July 4th

[idyll]

What are you all doing today?

I am not sure myself... Definitely going out to dinner with my significant other and then to see the fireworks downtown, but besides that no idea.

This is also my 11th anniversary of coming to the US. I had no idea at the time that it was a major holiday... Quite the day to come here. :D

[MacDawg]

What a country...

Welcome (belatedly) :o

No plans for the day myself (long story... needs Kleenex)

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[JNB]

And, as a truly American holiday, we got this one wrong, too. Nothing much of significance beyond bureaucratic details happened. Now, July 2nd, there was a day! We declared our independence from the Crown, which is pretty important. The 4th is only when we got around to approving the paperwork, which wasn't even the one that got signed. That happened sometime after July 19th, and didn't finish up until August.

But "born on the 2nd of July" isn't nearly as catchy, it it? :p

[mkrishnan]

Does everything have to be something to criticize the United States about? When we do something wrong, we need to be honest with ourselves about it, but who cares whether we celebrate our independence on the first, second, third, fourth, or tenth of July? The Fourth of July is a perfectly good day for the celebration -- I don't see why it's anything worth complaining about. :rolleyes:

Happy Independence Day! :)

We went to the fireworks in Chicago last night. They were really nice. I tried to twitter a picture of them but it seems to have gotten lost in the interwebz somewhere. :o

Idyll, congratulations on eleven years of being our neighbor. :) Did you eventually become a citizen or do you still hold foreign citizenship?

[JNB]

Does everything have to be something to criticize the United States about? When we do something wrong, we need to be honest with ourselves about it

I wasn't being critical, I was being honest. You won't find anybody prouder, but I'm also a firm believer in real history. Nothing to be ashamed of, and I meant "truly American" in the sense of "we do things our own way, got a problem with that?" If there's any shame, it's in how little our citizenry chooses to know about the creation of their country. I'm celebrating be re-reading "1776."

Facts are facts, and I prefer to keep the facts alive instead of the intellectually lazy "legends" we were taught in elementary school. Hey, these are important things we accomplished that had never been done before in human history. The least we coulda done is make sure succeeding generations understand a bit of detail about it.

Another example where lack of inflection & body language clues gets me in trouble...

[MacDawg]

Facts are facts, and I prefer to keep the facts alive instead of the intellectually lazy "legends" we were taught in elementary school. Hey, these are important things we accomplished that had never been done before in human history. The least we coulda done is make sure succeeding generations understand a bit of detail about it.


I took your original quote in the manner you intended... but I have a question... what date would YOU suggest then?? If not the 4th... when??

You mentioned several key dates, we can't take them ALL as holidays, as much as we would like to, so settle on one. If you had the power, which date would you pick?

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[redwarrior]

And, as a truly American holiday, we got this one wrong, too. Nothing much of significance beyond bureaucratic details happened. Now, July 2nd, there was a day! We declared our independence from the Crown, which is pretty important. The 4th is only when we got around to approving the paperwork, which wasn't even the one that got signed. That happened sometime after July 19th, and didn't finish up until August.

But "born on the 2nd of July" isn't nearly as catchy, it it? :p
So we should party non-stop from July 2nd until sometime in August.:rolleyes: I like:p

[JNB]

I took your original quote in the manner you intended... but I have a question... what date would YOU suggest then?? If not the 4th... when??

You mentioned several key dates, we can't take them ALL as holidays, as much as we would like to, so settle on one. If you had the power, which date would you pick?

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

Like all of us, I grew up with the 4th, and honestly don't have a problem with it. I just wish folks knew more about the chain of events and the people involved. It's a truly compelling story.

But, if I had to pick, I'd say July. Yup, the whole friggin' month. 31 days of barbecues, learning, travel, reflection, multi-day festivals, maybe a week out of the four in AmeriCorps for everyone. Paid holiday, of course. :p

[redwarrior]

Like all of us, I grew up with the 4th, and honestly don't have a problem with it. I just wish folks knew more about the chain of events and the people involved. It's a truly compelling story.


First, I'd like to thank you for the short history lesson. We all need to remember it often.

Also, I think we should try to call it Independence Day more frequently than The 4th. While I'm very guilty of this myself, I'm trying to change my habit; it just helps me remember what we're celebrating.

Btw, we're going out on the lake all day, then coming back home and breaking the law by detonating our own fireworks.:cool:

[MacDawg]

Btw, we're going out on the lake all day, then coming back home and breaking the law celebrating the spirit of our forefather's rebellion by detonating our own fireworks.:cool:

fixed that for you ;)

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[redwarrior]

fixed that for you ;)

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif
you always come through for me:)

[cantthinkofone]

My main plans for today were crushed by gas prices. Even tho i have a little integra.

But my girlfriend and i are going to make the best of it, going by my parents' house and then to her aunt and uncle's house for their family shin-dig.

[millar876]

nothing at all, worked as usual, and having a normal family dinner, why is there something special happening (tee hee, only joking) Happy whatever to all my colonial cousins over there.

[SwiftLives]

I bought a new kite...a three string kite. It has a bar instead of handles. I plan to connect with the sky for much of the day.

Then tonight. I plan to celebrate US Independence by supporting the Chinese economy and scorching the earth with some questionably legal fireworks.

Then I'll see if I can break my record of lighting 3 mortars in a single launch tube

And the very last thing you'll hear me say is, "Hey y'all! Watch this!"

[localoid]

... Facts are facts, and I prefer to keep the facts alive instead of the intellectually lazy "legends" we were taught in elementary school. Hey, these are important things we accomplished that had never been done before in human history. The least we coulda done is make sure succeeding generations understand a bit of detail about it.

Another example where lack of inflection & body language clues gets me in trouble...

Despite the risk (people love to shoot the messenger), please keep up the good work. ;)

[themadchemist]

Studying. Ugh.

[Pani]

I am lamenting that the American people no longer have the fighting spirit of my Scotch-Irish ancestors who fought in the American Revolution. Sorry, but we are headed for deep trouble and simply waving a flag is not going to fix things. That is being like the parent of the troubled teen who always just pats the kid on the back no matter what he gets into! It would be great if we could start a new tradition, like everyone writes a letter to one of their representatives on an issue of their choice, ending the war, the loss of civil liberties, global warming etc. "America Love it or Leave it" should be replaced with America, Love her and make her better.

Then I am going to celebrate with a gentleman from Israel. Neither one of us is proud of the extremists in our governments!

[Prof.]

Well... My entire family just left to go see fireworks and didn't even bother to invite me, so right now I'm sitting alone in my room watching Dirty Jobs.

*sigh*

:(

[Teh Don Ditty]

Hap hap hapity 4th of July.

Celebrate the birth of your country by blowing up a small piece of it.

[grapes911]

Like all of us, I grew up with the 4th, and honestly don't have a problem with it. I just wish folks knew more about the chain of events and the people involved. It's a truly compelling story.
While I don't dispute that July 2nd is legally the day American declared its independence, July 4th 1776 is written on top right of the Declaration of Independence, and thus was chosen as the day of celebration.

[aross99]

Today is my Birthday too, so I am spending the day with Family and friends, and then watching fireworks...

[hana]

Just chillin'....

The next couple of days look rather busy so I'm resting up... eating some peaches from the backyard...yum!

[iTeen]

I bought a new kite...a three string kite. It has a bar instead of handles. I plan to connect with the sky for much of the day.

Then tonight. I plan to celebrate US Independence by supporting the Chinese economy and scorching the earth with some questionably legal fireworks.

Then I'll see if I can break my record of lighting 3 mortars in a single launch tube

And the very last thing you'll hear me say is, "Hey y'all! Watch this!"
Hope you can still type with all of your fingers in the morning...;)

Anyway, today I have been packing for the most part, because tomorrow I am heading off to camp for a week. Me and my buddies have also been messing around with some fireworks, but when night comes...:D

Happy 4th of July!!!

[BigPrince]

I went bike riding, woot! only because I had the time off from work.

[kkachurak]

Just about damn near killed (or seriously injured) my friends and I when I lit up a "Freaky Friday" mortar.

I mounted it on a flat stump in the backyard and after lighting, it fell off and was aimed at us. Mortars (there are 16 in one box) launched out all around us, on the roof, the satellite dish, and at our feet and heads.

It was crazy. We were gasping and screaming and laughing (we were kinda intoxicated). I felt like Marty when Mad Dog Tannen comes in the bar and says, "DANCE!".

