10 for 10 (5th Entry): Love Those Yorkies!

Greetings to our blog readers in Belgium, Canada, and Japan......

Tonight, we are desperately trying to catch up on our 10 for 10 series, and we now know you perhaps cartoonist Bill Griffith must feel if he has gotten behind on drawing his comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead." But, we imagine he is not a notorious procrastinator.

We are featuring an image of Yorkshire terrier, also known as yorkies.

You may not find a yorkie at your community animal shelter here in America, but you may just find a friend for life, so here are two animal local shelters we will provide links for:

https://www.coastalhumanesociety.org/ (Animal shelter in Brunswick, Maine)

http://www.hshponline.org/ (Animal shelter in Hays, Kansas)

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

The Last Ten Records We've Listened To: New Wave and Soft Rock

Greetings to our blog readers in Hong Kong, Ireland and Israel: Well, we thought finding an image of the Cesar Romero Joker from the '60s tv version of "Batman" with Adam Best would easier to use than one of the late Heath Ledger in the same role for one of the franchise blockbuster movies, but actually the reverse is true!

Here are the last ten records we have listened to........

1. Nick Lowe. The Rose of England. 1985.

2. The Tubes. Now. 1977.

3. The Steve Miller Band. The Joker. 1973

4. Badfinger. Magic Christian Music. 1971

5. Slade. Stomp Your Hands and Clap Your Feet*. 1974.

6. Culture Club. Kissing to Be Clever. 1982.

7. The Plastics**. Welcome Back. 1981.

8. Chris de Burgh. The Getaway. 1982.

9. Sad Cafe. Sad Cafe.*** 1980

10. Squeeze. Cool for Cats. 1979 (pict. top)

*- Album was released as "Old Borrowed and Blue" in U.K.

**- A short-lived Japanese New Wave band.

***-This was actually not the band's first record.

Noon Rush Hour Tweets: No More Garden Yeti Statues

Greetings to our blog readers in Canada, Kuwait and Japan........

We took down some tweets from the noon hour on the east coast, which was three hours ago, but perhaps those of you joining us from San Jose, Calif., have time to read this on your lunch break. Did you get Chinese take-out? Just wondering.

Congrats to Ghana for its 1-0 win over Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations in Guinea, the winning goal came from Asamoah Gyan in the 91st minute. Our favorite Turkish team (well, we like Galatasaray too) Bursaspor also won 3-2 at the last minute, as Brazilian international Fernando kicked in the game-winning goal over Konyaspor in the 92nd minute.

The images above are of 1) Big Ben Clock in London, which actually has a Twitter account; 2) A Garden Yehti statue; and 3) Hillary Clinton, who is the current favorite to win the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2016.

Here are the tweets:

1) Big Ben: BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG

2) WDBJ Weather (tv station in Roanoke, Va.): Snow now falling across the Roanoke Valley and Salem area. We'll see a mix with sleet this afternoon.

3) NPR News: Goodbye, Garden Yeti....in-flight catalog SkyMall files for bankruptcy

4) Karia Pacheo: Legitimately more upset about SkyMall than any celebrity death I've about on Twitter.

5) Sean Lemon (Guitarist for Room 94):........... (hashtag MakeSexAwkwardin5Works): Can my friends watch please?

6) Chris Cillizza (aka The Fix, a Washington Post political columnist): I am taking August off! DNC says Dem convention will be held week of July 25, 2016, back-to-back with GOP convention (Yea, this is the reason why we have an image of Hillary)

7)  What the F*** Facts: None of the menu items on the McDonald's menu are certified vegan or vegetarian. Even French Fries, which use natural beef flavors.

8) The Guardian (UK newspaper): Laura Deas takes World Cup skeleton bronze in St. Moritz (Switzerland).

9) Felix Salmon: I wanted to cover a protest event, but, it's scheduled to last 3.5 hours. No one has that kind of time in Davos (Switzerland).

10) Nona WillisAronowitz (contributor to The Nation): Sorry, old white Republican dudes; tweeting like a teen won't make us vote for you. (Perhaps, she has Cong. Bob Goodlatte in mind........we always make fun of him on this blog)

11) DCist: Maryland once again tops list of most millionaires per capita.

