Happy Valentine's (2 of 4): Love in the Arts........

These are scenes from two Shakespeare plays ("Romeo and Juliet" and "Othello") as well as a Turkish and an Italian film, a drawing of a French version of "Bonnie and Clyde" and a Japanese anime still.

Our Favorte Comic Strips from Sunday, Dec. 14th Roanoke Times: Drones Away

Greetings to our blog readers in Cuba, Estonia and New Zealand.....

Today, we turn our attention to our 10 favorite comic strips from the Sunday, Dec. 14th edition of "The Roanoke Times" in Roanoke, Va. (yes, we are a bit behind schedule).

Our top choice is "Pearls Before Swine," in which Rat, one of the three title characters along with Goat and Pig, promises that if he is elected president that he will get one drone to spy on every person on earth at all times; hey, I'd still vote for him over Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney! (forgive the political humor).

"Speed Bump" has a hilarious take on what modern tech would have been like in medieval times, and these means trouble for Sir Textalot as he faces an opponent in a horseback joust in Dave Coverly's single-panel comic strip. Hence, the reason for our image of a "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" poster.

Lastly, "Family Circus" makes a rare appearance in our top ten with a strip that depicts every parent in a grade school auditorium taking photos and videos with mobile devices, we thought it would be humorous to go with an image of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" (middle) as this would assuredly be a difficult play for youngsters to perform.

Here is our top ten:

1) Pearls Before Swine

2) Speed Bump

3) Doonesbury

4) Garfield

5) Dilbert

6) Zits

7) Get Fuzzy

8) Funky Winkerbean

9) Non-Sequitur

10) Family Circus

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.gocomics.com

The Show Must Go On: Ford's Theatre Handles Fiasco Due to Federal Govt Shutdown

Humorist and author Sarah Vowell said in her book "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" (if our memory is right on that) that: "No one goes to the Lincoln Theatre to see the play." Her comments are in reference to the fact that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the theatre.

But, as it turns out, many patron attend Ford's Theatre to see the play. Currently, the stage company, which is private, is performing "The Laramie Project," a 2000 play about the murder of a gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard which occurred in 1998.

At first, Ford's Theatre staff members thought the play would go on at the Ford's Theatre. However, they were informed that the play would have to be performed elsewhere as the Ford's Theatre not only could not be open for the daily tours, but at night, for the stage play production as well.

As a result, Ford's Theatre is now performing a play at somewhere else besides the Ford's Theatre.

The alternate venue for the play is the First Congregational United Church of Christ, located near Ford's Theatre.

Tonight's performance of the production is free to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Starting tomorrow night, tickets for the play will be $25, but previous ticket-holders for the Ford's production can simply swap in tickets to see the show.

The play was also performed by the University of Mississippi where homophobic hecklers attempted to disrupt the production of "The Laramie Project." Read about it here at our sister blog (will be available after 3:00 p.m., eastern time): http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

SIDEBAR: It was certainly a bad week in Washington, DC, for most folks, but for the George Washington University's women's volleyball leaving town was beneficial. The Colonials went up to Kingston, Rhode Island, to defeat the University of Rhode Island 3-2 in a five-set match over the weekend.

Freshman Chidima Osuchukwu had 15 kills, while senior Rachael Goss added 11 kills.

Links:

http://www.laramieproject.org

http://www.fordstheatre.org

http://www.gwsports.com/sports/w-volley/

Quote of the Day/Week- Lorraine Hansberry

In honor of Black History Month, we continue to quote famous African-Americans and today we share a quip from playwright/activist Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) who died all too young at age 34 from pancreatic cancer.

Hansberry is best-known for her 1959 play "A Raisin in the Sun," about a struggling family residing in the south side of Chicago. Both the original Broadway stage production and the 1961 film version starred Sindey Poitier.

This month, Stained Glass Playhouse in Winston-Salem, NC, is staging "A Raisin in the Sun" (until Feb. 19th).

In the Los Angeles area, the play is also being produced by Center Theatre Group which is performing "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Kirk Douglas theatre in Culver City.

Here is her quote:

"Children see things well sometimes_ and idealists even better."

SIDEBAR: In Durham, NC, Duke University men's basketball player Austin Rivers is assuredly the Big Man on Campus as he hit a three-point shot to help the Blue Devils prevail over their man arch rival, the University of North Carolina Tarheels.

