Sunday Washington Post Comic Strips Survey: Steve Jobs in Hell

Greetings to our blog readers in Cuba, Denmark, and Egypt.....

This week, Scott Hilburn took the brave task of having his comic strip "The Argyle Sweater" take on the complex and surreal topic of what the late Steve Jobs  (pict. top) would have to deal with if he ended up in hell. In the comic strip, which does not have set characters like "Peanuts" or "Garfield," two demons give Jobs an iPhone and play several practical jokes on him through the device which of course irritates the cellphone entrepreneur.

The comic strip "Lio" also took to fantasy escapism with a strip that has Lio, the title character, whistling at his father to look at a shark fin floating in make-shift outdoor pool. The image for this strip that we are using is of two shark fins at a pharmacy in Yokohama, Japan.

Jim Toomey's comic strip "Sherman's Lagoon" regularly features sharks as well. In this week's strip, Sherman, the title character and a shark, tries to talk to his Uncle Phil via Skype and there are technical problems as well as mutual difficulties in finding things to talk about.

Insects also figured prominently in several Sunday strips this week including Keith Knight's autobiographical "Knight Life" in which two mosquitoes (bottom image) try to bite his legs and converse with each other in the process!

Here is our top ten:

1. The Argyle Sweater 

2. Foxtrot

3. WuMo

4. Pearls Before Swine

5. Lio

6. Knight Life

7. Sherman's Lagoon

8. Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

9. Candorville

10. Dustin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.comicskingdom.com

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.kchronicles.com

Top 10 Comics from Sunday's Washington Post: Space Aliens and Donald Trump

Carly Fironia, Carly Fiornia, Carly Fironia, Carly F-I-O-R-I-N-A.............ok, so I'm having a difficult time trying to spell the name of the lone Republican presidential candidate (pict. center). This week, Garry Trudeau made fun of her as well as her opponents Ben Carson and the extreme ego maniac Donald Trump whom the cartoonist referred to as "Mister Clown."

"Doonesbury" finished second in our survey of comic strips in the nation's most political newspaper. First place actually went to the Danish import "WuMo" which featured a little green man from outer space at what appears to be a futuristic gas station in a town like Altoona, Pennsylvania pumping gas for his UFO (pict. top). This was actually a different "WuMo" than the one shown nationally, which to our recollection made fun of Indonesian monkeys.

"Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" featured a clever strip in which creatures from outer space, including Darth Vader and the spaceworm from "Dune," displays their past offenses via public shaming.

Among the other comic strips which made the top 10, we also like Scott Stantis' strip "Prickly City," which had a yellow dog, one of the title characters along with a little girl who looks a character from "The Waltons" or "Eight is Enough" (hmmm....I sense we lost millenials there), making wings to fly and crashing to the earth ala Icarus (pictured bottom) or Wile E. Coyote.

Here is the list:

1. WuMo

2. Doonesbury

3. Brewster Rockit

4. Lio

5. Candorville

6. Sheman's Lagoon

7. Foxtrot

8. The Argyle Sweater

9. Prickly City

10. Dustin

http://www.doonesbury.com

http://www.thehill.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.gocomics.com/wumo

http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity

Sunday Comic Strip Survey Feb.8th from the (Greensboro, NC) Sunday News and Record: Brewster Rockit Wins Our Hearts

Greetings to our blog readers in Australia, Sweden and Lebanon.....

Four our usual Sunday comic strip surveys we are entering a new newspaper as we were able to visit North Carolina this weekend where we picked a print copy (??!!!) of the Sunday "News and Record" from a gas station near the town of Mayodan, NC (????!!!!!!!!).

I know this is soooo 1979 of us.

Our favorite Sunday strip of the week was "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" in which one alien gave another a box of planets in which the planets looked like chocolates (top image, well actually that is of a chocolate fountain, we don't recommend that for people with diabetes) for Valentine's Day.

Second place went to the Danish import "WuMo" where piranha fish (pict. center) are being chased by a knife and fork, Salvador Dali would have loved such surrealism!

Third place went to "Ziggy," an old standard, in which this week, the title character is greeted by Twiki from the cult tv sci-fi tv series of the '70s that is "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" (pict. bottom), well, actually Ziggy is just being visted (and transfixed) by aliens who are not sure what their exact mission is. Perhaps, they should go to that gas station we visited in Mayodan, NC, and ask for directions!