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.visitlondon.com

http://www.dcist.com

http://www.thenation.com

This Weekend at the Cinema: "The Congress" is NOT About Washington, DC

Greetings to our blog readers in Iceland, Japan and planet Mars!

Girl Power! Today, we feature three films starring women, which are either opening or are still showing at various theatres, cinemas and drive-ins in our mid-Atlantic portion of the United States.

We start off with the lovely Star Lite Drive-In in Christiansburg, Va (near Blacksburg) where they are screening "Lucy" at 8:45 pm and 10:30 pm this weekend; Scarlett Johansson once again delivers.

In Washington, DC, an indy film called "The Congress" is opening at the West End Cinema, but the film about an aging actress who decides to maintain her beauty by capturing herself digitally has nothing to with the U.S. Congress. Robin Wright who is in the Netflix series "House of Cards," which is actually about the U.S. Congress, stars in the film.

At the same venue, "Life of Crime" based on the Elmore Leonard novel "Switch" begins its run; the film features Jennifer Anniston and Tim Robbins. Curiously enough, it is also showing at the Tower Theatre out west in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The historic Byrd Theatre in downtown Richmond, Va., which usually shows second-run features is showing "Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie (is she the one married to Brad Pitt? Just kidding!). The cinema is also showing "Tammy" and "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., is showing "Life After Beth" which just one screening at 9:15 p.m. throughout the week; the same venue is opening "Calvary," an Irish film about a Catholic priest, this weekend, a film that is also showing at many arthouses, including the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC, and a/perture in Winston-Salem, Va., which is also screening "Alive Inside," a documentary explaining how music can dwelve into our souls and transmit healing powers. We suspect that the new age group of yesteryear Tangerine Dream is better able to perform this task than the speed metal band of yesteryear Anthrax???!!!!

http://www.starlitedrive.info

http://www.byrdtheatre.com

http://www.aperture.com

http://www.westendcinema.com

http://www.grandintheatre.com

The Olympics Lists (9 of 10): Athletes from Asian-Pacific Countries, Including one 'Russian'

We are almost near the finish line! Yes, indeed.

Here is a list of 10 athletes from Asian-Pacific countries as well as some from countries that are located within the vast Pacific Ocean, which I've only seen one time in San Diego, Calif.:

1) Noriaki Kasai. (pictured) 41, Japan. Men's Ski-jumping. Won silver and bronze.

2) Zang Hong. 25. China. Women's Speed-skating. Won gold.

3) Viktor Ahn (Ahn Hyun-Soo). 28. Russia. Short-track Speed-skating. Won gold and silver. Ahn is actually a South Korean who was offered to be in the Olympics representing Russia, and he won!

4) Lee Sang-hwa. 24. South Korea. Women's Short-track Speed-Skating.

5) Michael Martinez. 17. Philippines. Men's Figure Skating. Martinez has become a social media sensation.

6) Katharine Eustace. 38. New Zealand. Women's Skeleton.

7) Pan-To Barton Lui. 20. Hong Kong. Short-track Speed-Skating. He is the only athlete representing Hong Kong.

8) Lydia Lassila. 32. Australia. Free-style skiing. Won bronze.

9) Jossi Wells. 23. New Zealand. Men's free-style skiing. Ouch! (he finished fourth, the event was won by American David Wise).

10) Mao Asada. 23. Japan. Women's Figure Skating. The event is traditionally the most watched event during the games; competitions starts today.

http://sochi2014.olympics.com.au/

http://www.olympic.org.nz/sochi-2014

http://jossiwells.com/

Little Thinkers Quotes (14 of 16): Frank Lloyd Wright

Greetings to our blog-readers in Greece, Kenya and Japan.

Tonight, we are trying to make a mad dash through our Little Thinkers series, so we can start blogging about the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia, even though we are nine hours away here in Hartford, Conn. (not really where we are at).....

So, we turn our attention to great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, perhaps the folks at the National Building Museum, which I almost got kicked out of for using a cellphone (only half-true) can assist you (of course, we are not suggesting you actually pester them).

Here is the quote from a man who was also mentioned in a Simon and Garfunkel song:

"Eventually, I think Chicago will be the most beautiful great city left in the world."

http://www.nbm.org/ (Link to the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C, it's a great place)

Presidential Quotes (4 of 12): Zachary Taylor

Greetings to those of you in Poland, Mexico and Japan.