But, half a world away, the nation of Zambia is celebrating as another young athlete, soccer player Emmanuel Mayoka, a substitute, scored the game-winning goal in that country's 1-0 upset win over Ghana in the Africa Cup.

Thus, Zambia, which lost its entire soccer team due to an airplane accident in 1993, will face Ivory Coast for the continental title. Ivory Coast scored its own 1-0 victory over Mali thanks to a goal from Arsenal star Gervinha.

The Africa Cup final will be played in Liberville, Gabon, the same city where that fatal airplane crash took place.

Ending the Year with Willy Shakespeare

This month, we have been quoting the great English playwright William Shakespeare who penned a play called "All's Well that Ends Well," which was written in 1603 and published in 1623. The play will be performed at the Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London on May 23, 2012.

Closer to home, the Playmakers Rep Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC, will be performing both "Henry IV" and "Henry V" on a rotating basis from Jan. 28 until March 4th. That production will be co-directed by Jospeh Haj and Mike Donahue.

Here is our quote, and Happy New Year to all of you, whether you be in Philadelphia, London, Budapest, Athens, Istanbul, Tokyo, Sydney or Buenos Aires:

"My crown is called content, a crown that seldom a king enjoys."

Quote of the Week: Edward Albee

We normally don't like to promote things we are hoping to see ourselves, but Playmakers Rep Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC, will be presenting the legendary Edward Albee play "Who's Afraid of Virginia" from Nov. 30-Dec. 18, 2011.

Since it is a long time from now, there is always hope that you the blog-reader will long forget about this between now and then, so I can get a good parking space which is always a bit hard to find in Chapel Hill.

Here is Albee's quote (for those at UNC or Duke for that matter, Albee's views do not reflect the staff and management here- which is actually just me), and we are featuring quips from famous playwrights this month:

"American cities are like American universities. They both have dull and half-dead faculties."

Quote of the Week- Cormac McCarthy

Today, we conclude our month-long series of quotes with famous people from New England with a quip from novelist Cormac McCarthy, who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, which checked in at 81 degrees today, considerably cooler than the northeast was over the week. (It was hot in the South as well as it reached 128 degrees in Washington, NC, on Saturday!).

McCarthy, who now resides in New Mexico, is best-known for "No Country for Old Men," "All the Pretty Horses" and "The Road" as well as the excellent play "Sunset Limited," which I saw a production of at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, earlier this year.

Here is the quote, which all of us aspiring writers can take to heart:

"Even if what you're work on doesn't go anywhere, it will help you with the next thing you're doing. Make yourself avaialable for something to happen. Give it a shot."

Special Quote from Harold Pinter

Well, it looks like Harold Camping's prediction that the world as we know it would come to an abrupt on Saturday did not occur though there was a volcanic eruption in Iceland, and I came down with a nasty spring cold that morning.

Since the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC, where we just visited last week is currently performing Harold Pinter's 1971 play "Old Times," we though we's quip the great English playwright.

Pinter (1930-2008) was known for writing biting dialogue and this play is no exception as it has lines like: "You have a wonderful casserole....I mean wife" and "I remember you dead."

Veteran DC-area actress Holly Twyford joins a cast that includes Steven Culp (tv's "Desperate Housewives") and Tracy Lynn. The play is directed by Michael Kahn, and it runs for 90 minutes. The production closes curtain on July 3rd.

Here is the quip from Pinter, who was also known for being a liberal political activist, an actor and a screenwriter:

"A short piece of work means as much to me as a long piece of work."

SIDEBAR: A reggae singer from Bermuda? Yes, Jamaica might well be the country that comes to mind with this genre of music, but Mishka, a male reggae singer from Bermuda perhaps best-known for the song "Give You All That Love" will be performing at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC, on Friday night.

Coming Attractions- Amadeus in Bethesda

Well, the world did not come to an abrupt end today as the radical evangelical radio station tycoon Harold Camping, who has gone missing, reported but there was a volcanic eruption in Iceland. Perhaps, God is punishing them for Bjork (that is a joke to everyone in Reykjavik!).

And, though we were hoping to start our blog series "Amadeus in Bethesda" about yet another hectic, but very fun-filled trip to Washington, DC, we are going to post it hepfully at some juncture next week instead.

