Post about 5 favorite things from the past week. It can be anything that tickled your fancy: favorite quotes, posts, happenings, scriptures, recipes, pictures, great internet finds, etc., etc. Be as detailed as you like, the more detail the more fun for those of us visiting. Susanne, the hostess, just asks that it be kept family friendly. To see entries from other participants or to play along, click here.



1. Jokes from friends always make my day.

Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... as it happens, near Transylvania. They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree.


Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance.

Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the lig ht, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks.

A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?"


"I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!" Bob brings his wife in.

An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist.. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory"



With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table.

After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more.

The Hills' deaths upset Igor's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.

Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty's hand twitch, keeping time with the haunting piano music.. Stunned, he watches as Bob's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight!

Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory.

He bursts in and shouts to his master:



3. In the midst of all the animosity and ugliness that permeates our nation these days, I have been thinking a lot about Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both of these amazing leaders, one Republican and one Democrat, saw our country through its two roughest periods: the Civil War and the Great Depression and World War II. In rereading several of their speeches, I find inspiration for these troubling times:

"The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me." -- Abraham Lincoln ("Speech on the Sub-Treasury" delivered in the Illinois House of Representatives, December 26, 1839)

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932

4. Because I hope for a brighter tomorrow, this song has been stuck in my head for a few days.



5. Last, but not least, I am grateful to have survived what has turned out to be a very, very rough week.


Happy Friday, everyone!

10. Robert F. Kennedy: April 4, 1968
Complete Speech

"I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.

In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black--considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible--you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge. We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization--black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another."


11. Ronald Reagan: January 28, 1986
Complete Speech

"We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them……

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"


12. Malcolm X: April 3, 1964
Complete Speech

"The question tonight, as I understand it, is 'The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here?' or 'What Next?' In my little humble way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.

[. . .]

The black nationalists aren't going to wait. Lyndon B. Johnson is the head of the Democratic Party. If he's for civil rights, let him go into the Senate next week and declare himself. Let him go in there right now and declare himself. Let him go in there and denounce the Southern branch of his party. Let him go in there right now and take a moral stand -- right now, not later. Tell him, don't wait until election time. If he waits too long, brothers and sisters, he will be responsible for letting a condition develop in this country which will create a climate that will bring seeds up out of the ground with vegetation on the end of them looking like something these people never dreamed of. In 1964, it's the ballot or the bullet.


13. Franklin D. Roosevelt: March 4, 1933
Complete Speech

"This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone."

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five were captured by the British as traitors, tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton,Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife 's bed side as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Today is the official birthday of the United States of America. It's a day of celebration all over the country. Barbeques, fireworks displays, patriotic music, and displays of stars and stripes in red, white, and blue will appear from sea to shining sea throughout the day. The Amazing Egyptian Dude and I wish you all a Fabulous Fourth!

I'll post the answers after Disneyland's fireworks show tonight.

1. Who signed the Declaration of Independence first?

2. Which country was America's first foreign ally?

3. Two former presidents both died on July 4, 1826. Do you know who they are?

4. This American author, fond of the color red and the first letter of the alphabet, was born on July 4, 1804. Who is he?

4. Only one American president was born on July 4. Do you know which one?

5. Which state has the oldest continuous July 4th celebration?

The tapestry of American patriotic music is as rich and varied as her people. Hymns, marches, national songs, poetry, military themes, and music from the theater, television, and radio combine to reflect the pride and hope embodied in the American Experience. With the celebration of our independence just two days away, my list is about American Patriotic Music. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it.

1. America the Beautiful
Katharine Lee Bates wrote the lyrics for "America the Beautiful" while on a lecture trip to Colorado in 1893 after being inspired by a trek up Pike's Peak in a prairie wagon. Originally sung to any tune that fit the lyrics -- "Auld Lang Syne" was the most popular, "America the Beautiful" didn't have its own melody until 1882 when Samuel Augustus Ward, a New Jersey church organist, composed one for it. Thereafter, the song has been sung the way we recognize it now.


2. My Country 'Tis of Thee
While we know that Reverend Samuel Francis Smith wrote the lyrics for this song in 1831, the mystery surrounding the composition of its melody remains unsolved. The tune's first appearance in a verifiable form is in the 1744 tune book, Thesaurus Musicus, printed in England. It has been used mostly for songs honoring kings and became the national anthem in 6 countries before making its way across the ocean to America.


3. Battle Hymn of the Republic
Julia Ward Howe, a staunch abolitionist, rewrote the lyrics to a very popular song among the Union troops during the Civil War. The soldiers called the song "John Brown's Body" in honor of John Brown, the abolitionist killed at Harpers Ferry. But after visiting Washington, D.C. with her husband in 1861 and hearing Union soldiers marching to the tune, Julia determined to write lyrics that better suited the majesty of the music. The end result is the song that we now know and love.