Our quote today is from Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), the 12th president of the United States who was one of four American presidents from the Whig Party and one of four American presidents to have the dubious distinction of dying in office from natural causes.

Taylor was born near Charlottesville, Va., and he apparently had little formal education. He was replaced by his veep Millard Fillmore.

Here is Taylor's quote:

"It would be judicious to act with magnanimity towards a prostrate foe."

Yeah, one does not hear the word magnanimity much today!

http://www.millercenter.org/president/taylor

7 Words in Turkish (3 of 7): Whale

Whale=Balina........the blue whale would be 'mavi balina.'

This reminds me of the time I saw a Greenpeace activist, dressed as a whale, protesting in front of the Japanese embassy in Washington, DC, which is right across the street from the Turkish embassy.

http://www.greenpeace.org

http://www.visitjapan.jp

http://www.goturkey.com

For the Norwegian word for whale, check out our sister "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" (link below)

Highlights from The Bucket List: Going to Seattle Anyone?

Yes, even though I'm only 43 years old, I actually made a bucket list of 100 things to do before I die. Some things are a bit more idealistic; some things are a bit more practical.

With that, I want to send special greetings to our blog-readers in Russia, China and Japan as well as those of you in smaller countries like Malta and El Salvador.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Take a Greyhound bus trip from Burlington, NC, to Seattle.

2. Go to Iceland, and take some photos of the volcanoes while you are there.

3. Watch "Breaking Bad" on dvd in its entirety (I have yet to see a single show of the series which concludes this weekend).

4. Write an article for "Mental Floss."

5. Wake up at 6 a.m. for six days in a row?! (I'm a night person)

6. Take a Varan bus trip (Varan is a Turkish bus line) from Istanbul to Van

7. Date a woman 20 years younger than you

8. Date a woman 20 years older than you

9. Visit the National Zoo in Washington, DC, take lots of photos of the pandas

10. Volunteer at a homeless shelter

http://www.greyhound.com

http://www.visiticeland.com

http://www.turkey.org

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.washington.org

http://www.homelessshetlerdirectory.org

Quote of the Day- Thomas Jefferson

Greetings to our blog readers in Jamaica, Japan and Jordan, as well domestic visitors from Iowa, Indiana and Illinois; today, we continue our series of quotes from the first eight and last eight American presidents (quotes are also on our sister blog "Politic, Culture and Other Wastes of Time: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com ).

Today, we feature our third president Thomas Jefferson, from our home state of Virginia. Amazingly enough, despite going to Charlottesville, Va., many times, I have yet to visit Monticello http://www.monticello.org), his historic home located there.

Jefferson also founded the University of Virginia, where Ralph Sampson was a star basketball player in the early 1980s (he was the subject of a recent "Washington Post Magazine" cover story), and the school's college radio station is affectionally called WTJU-FM (http://www.wtju.net)

And, Jefferson is one of four presidents who are mascots for the Washington Nationals, along with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, which seems a bit ironic (he was infamously assassinated at Ford's Theatre), and Theodore Roosevelt, who seldom wins the mascot derby (http://wwwblog.letteddywin.com).

Yesterday, the Nationals won their home game over the San Diego Padres 8-5.

Here is TJ's quote: "I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

http://www.washington.national/mlb.com

20 Things To Do List for September- Get a Haircut

With an image of Bulgarian stamps, a Japanese barber (that's not me in the barber's chair, in fact, I've never been to Japan) and a poster for Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," which is apparently being revived on Broadway, we are posting our 20 Things To Do List for September:


1) Read the overcoming procrastination book (by Jane B. Burka, et al)

2) Use Craig's List more often

3) Wear the Batman tie more often

4) Get stamps

5) Visit the Unitarian Universalists  congregation in your area

6) See an ACC college volleyball game

7) Get a haircut

8) Watch Democratic Convention on PBS

9) Call Bob

10) recylcle

11) wash car

12) Write an essay

13) shoot hoops

14) Listen to "All Things Considered" on NPR on Mondays

15) Get more orange juice

16) Go to make-shift Facebook high school reunion in Bethesda, Maryland*

17) Have coffee some place besides Starbucks

18) See a local stage play

19) Go to a Turkish-American event

20) Laundry

*-Bethesda is not where I really reside; it's an in-joke for those of you who have read this blog day in and day out for the last seven years.


http://www.kramers.com (Bookstore in Washington, DC, where we originally saw the book mentioned in #1)

http://www.craigslist.com

http://www.neckties.com

http://www.uua.org

http://www.charlestonuu.org (We chose the Charleston, SC, UU congregation at random)

http://www.gopack.com (We chose North Carolina State's athletic page at random, nothing against Duke or UNC).

