Blogging in 3.5 Minutes or Less_ Our Favorite '80s High School Films

Whether you are a supporter of Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) or Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), you will probably agree that brevity is not one of our strengths.

With that, and greetings to our blog-readers in Mozambique, Venezuela and Jordan, we bring you the latest installment of Blogging in 3.5 minutes or less.

Today, we are going to list our six favorite high school films, with no order of preference, from the 1980s.

This idea came to mind when saw that The Sundance Channel, which along with IFC airs reruns of the cult tv show "Freaks and Geeks," which ran for 18 episodes in 1999, asked followers of its Facebook page what their fav high school film was. It is also Throwback Thursday here in America, and perhaps in Jordan too.

 Here are our's:

"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982; pictured_ yes, that is a year young Nicholas Cage)

"The Outsiders" (1983)

"Porky's" (1983)

"Risky Business" (1983)

"The Breakfast Club" (1985)

"Heathers" (1988, which is the year I graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland*)

*-Not really where I went to school

http://www.jasonforcongress.com

http://www.jaredpolis.com

http://www.sundancechannel.com

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org

Top 10 List- Obscure World Capitals, Africa Edition

We learned from the ever-hip magazine "Mental Floss" last year, that apparently a man-eating crocodile named Gustave (not the one pictured here) resides in native habitiat somewhere in the central eastern country of Burundi.

That country shares a border with Rwanda, which we learned from the BBC, is trying to re-establish from its very dark recent history to bring tourists in for bird-watching. Apparently, Rwanda is indeed one of the best places for bird-watching in the world.


And, both Zambia and Gabon have been in the news as Zambia pulled a huge upset over Ivory Coast to win the African Cup of nations in Gabon. To make matters even more confusing, there is also an African country called Gambia which is pretty far from Zambia.

Put, at any rate, here are a list of ten African countries that most 11th graders at Franklin County High School in Rocky Mount, Va., (hey, we had to pick on some school) probably couldn't locate on the map. But we still wish the FCHS Eagles' basketball team bonne chance this year.


1. Banjul, Gambia (western Africa)

2. Libreville, Gabon (central Africa)

3. Lusaka, Zambia (east Africa)

4. Kigali, Rwanda (east Africa)

5. Lome, Togo (west Africa)

6. Maputo, Mozambique (east Africa)

7. Bujumbra, Burundi (east Africa)

8. Gaborone, Botswana (southern Africa)

9. Antananariuo, Madagascar (southern Africa)

10. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (western Africa)

Yes, should numberrs 9 or 10 be asked as a Final Jeopardy question, our thoughts would be with the contestants.

And, on a more somber note, many countries in Africa, including Somalia and Burkina Faso, are currently expeirencing crippling famines.

CARE is one of many relief agencies working to resolve this horrific problem.

50 Beers Around the World- Sagres (Portugal)

New reports are surfacing that actually drinking two beers a day may help prevent a person from getting a heart attack, but I would check with my fellow Turkish-American Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz) before heading over to Corn Beef and Company, a famous downtown bar in my hometown of Roanoke, Va.

As for our latest entry in the 50 Beers Around the World, Sagres Beer is the most popular brew in Portugal. It has a clever ad campaign, which Gloria Steinem and Pat Robertson may not care for, that features a black bikini-clad girl in her twenties coming out of the ocean to hover over an illuminating golden glass of Sarges. Surely, this must give the local chapter of AA in Lisbon something else they don't need to deal with!

Sagres started in 1940, and it is named after the town of Sagres, Portugal. It was first exported to mostly Portuguese colonies, including Mozambique which is now independent.

Popular types of Sagres include Sagres Preta, a Munich-type beer, Sagres Limalight which has a natural lemon flavor and Sagres Bohemia which is an auburn brew with a fruity aroma.

SIDEBAR: Just across the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain and Portugal is Morocco, where according to Sara Tucker of "Conde Nest Traveler," it is polite to knock on the door with the tips of your fingers, and you may only knock three times!