen was intended for Fourth of July fireworks, but a federal investigator alleged in court papers Friday that if detonated, the device could have been deadly. "From my training and experience, I know that fireworks are typically housed in paper tubing, which will not cause dangerous shrapnel to be created when lit," Agent Derek K. Valgora of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

A Northeast Pennsylvania man arrested last week at Philadelphia International Airport after attempting to carry fireworks onto a plane was released on bail Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Hey released Joseph A. Picklo, 29, of Dallas, on $25,000 bail and 24-hour house arrest with an ankle bracelet at his mother's residence in Bridesburg. Hey said Picklo tested positive for an unspecified substance and was also ordered to undergo drug testing by Pre-Trial Services. If approved in advance by Pre-Trial Services, Picklo, a musician who plays guitar and piano, would also be permitted to leave his mother's home for music jobs for specified hours in the evening.

A Northeast Pennsylvania man arrested last week at Philadelphia International Airport for attempting to carry fireworks onto a plane was released on bail Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Hey released Joseph A. Picklo, 29, of Dallas, on $25,000 personal-recognizance bail and 24-hour house arrest with an ankle bracelet at his mother's residence in Bridesburg. Hey said Picklo tested positive for an unspecified substance and was also ordered to undergo drug testing by Pre-Trial Services.

WELL, THAT was a bad idea. A northeast Pennsylvania man was arrested Thursday and charged with attempting to carry what apparently were homemade fireworks onto a plane. Authorities said that Joseph Picklo, 29, of Dallas, was being screened for a United Airlines flight to San Francisco about 6 a.m. when he was stopped by security. Authorities found two M80s, a plastic bottle wrapped in electrical tape and partially filled with a powdery mixture in his carry-on backpack, an arrest affidavit said.

A Northeast Pennsylvania man faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for attempting to carry homemade fireworks onto a plane Thursday morning at Philadelphia International Airport, officials said. Joseph A. Picklo of Dallas attempted to get on a flight bound for San Francisco carrying two homemade M-80s, a plastic bottle filled with a powdery mixture, a cigarette lighter, and a test tube with a powdery substance and a wick, according to his arrest warrant. Picklo was carrying the items in a backpack as he tried to get through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint for Terminals D and E around 6 a.m., the warrant said.

A 29-year-old man faces a maximum 10 years in prison for attempting to carry homemade fireworks on a plane Thursday morning at Philadelphia International Airport, officials said. Joseph A. Picklo, of Dallas, Pa., attempted to get a on flight bound for San Francisco carrying two homemade M-80s, a plastic bottle filled with a powdery mixture, a test tube with a powdery substance and a wick, and a cigarette lighter, according to his arrest warrant. Picklo was carrying the items in a back pack as he tried to get through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint for Terminals D/E around 6 a.m., the warrant said.

On Saturday, they will be spectacular bursts coloring the holiday sky above the Delaware River. But Thursday, they were just ice-cream-cone-shape shells loaded into fiberglass tubes, waiting to be wired and sealed with things you'd find in an ordinary kitchen - aluminum foil and rubber bands. The elaborate fireworks shows scheduled for 6 p.m. and midnight at Penn's Landing on New Year's Eve are over in mere minutes, but they take months to plan and days to set up. Prep work began Tuesday.

There was a time in Philadelphia when speaking of New Year's Day meant only the Mummers. All things pointed that way, and there was little else save family party time. But cultural and entertainment organizations of the city and region have changed the landscape by offering myriad things to do, inside and outside, highbrow and just plain fun. The Mummers still sway through most of New Year's Day itself (see adjacent story), but with this year's extended weekend, there are fetes galore, and even chances for fun with friends on break for the next week.

AMATEUR NIGHT. That's what those of us who go out the other 364 days a year call Dec. 31. A rip-off. That's what diners think of the inflated prices restaurants and bars charge that night. A hoax. Other naysayers ask, of all nights, why this one? Now, we're no end-of-2011 grumps. But this year, we're feeling the urge to avoid the coatless army of novice, money-blowing partyers who fill sidewalks and barstools. On Saturday night, we'll be fine with staying in, and, yeah, kinda hating on typical New Year's Eve customs.