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July 4th

I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
502
19
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
 
What a country...

Welcome (belatedly) :eek:

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

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
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
 
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. :eek:

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

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...
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
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.
Click to expand...

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
pawprint.gif
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
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
Click to expand...
So we should party non-stop from July 2nd until sometime in August.:rolleyes: I like:p
 
MacDawg said:
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
pawprint.gif
Click to expand...

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
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
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.
Click to expand...

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:
 
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.
 
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.
 
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!"
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
... 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...
Click to expand...

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

:(
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Just chillin'....

The next couple of days look rather busy so I'm resting up... eating some peaches from the backyard...yum!
 
SwiftLives said:
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!"
Click to expand...
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!!!
 
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!"
 
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