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These scores from last night (Wednesday night) will be outdated very shortly, but since there was apparently no rain all along the east coast and areas in the Midwest east of the Mississippi River, all of the scheduled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

Virtual Postcard from Maryland: The Mascot of the Frederick Keys

Maryland is home to the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, the grave of Peley, the Little Rascals' dog in the D.C. 'bur b of Silver Spring, and a statue of Testudo the Terrapin who has left the ACC for the Big Ten (editorial comment: BOO!) in College Park.

But, our choice for this virtual postcard is of Keyote, a coyote, which is curious because we imagine there aren't many coyotes in Maryland, who is the mascot of the Frederick Keys in Frederick, a medium-sized city about 45 miles west of Washington, D.C.

The Frederick Keys split a double-header at home with our hometown team the Salem Red Sox, from Salem, Va., in Carolina League play; here is the complete scoreboard from Wednesday night's games. The home team is marked with an (*).

*Frederick 3 Salem 1 (game one)

Salem 5 *Frederick 4 (game two)

Potomac 3 *Wilmington (Del.) 0 (game one)

Potomac 3 Wilmington 0 (game two)

Lynchburg 6 *Carolina 2

*Myrtle Beach 16 Winston-Salem 5

http://www.visitfrederick.org

http://www.roadsideamerica.com

Quote of the Day- Nick Nolte

Today, we continue to quote actors who have played presidents with a quip from Nick Nolte, 71, who came to fame in the late-1970s thanks in part for his performance in the tv mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man," which was a sensation at the time.

Notable films in Nolte's filmography include "48 Hours" (dir. Walter Hill, 1982), "Cape Fear" (dir. Martin Scorsese, 1990) and "The Prince of Tides" (dir. Barbara Streisand, 1991).

He played President Thomas Jefferson in the feature film "Jefferson in Paris" (dir. James Ivory, 1995) with Gwyneth Paltrow playing his daughter. Ironically, Paltrow's mom Blythe Danner played Martha Jefferson, the mother of Paltrow's character in real life, in the musical film "1776" (dir. Peter H. Hunt, 1972).

Today, on our other blog "Poltics, Cultures and Other Wastes of Time," we are quoting Charlton Heston who played Jefferson in a tv movie entitled "The Patriots," as Heston played another president Andrew Jackson in the feature film "The Buccaneer" (dir. Anothony Quinn, 1958).

Here is Nolte's quote:

"If you have a film that's valid, you stick your ass on the line."

SIDELINE: In a quick sports note, in minor league action in the Carolina League, the hometown Lynchburg Hillcats (Lynchburg, Va.) fell to the Potomac Nationals (Woodbridge, Va., near Washington, DC), a farm team of the Washington Nationals, by a score of 10-1. The Nationals scored on nine runs in the fourth inning of the game. For the visitors, Matt Grace, 23, a UCLA alumni (6-10), was the winning pitcher over Cody Martin, 22 (10-7) for the Hillcats. The same two teams play tomorrow.


http://www.nicknolte.com

http://www.monticello.org

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.washingtonnationals.mlb.com

Greensboro vs. Roanoke- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Entry 4 of 6)

We have not had an entry in this series since the Fourth of July when we compared two eateries, the Texas Tavern the 24/7 mini-diner in Roanoke and Fincastle's, which is a burger joint in Greensboro.

Ironically, Fincastle's is indeed named for Fincastle, Va., a small town 20 miles north of Roanoke.

Today, we are comparing the cities' two minor leage baseball teams. For those who are not familiar with the Roanoke Valley, Salem, Va., my hometown, is the main 'suburb' of Roanoke. There is actually a 'lemon tree' rivalry between the two cities which is made a bit ridicilous because Roanoke, with a population of 92,000, has a lot more folks than Salem, which has a population of 25,000 (ok, we actually need to confirm that through Wikipedia or the U.S. Census, but I do want to get out of the house today).

So the Salem Red Sox serve as the main baseball team for Roanoke. The team has been called the Salem Avalanche, the Salem Redbirds, the Salem Bucaneers and the Salem Pirates over the years. Former Pittsburgh Pirates great Dave Parker, who helped the team win the 1979 World Series over the Baltimore Orioles, is arguably the best player to play for a Salem team.

