Happy 4th of July!

Been busy with my wife's family reunion for the past 3 or 4 days, so little chance to post. I could post all the family reunion pics, but somehow I think that might cause a glazing over of the ol' eyeballs, so.....

Movies
Every now and then I see a little gem of a movie and the other day I was reading an article in Newsweek about an HBO produced film called The Girl in the Cafe . This was a splendid film - the acting was fabulous, especially the performance by Bill Nighy. It ranks right up there with the best movies I've seen in a long time. It sends a message about poverty, the G8 conferences, etc, but it is not just a message movie, and not just a character movie, it is more a melding of the two into a wonderfully crafted little movie. Loved it - watch this. You can catch it July 5th at 6:15 and 9:15 p.m. Eastern time. For a full schedule of showings, head to this schedule page . This movie is a good reason to have HBO - they do some of the finest work in television, not to mention film.

Picture of the Day
Two expert flat-footers in action at the recent Wayne C Henderson Music Festival at Grayson Highlands State Park in Grayson County, Virginia. Click on the picture for the original view and some more background on the picture. This fella even had a Michael Jackson "moon-walk" move.





Fact of the Day
Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was an anniversary that both founders were determined to live long enough to see. Death took Jefferson at 12:50 in the afternoon. Near noon, close to the time of Jefferson's death, Adams awakened from a deep sleep and with great effort proclaimed, "Thomas Jefferson survives." These were his last words, after which he fell into a coma. At about six o'clock in the evening, as the warm day turned cool, John Adams died. He was ninety-one years old.