Happy Independence Day!

[RStar]

Happy Fourth of July to everyone! Have a safe and fun time! God Bless America!

My city (Garden Grove) still allows fireworks, so we will, of course, be doing fireworks and Bar-B-Que!

And, todays weather forcast high of 85*, and smoky conditions. Low 68* with continued soot, with darkness and flashes of light after sunset, and loud explosions and low hanging noise well into the night. There is a dog barking watch in effect until 2am.

[scaeagles]

My 12 year old declared his morning that all fireworks except those at DL are lame, so we must go o DL today to watch them. Don't think that's going to happen, but I have to admire her spirit.

[€uroMeinke]

Fireworks are illeagel - and dangerous - in Long Beach, or so the signs tell us, but I'm sure we'll get a show where ever we are, as we have the past couple nights.

But Cheers America, refuge to many including my parents - thanks for letting us move in and giving us opportunities to make a better life.
:cheers:

[€uroMeinke]

My 12 year old declared his morning that all fireworks except those at DL are lame, so we must go o DL today to watch them. Don't think that's going to happen, but I have to admire her spirit.

Pshaw - get in the car, you can make it. I'll even throw in a puppy.

[scaeagles]

On a serious note, however, I always remind myself of the tremendous sacrifices paid by those who signed the Declaration of Independence on this day, 230 years ago now.

What happened to the 56 signers of the D of I? (http://www.americanfamilytraditions.com/the_signers_of_the_declaration_of_independence.htm )

[Alex]

That means it is time for my annual tradition of pointing someone to the straight(er) story (http://www.snopes.com/history/american/pricepaid.asp) on what happened to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

I was just watching the weather report on CNN. It is going to be raining in parts of the Midwest, hot almost everywhere, and if the graphics are accurate, American flaggy over the entire American Southwest. So be careful, scaeagles, it looked like Arizona would be right in the middle of that with several stars hitting the state.

[BarTopDancer]

My 12 year old declared his morning that all fireworks except those at DL are lame, so we must go o DL today to watch them. Don't think that's going to happen, but I have to admire her spirit.

Wuss. The NA/Euro home even has a guest room.

[scaeagles]

Which, in turn, means it is time for my annual tradition of pointing out to someone that there are countless sources for the lives of the signers and what they sacrificed. So while Snopes is all well and good, I do not find them to be the final authority on everything. I'll trust the numerous scholarly accounts I can easily find, and if to some that means I am living in ignorance under a romanic illusion of the cost of declaring freedom, then so be it.

[katiesue]

4th of July was my Dad's favorite holiday. He was a closet pyro so any holiday where you're allowed to set fire and blow things up was a-ok in his book.

I miss sparklers and all those other cheesy home fireworks. None are allowed here. One year when they were banned at home because of fire danger my Dad lit us road flares to use as sparklers - wasn't really the same.

Other holidays not such a big deal at our house but we always went to a parade, had a picinic and watched fireworks for the 4th. My Dad would weasel anything to get the day off of work. Once he even accidentally cut off part of a finger two days before, the joke was he'd do anything to get the day off.

Here's to America and my Dad!

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Growing up on Long Island, all fireworks were illegal. Therefore, there was none of that "safe n sane" stuff. Everyone had the real fireworks, the bottle rockets, firecrackers, roman candles, etc... They were all smuggled in by the truckload from North Carolina where EVERYTHING was legal (don't know if it still is). The police generally looked the other way unless you were being ridiculously dangerous with them, but they would drive right past block parties where people had arsenals and not even stop.

I remember that my dad would give me 20 or 30 bucks and I would go to this guys house (he was a biker) and when you got there, he would hand you a pre-printed list of what he had, with prices. You would check off what you wanted and he would go into his basement and fill up a shopping bag. Man, if anyone had ever dropped a cigarette in his basement, you probably would have seen the show from Conneticut.

Of course, the one thing we had going for us was that, for some reason, it rained every 4th of July that we lived there. Not all day, just in the morning but enough to soak all of the ground and the roofs. As a result, the fireworks never really caused any fires. Ah...good times.