The most noteable thing about the Red Sox has to be their mascot Muggsy, a tall dog, which replaced a nut as the team's mascot (yes, we are not making this up) during the Salem Avalanche years.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers, who play in the South Atlantic League, actually play in downtown Greensboro. They were previously the Greeensboro Bats, and Derek Jeter, the current New York Yankees superstar, played for that team.

Greensboro is believed to be the largest city in America with a single-A team, as the city has approximately the same population as Salt Lake City, Utah. They play teams like the Asheville Tourists and the Hickory Crawdads from towns that are much smaller in population. The Minnesota Twins actually considered relocating to Greensboro several years ago.

The 'Hoppers also have bat dogs. They are specially trained to retrieve baseball bats (one is pictured here).

Both teams were in action last night. The Salem Red Sox, who play in the Carolina League, split a home double-header with the Wilmington Blue Rocks (that team is actually from Wilmington, Del., not Wilmington, NC) a night after losing to the Winston-Salme Dash 14-0 in the team's worst loss of the season.

The 'Hoppers scored a road win over the Delmarva Shorebirds in Salisbury, Md., by a
5-4 score. The two teams are slated to play again tonight at 7:05 p.m., but one should expect that Hurricane Irene will probably prevent that game from being played.

If I had to choose one of the teams, it would ultimately be the Salem Red Sox. Yes, it is a hometown bias, but the sox offer one thing that the 'Hoppers do not- free parking!

SIDEBAR ONE: Alas, last night my alma mater Glenvar High School in Salem, Va., lost to another school with GHS initials as Galax High School from Galax, Va., came to Salem and beat the Highlanders by a 17-14 score.

But, Cave Spring High School, the Beverly Hills 90210 high school in the Roanoke Valley (reportedly, some students actually drive BMWs) won their home opener as the Kinght bear the William Byrd Terriers 28-14.

SIDEBAR TWO: I want to take a moment to wish my great aunt Jo of South Carolina a happy 101st birthday. To put that in perspective, when she was born in 1910, William Howard Taft was president.

Status Update_ I am NOT Erupting Like Mt. St. Helens

It has been a crazy, hectic time here in Mudville, Va. (fictional town), but we are hoping to get back to blogging in the hopes that it might connect to the current Miss Turkey, Miss Brazil or well, maybe even Miss West Virginia.

But, in spite of all the zaniness, I have not erupted like Mount St. Helen's in Washington state. The famous volcano, which is now a national park (?!), had its famous eruption on May 18, 1980. It killed 57 people.

While researhing this, we found out that there is a minor league team in Oregon called the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. They are in the Northwest League and a farm team for the San Francisco Giants. They lost their last game to the Eugene Emeralds by a 4-3 score.

Oregon and Washington are two of seven states that I've never been to. I'm not sure if I should count Michigan among the other 43 because I've only been to the Detroit Airport.

Father's Day Kitsch

For me, Father's Day is about remembering my father Mehmet Gokbudak (1921-1983) and my second stepfather Donald Sullivan (1918-2003).

The two men had some similarities as my father liked to collect knives and he frequently wore orange Elmer Fudd hunters caps even though to my knowledge baba (the Turkish word for father) never hunted himself. He also had a fascinated with gun shops.

Donald really, really liked guns, and our political differences on gun control could at times be a sensitive matter. Although we both loved western films, I remember a time when we sat down together to watch a Hopalong Cassidy movie on tv. And, on Father's Day one year, Donald almost cried when he stood up as a 'father' on my behalf during a Salem Avalanche game (now the team is the Salem Red Sox). Since Donald had no children of his own, he cherished being a father figure for my sister and I.

My father had other interests which remain a bit pecuilar to this day. Though he rarely drank beer, though I believe he drank a few Efes Pilsen brews when he was back in Turkey, he loved German beer drinking songs and he had many lp records of those songs, some of which we recently rediscovered. Donald, on the other hand, had little use for Germany as he was a World War II veteran who had seen action in countries like Germany, Belgium and France.

My father's game of choice was soccer, and he rooted for GalataSaray though we didn't have the advantage of watching Turkish soccer games on tv via satellite in the 1970s and early 1980s as many Turkish families can today.

