The Boy From New York City
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The Boy From New York City

Film Friday IX: "The Godfather: Part I"

1/29/2016

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(Quick Little Note: I'm not going to lie to you guys, I just woke up fifteen minutes ago, and wrote this blog in that time. Sorry for the late post. Also I want to say that this movie was planned months ago for this date, and has nothing to do with the fact that Abe Vigoda died yesterday. For those of you who don't know, he was an actor who played Tessio in this movie. Ok now, on with the post!)

For my ninth Film Friday, I am going to write about a movie that means so much to my family, both as an Italian movie, and in another way, which I will write about down below. This film is such an American classic, and the film I am going to write about is 1972's, The Godfather: Part I. 

What this movie is about is the leadership of the Corleone crime family in New York City. The family is led by the Don, Vito Corleone, with the help of his son Santino "Sonny" Corleone. He eventually takes over after his retirement, but then is assassinated at the Jones Beach Car Terminals, wherein Michael Corleone becomes head of the family, and then leads it for many years. 

This movie is so quoted throughout the day, by almost everyone that you might not have watched the movie, but you have definitely quoted it. When people say, "I am going to make them an offer they can't refuse", thats from the movie. Thats just one example. Also, everybody on this planet at one time or another has tried to do, successful or not, a Vito Corleone impression. 

This movie is full of big time names. There is of course the director Francis Ford Coppola, and actors Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and James Caan, but also Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, and the now late Abe Vigoda. 

Now this movie has such a big significance in my families life, because my grandfather was an uncredited extra in the famous scene with James Caan getting shot at the "Jones Beach Toll Booths". The reason this was possible, was that it really wasn't filmed at Jones Beach. Instead, it was filmed at Mitchel Field in Uniondale, on the site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He was helping with the Coliseum, and saw what was going on. He went over there and they said they needed an extra and he looked like he could fit the part. They dressed him up, gave him a fake gun, and told him to point the gun, and then run after all the sound effects were done. He did it, was paid nothing, and went back to real work. He had no clue what movie or what this was for, but later on, when he went to see the movie, there was the scene. The Sandas Family on the Silver Screen!

There is so much more to this film, but really thats what it is about. It's about the Mafia, it's about the crime, it's about the power. It is really an all-time classic film and I suggest it to anyone who like Mafia movies, or had about four hours to kill off. 

Have you ever seen this movie? Would you want to? If you have, what were your favorite parts?
Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "You grow up the first day you have a real good laugh at yourself." - Ethel Barrymore
"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit." - Khalil Gibran
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Turnstile NYC Thursday X: "Madison Square Garden"

1/28/2016

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For my tenth Turnstile NYC Thursday, I am going to write about a place that I go to every now and again. A place where I have cheered loud as a fan of an act, to a fan of the home team, to a fan of the road team. I am talking about the World's Greatest Arena, Madison Square Garden.

Madison Square Garden is located on top of Penn Station in the middle of the city. It is located between 33rd and 31st Street and 7th and 8th Avenues. It is has been the fourth MSG to open. The third was right next door, opened in 1925, but has been replaced by the current one and a skyscraper called One Penn Plaza in 1968 and 1970 respectively. The first two were around in the early 1890's to the 1920's as a place for circuses and is now Madison Square Park, a place I mentioned in my post two weeks ago. 

The current Madison Square Garden is known as the Greatest Arena in the World, as it has hosted it's fair share of events. It has hosted the first ever live-aid concert, with George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh, The Concert for New York City after 9/11, and the 12-12-12 Concert, after Superstorm Sandy rocked New Jersey, the city, and Long Island. It held two NHL All-Star Games, in 1973 and 1994, two NBA All-Star Games, in 1998 and 2015, and three WNBA All-Star Games, in 1999, 2003, and 2006.

Also the Soviet Union beat the NHL All-Star / Greats team two games to one, in 1979, to scare people at the 1980 Olympics, (which didn't work), and beat the Miracle on Ice team 10-3, two weeks before they would beat the 4-3, in the greatest hockey game ever.

It is the home of the New York Rangers of the NHL, the New York Knicks of the NBA, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA. They also host multiple Red Storm games of St. John's University, and the Big East Tournament.