Here is our top ten:

1) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

2) WuMo

3) Ziggy

4) Foxtrot

5) Pearls Before Swine

6) Doonesbury

7) Garfield

8) Jump Start

9) Dilbert

10) Judge Parker

For the memory of Deah Barakat, Yusar Abu-Salha and Razan Abu-Salah, the three Syrian college students studying at UNC and North Carolina State University on Tuesday. Deah was a fan of Stephen Curry, the NBA star who plays for the Golden State Warriors.

Our Favorite Comics from Sunday Jan. 18th Washington Post: Maybe Michelle and the Kids Like Foxtrot Too

Greetings to our blog readers in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.....

In the Outlook section of the Sunday, Jan. 18th edition of "The Washington Post," journalist Michael Booth made the bold proclamation that Scandinavia was over-rated. This made me rethink my foreign country travel bucket list in which Iceland and Norway are ranked second and third respectively after Liberia..........(perhaps, stand-up comic Gilbert Gottfried applauds us for making fun of Ebla, he might be the only one!).............

The images above are of: 1) Charlie Brown, but "Peanuts" is not our top-ranked comic strip, in fact, since the strip is in permanent rerun status, we disqualify the strip from our surveys, but Charlie Brown was the butt of a great gag in "The Argyle Sweater;" 2) A snowball fight in reference to "Foxtrot," which perhaps First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters found amusing; and 3) the old Flash Gordon serials with the late Buster Crabbe which is actually being used for "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" (there is also a "Flash Gordon" weekly comic strip still in circulation)....

Here is our top ten, which also includes "WUMO," a Danish import that this week illustrated what it would be life if children said inappropriate things about fat people who eat too much fast food (Gottfried probably loves "WUMO" too):

1) The Argyle Sweater

2) Foxtrot

3) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

4) WUMO

5) Lio

6) Speed Bump

7) Sherman's Lagoon

8) Knight Life

9) Prickly City

10) Pearls Before Swine

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

Quotes from Famous Authors (5 of 5): Dorothy Parker

Greetings to our blog readers in Denmark, Montenegro and Yemen.......well, perhaps it's a boring Sunday afternoon in Aden!

Here is our quote from Dorothy Parker:

"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."

Now to get back to watching Sarah Silverman host "Saturday Night Live."

Comics Grand Slam (3 of 4): Khomeini the Wizard

Today, we are citing comic strips from last Sunday's edition of "The News & Record," which is the local daily newspaper for Greensboro, NC. This is not a newspaper in our immediate local area, though some libraries here in my part of Virginia carried the newspaper until just very recently_ one of the latest casualties of modern technology.

Assuredly some of you in Singapore or Dubai might be asking :"Why does he have an image of the American astronaut Buzz Aldrin the late Iranian mullah Ayatollah Khomeini. The reason is that the comic strip "Brewster Rockit" revolves around astronauts and Khomeini is a substation for Merlin the Wizard, since "The Wizard of Id" made our survey,  and we could not find an image of Merlin that would work out here. Well, if Merlin and the late Ayatollah have one thing in common, it is long white beards!

"WUMO," a comic strip which originated in Denmark_ of all places is the top comic strip of the week, and it revolved around animal rights activists at a picnic; no one wanted to kill the army ants (pictured top).

Yes, after this series, we will get to the World Cup and talk about the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, but many people now think blogs have gone the way of the pay phone as it is.

Here are our top ten favorite comic strips from this particular newspaper:

1) WUMO

2) Brewster Rockit

3) Doonesbury

4) Foxtrot

5) Dilbert

6) Ziggy

7) Garfield

8) Judge Parker

9) The Wizard of Id

10) Pearls Before Swine

http://www.nasa.gov

http://www.gocomics/wizrdofid

http://www.gocmics.com/wumo

http://www.news-record.com



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"The Washington Post" Comics Survey: The Gold Goes to Denmark ("WUMO")

Greetings to our blog readers in Turkey, Israel and Singapore.

And, our shout-outs to celebrities who regularly  visit this blog, including George F. Will, Alicia Sacramone and Tonya Harding (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Chicken McNuggets may not be very appetizing, but they were the subject of a hilarious comic strip "WUMO," which originated in Denmark of all places.

