BagOfNothing.com

• I had my first ride in a Mini Cooper yesterday and now I understand the enthusiasm for the car, those things are fun.
• With a broken leg, Dave Grohl sits on a special guitar throne while playing concerts.
• Jon Stewart’s last show will be on Aug. 6 and Trevor Noah will take over on Sept. 28.  To get familiar with Noah, he’s Seinfeld’s current guest on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.  Since we’re on the topic of late-night talk shows and dates, I’ll just throw in that Stephen Colbert starts on Sept. 8.
• Here’s an article that discusses how memory works.  I only note it because this part stood out  – That’s because instead of remembering the actual memory, you’re recalling the memory of the last time you remembered it and any mistakes that might have been introduced there. Like a game of human telephone, those mistakes can build on one another over time, leaving out details and introducing mistakes.
• Imgur  – The Hardin-Simmons University Cowboy Band leaving Texas, June 1, 1929 and playing eighteen weeks on Broadway, New York as part of the President Hoover delegation, Abilene, Texas.
• D-Magazine Frontburner – Language warning – VIDEO: BYU Football Recruit Charles West Shot Outside Coppell Middle School
• He was Gaston – Man Who Died Shooting Fireworks Off Head Was Former Disney World Performer
• If you enjoyed the quirky comedy ‘The Spoils of Babylon’, its sequel, ‘The Spoils Before Dying‘, starts on Wednesday on IFC.  The cast should be enough to intrigue you – Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Haley Joel Osment, Val Kilmer, Maya Rudolph, Kate McKinnon, Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, Emily Ratajkowski.
• Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
• Every male should own a Maglite.  I almost gave an engraved version of them away as a gift to my groomsmen, but I went with watches.
• First Look At Axanar, The Star Trek War Movie We’ve Waited Decades For
• Watch the Mars Opportunity rover run an 11-year marathon in this time-lapse
• Twitter wants to know your birthday so it can shower you with balloons and ads
• Esquire – Paul McCartney Opens Up About Lennon, Yoko, and More – Our greatest living rock star on why Lennon’s a martyr, who gets the credit, and touring in his seventies.

• Our extended Fourth of July weekend was spent going to the Perot Museum of Natural History, bowling, and watching fireworks from our house put on by the cities of Coppell and Lewisville.
• Yesterday the family decided to visit the grandparents in East Texas for a few days so I decided to catch up on recorded television and watched 12 Angry Men.  That’s a phenomenal piece of film-making.  It wasn’t until the end that I caught no name was mentioned at all until the last few sentences of the movie.  I suppose there may be some symbolism at the end when the only woman in the entire movie is walking outside the courthouse wearing white.
• I also watched the pilot episodes of two series that have been highly recommended to me – ‘Orphan Black’ and ‘Humans’.  There was so much hype given ‘Orphan Black’ that I was scared I wouldn’t like it, but I found it creative, unique, and a real sense of it captivating my attention.  ‘Humans’ is every bit a science-fiction show one should be, and I like how it addresses the start of the singularity.  Sidenote: One of my closest college friends goal is to live long enough to witness the singularity.
• After finally watching the ESPN ’30 for 30: No Más’ episode I’m left with the conclusion that no male or female from the Eighties has aged better than Sugar Ray Leonard and Christie Brinkley.
• On her way to East Texas, WifeGeeding decided to drop by the new Buc-ee’s just to see what the hype was about and she was highly impressed.
• I was invited by a neighbor to come by and pop fireworks in his backyard, but I declined as I’m a real stickler for not popping fireworks in city limits.
• Texas Megachurch Minister Ed Young Under Fire for Inviting Mormon Glenn Beck to Speak at Church
• I thought it was pretty darn cool of the U.S. Navy to support the U.S. women’s national team in yesterday’s World Cup with this impressive tweet.
• The Internet can be a fun place, here’s a screen-print I took of Carli Lloyd’s Wikipedia page after her third goal yesterday.  I noticed she scored her first goal with her left foot and the other two with her right, which makes me wonder how many people have scored a goal with both feet in a World Cup finale.
• A bit of an eww factor – @darrenrovell – Brandi Chastain rejected offers in the $200K+ range for her used bra. She told me she’d give it to her son, now 9. 
• HBO’s ‘Ballers’ has two former ‘West Wing’ cast members.
• Anonymous donors give $3 million to fund scholarships after Charleston shooting
• Tennis GIF of the day – The perfect return
• Today’s dose of ‘MURICA!
• Today’s dose of ‘MURCIA! World Cup Edition
• Today’s dose of ‘MURCIA! World Cup Edition Part 2
• He just wanted a sign
• Buzzfeed – Where In Texas Should You Actually Live?

A day after the Continental Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776—yes, July 2 —Adams wrote a letter from Philadelphia to his wife back home in Boston commemorating the day.

His letter to Abigail Adam, dated July 3, 1776, read in part:

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

The Declaration of Independence was transposed on the next day, which we now celebreate (it would take weeks for all the delegates to sign it).

Why fireworks on the Fourth of July? John Adams, that’s why