Independence Day

It’s that time of year, that time when American celebrate their independence from Britain by setting off several tons of dynamite…

We spent part of the weekend down at Robyn’s parent lakehouse in Miledgeville on the shores of Lake Sinclair where we watched dvd’s, swam in the water, roasted marshmallows on an open fire and set off several tons of dynamite (including an awesome depth charge). Very relaxing all in all…

We left mid morning on Monday and made our way back to Atlanta for the Braves games against the Chicago Cubs that night…

It was a prety good game with the Braves winning 4-0 off the back of two Adam LaRoche homers and Kyle Davies pitching, but the best part was the crowd… It was a full house in Turner Field and there was a large group of Cubs fans so it made for a really enjoyable time and after the game there was a fireworks display, no doubt serveral, several tons of dynamite was set off during this one that lit up the Atlanta skyline all set to “patriotic” music like Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” (go figure) as well as “rousing” songs like Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” The capacity crowd lapped this up while hollering at important moments displayed on screen.

Now I can take all the fake psuedo-patriotism with a pinch of salt, especially here in the south but there is a few things I will not do (but did do yesterday to prevent a lynching mainly)… I usually don’t stand for the national anthem or when they sing “America the Beautiful” in the 7th inning, call me disrespectful if you wish, it’s just my beliefs and it’s not my national anthem… and IF I do stand (to prevent said lynching) I also make a point not to remove my cap (if I’m wearing one), again, call me disrespectful if you wish, it’s just my beliefs and it’s not my flag… I only did it yesterday as it was July 4th as it could be considered something of a big deal. I don’t really have a point to this, I guess I’m just trying to say that it’s fine if you want to be patriotic to your own flag and country, just don’t be expecting me to be…

As a special treat, there are a few panoramas with high resolution alternate versions…

Firstly here is a view from the cheap seats high above home plate (hi-res alternate), then a view from the cheapest of cheap seats in right field (hi-res alternate), and finally a view from our seats.