Ten surprising facts about July 4.
1. Independence Day commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.
2. Fireworks were made in China as early as the 11th century. The Chinese used their pyrotechnic mixtures for war rockets and explosives.
3. Uncle Sam was first popularized during the War of 1812, when the term appeared on supply containers. Believe it or not, the U. S. Congress didn't adopt him as a national symbol until 1961.
4. There are many precise rules for taking care of the American flag. And speaking of flag traditions, we're sorry to report that contrary to legend, historical research has failed to confirm that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag.
5. Not all members of the Continental Congress supported a formal Declaration of Independence, but those who did were passionate about it. One representative rode 80 miles by horseback to reach Philadelphia and break a tie in support of independence.
6. The first two versions of the Liberty Bell were defective and had to be melted down and recast. The third version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to 1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall.
7. The American national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," is set to the tune of an English drinking song ("To Anacreon in Heaven").
8. The iron framework of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel*, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
9. The patriotic poem "America the Beautiful" was published on July 4, 1895 by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates.
10. Father of the country and architect of independence George Washington held his first public office at the tender age of 17. He continued in public service until his death in 1799.
I didn't weigh on the scales until Saturday night. I weighed again tonight and i have lost 7 pounds in two days! YAY!
O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to pray, may, by thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
My mom and step-dad have been on the Atkins diet since the beginning of the year (Matt you wouldn't recognize Mama Phyllis) and have encourged me to get on it with them. I started yesterday and can say that the headache associated with the beginning of the induction period is horendous. It feels like a sinus headache and will never go away. I've been tired too. I'm just glad the end result will be worth it.
I could not do without Thee
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me
At such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, thy pardon
Thy precious blood, must be
My only hope and comfort,
My glory and my plea.
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own;
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.
I could not do without Thee,
For, oh, the way is long,
And I am often weary,
And sigh replaces song:
How could I do without Thee?
I do not know the way;
Thou knowest, and Thou leadest,
And wilt not let me stray.
I could not do without Thee,
O Jesus, Savior dear;
E’en when my eyes are holden,
I know that Thou art near.
How dreary and how lonely
This changeful life would be,
Without the sweet communion,
The secret rest with Thee!
I could not do without Thee;
No other friend can read
The spirit’s strange deep longings,
Interpreting its need;
No human heart could enter
Each dim recess of mine,
And soothe, and hush, and calm it,
O blessèd Lord, but Thine.
I could not do without Thee,
For years are fleeting fast,
And soon in solemn oneness
The river must be passed;
But Thou wilt never leave me,
And though the waves roll high,
I know Thou wilt be near me,
And whisper, “It is I."
the guy that wanted to go into space so he paid the Russians millions of dollars to go with them? Well, now there's something called SpaceShipOne that goes up to 62 miles above sea level - the internationally recognized boundary of outerspace. And for only about $100,000! Step right up!
I went and saw The Terminal by myself today. I was going to eat dinner with my grandmother over in Monroe and thought, "Why not?" It was good, though not a Hanks or Speilberg best. Parts were slow, but for the most part, entertaining. His reason for being in the Big Apple was really neat, subplots made the movie speed up a bit. "I wait" became his motto of sorts I guess. Catherine Zeta Jones seems to be to be overrated, and I didn't like her very much in this one. Grade? B+
The Terminal See post below
Raising Helen Ever since that movie with Matthew McConaughey, I've loved her
The Stepford Wives Bette Midler playing a Stepford? come on it'll be a hoot
Shrek 2 I've heard great things but I might wait till it comes out on DVD
Mean Girls A must-see for any mean girl or victim of them; is it still out?
Spiderman 2 If you like the first one why not go see the sequel, even if it's a given that it won't be as good It was that good
Anchorman 2 words: Will Ferrell
A Cinderella Story Teeny-bop flick of the summer
White Chicks 2 more words: Wayans Brothers
Princess Diaries 2 The continuation of Princess Mia's life journey
That's the list for now. Maybe more later.
Update: Adrienne reminded me of The Notebook. Looks like a Klennex bringer.
I want to go see the upcoming movie The Terminal. The first time i saw a preview/trailer I automatically thought of a real "urban legend" I had heard about on tv months and months ago and was fascinated with it. The real story follows.
BTW, my fav line so far..."Where can I buy the Nike shoe?"
Unlike most urban legends, the one about the Iranian exile stuck at the Paris airport for 15 years is true. Surrounded by a mountain of his possessions near the Paris Bye Bye lounge at Terminal 1 in Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Merhan Karimi Nasseri is still there after all these years -- a celebrity homeless person.
