Happy Fourth of July, Ricochet!

 

This video has already been so widely-circulated that if you haven’t seen it already, I’ll be mighty surprised. But it’s so darned cute it’s worth watching twice. Or 1776 time, as I did:

Happy Independence Day, Ricochet! How do you usually celebrate? Care to share with us any favorite family traditions, Independence Day speeches, songs, literature, poems? Philosophical or historical reflections? Your favorite fireworks displays described in prose, art, photographs, or video? Favorite picnic recipes? Favorite weapon for taking on your local ISIS cell with minimal risk to civilians? How are you and your family preparing for shooting yourself some terrorists? Have you got any special BBQed-terrorist recipes? Remember, if you boil their ribs, they win: They need to be barbecued outdoors to a glistening mahogany sheen.

The right technique should brings out all that porcine terrorist richness, a silky mouthfeel, a springy texture, and the meat’s succulent juiciness, kissed by fragrant smoke, drenched in just the right sweet-tart-spicy-hot secret sauce to bring out all that complex ISIS flavor, then licked by fire to make it crunch.

A free month’s membership goes to the winner of our Ricochet terrorist barbecue recipe contest. Only members who’ve personally bagged him or herself a terrorist and then submitted the video of the kill, the field-dressing, the barbecue, and the sauce-making are eligible (road kill is excluded).

lessoninindependenceThe sauce recipe must be submitted separately, so that our tasters at HQs can recreate it for themselves. NB: All units must be measured and submitted in British Imperial. We didn’t fight a war of Independence just so you could use British measurements, did we? Well, maybe we did. But still, those are the rules. It’s the American way.

writers-workshop-returns-1862For those of you with no special plans, Tom and I’ve got something special in the hopper for you this weekend: a bonus, weekend-long workshop, open only to Ricochet members: How to Sharpen Your Political Writing Skills into a Deadly Weapon.

The workshop will get started later today and take place all weekend, so stay tuned. It’s for members only, but of course you’re all members, right?

If not, you know what to do. To participate in the workshop and put your new skills to the test right away, join Ricochet today. Use the coupon code “JOIN” to get one month free. Or sign up for annual membership and get the equivalent of four months free.

Happy Fourth of July!

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  1. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    How do I celebrate Independence Day? With a pair of Ray-Bans, a fine cigar, and some Shiner Bock. Though not necessarily in that order.

    • #1
  2. user_130082 Member
    user_130082
    @JamesAtkins

    I’ll be on my medical surgical floor taking care of Veterans

    • #2
  3. Nick Stuart Inactive
    Nick Stuart
    @NickStuart

    July 4 is beginning to seem more and more like the birthday of a loved one who passed away.

    Time with family to answer you question.

    • #3
  4. She Member
    She
    @She

    All I want to know is how do I get that nice young man to come to my house and throw a party for me?

    • #4
  5. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Happy Fourth Claire! It’s been raining the last couple days and is supposed to rain all weekend here in God’s country so not sure the usual celebrations will take place. Many times we go downtown to the ’82 Worlds Fair site for a symphony concert on the lawn that ends with a humongous fireworks show while the symphony plays Stars and Stripes Forever.

    Oh yeah, I find any of the larger calibers work best against terrorists. Hunting them with an AR shooting 5.56 is a little more sporting though and it’d fun to shoot then with a .44 black powder revolver because then they think an actual American cowboy has killed them. BBQ terrorist is the best although sometimes you can deep fry one like a turkey and thats pretty good too.

    • #5
  6. g Member
    g
    @

    Did you see the background vista in that video.  I’d retire there if I new where it was.  Nice.

    Oh, the Fourth.  Yes, I like to buy and wear patriotic shirts.  Here’s my latest:  Like?61WXir6vzDL._UY879_

    • #6
  7. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    manfred arcane: Did you see the background vista in that video.  I’d retire there if I new where it was

    I did and I had the same thought. Except I think it’s California.

    • #7
  8. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    :Did you see the background vista in that video. I’d retire there if I new where it was. Nice.

    Oh, the Fourth. Yes, I like to buy and wear patriotic shirts. Here’s my latest: Like?61WXir6vzDL._UY879_

    Love it! Mr AZ has that shirt. Hangs nicely over an assortment of lethal weapons.

    • #8
  9. Gödel's Ghost Inactive
    Gödel's Ghost
    @GreatGhostofGodel

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.:

    manfred arcane: Did you see the background vista in that video. I’d retire there if I new where it was

    I did and I had the same thought. Except I think it’s California.

    I’m putting my money on Simi Valley. So yeah. Nice place. Don’t retire here.

    • #9
  10. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

    – John Adams, letter to Abigail, July 3rd 1776.

    And beer, of course.

    • #10
  11. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    America, despite where we are today, is not dead. There is a lot of life left in the Lady, and I have to believe that we will triumph over the events of today.

    • #11
  12. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @FrontSeatCat

    I like to find a speech each year and make copies, then roll up like a scroll and tie with a ribbon to take to barbecue for guests (my mother in law’s this year for burgers and dogs.) Sometimes I tuck a sparkler or a flag inside.  This year I am including two by Thomas Paine: The Crisis and Common Sense:

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2015/07/03/crisis-common-sense/29670023/

    http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/north/paine.html

    Love the music, tributes, old patriotic movies – put a flag on the mailbox and porches – take a walk and see what neighbors are up to – somebody always has fireworks shooting off the dock on the Choctawatchee Bay around the corner from us – watch the Boston Pops each year (spend over 20 years there – you don’t get much better than Independence Day in Boston!) But this year we’re heading to a house I manage where owners won’t be in town -they said view Seaside FL fireworks from 4th floor balconies – only 5 min. from home!

    Favorite recipes include apple slaw (coleslaw made with grated apple and apple cider vinegar dressing, beans actually baked til thick, saw a cool recipe in Bon appetit putting sorbet or sherbert into scooped out orange or grapefruit rinds and freezing, then slicing like fruit slices. What do Americans in Paris do??

    Very Happy Independence Day to Ricochet and Claire!

    • #12
  13. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Front Seat Cat: What do Americans in Paris do?? Very Happy Independence Day to Ricochet and Claire!

    This American is trying to keep cool in the Paris heatwave, and more importantly, to avoid anyone who tells me that hot weather in Paris in July is a sign the globe is warming, given that she recalls full well that Paris in the summer often (if not always) has a severe heatwave. I believe the secret to staying comfortable in hot weather is to sweat — that’s why we do it — so I did yoga and went for a run. Very sweaty. Now that the sun is setting, I feel relaxed and comfortable even though it’s well above 90 degrees in my apartment. I decided to take a pass on local July 4th celebrations (they do exist) because I’m just not much of a joiner. Besides, I’m the weekend editor, so I figured I’d let the other editors enjoy the holiday with their families.

    The Fourth has never been my super-most-favorite holiday because I’m just not hugely into fireworks; or more specifically, I’m not into seeing my pets freak out. (If it weren’t for them, I’d love them just like everyone else, but I hate having to peel them off the walls and separate them with a hose after they’ve started hissing and screeching and fighting.)

    Fortunately, there are no fireworks in my neighborhood tonight, but coming up soon is Bastille Day (on the 14h), so I’d best stock up on cat nip and that spray you get at the vet’s that’s supposed to calm cats down — and which actually kind of works.

    • #13
  14. Eric Hines Inactive
    Eric Hines
    @EricHines

    Sorry, no Daesh BBQ recipes from me.  I’m not into long pig, especially the wormy kind these would be.

    What’s my favorite activity for Independence Day?  Mostly sitting around watching the idiot box (there’s no football, [expletive] it!) with a beer bottle on my belly and a loving wife to work the remote and fetch more beer.

    Eric Hines

    • #14
  15. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    We don’t have much of a tradition, since it’s just the two of us (me and husband Ray who is also a member in his own right), but the past few years we have been going over to Bellevue with a picnic, and sitting on our blanket watching the fireworks from Bellevue City Park.  They set off the fireworks from the roof of the Bellevue Square parking garage, so they are right over our heads.  I plan to take my video camera to capture the fireworks.  This is what I will be wearing.

