4th of July fun! What will YOU do!

[Prinz Eugen]

What will people be doing to celebrate the 4th!

I will be taking my Damn Loud Cannon [TM] to a private shoot (and BBQ party.)
BTW, with luck I will also be firing salutes at the St Helens OR Maritime Heritage Festival, on July 13, 14, & 15th.
(How 'bout a nice French Flag for July 14th - Bastille Day!!)


Anyways this year will be cool because it's 2012 and that's 200 years from the War of 1812 and that's when the American National Anthem was written. Rockets red glare and all that. Dare you sing the 4th verse?

The 1812 Overture is *the* only classical music piece I know that is scored for CANNON SALUTES
Many professional pyrotechnic folks like to choreograph fireworks and also thunder mugs to the music. You need 16 salutes total, 5 for the Marseillaise part and 11 for the finale. You probably have enough time to reload the 5, so you can pull off an 1812 with only 11 pieces of ordnance.

Besides the Marseillaise, and in honor to all our AMV creators submitting from Russia, I give you here a link to another anthem hiding in the 1812 Overture: God Save the Tzar
You can hear that melody hiding in bits of the 1812.

Speaking of patriotic music here's a cool new band: Madison Rising
and their Star Spangled Banner Challenge

Several years ago I was part of a pyro team in Fort Worth, TX and we shot a show to Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."
I had 5, 6, and 8" mortar tubes on tap and I NAILED that pause at 2min 46 sec with an 8" shell.
Launched it at 1.8sec in advance, and it burst RIGHT after the words "stand UP!"
 
Next year (2013) the 3 days preceding July 4th will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
 
Anyways, what are people doing for the 4th?

[Washougal_Otaku]

^ Hard to believe that Gettysburg was 150 years ago...

For me, I will be spending the entire day with my fiancee, some of our anime club friends, and Wrath_Chan & her party guests at Ft. Vancouver.

[superjaz]

Doing fireworky stuff on the 3rd evening B/c friend got bad shift on the 4th 6 to 10
On the 4th might see a movie with husband and go to fries

Personally I am talking the holiday as personal inspiration to go over money and bills and re evaluate where we stand.  Just had a credit score done and my rating had improved quote a but, we would like a house some day but we also want to make sure when we do get a house we get it for keeps, and right now so many things in the air.  But living frugal and always shopping for the best prices and such and keeping it in mind we will get there some day, and what is now American dream then a house?  Sorry got of topic yay fire works!!

[Prinz Eugen]

Screw those lame-ass watered-down fireworks that wont even make your ears ring

BOOM.

Happy 4th.

[Runa]

Guy fixed the link (above)   

What he didn't mention is that while we were filming that cannon shot, we also had his sister listening in on a cell phone. The BOOM killed the cell phone connections, so all she heard was the "anti-cannon" blast (that is, SILENCE), followed by BEEP BEEP BEEP indicating that the connection was lost. I wonder which cell tower was smoking at that time?   Anyway, there's NOTHING like a cannon for the 4th.