Olympics Stories- Judo Athlete Wins First Medal for Uzbekistan

Rishod Sobirov, 25, won a bronze medal for the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan on Saturday in the 60-kg judo competition. It was the first medal of the 2012 London Olympics for Uzbekistan.

Many felt that Sobirov, the two-time defending world champion, would win gold, but he was upset in the semi-finals by Arsen Galstya,23, of Russia who dedicated his medal to the 171 people who died recently in massive floods that affected southern Russia.

Galstya also defeated Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan, who had won silver at the last world championships for the sport, which were held in Paris.

Many psychologists have said that bronze medal winners are happier than those who go back to (in Sobirov's case) Tashkent because a bronze-winner feels he has gotten something out of the games while a silver-winner feels disappointed because he could have won gold.

This appears to be the case with the Japanese silver-medalist as he told journalists he was hoping to go back to his country with gold.

http://www.uzbekistan.org

http://www.uzairways.com

http://www.psychologytoday.com

The Rabbit Ears Quiz (12 of 12)_ Battle of the Planets

Today, we conclude our long-running series dedicated to television shows which first ran from the late '60s to the early '80s with an homage to "Battle of the Planets," one of the first Japanese anime cartoons to be aired in the United States.

The original Japanese series, which was called "Science Ninja Team Gatchman," ran from 1972-74; the American version, which ran in syndication, was on the air from 1978-85.

The "Battle of the Planets" cast of winged superheroes, known as the G-Force, included Mark, Jason, Princess, Keyop and Troy. Interestingly enough, Mark was voiced by none other than Casey Kasem, now age 80, who also voiced Scooby Doo. Kasem also hosted a popular radio show featuring the top 40 hits from the Billboard charts, which aired during the '70s and '80s.

G-Force often clashed with the demented villain Zoltar, pictured here, who was arguably as deviant and as sinister as Flash Gordon's foe Ming the Merciless. "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon," an American science fiction cartoon ran from 1979-82 on NBC; it was based on a 1940s era comic strip called "Flash Gordon," which is still active in circulation.

The main ship for the G-Force was called The Phoenix.

So, today, we asking what is the difference in terms of number of episodes between the original Japanese version of the anime series and its American counterpart. Though the Japanese version lasted for a shorter time span, it actually produced more episodes.

Is the answer?:

A) 10

B) 15

C) 20

D) 25

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com

http://www.funimation.com

UPDATE (July 5, 2012): The answer is C)20

Olympic Cities Distance Quiz (2 of 6)- Los Angeles to Tokyo

As the world gets ready for the 2012 London Olympics, we take a look at the distances between cities which have previously hosted the games. One thing we learned while putting this together is that Detroit tried many times to get the games, but they were unable to land them.

Los Angeles has had considerably more luck as they have hosted the 1932 Olympics and the 1984 Olympics.

Tokyo, Japan, was supposed to get the 1940 put an invasion of China sent the games to Helsinki, Finland. But, they were able to secure the games in 1964, becoming the first Asian country to host the Olympics. In more recent years, South Korea and China have hosted them as well.

There is an amazing contrast in the amount of international athletes who competed in each of the games. In 1964, they were athletes from 93 countries in Tokyo. 20 years later, in spite of a boycott from the Soviet Union, eastern block countries (except Romania and the now nonexistent Yugoslavia) and Cuba, athletes from 140 countries came to southern California.

In Tokyo, judo and women's volleyball become Olympic sports. Among the highlights in Japan were Soviet gymnast Larisa Latyrynina, a Ukrainian who is now 77, won two golds, a silver and two bronze medals. While Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila (1932-1973) won a second consecutive gold medal. For the Americans, recently deceased boxer Joe Frazier (1944-2011) won gold as a heavyweight in boxing.