Almost any artist has performed on this hallowed stage. Long Island native Billy Joel, currently has the record for the most shows sold out with 65, five short of beating his amount that he had at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. I have seen a few concerts in this arena, and I have got to a good amount of basketball and hockey games here, and I have loved every single one! 

If you ever get the chance to go to any type of concert, or any type of game in this arena... please go! You definitely won't regret it!

Have you ever been to Madison Square Garden? If so, what did you see? If you haven't what you have want to have seen?

Peace and Love,
DGS

​Quotes of the Day: "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in the right to do what we ought." - Pope St. John Paul II
"Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else." - George Bernard Shaw
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Wisdom Wednesday XI: "An Open Letter to My Newborn self"

1/27/2016

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For today's post, As a cool Wisdom Wednesday for my eleventh one, I am going to do a cool idea, that I saw Bryan Trottier write about a few weeks ago, about the idea of going back in time, and giving a letter to your younger self, for advice on his upcoming life. So here is the letter that I wrote to myself, the day before I was born on May 1st, 1997...

"April 30th, 1997

You Ain't See Nothin' Yet Kid...

Tomorrow, you will be born to two loving parents, in a great big loving family. You're name won't be Frederick Vincent Sandas III, or Benjamin Frederick Sandas, like your father wants. You'll be named Dylan Graham Sandas. It means God of the Ocean Waves, and oh, just wait, you'll love watching the water come out of the hose in the backyard of the house, and playing with water. Name really fits the bill! 

You'll get the two greatest godparents in the world. Your Uncle George, and your Aunt Jodi. They will lead you in ways you'll never believe. They will protect you with their lives, and become so close to you. Uncle George will become your Confirmation Sponsor too. 

You don't realize it yet, but your life is going to have so much meaning in other peoples lives. You are going to make people smile, you'll make them laugh, make them cry, and help people. You are going to be admired by some, and hated by others, but hey, that's life kid. Your life is going to be great!
 
You've already given your parents, family, and family friends multiple heart attacks, when you were almost lost in a car accident a few months before you were to be born. You also will make your mom get a C-Section tomorrow, because you didn't have enough fluid for your head, (Nice going bud!)

But you yourself will go through your fair share heartaches and losses son, so brace yourself! You'll lose your last grandfather, Papa, at the age of two and a half. You'll lose one of your aunts on your mothers side in the sixth grade, and you'll lose some family members because of it. You'll lose a friend of your future cousin Mack, named Jake at a young age. You'll lose your favorite aunt on your mothers side to cancer, when you're going to be a senior in high school. It will devastate your family.

You'll be born almost completely deaf in both ears, and have surgery at the age of two. You'll have surgery for a hernia in the stomach at the age of six. You'll have appendicitis, and go into the hospital at the age of seven. You'll think and cry for an hour with your mother, that at the age of a little over four, you've lost your father, and two uncles, as you watch an event on the news unfold, later called '9/11'. 

But life won't all be bad things. You'll actually see that your life is pretty great! You'll get two excellent cousins in August of 1998 and January of 2000, named Mack and Connor. You'll go to Sacred Heart School in North Merrick, and become friends with the greatest fourteen people ever. You'll get a sister on March 15th, 2003. You'll be first in the nation on a Social Studies Test in the fifth grade, (Don't worry, you're last in the line for a reason!)

You'll be elected Class President of Sacred Heart in the eighth grade. You'll be an interviewer for Newsday. You'll be in two plays in your life. You'll go to Kellenberg Memorial High School. You'll make Varsity Bowling as a Freshman. You'll become Captain. You'll sing in the chorus for four years. You'll be famous in that grade of yours. You'll fall in love. You'll go to a great college in Hofstra University. You'll become a star!

You'll become a Mets, Jets, Islanders, and Knicks fan. Don't bandwagon other teams, and read, always read, because it is going to help you find your career later on in life. 

You won't be rich in the pocket, but you'll be rich in the heart, (Pretty deep right!, I know, you'll become something of a poet when you're older.)

