Remembering David Bowie (1947-2016): His Best Ten Records....according to Rolling Stone readers....

David Bowie (1947-2016) died of liver cancer just two days after his 69th birthday on Jan. 10, 2016, which happened to be the 71st birthday of Rod Stewart, another '70s and '80s rock music icon as well as the 63rd birthday of Pat Benatar, an '80s new wave pop sensation. His contemporaries were as diverse as the late Lou Reed and Billy Idol.

Bowie was also a remarkable actor who starred in "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976) and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" (1983), and "The Hunger" (1983) with Susan Sarandon and he was one of the world's premiere art collectors.

Here are the ten best albums according to readers of "Rolling Stone" (dated Jan. 16, 2013):

1) The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972, pict. top)

2) "Hunky Dory" (1971)

3) "Station to Station" (1976)

4) "Low" (1977)
 
5) "Diamond Dogs" (1974)

6) "Aladdin Sane" (1973; pict. center)

7) "Scary Monsters....." (1980)

8) "Heroes" (1977; pict. bottom)

9) "Young Americans" (1975)

10) "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970)

http://www.davidbowie.com

http://www.bowiewonderworld.com

Chaos in DC: Tweets from the Republican Congress Mess

Greetings to our blog readers in Serbia, Finland, and Scotland.........


Yes, it has been a full two weeks since I last posted. In the mean time, actor James Woods has reverted back to being a progressive and Susan Sarandon has become a tea partier......well, of course, neither of those things has happened, but we are still here, and we still maintain a center-left point of view.

The images pictured here are of: 1) Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is one of 46 Republicans trying to become House Speaker since Cong. Kevin McCarthy stunned the nation by dropping out of the race (in actuality, there are 10 candidates who might be speaker), 2) Bao Bao the National Zoo panda who doesn't get to vote for House Speaker, and 3) Turkish ambassador Serdar Kilic posing with President Barack Obama, the man who has replaced Thomas Jefferson on the two dollar bill. (I think we lost some conservatives in the audience with that quip).........we refer to Kilic because Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan was mentioned in a tweet (see below).......

Here are 11 tweets, one for each member of the D.C. United soccer team regarding the predicament over which Republican will prevail as House Speaker in the wake of Cong. John Boehner's (R-Ohio) stunning resignation.

1)  Donna Brazile: #TheSpeakerofTheHouse is second in line after the Vice President to accede to the Presidency. This is serious.

2) The Hill: Amid chaos, Dems catch GOP off guard with Planned Parenthood vote.

3) Roll Call: One member* stomped into an elevator away from reporters with an emphatic "no!" when asked if running for speaker (*-Cong. Trey Gowdy R-SC).

4) Slate: Ted Cruz ambushed the Sierra Club's president** on climate change (**-Aaron Nair). 

5) Gawker: Dr. Ben Carson just won't quit it with the Hitler talk.

6) Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo.): "#chaosintheHouse who will be speaker?"

7) Politico: Leading Republicans to GOP conference: keep calm

8) Jonathan Chait: Biden seen ordering ice cream cone.

9) Ken Rudin: Newt Gingrich says he wouldn't rule being temp House Speaker.

10) New York Post: Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich won this year's Nobel Prize in literature.

11) The Economist: Turkey's Erdogan once visited Brussels begging for favours. The tables have turned.

Now, that we're done, we should head to the Turkish restaurant Meze http://www.mezedc.com though it is late and we don't actually live close to the nation's capital.

Virtual Postcard from North Carolina: Wool E. Bull Sez Hello....

These scores from last night (Wednesday night) will be outdated very shortly, but since there was apparently no rain all along the east coast and areas in the Midwest east of the Mississippi River, all of the scheduled games in the Triple-A level International League were played last night.

For those of you in Sweden or Malaysia who may not understand how the minor league baseball system in America works, some players who need to work on some skills play three levels of baseball in the hopes of playing for a major league team like the New York Yankees or the St. Louis Cardinals.

Wool E. Bull (pictured top) is the mascot for the Durham Bulls in Durham, NC. The team has been successful on the field as they are perennial contenders, and the team was the subject of 1988 film "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. Over the weekend, Sarandon became the latest celebrity to have ice water dumped over head in a bucket to raise awareness for ALS.

