American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
page 298-299

"...when the President's eyes met those of a 'handsome ... well dressed' young man, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence.
Armed with two pistols, standing less than ten feet in front of Jackson, Lawrence raised the first gun and fired. The cap exploded by the powder did not light. Realizing the danger, Jackson charged his assailant, brandishing his walking stick. 'The explosion of the cap was so loud that many persons thought the pistol had fired,' said Benton. 'I heard it at the foot of the steps, far from the the place, and a great crowd in between.' Lawrence dropped the gun and produced a second pistol, but it too failed to fire. (In both cases the cap exploded but did not light the power necessary to discharge the bullet.)

Until that moment, Jackson had thought the assassin 'firm and resolved'; now Lawrence 'seemed to shrink' as the president pursued the assailant with his cane and a nearby navy lieutenant knocked Lawrence to the ground. (Jackson took no chances. "The President pressed after him until he saw he was secured," the Globe reported.)

The agitated Jackson was put into a carriage back to the White House. His life may have been save, in a way, by George Washington and by the weather. In those days there was an empty tomb in the midst of the Rotunda, dug from the floor down to the damp basement, which had been readied for Washington's remains. The first president's heirs, however, resisted moving Washington from Mount Vernon to the Capital, and so the large hole was unfilled, and it moistened the air in the Rotunda. That, added to the mistiness of the day, probably combided to dampen the powder in both guns. 'The pistols were examined, and found to be well loaded; and fired after wards without fail, carrying their bullets true, and driving them through inch boards at thirty feet,' Benton said. The odds of two guns failing under fire during the attack, it was later determined, were 125,000 to one.'

I love how Jackson charged his assailant with his walking stick after the first shot was attempted. Sixty-eight and charging would be assassins. Crazy.

Happy Anniversary

Happy 5th Anniversary Nick!!

Deal Breaker

This could be a deal breaker for our move to California.

Deal Breaker

Totally not serious.


"If you have ever seen a silver dragée, you will know that they are very small. The amount of silver in their coating must also be small. Since the incidence of dragée-related poisoning is very low – I could not find a documented case, though they have been around for well over a century – it stands to reason that people are not eating a sufficient number of dragées over the course of their lifetimes to succumb to silver poisoning. Perhaps I would be concerned if I were downing bottles of silver balls every day. But I really just want to decorate my cookies."

Birthday

from garfield minus garfield

Countdown Begins

Yesterday I officially gave my notice at Hippyville USA. My last day will be August 20th. A part of me is sad that this portion of my life is coming to an end while another part of me (perhaps a bigger part) is excited to start this next part.

Only 33 days left for working at Hippyville USA.

Europe
The Final Countdown
We're leaving together
but still it's farewell
and maybe we'll come back,
to earth, who can tell?

I guess there is no one to blame
we're leaving ground (leaving ground)
will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

Oh, We're heading for Venus (Venus)
and still we stand tall
cause maybe they've seen us
and welcome us all, yeah
with so many light years to go
and things to be found (to be found)
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

The final countdown (final countdown).

oh...oh

The final countdown.

Oh, it's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

The final countdown. (final countdown)

Oh, it's the final countdown
we're leaving together

The final countdown
we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown (final countdown)
Oh, it's the final countdown

They Call Me a Glutton

I have thought it over now a few times and have come to the same conclusion over and over and over again. During the summer months I could really be completely and utterly content just consumeing:

Beer

Fruity Cocktails

Grilled Meat

Pie

It does not have to be all four items each and every day (however that would be awesome). It could just be pie and beer or pie, beer, and meat one day. Or it could be meat and beer. Or just beer. The fact remains (and should be ingrained in your mind dear reader) that all of these culinary items rock my little world during the summer months.

Nothing! And I repeat NOTHING is better than coming home on a summer evening after a long day of work ( working with an outrageously stinky coworker) to drink a beer, have a cocktail, have some grilled meat, and to finish that all off with some pie. I do not care how gluttonous I sound right now. Children have summer vacations as their abscond from the school year. Adults should also possess some kind of abscond from the daily drone of their cubicle caged lives. For me beer, cocktails, meat, and pie is it.

Now who wants to buy me some beer, cocktails, meat, and pie?

They Called Him General Robert E. Lee

I guess it is not common knowledge as to what General E. Lee looks like (in bronzed bust form).


A bit of history


In 1861 President Lincoln tried to recruit Lee to lead the Union forces, however Lee found himself declining the offer due to the fact that his home state of Virginia was seceding despite his own wishes. By the winter of 1864 General E. Lee was promoted to General-in Chief of the Confederate forces.

"Since the end of the Civil War, it has often been suggested that Lee was in some sense opposed to slavery. In the period following the Civil War and Reconstruction, and after his death, Lee became a central figure in the Lost Cause interpretation of the war, and as succeeding generations came to look on slavery as a terrible immorality, the idea that Lee had always somehow opposed it helped maintain his stature as a symbol of Southern honor and national reconciliation."

Many good guesses with Grant. Looking back at those who guessed, Grant would be the Civil War general to come to mind with a bunch of Yankees.