Presidential Quotes: Bill Clinton

Special Greetings to our blog-readers in Paraguay, Poland and Portugal and a last minute Happy Fourth of July to our readers in Philadelphia, Boston and Denver, where we gather that the Colorado Rapids are winning at home over the New York Red Bulls by a 2-0 margin in Major League Soccer play.

We will momentarily be quoting former President Bill Clinton, but before we do, we thought we'd use some taglines from the conservative newspaper "The Washington Times" to show irony (sorry to our readers in Boise, Idaho, but this is a center-left blog....well, when we go into politics).

Those terms are: National Security Agency, Mohammed Morsi, Congress, 4th of July and Egypt:

"It appears as though Egypt is in a bit of a row, as the Brits would say, as the military ousted Prime Minister Mohammed Morsi. We gather both far-left progressives and far-right Tea Partiers are outraged by the National Security Agency and Congress, but frankly when one mentions Washington, DC, to us personally, we think of Rusty the Runaway Red Panda who is now safely back home at the National Zoo. Happy 4th of July, everyone."

Here is Clinton's quote, it is regarding the White Zoo (Freudian slip, we meant...) White House, and an astonish number of presidents, including Harry Truman truly hated living there:

"I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system."

UPDATE: Colorado won its soccer game over New York by a score of 2-0 in Denver.

http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org (Clinton's presidential library/museum in Little Rock, Arkansas)

http://www.washingtontimes.com

http://www.mlssoccer.com

Colleges Nicknames- Wild, Wild Horses

Today, we conclude our looks at the nicknames of 96 different colleges, most of which will be going to post-season play in a sport besides college basketball (I'm making fun of an ad for the NCAA which shows most student athletes going on to become chemists instead of becoming NBA superstars).

The three schools pictured here are the Boise State Broncos from Idaho, which have a highly touted football and women's gymnastics program, the Bucknell Bison from Lewisburg, Pa., which has a competive wrestling team and one of the very few water polo teams on the east coast, and the Iowa Hawkeyes, from the Big Ten.

In addition to Boise State, there are two other teams from the Mountain West Conference, including the San Diego State Aztecs, which is nationally ranked and a virtually certainty for a NCAA bid in men's basketball, and the Colorado State Rams, which are predicted to get an at-large bid.

Here are the teams, all of which are related to horses, knights, cowboys/cowgirls and Native Americans:

1. Army Black Knights, Patriot, West Point, NY.

2. Boise State Broncos, Mountain West, Boise, Idaho

3. Bucknell Bison, Patriot, Lewisburg, Pa.

4. Colorado State Rams, Mountain West, Fort Collins, Colo.

5. Iowa Hawkeyes, Big 10, Iowa City, Iowa

6. Illinois Fightin' Illini, Big 10, Champaign, Ill.

7. Oklahoma State Cowboys*, Big 12, Stillwater, Okl.

8. San Diego State Aztecs, Mountain West, San Diego, Calif.

9. Southern Methodist University Mustangs, C-USA, Dallas, Tex.

10. UNC-Greensboro Spartans, Southern Conference, Greensboro, NC

11. University of Southern California Trojans, Pac-12, Los Angeles, Calif.

12. Utah Utes, Pac-12, Salt Lake City, Utah.

*-Oklahoma State's women's basketball team is nicknamed Cowgirls

Quote of the Day- LeBron James

Today, we are going to start a month-long series of quotes from professional basketball players from the NBA, past and present.

Since we featured an Italian flag in our last blog entry, we thought we'd feature an American flag neck-tie to go with this entry which will feature a quote from LeBron James so we are not accused of being Soviet sympathizers by right-wing Tea Party nuts from rural Idaho and their Kool-Aid cult leader Glenn Beck merely because we are Democrats here.

The man besides James here is Shaquille O'Neal, who recently retired at age 39. Ironically, both James and O'Neal left the Cleveland Cavaliers after last season.

James is with the Miami Heat and they are currently tied 2-2 with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals; O'Neal finished his career with the Boston Celtics.