Here are last night's scores; home teams are in (*):

1) *Norfolk 5 Charlotte 1

2)  *Gwinett 8 Durham 1

3)  Buffalo 6 *Scranton 5 (first game)

4) *Scranton 8 Buffalo 3 (second game)

5) Columbus 9 *Toledo 4

6) *Lehigh Valley 5 Pawtucket 1

7) *Syracuse 4 Rochester 3

8) Louisville 8 *Indianapolis 3

http://www.thisisdurham.com

 http://www.durham-nc.com

Quote of the Day- Film Director Peter Jackson

Typically, many fellow cineastes are a bit surprised that I did not consider myself to be a serious admirer of film director Peter Jackson, who has put New Zealand's film industry on the proverbial map with his famous "LTR" triology.

But, I was very impressed with his most recent film "The Lovely Bones" and I was stunned to see that many critics, who cited Susan Sarandon's over-the-top performane as a serious flaw, did not agree with me.

Today, we are featuring the Oscar-winning Jackson (b. 1961) as our representative for New Zealand as we continue to quote people, who may be alive or dead, from all 32 countries in the World Cup which begins on Friday in South Africa.

While researching this piece, we found out that Jackson collects World War One model airplanes.

Here is his quote:

"New Zealand is not a small country but a large village."

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Minor League Mascots

Today in our Silly Photo to Fill Space series we feature the mascot of the Durham Bulls the triple-A farm team of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Durham, NC, which was once featured in the Kevin Costner-Susan Sarandon film "Bull Durham" (1988).

The Bulls have a home day game with the Charlotte Knights at 1:05 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams play each other again in Durham on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.

Quote of the Week- Susan Sarandon

Since Virginia's new far-right leader Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has said he will go through with the first execution under his administration (we presume there will be many more, jaywalkers beware!) this week, it seems appropriate to quote one of the nation's leading anti-death penalty advocates Susan Sarandon.

Though I am considerably more to the political center than Sarandon, one has to admire her for taking a stance and sticking to it. She has recently been in the news for her personal life as her relationship with actor Tim Robbins is apparently over.

Robbins directed Sarandon, arguably the sexiest 64-year-old around, in her 1995 Oscar-winning performance as Sister Helen Prejean of Louisiana.

Sarandon also debuted in the 1970 film "Joe," which starred the late Peter Boyle of "Young Frankenstein" fame, which we put on our recent list of the Best Left-Wing Films of all time.

I decided not to put "Dead Man Walking" on the list because it is a superlative film which has a relevant message which goes beyond its politics.

Ironically, Prejean who is more admired by liberals than conservatives, is also pro-life.

Here is the quote of the week from Sarandon, who grew up in Edison, NJ:

"I try to live every day in the present, and try not to turn a blind eye to injustice and need."

Celebrities Working for Haiti

I am a bit pressed for this p.m., but I wanted to post a blog entry in support of Ben Stiller's charity StillerStrong, which has been promoted on "The Tonight with Conan O'Brien."

I noticed the night when news broke about the earthquake in Haiti that Stiller tweeted his support and he has not let up ever since.

Other celebrities helping out include George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Actress Ashely Judd held a charity dinner with the University of Kentucky's basketball coach John Calipari in Lexington, Ky., which raised funds for the relief efforts in Haiti.

So far, StillerStrong has raised $131,013.

Here is a part of Stiller's mission statement for his charity:

"It's heart-breaking to see the images coming out of Haiti. The people there need our immediate help. I was there last year for the first time, and was struck by the amazing spirit and culture of the people and place, and the extreme hardship these people faced and that was before the recent tragedy."

A sister entry regarding Haiti is on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Movies of Our Youth (8 of 12)- "Bull Durham"

Congrats to the Durham Bulls from Durham, NC, , who won the Triple-A World Series over the Memphis Red Hawks by a 5-4 margin (the game lasted 11 innings, and it was broadcast on ESPN-2) in Oklahoma City last night.

Since they won the game, I thought I would feature the 1988 comedy hit "Bull Durham" as the latest entry in our series. At the time of the film, the Durham Bulls were in the Single-A Carolina League along with my hometown team the Salem Bucs from Salem, Va., (now the Salem Red Sox). But, the Bulls are now a triple-A franchise of the Florida Marlins.

Though I am considerably more politically moderate (I consider myself a centrist Democrat) than two of the film's stars, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, I admire their outspokeness against capital punishment which also happens to by my position on the highly controversial issue.

Robbins and Sarandon met on the set and quickly fell in love. They have co-habitated for a number of years but apparently they are not married. Both are also avid New York Rangers fans.

PS- This is NOT me in this photograph, but it is the mascot of the Durham Bulls.