The American Color

A thought occurs: if one were to mix the colors of the United States flag, in the proportions they appear on the flag, what would be the one resultant color to represent America?

First let's get our colors. This site explains:

The exact shades of blue and red are numbers 80075 and 80180 in the Standard Color Card of America published by the Color Association of the United States. In the Pantone system the colors are: Blue PMS 282 and Red PMS 193. The RGB numbers are: #002868 (blue) and #BF0A30 (red).

But then other sites disagree. You'd think this would be a standard thing which would be easy to find. Who is authoritative? I'm not sure, but I'm going to go with the website of the US Consulates in the United Kingdom which states that the blue is "Old Glory Blue" (HEX: #002147) and "Old Glory Red" (HEX: #BB133E).

Note: The standards of the Color Association of the United States mean nothing to me, the Pantone system is not helpful, but with the Hex numbers we have something we can use later.

Now for the ratios. 

I asked ChatGPT what the ratios were for the colors of the American flag and it said 60% white, 40% red, 3.9% blue. Aside from the fact that that doesn't add to 100%, 3.9% blue sounds impossible. Thanks, ChatGPT.

So, more searching... the best source I could find is a random forum post by some random dude calling himself "Dr. No." Dr. No says:

The current USA flag is 41.5% red and as a bonus I'll throw in the fact that the other color percentages are 40.9% white and 17.6% blue.

 I'm not one to take the word of a random weirdo on the internet, but believe it or not, I've looked for alternatives and this is somehow the best source I could find. So we have the ratios... I guess.

Now to mix the exact colors in the exact correct proportion, we need an online color mixer that allows for Hex value inputs and percentages. I found dopelycolors, which doesn't allow for tenths of a percent, so I'll round. All of the ratios round up - the red has the lowest decimal so the red gets rounded down.

Taking all of this into account, the end result color of America is:

Turkish Rose (HEX: #B5768F)

What are the chances? What are the chances that The Great American Color would just happen to have another country in its name?

So there you have it. I knew it was going to be a form of purple but I was hoping for a richer purple. But the numbers are the numbers. Wear Turkish Rose and you can be patriotic in a way that communicates nothing and only confuses people if you explain it.

Wild Bill's Rocket Pop Soda

 

Celebrating Independence Day with a Wild Bill's Rocket Pop soda. As suggested by the side of the can, this is soda that's meant to taste like a Rocket Pop (or Bomb Pop) which is a name I only recently learned. Bomb Pops are the red, white and blue popsicles sometimes shaped like rockets.

Does it succeed? It does! It absolutely succeeds in simulating that Rocket Pop taste and it independently succeeds in being a great tasting soda.

If I'm being a soda critic, it comes in a taller, thinner can that's in-style these days, which I don't like and I think the carbonation could be bumped up a bit higher. It's made with sugar, which is nice and it's caffeine-free. One of the things I was curious about with a soda that's supposed to be red, white and blue is what color would it be? And it's clear, so that's as it probably should be.

Happy Independence Day to you.

8.5/10. Very good, recommended.

What's Your Favorite Independence Day Movie?

"I came to America in 1914 by way of Philadelphia..."

 "What's your favorite Independence Day movie?" I thought it was a fair conversation-starter. I thought of it ahead of time but when I was around people, I forgot to ask it. There aren't many movies that revolve around July 4th. There are so few that one might add war movies to the mix. That's a discussion in itself - somehow "Saving Private Ryan" doesn't feel like an Independence Day movies but "Glory" does. And, is it me, or are there way too few movies about the Revolutionary War? You'd think there'd be a billion of them. But, narrowing the field as best I could, and having the advantage of advance notice, I determined my answer was "Avalon" (1990).

"Avalon" is my favorite type of movie: it's largely plotless, only revolving around the relationships between people and the passage of time. In this case it shows a grandfather immigrating to the United States, follows the second generation as they go into business for themselves and much of the action is seen through the eyes of the third generation played by child actor Elijah Wood. It's the kind of movie that hits me harder than any other but I can't share with anyone because it's "boring."

Roger Ebert postulates that "Avalon" is about the deterioration of familial ties and it's the contention of the film that the fault lies with the rise of television. What a harrowing tale when you consider that it's not just television anymore, it's internet, youtube, apps, video games and social media. Watching it now, it's clear that he's partly right: the television's effects on the family is a running motif, but it's also undeniable that the main fault of family break down is simple human fallibility - petty bickering, rivalry, stubbornness, and so on.

I think of "Avalon" as a meditation on the generational continuum we are all on. The grandfather tells his story to the grandchildren who listen with rapt attention. When he tells stories to his children, they've heard them all a million times and are tired of them. Consider the experience of the storyteller himself: "If I knew things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember better." He also sums up the entire film: "Jules, if you stop remembering, you forget."

Happy Independence Day

It just so happens that leading up to July 4th, the book I've been reading is "1776" by David McCullough. I actually started reading it without knowing what it's about. I was so amazed by "John Adams" that I bought "1776" sight unseen. That caused a slight problem later on.

It turns out that, whereas "John Adams" gives insight into the Revolutionary War from the perspective of the Continental Congress and diplomacy with Great Britain, "1776" is specifically about the war itself. George Washington, General Howe, the Battle of Long Island, strategy, the soldiers, cannons, it's all here. As fascinating as the subject of John Adams is, the war is even more fascinating and I was delighted and enthralled.

There was just one problem with going in blind that dawned on me slowly as I got further and further and realized how much attention was put into each detail... I kept looking at how far I was into the book and thinking "there's a long way to go here and not many pages to do it". It turns out the book is about the war ONLY DURING the year 1776, not a history of the entire war. I came into it only knowing the title but I should have paid more attention to it. 1776... I get it.

As much as I would have loved an entire history of the war, it still remains that the book is fantastic. If you only read one thing for Independence Day, I recommend "1776". And if you don't read that, read "John Adams". And if you don't read "John Adams" watch the series "John Adams" and if you don't watch the whole series, just watch the second episode. And if you don't watch the second episode, I don't know, I think I'm out.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams