Retro Opening Day Tweets: Let's Go Mets, Orioles, Nationals and Reds...

Yes, these tweets from a week ago were meant to be posted by April 2nd, oh well!

1) Anthony Orisses: "Happy Opening Day! A day for hope and optimism and a changing in the season. Let's Go Mets!" (Image at the top is of Mr. and Mrs. Met)

2) Baltimore City Paper: "Two hours to game time...get psyched for some Orioles Magic! O-R-I-O-L-E-S.......!"

3) Joe Sheehan: "Baseball!!! Baseball!!! Baseball!!! Baseball!!! Baseball!!! Baseball! Baseball! Baseball!! Baseball!!!"

4) CMich Crushes: "If you're reappin' the Detroit Tigers then you're my crush."

5) Brian Murphy: "I like America. And, by that, I mean I like hamburgers, Bruce Springsteen and baseball. Happy Opening Day, everyone...!)

6) Cincinnati Reds: "There's no party like a Reds Opening Day Party!" (the bottom image is of Reds' great Dave Concepcion, now age 65)

7) New York Mets: "HOME RUN! Andrew Brown crushes a 3-run HR! 3-0 Mets!" (the Mets were playing the Washington Nationals. The middle image Capitol Hill is located in Philadelphia.....just seeing if you were paying attention! Of course, it's in Washington, DC!)

8) Washington Nationals: "Andrew Brown sends a 2-2 pitch from Stephen Strasburg into the left field center seats and the Mets take a 3-0 lead.

9) Keith Olbermann: Man down. Bryce Harper kicked in the head. (Harpers plays for the Nats).

http://www.baseballamerica.com/

http://espn.go.com/mlb/

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb

http://cincinnatizoo.org/

http://citypaper.com/

http://thehill.com/

Quoting William Shakespeare (1 of 5)

What do Che Guevara, Jesus Christ and William Shakespeare all have in common?

Well, they've all had bobblehead dolls made after them, of course!

Here is our quip from the Bard:

"Ambition should be made of sterner stuff."

If you are looking for a refuge from Christmas play season, we highly recommend a production of the American Shakespeare Center's production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" if you happen to be in the Staunton, Va., area where the stage company is based.

SIDEBAR: I happy to report that my doppelganger, and yes we checked Google to make sure this term was spelled correctly, Cenk Uygur will be back on television with a new daily show airing on Current TV at 7:00 p.m.

Uygur and I have many things in common. We are both politically progressive. We are both Turkish-Americans. And, amazingly enough we were born on a mere 16 days a part in March of 1970 (I was the one who was born first, not that that matters really).

Up until George W. Bush's now dubious decision to go to war over Iraq, Uygur was actually a Republican so I presume he did not vote for Michael Dukakis, a Greek-American, as I did, which did NOT quite go over well with the relatives in Istanbul.

And, I supported Hillary Clinton at the primary stage though Uygur endorsed Barack Obama. Ironically, it seems that I am considerably less critical of Obama than Uygur. But, all things considered, I agree with Uygur about 90 percent of the time, and I know he will be a great counter to the dittoheads on Fox News, and a strong complement to Keith Olbermann's show which airs at 8:00 p.m. on Current.

Both Olbermann and Uygur were previously talk show hosts on MSNBC.

SIDEBAR TWO: The answer to our Rabbit Ears Quiz on "H.R. Pufnstuf" (not spelled correctly on our tags) was C) $325. Yes, that is how much someone on e-bay is offering for an H.R. Pufnstuf lunch box. The products were made in limited quantity in 1971. We sure hope it has the thermos.

Quote of the Week- William S. Burroughs

Today's quote of the week comes from one of my favorite writers William S. Burroughs (1914-1997) who is, of course, best known for his signature, surreal subversive novel "Naked Lunch:"

"A paranoid is someone who knows a little bit about what's really going on."

