Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale /ˌfɔərt ˈlɔːdərdeɪl/ (frequently abbreviated as Ft. Lauderdale) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast 23 miles (37 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.

The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% bed tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.

Lauderdale

Lauderdale is a long narrow geographical district in the Scottish Borders, Scotland, being the valley of the Leader Water, (a tributary of the River Tweed), above which rivulet St. Cuthbert had a vision of St. Aidan's soul being conducted to heaven. It is traversed from end to end by the A68 trunk road which terminates at Edinburgh.

Roman Road

Many ancient camps, and many tumuli, are found in Lauderdale. The Roman road into Scotland, Dere Street, which means 'the road into the country of the wild animals', crossed a ford at Newstead, near Melrose, where there had been a Roman fort and garrison, and entered Lauderdale. Dere Street is said to have been reconditioned by King Malcolm Canmore and probably used by him in his almost constant warfare against England. The Roman road has now been traced from the Tweed through Lauderdale to Soutra.

Origins of name

The valley is said to take its name from the principal town of Lauderdale, the Royal Burgh of Lauder, The town is said to derive its name from the ancient family of the same name. The name of the river between 1124 and 1165 was spelt Leder and Ledre, whilst the name of the town has always been spelt Lauueder, Lawedir, Laudre, Lawder, Lawedere, Lauueder, &c. In a charter of William the Lion (1165 - 1214) both Lauueder and Lauuederdale are mentioned, as is Loweder in another document of the same reign.

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs. The term is derived from the Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").

From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in an ever changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its 'cyclopean' walls). A Greek Phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or English fortress. These construction mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and lands that might threaten the kingdom. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border.

Never Have I Ever

"Never Have I Ever", also known as "I've Never…" or "Ten Fingers", is a drinking game.

Rules

The verbal game is started with the players getting into a circle. Then, the first player says a simple statement starting with "Never have I ever". Anyone who has done what the first player has not must drink. Play then continues around the circle, and the next person makes a statement. An additional rule – uncommon, but beneficial to the game –is that if there is no one taking a drink, then the one who said the particular "I have never…" must take a drink. This rule often forces the players to strategize more and makes for less disposable/pointless suggestions.

A further variation holds that whenever only one person is drinking, that person must give a detailed account of why they are drinking. Another variation of this game involves putting up five or ten fingers, putting one down whenever something mentioned has been done. Those who end up putting down all of their fingers must take several successive drinks.

All Signs Point to Lauderdale

"All Signs Point to Lauderdale" is the second single from A Day to Remember's fourth album, What Separates Me from You, released on June 7, 2011.

Music and lyrics

Lead vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon wrote the lyrics, while the music was written by Tom Denney, McKinnon, guitarist Kevin Skaff, producer Chad Gilbert and A Day to Remember. The title came from an occasion when McKinnon and bassist Joshua Woodard were in a rough neighborhood in West Palm Beach, Florida. The pair were walking down Drexel Road in the early hours of the morning; they looked up to notice signs saying "Fort Lauderdale". In an interview with PopCrush in 2011, McKinnon said "All Signs Point to Lauderdale" was when you get the "feeling like you're stuck in a place that's leading you nowhere" and "standing up for yourself and taking charge of your life." The song talks "about being young and stuck in a town that you feel like you don't belong in. Sometimes, you feel like you want to get away from everything and everybody and do your own thing."