Baba was also not to found of the tv sitcom "Happy Days," which I watched regularly. He considered The Fonz to be subversive because he defied authority, and at times, there was actually a de facto ban on "Happy Days." For me, this simply meant, that I would simply watch the show whenever I was at a friend's house. And, reruns of the show also aired in the afternoon when he wasn't home.

My father also enjoyed classical music, especially accordian tunes, leather belts,
'70s floppy hats, playing the Turkish saz, riiding his bicycle all over town and the Laurel and Hardy short films that he saw at cinemas in Istanbul when he was a teenager.

Besides guns, Donald also liked trains, hot dogs, yard sales, watching airplanes take off and land as well as fishing.

Donald was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but his family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he resided on Minnesota Street. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1948.

Though I am very different from both of them in oh so many ways, I miss them both every day. And, on Father's Day, I prefer to think of how fortunate I was to have them in my life rather than mourn the fact that they are no longer around.

Special Quote of the Week- Michael Jordan

Today's quote comes from His Airness Michael Jordan who won six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998). Curiously, much like Bjorn Borg got burned out with tennis, Jordan shocked the world by retiring at a young age to try baseball. So, he played mostly minor league baseball with teams like the Birmingham Barons where he hit three homeruns.

But, he came back in a veyr big way perhaps to the nausea of other NBA stars like Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz who went to Jordan in the 1998 NBA Finals.

Jordan is the pride and joy of my state of residence, which is North Carolina (I'm from Roanoke, Va.), and he has arguably replaced NASCAR legend Richard Petty (who hails from Randleman, NC) as the Tarheel State's favorite son.

His Airness went to Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, NC, and he later played and won a NCAA title with the University of North Carolina Tarheels, a team that then coached by Dean Smith.

Here is Jordan's quote:

"Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game."

Incidentally, the Birmingham Barons lost to the Huntsville Stars 6-2 in Huntsville, Alabama, last night. The two plays play each other again this evening.

Special Quote of the Week-Orhan Pamuk

Today, we quoting the great Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (b.1952) whose 2003 novel "Snow," set in the remote northwestern Turkey of Kars, near the border with Armenia, captured where Turkey is both socially and politically and that has held true in the close for the ten years since it was first published.

Pamuk, like the other two Turkish literary giants poet Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963) and fellow novelist Yashar Kemal (b. 1923), has had many poltiical problems at home. After the publication of "Snow," he has made provacative comments regarding the Armenian Genocide Controversy (it should be pointed out here that when I use this term, Armenians hate the fact that I use the word controversy, and Turks don't like the use of the g-word, but either way or regardless of how I feel, the spat is not going to be made worse or resolved by whatever opinions I hold about the matter. But, unlike Pamuk, I would rather not go down that dark backstreet alley).

The German author Gunter Grass (b. 1927) who has also had isssues with right-wingers in his country defended Pamuk's right to speak about the matter. We are featuring a quote from Grass on other blog.

Here is the quote from the author of "Snow" and "My Name is Red:"

"Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen."

SIDEBAR: Shifting our attention to minor leage baseball, our beloved Durham Bulls (in Durham, NC) beat the visiting Indianapolis Indians 1-0 in a day game today. The two teams face each other again tommorow night; the Bulls have a record of 21-13.

Also, the Salem Red Sox from my hometown of Salem, Va, lost their last game to the Wilmington BlueRocks in Wilmigton, Del., but they return home to face the Winston-Salem Dash from Camel City (Winston-Salem, NC) on Friday night at 7:05 p.m.

Weekend Road Trip (7 of 20)- Portland, Maine to Altoona, Pa.

You know you've been blogging way too long when you google a term like 'lobster van' on Google Images, and you get a link to your own blog! Such is the case with this image, which is from Myrtle Beach, SC. We have also previously used the Shell Gas Station in Winston-Salem, NC, first built in 1930 which no longer in operation, but has thankfully been preserved as a tourist attraction.

But, today we are actually asking you the devoted blog-reader who has assuredly been with me ever day since we start in September of 2005 how far apart the city of Portland, Maine, is from Altoona, Pa. Of course, since most of our fans are in Uzbekistan and Norway (well, we like to believe that though we were actually linked to an Uzbeki web site--not sure if it still exists!), they are probably confused!

