Posted On: Friday - July 4th 2025 10:03AM MST
In Topics: Music The Dead US Police State US Feral Government Holiday from Stupidity
This has been a Peak Stupidity Independence Day tradition since the blog started, with our July 4th of '17 post.* This is not just about the song title and the lyrics, not to mention the great sound. We've mentioned before that The Grateful Dead was truly an All American Band. Don't let the drugs, long hair, and the time and place they came from fool you.
Commenter Greg(?) Anderson, our biggest Dead Head reader, as far was we can tell, suggested the following musical memory, from a concert at The Winterland arena in San Francisco in March 20th of '77 (that's 1977). There's no video for this one. A good thing however, is that the whole show is there, so someone not so familiar with the band could go to the beginning and let the whole show rip.
These guys were there playing less than one year after 2 centuries since the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Here we are now, at one year shy of a quarter millennium. I think we'll be lucky to make it in one piece, and no longer as any kind of Constitutional Republic anyway, more than a decade past next years major anniversary. I'd guess 5 or less, but then I would have guessed the same about 15 years ago...
Whatever we think we can do, let's not give up on it. Looking back and remembering our learning of the original Independence Day in elementary school, we just think of the wonderful end result as a given, and a nice F.U. from the American colonists desiring freedom to the British Lobster-back meanies. It wasn't at all a given. If we reflect more maturely on the scene, we can imagine the feeling of this moment as any man signing this might very well be signing his death warrant, with retribution coming not any longer than some ragtag army could hold off the most powerful military in the World.
In today's world what would that mean? What happened leading up to July 4th of 1776 could be compared to current Americans who try to stay off the grid, accumulate guns and ammo, and who don't hold their tongues in blog posts, on twitter, and in podcasts and even (some) using their real names. Some may fight the system in small ways, not obeying the Kung Flu mandates 5 years ago, as a big, visible example, fighting tax bills, resisting REAL ID, what-have-you. A very few did wild impulsive things like fly planes into IRS buildings. None of it is even on the level of the Boston Tea Party. Anthony Fauci was never even tarred and feathered. (It's never too late!)
In today's world, what could we compare to that day 249 years ago, when men put their signatures, meaning, their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor, on the line? I'd say that's be akin to Americans making pacts to shoot back when the Feds come to take the guns, the gold, or even the kids. You put your name out there, and if things get to this state, you will be that same kind of target as those men who signed below back in 1776.
Can you use them ole US Blues?
"Wave that flag... wave it wide and high. Summertime done, come and gone, my oh my!"
PS: As I read comments just now under the '24 post, I saw that Mr. Anderson told us that The Dead "broke up for a bit more than a year" after the series of Winterland show in mid-October of '74. I had no idea. Per this 9 y/o article with some words from the late bassist Phil Lesh, they did play a handful of shows in '75 and didn't return to the serious heavy touring schedules until June of '76. What's really interesting in the article, is that Phil said - I guess this was in '16, that the band somehow was not the same after this break. ("Break up" or "break"?)
* Also, it's also been since '23 that we quit writing years with 4 digits, at least in the titles of these particular posts. It's not about computer data storage anymore people. It's just been a full quarter century, and I think we'll all get what someone's talking about.
Comments:
Adam Smith
Sunday - July 6th 2025 10:51AM MST
PS: Greetings, Achmed!
And a pleasant Sunday to you too. Have you seen this yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8er4NEwVLXw
(I started watching last night but only made it like 15 minutes before it was time for bed.) It looks pretty good.
Very pleasant Sunday here today. I need to get off this computer and go work in the yard. The grass does not mow itself.
Cheers! ☮️
And a pleasant Sunday to you too. Have you seen this yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8er4NEwVLXw
(I started watching last night but only made it like 15 minutes before it was time for bed.) It looks pretty good.
Very pleasant Sunday here today. I need to get off this computer and go work in the yard. The grass does not mow itself.
Cheers! ☮️
Moderator
Sunday - July 6th 2025 8:25AM MST
PS: We're big cat fans in my family, Mr. Smith. I'll take a look at your videos in a bit here. I probably should post a few of our "tuxedo" cat, but I don't know if cats can be doxxed easily. ;-} My kid got on some site that would try to match other cats to ours by face/color. There was one semi-feral cat on a friend of mine's land that had a striking resemblance. You had to look very closely to see any difference.
Well, I meant to post a real Peak Stupidity core competency story yesterday, but I'll put it up Monday or Tuesday. 3 more posts came to mind just the morning.