The play "Amadeus," which was the basis for the 1985 Oscar-winning film of the same name that undoubtedly inspired Quentin Tarantino to become a filmmaker (hmmm.....yes, I know my off-beat sense of humor may make as much sense as a "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip....?! By the way, we love Bill Griffith's work) is now being staged at the Roundhouse Theatre in Bethesda, Md., which is the reason why we are calling the series "Amadeus in Bethesda."

We did not get to see the play, which opened May 11 and runs through June 5, but I have read the play in addition to seeing the film, and if I lived in the Maryland 'burbs, I would like to think I'd go to the play instead of seeing "Bridesmaids" at the multi-plex. Also, by sheer coincidence, we stayed in Vienna, Va., which is named the capital of Austria, Mozart's native land.

Here is a quote from Mozart (1756-1791) who died young, though he did outlive Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison:

"As death, when we come to consider it closely, is the true goal of our existence."

Oscar Predictions Teaser

Tomorrow, in case life returns to normalcy (well one can always hope, right?!), I am hoping to start posting my Oscar predictions. We intend to post them over six entries on our two collective blogs ("Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" is our other blog. Check out the Oscar the Grouch t-shirt on our entry there today---presuming the hotlink goes through, ok!).

Walter Matthau played Oscar Madison in the film version of Neil Simon's hilarious play "The Odd Couple." I saw the play performed at The Wayside Theatre in Middletown, Va., near Winchester and Strasburg (an hour and a half south of Washington, DC), where Susan Sarandon once performed in a play before she became famous_ we presume it wasn't "The Odd Couple." The playhouse is now producing "Southern Crossroads: The New Orleans Adventure" with stage actor Robbie Limon in the lead.

Though I'm not one to make personal confessions on this blog, I must reluctantly profess to 'being a bit of an Oscar Madison myself.' As it turns out, there really is a group called Clutterers Anonymous, which I had first heard about the other day.

In fact, and perhaps one can insert the 'only in America' cliche here, they have a rival/complimentary group called Messies Anonymous!

Top 10 Shakespeare Plays

We beg to differ, but listserve.com thinks "Hamlet" is William Shakespeare's best play (it would number 3 behind "Othello" and "Macbeth" on my list). For those who adore "Merchant of Venice," we should warn you in advance that it has been snubbed!

While researching this post, we came across a nifty blog called blogshakespearegeek.com which makes me wonder how people can focus on just one thing!

For those who reside in Virginia, The American Shakespeare Center in the Shenandoah Valley town of Staunton, Va., is currently performing "Henry V, Part 2," "Othello" and "Taming of the Shrew."

Cast members include James Keegan, Sarah Fallons and the adorable Ginna Hoben, who was great in "Othello" (I saw it when it first opened).

Here is the list, which all of you should memorize for your English quiz on Monday:

1) Hamlet (pictured above-Laurence Olivier)
2) Romeo and Juliet (is this the one with the unhappy ending?)
3) Henry V
4) Midsummer Night's Dream (we prefer the Woody Allen movie)
5) Macbeth (aka The Scotish Play)
6) Richard III
7) Julius Caesar (the man behind the salad)
8) 12th Night
9) Taming of the Shrew
10) Othello
8)

Quote of the Week- Lillian Hellman

Today, we feature a quote from the dashing, very liberal late playwright Lillian Hellman (1907-1984) who was romantic partners with the late crime fiction writer Dashiel Hammett (he penned "The Maltese Falcon").

Hellman remains best-known for her early plays "The Children's Hour" (1934) and "The Little Foxes" (1939). She was also a victim of the HUAC witch-hunt.

I saw an excellent production of "The Children's Hour" at Hollins University in Roanoke, Va., a few years ago and an outstanding performance of "The Little Foxes" at Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC.

Here is her quote:

"Cynicism is an unpleasant way to say the truth."

Quote of the Week- August Wilson

Since Playmakers Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC, will be presenting the late African-American playwright August Wilson's 1987 Pulitzer-Prize winning play "Fences" starting on Oct. 20, we thought we'd quip Wilson (1945-2005) here.

The play was presented at Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, NY, earlier this year. Their current production is a one-woman play called "No Child" by Nilaja Sun.

Deep Dish Theatre, another Chapel Hill theatre, performed another Wilson play "Fences" last year and they will be presenting the Mark Twain play "Is He Dead?" starting on Oct. 22.