    Life,liberty,Ricochet

    • #15
  16. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: The Fourth has never been my super-most-favorite holiday because I’m just not hugely into fireworks; or more specifically, I’m not into seeing my pets freak out. (If it weren’t for them, I’d love them just like everyone else, but I hate having to peel them off the walls and separate them with a hose after they’ve started hissing and screeching and fighting.)

    This has been my problem with the 4th for at least 40 years, calming my animals, cats, dogs, horses, etc. and now me. Since I had brain stem surgery in 2007, sound just drives through my head as a vibration, even tho I am deaf in my right ear, and 50% loss in my left.

    • #16
  17. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    I am resisting the urge to wish all you ungrateful colonials a happy Treason Day, as somebody did in the Canada Day thread on July 1.

    I ain’t gonna do it, because that would be rude.

    You’re welcome.

    Happy Independence Day.

    • #17
  18. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: A free month’s membership goes to the winner of our Ricochet terrorist barbecue recipe contest.

    Are there bonus points for entries which include authentic Roman fish sauce in their recipe? Ricochet abounds with classicists.

    • #18
  19. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    First, I put the flag out on the bracket above the garage door. Then, I went to a parade! It was filled with marching bands, veterans, and little kids on decorated bicycles. Then, I will make a dessert featuring strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.  At night, we will climb onto our roof and watch the fireworks that explode from the tops of the fancy casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, far down the hill from us.

    When I lived back east, my favorite place to be was at the musical show on the U.S. Capitol grounds, followed by fireworks over the National Mall. We’d sit on the western steps and watch the rocket’s red glare over the Washington Monument. It was extra cool to celebrate there–politics weren’t part of it–it was all about loving America!

    • #19
  20. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Mr. LaRoche, I made a wonderful discovery at the supermarket just now.  They carry Shiner Bock!  So I bought a 6-pack to enjoy tomorrow (alcohol not allowed at city park).

    • #20
  21. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    RushBabe49:Mr. LaRoche, I made a wonderful discovery at the supermarket just now. They carry Shiner Bock! So I bought a 6-pack to enjoy tomorrow (alcohol not allowed at city park).

    You mean you weren’t guzzling? Some seem to think that all Americans do on the 4th is to guzzle and gulp.

    • #21
  22. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    Turns out I am spending a good part of my 4 th telling my kids, “No! I am not going to play the hamster video again.”

    • #22
  23. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @FrontSeatCat

    Claire,

    I learned about France’s heatwaves from the Peter Mayle books like “A Year in Provence”, and the mistrals in winter etc.  LOVE that series.   I guess the dry heat produces the best wine – make those grapes suffer, lavender, thyme, those expensive mushrooms called truffles, olives, all the good stuff.

    I can relate to the cats – mine will be under some piece of furniture when the fireworks start – she thinks it’s thunder – or behind a bookshelf or on top of frig….our neighborhood cats and dogs are the same way – here in FL we have doozy storms, in fact a monsoon this afternoon and lightening show while sun was out.  Over the 4th, they also have a “Twilight Zone” weekend – all the reruns to scare everyone…. on our way to the fireworks – cheers from America!

    100_0604

    • #23
  24. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Have to work all three days of the holiday weekend. Mr. Charlotte is out of town. Feeling rather glum about the current state of the country and the world.

    So…it’s a subdued Independence Day for me this year.

    Kind of a bummer because normally July 4 is my favorite holiday and I adore fireworks. Just not feeling it this year, alas.

    • #24
  25. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Charlotte: Mr. Charlotte is out of town.

    Well, look on the bright side, working while Mr. Charlotte is out of town, keeps you out of trouble. Who knows what kind of mischief you might think up to entertain yourself.

    • #25
  26. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    RushBabe49:Mr. LaRoche, I made a wonderful discovery at the supermarket just now. They carry Shiner Bock! So I bought a 6-pack to enjoy tomorrow (alcohol not allowed at city park).