Have a pleasant (valley, no, hilltop) Sunday.
Well, I meant to post a real Peak Stupidity core competency story yesterday, but I'll put it up Monday or Tuesday. 3 more posts came to mind just the morning.
Have a pleasant (valley, no, hilltop) Sunday.
Adam Smith
Saturday - July 5th 2025 3:33PM MST
PS: Good afternoon, Mr. SafeNow!
Happy 5th of July!
Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you enjoyed my kitten story.
Baby Girl doesn't like fireworks. At all. (She's scared of thunder and lightning too.) So, unfortunately, she hid in her house under the deck last night. By the time she came out for her midnight snack (at 3:30am)(I have a couple cameras for watching the wildlife eat our flowers and such) I was fast asleep and she had to wait until morning for breakfast.
This is what the fireworks over Dahlonega look like from my driveway, about 100 feet from where Baby Girl wanted to go rabbit hunting...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrOkG-G26A
(The insect noise you hear is the katydids.)
Of course there are other neighborhood fireworks too. And off the back side of the mountain we can see fireworks over Montaluce and some of the other wineries (or something?) in the distance. Baby Girl hates them all. Always has.
The kitten, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the fireworks. I am a little surprised about that. Usually that sort of noise scares cats and kittens. (And dogs. The neighbor's dog was also a bit bothered by last nights fireworks show. She's a husky and as such is a little dramatic about the things she doesn't like.)
While I can't say that Baby Girl is happy about having a kitten around it does seem like she's tolerating her pretty well. Here's a video of the two of them "playing" in the yard a few nights back...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm553Cgy9Qs
(Please excuse the spider webs and the hose on the deck.)
So, yeah. That's about all I've got for now. Thanks again.
I hope you have a most enjoyable evening! ☮️
Happy 5th of July!
Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you enjoyed my kitten story.
Baby Girl doesn't like fireworks. At all. (She's scared of thunder and lightning too.) So, unfortunately, she hid in her house under the deck last night. By the time she came out for her midnight snack (at 3:30am)(I have a couple cameras for watching the wildlife eat our flowers and such) I was fast asleep and she had to wait until morning for breakfast.
This is what the fireworks over Dahlonega look like from my driveway, about 100 feet from where Baby Girl wanted to go rabbit hunting...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKrOkG-G26A
(The insect noise you hear is the katydids.)
Of course there are other neighborhood fireworks too. And off the back side of the mountain we can see fireworks over Montaluce and some of the other wineries (or something?) in the distance. Baby Girl hates them all. Always has.
The kitten, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the fireworks. I am a little surprised about that. Usually that sort of noise scares cats and kittens. (And dogs. The neighbor's dog was also a bit bothered by last nights fireworks show. She's a husky and as such is a little dramatic about the things she doesn't like.)
While I can't say that Baby Girl is happy about having a kitten around it does seem like she's tolerating her pretty well. Here's a video of the two of them "playing" in the yard a few nights back...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm553Cgy9Qs
(Please excuse the spider webs and the hose on the deck.)
So, yeah. That's about all I've got for now. Thanks again.
I hope you have a most enjoyable evening! ☮️
SafeNow
Saturday - July 5th 2025 3:35AM MST
PS
Thank you Adam for sharing the touching and interesting kitten story, and including photos. I feel that “peak anecdotes” deserve a place inside “peak stupidity.” For me it was like going to a pub and hearing a fellow pub-goer tell a fine story. Best wishes, SafeNow.
Thank you Adam for sharing the touching and interesting kitten story, and including photos. I feel that “peak anecdotes” deserve a place inside “peak stupidity.” For me it was like going to a pub and hearing a fellow pub-goer tell a fine story. Best wishes, SafeNow.
Moderator
Friday - July 4th 2025 8:44PM MST
PS: Scarlet Begonias is the most prototypically DEAD of Grateful Dead songs - I can't explain why I think this.
Well, I missed all that. "Promised Land" is one of my favorites too. I have some Dick's Pick's CD's but I don't know where they are right now. He picked out some of the very best and made dozens of albums out of them.
Well, I missed all that. "Promised Land" is one of my favorites too. I have some Dick's Pick's CD's but I don't know where they are right now. He picked out some of the very best and made dozens of albums out of them.
Ganderson
Friday - July 4th 2025 8:08PM MST
PS
Thanks for posting the whole show, perhaps the best Dead show
I personally saw.
Ahh, Sunday night at Winterland; “US Blues” was the encore, followed by a rare second encore (duocore?) of “Terrapin Station “ which was, In the spring of 1977 brand spanking new. Among the other gold nuggets in this show were a terrific version of “Scarlet Begonias”, to my knowledge, the last one that was not twined with “Fire on the Mountain” as they had done on Friday night. Other highlights: a great version of “ Row Jimmy”, and a smokin’ version of the old Chuck Berry standard “Promised Land” I saw two of the three shows that weekend, both very good to great. Saturday we went out for a French dinner at a really good restaurant, way more than we could afford, but it was wonderful as well, it had to have been as we missed a dead show to go! Anyway, happy Fourth of July everybody.
Thanks for posting the whole show, perhaps the best Dead show
I personally saw.
Ahh, Sunday night at Winterland; “US Blues” was the encore, followed by a rare second encore (duocore?) of “Terrapin Station “ which was, In the spring of 1977 brand spanking new. Among the other gold nuggets in this show were a terrific version of “Scarlet Begonias”, to my knowledge, the last one that was not twined with “Fire on the Mountain” as they had done on Friday night. Other highlights: a great version of “ Row Jimmy”, and a smokin’ version of the old Chuck Berry standard “Promised Land” I saw two of the three shows that weekend, both very good to great. Saturday we went out for a French dinner at a really good restaurant, way more than we could afford, but it was wonderful as well, it had to have been as we missed a dead show to go! Anyway, happy Fourth of July everybody.
Moderator
Friday - July 4th 2025 5:42PM MST
PS: No offense taken, Alarmist.
Yeah, I think that kitten wouldn't have lasted long without you all, Adam. I hope you enjoy her.
Gotta go... enjoy some fireworks!
Yeah, I think that kitten wouldn't have lasted long without you all, Adam. I hope you enjoy her.
Gotta go... enjoy some fireworks!
Adam Smith
Friday - July 4th 2025 4:31PM MST
PS: Happy 4th of July!
I hope you are all having a great day/evening. I've been really lazy about internetting, (if there is such a thing) but I have been reading. Just not much to say. I do however have that kitty story, if anyone is interested...
The kitten story...
So... It was 9 or 10 nights ago. Mrs. Smith and I were on the porch enjoying a little wine after a grocery run to Dawsonville. On our way to the store the car thermometer told me it was 99° out there. Fortunately, I had just topped off the AC the day before as part of a little routine maintenance. (It took about 3/4 of a can.) The AC was blowing a very comfortable 40°.
https://i.ibb.co/YTXNMpXB/AC-Temp.jpg
As usual, our Baby Girl was hanging out with us. And we were talking about what a sweet kitty she is and about how she's really got the outdoor mountain cat thing down. "Wouldn't it be nice if she brought home a kitten one day so she could teach it how to be a mountain cat too?" Mrs. Smith asked. Yeah, kittens sure are cute. Maybe one day she'll bring home a kitten to play with...
Yeah, maybe one day...
(A couple hours later.)
(It's dark now.)
"Meow! Meow!" said a tiny frightened voice from the yard as loud as it could.
"Meow! Meow!" (Please help me! I'm alone and scared, meow...)
So, Baby Girl went out into the yard and found this little kitten and brought it home. It was dehydrated, malnourished, mildly flea ridden with mites in its ears, and looked like it might have conjunctivitis. And it was very scared. I don't know how long it had been out there, but without some human intervention this kitten probably might have died in the next few days. (It was in the mid 90's all week and it didn't rain for days.)
After giving it some food and water we hit it with a couple drops of Frontline to start helping with the fleas and mites. As we went in for the night we thought, well, it's up to Baby Girl if she wants to have a kitten around. We definitely do not want to upset our groove.
The next morning we awoke not knowing if there would be an extra kitten. When I went out to check on Baby Girl she wasn't in her chair as usual but was instead under the catwalk. (We call it a catwalk but its a raised deck that gets us to and from the house and the driveway.) She came up and we said good morning to each other and I got her some fresh food and water. (But there was no sign of a kitten.)
Until a while later... When it came up from under the catwalk. Apparently, Baby Girl kept an eye on it through the night to keep it safe. It was still quite hungy and thirsty and scared. But not feral. It is very comfortable around humans. We assumed, at first, that it was a little boy because it is an orange tabby. (~80% of orange tabby cats are male.) But after a quick investigation we learned that we had a little female on our hands.
We cleaned up her little face (eye and nose boogers mostly) and treated her with a little more Frontline to continue working on the fleas. (We started with small doses because she is really tiny and all we have is adult cat size flea drops. The kitten weighed in at just 689 grams. She's probably about six weeks old.) Through the evening she stayed close to us and kept eating and drinking water. She's quite cute and cuddly. And oh so tiny. We even put a box on the deck for her to play in and made her a little toy to play with.
The next day she was still hanging around. After breakfast (more like lunch) I got out three buckets and filled them with body temp water. It was time for a flea bath. Baby Girl watched as I bathed this tiny kitten. (The kitten did really pretty well for its first bath. I bathed it 2 and a half times before it started to shiver.) I joked with Baby Girl that I could get her bathtub out if she'd like a bath. (Baby girl is too big for the 3 gallon buckets. When I bathe her I use a couple green plastic totes. Probably about 18 or 20 gallon size.) Baby Girl politely declined my offer.
After her bath we hit her with a good dose of flea juice. (I think we have that problem solved.) I later cleaned the mites out of here ears. And her eyes have cleared up. (No more signs of conjuctivitis.) But she is still bony and thin. I guess it will take a little time to fatten her up.
Meanwhile... The kitten wants so badly to Baby Girl's friend. Baby Girl is not yet inclined. She's tolerating the kitten really well but she has not really played with it or anything like that. (Yet?) She is, however, keeping an eye on her to help keep her safe. She's also leaving some of her food for the kitten. (Baby Girl has never been protective of her food.) I do see them in the yard at night. The kitten runs around in the flower beds and in the driveway and such while Baby Girl keeps watch.
I don't want Baby Girl to have her feelings hurt by having a kitten around so I've been trying to spend a little extra time with her. It's that time of year where she is still shedding her winter coat so I've been spending some extra time brushing her. She also loves going for walks (especially after dark) so we've been doing some more of that than usual too. The other night we were at the end of the circle driveway look out at the mountains when she saw something moving in the tall grass. She started heading that way in hunting mode. I think she seriously thought I was going to go rabbit hunting with her. (I might have if not for the chiggers.)
https://i.ibb.co/tw80h7V6/Mountain-View.jpg
(This is close to where Baby Girl wanted to go rabbit hunting.)
Some added photos for context.
https://i.ibb.co/XjHMgrY/Baby-Girl.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/xKvNqkwz/Kitty.jpg
And some old photos...
https://i.ibb.co/sJ2mG9wB/Baby-Girl.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/nqH66RsD/Snack-Time-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/60T2S76t/Snack-Time-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/0jJQ0c1q/Tornado.jpg
The last photo is Baby Girl and Whiteface walking with us checking out the tornado damage in the back yard. (This was years ago.)
Good times! ☮️
I hope you are all having a great day/evening. I've been really lazy about internetting, (if there is such a thing) but I have been reading. Just not much to say. I do however have that kitty story, if anyone is interested...
The kitten story...
So... It was 9 or 10 nights ago. Mrs. Smith and I were on the porch enjoying a little wine after a grocery run to Dawsonville. On our way to the store the car thermometer told me it was 99° out there. Fortunately, I had just topped off the AC the day before as part of a little routine maintenance. (It took about 3/4 of a can.) The AC was blowing a very comfortable 40°.
https://i.ibb.co/YTXNMpXB/AC-Temp.jpg
As usual, our Baby Girl was hanging out with us. And we were talking about what a sweet kitty she is and about how she's really got the outdoor mountain cat thing down. "Wouldn't it be nice if she brought home a kitten one day so she could teach it how to be a mountain cat too?" Mrs. Smith asked. Yeah, kittens sure are cute. Maybe one day she'll bring home a kitten to play with...
Yeah, maybe one day...
(A couple hours later.)
(It's dark now.)
"Meow! Meow!" said a tiny frightened voice from the yard as loud as it could.
"Meow! Meow!" (Please help me! I'm alone and scared, meow...)
So, Baby Girl went out into the yard and found this little kitten and brought it home. It was dehydrated, malnourished, mildly flea ridden with mites in its ears, and looked like it might have conjunctivitis. And it was very scared. I don't know how long it had been out there, but without some human intervention this kitten probably might have died in the next few days. (It was in the mid 90's all week and it didn't rain for days.)
After giving it some food and water we hit it with a couple drops of Frontline to start helping with the fleas and mites. As we went in for the night we thought, well, it's up to Baby Girl if she wants to have a kitten around. We definitely do not want to upset our groove.