In L.A., synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics debuted in the games where American gymnast Mary Lou Retton, now 44, won a gold in the all-around competition as well as a team silver and a silver on the vault. Carl Lewis won four gold medals in track. And, a barefoot runner from South Africa named Zola Budd, who competed for the United Kingdom, collided with American runner Mary Slaney*, who was wearing shoes, in a highly controversial and dubious 3,000 meter relay. Thus, many people have forgotten that Romanian runner Maricica Puica actually won the race.

So, what is the distance in miles between Los Angeles and Tokyo....

Is the answer:

A) 5,351 miles

B) 5,451 miles

C) 5,556 miles

D) 5,701 miles

PICTURED: A sumo wrestler and Sam the Eagle, who was the official mascot of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

*-Mary Slaney is now known as Mary Decker


SIDEBAR: As for the answer to our tv quiz entry from yesterday, "M*A*S*H" ran for 251 episodes.


http://www.marylouretton.com

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes Prez (1 of 10): Rock and Roller in Seatlle Suburb

Name: Steve Nichols

Age: 48

Reisdency: Bellevue, Washington.

Job: Rock and Roll Guitar Player

Will Likely Vote: Obama

***_Notice: please see disclaimers at the end of this entry


The suburban vote will be crucial for both President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney. Center-right political pundit David Brooks said (if our recollection is accurate) that the shift in the politics of suburbs in places like Philadelphia, Seattle and Raleigh were ones which enable Obama to win over John McCain in 2008.

Washington state has voted for Democrats in every election since 1992 and even though there are Republican strong-holds in places like Spokane, Yakima and Everett, we expect that Obama will carry the state again this year.

Bellevue, Washington, right across the lake from Seattle, is actually considered one of the best places to live in America, according to Wikipedia. The 2010 Census indicated that the 98006 zip code had a population of 122, 363, and the town was on the boom until the economic recession of 2008.

Among its famous citizens are Ann and Nancy Wilson who formed the band Heart; they objected to the use of their song "Baricuda" at the 2008 Republican Convention.

Bellevue is sister cities with Yao, Japan, and three other cities around the globe.

DISCLAIMER: Steve Nichols is a fictional character, though there are at least two relatively famous people with that name including an American soap opera actor and an American car design engineer.

The image is actually of guitar player/producer Mark Hermann who has played for the likes of Foreigner and Joe Walsh. We have no idea what his age, residential area and politics are.

SIDEBAR: Pigs swimming in the Bahamas?! Yes, there is a hysterical short piece in the current issue of "Mental Floss" about these creatures. They were apparently left by a fleet for a barbecue, which never occured.  Of course, this might hurt the magazine's circulation in Karachi, Pakistan!

There is also a wonderful photo on the search engine bing.com of multi-colored buckets in the African nation of Burkina Faso.

And, lastly, we noticed that we had a hit from Algeria today....we are quite impressed that you were able to discover us!


http://www.bellevuereporter.com/

http://www.mentalfloss.com/

http://www.bing.com/

Double Bonus Picture to Fill Space-Scotish Fold Cat

Since Maru the Cat, the Scottish fold cat who resides in Japan, has become a Youtube sensation, we thought we'd thought an image of a cat from the same breed; this particular one presumably resides in Latvia.

On Sat. April 20th, the Safe Haven for Cats, a no-kill shelter in Raleigh, NC, will host its annual Tuxedo Cat Ball at the Marbles Kid Museum in downtown Raleigh. the contact number for the shelter is (919) 872-SAFE.

Casualties of Modern Technology (7 of 12)_ Transistor Radio

When young folks today listen to the classic Van Morrison song "Brown Eyed Girl" (1967) and they hear the reference to a transistor radio, they may have no idea what the great Irish singer is talking about.

The transistor radio is defined by Wikipedia as a small portable signal receiver using transistor-based circuitry. Pocket-size forms of the transistor radio, which were developed in 1954, had a major impact around the world as they changed the radio-listening experience as these devices were portable as opposed to earlier radios.

In the 1970s, the transistor radios began to lose popularity and by the 1980s, people of our generation (the Gen Xers) were all into the boom-boxes, leaving everyone to screech when the mid-80s Wham (the band with George Michael) hit ballad "Careless Whisper" blasted away. Yes, we still get goosebumps thinking back on those days.

