All in Fun

"Hey, mom, did you know there are places on earth where it's been declared illegal to die?" Bigger Girl asked as i came in yesterday.

Well, i know they don't officially allow anyone to be declared dead on Disney property, i noted.  They want the official declaration to wait until you are removed from their property because no one should die at 'The Happiest Place On Earth.'

"Well, this is different.  There are places where it's illegal to die, and what I want to know is, how do they punish you if you break the law?"

Good question, i said.

A moment later, Friend Becky and #2 Son came in, dressed to the nines.

Going somewhere special? i asked.

"Yes, we are," she answered just as we heard a boom from outdoors.

Are they setting off fireworks already? i asked.

"Yes, it was Festus, and we're leaving to go get more," Little Girl said as she walked in and grabbed a nectarine.  "We want to be ready."

"Then we are going to The Hole in the Wall, you know, where we sometimes go to hear bands," #2 Son said.  "They are having an 80's Prom Night, and she never got to go to the prom in high school, so when we get back with the fireworks, I'm taking her there."

He and Friend Becky are starting to be more than just friends.  Time will tell, and they have plenty of it.

"Well, I have to work tonight, and tomorrow I have off so I will go downtown for the fireworks instead," Bigger Girl noted.

Will your friends be with you? i asked.

"Of course,  We have a girl who claims to be a bobcat, a 6'1", 350 pound Cuban with a Mohawk, one of us considers herself a dragon, and one makes everyone call her 'Princess Pop Rocks.'  Where else would we go but down to the fireworks?  Downtown by the levee is the only place we all fit in!"

Um, no comment.

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate, and Happy Saturday to those who don't!



Today is

American Independence Day Celebration -- Rebild Park, Aalborg, Denmark (yes, really, every year except during the two World Wars, they have celebrated American Independence Day here; as a way of thanking the country that has accepted over 300,000 Danish immigrants, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the countries)

Baal Fire Day -- Whalton, Northumberland, UK (a bonfire, Anglo-Saxon "bael", with traditional morris dancing -- originally a Moorish dance)

Boom Box Parade --  Willimantic, CT, US (dating back to 1985, when no marching band could be found for the Memorial Day parade, five weeks later, the local radio station staged the first Boom Box Parade, in which they play the march music on their station, and marchers carry boom boxes tuned in on the station; it makes for one unique parade!)

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Calithumpian Parade -- Biwabik, MN, US (clowns, hilarity and patriotism reign together as the 1,000 citizens of Biwabik put on a show for more than 15,000 guests)

Day of Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Filipino-American Friendship Day -- Philippines; U.S.

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

Independence Day -- US and Territories(1776)

Independence from Meat Day -- don't be a slave to tradition! sponsored by Vegetarian Awareness Network

International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship -- Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, WI, US

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N.

Jumping on the Mattress Night -- Fairy Calendar

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Nazul Al-Quran -- Brunei Darussalam; Malaysia (Quran Revelation Day)

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

Rockport Art Festival -- Rockport, TX, US (top artists from around the country line the waterfront today and tomorrow, with good music and good food to add to the fun)

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day -- you can do this anywhere that it's hot enough, but for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only

St. Paul's Carnival -- Bristol, England (annual African Caribbean Carnival; a richly multicultural celebration)

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day (Patron of brides, charitable societies, charity workers, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, queens, tertiaries, victims of adultery, victims of jealousy, victims of unfaithfulness, widows; invoked in time of war; Coimbra, Portugal)

St. Ulrich's Day (Patron of peaceful deaths, pregnant women, weavers; Augsburg, Germany; Creazzo,  Italy; against birth complications, dizziness, faintness, fever, frenzy, mice, moles, vertigo)

Stone Skipping Tournament -- Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US (open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!)

The Dam Experience -- Warsaw, MO, US (fireworks viewed from land and boat at the Truman Dam)

Tour de France -- through Sunday, July 26

World's Greatest Lizard Races -- Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US (cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16 foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!)


Anniversaries Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881



Birthdays Today

Becky Newton, 1978
Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language, and has now taught it to her offspring)
Pamela Howard "Pam" Shriver, 1962
Signy Coleman, 1960
Geraldo Rivera, 1943
George Steinbrenner, 1930
Al Davis, 1929
Gina Lollobrigida, 1927
Neil Simon, 1927
Eva Marie Saint, 1924
Ann Landers, 1918
Abigail Van Buren, 1918
Mitch Miller, 1911
Gloria Stuart, 1910
George Murphy, 1902
Rube Goldberg, 1883
Louis B. Mayer, 1882
George M. Cohan, 1878
Calvin Coolidge, 1872
Stephen Foster, 1826
Hiram Walker, 1816
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Top 40"(Radio), 1970
"Honky Tonk Women"(Single release), 1969
"America the Beautiful"(Publication date), 1895


Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054
Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534
The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634
City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636
The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776
The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802
The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803
Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817
The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837
The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840
Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845
The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855
Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*
The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879
The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886
The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886
Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892
The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894
Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903
African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910
First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927
Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939
After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946
The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966
NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997
The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005
The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009
Discovery of a picture of the Biblical Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in the Galilee region of northern Israel is announced, 2012