Anyway, today I'm off to Long Beach to play music. Then, hopefully I'll get home early enough that Matthew and I can go watch them from somewhere. If not, it isn't a big loss. None of the shows can really compete with "Remember" anyway. :)

Have a happy and safe 4th, everyone!!!!

[Prudence]

Yay! It's time for the annual Zobrist family croquet tournament! And my mom's most amazing potato salad - best EVER, hands down. Followed by an evening of listening to the neighbors' illegal fireworks land on our roof, because the neighbors haven't the common sense God gave little green apples.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

So while Snopes is all well and good, I do not find them to be the final authority on everything. Snopes isn't a "source", Snopes quotes sources. There is a source list on the bottom of every page, including the one Alex linked to. The link you provided doesn't even have a source. It says "Author Unknown" and even provides links to Snopes and another site that dispute the info.

ANYWAY - America is cool. I always remind myself on the 4th that when I'm unhappy with what goes on here, it's people I'm unhappy with, not America itself. America is an incredible happening and I'm glad to be here.

Dig! :snap: :cheers:

[belleh5]

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

[Not Afraid]

Here at the Beach of Longing the smell of BBQ and sweat is permiating the air. Nearly naked bodies (some of whom should be a tad more clothed) are everywhere. All of the dogs are happy to be out and about. Little American flags have been placed in every yard by a local realtor. The AC is turned on full blast and Chris is at the store hunting for steaks. I say goodbye to Lulu the Bulldog about 6 and I am free for the evening.


Happy 4th!

[wendybeth]

I am still in my jammies.:D

In one hour some of my family is coming over and we're doing a psuedo BBQ. (I'm too lazy to clean off our grill, so I'm just cooking the stuff indoors). Then it's off to downtown, where we'll fight the crowds and watch crappy fireworks. 'Remember' has ruined all other displays for me, and it sounds like for others as well.

I guess I should get motivated.....Happy 4th, all!:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

[JWBear]

I was delighted to learn, when we moved here to Lakewood, that "safe and sane" fireworks are still legal here! We bought a ton, and we're fireing them all off tonight!

Happy 4th everyone!!!

[RStar]

I was delighted to learn, when we moved here to Lakewood, that "safe and sane" fireworks are still legal here! We bought a ton, and we're fireing them all off tonight!
Happy 4th everyone!!!
Great for you! I keep waiting for them to ban them here in Garden Grove as well. The cities all around us are dropping like flies, and people tried to get them banned last year. But the proffits of the fireworks (Legal ones) goes to charities, and they raized a stink. Whoho! It'll be a sad day when we can no longer enkoy our fireworks!

[€uroMeinke]

Gun powder can be made from some relatively easy to find materials - Sould you want to make your own...

[Moonliner]

North Carolina where EVERYTHING was legal (don't know if it still is).


Oh you bet they are. All along interstate 95 in North Carolina/South Carolina you will find fireworks shops year round. They sell just about everything INCLUDING tube launched shells up to 10" across. BANG!

[Matterhorn Fan]

Best show in my area was at 2:38 PM EST.

More, I say!

[Gemini Cricket]

To celebrate, we watched 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' and are now on our way to the Charles River to watch the fireworks from the Boston Pops concert. Should be fun... and crowded. But what the heck.

And lil' scaeagles is right, the only good fireworks are at Disneyland. :)

[wendybeth]

We decide dagainst fighting the crowds tonight, and am I glad we did. BIG t-storm going on, which is beating the hell out of any show they'd be likely to give us downtown.:D

I should probably get offline now......

[scaeagles]

And lil' scaeagles is right, the only good fireworks are at Disneyland. :)

" lil' " ????

[Gemini Cricket]

" lil' " ????
Yeah, regarding your 12 year old's comment...
:)

[Ghoulish Delight]

We had fun. Decided, for the first time in the 5 years we've lived in Irvine, to check out the big fireworks show at Heritage Park. You could pay to get into the high school stadium itself, or just hang out in the park. We chose to hang out in the park. Strapped our new backpack chairs on, and made the 15 minute walk at about 6:00 with dinner in the pouches. The park was hopping, but not packed. We instantly found a shady spot by the big pond to eat and lay out for a while.