Planted on the 1970's red plastic bench he calls home, and surrounded by stacks of newspapers and magazines, Nasseri, also known as Alfred or ''Sir, Alfred'' (title and comma appropriated from a mistake in a letter from British immigration), has organized his life's belongings into a half-dozen Lufthansa cargo boxes, various suitcases and unused carry-on luggage. On a nearby coffee table spotted with aluminum ashtrays, Nasseri's universe includes a pair of alarm clocks, an electric shaver, a hand mirror and a collection of press clippings and photographs to establish his present and his recent past. He seems both settled -- and ready to go.
To the pilots, airport staff, fast-food merchants and millions who have passed through the terminal on their way to somewhere else, the 58-year-old Nasseri has become a postmodern icon -- a traveler whom no one will claim. Little do they know that he is on his way to becoming a Hollywood icon, too. Inspired by Nasseri's intriguing tale of lost identity, bureaucratic limbo and persistence, Steven Spielberg has bought the rights to his life story as the basis for the new Tom Hanks vehicle, ''The Terminal.''
''I realize I am famous,'' Nasseri says in his soft, almost giggly voice, a gravelly mix of his native Persian, the airport French he's picked up from the loudspeakers and the cigarettes he's always smoking. As if to prove his fame, he pats a briefcase stuffed with his press clippings. ''I wasn't interesting until I came here.''
Nasseri's story is difficult to piece together. Over the years, he has claimed many things about his origins. At one time his mother was Swedish, another time English. Nasseri's effectively reinvented himself in the Charles de Gaulle airport and denies these days that he's Iranian, deflecting any conversation about his childhood in Tehran. (''He pretends he doesn't speak Persian,'' his longtime lawyer, Christian Bourguet, says. ''He was interviewed by Iranian journalists and made believe he didn't understand.'') When we first met two years ago, he insisted that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was attempting to locate his parents in order to establish his identity. But a spokeswoman for the agency dismissed the assertion as ''pure folly.''
Early on in his saga, Nasseri maintained that he was expelled from his homeland for antigovernment activity in 1977. According to a number of reports, Nasseri protested against the regime of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi while a student in England, and when he returned to Iran, found himself imprisoned, and shortly thereafter exiled.
He bounced around Europe for a few years with temporary refugee papers, alighting finally in Belgium, where he was awarded official refugee status in 1981. He traveled to Britain and France without difficulty until 1988, when he landed at Charles de Gaulle airport after being denied entry into Britain, because, he contends, his passport and refugee certificate were stolen in a mugging on a Paris subway. Nasseri could not prove who he was, nor offer proof of his refugee status. So he moved into the Zone d'attente, a holding area for travelers without papers.
He stayed for days, then weeks -- then months, then years. As his bizarre odyssey stretched on, Bourguet, the noted French human rights lawyer, took on the case, and the news media piled on. Articles appeared around the world, and Nasseri became the subject of three documentary films. (Oddly, apparently none of his friends or relatives have attempted to contact him.)
Like any number of Samuel Beckett characters, Nasseri has redefined the concept of waiting. But he remains busy, and during office hours when he's not meeting filmmakers or members of the press, he collects McDonald's soda tops and endlessly considers his situation in a sprawling, 1,000-plus-page diary that chronicles his journey to nowhere. These rambling handwritten notes recount his encounters with just about everyone he's met, reporting faithfully everything from the details of his paper chase to some of the witty things he's said (''I'm not Henry Kissinger''). Nasseri also asks most visitors to sign his journal.
An effete, balding man, Nasseri is well groomed (he washes daily in the men's room and sends his donated Marks & Spencer clothes to the dry cleaners) with finely manicured fingernails. He smokes compulsively and is forever reaching for his pouch of Pall Mall rolling tobacco. At one point during our interview he coughs, adding with his characteristic sly humor, ''Maybe I caught SARS here in the airport.''
In an eerily Warholian relationship, Nasseri's closest neighbors at the airport are a photo booth and a photocopy machine. Unlike most movie types, Nasseri does not have a cell phone, and he eats regularly at the McDonald's in the food court 100 feet away. (''I like the fish,'' he says.) The only green in his immediate environment is, ironically, the Sortie (Exit) sign.
In the Spielberg film, which begins shooting this month, Hanks is transformed into a refugee whose country disappears in a diplomatic wink of an eye. As chaos ravages his homeland, Hanks is rendered stateless, his passport turned into an eBay collectible. He's grounded: a stranger in a strange New York airport. But Hanks is cured of his airport disease and soars to new heights (and, who knows, perhaps another Oscar), thanks to the Hollywood bombshell Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Hanks's love interest, a flight attendant. Nasseri has had no such luck with the ladies and complains that there are no nightclubs in his airport. ''There's no pleasure,'' he says.
