Poor July 5th.

The 5th of July is such a sad little day. Independence day is a tough act to follow - what with the revelry and fireworks and all. Many of us spend the day cleaning up a red white and blue mess - or we just take it easy while "recuperating" from the previous day's festivities. I am pretty sure the signers of the Declaration of Independence were nursing some pretty serious hangovers. I mean, they had just committed high treason...I can think of no better reason to dip excessively into the Rattle-Skull. Though we Americans may not find it as interesting a day as the one preceding, July 5th has its high points here and around the world. For example, July 5th is Venezuela's independence day, marking it's separation from Spain in 1811. On this day in 1954 Elvis Presley recorded "That's All Right," and thus proceeded to gyrate into rock and roll stardom. On July 5th, 1946, postwar Parisians caught glimpse of their very first bikini. Hello. On this day in 1975 tennis player Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win at Wimbledon and finally, Dolly the Sheep, the world's first animal cloned from adult cells, was born on July 5th, 1996.

So maybe July 5th is not such a sad day after all - there's lots to think about...lots to commemorate.

With compliments,

Keith