It was one of those moments where something really bad could've happened, and after it was over, everyone just goes, "That was awesome!"

[yg17]

I went out earlier and bought some fireworks, and a couple hours ago, I blew all of them up. Fun times :D

Next year I'm going to go all out and buy the expensive stuff....this time around, I just bought the cheap crap like fountains, firecrackers and bottle rockets and some sweet 25 shot missile thing.

[redwarrior]

We ended up staying at the lake and watching the huge fireworks show there. Made me really mad though, cause only me and my daughter were cheering. It's like everyone was there for the show, not to celebrate our independence.:mad:

We're going to blow up our small piece of the US tonight, and hopefully not ourselves in the process. :p

[scotty96LSC]

We did the traditional barbecue on the Air Force Base then watched the fireworks. Doing this for years.

[MacDawg]

We're going to blow up our small piece of the US tonight, and hopefully not ourselves in the process. :p

Which piece? I have a few suggestions, and I'm sure others in the PRSI would too (although they may not be the same ones).

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[MacNut]

Ate good, watched **** esplode on the beach. Listened to people horribly sing karaoke. Was a great time.:cool:

Other than Christmas and My birthday, The 4th is the best day of the year.

[redwarrior]

Which piece? I have a few suggestions, and I'm sure others in the PRSI would too (although they may not be the same ones).

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif
Hopefully not my piece! and hopefully none of the cows next door (kinda a new twist to cow-tipping:cool:)

[Teh Don Ditty]

Which piece? I have a few suggestions, and I'm sure others in the PRSI would too (although they may not be the same ones).

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

Why blow up your own country when you can blow up somebody elses?

[MacNut]

Hopefully not my piece! and hopefully none of the cows next door (kinda a new twist to cow-tipping:cool:)At least you know the burgers are cooked.:p

[MrSmith]

What a country...
Many would agree.

God bless the world, eh ;)

[psycoswimmer]

I went to a friends house, set off a bunch of fireworks, made a bonfire, and had a good time.

[Counterfit]

Played a parade, then a concert, then another parade. Too tired after to do much else. :(

[d_and_n5000]

Ate good, watched **** esplode on the beach. Listened to people horribly sing karaoke. Was a great time.:cool:

Other than Christmas and My birthday, The 4th is the best day of the year.

(I know it's a bit late, but...)

We did the same thing. Twas fun. It was actually really funny, because there was a huge party about a mile down the shore of the lake we were on, and they had this big huge karaoke setup, and we'd hear them sing, then five seconds later, we'd hear it again, from the other direction. :D

Then the town's fireworks sucked for this year for some reason. Usually they're a lot better. Ah well - probably couldn't get the donations they usually could, what with the economy.

[Thomas Veil]

Just about damn near killed (or seriously injured) my friends and I when I lit up a "Freaky Friday" mortar.

I mounted it on a flat stump in the backyard and after lighting, it fell off and was aimed at us. Mortars (there are 16 in one box) launched out all around us, on the roof, the satellite dish, and at our feet and heads.

It was crazy. We were gasping and screaming and laughing (we were kinda intoxicated). I felt like Marty when Mad Dog Tannen comes in the bar and says, "DANCE!".

It was one of those moments where something really bad could've happened, and after it was over, everyone just goes, "That was awesome!"Not to sound like an angry old coot, but I've had that happen to me twice in my life...as an observer.

First time, someone shot off a firework that went sideways and missed my son by about three or four feet. That was years ago.

This fourth, my family gathered together as we always do, and my sister-in-law bought fireworks as she always does. Except this time she gave the launching job to her nephews, and three or four of the things shot sideways past a group of our kids who were playing a game nearby. That game ended in a big hurry.

The older I get the less impressed I am with the idea of fireworks being set off by amateurs. I think if she's gonna do fireworks next year I just won't go. Twice scared like that is enough for anybody. And if that makes me a crabby old party-pooper, so be it.

[gonyr]

Saw the fireworks at West Point this year - first time I've been there. It's a really beautiful campus, and I figured, if I'm going to watch stuff blow up, who knows better how to do it than the military.

It turned out to be a great show. They had lots of different fireworks that I haven't seen before. Also, the viewing area is on a grassy hill leading to a cliff that drops down to the river. They launch from the river, so the fireworks are exploding at eye level instead of overhead - very neat experience.