By 7:30 we were in the mood to stretch our legs, so we packed up the chairs (so fast and easy, freaking LOVE those chairs) and wandered. We decided to see what we could see of the goings on inside the stadium, which started at 3 in the afternoon. Turns out to be a good thing we didn't pay to get in as mostly it appeared to be a way to pen your children up for 7 hours and have them be happy about it. Which is awesome if you're a family with kids. Several hours where they can run around, listen to the family freindly band playing "Celebrate". But not exactly made for a couple of DINKs like us.

But, we did notice that we seemed to have stumbled across the right spot to watch the fireworks. Our best clue being the tarp people. As a general rule, when in a crowd situation...follow the people with the tarp(s). We sat ourselves down right behind a family that was prepared enough to have attached tarps to the fence in front of them to block out the sun that would otherwise been in their eyes. Clearly been doing this for a while, clearly knew where the good view was. And here we were an hour before the show, no problem getting a good view, despite the thousands of people there. It's a freaking huge park.

The fireworks show was great. Not Disney, of course, but on occasions it's nice to see a smaller show like this. Without the sky-high budget of Disney, they have to get creative in their spending, and therefore creative in the use of what they've got. And this was a darn good show. They had low level stuff launching from the end of the football field (including a very impressive salute to the armed forces that consisted of about 5 minutes of constant, loud, bright small shells of blue, red, white, and green to represent the Aiforce, Marines, Navy, and Army respectively). The big aerial stuff launched from behind the stadium. We had a really good view of those, save for a bit o'blockage from one tree (lesson learned). But it was a great display, lots of big shells, some pretty cool creative shells as well.

Then there was the finale. First was the obligatory dumping of a billiions shells of every shape size and color. That was awesome. Then that ended with a barrage of about a dozen of what amoutned to precussion grenades launched skyward. One bright flash, and then a loud bang. That was cool. That ended, the crowd cheered, but those that have been around long enough were saying 'hold your positions'. They knew something was coming. Then, just as the echo of the pre-finale made it's way back to us (which, being about 15 seconds later, was pretty cool), out comes a hail of bigger, brighter, louder blasts...with sparkly. Nice. Then the lights came on...only to see another volley of colorful fireworks shoot off. :D

So then we joined the mass of humanity funneling out, and were back home within 20 minutes. And of course Munchkin, who I was worried about all night, appeared entirely unphased by it all, as always.

Sigh, why must we find the cool things to do around here when we're planning on moving within a month or 2?

[innerSpaceman]

This was my first year in, oh, a quarter-century without plans. I was all set to go to a party in Highland Park and watch local fireworks (and perhaps Rose Bowl) from the roof of the Victorian manion on the hill that some of you have been to .... when my friend Laurie called me and asked if I'd go to Disneyland with her, despite having just been there the previous night for her birthday.


Ah, an AP is a wonderful thing. Knowing that Remember alone would be the best fireworks show put on anywhere in, hmmm, America this 4th ... I consented. What a great decision that was.

At 7:30-8ish, it was a breeze to get into the parking structure, through bag check, through the turnstiles, up Main Street, and out to Small World mall ... with a ride on the Matterhorn for good measure. The Park was decidedly less crowded than it was the night before, really quite empty for a July 4th imo.

Let me just say that Disneyland put on perhaps the most spectular Fourth of July fireworks display in history. Small World Ground Zero was definitely the spot to see this spectacle.

Following Remember, they did some pyro to the song Golden Dream, and then did an extended barage to an Armed Forces medley. The extensive finale was like pyronuclear war! I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was soooooooo good.

Since it was a one night affair, the show was more a traditional "display" than a themed masterpiece like the Remember that preceeded it. Ahem, fine by me. When Disneyland displays all the new pyro toys they have acquired, it's quite an amazing thing to behold.

