Star Spangled Banner (Jimi Hendrix)

It's finally here. My favorite holiday. The sun, the heat, the ocean, the sand, the kites, the people, the colors, the bikes, the fireworks, the hot dogs, the music....everything on this day is absolutely perfect. Out of all the holidays, I can't complain once about any of my 4th of Julys. There's just something about it. It's a day to celebrate our freedom. We don't really get anything in return on this day unlike Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The Revolutionary War has always been my favorite war to study simply because it was possibly the greatest successful anarchist movement in history. In order to get myself in the mood for some serious patriotic celebration, I engulf myself in everything I love about our nation. One of my favorite commercials of all time quotes one of my favorite poems, Walt Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers".

Pioneers! O Pioneers





The History Channel featured a short series called "America: The Story of Us" a few months ago that I watched religiously. The title itself made me chuckle a bit. The six day series was insane. They covered every possible part of American history, starting with the Revolutionary War, going through western expansion, Civil War, industrial revolution, etc. Some of my favorite parts were when they talked about the development of the United States postal service and how we had the fastest system in the world (thanks to Benjamin Franklin). They also talked about the significance of mud, how we became an oil based country, and so forth. Despite all our problems in the world, I still love America. No matter what anyone says, we still are the land of opportunity. Here's the trailer that convinced me to watch the show:



Now, I don't know how you learned about American history, but I for one was a big fan of the "Whitest Kids U'Know". And this rendition of how American won the Revolutionary War could possibly be true:




Downtown Jacksonville 4th of July


Here in Jacksonville (Beaches), cars are just not possible on this holiday, bikes are the only mode of transportation. Here's a rundown of this glorious day: Wake up around 9am, put on my bathing suit, watch Nathan's Hot Dog eating competition, get all my "necessities" ready (since I will not be going back to my house until the next day), get on my bike, meet up with all my other friends on their bikes, do a toast, and just ride on the beach all day. Swim in the ocean, bike some more, meet new people, then start heading back south. At night, I meet up with my family at our friend's house, cook barbecue, play ping-pong, light some friendly fireworks on the beach. But after all that, I meet up once again with my friends for a very eventful night....starting it off with....The American Box.




The "American Box" was developed by my good friend Harry who decided to create the ultimate firework display. The "American Box" typically is a huge brown paper bag filled with every explosive Harry can get his hands on. Firecrackers, bottle rockets, sky rockets, missiles, flares, aerial shells, cherry bombs, saxons, fountains, basically you name it, it's in there. It's extremely illegal to say the least. And how Harry manages to cram all these explosives in one bag is simply impressive. But after he's filled the inside of the bag, he then pokes at least 50+ rocket fireworks all through the bag making it almost impossible to pick up.On the day of the "show", Harry invites all his close friends over to light it. We usually go to a field or park and place the "American Box" in the center. Harry douses the bag with gasoline and makes a trail leading to where he'll begin to light it. As he does this, we all light roman candles and fire them towards the box. Then, we run for cover and watch. This will be the "American Box 5" and every year Harry changes things up a bit. I'm excited to see what he has in store for us. After the "American Box", we'll probably play a classic game of baseball at the local baseball fields where every child in Ponte Vedra played at - whether you were a boy or a girl. Reminiscing in the baseball fields on July 4th is a must.



In order to get myself in the right mind set for this holiday, I typically get comfy, find an unoccupied tv and pop this classic in the tube:



Of course, no 4th of July would be complete without my Independence Day playlist. On this playlist I get very picky. I choose only American musicians, and only songs that I think best represent American music. You'd be surprised how many musicians are not American. If you have any of these songs on your ipod, I recommend making a playlist and just listen to it all day tomorrow wherever you are. It's pretty enjoyable:



So there it is, my 4th of July blog post and playlist. I wish you all a happy 4th and let me leave with the greatest speech in American history: