As i write this blog, I am a bit dejected at the German drubbing of the Argentine team in the 2010 FIFA world cup and kind of feel sorry for Diego Maradona whose passion and sideline antics, if not anything else should have put Argentina in the finals. As i wait to see the fate of Spain who seem equally determined to strike out another latino team off contention. I am surfing for some cheerful news as thoughts about America celebrating the 234th independence in a few hours is on the mental radar. I am reading Trent Hamm's tweets on twitter while another stream that i follow - Fortune magazine's 100 great things about America catches my attention. You can actually read it on the fortune website..but thought will compile the entire list of 100 great things about America (not that i agree with the compilation completely), but atleast hilarious enough to keep me up through the next 60 minutes while i wait for the atomosphere at Ellis Park Stadium, Jo'berg to charge and for the kick-off whistle...
Till then...enjoy the list and Happy Independence Day and Happy Birthday, America!
1776 -2010... a fantastic journey...
Fortune's 100 Great things about America
1. The Internet -Oh yes, invented in the USA -- maybe Al Gore helped.
2. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
3. Baseball -America's pastime…steroids or not
4. Mount Rushmore - Home of the original "your face here" gimmick
5. Food in New Orleans - If you can remember it the next morning
6. Rock and roll - Find a Beatles or Stones song uninfluenced by American music. Just try.
7. Hawaii - Mauna Kea, Kaua'i…you gotta see it to believe it.
8. iPod, iPad, and everything Apple
9. Barbecue - Carolina, Mississippi, K.C., Memphis…it's all good.
10. Ford Mustang - Who needs a German car? We'll take the classic.
11. Wikipedia - This article that mentions a popular fact site is a stub. You can help us by expanding it.
12. Buffalo - Because this is a real sentence: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Don't believe us? Check on #11.
13. Slam dunks - Thanks to Doctor J
14. Broadway - If the Lion King ever closes, Cats will come back.
15. Bluebirds - Listen to mine sing
16. Google - Because no one stands up to China better
17. Mark Twain - The original American bad-ass
18. The national anthem
19. Iced drinks - When will the rest of the world figure this out?
20. Beaches - Cape Cod, Kiawah, Zuma -- ours are better.
21. Madison Square Garden - A little threadbare but still the biggest stage in America's biggest city
22. Delivery pizza
23. The Grateful Dead - Long may the followers of Uncle John's Band live on.
24. YouTube - We keep clicking on home videos even after Charlie bit our finger -- again!
25. The Super Bowl - The parties, the ads -- oh and a sports game, too
26. Fishing - China rules the commercial catch, but more people fish for fun here than anywhere else.
27. Monopoly - game we sometimes play in real life, too.
28. The Big Apple Circus - Where joy and, occasionally, fear comes in clown twelve-packs by tiny car
29. M&M's - Imitators don't stand a chance
30. Facebook - Friend us? Just kidding… but seriously. Please friend us.
31. Thanksgiving - Loosen your belt and watch the parade
32. Pickup trucks - Our nation's first outlet for unfunny bumper stickers
33. The Simpsons - May Bart and Lisa never make it to high school.
34. Oprah Winfrey - But after 2011, no more free cars for the audience
35. Frisbees - Not just for dogs
36. Mad Men - Jon Hamm + Christina Hendricks = cooler than the actual '60s
37. New York/Boston sports rivalry - For our safety, we decline to comment.
38. MRI machine - Perfect for after that Yanks-Sox game
39. Patagonia - The first to make polyester clothes out of old plastic bottles
40. Archie Comics - Betty or Veronica: 68 years and the debate rages on
41. The Golden Gate Bridge - Dirty Harry meets Full House. Uh oh.
42. Jazz - Even before Ken Burns discovered it
43. Fantasy football
44. S'mores
45. Trader Joe's - If cheap wine were apples, we present the modern Johnny Appleseed. Amen.
46. The 4th of July
47. Harley Davidson - The motorcycle company that has survived both the Great Depression and the Hybrid Obsession
48. March Madness - So crazy it spills into April
49. Scrabble - As Facebook proved, it's Scrabulous
50. Kegs - Even useful when empty, as moorings
51. Slip 'N Slide - Simple. Genius.
52. Ice cream - Ben and Jerry's, Breyers, soft serve… ours freezes the competition
53. Yellowstone National Park
54. Oreos - This choice bribed by the secret dairy farmers' cartel
55. Edward R. Murrow - A journalist who was cool? Sigh.
56. Restaurant week - The one week a year when snooty waiters have to play nice
57. Washington D.C. monuments at night - Lincoln looks good
58. Bugs Bunny - Every parent's dream: he's nice to doctors and he eats his veggies
59. Etch A Sketch - Don't shake away our faith in this one
60. Coca-cola - Hmmm… what does the "coca" stand for again?
61. Flip flops - Not the John Kerry kind, though both can be found on Nantucket
62. Vegas weddings
63. Napa wine - If anyone orders Merlot, we're leaving
64. Willie Nelson - Trigger
65. eBay - The only place where you can buy a single cornflake
66. Blueberries - Our favorite fruit that can't check email
67. The Rockettes - E-leg-trifying!
68. Charles Barkley - Hosting Saturday Night Live and pitching for T-Mobile, Sir Charles is now larger than life
69. Blue jeans - Levi Strauss invented the modern version only to see them become boringly ubiquitous
70. County fairs - We recommend you eat your corndog after swinging that sledgehammer at the High Striker game
71. The Oscars - A celebration of everything good and awful about Hollywood
72. Veterans - Thank you
73. Steakhouses - Thankfully, not rare
74. The Tiffany box - The only package more powerful than its contents
75. Sports mascots - The San Diego Chicken vs. the Phillie Phanatic
76. The Great Lakes
77. Salt water taffy - Delicious even though they contain neither salt nor water
78. Roller coasters - Possibly the only 30-second activity worth a three-hour wait
79. HBO - Even if we're unsold on the vampire craze
80. The Everglades - Where else would you go to get drunk and wrestle an alligator?
81. Bonnie and Clyde - Do you and your honey bunny rob banks? No? Then sit down.
82. Chewing gum - But please, remember that it's a silent activity
83. The light bulb - And we just keep inventing better ones!
84. Religious freedom - From Pilgrims to scientologists
85. Bagels - If you've never tried one, come to New York and make your first one an H&H
86. Judd Apatow films
87. The Billboard 100 - Measuring our music since 1958
88. Chipotle - And the guacamole really is worth the extra $2.25
89. Dalmatians on fire trucks - Black and white and red all over
90. Disney movies - Not yours, Nicholas Cage. The old school, animated ones
91. New Year's Eve - Every country has one, but they all watch Times Square
92. Elvis Presley - A hound-dog and the King
93. Cowboys
94. Turducken - A true American delicacy: a chicken in a duck in a turkey
95. Netflix - The only movie rental survivor
96. Spring Break - We plead the Fifth
97. Escalators - First used commercially in Yonkers, NY in 1899—who knew?
98. Stand-up comedy - Unless you are singled out
99. Redwood trees -The oldest is 2,200 years old
100. Bendy straws - Invented by a Cleveland entrepreneur—and perhaps Ohio's most significant contribution, though we tip our hats to the Wright Brothers and its 8 U.S. Presidents
101. Charlie Brown - Sorry, Charlie, maybe next time you'll crack the top 100
......And, can David Villa bring some cheer to me?
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