And they must have borrowed quite a few cannons ... because for the last 3 minutes, they started filling up a quadrant of the sky that I'd never seen them venture into before. The final 2 minutes was a continual barrage of everything they've got. The high werks, the low werks, the white flag, the double fan, full crackle-sky, full waterfall sky, and so many shells going off in a vast area that I thought I would self-combust from the thrill and excitement and visual magnificence!



Oh, I'm so doing this again next year.

[Gemini Cricket]

Cool! Disneyland rocks. :)

[Not Afraid]

We BBQ'd some steaks and grilled some veggies (by "we" I mean Chris) and spent the night with kitties watching the Tour. The sounds were intense, as fireworks re illegal in Long Beach. :rolleyes: Poor Puppy was freaked. It was a very nic evening and I'm happy to be home.

[BarTopDancer]

And lil' scaeagles is right, the only good fireworks are at Disneyland. :)

They were amazing.

Oh Steve I wish I knew you guys were there! We had *the spot* with room! I've never seen it from IASW though. The castle had projections.

[Gemini Cricket]

Here's what I kept saying through our fireworks:

Me: "You know where they have really good fireworks?"
Ralphie: "Where?"
Me: "Disneyland."

-------

Me: "You know, Disneyland's fireworks is timed to the music."

-------

Me: "You know where they have really good fireworks?"
Ralphie: "Disneyland?"
Me: "Yes."

-------

Me: "Disneyland would have had a better finale."

-------

Me: "You know who has better fireworks than Disneyland?"
Ralphie: "Disney World?"
Me: "No."
Ralphie: "Where?"
Me: "No place."

:D

[Matterhorn Fan]

Ah, but if you watch the MK fireworks from somewhere along the Seven Seas Lagoon (at the Poly or the GF), you get the Light Pageant (which is half ocean-themed and half flag-themed) as soon as the fireworks end. And they send fireworks up around the circumfrence fo the MK. So WDW's at least close.

[tracilicious]

I think WDW's are close if not as good as a normal DL fireworks, but nowhere near as good as Remember. I doubt I'll a fireworks show as good as Remember in my lifetime.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I never said that Wishes was better than Remember. Apples and oranges.

But you get the Water Pageant. Wonderful in all it's simplicity.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I was on the freeway coming home from my gig right about the same time most shows were starting. It actually worked out well for the most part. I saw an awful lot of fireworks on the way home.

The only drag was stopping at my office on the way back, right as a show about a block away finished up. Big mistake. It took me about 40 minutes to get back to my apartment (which is a distance of less than two miles).

[innerSpaceman]

Marla ... I'm sorta glad we didn't know you were there. We tried to scope out the Hub when we arrived, but it was just too crowded. We would totally have taken you up on your offer to watch from there if we'd known about it.

And that would have been an error.


This was a show best seen from Ground Zero. Oh My God!

When I say they threw everything in the book in the air at once, I mean they did it again and again. White flag, right fan, left fan, crackle sky, waterfall sky, 100 simultaneous shells. And then again. And again.

glfrhnsiofnshipehipjhshkl, went my brain.


Oh, and there was this one shell that was the essense of PyroNuclear War - - a tremendous orange fireball that raised a firework mushroom cloud - - a series of ascending, concentric rings of different colors. Jeebus, what the hell was that?!? I barely had time to wonder WTF though, because right at that point they decided to fill the sky with a number of shells equal to the number of shells ever exploded over Disneyland during the last 50 years ... all in the space of 50 seconds!



I have no doubt that "the spot" is perfection for Remember. But for thrown-together Fourth of July Extravaganza, Small World Ground Zero is the pyroMecca!

[BarTopDancer]

Gah! Now I was I was over by IASW!!!!! I was already on shiny overload though, my brain may have exploded.

Live, learn and make a note for next year.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I was on the freeway coming home from my gig right about the same time most shows were starting. It actually worked out well for the most part. I saw an awful lot of fireworks on the way home.
We've made that drive down the 405 many-a-time. Fun, but mildly dangerous as everyone (including myself) is being distracted by near constant pyro in all directions.