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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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What we have here is one big sack of explosives. In the business, the like to call it an “8″ Double Palmtree with Rising Tail” (or so sayeth the label). And that’s just one of hundreds of similar explosives that will light up the sky tonight to celebrate Independence Day (much better than even the most rousing speech).

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The good folks with Pyrotecnico let us shoot some video and take some pictures for a little bit while they were setting up their rigs on the barges. A full report will come early next week (it should be explosive to say the least). Of course, if you want to get a taste for what it’s actually like to blow up shells not unlike the one pictured above for a living, check out our feature on the boys of Pyrotecnico and if you’re in town, you should definitely “Go 4th on the River” and see the show.

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Whatever your plans, though, may they be fun and safe. Happy Fourth, everyone.

We all love Fats Domino, the man and his music, and we’re passionate about the Saints, quarterback Drew Brees and the children of New Orleans. You can pay tribute to all three with the purchase of a limited-edition poster of a painting of Fats Domino Harvey artist Michael Hunt created to raise money for the Brees Dream Foundation.

Only 900 of the color prints were produced and they sell for $90, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Brees’ foundation, which contributes millions of dollars to projects to help children and schools in New Orleans and several other cities. (See Noah Bonaparte Pais’ story in Gambit, “Revel With a Cause,” (Cover Story, May 26).

The prints are numbered and signed by both Brees and Hunt. They’re available through Hunt’s Harvey studio by calling (800) 426-1379.

What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than experiencing the document that started it all — at least a painstakingly executed reproduction of the words and signatures of this country’s founders. A Tribute to The Declaration of Independence is on display at Galerie Gigi (627 St. Peter St., 713-385-7890; www.galeriegigineworleans.com) through July 11.

It isn’t the original Declaration of Independence, of course. That is on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The one exhibited at the gallery is a limited-edition engraving released in 1992, with the number 0 engraving presented to President George Bush by King Don Juan Carlos I of Spain.

Jose Maria Cundin, an artist from Spain who has lived, created and displayed his art in the United States for 40 years. To replicate the Declaration of Independence as a tribute to his adopted home, Cundin formed the fine art press Millennia 3 and assembled a group of artists to present the document as a work of art. To produce an exact reproduction, Cundin selected Perico Azpiazu, one of the finest metal engravers in the world, to hand-engrave the calligraphy backwards, a painstaking process that took several years.

“The art itself is an incredible accomplishment,” saysGalerie Gigi manager Lindsay Viner. “But the fact that a Spaniard from the Basque region took almost four years to chisel out every single detail of the US Declaration of  Independence backwards onto a brass plate is the most remarkable part of the story.”

In addition to displaying the final product, the exhibit at Galerie Gigi is showing a photographic display detailing how the engraving was made (pictured). It was printed on handmade paper that weighs 500 grams.

A limited number of engravings of the Millennium III edition are available for purchase.

While you’re out celebrating our nation’s independence this weekend, stop by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (900 Convention Center Blvd.) to view “A Legacy of Service,” a U.S. Army photo and art exhibit celebrating African-American soldiers who have served America since the 1800s. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 9:30 a.m. To 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The Army set up the exhibit in conjunction with the Essence Music Festival. It is set up at the convention center, where Essence has scheduled full days of seminars and roundtables throughout the festival.

The photos span the military service from the Civil War through the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including spotlights on Medal of Honor recipients and African-American women soldiers, including Cathay Williams (pictured, left), who became the first African-American woman soldier in 1866 by disguising herself as a man, and Hazel Johnson-Brown, who became the first black female brigadier general in 1979. Other artwork covers escaped slaves who joined the military; Buffalo Soldiers, formed in 1866 to fight alongside Union forces and established by Congress as the first all-black peacetime regiment in the U.S. Army; the Harlem Hellfighters, the first African-American regiment in World War I; and the Tuskegee Airmen, the United States’ first black military airmen who gained a reputation for excellence during World War II.

There’s some really cool research going on in the New Orleans medical community. Here’s an example from Tulane University.

Inspired by a Mexican salamander’s ability to regenerate severed limbs, Tulane researchers will try to adapt that physiology to help injured humans. Tulane professor Ken Muneoka, the John L. and Mary Wright Ebaugh chair in science and engineering, won a $6.25 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. He will lead researchers from the University of California-Irvine and the University of Kentucky, who will seek to identify the genes that trigger regeneration in the salamander and see if they can duplicate the response in mice. They then plan to develop therapies using regeneration-promoting cells or growth factors to elicit a similar response in humans.

Muneoka says the team will establish a database of genes involved in the salamander’s regenerative abilities and use them as a blueprint for coordinating the genetic events required for limb regeneration in humans.

Adorable teenage punk peddlers turned epic pop guitar heroes the Silent Game return to the stage at the Circle Bar (1032 St. Charles Ave.) Friday — their first show in more than a year — opening for pop rockers MyNameIsJohnMichael, who’s fresh off a proverbial (or not) Bonnaroo high. Doors are 10 p.m.