Of course, everyone knows, well everyone outside of Tashkent and Oslo, knows that Maine is known for their lobsters and that is why we chose that image. But, even folks in les etats unis, may not know that Altoona, Pa., is the headquarters of Sheetz, which has like 3.4 million gas stations on the east coast. I have pumped gas at their stations in Ridgeway, Va., Greensboro, NC, Akron, Ohio, and well_Altoona, Pa., among many other places.

Both Portland, Maine, and Altoona, Pa., also have double-A minor league baseball teams in the Eastern League. Friday night, the Portland Sea Dogs lost 9-7 to the New Britain Rock Cats in Connecticut. They host the Binghamton Mets from New York state at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. We were curious to see what a sea dog looked like, and we saw this great image from jellyfishday.blogspot.com, but this blog's managing editor Dennis Alexander* thought the lobster was more suitable.

As for the Altoona Curve, they lost to the Richmond Flying Squirrels (I guess they got permission from the Jay Ward estate as well as the copyright holders of "Rocky and Bullwinkle") in Virginia 3-2 on Saturday.

For this project, we looked at the distance between Longfellow Books, an independent bookstore in Portland, Maine, and Robert's Service Station in Altoona, Pa., which may be one of the three not-Sheetz gas stations in town.

Uh huh, it looks like our Honduran intern Javier**, who is on Spring Break from George Mason University, actually forgot to Mapquest this. Sorry, dear readers. We will have a talk with Javier.

But, we have the answer now; is it:

A) 9 hours

B) 10 hours

C) 11 hours

D) 12 hours

Speaking of indy bookstores, we just saw Sarah Vowell promote her new book "Unfamiliar Fishes" about the American colonization of Hawai'i on C-Span 2 (Book TV). Vowell's talk was recorded at Book People, an indy bookstore in Austin, Tex.

Catherynne M. Valente will talk at Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine, about her new book "Deatless" on Apr. 28 at 7:00 p.m. The book is apparently about the conflict between magical history and actual history.

The answer to last week's Weekend Road Trip Quiz was C) 41 hours, 57 minutes_ that's how far apart Las Vegas and Pawtucket, RI, are. See you back here soon....I hope!

*- Dennis Alexander is my psedonymn and in-joke; it is rarely used

**-Yeah, as you expected, there is no Javier the intern!

Weekend Road Trip- Rhode Island to Nevada (6 of 20)

Today, we continue our series Weekend Road Trips with a look at how far two cities with famous minor league baseball teams are from each other. The two cities are Pawtucket, RI, where the Pawtucket Red Sox play, (triple-A team for the Boston Red Sox) and Las Vegas, Nev., where one can see both a Las Vegas 51s game and an expensive-as-all-get-out show from Wayne Newton on the same night.

We are actually going to measure the distance between Modern Diner in Pawtucket, which has been featured in the great "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip, and Ibo Turkish Restaurant, which we assume serves our favorite meat dish Adana kebab, on West Flamingo Road in Las Vegas. According to the "Providence Phoenix," the Modern Diner serves very good pumpkin pancakes!

The Pawsox are currently on the road in Syracuse, NY, today, where they are playing the Syracuse Chiefs. The team's web site reported that they were winning 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Pawsox are playing the Chiefs on a double-bill as we speak. They return to Rhode Island on Saturday to host the Buffalo Bisons. On April 30, the Pawsox will have a special fireworks display after their game with the Toledo Mudhens.

While we were looking at the PawSox's web site, we saw that Yamaico Navarro, a shortstop from the Dominican Republican, was at bat for the road team. The team also consists of his countrymen Tony Pena Jr., a 30-year-old pitcher for the PawSox whose father Tony Pena was a major-league all-star who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and five other teams.

As for the Las Vegas 51s, they are named for Area 51 which is a military base that is 80 miles north of town; it is also where UFO believers feel that ETs have passed by so perhaps it serves as their Atlanta (forgive the airline passenger humor).

Actor Billy Bob Thornton once wore a 51s team hat on a late-night talk show. The next home game for the team will be against the Fresno Grizzlies tommorow night at 7:05 p.m. local time.

Brad Mills, a pitcher who is almost exactly 15 years younger than me (he is 26, his birthday March 5 is a day after mine), was pitching for the 51s today in a road game at Sacramento. Mills played college baseball for the University of Arizona.