Our favorite second comic strip from the Sunday, Feb.9th edition of "The Washington Post" was "Speed Bump." This week's edition of Dave Coverly's strip had one of the Easter Island (Chile) heads acting up and irritating his mother.

Other comic strips which made the top ten include: 1) "Sherman's Lagoon" where an albatross gives romantic advice to a turtle; 2) "Lio" where the title character visits an aquarium and takes delight upon seeing a squid; 3) and "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy" where Frankenstein and his would-be-bride have a lovers spat.

Here is the top ten:

1) WUMO

2) Speed Bump

3) Lio

4) The Argyle Sweater

5) Sherman's Lagoon

6) Rhymes with Orange

7) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

8) Pearls Before Swine

9) Dustin

10) Judge Parker

SIDEBAR: Kudos to Samantha Peszek from the UCLA Bruins' women's gymnastics team; she had a perfect ten on bars yesterday in a meet against Arizona State, which was won by the Bruins.

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.denverpost.com/comics

Top Ten Comic Strips from the Sunday Washington Post: The Argyle Seater Takes Gold in the Luge

Greetings to our blog readers in Australia, Azerbaijan and Thailand.

Welcome to another edition of where we rank comic strips from the Sunday newspapers.

Many newspapers had winter themes this year, including brilliant, cutting edge strips like "The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee," and legacy strips, such as "Hi and Lois" (neither of these strips runs in the Sunday "Washington Post"). And, though we haven't seen today's "Tundra," we imagine that Chad Carpenter's strip, which always takes place in his native Alaska, has snow in it as well.

But, our top strip of the week "The Argyle Sweater" imagines a birthday party with folks from the Marvel Universe, including "The Silver Surfer" (pictured top). We imagine the strip's artist Scott Hillburn found a way to get around cumbersome copyright laws.

But, our second-ranked strip of the week "Brewstir Rockit" a science fiction themed strip, took a huge leap out of its creative box resulting in a hilarious strip with the Frosty the Snowman's (pictured middle) wife.

And, our bronze medal goes to "Lio," a silent strip with no dialogue (Buster Keaton would be pleased) featuring Yeti, or the Bigfoot of Nepal.

Fourth place goes to "Sherman's Lagoon," where Sherman the shark, the strip's title character goes into a funk. As always, Jim Toomey's strip is a far cry from the sharks we grew up with on "Jaws."

While researching this entry, last week, we found out that "WUMO," a strip that features Pac Man today was actually an import from Denmark! "WUMO," last week's champion, comes in seventh this week as there were many great strips.

Here is the list from the Sunday "Washington Post:"

1) The Argyle Sweater

2) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

3) Lio

4) Sherman's Lagoon

5) Dustin

6) Pearls Before Swine

7) WUMO

8) Reply All

9) Knight Life

10) Judge Parker (love that snake in the final panel, this strip is also in "The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, WVa, which has 'a slightly lower' circulation than "The Washington Post," but perhaps Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos can buy them too!).


http://www.hearld-dispatch.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.theargylesweater.com

http://www.edisonlee.com

http://www.gocomics.com/lio

http://www.shermanslagoon.com

Quotes from the Little Thinkers (4 of 16): Frida Kahlo

Greetings to our blog-readers in Denmark, Italy and Hungary (we seem to be more popular in Europe than we are here in American, well..........perhaps!).

Today we quote the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, who died at a relatively young age when she was 47. There is a very popular restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala, called Frida's. Apparently, getting a seat for a Duke University men's basketball game in Durham, NC, is easier than getting a seat at Frida's.

Recently, we saw a Frida Kahlo Little Thinker doll alongside the likes of Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali at the Denver Museum (if memory serves us correctly) where there is a currently an exhibit of French impressionist art (ie. Claude Monet) until Feb. 9th.

One may also be able to find a Frida Kahlo plush toy at the Corcoran Art Museum's gift shop in Washington, DC, where an exhibit entitled "Mia Feur: An Unkindness" in underway. The museum's web site describes that exhibit as 'an examination of the relationships between human infrastructure and the natural world."

