Happy Independence Day! Around here, we shall submit to the traditional viewing of the movie "Jaws." I live in Massachusetts. "Jaws" was filmed in Martha's Vineyard. "Jaws" created the summer blockbuster. No summer passes by without some clown crying "shark!" at the beach. The theme music has become a part of popular culture. Whenever you say "You're gonna need a bigger boat" or start singing "Fairwell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies; Fairwell and adieu to you ladies of Spain..." everyone knows what you're talking about. Everyone already knows the main mechancal shark was nicknamed "Bruce." Bet you didn't know that Robert Shaw couldn't stand Richard Dreyfuss. They argued all the time. That increased the tension in their scenes.

Here are more fun facts about "Jaws:"

* The original scene with Alex Kintner's death was so scary that it had to be cut due to the fact that it might scare people to death and they would not be able to give JAWS a PG rating but an R instead. The scene called for a doll of Alex to be floating among the bathers, then the shark would jump out of the water.

* When the shark was built, it was never water tested therefore when it was put in the water at Martha's Vineyard, it sunk straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it from the floor.

* Robert Shaw could not stand Richard Dreyfuss and they argued all the time, which resulted in some good tension between Hooper and Quint.

* Robert Shaw was also in trouble from the IRS and had to flee the country once his scenes were completed.

* A midget in a miniature cage and a real shark were used to get some shots correct. (The midget was used to make the shark look bigger.)

* Apparently, technicians lost control of one of the mechanical sharks, and it was lost at sea.

* A real shooting star can be seen during a shot of the boat on the water at dusk.

* Author Peter Benchley was thrown off the set after objecting to the climax.

If you want the rest, you'll have to go to my blog.