FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Happy Independence Day! Hope everyone is having a great celebration with friends and family.
Small towns have a problem when it comes to Sunday holidays. When do you have the parade? Well Flag picked Saturday morning. It was a typical parade for a small town—minus a HS band or two. Firefighters got lots of cheers, Dems got lots of cheers, GOP got lots of cheers, Tea Party go very little—even in their 1776 attire. It was a nice long parade and the only glitch was when the airbrakes on an out of town fire engine locked up on the hill. People and floats worked their way around it for about 10 minutes until the brakes worked again. This parade seemed to have more spectators than usual; at least the parking was harder. For four years I have been able to park in the same area. Today I had to go about a block farther to find a place. Parades, even a day early are a lot of fun.
We had a great summer day here in Flag. It was only 79° and a nice 15mph made it really nice anywhere you were around town. Great day to be outside, soakin up the rays with plenty of sunblock.
HOLY MACKEREL: On this date in 1054 ►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. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY
Woodrow Wilson: The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation. ~
Franklin D. Roosevelt: In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. ~
Albert Camus: Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. ~
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION
Cookout information:
~Florida led the nation in watermelon production last year (818 million pounds)
~Florida or California, which combined accounted for 70 percent of U.S. fresh market tomato production last year.
~Half of the nation's spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2009.
~North Dakota produced 34 percent of the nation's dry, edible beans in 2009
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1
What animal completes this series? fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow,
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
ROME Some women in Naples said they won't make love if their men shoot off dangerous fireworks on New Year's Eve.
"Se Spari, Niente Sesso" (If you shoot, no sex), as the group calls itself, claims to have signed up hundreds of women in the Naples area to combat celebrations that injure or maim hundreds each year.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Mrs Whyte, his teacher advises the class that each school day starts with the "Pledge of Allegiance"*** and instructs them to put their right hand over their heart and repeat after her.
As Mrs Whyte starts the recitation she looks around the room, 'I pledge allegiance to the flag........', when her eyes are drawn to Andy who has his hand over the right cheek of his bottom.
'Andy, I cannot continue till you put your hand over your heart,' she demands.
Andy looks up and replies, 'It is over my heart.'
After several more attempts to get Andy to put his hand over his heart, Mrs Whyte enquires, 'Why do you think that is your heart, Andy?'
'Well Miss,' answers Andy, 'because every time my Grandma comes to visit she pats me there and says, "Bless your little heart," and my Grandma never lies.'
+++
Nicholas took his four-year-old son, Bryan, to several baseball games where "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung before the start of each game.
Later, Nicholas and Bryan attended St Bartholomew's church on the Sunday before Independence Day. The congregation sang The Star-Spangled Banner, and after everyone sat down, Bryan suddenly yelled out at the top of his voice, 'Play ball.'
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2
You do not want to have me, But when you have me, You do not want to lose me.
What am I?
FOUND ON YOU TUBE
Happy Birthday, America Click Here!
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what common object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
► Weekly Observances ◄
28 -7/5: Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week AND National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness
4-10: Freedom Week AND Be Nice To New Jersey Week
► Today’s Observances ◄
National Country Music Day Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day
Fourth of July or Independence Day
Independence From Meat Day
Indivisible Day
International Drive Your Studebaker Day
Rhode Island : Providence Day (1636)
Bahamas : Queen's Birthday
Cayman Islands : Constitution Day
Italy : Garibaldi Day (1807)
Philippines : Philippine-American Friendship Day (1946)
Rwanda: Liberation Day
Tonga : King's Birthday
Yugoslavia : Fighter's Day
► Hit Songs on this date ◄
In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town: Ted Lewis in 1932
Sleepy Lagoon: Harry James in 1942
Delicado: Percy Faith in 1952
The Stripper: David Rose & His Orchestra in 1962
Lean on Me: Bill Withers in 1972
► Born today ◄
…The Arts
Stephen Foster, composer (Oh! Susanna, Swanee River), born in 1826 Lawrencevil, Pa
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author (House of 7 Gables, Scarlet Letter), born in 1804 Salem MA
Mitch Miller, sing along with Mitch (Yellow Rose of Tx), born in 1911 Rochester NY
Neil Simon, 83, playwright (The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park), born New York, NY
Abigail Van Buren (Pauline Esther Friedman), 92 & Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer), twin sisters, advice columnists, born in 1918 Sioux City, IA
+++
Gina Lollobrigida, 82, actress (Belles de Nuit; Bread, Love and Dreams), born Auviaco, Italy
Eva Marie Saint, 86, actress (Oscar for On the Waterfront; North by Northwest, Exodus), born Newark, NJ
…Athletics
Horace Grant, 45, former basketball player, born Augusta, GA
Floyd Little, 62, College Football Hall of Famer: Broncos: rushed for 6,323 yards on 1,641 carries & 43 touchdowns, born in New Haven, , CT
George Michael Steinbrenner III, 80, baseball executive, born Rocky River, OH
Rosey (Roosevelt) Taylor, 73, football: Grambling College, Bears, Chargers, 49ers, Redskins, born in New Orleans, LA
…Business & Education
James Anthony Bailey circus impresario (Barnum & Bailey), born 1847 in Detroit
Leona Helmsley (wife of Harry), real estate billionaire, born in 1920 Marbletown, NY
…Politics
Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri D'Aquino) WW II propagandist, born in 1916 Los Angeles, CA
John Calvin Coolidge, 30th pres (1923-29), born in 1872 Plymouth Notch,
Giuseppe Garibaldi, unified Italy, born in 1807 Nice, France
…Science / Religion
Reuben Lucius ‘Rube’ Goldberg, made the easy outrageously difficult, cartoonist and sculptor, born in 1883 San Francisco
Stephen Mather, organized US National Park Service, born in 1867 San Francisco, CA
► Obituaries today ◄
John Adams, 2nd President in 1826 @ 91
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, die 1826 @ 83
James Monroe, 5th president, in 1831 TB @ 73
► Events ◄
…The Arts
1832 ►"America" 1st sung publicly
1862 ►Lewis Carroll creates Alice in Wonderland for Alice P Liddell
1865 ►1st edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published
1855 ►The first edition of Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, was published in Brooklyn, NY
…Athletics
1888 ►1st organized rodeo competition held, Prescott, AZ
…Business & Education
1881 ►Booker T Washington establishes Tuskegee Institute
…Indigenous People
1636 ►Boston’s "Standing Committee" gives orders to John Winthrop, Jr. to give to the Pequots, two murder suspects, as required by the treaty of 1634, or face a war.
…Politics (US)
1636 ►City of Providence, Rhode Island form
1802 ►US Military Academy officially opens (West Point, NY)
1817 ►Construction on Erie Canal begins
1863 ►Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho)
1884 ►Bullfighting was introduced in America in Dodge City, Kansas.
1884 ►Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris
1966 ►LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act
…Politics (outside US)
1942 ►1st American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II)
…Science / Religion
1997 ►NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
2005 ►The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
…1
These are all the animals swallowed by the old lady in the nursery rhyme: There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she'll die!
- She swallowed a spider to catch the fly.
- She swallowed a bird to catch the spider.
- She swallowed a cat to catch the bird.
- She swallowed a dog to catch the cat.
- She swallowed a goat to catch the dog.
- She swallowed a cow to catch the goat.
The rhyme concludes with:
- There was an old lady who swallowed a horse. She's dead, of course.
…2
A lawsuit
…Photo
Pool chalk tip
TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT
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