Your mother won't be a doctor, or some big fancy lawyer, but a nurse in a Hospital, right down the road from your house, for the first three years of your life. She will wheel you there every now and then in your Red Wagon. That job will close down and end, and she will take up a job at Hofstra University, and work long hours for fifteen years, to pay for your college. It's a big deal

Your father isn't some big shot snooty-fruity asshat. Instead, he will be the hardest working and strongest person you'll ever see. You'll become his little 'partner', as you will help him plow the snow, and help him around the firehouse.

He won't be home a few days in the middle of September in 2001. Don't worry, he is busy being an American hero, and a saint to those who need his help. Take care of mom for those few days. And get ready to cheer your brains out on September 21st, because your favorite player, on your favorite team, is going to do something extraordinary!

He will be elected chief when you're in high school, and you'll help him through it. Your family is going to show you the right way to live life, I guarantee it!

You need your parents, and they need you. You need to be a role model for your sister, your cousins, and your friends. Now life may get confusing I know this, but just follow the lead of your heart, and your family, and always hold dear the ones you have lost. 

Signed, in Peace and Love... Always,
DGS

P.S: Remember that closing line, you're going to need it someday!"

So that is a fun little exercise that I did. It actually made me tear up a little bit in some spots, because your are writing down a brief account of your life story. 

Did this inspire you to want to write an open letter to yourself? What would you disclose? What would you keep a secret?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Go for it right now! The future isn't promise to anyone!" - Wayne Dyer
"Love is space and time measured by the heart, and not the brain!" - Marcel Proust
"If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster!" - Clint Eastwood
"You miss 100% of the shots, you don't take!" - Wayne Gretzky 
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Tune Tuesday XI: "Mambo Italiano"

1/26/2016

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For my eleventh Tune Tuesday, I am going to write about my fifth Dean Martin song. I am going to write one that is so much fun to listen to. It is going to be his version of "Mambo Italiano."

This song is the quintessential Italian song. The way Dean Martin pronounces words in the song, to the words themselves, to the music and instruments behind it all is all so true of the Italian style of music. It is such a fun song. 

All you need to hear is Dean Martin talking real New York City Italian. (I know he's from Ohio, chill out. What I am saying is the way he pronounces words is like someone from New York City). He says the letter 'a', after every couple of words or so. I'll show it in the lyrics. I am going to write the lyrics, the way he says them in the song, not in proper English. This song doesn't have long, clear and clean breaks in-between verses and the chorus, because it so fast, so the lyrics below are not one long verse, they are like and introduction, three chorus, two verses, and a bridge.

The song starts off slow, with a chorus of men and women singing, "A boy went back to Napoli, because he missed the scenery. The native dances and the charming songs, but wait a minute. Somethings wrong. Cause now its...". Then the tempo kicks in, and we're off with the song, "Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Hey-hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Go, go, go, you mixed up a-Siciliano, all you Calabrese do de Mambo like-a crazy wid-a, Hey Mambo! Don't want-a Tarantella. Hey-hey Mambo! No more-a Mozzarella. Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano, Try an enchilada wid-a fishy baccala then, Hey goomba! I love the way you dance de rumba. But take-a some advice paisano, learn-a how-da mambo. If you're gonna be a square, you ain't-a gonna go nowhere, Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Hey-hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Go, go, Joe, shake like a Giovanna, E lo che se dice, you gid-a happy in the feets-a when you Mambo, Italiano!" 

There is then an instrumental break in-between, then it comes back with, "Hey chadrool, you don't-a have't-a go to da school. Just make wid-a big-a bambino, It's-a like-a vino. Kid you're good-a looking', but you don't-a how its cookin' 'till you Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Hey-hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano. Ho, ho, ho, you mixed up-a Siciliano, E lo che se dice, you gid-a happy in the feets-a when you Mambo, Italiano!" Then it has a bit more music in the background, with some grunting to the music, as it fades out.

It's lines like these, that make this song so fun to sing and dance to. It really is one of my all-time favorite songs by Dean Martin, and I hope that it becomes one of yours too!