Though Bell Labs first developed the transistor radio in 1947, both Germany (well then West Germany) and Japan were major players in the development of the technology for the device.

SIDEBAR: Yes, as of this writing, there are new Big South scores and one game between the visiting Charleston Southern Buccaneers and the home team Radford University Highlanders of Radford, Va. (the author's alma mater) is at half-time, while another game between visiting Campbell and the home team Liberty gets underway tonight, but we are just going to focus on the conference games from Thursday night.

The VMI Keydets pulled off another huge home win over Charleston Southern in a high-scoring 90-81 affair. Keith Gabriel scored 31 points for the Lexington-Va. school as his teammate Stan Okoye scored 17 points.

For the visitors from Charleston, SC, Kelvin Martin, the reigning Big South Player of the Week had a career-high 31 points despite the loss.

Here are the scores from Thursday night's Big South action:

*- home team

*Liberty 61 Coastal Carolina 57
*VMI 90 Charleston Southern 81
*UNC-Asehville 71 Gardner-Webb 61
Presbyterian 77 *Radford 64

From the Record Collection (5 of 8)_ U2 "The Unforgettable Fire"

Since we are discussing U2's album "The Unforgettable Fire" (1984) today, we send out special greetings to everyone in Dublin, Ireland, where the band originally formed in 1976 when lead singer Bono was just 16 years old. The band's first album "Boy" (1980) was released four years later.

This record is my personal favorite from U2, though fans of the band said on Twitter that the recently re-released "Achtung Baby" (1991) was the best album from the band. For many years, that distinction also belonged to U2's major commercial break-through record "The Joshua Tree" (1987).

But, for me, the fourth studio album from U2 will also be the most special one. It was released in October of 1984, which is a bit ironic because U2's second record (released in 1981) was called "October."

With a running time of 42:38, "The Unforgettable Fire" refers to an art exhibit about the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945.

There are two songs dedicated to African-American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., including the landmark song "Pride (in the Name of Love" and "MLK."

The record was produced by Brian Eno, who is also known for producing many exceptional Talking Heads records, and Daniel Lanois, who worked with Peter Gabriel. In more recent years, Lanois has also worked with Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.

"The Unforgettable Fire," which also includes my personal favorite U2 song "A Sort of Homecoming" a song about the contradiction between rock and roll and spiritual life, was partially recorded at Shane Castle in Ireland, and footage of the album's recording is included in the video for "Pride (in the Name of Love)."

The title track, which was the record's second single, features a stirring use of a guitar solo from The Edge.

In a recent documentary about U2's recording of "Achtung Baby," it was revealed that for that album's popular song "One" that The Edge came up with music for the song first and then Bono figured out some lyrics that would match it.

The band is widely considered to be the most prolific active band behind The Rolling Stones, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a band this year. But, unlike The Rolling Stones, U2 has maintained its lineup which also includes Adam Clayton (bass) and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums) since the band was founded.

PSA_ Angry Birds More Addictive Than Heroin

The video/computer game "Angry Birds," which was developed in Finland_ of all places (I thought the game was of Japanese origin since the birds act like kamikaze pilots) way, way back in 2009 (apparently three years is like back in Paleozoic period in terms of technology), is in my view addictive.

I should point out that I've never engaged in recreational drug activity, and my claim that Angry Birds is more addictive than heroin is meant to be humourous (we used the English spelling to see if you are paying attention!).

I could not find any stories on the web about Angry Birds Addiction in terms of psychological research studies, however the web site "Forever Geek" published an online story on Sept. 13, 2011, which said that single people are more likely to get hooked on the game since it supposedly allows for the release of anger and tension.

Angry Birds has reportedly sold more than 12 million editions worldwide, and there are seasonal variations of the game for occasions such as Halloween and Christmas.

The other night I heard on the BBC that a satire of the game called "Angry Brides" has become popular in India. The game takes aim (no pun intended) at the highly controversial, archaic dowry system which was actually outlawed in India 50 years ago, but it is still apparently practiced in some circles.

The dowry system calls for the bride to give gifts for both the groom and his entire family. Among the slingshot items in "Angry Brides" are broomsticks, stiletto high heels and frying pans.

I just recently started playing "Angry Birds" and yes, the game is quite addictive. It almost reminds me of when I played "Ms. Pac-Man" as a teenager some 25 years ago.