Freight slipped onto docks
unnoticed, cargo bound for
here or overseas.

• • •

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Helicopter mom
and dad kept Junior tethered
long past puberty.

• • •

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A look at Birmingham in videos …

Fireworks, part 1, Red Mountain. From Caleb Light.

•

Fireworks, part 2, Oak Mountain. From Corey Scogin.

•

George Washington pulls sword from Dan Meyer at American Village’s Independence Day celebration. From Dan Meyer.

•

Summer 2015 mission trip Project Cam. From World Changers.

•

Performance by band La Dinastía. From Jose Aranda.

•

The Birmingham Grotto trip to Gross Skeleton Cave in Jackson County. From Jeff Harrod.

•

Gadsden native and rapper Yelawolf performs “Catfish Billy” in June at Iron City on Southside (our vertical video of the week). From Yonderhome.

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Promo for annual charity event Project Homeless Connect. From One Roof.

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The Birmingham-based Guadalupan Missionary Sisters of the Holy Spirit is a finalist for the Catholic Extension’s 2015 Lumen Christi Award. From cathextension.

•

Fast-food workers go on strike for wages of $15 an hour. From al.com.

•

Birmingham Community Mass Choir performs on “Atlanta Live” in May. From Emanuel Macon.

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Ashley Roberts and Colleen Perry sing a duet with the Unity Band. From Unity of Birmingham.

•

Performing as Vulcan at DANCEe’s “Vulcanalia.” From Mario Gates.

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Swimming at the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson. From al.com.

•

A look at the 2015 Alabama Auto Show in spring at the BJCC Exhibition Hall. From Griffin Meyer.

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Behind the scenes of a traveling musical from Highland Christian Church in Asheville, N.C. From Story of God.

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A jaripeo bull riding competition. From Jose Aranda.

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Tourists document their visit to Birmingham’s Civil Rights District. From Ian Robinson.

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Biking group rolls through Mountain Brook. From Wes Douglas.

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Shooting for Beanie Babies at Children’s Harbor. From United for Life Foundation.

•

See the holiday-appropriate short, “Fireworks.”

•

See one of my favorite PBS shows showcase a Birmingham leader.

•

See Birmingham’s Emmylou Harris perform at the White House.

• • •

Send us links to your videos. | More videos on the Birmingham channel.

The violinist
practiced to make performing
look so effortless.

• • •

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That’s me onstage at the third annual Y’all Connect Presented by Alabama Power. I get to take my blogging skills from the last 10 years and share them with others.

I’m fortunate.

This post is another fortunate gift, as it’s the 5,000th post for Wade on Birmingham. I wrote many of them, and friends and colleagues wrote some of the best ones.

By the numbers …

• It took 561 days to reach 1,000 posts.
• Another 722 days to reach 2,000 posts.
• Another 594 days to reach 3,000 posts.
• Another 880 days to reach 4,000 posts.
• And then another 802 days to reach this 5,000th post.

I haven’t been idle since No. 4,000. I launched my blogging and social media conference. I’ve traveled around the Southeast to talk about communications topics. I was even on the the radio Saturday.

A quick rundown of the state of the blogs …

• Wade on Birmingham — Back in December, I wrote my most popular post ever on this site. How popular? First time in 10 years that the surge in traffic crashed the site for a few hours.

• Wade Kwon.com — Aside from all of my 60,000 tweets, a few essays when time permits. Plus a surge of year-end activity to compile a few best-of lists.

• Birmingham Blogging Academy — Still going strong after 6 years. Thanks to all my clients and readers and fans!

• Project Bulk — Completed in 2014, with a super healthy body fat percentage around 15 or 16 percent.

• Y’all Connect — As mentioned above, now looking ahead to 2016. Plenty of new videos from this year’s event just hit the site.

To my readers: Thank you for your kindness, your feedback and your critiques! On to the next 5,000 …

(And in October, we’ll officially mark 10 years for this site!)

Wade Kwon is a Birmingham native and publisher of Wade on Birmingham.

Photo: Violet Carson (CC)

My picks for #sundayread for July 5, 2015:

• The 5,000th post for Wade on Birmingham!
• Y’all Connect: Our annual 10-day video sale
• Slavery and Freedom in New York City, by Eric Foner @cwrmooc
• “Roadtrip Nation” special stops in Birmingham
• In lieu of another blog post, 2015 edition
• Farm to Fable: Deception, fraud in the farm-to-table movement, by @_TroyJohnson
• Don’t Be Afraid of the Clowns, by Leigh Cowart @voraciousbrain
• On Starbucks’ controversial #RaceTogether campaign, by @AustinCarr (RT @Cassidy_Davis)
• Obergefell v. Hodges, a 5-4 ruling making gay marriage legal across US [PDF]
• 10 celebrity memoirs to devour this summer

More posts from Wade this week:

• Happy Independence Day!
• Emmylou Harris returns to White House for PBS concert
• The Birmingham channel: Rolling along

The latest #sundayread tweets

#sundayread Tweets

• More #sundayread recommendations from me

Odometer rolls
and the 12th free sandwich and
palindromic times.

• • •

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Video: “Fireworks,” directed by Victor Hugo Duran

Happy birthday, America!

P.S. I sat in on “Biz Talk with Roy Williams” this week, and our hourlong pre-taped show airs at 3 p.m. today on WAGG (610 AM) and streams live online.

A scene from the short film “Fireworks”

America smokes
pot, marries anyone and
plays so much soccer.

• • •

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Bang! Pop! Rat-a-tat-
tat! Up and down the street boom
the sounds of freedom.

• • •

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Time to figure out
who we’re mad at and who we’re
really afraid of.

• • •

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Video: “In Performance at the White House”
celebrates “The Gospel Tradition.”

The PBS music series “In Performance at the White House” has a familiar face in its latest episode. Birmingham’s Emmylou Harris returned to perform for the salute to “The Gospel Tradition.”

Joined onstage by duet partner Rodney Crowell and Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, the trio performs the old-time hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.”

See the performance at 29:32.

The concert took place April 14 and debuted Friday on PBS. Harris performed in 2010 at the White House as part of the Gershwin Prize ceremony for Paul McCartney.

From left, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and
Rhiannon Giddens

Lose 10 pounds, join a
book club, eat healthier, watch
“Game of Thrones,” try meth.

• • •

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Video: “Roadtrip Nation” special, “Why Not Us?”
[Birmingham at 35:36]

PBS series “Roadtrip Nation” changed its format for 2015. The reality documentary show typically follows three college-age participants traveling across the country in a green RV to interview interesting people.

The goal is to discover how they ended up where they are in their career, providing inspiration for those seeking the path forward.

This year’s trip covered the same distance in a far shorter period, but still managing to squeeze in a stop in Birmingham.

The four roadtrippers shared one trait: Each one was the first in their family to attend college. And their journey was not shown in a dozen half-hour episodes that usually comprise a full season, but a 1-hour special titled “Why Not Us?”

The team stopped to interview Odessa Woolfolk, founding president of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (found at 35:36 in the video). Also featured in the clip is Barry McNealy, a tour guide and high school social studies teacher.

See the interview and its impact on the “Roadtrip Nation” crew.

“Why Not Us?” will re-air on APT 10.2 World Channel at 6 p.m. Sunday, 4 a.m. Monday, 5 p.m. July 7 and 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. July 8.

• More with roadtripper Jasmine Johnson | More on Odessa Woolfolk

“Why Not Us?” features (clockwise from top left)
Johnathan Allen, Jennifer Rogers, Jasmine Johnson
and Felipe Hernandez.

The start looks like fun,
and the end looks perfect but
far off. Keep going.

• • •

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