Here is the quote from the most famous person from Akron, Ohio, with Chrissie Hyne, the lead singer of The Pretenders, being the second-most famous (she actually reportedly moved back there in recent years):

"With that locker room I could sleep there after games."

50 Beers Around the World_ Baltika from Russia (#37 of 50)

Greetings from the Davie Street Parking Garage in downtown Greensboro, NC, where we have found a way to post an entry today on our laptop (eyes rolling!).

Our latest entry in our 50 Beers Around the World series takes up to Russia where a Canadian performing of mine is currently touring the country (must be nice, I would settle for Moscow, Idaho!); and, hopefully during her downtime she can send postcards to friends who are back home in Halifax, Nova Scotia (not actually where she is from, but we love to make fun of Nova Scotia).

Russia is also where one can take in a Baltika beer (you should drink responsibily of course even if Russians never do!). Even though beer will always be second to vodka in the good ole USSR (forgive the dated Cold War humor), Baltika somehow has the second largest brewery in Europe after the Dutch beer Heineken.

Baltika also competes for customers in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the Turkish beer Efes Pilsen, as the brand does have a brewery in the Caspian Sea nation that was also a part of the CCCP.

Founded in 1990, Baltika is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The beer is brewed in ten cities across Russia and it is available in some 60 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan.

Of course, everyone knows Russia has been in the headlines for a positive reason (for a change) as the country is now set to host the 2018 World Cup.

As Americans (well, your's truly is half-Turkish and our intern Javier who does most of our research is from Ecuador.....sorry, Honduras!*), we are bemoaning the fact that we lost our World Cup 2022 bid to the tiny Arab emirate of Qatar. (I would insert a politically incorrect right wing nationalist put down of Muslims and/or Arabs here, but with all due respect to Glenn Beck and our friends at Fox News, we lean to the center-left!).

There are apparently two places in Doha, the Qatari capital where alcohol can be purchased. But, for the masses in not only Qatar, but other Arab emirates, there is always the non-alcoholic Baltika No. 0 (the beer in the green bottle). Of course, we have no idea if this brand is found in Qatar at all. Where is Javier, when we need him?

*-Javier is a fictional person; the joke is that is there is anything factually inaccurate in my posts, I will put the blame on him!

High School of the Week- Bluefield HS (West Virginia)

Initially, we were going to choose Big Creek High School in War, W.Va., which is where former NASA researcher Homer Hickam (whose memoir 'Rocket Boys' was turned into the film 'October Sky') went to school. But, we found out that the school whose nickname was The Owls closed earlier this year!

So, as a result, our High School of the Week is Bluefield High School in the bordertown of Bluefield, W.Va., which happens to be where the famous mathematician John Nash (subject of the film "A Beautiful Mind") went to school. Bluefield is about an hour away from War in the southern part of West Virginia.

BHS was founded in 1953. The school nickname is The Beavers (note: the image about is not the school's logo). There are about 650 students attending school at BHS, where the principal is Joe Turner.

BHS won the state high school football championship last year. This past weekend, they defeated rival school Princeton HS 17-0.

The school newspaper is "The Beaver Voice," and it is published online.

SIDEBAR: Our kudos go out to Floyd County High School in Floyd, Va., as The Buffaloes beat Rural Retreat High School 48-20 in football on Friday night. The Buffs' are division rivals with my alma mater Glenvar High School (Salem, Va.) which came from behind in a home win over James River High School from Buchanan.

SIDEBAR TWO: It appears that Idaho will not be a favored vacation destination for clients of travel agents in Roanoke, Va., since nearby Virginia Tech lost their season opener in college football by a 33-30 margin against Boise State, in a game that was played on the Washington Redskins' home field in Maryland.

But, for those of you who are now Hokies alum (I went to nearby Radford University), you may want to check out The Idaho Potato Museum in the town of Blackfoot. Conversely, those of you visiting Virginia may want to check out another nifty roadside attraction in The Natural Bridge Zoo, which is near Lexington, Va. Interestingly enough, there is a Virginia Tech alumni chapter in Idaho!