Did you like this song choice? Did this song sound really Italian to you to? Do you want me to keep doing more Dean Martin songs, or start to do other artists?
Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Peace is its own reward." - Mahatma Ghandi
"Try as you will, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic of the human heart, love." - Victor Hugo
"If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever." - St. Thomas Aquinas 
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Memory Monday XI: "Florida-Georgia Line Concert at MSG"

1/25/2016

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For my eleventh Memory Monday, I am going to choose one that happened almost a year ago, and one that means so much to both me and my cousin. It is the time last February that we went to go see Florida-Georgia Line at Madison Square Garden.

My cousin got the tickets for him and his other cousin to go to. She bought them for him as a Christmas gift, and there was no big deal there. I wasn't into country music at all, so it didn't bother me. They both were so it was all good in the hood. But a few days before the concert, something came up in her school that she couldn't miss, so she couldn't go anymore. He asked his brother, but he didn't want to go, so then he asked me.

After a few hours of pleading my case to my parents, I was allowed to go, and that Wednesday night, me and Mack, along with my mom and his mom, took the train out east, met me and my mom in Mineola, and we came into Penn Station, walked up the steps, went outside, then back inside, into Madison Square Garden, walked up a bunch of steps, and then sat in our seats. We were in the upper deck, right at an angle where you could see the side of the stage, but also the front, they were excellent seats.

There were two opening acts, and then Florida-Georgia Line. They were Frankie Ballard, Thomas Rhett, and then FGL. What was so cool about the concert, was that they didn't just play their country songs. They played other songs as well. Frankie Ballard closed with "Old Time Rock and Roll", by Bob Seger. Thomas Rhett sang "Uptown Funk", because that was the big song at that time, and FGL sang songs like "Treasure" by Bruno Mars, "All About that Bass", by Meghan Trainor, and "Forgot about Dre", by Dr. Dre and Eminem. 

They all came together and closed the concert out, wearing both custom and non-custom Knicks (Yay!) and Rangers (Boo!) jerseys. Then we hopped back on the train, and went home. We had a lot of fun that night, and I am so glad that I said yes in the end to it, because now whenever we are riding around out east on the Island in his Jeep, we are blasting these songs and more on the radio!

Have you ever seen a concert at MSG? Do you like country music or country concerts? Would you have wanted to go to a concert that you knew nothing about, like I did?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "No matter what people tell you, words and ideas, can change the world." - Robin Williams 
"The past, the present, and the future, are really one... they are today!" - Harriet Beacher Stowe
"Courage is the ladder on which all other virtues mount." - Clare Boothe Luce 
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Should You Tell People How You Really Feel?

1/23/2016

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For today's post I want to write about a topic that I have been thinking about for a while now. It is a topic that is pretty close to me, and has happened many times to me, and that is should you tell people that you care about how you really feel?

There have been many people in my life who I have told the truth too on how I felt about them. It never worked out for me at all. There were a few girls in high school, and two in college so far, that I expressed my inner most self, and all I got in return was a pat on the back, and a good try. Because this is a personal blog post to me, and I have nothing to hide from anyone... I'm going to tell you about them all! (Now if any person who is reading this, is one of the people who I did this too, don't worry, no names, just situations.)

First one was right when I got into high school. Liked this girl in a few of my classes. Really pretty you know, first high school crush. Well I was nervous, but I did talk to her, with a lot of help from my friends, telling her stuff about me. She didn't bite, and then went out with a guy a year older than us, and they are still together to this day. (That's a reoccurring theme here. Shortly after I ask someone out, they always then get another guy as their boyfriend.

(There were two more, that fall under this category, that I was going to write about, but I chose not to for personal reasons. Maybe one day I will, but not now. Not that it is too emotional or painful, but they are long, and can 'kick some dust up', if you know what I mean!)


Then the next year I liked this girl who was a few of my classes. I talked to her more than the previous girl to try and not have the same results... well that didn't work out. I kinda told her how I felt, and the how school knew how I felt, cause I told my friends, and they gossiped like there was no tomorrow. She then went after a guy that was a year older again, and again they are still going out!