The next morning we awoke not knowing if there would be an extra kitten. When I went out to check on Baby Girl she wasn't in her chair as usual but was instead under the catwalk. (We call it a catwalk but its a raised deck that gets us to and from the house and the driveway.) She came up and we said good morning to each other and I got her some fresh food and water. (But there was no sign of a kitten.)
Until a while later... When it came up from under the catwalk. Apparently, Baby Girl kept an eye on it through the night to keep it safe. It was still quite hungy and thirsty and scared. But not feral. It is very comfortable around humans. We assumed, at first, that it was a little boy because it is an orange tabby. (~80% of orange tabby cats are male.) But after a quick investigation we learned that we had a little female on our hands.
We cleaned up her little face (eye and nose boogers mostly) and treated her with a little more Frontline to continue working on the fleas. (We started with small doses because she is really tiny and all we have is adult cat size flea drops. The kitten weighed in at just 689 grams. She's probably about six weeks old.) Through the evening she stayed close to us and kept eating and drinking water. She's quite cute and cuddly. And oh so tiny. We even put a box on the deck for her to play in and made her a little toy to play with.
The next day she was still hanging around. After breakfast (more like lunch) I got out three buckets and filled them with body temp water. It was time for a flea bath. Baby Girl watched as I bathed this tiny kitten. (The kitten did really pretty well for its first bath. I bathed it 2 and a half times before it started to shiver.) I joked with Baby Girl that I could get her bathtub out if she'd like a bath. (Baby girl is too big for the 3 gallon buckets. When I bathe her I use a couple green plastic totes. Probably about 18 or 20 gallon size.) Baby Girl politely declined my offer.
After her bath we hit her with a good dose of flea juice. (I think we have that problem solved.) I later cleaned the mites out of here ears. And her eyes have cleared up. (No more signs of conjuctivitis.) But she is still bony and thin. I guess it will take a little time to fatten her up.
Meanwhile... The kitten wants so badly to Baby Girl's friend. Baby Girl is not yet inclined. She's tolerating the kitten really well but she has not really played with it or anything like that. (Yet?) She is, however, keeping an eye on her to help keep her safe. She's also leaving some of her food for the kitten. (Baby Girl has never been protective of her food.) I do see them in the yard at night. The kitten runs around in the flower beds and in the driveway and such while Baby Girl keeps watch.
I don't want Baby Girl to have her feelings hurt by having a kitten around so I've been trying to spend a little extra time with her. It's that time of year where she is still shedding her winter coat so I've been spending some extra time brushing her. She also loves going for walks (especially after dark) so we've been doing some more of that than usual too. The other night we were at the end of the circle driveway look out at the mountains when she saw something moving in the tall grass. She started heading that way in hunting mode. I think she seriously thought I was going to go rabbit hunting with her. (I might have if not for the chiggers.)
https://i.ibb.co/tw80h7V6/Mountain-View.jpg
(This is close to where Baby Girl wanted to go rabbit hunting.)
Some added photos for context.
https://i.ibb.co/XjHMgrY/Baby-Girl.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/xKvNqkwz/Kitty.jpg
And some old photos...
https://i.ibb.co/sJ2mG9wB/Baby-Girl.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/nqH66RsD/Snack-Time-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/60T2S76t/Snack-Time-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/0jJQ0c1q/Tornado.jpg
The last photo is Baby Girl and Whiteface walking with us checking out the tornado damage in the back yard. (This was years ago.)
Good times! ☮️
The Alarmist
Friday - July 4th 2025 1:35PM MST
PS
Shortly after posting that, I realized ‘highfalutin’ would have been friendlier than ‘erudite.’
Sorry if I insulted you.
Shortly after posting that, I realized ‘highfalutin’ would have been friendlier than ‘erudite.’
Sorry if I insulted you.
Moderator
Friday - July 4th 2025 1:07PM MST
PS: Yes, Alarmist, I've heard that before and then promptly forgot it. Now I know where I can copy it from to paste in.
Happy Independence Day.
Happy Independence Day.
The Alarmist
Friday - July 4th 2025 12:48PM MST
PS
Happy Fourth...
When we get to next year, you get to call it the Semiquincentennial, which sounds a bit more erudite than Quarter Millenium 🤔
🕉
Happy Fourth...
When we get to next year, you get to call it the Semiquincentennial, which sounds a bit more erudite than Quarter Millenium 🤔
🕉
I'll finish watching it later tonight. Thanks!