4. When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again
The story of one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War is also the story of the Irish immigrant who wrote it. John Philip Sousa considered Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore, an 1848 Irish immigrant and author of the song, "The Father of the American Band." In 1861, Gilmore's band was attached to the 24th Massachusetts Infantry where they served as both musicians and stretcher bearers in some of the most significant Civil War battles including Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Richmond. In 1863, when he was posted to occupied New Orleans, Louisiana, Gilmore composed "When Johnny Comes Marching Home." The song became popular with northerners and southerners alike.


5. You're a Grand Old Flag
I love the story of this song! Written for his stage musical, George Washington, Jr. in 1906, George M. Cohan's inspiration came from a random meeting he had had with a Civil War veteran who, like my great-great grandfather, had fought at Gettysburg. Cohan noticed that the old man was holding a carefully folded but ragged old flag and when the old man saw Cohan looking at it, he said, "She's a grand old rag." That old man's comment about a cherished battle-worn flag became the original title of the song; however, when people objected to the flag being called a "rag," he changed the word to "flag." Maybe if Cohan had explained why he titled the song the way he did, people would have reacted more positively to it because its meaning with the original title and lyric is much more powerful!


6. Hail to the Chief
Did you know that this song, which plays with every formal entrance made by an American president, actually has its origins in a poem written by a Scotsman? Sir Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of the Lake," tells the story of a Highlands Scottish clan that loses its heritage and land to an imperalist invader (the Brits): "Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances!" The song first came to be associated with presidents when, on February 22, 1815, it was played honor both the deceased George Washington and the end of the War of 1812.


7. Marine's Hymn
The tune for this song actually came from Jacques Offenbach's comic opera Genevieve de Brabant, first staged in 1859. Nobody knows who added the lyrics or when, but at least one verse has been traced to Colonel Henry C. Davis who wrote it during the early part of the twentieth century.


8. Stars and Stripes Forever (check out the video for this one!)
John Philip Sousa was the greatest musical star of his era, combining the charisma and popularity of Leonard Bernstein and The Beatles. He wrote "Stars and Stripes Forever" in 1896, while grieving over the death of his manager. For 25 years, Sousa's band played this song at the end of every concert. "The Stars and Stripes Forever" was declared the National March of the United States in 1987.


9. Yankee Doodle
This is one of America's oldest, and most enduring, marching songs. It was written several years before the American Revolution, but like so many songs of old, its origins aren't clear. What we do know about it is that the song isn't really as patriotic as it seems: it is a British parody of the early American militiamen. "Yankee" comes from "Nankey," a word from a well-known not-so-nice song about Oliver Cromwell that later became the name for American colonists; "Doodle" means a fool or simpleton; "Dandy" is a word used to describe a gentleman of artificial manners, dress, and hairstyle -- in other words, a fake. Put these three words together, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and you have a foolish American colonist who puts on airs. At the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British troops sang the song to make fun of the rag-tag American militiamen.


10. This Land Is Your Land
Woody Guthrie, America's most influential folk musician, wrote "This Land Is Your Land" in 1940 after becoming annoyed with Irving Berlin's song, "God Bless America," which Guthrie thought glossed over the lop-sided distribution of land and wealth that he was observing during the Great Depression and had experienced as a child growing up in Oklahoma. Guthrie's observations accurately reflected the fact that, even in the depths of the Depression, nearly 20 percent of the nation's wealth rested with one percent of its population. Guthrie's personal and musical styles were deeply influenced by his childhood in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression years, which led him to a hobo life-style, a powerful dislike of greed, and a deep appreciation for the diversity of America's everyday folk.


11. God Bless America
Shortly after becoming an American citizen in 1918, Irving Berlin, already a highly successful popular lyricist and composer, was inducted and stationed at Camp Upton in Yaphank, Long Island, New York. While stationed there, Berlin convinced his commanding officers to allow him to write a musical comedy that could be used to raise both funds and troop morale, and the original version of this song was part of this production. But after he heard the song, Berlin decided that it was too serious for a comedy and tucked it away for 25 years. On November 10, 1938, contralto Kate Smith introduced the song to America on her CBS radio show that was broadcast from the New York World's Fair. Timing is everything; the song became an instant hit. Berlin generously signed over his royalty money from the song to charity, and the revenues went to the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts of America.


12. God Bless the U.S.A.
Lee Greenwood, a country music artist, wrote "God Bless the USA" in 1983 as a patriotic song about his country. When it was originally released, it didn't top the charts; however, it quickly became Greenwood's signature song. When the Amazing Egyptian Dude was sworn in as a U.S. Citizen, this is the song that played in accompaniment to a video showing scenes of what it means to an American. We already knew the song because we have been fans of Greenwood's music for quite some time, so the AED was thrilled when the song blared out from the loudspeakers at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the day that he officially became an American in 1986. If you've never been lucky enough to witness the swearing in of a new American citizen, check out this video; the song & video we saw is at 8:05. I guarantee goosebumps!


