Drink to the 4th of July with Defunctland on Disney's America and 'The Stars and Stripes Forever'

Happy 4th of July! I'm reaching back to 2020 to follow through on a postponed idea for today's celebration of the second of three patriotic holidays in July I observe on this blog.

For today's celebration, I'm returning to the concept behind Drink to America Sings for July 4th, by examining a patriotic attraction that Disney planned for but never opened, Abandoned - Disney's America by Bright Sun Films.*
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*Defunctland has a video on this topic that was my original choice for this post, but I watched this and decided to save Kevin Perjurer's documentary for next year. I'm an environmentalist, so I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources.

Four years later, I'm finally sharing Defunctland: The War for Disney's America.

Defunctland goes to Virginia to explore the history of the Disney park that never was, Disney's America.

I'm recycling my reaction from 2020 as well.

Not only did this proposed park get in trouble because its neighbors had a severe case of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY), but because Disney's sanitized view of history had fallen out of fashion and rubbed historians the wrong way, leading to activism on the part of both groups. Imagine how poorly that perspective would fare today with Confederate monuments being removed[,] Juneteenth becoming popular[,] and people examining the Tulsa Massacre. Then again, maybe not, as Disney is retheming Splash Mountain...

Four years later, Splash Mountain has transformed into Tiana's Bayou Adventure, which is now open in Walt Disney World and will open soon in Disneyland. I will revisit the attraction in a future Sunday entertainment feature. For now, I'm sharing some patriotic music from the United States Marine Band, SOUSA - The Stars and Stripes Forever - "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band.

"The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa...Performed by the United States Marine Band on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, during the band's annual Sousa Season Opener. Conducted by Director Lt. Col. Ryan Nowlin and recorded at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, Va.

I couldn't get too far away from marching music for today, even if the band is sitting in a concert hall, not marching down a parade route.

I'm continuing, for now, with my tradition of including a Tipsy Bartender drink recipe for today with 4th of July Heaven & Hell Shot.*


"Heaven and Hell" — yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about today's celebration. Drink responsibly, or if you wish to drown your sorrows, at least don't drink and drive.

Stay tuned as I share my "catastrophic imagination" tomorrow with the part 4 that I promised in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 3.

*Skyy hasn't posted a regular-length video for 4th of July so far this year. Instead, he live-streamed 4th of July drinks for nearly 3 hours last night. I'm neither watching that nor sharing it with my readers. It's enough to make me use another creator for next year's celebration, should 4th of July be worth celebrating then. To make sure it is, vote!

John Oliver examines the UK elections

I'm still upset after writing MSNBC's anchors and expert guests analyze the Supreme Court's immunity ruling, so I'm looking at some other country's screwed-up politics and having a good laugh at their expense. To that end, I'm sharing UK Elections: (HBO) before that topic turns into a pumpkin tomorrow.

John Oliver discusses the UK elections, who’s running, why people are so upset with the Tories, and the happiest surgeon in all of Lithuania.

One of my favorite sayings that I tell my students is "no one, or in this case, no place, is completely useless; it can always be used as a bad example." Both austerity, a core conservative project on both sides of the pond, and Brexit, which the first two of five consecutive Conservative Prime Ministers did not support and struggled to implement, serve as bad examples that the U.S. should avoid. There is a reason why I have an anti-austerity label on this blog. Also, Brexit may be an analogy for Hoover Cleveland's hostility to NATO. Leaving NATO would be a mistake, too, and another reason not to re-elect the convicted criminal.

By the way, tomorrow is Alice In Wonderland Day, a day that the U.S. and U.K. can celebrate together. May the U.K. avoid falling down a rabbit hole because of the election results!

I might return with the results of the U.K. and French elections, where the French seem to have realized that they might fall down a rabbit hole as well and have caught onto the edge to prevent it. In the meantime, stay tuned for the 4th of July.

MSNBC's anchors and expert guests analyze the Supreme Court's immunity ruling

I examined the Supreme Court hearing Trump's immunity appeal through comedy to begin March. It seems all the late-night talk show hosts are off this week for the 4th of July, so I can't filter yesterday's Supreme Court ruling granting U.S. Presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts through comedy. How bleak and disappointing! I was looking forward to hearing their audiences boo as loudly as they cheered when told about Trump's indictment. Maybe next week.

Instead, I'm sharing MSNBC's afternoon and evening anchors plus expert guests confront the decision with their hair on fire in Trump v. United States: Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity | MSNBC Highlights.

The Supreme Court's ruling in Donald Trump's presidential immunity claim could transform the power of the presidency and will likely delay Trump's federal election interference trial until after November's election. In a scathing dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the president "is now a king above the law." MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and more are joined by legal experts to analyze what the court's immunity decision means for Trump's criminal cases and the future of democracy.

On the one hand, well-said, all of you, including President Biden. On the other, there's nothing funny about any of this other than to share some gallows humor from Animal Farm about the new legal status of the President.


Oink.

A happy drum corps Canada Day 2024!

Happy Canada Day! I resume my regular order of presentation of Canada's drum corps with a pre-DCI performance, Guelph Royalaires (Live at Waterloo, Ontario, 9/8/1962) by Fleetwood Sounds, making this an official upload.

Guelph Royalaires (Live at Waterloo, Ontario, 9/8/1962) · Fleetwood Sounds
The 1962 Canadian Championships, Vol. 1 (Live at Waterloo, Ontario, 9/8/1962)

I've never embedded the Guelph Royalaires before, so they break ground as this year's all-age corps representative.

Next, a corps I've featured in the very first Canadian drum corps for Canada Day, 1976 Oakland Crusaders | Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake to represent the first decade of the DCI era.

Toronto's Oakland Crusaders perform selections from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake during the 1976 DCI World Championship in [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.]

I couldn't resist an official upload from the beginning of the show to serve as a bookend to the unofficial upload of the end of the show I used eight years ago.

Follow over the jump for Canadian corps from the 1980s to the current decade.