    It’s the national beer of Texas.  Enjoy!

    • #26
  27. Son of Spengler Member
    Son of Spengler
    @SonofSpengler

    I spent the Fourth (as I did the whole week) at the International Barbershop Harmony convention. Here’s a taste of this year’s quartet competition:

    I really hope some of the performances become available online! Main Street’s was a classic for the ages.

    After the finals I walked down to Point State Park for some glorious fireworks.

    Oh, and earlier this week I caught up with She and Casey for a mini-meetup.

    • #27
  28. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @carcat74

    we went to a fantastic free blues festival at Lake Shawnee close to Topeka.  Two hour drive in a 2013 Hemi Challenger with a 6 speed manual—Hemi Orange, of course; I was in the back, listening to the exhaust.  Twenty-three mpg—take that, Prius!  We took sandwiches for lunch., snacks, adult beverages, soda, sunscreen, etc.

    We saw the following groups:  Pat Nichols, a great solo guitarist, who channels Robert Johnson & many other 1920s & 1930s blues performers, BlueCat, a local group we’re going to try to get for some festivals down our way, they were that good.  The 800s, a really fine group of 60 something (experienced!) guys (for this show, normally they have a female lead)—ditto on getting them down here.  Brandon Santini—if you like hot harmonica playing, you’ll LOVE him, & he interacts well with the  crowd.  Crystal Showanda, a Canadian Indian, who did justice to an Etta James tune, & one of Aretha’s.  Stacy Mitchart closed the show for us, and his two cigar box numbers were almost worth the trip!  One was instrumental, but the other!  The Beatles’ “Come Together”—shocked us, but it was great!  The crowd was singing the first chorus with the band before they could encourage it!  We’d seen him before, but this show was 3 times better.

    Albert Cummings was the actual show closer, but halfway through his 2nd number, we left.  Most blues performers are better live, but he’s the exception.  His CDs are better, probably because they can work miracles in the editing.  His vocals were muddy and blurred, his group was loud and disjointed, and nothing ‘meshed’.

    All 3 of us (the friend with the Challenger) had a terrific time, & enjoyed  the fireworks along the highway on the trip home.   Today, we’ll be doing fireworks of a different sort—45-70, .380, 9mm, & who knows what else—Happy Independence Day!

    • #28
  29. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    We go to the regional living history museum, which hosts a swearing-in ceremony for new United States citizens, and  puts on reenactments of earlier Fourth of July celebrations (1826 and 1876).

    The reading of the Declaration of Independence at the reenactment is sometimes a bit depressing, as I note how many of the complaints there leveled against George III can today be leveled at the national US government.

    On the other hand, seeing the new citizens who have uprooted themselves to come here to work and become part of us is a reminded that the US is still better than most of the rest of the world.

    • #29
  30. user_82762 Inactive
    user_82762
    @JamesGawron

    Claire,

    I’ve had better 4th of July s. The 4th fell on Shabbos. Shabbos ended at about 9:02 pm and the fireworks were starting already as we did havdalah. I slipped out of the synagogue and walked a block and a half. From there I could see most of the fire works only partially blocked. I leaned on a pole and watched. Walking home just as I was about to kick Ricochet over on the PC we had a power outage. It lasted till after I was asleep. I got up at 4:00 am. The fast of the 17th of Tammuz had been delayed because of Shabbos and was now in effect. I ate a good breakfast and drank plenty of water. I went to work anyway and spent the entire day backing up all of the computers in the office. I left early in the afternoon and came home and backed up my home computer. Then I read Robert George’s book “Conscience and Its Enemies” for which I had purchased a kindle copy last week. I went back to Schul, davened Mincha/Mariv with only a mild headache and then we broke the fast.

    When I got home for some reason a scene from an old movie came to mind.

    Then I did a little research and found a short documentary on the real guy the Steve McQueen character was actually based on.

    Claire, now I’m really confused. Is this the same country that fought WWII??? It seems so hard to believe.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #30
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