While Bourguet confirms that Spielberg's company, DreamWorks, has in fact bought the rights to his client's life story, Spielberg himself would not discuss ''The Terminal,'' its plot nor Nasseri's contract. Marvin Levy, a DreamWorks spokesman, confirms that a financial agreement was signed. However, he cautions, ''Mr. Nasseri's story was an inspiration for the original treatment for 'The Terminal.' The film is not his story.''
Rumors of a $275,000 fee for the rights to Nasseri's life story and certain consulting duties have circulated. ''It's less than $1 million,'' Bourguet says, adding that the money hasn't changed the predicament of his client. ''While he became a bit richer, Alfred is extremely paranoid and confused.''
Certainly, Nasseri may well be one of the only people on the planet not to have seen a Spielberg production. Asked what he thinks of Hanks, Nasseri replies straight-faced, ''Is he Japanese?''
Regardless of whether Hanks manages to capture the refugee's deadpan delivery, the Hollywood retelling of Nasseri's odyssey will undoubtedly include a first-class ticket to the American dream.
Nasseri's real-life ending, however, is still up in the air.
''Alfred himself will have trouble leaving the airport,'' says Glen Luchford, a fashion photographer cum director whose 2001 mockumentary, ''Here to Where,'' attempted just such a scenario, with the director, played by Paul Berczeller, failing to tempt Nasseri beyond the concrete gardens of Charles de Gaulle.
''Alfred has to accept that he's free,'' Luchford says sadly. ''But with freedom comes responsibility. He represents people's worst fears -- the idea they might be procrastinating all their lives and end up being rooted to the spot.''
Nasseri cannot be forcibly moved or repatriated. He is protected by a number of international refugee statutes. According to Bourguet, he is legally free to leave the airport. All Nasseri has to do is sign the identity papers the French provided him in 1999. But the papers identify him as Iranian and don't recognize his adopted name of Sir, Alfred. And so he can't -- or won't- sign them: a testament to either patience, or madness.
Nasseri is doubtful about attending the premiere of ''The Terminal,'' although his face lights up at the prospect. ''I would probably have technical problems with my papers in Los Angeles,'' he says, before adding that he'll likely leave the airport ''in September or October.''
If he does decide to finally exit the departure lounge, Nasseri could go to any number of places in the world. He says Florida has invited him, and, yes, why not New York, when ''I take over DreamWorks''? (The company is based in California.) And what of the plastic red bench, which has served as his de facto home for the last 15 years and must by now be a collector's item?
''I'll take it to DreamWorks,'' he says with a smile. ''And send it by FedEx.''
Matthew Rose is a writer and artist living in Paris.
I usually have this thing about posting something that somebody has already said/linked to/whatever on their blog, no matter how funny/sick/sad it is. But I think enough time has passed that I can safely post this. I found it on Pastor Jeff Meyers' Blog
I was at the monkey today & overheard a disc-jockey from a local Christian radio station say, "I'm tired of praise and worship music...They're 7-11 songs. The same 7 verses sung 11 times."
Do you agree?
O GOD, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I missed church this week b/c I wasn't feeling well. So, no hymn of the week.
My older sister told me today to watch the Reagan funeral and stuff to see if I could see our cousin, Steven, who is in the Navy. I watch several hours of footage this morning leading up to the funeral and then the funeral itself. After she got home from work, she was watching a little bit of it while she was cleaning the bathroom and saw him! I watch over 3 hours this morning, and she watches for about 5 mintues. I told her that our grandmother had said he was in D.C. Her reply? Oh, he lives in D.C., but he's in California right now. From what she told me, he was in the honor guard next to Air Force One when they were preparing to take him to the library for the final ceremony of what has probably been a very long ordeal for the family. God bless, Mr. President. We'll miss you.
Saturday I didn't have anything to do except spend the evening with Sophie, Mattie and Clara, which was a delight. I hope my kids are as well behaved and those three at their ages.
On Sunday I participated in a wonderful worship service at Knox and then partying at the Steel's pool and watching a movie with Rhea till late.
Y'all have a good week!
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy, all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.
Holy, Holy, Holy, though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy Name, in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
The Angliterian is back. But now he's Anglican. Take a stroll down Canterbury Trail.
My Papaw made the front page of the Monroe NewsStar on Memorial Day. Read the story.