Though the two teams are in different Triple-A leagues and could only play each other in the Minor League World Series, today we are asking how far from each other these two zip codes are.

Is the answer:

A) 39 hours, 57 minutes

B) 40 hours, 57 minutes

C) 41 hours, 57 minutes

D) 42 hours, 57 minutes

PS_ The answer to last week's road quiz was A) 26 hours is the distance between New Haven, Conn., and Colorado Springs, Colo.

Top Ten Favorite Minor League Baseball Teams -Slight Hometown Bias

The mascot here belongs to the Bowie Bay Sox from Bowie, Md., who play in the AA Eastern League, but the team that will top my list is The Salem Red Sox from Salem, Va. I was born and raised in Salem, Va. In fact, legendary baseball player Dave Parker played for the then-Salem Pirates in the '70s before going on to glory with the Pittsburgh, who haven't experienced a glory year in quite some time.

The famous Durham Bulls from Durham, NC, who were featured in the 1988 movie "Bull Durham" are our number two team. The Bulls won the coveted Minor League World Series last year.

While the Akron Aeros from Akron, Ohio, who play the Bay Sox in the Eastern League rank third. Their home stadium Canal Park is perhaps the nicest minor league stadium I've ever been to.

Salem lost a road game to Kinston 2-1 last night. The two teams play each other again at 7:05 tonight. Their next home game is Aug. 31 against the Potomac Nationals.

Durham won its game over Gwinett 4-3 last night, and the next home game for the Bulls will be against the Charlotte Knights on Monday at 7:05 p.m.

Akron plays the Erie Sea Wolves tonight at home.

And, the Bay Sox play the Altoona Curve, another team on this list, at home starting Aug. 30.

One day, when we get a chance, we'll have to post a photo of the West Virginia Power's mascot......he is even more amusing than the Gumby-look alike who is the mascot of the Altoona Curve!

As a rule, I decided not to put more than one team from each state on the list, hence I am snubbing our hometown Greensboro Grasshoppers. But, they do host the Savannah Sand Gnats from Savannah, Ga., this week. They, in fact, made the list!

Here is the list!:

1. Salem Red Sox

2. Durham Bulls

3. Akron Aeros

4. West Virginia Power

5. Myrtle Beach Pelicans

6. Altoona Curve

7. Salt Lake City Bees

8. Savannah Sand Gnats

9. Bowie Bay Sox (pictured)

10. Louisville Bats

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Lynchburg Hillcats' Mascot

We continue our series within a series that focuses on summer jobs with Southpaw, the mascot of the Lynchburg Hillcats. They are a minor league baseball team in Lynchburg, Va., where the late Rev. Jerry Falwell (one of the main reasons I became a Democrat) once preached his morality and imposed his judgment from the pulpit (we couldn't resist).

The Falwell family has actually been closely linked with minor league teams in Lynchburg- in fact they play at Calvin Falwell Field, but since we love SouthPaw we won't hold that against them!

The Hillcats are currently in the middle of a homestand against the Potomac Nationals who play in the DC suburbs of Virginia. The Nationals won last night's game 6-4, and the two teams play again tonight at 7:00 p.m.

The 'Cats have several promotions coming up, including a fireworks display on Aug. 14when they host to the Kinston Indians from Kinston, NC, and on Aug. 16, there will be a 50-Cent Hot Dog Night when the team plays The Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

As for our local team, The Greensboro Grasshoppers lost a road game to The Kannapolis Intimidators 7-4 in the South Atlantic League. The Intimidators' pitcher Cameron Bayne retired 14 'Hoppers in a row.

SIDEBAR: In Danville, Va., an hour and a half south of Lynchburg down Route 29 a maricahi band will play at Los Tres Magueyes Mexican Restaurant during dinner time on Monday, Aug. 9.

SIDEBAR TWO: I recently 'lost my virginity' (term they give first-time diners) at The Texas Tavern in my hometown of Roanoke, Va. There used to be a Texas Tavern in Lynchburg as well. I had the establishment's speciality which is a bowl of chilli for a mere $1.60. It was definitely worth the proverbial price of admission.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Caddyshack

We continue our look at summer jobs in our Silly Pictures to Fill Space series (which usually runs on Tuesdays) with an homage to the 1980 film "Caddyshack," which somehow lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Raging Bull" (correction: "Ordinary People," I always forget that even though 'Bull' is the better movie that it lost to the Robert Redford-directed film. 'Course, we know 'Caddyshack' wasn't actually nominated).