Then the next year came the big one guys. The real high school crush. There was this girl, that I had known for the previous two years, who was just beautiful. They broke the mold when they made her, believe me when I say that! I got to really know her real well, as we finally had classes together. I asked her out in February after months of talking inn school, and through texting, but I was literally a week too late, she already had a boyfriend, from the crosstown rival high school. I was so upset man. I later heard in November that she was single, I asked her again, but she was still taken by the same guy. Then we went to Disney with our school, and had a great time together, but she was still taken, so it felt wrong. Recently, I asked her out again, because now she was single, but no cigar there. Honest to God, I'm not giving up hope on this one guys. 

Then I got to college, and met some wonderful people in June. There was this one girl that I met, that as soon as I saw her I was taken so aback you know. We talked and talked for days on end through text, as the big day approached when we were all back together. When school started again, I told her how I felt. Now I told you guys how I felt with the previous girl, but this girl made me feel a whole gamut, (big word right!), of other amazing things man. She didn't feel the same, and then pushed me away for another guy, and stopped talking to me! It's not like I did anything wrong to her. I have been nothing but nice the whole time! I stuck up for her so many times in our classes that we had together, when people wanted to kill her for her views. I did a lot for her, but I got treated like shit! That one still stings, not going to lie here! 

Then I met this other girl who was so nice you know. We got to talking and even FaceTiming, now that had only happened with one other girl throughout high school, and that was for one of the cheerleaders, who always asked me for the physics answers! Anyways, We got really close, and I asked her out, and guess what guys, it was a no! She was already seeing a basketball player, and now she isn't talking to me for some God knows reason! Another one! (DJ Khaled baby)

The reason I talk about all this, is because it makes me wonder, am I good enough? The answer is yes, but just not in these situations you know. I have tried so hard all my life to be a kind individual, and always respectful. Always kept my head held high, and never been a bad guy, really, I mean that. 

Problem is I never got the answer I was looking for. Now some of these girls that I liked, and there were a bunch more that I didn't include, were just a crush and that was it. But the others, especially the third and second to last ones were pretty important to me, and kinda hurt when it didn't happen. 

But what needs to happen is perseverance. There needs to be a hunger in me not to settle, and there isn't, believe me on that one! Now the title of the post is should you tell people how you truly feel. I thought so, but it never worked out for me. Maybe it did for you.

But the thing we need to remember is that the truth always sets you free, but it doesn't always give you what you want!

Did you think that this was a good post idea? Don't you think I had a rough go of it?! Do you think that it will get better?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "I have learned that to be with those I like is enough." - Walt Whitman
"None knows the weight of another's burden in life." - George Herbert
"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, to love forever is to live forever." - Henry Drummond
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Film Friday VIII: "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"

1/22/2016

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For my eighth Film Friday, I am going to choose a movie that is so funny. I am going to pick a movie that me and my two cousins quote all the time. The movie I am going to pick is 2004's, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story".

The plot of the film is that there is this gym named Average Joe's, run by Vince Vaughn's character Peter LaFleur. It is isn't that financially successful. It is then taken over by his rival, White Goodman, played by Ben Stiller. who owns a highly successful gym, Globo-Gym, across the street. He needs to raise $50,000, or the gym will close down. Attorney Kate Veatch is working on foreclosing the gym for White, so he can demolish it. White tries to hit on her multiple times, but is unsuccessful, and learns to like Peter, and his friends who work there, and go there to work out. (In real life, Christine Taylor, the actress who plays Kate, and Ben Stiller, are married!)

His friends Dwight, Owen, Steve "The Pirate", Justin, and Gordon, try to raise the money by entering into a Dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas. They first have to beat a girl scout team to qualify, but lose in embarrassing fashion. At the award ceremony, they are disqualified, after one of the girls took steroids to win. They then move on to Vegas. White learns of this, and enters his gyms team into the tournament to try to beat them, so he will win the gym. They then go under the training of "Patches" O'Houlihan, to try to win the competition. 

They train with Patches, by dodging cars in the street, and by dodging wrenches thrown at their faces. He does many other crazy things, and teaches them the "Five D's of Dodgeball": Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, and Dodge. 

Kate then joins the team, after they learn that she played softball for many years, and is really good at Dodgeball. They compete in the tournament, and go all the way into the finals match, but the night before, Patches is crushed and killed by a "Luck of the Irish" sign. Devastated, Peter is tricked into signing away his gym no matter to outcome of the finals against White, for $100,000 dollars. He quits the team and because of that they don't have enough people to play. They are about to forfeit the match, but Peter comes back just in time.