Here is our quote from Frida Kahlo:

"I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality."

 
http://www.corcoran.org

http://www.denverartmuseum.org

http://www.fridakahlo.com

http://www.fridakahlofans.com

http://www.visitguatemala.com

Soccer Week (8 of 8): Suppose They Gave a Soccer Game in Cyprus, and No One Cared (plus 11 European teams you've never heard of)

Hmm....we were going to post a photo of Trabzonspor's Turkish soccer player Yusuf Erdogan, but what we got were photos of Turkish Prime Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is about as popular amongst Turks abroad as Porky Pig cartoons are in Dubai (forgive the political humor).

At any rate, this image is of Marco Streller, the Swiss international and captain of the Swiss team Basel, which is ranked 51st in UEFA club standings. He kicked the winning goal for Basel in the Champions League. Basel went into London on Tuesday and shocked the global soccer community with a 2-1 win over Chelsea.

Our lead though is in reference to today's soccer game in Limassol, Cyprus, between traditional Turkish soccer power Trabzonspor and Appolon Limassol, the team that surprised Europe last year by reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Even though Cyprus is just across the sea from Turkey, Trabzonspor traveled quite a ways for the game as Trabzon is located in northwestern Turkey.

For those who feel asleep in your history class at Cornell University (next time we'll pick on Princeton), Turkey and Greece had a short, but ugly war over Cyprus in 1974. Even though I was four years old at the time, I remember the Cyprus War quite well, or at least as well as the Vietnam War, for my late father Mehmet Gokbudak hailed from Turkey.

Thankfully, no one on either side of my family died in Famagusta or Hanoi.

Before we get to the ten European soccer teams you've never heard of, let's look at some scores that will help you the blog-reader get through this entry:

UEFA Champions League:

Sociedad (Spain) 0 Shkhar Donesk (Ukraine) 2

Chelsea 1 Basel 2

Benfica (Portugal) 2 Anderlecht (Belgium) 0

UEFA Europa League:

Apollon 1 Trabzonspor 2

Dynamo Zagreb (Croatia) 1 Odessa (Ukraine) 2

PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) 0 Ludogorets (Bulgaria) 2

Standard Liege (Belgium) 1 Esberg (Denmark)  2

Freiburg (Germany) 2 Liberec (Czech) 2...........tie game

Rubin Kazan (Russia) 5 Maribor (Slovenia) 2

Now here on the 11 teams you've never heard of:

1. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine): This was considered the second biggest upset in the Champions League. Brazilian international Alex Teixeira scored both goals for the Ukrainian club in their 2-0 win in Spain).

2. Basel (Switzerland)

3. Benfica (Portugal): They are seemingly a team which always sneaks up on other teams in European play.

4. Anderlecht (Belgium)

5. Apollon Limassol (Cyprus): "The Daily Hurriyet," an English-langauge newspaper in Turkey said Trabzonspor won in 'Greek Cyprus,' but we don't like to get into politics here. Well, at least, not when we are writing about soccer. Gaston Sangoy (Argentina) scored for the Cypriot team in the team's close loss to Trabzonspor.

6. Trabzonspor (Turkey): This squad is one of only two teams outside of Istanbul that has won a Turkish domestics championship; Bursasapr from Bursa is the other team.

7.Dyanmo Zagreb (Croatia)

8. Ludogorets (Bulgaria): Amazingly enough Virgil Misidja a Dutch international player for this Bulgarian team kicked in the second goal in his native country today to help Ludo upset PSV Eindhoven 2-0.

9. Esberg (Denmark): Not to be confused with Swedish team Elfsborg, which is also in the Europa League, this Danish squad celebrated a road win in Belgium thanks to the game-winning goal from Musaga Bakenga, a Norwegian player of Congolese heritage.

10. Rubin Kazan: This team which plays in the Tartar region  of Russia boasts Gokdeniz Karadeniz, one of Turkey's better exports. Today, he scored a goal today in their win over Maribor of Slovenia.

11. Maribor (Slovenia): Today's lop-sided loss to Rubin Kazan was apparently closer than the score sheet indicates. Maribor is a competitive team from the former Yugoslavia and today the team saw a goal from Slovenian national Martin Milec.



http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

http://www.turkish-football.com

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com

http://www.trabzonspor.org.tr (in Turkish)

http://www.russianfootballnews.com

http://www.apollo.com.cy

http://www.uefa.com

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors, Ipana Toothpaste, etc.