If one wants to become a caddy in the Winston-Salem, NC-area and perhaps meet the real-life equivalents of Chevy Chase, Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield, one can apply at The Old Homeplace Golf Club on Wallbug Road, Jimmy Mac's Golf Range on Clemmonsville Road or The Meadowlands Golf Club at Meadowlands Drive.

Of course, we're not sure that any of these places (which really do exist) are hiring as we don't have time to survey job postings on Craigslist.

But, we can tell you that Krispy Kreme Town's local minor league baseball team The Winston-Salem Dash won a road game over the Lynchburg Hillcats in Lynchburg, Va., by a 7-4 score on Sunday.

The Dash now head to my hometown of Salem, Va., to face the Salem RedSox for a four-game series starting on Wednesday night. We wish both teams well.

Hmmm......I am beginning to feel like someone residing in Zurich, Switzerland!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- the Late Wally the Warthog

Alas, when The Winston-Salem Warthogs (1995-2008) because The Winston-Salem Dash, the beloved Wally the Warthog was sent to a pork processing plant in Tarheel, NC, and Bolt became the Winston-Salem, NC, minor league baseball team's new mascot.

In all seriousness, we miss Wally the Warthog but perhaps he will come back to the ballpark for a cameo one day.

We are, oh btw, continuing our summer jobs series with a focus on Winston-Salem, also known as Camel City and for being the home of Krispy-Kreme Doughnuts.

While college students who are coming back home from schools like Wake Forest or East Carolina can't dress up like Wally, perhaps they can dress up like Bolt. Well, actually they may have to apply for the job for next summer, but they can perhaps work the concession stand. Hey, I did it for the Salem Avalanche (now the Salem Red Sox) in Salem, Va.

There is also a new baseball stadium issue in Camel City which has reportedly been causing Mayor Allen Jones headaches, well we don't mean that literally.

The Dash won their game last night in Lynchburg, Va., against the Lynchburg Hillcats by a 5-3 score. Tonight, they return home to face the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at 7:00 p.m.

Winston-Salem is also the home of UBU the Band (well they were based in nearby Jamestown, and are now in Charlotte), a dinner band which hit the Top 40 in 1991 with "Right Here, Right Now" (oh that was pop singer Jesus Jones). UBU the Band is performing at High Point University in High Point, NC, on July 18.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Bag Boy

Today, we feature grocery store bag boy as our Silly Photo to Fill Space which seems appropriate because the Myrtle Beach, SC, metro area has at least four Piggly Wiggly stores, including ones on Kings Hwy and Moser Drive as well as two just outside town in the villas of Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island.

For those who haven't been paying attention (and with the long hot summer days we can understand why!), we have been focusing specifically on Myrtle Beach, SC, for this segment for the last five weeks. But, next week it will be some other town.

Perhaps, it will be Asheville, NC, where the Asheville Tourists are hosting the Kannapolis Intimidators (a team named after the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt). The game is going to be sponsored by WUNC-TV, the state's PBS station. The Tourists won their last game when they beat the Savannah SandGnats in Savannah, Ga., by a 5-0 score on Saturday.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Hey Bartender

Today, we continue our special look at summer jobs through our Silly Photo to Fill Space series by focusing on the world of bartending, which supposedly pays fairly well (we had no time to research verify this, but apparently one can make great tips at Roxy's, a night-club in L.A.).

Apparently, from an internet article by some guy who is an 'expert' at such things, the St. Clement Beach Bar and Grill is the very best bar in Myrtle Beach, SC, a place we have been featuring since we started this look at summer jobs.

The establishment is located at 202 70th Ave North.

As for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans baseball team that we have also talked about in earlier entries, we learned that they were clobbered in Kinston, NC, by the Kinston Indians 10-2 on Sunday. But, it was 104 degrees on the field.......yes, we think many fans probably left by the seventh inning stretch too!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Summer Jobs (Baseball Mascots)

So, you want to go down to Myrtle Beach, SC, for the summer and check out babes, take in a few rays and drink cheap beer at Mother Fletcher's (presuming the landmark night club is still around), well you got get a summer job right?