They play the game, go to overtime, and win. White then said that even though they won, Peter signed away the gym and it is now his. Peter then tells White, that he took his advice that he gave him the night before at the signing, and invested his money, but he did so in his team. They were going off at 30-1 odds to lose, so he turned his $100,000 into $30,000,000. He then buys out White Goodman's stock in his own company, own Globo-Gym, and gets to keep Average Joe's, since it is under the ownership of White's former company. Thats how the movie ends then!

Now that might seem a bit boring, but the movie is non-stop funny from beginning to end. The cast is funny, the situations are funny, the teams they face are funny, and the one-liners are some that can be used at almost any time in your life. 

If you have not already seen this movie, then I highly recommend it!

Have you seen this movie yet? Would you want to see this movie? If you have seen this movie, what was / were your favorite part(s)?
Peace and Love,
DGS

​Quotes of the Day: "If you can dodge a wrench, then you can dodge a ball!" - Patches O'Houlihan 
"If you can dodge traffic, then you can dodge a ball!" - Patches O'Houlihan
"Son, you're as useful as a crap flavored lollipop!' - Patches O'Houlihan
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Turnstile NYC Thursday IX: "Federal Hall"

1/21/2016

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For my ninth Turnstile NYC Thursday, I am going to go a bit historical on you all. My inner New York City geek is going to come out in this post, as I will be writing about a spot that means a lot to the history of the city, the history of the country, and the history of the world! I am going to talk about the former capital building of the United States, Federal Hall.

Federal Hall is located in Lower Manhattan, right next to Wall Street, and right down the block from Trinity Church. If you need a landmark from the sky, the green-topped Trump Building, built in the 1930's, and the American International Building, also known as Lower Manhattan's Empire State Building, will help you out!

It was built in 1700, as a pure governmental building. It's most famous claim-to-fame moment, is that George Washington took the first oath of office here, and became the first President of the United States here, a day before my birthday, on April 30th, 1789.

It was also where the Bill of Rights were fought over for the new Constitution, and where John Peter Zenger was tried for libel in 1735, prompting the first amendment, many years later. In 1765, the levied the Stamp Act here, with the delegates from almost all the colonies, and came up with the now famous line, "Taxation without Representation."  

It was where the government met under the Articles of Confederation. They created the Northwest Ordinance here, which basically created the states Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and prohibited slavery in those states, and some of the Northern ones too. The Judiciary Act was made here also, which created the judicial system, that we still follow to this day. Pierre Charles L'Enfant, was commissioned to make the building bigger under Washington's command. He will be later known, for designing the layout of Washington D.C. 

The next year in 1790, the capital was moved to Philadelphia, and the building then became the Government of New York City Building, until the building was demolished in 1812. The current building on the site was renamed Federal Hall, and was opened in 1842. The original flooring and balcony where Washington took the oath of office, are on display inside of the building, as well as the Bible used in the inauguration. The building used to part of the Sub-Treasury during the mid 1800's to the early 1900's, until that was replaced buy the Federal Reserve. Now it is a permanent National Historic Landmark, renamed Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site, on May 26th, 1939. 

There is a famous statue on the front steps of Federal Hall, of George Washington taking the oath of office. John Quincy Adams Ward created the statue in 1882.

Fun Fact: He is named after the Fifth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams, who was the son of the Second President, John Adams, who was George Washington's Vice-President, both of whom were there at the inauguration at Federal Hall on April 30th, 1789!

In 1920, a bomb was detonated across the street at 23 Wall Street. 38 people were killed and over 400 more were injured. There is a picture that shows all of this chaos, that I will put down below, that shows George Washington's sculpture standing firm amidst the rubble. There was a special meeting of Congress on September 6th, 2002, almost a year after the 9/11 attacks, to show support to a city, still reeling. It was the first meeting of Congress on that site in over 212 years! It was renovated from 2004-2005 to repair cracks that had been agitated from the World Trade Center collapse. 