Friday GeoQuiz-What's the Weather Like in Sydney?

For today's installment of our weekly Friday GeoQuiz, we ask you the blog-reader a mere simple question: What is the weather like in Sydney, Australia, today?

Is the answer:

A) 64 degrees

B) 66 degrees

C) 67 degrees

D) 70 degrees

We dedicate this entry to another Olympic city (well, we say this in jest) Moscow, Idaho, also home to the University of Idaho and Moscow Senior High School. Perhaps, the later has Misha the Bear as their mascot.

The Olympics were held in Moscow, Russia in 1980 and in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.

Yvonne Tousek, one of my favorite college gymnasts of all-time, finished 15th at the 2000 Olympics while competing for her native Canada. Today, she is a performer with Cirque du Soleil and she travels around the globe. Her UCLA teammates Jamie Dantscher and Kristen Maloney got a bronze team medal in gymnastics after the Chinese team who initially finished third was disqualified for having under-age gymnasts.

Halil Multu won a gold medal for Turkey, my late father's country, at the Sydney Games in weight-lifting (flyweight division).

We are blogging today from the Pyongyang Public Library in Pyongyang, North Korea. Well, in all seriousness, it is a public library in a small town like Mount Airy, NC (but we aren't in Mount Airy, where "The Andy Griffith Show" took place). We say this because Twitter and Facebook are banned here, however one can probably access certain 'Danish web sites' here if they wanted to. There's nothing like living in a 'free and open society' is there?

As for North Korea, Open Radio for North Korea is reporting that more people in that country fear their own leader Kim Jong-il than les etats unis. I suppose that's a good thing?!

SIDEBAR: Our friends at The Floyd Country Store in Floyd, Va., (well, we don't actually personally know anyone who works there) are celebrating their 100th anniversary. And, tomorrow night (Sat.), there will be a performance from the bluegrass band Slate Mountain Ramblers at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door. The band is headed by Richard Bowman from the tiny hamlet of Ararat, Va., in Patrick County. Despite its name, there are reportedly no Armenian-Americans in Ararat, Va. (forgive the ethnic humor!).

SIDEBAR 2: The answer to last week's question is D) Cesme, Turkey

Happy Birthday Amerika Birlesik Devletleri * from Daffy Duck!

I realize that since it's gradually approaching midnight here on the east coast of les etats unis** the only folk still watching fireworks might be in Reston, Wash. (a 'burb of Seattle), nevertheless we wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July.

My favorite Russian emgire rock band (well, we love Gogol Bordello too!) The Red Elvises tweeted the following message even though it appears they are in Moscow, and we don't mean the college town of Moscow, Idaho:

"We my be Russia now but any excuse to celebrate is good! Happy 4th of July America."

Meanwhile, our beloved Durham Bulls*** defeated the Gwinnett Braves from Georgia 6-4 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 11,674 fans in Durham, NC, tonight.

*-How you say USA in Turkish

**-How you say USA in French

***-Yeah, I know I should perhaps be more loyal to the Salem RedSox since I'm from Salem, Va., and the Greensboro Grasshoppers since I am a resident of the Triad (Greensboro, NC-area) as opposed to the Raleigh-Durham area, but hey none of those teams had a movie made after them! (I'm of course referring to "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon which first came out in 1988). I will say for my hometown that the Salem Fair is going on right now, and apparently some people drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, to enjoy the smell of (how should we put this?!)_ the bull---t!

Happy Father's Day from Robert Reed

We actually meant to post this much earlier in the day, but I was working on my exam for students at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in Roanoke, Va. (not actually where I work).

But, Happy Father's Day to all. Alas, my father Mehmet Gokbudak, a Turkish immigrant, died of a heart attack at age 62 in 1983 when I was just 13 years old but we remember him fondly. Perhaps, this entry is a bit ironic because he didn't like us watching "Happy Days" (as we discussed in an earlier entry) but he had no such qualms with "The Brady Bunch."