And, someone is going to dressing up in this attire here as they become Splash (pictured here) the mascot of the minor league baseball team The Myrtle Beach Pelicans who are getting ready to face the visiting Winston-Salem Dash from Winston-Salem, NC, in a little over an hour at 7:05 p.m.

According to the team's web site, Splash got an official 'makeover' in 2007 by supposedly 'pumping iron at the gym.'

The new version of Splash made his first appearance on April 5, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,074 baseball fans which included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (aka Hizoner) who was hoping the visit to the dugout would help him win the Palmetto State Republican Primary, which ultimatley went to his political rival John McCain.

Splash has reportedly been ejected from two Pelicans games and the team web site advised fans to 'keep an eye on their hot dogs, so Splash doesn't try to eat them."

My own hometown team the Salem RedSox from Salem, Va., (I actually worked for them in the concession stand one summer when they were the Salem Avalanche) visit the Pelicans over the Fourth of July weekend.

Things We Learned on Twitter Very Early This A.M.

For those who have been keeping track of our entry over the years, you may recall that we have periodically blogged about the beloved late sixties children's tv show "H.R. Puff N Stuff" (pictured here) which through some research on our part has revealed to be a show that was allegedly about the wonder of smoking pot!

This leads to our story of the story which stems from the seaside village of Paphos, Cyprus, in the southwestern Greek portion of the island nation which has been politically divided since war broke out between Turkey and Greece over the conflicting ethnic groups' residential status in 1974.

(It should be pointed out perhaps for the 105th time that I am a Turkish-American, but if you read below, you'll see this entry has nothing to do with ethnic politics------we promise!)

According to an early morning tweet stating: 'Teenage boy arrested for cannibis in Cyprus' from "The Cyprus Mail," which I saw at 4:30 a.m., American east coast time as I was battling insomnia, an 18-year-old male from Paphos was arrested by Cypriot police and charged with possesion and use of drugs with intent to pass the proverbial bong (not the way they actually worded it!) to a third person.

If convicted, the youth, who was not identified by name, could face a LIFE sentence?! And, I thought my father's country wasn't exactly progressive when it came to marijuana!

On a more serious note, I was very saddened to hear about the Israeli commando raid of the Turkish ship The Marmara which was carrying relief supplies to Palestinians. I will keep my political perspective out of this matter on this blog, but all of us in the Turkish-American are thinking about the nine people on the vessel, including four Turkish nationals, who needlessly lost their lives on Monday.

And, on a less serious note, The Seven's Turkish Grill located on 72nd Street in New York has just posted lessons on Youtube on how to fix the fabled Iskender Kebab dish that is the pride of Bursa, Turkey. Oh, we should mention that you can follow them on Twitter---http://twitter.com/7Turkishgrill for more details.

Lastly, this morning was not a good one for the Louisville Bats, a minor league baseball team from Louisville, Ky.

According to their Twitter site http://twitter.com/LouisvilleBats, the team fell to the Columbus Clippers by a 10-7 margine in a road game. All of this proves that baseball games (this particular game started at 10:35 a.m.) should simply never be played before noon!

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Summer Jobs (Lifeguards)

We heard a great piece on NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday, which included a brief interview with Vice President Joe Biden (of all people!).

It got me to thinking about my own summer job experiences when I was essentially a human billboard for a Domino's Pizza store in Roanoke, Va. That was not fun!

But, one would probably enjoy being a lifeguard in North Myrtle Beach, SC, a lot. According to the web site nmblifeguards.com (the official site for the North Myrtle Beach Lifeguards), a lifeguard can possibly make between $10-12.50 per hour.

The city of North Myrtle Beach, SC, which is the hometown of "Wheel of Fortune" co-host Vanna White, is also hosting a salute to military veterans and a Music on the Main festival on June 3.

We understand the show's host Pat Sajak is a major financial contributor to the Ronald Reagan Library in California (guess he makes more loot than we realize), but that's another matter.

In nearby Myrtle Beach, SC, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans host the Winston-Salem Dash from Winston-Salem, NC, the home of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, from June 7-9.

As for the lifeguard pictured here, we don't think she is actually working in North Myrtle Beach. In fact, for all we know, she could be in Zagreb, Croatia. What's with her belly-button ring?!

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.