MetaChat - Obligatory 4th of July thread.

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04 July 2005

Obligatory 4th of July thread. What are your Independence Day memories?→[More:]

I grew up in a shithole Texas town, in what used to be the middle of nowhere (but is now the 'burbs).

My dad is a wonderful guy. He built the house I grew up in, along with the workshop, barn, and greenhouse on the property. But he is -- maybe understandably -- afraid that it will all someday burn down.

Our 4ths always started with my dad obsessivly hosing down the roof -- even after bottle rockets were banned in Texas. He was sure that some idiot neighbor kid would burn HIS house down.

[We also never had a real christmas tree, but that's another post.]

Our evening festivities consisted of firewroks that stayed *on the ground.*

Later, as a special treat, we'd climb on to the roof to watch all of the fireworks people shot off in the valley between our little town and Ft. Worth. Then we'd watch the grass fires start. Then we'd watch the fire trucks head down the highways to the grass fires that had just started.

Every year was the same, and we never got to light big explosive device.

You?

post by: mudpuppie at: 01:25 | 55 comments

*just saw the time*
i may need to go asplode

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:28

Also, feel free to bash the U S of A.

It's my thread. I deem it so.

posted by mudpuppie 04 July | 01:28

and now i'm eyeing the bottle to prevent me from doing crap that involves heavy machinery
*shakes fist*

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:34

Heavy machinery is one thing. Lit fuses is another.

posted by mudpuppie 04 July | 01:37

Standing on FDR Drive in New York City in 1994, watching the fireworks. Amazing.

posted by sisterhavana 04 July | 01:41

A friend of mine, the one who made the urinating rollerskating cow, would imbed pipe bombs in large fruit for the holiday fun.
It was all fun and games until the day i found out Charles Kuralt died.
First the casava went off with an amazing radial blast.
then the pineapple-- oh that pineapple
i looked up for explosion and an extra fruity chunk hit me smack between the eyes.
my head fell limp like a carny booth target but i was still standing.
i lurched inside and sat on the couch. it was over quickly
and gee, i smelled terrific.

true story

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:41

a boy just walked in with melon, what kind of awesome timing is that?
let the drinking begin!

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:44

i also get to find out if i'm still allergic to kiwi
cross your fingers

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:51

that probably sounds silly but i love kiwi and i haven't been able to eat kiwi since they went on sale everal years ago for 12 for a dollar.
i ate a kiwi every day until that tenth kiwi
then i couldn't breathe and got all puffy
i love kiwi
and i have to eat the eleventh kiwi to make sure it wasn't some pesticide on the skin or something
and it wasn't
there was kiwi on the melon
*wonders if i should run for the antihistamines and nods sagely at a lesson in cumulative allergies*
but now the experiment is skewed because i've been mildly boozed!

posted by ethylene 04 July | 01:58

had and several
and i ate a kiwi piece to make sure
and i'm going to wait fifteen minutes before i take the antihistamine

posted by ethylene 04 July | 02:00

eth - I just sent you an email about emcee (just in case you don't check your mail every second).

posted by taz 04 July | 02:11

didn't die, anyone, and i can apparently stand a moderate amount of kiwi again

posted by ethylene 04 July | 02:42

my fascia is still a bit questionable but i'll start right now if you all really want
that's what i love about "free time" and assumed mob mentality
may take an antihistamine just to make sure as i'm unsure what this particular type will to with alcohol

posted by ethylene 04 July | 02:51

My favorite Fourth of July was when the first rover landed on Mars. There were fireworks going on outside, it was insanely hot, and I was home from college for the summer.

Some of my high school friends and I were hanging out and drinking malt liquor. I had been waiting for the Pathfinder mission to land on Mars since it launched--several years.

We sat on the couch at my friend's house, watching the pictures coming in and drinking beer. Every once in awhile, we'd step outside and watch the fireworks and fireflies.

Tonight echoes that, with the comet probe.

posted by interrobang 04 July | 02:57

I guess my best Fourth of July memories go back to when I was a kid, just bbq-ing in the back yard or away camping with the family and playing with sparklers. Simple stuff.

