~★~★~★~★~ El Morno ~★~★~★~★~
July 4th, 2013

 

★~Today’s quote:  Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic. – Dan Rather

★~ 4th of July 

Light the candles, fire up the grill, pop open a drink, and cue the fireworks: a birthday party – a nation’s birthday – is in the air.  America is 237 years young today. Celebrate our great country on her special day by remembering that we remain the land of the free because of the brave. Say nice and kind things about America and focus on all the things that are right in our country; after all, it is her birthday. And don’t forget to shoot some Redi-Whip directly into your mouth, just because it’s fun! God bless the U.S.A.

★~ National Country Music Day:

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Today everybody is a little bit country! Get out your harmonica and dust off that fiddle. It doesn’t matter whether you love the old country classics or prefer the new country, let’s two-step our way over to the apple pie.

★~ Sidewalk Egg Frying Day:

Have you ever cooked an egg on the sidewalk? I have. It works!  First, see if the sidewalk is “preheated to 158F” by taking a magnifying glass, some newspaper, and adding some sun.  Hold the magnifying glass over the newspaper and let the sun beat down onto the magnifying glass for several minutes. When the newspaper catches fire, your sidewalk is ready! It’s always a good idea to have a spray bottle of water nearby when you play with fire.  While your egg is cooking on the pavement, start the bacon in the driveway…and maybe some flapjacks on the hood of the car. Solar cooking at its finest!

★~ Today in History:

★ ~ 1848 – The cornerstone for the Washington Monument was laid with “elaborate Masonic ceremonies.” The trowel used by Washington at the laying of the cornerstone of the Capitol in 1793 was used on this occasion.

★~ 1888 – The first rodeo in America was held at Prescott, Arizona. A group of Prescott businessmen organized the first ‘cowboy tournament’ and offered cash prizes for the winners.

★ ~ 1895 – America the Beautiful, was originally  a poem written by Katharine Lee Bates. The Wellesley College professor’s poem was first published today  in the Congregationalist, a church newspaper.

★~ 1970 – Casey Kasem hosted radio’s American Top 40 for the first time this day.

★ ~ 2009 – 25-year-old Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California ate a record 68 hot dogs on the way to capturing his 3rd straight Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York City.

★~ Born Today:

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★ ~ 1883 – Rube (Reuben Lucius) Goldberg inventor of elaborate, involved contraptions that accomplish simple tasks; cartoonist; died Dec 7, 1970

★ ~ 1918 – Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman) advice columnist; twin sister of Abigail Van Buren; died June 22, 2002

★ ~ 1924 – Eva Marie Saint Academy Award-winning actress: On the Waterfront [1954]; North by Northwest, Exodus, Raintree County

★ ~ 1951 – Ralph Johnson musician: drums; singer: group: Earth Wind and Fire: Shining Star, That’s the Way of the World, September, Can’t Hide Love, Got to Get You Into My Life, Sing a Song

★ ~ 1971 – Hanabi-Ko, or “Fireworks Child” in Japanese, was born at the San Francisco Zoo. She is probably the most famous gorilla in the world due to her participation in the longest continuous experiment to teach language to animals. She was taught sign language beginning when she was about a year old, and she has a vocabulary of 1,000 signs.

★ ~ 1978 – Becki Newton actress: Ugly Betty, Mode After Hours, August Rush, P.S., The Guiding Light

★ ~ Good to Know: 

♥~ R.I.P Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson  and John Adams died on July 4, 1826.

♥~ Americans will consume about 155 million hotdogs on the 4th of July

♥~ Tap, Tap, Tap. Due to concerns about cracking the iconic instrument, the Liberty Bell has not been rung since 1846. Instead, every year, to mark the Fourth of July, the 2,000-pound bell is tapped 13 times to signal for bells across the country to start ringing.

♥~ Dreaming about fireworks means that you like to be the centre of attention and are showing off to others. It also symbolizes enthusiasm and exhilaration.

♥~ The Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island, is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the U.S. The town has held the celebration every year since 1785.

♥~ There’s a one in four chance the hot dogs and pork sausages devoured in backyards across the country on July Fourth originated in the the Hawkeye State, which was home to 18.9 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

♥~  American consumers will spend more than $600 million on fireworks this Fourth of July.

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The neighborhood fools started setting off fireworks at around 7pm last night and at 1am they’re still blasting away. My campers are a pretty calm group this year, but still reluctant to go outside with the sky exploding over head. I enjoy fireworks on the 4th of July and expect a few throughout the week, but 5 hours of fireworks on July 3rd is testing my patience. No, I won’t call the police, because I’m not a neighborhood tattletale, instead, I’m going to go outside right now and curse them with a curse taught to me by a Jewish friend many, many, years ago. I only wish I could say it in Yiddish: “Tonight when you go to bed may your blood turn to whiskey, so that 100 bedbugs get drunk on it and dance the mazurka in your belly button.”

We are sticking close to home today, barbecuing some ribs, and hanging out with our pups. Do you have plans?

Odd Loves Company!