SIDEBAR: As Keith Olbermann pointed out on his Current TV show "Countdown" on Tuesday night, Fox News has been obsessive over the fact that President Barack Obama was taking a family vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachussetts, which has an elitist reputation.

The liberal political pundit E.J. Dionne of "The Washington Post" made a point on the Friday edition of "All Things Considered," which I am inclined to agree with in that it may have been politically wiser for Obama to take a vacation on the Outer Banks or the shores of Lake Michigan instead.

Obama has actually viisted Asheville, NC, twice since becoming president, including a stay at the Grove Park Inn Hotel in late April of 2010.

Since Cong. Heath Shuler (D-NC), one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, is actually in danger of losing his seat to a potential Tea Party whacko (well, aren't they all whackos?), we imagine Obama will be back in western North Carolina again quite soon.

UPDATE_ NPR is reporting that Hurricane Irene is potentially heading for the Outer Banks of North Carolina, so perhaps it's better that Obama chose Martha's Vineyard after all!

Coming Attractions: Here is What Might be Coming Next Here

Here are three blog entries I will be trying to get in, though like everyone else I've my fair share of unexpected surprises lately, and of course, most of those have been pies in the proverbial face ala the late Soupy Sales:

1. This week, we had a chance to watch Keith Olbermann's new version of "Countdown" on Current TV. Interestingly enough, Al Gore, who is the CEO of the relatively new network, was the featured guest that night.

2. As always, I will be disclosing the last ten films I've seen. One slight dilemma is: should I count the two-part film biopic of Che Guevara simply entitled "Che" (both films combined last four and a half hours) as two films or one. The Internet Movie Database actually counts them as two. Though Part One, was filmed mostly in Puerto Rico as opposed to Cuba, Part Two was filmed on location in Bolivia.

3. Here in North Carolina, there is the phrase "serving everyone from Murphy to Manteo," these two zip codes are actually the most outer points of the state as Murphy, which is the western mountains, actually borders Georgia. And, Manteo is located in the Outer Banks. Andy Griffith reportedly lives there. Next week, we hope to see just how far apart Murphy and Manteo really are.

_If you want to go to the movies and you live in the Tarheel State, the Graham Cinema in Graham (next to Burlington, and relatively close to Chapel Hill and Greensboro) is now showing "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" and "The Hangover 2."

But, the kicker is the cinema's telephone line which features politically incorrect jokes from Tim Bob. This week, Tim Bob has some sultry tales and jokes about life on the golf course. To hear it for yourself, dial 336-226-1488. The line is often busy.

Quote of the Week- Jules Verne

Today's quote is our third one this month from famous French people in honor of Bastille Day, which was one week ago today. It comes from the author Jules Verne
(1828-1905), who is best-known for his novel "Around the World in 80 Days."


Since I love cats, this quip is a vintage one to me:

"I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through."

SIDEBAR: We are saddened to hear of the departure of progressive talk-show and fellow Turkish-American Cenk Uygur (we were both also born in March of 1970, and we are both liberals) from MSNBC. Since I only have basic cable, I only got to see his show "MSNBC Live," which aired at 6:00 p.m., a few times.

Uygur told sources that the network brass approached him in April to tone down his rhetoric. Amazingly enough, his replacement appears to be the uber-controversial Rev. Al Sharpton. Uygur is expected to be a guest on Keith Olbermann's new show on Current-TV. Olbermann left MSNBC for similar reasons. This comes at a time when MSNBC's rival Fox News has been reeling from the scandal involving their owner Rupert Murdhoch who is embattled with a phone-hacking scandal at one of his English newspapers.

Ironically, we found out that one of the country's leading conservative activists and Armenian-American (our rival ethnic group) Mark Krikorian, who is an anti-immigration advocate was the editor of "The Winchester Star" in Winchester, Va., a few short years before I worked as a reported at "The Shenandoah Valley-Herald," a newspaper owned by the same company in Woodstock, Va.

I imagine given our ethnic and political differences, Krikorian would probably not have gotten along too well.......to put it mildly!