Later, Fourth of July and New Year's Eve were marred by guns; people shooting guns up in the air in New Orleans, and bullets falling and killing/injuring celebrants. We used to try to leave town because of this (especially since we lived in the French Quarter, where the big celebrations took place), usually to go visit my parents in the country. But the last time we did that, there was some dumbass neighbor shooting off his semi-automatic. The U.S. and fucking guns; what is it with that shit?

posted by taz 04 July | 03:00

Tonight echoes that, with the comet probe. Except for my fow-paw here.

posted by arse_hat 04 July | 03:08

This weekend, I have mainly been listening to Jolie Holland

posted by seanyboy 04 July | 03:15

"Old Fashioned Morphine" is a fine song.

posted by seanyboy 04 July | 03:16

i remember a new year's completely struck down by the flu while visiting somewhere
it rang new years and we all went outside to soak in the new year calm
then the guns started firing

this is after a three foot rooster stopped walking the back alleys of savannah just before thanksgiving

posted by ethylene 04 July | 03:16

it's called the second amendment

posted by ethylene 04 July | 03:17

Sitting on the roof of our house in Queens and looking at the NY skies while bombs burst in air were some of my best memories. No matter how explosive the day might have been - rowdy adults stuffed with BBQ and beer; kids hopped up on soda and the thrill of blasting firecrackers we got in Chinatown - the city's fireworks display dwarfed it all. Good times.

posted by hojoki 04 July | 03:26

ooh, once upon a time when i was seven or so, we drove my friend from somewhere home from where i'd just moved
and we had to stop at the stoplight and in the intersection, someone ran away after setting off a huge ground sitting shooting sparkling tower firework
magic somewhere in brooklyn/queens

posted by ethylene 04 July | 03:31

Man, most of my memories of the fourth have been pretty brutal-- a flaming log rolling into a kid's lap, a hidden 2 gallon can of gas blowing a neighborhood bonfire sky high, a fireworks mishap burning down a corner of the local park... I like the show, but I wouldn't mind something a little less fetishy about destruction. (In other words, something less likely to make my poor dog pee all over the carpet.)

posted by maryh 04 July | 03:33

My most unforgettable 4th was when some cousins came from where they'd been forbidden from using fireworks to visit family where fireworks were welcome outside of city limits. Needless to say, they went "batshit insane" over bottle rockets and various uncivilized types of fireworks, causing terror in both man and beast, and bringing me the joys of hearing several horses running around and farting, hoping to survive what seemed like the end of the world, for several hours.

I miss the fun of DIY fireworks displays, but I think I'm still traumatized by that event. Still, I don't mind joining a crowd of a million every now and then to celebrate summer fireworks here in Japan, as I know there wont be some 14-year-old boys trying to maim anyone with fire and gunpowder...

posted by MightyNez 04 July | 03:38

right coasters: South of the Border?

posted by ethylene 04 July | 03:41

Happy Birthday!

posted by mr.marx 04 July | 03:59

great link, mr marx!

posted by maryh 04 July | 04:02

I must agree, nice cover.

posted by dabitch 04 July | 04:09

It's better they didn't attend, the cake is too rich.

posted by Stoic 04 July | 04:31

Wow. Wow. Incredible cover.

posted by taz 04 July | 04:35

my only july 4 experience was visiting a local american family (expat - i come from yorkshire, near an "early warning base" where you intercept our phone conversations and the like). it was the first time i'd had "american" food, and like they ate pudding (dessert) with everything - meat and some kind of sweet jelly, potatoes with marshmallows on top - it was gross, and i was too well brought up to refuse anything. worst of all was the pecan pie, which i just couldn't finish. i felt really bad, because it was clearly a special meal for them, but for me it was just unpleasant food.

what a waste - i was way too uptight, and it was kind of them to have invited me.

anyways, happy independence. despite my political opinions (meta), i hope you have a good day. and lots of sugar in your food.

posted by andrew cooke 04 July | 09:27

I was in Washington DC for the bicentennial celebration. I was a kid, but it had to be the biggest, most extravagant fireworks display with full orchestration that had ever been produced. We toured the White House, and finally ended up in the big plaza, at the edge of the reflecting pool. I'm not sure I had ever seen fireworks before. It was magical. I had both my parents together, and it may have been the happiest weekend of my life.