Since we were hit over the head with the commercials during the 2012 London Olympics, including everyone running for political office except Chris Knight, my friend who ran for school board office in North Carolina in 2006, I thought I would do a satirical entry dedicated to ads. If you'll notice, we don't have any ads here at "The Daily Vampire" as we don't want ads for things that irk us to appear on here, but well, if the price is right that might change.

We also want to thank American Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, who appears on David Letterman tonight with the other members of the Fab Five, for finally letting us know what meme means. The photo of her disappointed look for not getting a gold medal on vault has now been attached to everything from art work to NBC's Olympic coverage.

Here are the products we are promoting tonight; we believe only one is relatively easy to find here in the United States unless you reside in War, West Virginia:

1) Carlsberg: This is a popular beer in Denmark which reportedly doesn't sell well in Qom, Iran, especially during Ramadan (which is now),  but it can be found in Turkey, a much moderate Muslim country (yes, I'm a Turkish-American, but I think even Greeks and Armenians have to admit Iran is a bit more conservative).

2) Ipana: Speaking of Turkey, we presumed this brand which started in the good ole USA was only available in Turkey, but further research indicates the product featuring ads with Bucky Beaver here in the States back in the day, is once again available on the American market though in limited quantities. Ipana has been featured in at least one "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip.

3) Orangina: Hopefully, none of you will mispronounce this French orange drink now readily available in most parts of America. One time, I pronounced it like the a certain word in a certain Eve Ensler play at The Green Bean Coffeehouse in Greensboro, NC. Yeah, it was embarrassing.

http://www.usagym.org

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

http://www.eczaonline.com

http://www.greensborobean.com

http://www.carlsberg.com

http://www.orangina.com

http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com

Parade of Nations (One of Four)- Greece to Kazakhstan

The Parade of Nations occurred during the 2012 London Olympics on Friday, and we have decided to post four entries each on two blogs (a total of eight entries) dedicated to the flag-bearers of each of the 64 countries we are showcasing.

Since Greece is traditionally the first country at the start of the parade, we are going to start with them here as well. For those of you who are visiting this blog from Turkey, please note that we mention Turkish flag-bearer Nesilhan Darnel (women's volleyball) on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here are the first eight nations:

Greece- Alexandros Nikoladis (men's taekwondo)

USA- Mariel Zagunis (pictured above, women's fencing)

Afghanistan- Nesar Ahmad Bahawe (men's taekwondo)

Australia- Lauren Jackson (pictured below, women's basketball)

Bulgaria- Yordan Yovchev (pictured middle, men's gymnastics)

Denmark- Kim Waae Knudsen (women's canoeing)

Egypt- Hesham Nesbah (men's judo)

Kazakhstan- Nurmakhan Tinliyev (men's wrestling)

http://www.london2012.com

http://www.nbcolympics.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.marielzagunis.com

http://www.bulgariatravel.org

Quote of the Day/Week-Hans Christian Andersen

This just in, though we were unable to watch the second half, we have learned from espn.com that England defeated Sweden 3-2 today, which certainly surprised those of us who just saw the first half in which England was only up 1-0.

But, we are quoting a famous Dane in Hans Christian Anderson as Denmark is among the 16 countries in the Euro Cup 2012 competition. Alas, the Danes were stuck in the 'group of death' which also features the Netherlands (Holland), Germany and Portugal.

Andersen (1805-1875) was born in Odense, which is Denmark's third largest city. He is known penning several well-known fairy tales, including "The Snow Queen," "The Little Mermaid" and "The Ugly Duckling."

Here is his quote:

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."

http://www.visitdenmark.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Charles Darwin

Today, Google used the image of Danish bishop and scientist Nicolas Steno (1638-1686) on his 374th birthday as their 'google doodle." Steno was instrumental for many things, including discovering human salivary ducts, and there is a Steno Museum in Arhus, Denmark, which is dedicated to displaying findings in the arenas of science and medicine. But, alas, for our purposes, Steno really didn't leave behind a meaningful quip.

The same can not be said for English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) whose findings on the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador are taught in classroom and disputed in places of worship around the globe; hence 'the Darwin fish' that is displayed here.

With that, here is our quote from Darwin, who made these comments long before the 'evolution of video games,' including Donkey Kong and Angry Birds:

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the whole of life."

SIDEBAR: We love this tweet from Onion Politics, a subdivision of the satirical faux news publication "The Onion:" "Fiercely independent New Hampshire voters pick guy everybody thought would win." For those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, that person is Mitt Romney.