It is free to the public every day, except on National Holidays, and open at regular business hours, 9 A.M. - 5 P.M. I strongly recommend, if you are into history, and you have a while in New York City, to go check out this incredible place!

Would you want to visit Federal Hall? Did you know how significant this building was?
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Peace and Love,
DGS

​Quotes of the Day: "Without a Struggle, there can be no Progress!" - Frederick Douglas
"If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest!" - Publilius Syrus
"You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think!" - Milton Berle
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Wisdom Wednesday X: "Screw The Haters!"

1/20/2016

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For my tenth Wisdom Wednesday, I am going to write about something that means a lot to me. Something that I have learned from personal experience. Today, I am going to write about forgetting the haters, and the people that make your life harder than it needs to be!

The reason I writing this post is because I have recently got something that I was hoping and praying for heavily. I worked hard for it, but there were always people in my life who said I couldn't do it, and there were always people who were trying to derail me. 

There were more people saying I couldn't do it than there were trying to stop me, but I got to say there was a lot of that last one near the end of high school. There were people who tried to mess up my perfect reputation with my real friends. They looked stupid, and I was able to get past it, and use it to my advantage. 

I have lost a few people in my life who I was close to. Not through their passing, but through other means. I have been called every name in the book, but I feel that all of that stuff has made me into who I am. See there is this feeling in my family, that if you say I can't do something, or you go against me, then I am going to try the times as hard to prove you wrong, and I'll usually succeed in doing so.

What I am saying is that you need to take this negative energy around you, and make it into a driving force behind whatever you do. I think that this 'hate' that you might get from people, could be the worst thing they could ever do to you and to themselves, as if you are able to do what I do, and take it and create a positive feeling for yourself, then their whole plan backfires miserably, and you come out as the victor. 

You can't let these people get to you. You need to drive past it. See what is cool about this piece of wisdom, is that the other previous nine pieces all can help you get through this.

You don't think I didn't plan it all out like that. See, I have been telling you all for a while that I have a large plans for this blog!

So in closing, sometimes you need hate, to show yourself that you are human, that not everyone likes you, and that you are force to be reckoned with!

Do you agree with me on this piece of wisdom? Do you think you should embrace the haters, or forget about them?

Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "Tough times never last, but tough people do." - Robert H. Schuller 
"Faces that have charmed us the most escape us the soonest." - Walter Scott
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 
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Tune Tuesday X: "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You"

1/19/2016

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For my tenth Tune Tuesday, I am going to choose a song that I love so much. It is my fourth Dean Martin song that I have put on this blog, and a follow up song to "Everybody Loves Somebody" which was my second Tune Tuesday. This song today is "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You". 

I love this song so much because it has such a great meaning behind its lyrics. The first verse goes, "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You. You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Cares. You may be King, you may possess the World, and its Gold. But Gold won't buy you happiness, when you're growin' old."

Then the chorus comes in with, "The world still is the same, you'll never change it. As sure, as the stars shine above. Well You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You, so go and find somebody to Love." The song then has an instrumental break, in the style of the only verse, and then it comes back with the chorus one last time, and the song ends.

It is a very quick song, but the meaning behind it is so great. What it means is that you're nobody until you find special someone, and that someone brings out the true you. It means that you need to find the person that makes you, you! It means that money won't get you happiness when you're trying to settle down in the world. You need a love in your life to do that!

Now I am still looking for that Somebody to Love, and I hope that that special woman comes around real soon! (I know, shameless self-plug right there) I really hope that she brings me happiness when the time is right, and makes me real happy! And I can say this as a fact, I will be singing this song to her a few times!

So that's that on my fourth Dean Martin song. Next week will bring number five, as I am going to do his famous song Mambo Italiano. Now that is one of my favorite songs by Dean, so I am so excited to do that one!

Have you ever heard this song before? Do you think that this is a good love song like I do?
Peace and Love,
DGS

Quotes of the Day: "We are not makers of history. We are made by history." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (I know I should have used this yesterday. Calm Down!)
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers
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    About The Author

    ​Hi! I'm Dylan, I'm 19, and I live on Long Island. I hope I can spread some laughter, advice, and love to people through this blog!

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