The comet last night though...that was pretty darn cool too.

posted by PsychoKitty 04 July | 10:32

Andrew cooke, I think either you've confused Thanksgiving with Independence Day, or it was just a totally surreal postmodern family.

One Thanksgiving dish (for some people) is sweet potatoes with marshmallows melted on top, and cranberry jelly is another. You may have mistaken gravy for a pudding... and generally, I can sort of make out what you're talking about. IF IT WAS THANKSGIVING. The rest of the year we just eat spotted dick and toad in the hole, just like the rest of the world.

posted by taz 04 July | 10:47

In the St. Paul neighborhood where I grew up, the 4th was celebrated with day-long festivities in the local park, ending with fireworks, and kicked off with a community parade which included all the neighborhood kids riding their bikes or trikes, which they'd decorated lavishly with flags and red/white/blue crepe paper streamers.

The fireworks are long gone (too expensive), but the parade is still held every year, still with the dozens and dozens of kids on their bikes, and in about a half-hour I'll drive down and watch this year's enactment. It's always a nostalgically sniffly high point of the year for me.

posted by kat allison 04 July | 10:54

Meant to add--the first time I rode my bike in that parade was 47 years ago today. Ah, time, time....

posted by kat allison 04 July | 10:55

What are your Independence Day memories?

I liked it when the aliens kept blowing up shit, and the part about Roswell I found very amusing, but the ending was appallingly lame. all in all, I have quite bad memories of that movie

__________

no, seriously, what my comrade from Sweden said: Happy Birthday, USA

posted by matteo 04 July | 11:49

and by the way: Thomas Cole's Images of America

posted by matteo 04 July | 11:55

did anyone else see the mefi favicon change to the nasa favicon for a bit?

posted by ethylene 04 July | 12:25

oh shit - sorry. that would be thanksgiving, you're right.

posted by andrew cooke 04 July | 12:42

how come you get so many holidays that we don't?

posted by andrew cooke 04 July | 12:42

because holidays are declared by a nation for whatever reason they damn well please?

posted by ethylene 04 July | 12:53

The UK should get an andrew cooke day when we all remember cookies rant on metatalk. I read it and then I stood up and saluted - it was a beaut'.

posted by dodgygeezer 04 July | 13:04

The UK should get an andrew cooke day when we all remember cookies rant on metatalk. I read it and then I stood up and saluted - it was a beaut'.
posted by dodgygeezer 04 July | 13:04

Whoa. Agreed! Andrew Cooke for president!

posted by mudpuppie 04 July | 13:17

One year, me and a couple other neighborhood kids went around grabbing up spent fireworks on the street and pouring the leftover gunpowder into a pile on top of a sheet of tinfoil. A couple of the dads lit it up. It made a really huge column of sparks. That was cool.

About 10 years ago, mrs. jonmc was introduced to my neighbors at the annual 4th of July block party. We roasted a pig. One neighbor made jello shots and I taught my mom how to do one. As the evening wore on, we watched people get drunk on keg beer and flirt with eachother's spouses. Mom got miffed at me & pips for making out publicly.

posted by jonmc 04 July | 13:36

ac: now if someone can just adjust your campaign posters

posted by ethylene 04 July | 13:44

We used to go to Uncle Jerry's house every July 4th. Uncle Jerry (actually, my dad's cousin) lived behind a rail yard, so there was this big open area behind his back yard to park cars and blow things up. Every 4th, Uncle Jerry gave us preteen boys little bottle rockets and fire crackers and cherry bombs to light off and throw at each other. It was real funny until one of the cherry bombs landed too close to my littler brother and burned him. When we realized it wasn't that bad of a burn, it was funny again. ;- )

Then after dark, the *real* show began. Now, in Buffalo, NY, fireworks were illegal. I think Uncle Jerry used to drive into Canada to buy the "good stuff". Apparently, he made several trips each year, cuz he usually had several paper grocery bags full. One year, sparks from one of the fireworks drifted down amongst the bags of fireworks, and then the show REALLY began. It was just like some kind of Chevy Chase farce with cluster bombs shooting off in all directions, people running everywhere, etc. The cops even showed up, but naturally we knew nothing of the shady characters that set up their fireworks just outside of our party.