The series which starred Robert Reed (1932-1992) lasted from 1969-74, and it featured Florence Henderson and as the mom. Unfortunately, Reed died from complications due to AIDS, but there are many fans of the show who will never forget him.

I had expected many web sites and blogs dedicated to the show, but some of the ones I had found borrowed the Brady Bunch but they had nothing to do with the actual show (like some blog that has vampire in its name, but nothing to with Christopher Lee movies!). One of them was actually from an evangelist family in a place like Twin Falls, Idaho.

But one legit Brady blog features a 'guide to morals, themes, and definitions' of the show, which makes one think there might be someone writing a term paper on the sitcom as if it were an Akira Kurosawa film!

We leave with this quote from Reed, who was apparently an H.G. Wells fan:

"I've always thought of science fiction as being, at the same level, as 19th century business."

GIFT IDEAS FOR DAD: Well, it is really too late for this, but if you live in Denver, you may want to give him a cupcake from The Big Fat Cupcake located on 129 Adams Street which boasts that it won the 2009 Colorado Cupcake challenge!

Things We Learned on Twitter This P.M.-Strange Crime Stories

"The Idaho Statesman" in Boise, Ida., is reporting (I saw this via Twitter) that a local man has admitted to the Boise Police Department that he stabbed himself and told a police officer that a passer-by had in fact stuck a knife in his chest. The police are considering filing chrages against the man who has not been identified to the press. The self-inflicted wound occured on Friday morning near a hotel in downtown Boise according to Lynn Hightower, spokeswoman for the Boise Police Department.

And, in our nation's capital, Ahmed Hassan, a man who is reportedly between the ages of 28 and 35, dropped his wallet after he robbed a bank on Connecticut Avenue. According to "The Washington Post," if anyone has any info about the crime, they are being asked to call local authorities.

SIDEBAR- If you see a Craig's List post for "Baby-Sitter Wanted in Istanbul," it might be the result of the fact that more mothers are working in Turkey, according to "Today's Zaman."

Earth Day Turns 40

Today Earth Day, which was started by a couple of men in their early twenties who had just finished college and protesting the Vietnam War in the Dupont Circle section of Washington, DC, turns 40 (which happens to be my age).

Events are planned all over America and the world this week. In Washington, DC, on April 24th, the National Zoo will have an Earth Day Clean-up Day in which area residents can help zoo employees tidy up the zoo by picking up aluminum cans.

In Durham, NC, there will be a Durham Earth Day celebration downtown with music and food in which area residents will learn about green projects they can conduct in their lives.

And, in Idaho Falls, Ida., on Saturday, there will be an Earth Day celebration at the Tautphas Park Zoo which will include music, arts and crafts and conservation education.

There are some folks like my good friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, a political libertarian, who once dubbed Earth Day "Nerf Day," who think the resolutions to our environmental problems cause too much government regulation but the increasing scientific evidence does suggest that measures like Cap and Trade are vital even if coal exectuives from West Virginia will lobby firmly against them.

Today also brings to mind Knut, the polar bear cub raised in captivity at the Berlin Zoo in Berlin, Germany, after his mother's death in 2006. Apparently, Knut who remains a popular tourist attraction is all grown up now, which means that cuddly creature can now eat us!

Zip Code USA-83843- Moscow, Idaho

Idaho is one of eight or nine American states that I've never been to, but I've been fascinated with the college town of Moscow, Idaho, since it was featured on NBC's "Real People" when I was a child circa 1980.


Moscow is the home of The University of Idaho, and it is located in the northern tip of the state.

Moscow, Idaho, has a city population of 23,223 and it actually sits in the Pacific Time Zone.

83843 is also the birth place of the singer Josh Ritter.

Nancy Chaney is the mayor of Moscow, Idaho.

And, there is no proof that the city was named after Moscow, Russia.