SicEmBaylor
7/3/2006, 04:34 AM
For the past 22 years my grandparents have had this 4th of July thing at their lake place in Salina (OK). I've only missed 3-4 during that time, so that's where I'll be on the 4th.
The night time fireworks display that I put on every year though is spectacular if I do say so myself (well spectacular for what you can do small-time and solo).
My routine usually involves loading up on patriotic music. The stuff from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is great. I spend the 3rd of July every year having a movie marathon. It usually includes any combo of the following titles:
-The Patriot
-Independence Day
-The Alamo, yes I know Texas history but they were redblooded Americans (and a few independence loving messicans).
-Patton
-The Longest Day
-Saving Private Ryan
-War of 1812 (HC; docu)
-Red Dawn
-In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Words and Deeds
-Gettysburg
-Gods and Generals
-The North and the South (well parts of it).
-Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
-Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper was not just a great fiction writer but also a political/constitutional theorist. His book "American Democrat" should be required reading in high school.)
-The Right Stuff
I'm also loading up on cigars for the day. Not sure what all Ted's at The Farm has but I'm sure they have a good stock. I'll be a happy camper if they carry the non-vintage H.Upmann coronas. No Zima. My drink of choice on the 4th is Jack and that is it. I'm usually a vodka guy, but vodka is Russian and therefore quite un-American and inappropriate on the day of our Independence.
I'm going to have a "reading" this year of the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the Constitution, and Patrick Henry's famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech in Richmond. I would love to give a full reading of the Constitution with analysis on the enumerated powers of congress and the reserved powers of the state, but there's simply not enough time in the day. If this were a week long celebration then I would also go over some of my favorites parts of the Anti-Federalist papers and even some selections from the Federalist Papers.
Each holiday I like to not only remember the birth of our nation and my hertiage as an American, but also the following war that sought to preserve those ideals and win a second independence. The right to be free and choose one's own destiny and government is a value that did not cease to exist after 1776 or 1865.
That is all. You all have a good one!
The night time fireworks display that I put on every year though is spectacular if I do say so myself (well spectacular for what you can do small-time and solo).
My routine usually involves loading up on patriotic music. The stuff from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is great. I spend the 3rd of July every year having a movie marathon. It usually includes any combo of the following titles:
-The Patriot
-Independence Day
-The Alamo, yes I know Texas history but they were redblooded Americans (and a few independence loving messicans).
-Patton
-The Longest Day
-Saving Private Ryan
-War of 1812 (HC; docu)
-Red Dawn
-In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Words and Deeds
-Gettysburg
-Gods and Generals
-The North and the South (well parts of it).
-Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
-Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper was not just a great fiction writer but also a political/constitutional theorist. His book "American Democrat" should be required reading in high school.)
-The Right Stuff
I'm also loading up on cigars for the day. Not sure what all Ted's at The Farm has but I'm sure they have a good stock. I'll be a happy camper if they carry the non-vintage H.Upmann coronas. No Zima. My drink of choice on the 4th is Jack and that is it. I'm usually a vodka guy, but vodka is Russian and therefore quite un-American and inappropriate on the day of our Independence.
I'm going to have a "reading" this year of the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the Constitution, and Patrick Henry's famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech in Richmond. I would love to give a full reading of the Constitution with analysis on the enumerated powers of congress and the reserved powers of the state, but there's simply not enough time in the day. If this were a week long celebration then I would also go over some of my favorites parts of the Anti-Federalist papers and even some selections from the Federalist Papers.
Each holiday I like to not only remember the birth of our nation and my hertiage as an American, but also the following war that sought to preserve those ideals and win a second independence. The right to be free and choose one's own destiny and government is a value that did not cease to exist after 1776 or 1865.
That is all. You all have a good one!