Remember all that great parking area? Well, my dad's brand-new 1973 Chrysler Newport ended up with a big ol' scorch mark in the hood. Boy was he pissed.

Next year, though, it was the same as it always was- lots of fireworks and stuff.

posted by Doohickie 04 July | 18:38

This is a stupid question probably, but why are fireworks illegal in the U.S.? Especially given the fact that you're allowed to shoot each other.

posted by seanyboy 04 July | 19:11

This is a stupid question probably, but why are fireworks illegal in the U.S.? Especially given the fact that you're allowed to shoot each other.

Well, cause shooting each other might kill someone, but fireworks cause Property Damage. ;)

I'm kidding, sort of. In Texas, fireworks aren't illegal in the country, but completely illegal inside most cities. Mostly because of the sheer volume of damage that can be done with a stray bottle rocket. Some fireworks have been banned nation-wide...like M80s and up, which were a 1/8 of a stick of dynamite...probably more firepower than you want in the hands of untrained people.

That said, I've never lived anywhere that the kids weren't out shooting off explosives on the 4th. We hose down the roof and yard, turn the sprinklers on, put the dog inside and hope for the best. ;)

posted by PsychoKitty 04 July | 20:00

And to clarify: We are allowed to own guns. Shooting each other is strongly discouraged.

posted by Doohickie 04 July | 20:22

i just had my best one so far--i won 2100 bucks today, at Foxwoods!!!!

God Bless America! and the sovereign nation of whateveritis there! : >

posted by amberglow 04 July | 21:35

It's never been a big deal for me; I forget about it. Then the 4th comes and I hear the explosions all over the neighborhood and it's immediately familiar, like, ah, yes, the 4th of July, noone will sleep well tonight. Now that I am the mother of a teenage boy with a major fireworks fetish, I am also evilly responsible for making my neighborhood so awful, because I take him to South Carolina to buy fireworks that shoot up in the air, far more dangerous apparently than our North Carolina fireworks that sit on the ground and attack you. I like fireworks even though they scare me. I like the way they all have pictures of random things like dragons and infantry men and, inexplicably sometimes, farm animals. I like the way every firework says "Emits Showers of Sparks" and "Shoots Flaming Balls." Fireworks stands are terrifying (they might explode at any minute) and wonderful simultaneously. Then I fuss over my son and the fireworks and complain and eventually my male friends will tell me to shut up, that he will be okay and this is just the way boys are. Then, or at least one memorable evening, one of my friends will throw a bunch of bottle rockets and firecrackers on the grill to see what happens.

I do not much like the way that my Baltimore friends can no longer go up on their roofs to watch the fireworks - the way we always used to - because of random gunfire and stray bullets.

posted by mygothlaundry 04 July | 23:14

Also, feel free to bash the U S of A.

It's my thread. I deem it so.

Whoa. Agreed! Andrew Cooke for president!

Wow. . .just. . .wow.

I am glad to live in the US where there is a Constitution and Bill of Rights that protect civil liberties.

The First Amendment, for example. Freedom of the Press (quick note to potential snarkers: Careful, now. Before you rush to post a comment about Miller & Cooper, consider that in some Constitutional Monarchies the press operates in a restrictive environment where prior restraint is the norm and the press is "chilled" - they can not legally report on some topics).

Consider FOIA. Because of it the ACLU has learned about the conditions in Guantanamo Bay.

In some Constitutional Monarchies, FOIA is a joke, and the government could have simply declined to release the documents and there would be no judicial review.

posted by mlis 04 July | 23:30

...kids hopped up on soda and the thrill of blasting firecrackers we got in Chinatown...

We used to get them on Canal St. : >

posted by amberglow 04 July | 23:31

cool label gallery here

posted by amberglow 05 July | 00:20

Went to see the Grateful Dead at Rich Stadium in 1989. The only time I've been in the States on the 4th. Great show and one of the crazier parking lot scenes I've ever seen.

posted by Cryptical Envelopment 06 July | 23:58

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