{"id":2903,"date":"2011-07-04T11:15:38","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T17:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/?p=2903"},"modified":"2011-07-04T14:29:50","modified_gmt":"2011-07-04T20:29:50","slug":"happy-fourth-of-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billiardcoach.com\/home\/2011\/07\/04\/happy-fourth-of-july","title":{"rendered":"Happy Fourth of July!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Happy Fourth of July!<\/p>\n

I’ve been taking a little time to focus on music after my month long road trip of pool playing. Winning another team championship was both invigorating and draining. Now I’m catching up on some household projects and finally beginning to learn how to play bass guitar. Family and friends call me a procrastinator, but dang it, I eventually get things done. I’ll detail my quest to hold down the bottom end in another blog post. Let’s just say that I’ve got a lot of work to do before the “Pool Playin’ Fools” hit the stage in October. By the way, we’ve yet to discuss the band’s name\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI’m mostly referring to myself.<\/p>\n

Setting the bass aside for now, here are a couple of patriotic music tidbits that I recommend highly.<\/p>\n

1776<\/a><\/p>\n

I saw at the Guthrie in the Fall of 2008 and it was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The historical facts are unaltered, save timing for narrative purposes. It is my opinion that this story is so dramatic, improbable, and so utterly true it would be hard for an author to pen a work of fiction this compelling. The impact I felt prompted me to spend a few days in Philly after the Allen Hopkins SBE a few years ago. I toured Independence Hall and soaked up the American history. This is the OCR from 1969. The Ben Franklin is not my favorite like in the 1972 movie version.<\/p>\n

\"Click<\/a>
The egg that England hatched.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Film<\/a>
Howard Da Silva's buttery baritone Ben Franklin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One Fourth of July, I spent at the BHS<\/a> International Championships. I wish I could be in Kansas City this week for this year’s competition<\/a>. I’ve already marked my calendar for 2017<\/a> when the competition is hosted by Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

One of the highlights is the Star Spangled Banner sung by thousands of singers in the audience. I’ll never forget the feeling of being in the middle of an ocean of singers.<\/p>\n