'TODAY WE CELEBRATE OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY'

That's how Bill Pullman's president character ended his emotional speech before the final battle in the Will Smith blockbuster Independence Day. Besides being my third favorite Smith film, ID is a story of survival and killing aliens. But more than that. It's a tear-jerker. Powerful moments abound. Heck, I cried four seperate times when I watched it today.
Is it a little corny to watch ID on the Fourth of July? Sure it is. But that doesn't stop me. You see, I first did it in 2002 when I had nothing to do during the day. I thought, hey, let's make this a tradition.
So I've done it every year since. Except one. Know which one that is?
Yup, 2005. And we all know what happened in late August that year. Therefore, I've made a solemn pledge to the city of New Orleans to watch ID every 4th of July for the rest of my life.

FREE FIREWORKS

I took part in another ID tradition last night by going to the Zephyr Field fireworks display after work. The game went into extra innings, and I headed that way in hopes I could make it there before the show started.
I made it in time to see the end of the game and the fireworks display along with the 11,000 bozos who paid to be there. Yah, show up in the 11th inning and you don't pay to park or enter.
When I got there, there were about a hundred people leaving. I was walking in.
When the fireworks were winding down, I bolted and beat the traffic. Not a bad way to spend zero bucks.

SPEAKING OF AMERICA

Remember after 9/11 when everyone put American flags on their cars?
I don't recall the last time i saw an American flag on someone's car. What happen to our patriotism? Did we stop being Americans?
And was their a specified day when everyone decided let's take off these flags, it's been long enough. Or is it that we just want to pretend that 9/11 never happened. I say bring back the flags.

OIL CHANGE FOLLOW-UP

Just to let you know, I checked my car when I woke up this morning to see if the fine folks at Volkswagen had cleaned up the mess. Our customer-saving service rep Brook had promised my mom they would clean up the mess of oil they made.
But they didn't. The leaking oil from the first oil change was still on my car. And it still dripped a little more last night in the driveway. So I got under there myself and cleand their mess. Agghhhhh.

IF YOU'RE TIED AT 59 HOT DOGS

I didn't watch the Nathan's hot dog eating contest today. Would'nt have even I thought about it.
But I absolutely love the term for their playoff. Joey Chestnut and Kobayashi were tied at 59 hot dogs after ten minutes. Then, they went to overtime. And Chestnut ate five hot dogs faster than Kobayashi did to win it.
It wasn't called overtime, though. It was called a dog-off. I think that should be the new name for anything that decides a winner after a tie. Both players answer a trivia question at the same time and you and your friends can't decide who answered first. Have a dog-off. Close play at first, and the ump is confused. Have a dog-off.

THE DAILY TOP LIST
My five favorite movies to quote.

1) My Cousin Vinny (1992. I almost know every line)
2) A League of Their Own (1992. Most of the time, not the well-known lines)
3) Anchorman (2004. And to think I hated it when I first saw it)
4) Office Space (1999. Next time you watch it, notice how Smykowski backs out the driveway)
5) Home Alone (1990. Must have seen it 20 times when I was young)