Also Friday (and this week’s Gambit music pick) is Ty Segall, who’ll stumble into The Saint (961 St. Mary St.) along with tourmates Charlie & the Moonhearts. Segall’s MySpace says his influenes are The Troggs and The Pretty Things’ “Parachute,” and he’d be dead on. His latest LP Lemons (Goner) jumps into similarly fuzzed out, swirly garage-pop territory. King Louie One Man Band opens. Show starts at 10 p.m.

If you’re not revelling downtown watching the sky fall and rain fire on the masses this Saturday, you could join Black Metal Essence Fest at Hi-Ho Lounge (2239 St. Claude Ave.) with a louder-than-hell lineup of Hawg Jaw, Declaration of War, Tirefire and Fat Stupid Ugly People. Show starts at 10 p.m.

New Orleanians who like to laugh will be mourning the death of British actor Mollie Sugden, known in the States for one major role — that of Mrs. Slocombe in the Britcom Are You Being Served?, which had a long, long life in reruns on New Orleans public television stations, first on WLAE-TV and then on WYES-TV. With her cotton-candy-colored hair, imperious attitude, and innocent double-entendre references to her housecat (”My pussy got soaking wet. I had to dry it out in front of the fire”) Mrs. Slocombe was always a reliably hilarious companion every time one would stumble across one of the old AYBS? reruns.

Some may remember the controversy in the early 1990s when WLAE pulled the show off the air without warning or notice. In response to readers, The Times-Picayune inquired and was told:

The station involved, Diocese-owned WLAE, at first wouldn’t even say what had happened. When they did respond, it was by fax, saying the series had been withdrawn by order of Archbishop Phillip M. Hannan, then station general manager. And that was all they’d say.

It’s a safe bet that Mrs. Slocombe’s cat displeased the Archbishop. Fortunately, WYES picked up the show shortly afterward and kept it on the air for everyone to enjoy.

Mollie Sugden, one of TV’s true comic geniuses, was 86 when she died yesterday. In her honor, here’s a collection of Mrs. Slocombe’s greatest hits:

SilenceIsViolence, the Social Aid and Pleasure Club Task Force, and the Dumaine Street Gang Social and Pleasure Club will lead a “Walk for Peace” this evening through the streets of Treme. The event starts at 6 p.m., and is intended as a kickoff to the 4^th of July weekend, celebrating culture and community strength. Organizers are asking that participants meet at the intersection of North Robertson and Dumaine streets, and the walk will follow a circular route through the Treme, ending at the intersection of North Robertson and St. Philip streets. Following the walk, the Rebirth Brass Band will perform at Tuba Fats Park.

     For more information, call Tamara Jackson (453-1155), or Kendra Reade (722-0908).  

Congratulations New Orleans! Finally some good news — and William Shatner didn’t even have to travelnap anyone. Priceline customers who logged on the travel Web site made New Orleans the No. 1 travel destination for the July Fourth weekend.

More than 30,000 customers who took a survey (backed up with a credit card) at Priceline.com chose New Orleans as their top spot to spend the weekend — fireworks or no. Priceline’s Sixth Annual Survey of Independence Day Destinations lists the top 50 spots travelers choose. New Orleans ranked No. 1, followed by Las Vegas, Chicago, New York City, Seattle and 45 other places.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s veto of state funding for New Orleans Adolescent Hospital (NOAH) has put pressure on fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao to address the projected Sept. 1 closing of the mental health facility.

One day after Jindal’s June 30 veto of $14.2 million for NOAH, activists passed out leaflets at a Mid-City health care fair — hosted by Cao –- urging the congressman to support keeping the 35-bed hospital Uptown.

Cao said that he asked Jindal Administration officials if NOAH could remain in New Orleans if $4.5 million in federal funds could be found to plug the state funding shortfall for NOAH (which the governor put at $5.8 million). “They did not make a commitment,” Cao said of state health officials.

The congressman added that earlier in the week he asked a City Park “roundtable” of area hospital executives if they could accommodate more mental health beds. However, the executives replied that mental health beds are too costly for private facilities to maintain because of a lack of federal Medicaid reimbursements, Cao said. “Children’s Hospital has space for 16 additional beds for mental health,” the congressman added, but the nonprofit would need $1 million for the expansion.

In his veto message, Jindal said NOAH costs twice as much to operate as other state inpatient facilities. The governor said the consolidation of NOAH and transfer of its beds to the state Southeast Louisiana Hospital at Mandeville would result in $9.1 million in savings and no loss of patient services, while providing “community-based mental health services” in New Orleans.

Critics fear that transportation of mental patients across Lake Pontchartrain will pose a financial hardship on local governments, hospital emergency rooms and visiting family members. A legislative override of Jindal’s veto is widely viewed as unlikely. — Allen M. Johnson Jr.