[QUOTE=ivylass]
Alfred and the cakes? I think I missed that lesson.
[/QUOTE]
Dear me, how could you LIVE? 
No matter, as it’s just a very non-urban legend anyway, a bit like Bruce and the spider. And like George Washington and his cherry tree, I suppose.
We eat barbecued [del]aliens[/del] hot dogs and hamburgers, typically, though that’s not so much a matter of tradition as it is just the popular practice. Since it’s summer, it’s a great excuse to hang out outside with your friends and get a little tipsy. Traditionally there’s a fireworks show. People are less insistent on that part in California than in Maryland (which borders Washington, DC), though, I’ve noticed. When I was a kid we went to the fireworks show at the Naval Academy in Annapolis every year as a matter of course.
Then again, we were a military family.
BTW, didn’t mean to show you up, glee. I couldn’t tell you much about the traditions associated with English holidays…
Edit: How on earth do you use strikeout?
[QUOTE=fetus]
Edit: How on earth do you use strikeout?
[/QUOTE]
[del]You mean this?[/del] del and /del, inside brackets of course.
Thanks. Not knowing that, ruined my alien joke…
In my experience as a kid, the 4th of July was an excuse to play with matches and various explosives bought from a stand on the side of the road. As we got older, alcohol was added to the mix.
On a good night, you only sustained minor burns. But I did hear about this one time that someone lost a finger…
(Independence? Yeah, something about that, too).
[QUOTE=manx]
Also, Guy Fawkes (which I think is more commonly called Bonfire Night in the UK) celebrates an attempt to blow up parliament
[/quote]
Not quite: it celebrates the foiling of the attempt.
[QUOTE=gigi]
While you’re at it, can you take back this Katie & Peter crap too? I’m getting tired of avoiding them on E!
[/QUOTE]
And we’ve got a used Prime Minister available soon, if you’re interested. Only slightly shop-soiled.
[QUOTE=ivylass]
No offense…July 4th is more of an outdoorsy holiday, with barbecues and fireworks and visits to the beach. No one wants to be stuck inside all day roasting a turkey.
[/QUOTE]
Although if you feel compelled, you could always deep-fry a turkey out by the grill.
[QUOTE=ivylass]
Thanksgiving dates back to the Mayflower landing. Supposedly the new settlers were starving, and kindly Indians came and brought them food so they would survive the winter. Since then, it’s been an excuse for family get-togethers to eat as much as is humanely possible and watch football games.
[/QUOTE]
Any truth in the supposition that the Indians also have a name for this day, which translates very approximately as “Stupid Fucking Ancestors!” Day? 