13. The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key put new words to an old song when he wrote what would become the national anthem of the United States of America. In the mid-1760s, a London society of amateur musicians, the Anacreontic Society, commissioned a young church musician, John Stafford Smith, to compose music for material that its president, Ralph Tomlinson, had written. The result was a song called "Anacreon in Heav'n." Its metric difficulty was meant to be the vehicle through which the group's best bariton singer could display his virtuosity and vocal range. Its musical complexity has been compared to the famous "Toreador Song" in Bizet's opera Carmen. The tune appeared in North America before the end of the 18th century where the lyrics were rewritten to include references to Jefferson, Adams, and Liberty. Francis Scott Key was fascinated by the song's unique metrical structure, not found in any other song of the period. That explains why it's so difficult for the average person to sing!

So, how did it become our national anthem? While detained aboard a British ship during the bombardment of Ft. McHenry on September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key witnessed at dawn the failure of the British attempt to take Baltimore. He used this experience to write a poem that asked the question "Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave?" or in modern American English, "Hey, Dude, is that flag still flying?"

Almost immediately Key's poem was published and set to the tune of the "Anacreontic Song." The Secretary of the Navy, on July 26, 1889, designated "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official tune to be played whenever the flag was raised, and Woodrow Wilson chose the song to be played whenever a national anthem was appropriate because we didn't have one yet. It wasn't until March 3, 1931, that the song was made our official anthem by President Herbert Hoover.

1. I've come to realize that my last kiss... is my business.

2. I am listening to... CNN's coverage of the events transpiring in Iran.

3. I talk... so much that my dad once said he wanted to meet the inventor of the batteries that run my mouth because my dad just knew if they were marketed correctly, the two of them could be millionaires.

4. I love... Tom T. Hall's song, "I Love"


5. My best friend/s... are awesome people.

6. My first real kiss... happened long ago.

7. Love is... a battlefield, says Pat Benatar.

8. Marriage is... a full-time job worth doing well.

9. Somewhere, someone is thinking... "I need to pee!"

10. I'll always... have a cat or two.

11. The last time I really cried was because... of frustration.

12. My cell phone... is a tool that I use for more than its ability to make calls.

13. When I wake up in the morning... I make a pot of coffee.

14. Before I go to bed... I take medication.

15. Right now I am thinking about... the increasing lack of stability in the world.

16. Babies are... God's way of showing us what good is.

17. I get on Myspace...no, wait -- I don't get on MySpace; I use Facebook instead.

18. Today I... will be watching the U.S. vs. Egypt soccer game and rooting for the red, white, and blue; the Amazing Egyptian Dude plans to root for the red, white, and blue during the first half of the game and for the descendants of the pharaohs during the second half.

19. Tomorrow I will be... taking my dad out for lunch.

20. I really want to be... able to become the proverbial fly on the wall so that I could witness the great moments in history while they are still current events.


To see other entries or play along, visit here.

June 14th is the day set aside to honor the flag of the United States of America and all that it represents. I thought it would be fun to share some facts and trivia about the U.S. flag today.



Did you know. . .

• that the story about Betsy Ross sewing the first official American flag is mostly myth?
• that Robert Peary cut a flag into pieces and scattered them around the North Pole?
• that the only time it is appropriate to fly the flag upside down is to signal an emergency?
• that an expert in the history of flags is called a vexillologist?
• that the phrase, "one nation under God," was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954?
• that the original Pledge of Allegiance, written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist, read like this: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"? Believing that equality, liberty, and justice were the cornerstones of America, Bellamy wanted to add "equality" to his pledge; however, the first official ceremony in which his pledge would be used was a public school program for the quadricentennial celebration of Columbus Day, and since Bellamy knew that the state superintendents of education were against equality for women and African Americans, he left the word out of the pledge.
• that the United States did not even have a standardized flag until 1912?
• that it takes 64 pieces of fabric to make an American flag, more than any other flag in the world?
• that the American flag has changed designs more than any other flag in the world? To date, there have been 27 different versions!
• that in 1912, President William H. Taft (who happens to be one of my ancestors, by the way!) standardized the arrangement of the stars into rows?
  
• that the first states to require, by law, schools to fly the flag daily were North Dakota and New Jersey in 1890?
• that the first official Flag Day was celebrated in Philadelphia in 1893?
• that President Harry Truman declared June 14 as Flag Day in 1949?
• that 10-year-old Billy Gobitas' 1935 letter to the school board of Minersville, Pennsylvania, in which he wrote, "I do not salute the flag because I promised to do the will of God," sparked one of several constitutional battles over the states' right to demand a specific type of respect for national symbols when doing so violated an individual's freedom of religion. Billy Gorbitas was a Jehovah's Witness. In 1943, the Supreme Court held that the federal government has no right to compel citizens to salute the flag or recite the pledge of allegiance.