Two years ago I described how we like to spend July 4th. Follow me below the exploding orange chrysanthemum fold for an update... after a word from our sponsor of course!
Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
Here's what we did two years ago:
For those who've never been to July 4th on the [Boston] Esplanade, it's both incredibly easy, and not for the faint of heart. All you need to do is gather up some food and nonalcoholic beverages, a blanket or chair or whatever, and some stuff to keep you occupied for a few hours. Like, 8 or 10 (more if you want to be inside the Hatch Shell "Oval" to see the Boston Pops; we don't because we're in it for the fireworks, which can't be seen well from there). Then make your way down, find a spot to call home amidst the 400-800000 other people who decided to do exactly the same thing, and wait until the Pops start playing at 8pm, carefully timed to the CBS audience. When the 1812 Overture plays - complete with cannon and church bells - you know you're getting close to the 10:30 fireworks. When they're done, exit with everyone else and surge thru the city towards the subway station, and head home.
Then Patriots Day, aka Boston Marathon Day, happened. The aftereffects of that day and the revelation that the original target had been July 4th at the Esplanade have dramatically
changed the security protocols, prohibiting backpacks, wheeled coolers, and a host of other items. Given that we usually go with another family and have a cooler, 5 kids, and a LOT of stuff for a 10-hr day, we've decided to spend it BBQing and hanging out in quieter environs.
Back to fireworks, though. While the Boston Pops can be thoroughly enjoyed through the magic of television, fireworks IMHO, cannot. I simply haven't seen the HDTV yet that captures the magic of brocades, comets, chrysanthemums and peonies. Ergo, while we'll watch them on TV (listening with the windows open for the delayed booms from ~6 miles away). And talk about which ones are our favorites...
I love those large glittery brocade shells, and the saturn shells. But my favorite fireworks moments are at the end, when the titanium salutes light up the area so brightly we can see each others' faces clear as day.
Do you like fireworks, or are they more than your eyes and ears are comfortable with? If you do, what are your favorite kinds? Paint the pictures with words or images in the comments below!
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything
without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From bronte17:
A must-read comment from RFK Lives and its somber realities. From the Jesselyn Radack diary, Government's Chilling Arguments to Support "Aiding the Enemy" Charge Against Bradley Manning.
And, from that same diary, a bit of humor a la Onion-style from LaFeminista.
From Eddie C:
As a reply to Bill in Portland Maine's Cheers and Jeers photo of Paul Ryan kissing the fish, rb608's comment It's too early to talk marriage. cracked me up.
From Steveningen:
In The Troubadour's diary "The Troubadour" Is Leaving Daily Kos, LieparDestin proves that Kossacks are some of the quickest people in the internets with this perfect comment.
From Yours Truly, brillig:
From Joan McCarter's West faces huge fire season, while sequester hits Forest Service, this comment by ecologydoc sums up sequester poignantly.
Hunter's diary lays out the God Hates Pants theory. While nominating ThirstyGator's comment and the entire thread lay out another entirely snark-filled theory.
Also from Hunter's diary comes Bob Johnson's imagined addendum to Pastor Dave's ravings. So good it might have turned terrypinder a little bit straight!
Top Mojo for yesterday, July 1st, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary
FAQing Top Mojo.
1) Are You Shitting Me???? by shanikka — 255
2) You mean all those five year old hopscotch by jpmassar — 168
3) Awesome news by sethtriggs — 143
4) There are always people by TomP — 137
5) No, you can't, and people are denying it. by commonmass — 135
6) Actually, a countersuit by onionjim — 120
7) as Louis CK White said... by chaunceydevega — 112
8) Fuck em. by Puffin — 109
9) By the way, Terun was a sort of prince: by commonmass — 105
10) Thank you. This one is also floating around. by akmk — 100
11) A comment to your face by Hugh Jim Bissell — 97
12) Since keeping the lies straight... by PhilJD — 97
13) Yep. It came in the mail on Saturday. Saturday! by commonmass — 95
14) Because the media knows the power of by janemas — 92
15) DeMint so well expresses by TomP — 90
16) What really bothers me by Diogenes2008 — 88
17) This is the tip of the iceberg. by maxschell — 87
18) Jerks come in all political flavors. by TomP — 84
19) Bet BofA sues him now. by 3rdOption — 75
20) Surely the government by KibbutzAmiad — 75
21) The one word represents centuries of oppression, by howabout — 74
22) That's great news. by cybrestrike — 72
23) I have made it public, because I have shared it by commonmass — 72
24) These are the same people who have by JoanMar — 72
25) I remember when Escape from Alcatraz came on by mallyroyal — 71
26) Um.... Republican? ;) by Diogenes2008 — 70
27) But... by Icicle68 — 70
28) common by Hollowdweller — 70
29) I'm sure that's what it says in his statement by Cassiodorus — 69
30) It's the CT of the day. by MBNYC — 67
Top Pictures Cats for yesterday, July 1st. Click any image to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!