Quote of the Day/Week- Wim Wenders

We continue quoting famous Germans with a quip from my personal favorite German film director Wim Wenders, who is known for working with many unique artistic people, including the late actor Dennis Hopper ("The American Friend") in 1977; musician Ry Cooder ("Paris, Texas") in 1984; and rock icon Bono from U2 ("The Million Dollar Hotel") in 2000. Wenders in turn directed several of the legendary Irish band's videos.

Currently, audiences in large market American cities like Seattle, Chicago and New York can see his latest film, the documentary "Pina."

Here is his quote:

"Any film that supports the idea that things can be changed is a great film in my eyes."

Wenders is perhaps best-known for his amazing 1987 German-language film (several of the director's films have been in English, including "Paris, Texas") "Wings of Desire."

SIDEBAR ONE: Wow! As a subscriber to "The Washingtonian" magazine, I am wondering who the very attractive nude girl on the cover of the December 2011 issue is. In the photo taken by Erika McConnell, one can't actually see anything besides her hair, face, legs and feet, which looked so polished that one has to wonder if she got a pedicure at the supposedly upscale salon Joy Spa in the Adams Morgan part of Washington, D.C.

The magazine did not identify the woman in the credits insert, but one has to imagine she is a highly sought-after local model.

Of course, since I am a man, I am not inclined to get pedicures, and hence I have no idea how much they would cost, but I did get an expensive $45 haircut over the summer. (Not at Joy Spa, as I don't live in DC).

SIDEBAR TWO: Going back to cinema, the Circle Cinema in Tulsa, Oklahoma, put forth the following question via Twitter this afternoon: "What is your favorite Lars von Trier film?," in reference to the eccentric, controversial Danish director, known for "Dogville" and "Anti-Christ." My choice would be "Manderlay" as it is so over-the-top in every way.

The director's latest film "Melancholia" with Kirsten Dunst (wow, I actually had to google her name to make sure her first name was spelled right!) is showing at the A/perture Cinema in Winston-Salem, NC. We are not sure if Circle Cinema is actually showing the film, but we don't live in Oklahoma either!

50 Beers Around the World- Carlsberg (Denmark)

We continue our 50 Beers of the World series today with an entry for Carlsberg, a popular beer from Denmark which is found in much of the world, including Canada and The United States though it's not as widely available as some imports, such as the German beer Beck's.

Carlsberg was founded in 1847 by J.C. Jacobsen, and it is based in Copenhagen. The beer, which is very popular in Kazakhstan- of all places (the former Soviet Republic where Borat was from) even has breweries in China. Carlsberg also offers an off-shoot known as Elephant Beer.

SIDEBAR- Though they don't offer Carlsberg, my good friends Dave and Linda at the Backstreet Buzz in Reidsville, NC, now offer beer and wine, including the trendy Sierra Nevada brew from Chico, Calif. The coffeehouse also offers sandwiches, soups, salads and wraps as well as coffee beverages such as the espresso, cafe au lait and macchiato.

SIDEBAR TWO- Not to be confused with the Backstreet Buzz, Backstreets, a popular restaurant in Blacksburg, Va., home of the Virginia Tech Hokies (yes, it does share its name with a Bruce Springsteen song) is celebrating their 25th anniversary. They offer a wide range of appetizers, including fried mushrooms and steamed mussels. Though they are best known for their pizzas, Backstreets also has gourmet dishes such as jambalaya and chicken napoli.

SIDEBAR THREE-Want to see a blog which features virtually nothing except cool drawings? Then log on to www.melikesyou.blogspot.com from the comic zine artist Lauren Barnett, who is based in Brooklyn. I found one of her latest works "I'd Like Some 'Expletive' Pancakes" at Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC.

Quote of the Day- Lars von Trier

Today's quip which is being done in conjunction with the World Cup in South Africa comes from Danish film director Lars von Trier whose most recent film "Anti-Christ" is supposedly the most controversial film since "Triumph of the Will" (forgive the film fanatic humor).

Alas, Denmark lost to Holland 2-0 yesterday (well we were actually rooting for the Dutch;nothing against the Danes but I suppose some folks from Turkey-my late father's country-would have a beef regarding those cartoons), but we're sure they will do better against Japan or Cameroon......well, maybe/maybe not!

But, here is our quote from Lars, who Nicole Kidman (he directed her in "Dogville") will apparently never work with again (there was tension on the set---to put it mildly!):

"Bascially, I'm afraid of everything in life except filmmaking."

Yaaaay! The Olympics are Finally Over!

It's not that we didn't enjoy them. The Vancouver Winter Olympics were certainly memorable for many reasons, including South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-Na's exeptional performance which garnered her a well-deserved gold medal.

But, an 18-day event is sort of like a performance of Richard Wagner's long opera "Gotterdammerung/Twilight of the Gods." You were glad to watch it, but you are also certainly most pleased that you can now watch the original 1925 version of "Ben Hur," which you have no idea why you put on your NetFlix que to begin with! (In my case,the long film is actually a three-hour 1969 Chinese epic called "A Touch of Zen.")

Of course, it should be pointed that we are featuring Dudley Do-Right here to poke a little fun of 'our friends up north'- not that we are biter over losing to Canada by a 3-2 count in yesterday's hockey game. Of course, if we had won Glenn Beck would have been ranting about 'American superiority' for weeks on end...!


The good thing about not having a blog that gets over 1,000 hits per day like my friend Chris Knight's blog (http://theknightshift.blogspot.com) is that I am not getting emails from Swedes, Danes and Finns who are perhaps rightfully ticked with me for snubbing their athletes in my recent series on 25 Olympic athletes.

I did profile the great Norwegian skier Alex Lund Svindal, but I otherwise completely snubbed Scandinavaian countries, which won a total of 39 medals (Denmark and Iceland failed to medal). However, I also featured three athletes from African nations none of whom medalled though The Snow Leopard finished in the top 50!

So, I will make a random list of ten Scandanavian athletes we could have profiled. Oh, I should mention we mostly snubbed Eastern European countries too, but we only have so much time to make amends:

1. Emil Jonsson-cross country skiing-Sweden
2. Iris Gudmundsdottir-slalom skiing-Iceland
3. Laura Lepisto- figure skating- Finland
4. Angelina Jensen-women's curling- Denmark
5. Petter L. Tande- nordic skiing- Norway
6. Anna Holmund- free style skiing-Sweden
7. Henrick Lundquist- men's hockey-Sweden
8. Mikka Kiprusoff- men's hockey- Finland
9. Anja Paerson- slalom skiing- Sweden
10. Janne Ahone- ski-jumping- Finland

We believe at least two of these athletes, Tande and Ahone actually medalled as did the Finnish men's hockey team (the Swedes won bronze in women's hockey as well).

The American Olympic delegation actually won some surprising medals, including nordic skiers Billy Demong (gold) and Johnny Spillane (silver).

We also got a gold medal in four-man bobsled,which during the time of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid,would have been virtually unthinkable. The "Night Train" team consisted of Steve Holcomb, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt Tomasevicz.

Later in the month, we hope to update some of the 25 athletes we profiled in an entry entitled "The Olympic Hangover." But, for right now, we are going to resume regular programming, but at least here you won't have to watch Jay Leno interviewing Sarah Palin, who will speaking for $300 in Charlotte, NC, later this spring (we are not making this up!).

SIDEBAR: Speaking of snubs, it appears that the local Greensboro, NC, newspaper "The News and Record" did not publish a letter I wrote which was critical of The Rev. Pat Robertson's heinous comments regarding the devastation in Haiti.

I realize that it is possible the letter got lost in cyberspace or there were similar letters about the matter or that they had limited space.

Nevertheless, the same newspaper did publish a fringe, right-wing letter by Tony Maschetti of High Point, NC, today which actually said that Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama should make arrangements to have terrorist Khalid Sheik Mohammed stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.

This does make me think of liberal columnist Eric Alterman, also a professor at Brooklyn College, who entitles his pieces in "The Nation" under the name "What Liberal Media?"

I consider myself much more to the political center than "The Nation" (though I prefer them over "The National Review") and I realize that "The News and Record" may not have published my letter for other reasons. But, irregardless I fully sympathize with Alterman's motto. And, I have to wonder if I were to write a letter to an arbitrary local newspaper about how we should nuke Canada to avenge our losses to them in both men's and women's hockey if it would in fact get published the next day.

Not that I'm going to try............