Grandpa Doug:

You are indeed a poet
Because your feet show it
(They're Longfellows)

I apologize for the corny poem. I thought it was funny when I was a kid.

Willum:

American football is for real - not an "ism". It is probably the most complex athletic game ever devised. There are not only two teams of players on the field of play, but supporting teams of strategists who plan offenses that will defeat opposing defenses, and other strategists planning defenses that will foil offenses. A full explanation of the game is beyond the scope of this forum. One interesting fact is that 99% of American professional football players have a university degree and that is unique in the world of sport I believe.

Now, cricket? I, too, read that the French created the game originally. How interesting, and what a surprise!

Willem:

I see you have a restaurant in Amsterdam in addition to being an owner/player of a KN6000. I was stationed at Camp Nieuw Amsterdam near Zeist for four years in the 60's. We used to go to Amsterdam for a meal and to enjoy the canal/harbor boat tours in the summer. To this day I still love and miss Loempia and Sate. Great stuff! You are in a beautiful country and city, and living among some of the nicest people in the world.

As far as history is concerned, you are correct up to a point concerning our Independence Day. However, we have to be fair and say that the Spanish, English, French, and Dutch took the country away from the native American Indian - and that isn't the end of the story of conquerers. People migrated from Siberia some fifteen thousand years ago according to archeologists. Who did those Siberian migrants conquer if the country was populated at that time? I don't have an answer to that question.

We aren't talking much about music but we sure are talking a lot, aren't we? Oh well - why not?

Take Care All, Chuck