Here is our quote from Wilson, who came up of age in The Hill distric of Pittsburgh where many of his places, including "Fences" and "Jitney" take place:

"Style ain't got nothing but keeping the same idea from beginning to end. Everybody got it."

Quote of the Week- Arthur Miller

Those of you who just read my last entry about my Facebook page being hijacked by a cyber-pirate might be wondering if this is really Spacely Sprocket from Dayton, Ohio, and I want to assure that is indeed me and I have a memo to fire George Jetson.

In all seriousness, we are going to blog a bit to take our mind off things even though the girl I like is probably meeting a guy from Slovenia through an E-Harmony rip-of site as we speak.

Our Quote of the Week is the late, great playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005) who left us with some great quips.

His most famous play "Death of a Salesman" will be in production at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, from April 12-May 8, 2011. The theatre is now performing "Cabaret," and, of course, Miller never wrote musicals!

The Eclipse Theatre Company in Chicago is currently performing a much lesser-known Miller drama "A Memory of Two Mondays." Tickets can be purcahsed by calling 773-325-9655.

Here is the quote from Miller:

"I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside one's self."

Here is

Shakespeare Over Soccer?!

The United State men's national soccer team hosted Turkey yesterday afternoon in a 'friendly' game in Philadelphia, which resulted in a 2-1 victory for the home team.

A few hours prior to learning about the game, I brought tickets to see a matinee performance of William Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Staunton, Va., some four and a half hours south of Philly.

The soccer game was airing on ESPN-2 at 1:30 p.m., just a half hour before the curtain was to rise, so I phoned a friend in North Carolina to see if by chance he would tivo the game for me. As it turned out, Osman Bey (not his real name) was taking the whole extended family, a party of 11 people including his toddler grandchildren, to Philly for the game!

The game was apparently an exciting one as Turkey scored first on a goal from Arda Turdan, who plays for Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray, in the 27th minute. But, the second half completely belonged to the home squad as Team America scored an equalizer in the 58th minute as Robbie Findley, who plays for the current MLS champ Real Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah) lofted a pass to American star Landon Donovan of the L.A. Galaxy who in turned passed the ball to teammate Jozy Altidore who scored the goal.

Then, Clint Dempsey, on another Donovan assist, snuck the ball past Turkish goalie Volkan Demirel, who plays for another Istanbul powerhouse FenerBahce, in the 75th minute to give Team America a 2-1 lead which they held on to until game's end.

The match was played in front of 55,047 people at Lincoln Field. Afterward, Donovan told reporters that: "We're going to be good as we want to be." Team American next faces England in the World Cup in South Africa in June. Vice President Joe Biden will be attending the game in person.

As for the Turkish side, the newspaper "Today's Zaman" speculated that partisan Turkish soccer fans might be hostile towards new team coach Guus Hiddink (a Dutch citizen) if play doesn't improve. Turkey did not qualify for this year's World Cup though their arch rivals Greece did.

The Turkey-USA game put me in a bit of a political quandary as I am a Turkish-American, and though I grew up in Roanoke, Va., I felt compelled to root for my late father's country.

But, apparently, my situation was not as awkward as the one that Guiseppe Rossi, 23, an Italian-American soccer player who grew up in Clifton, NJ, faced as he chose not only to play for Italy, but he scored two goals for his team in a win over the United States earlier this year! Hence, some partisan American soccer fans have taken to calling him 'Judas.'

As for "All's Well That Ends Well," the production was simply delightful though I was glad I didn't have a Blackberry which might have forced me to check the score of the game during the play's intermission.

The ever-gorgeous actress Kelly McKinnon was delightful as The Countess and the barefoot pilgrim Mariana as was African-American actress Brandi Rhome who played the roles of Diana and Steward in the production. She plays Juliet in one of the troupe's other current plays "Romeo and Juliet." Rick Blunt also stood out as Parolles as did Josh Carpenter who played The Duke and (interestingly enough!) the widow.

For more information about tickets and performances, log on to www.ASCstaunton.com or call 1-877-MUCH-ADO.

Quote of the Week- Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson (pictured here from the film) Oscared in the Best Actor category in 1975 for his depiction of mental asylum inmate Randle McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

His co-star Louise Fletcher, who played the antagonistic Nurse Ratchet also won for Best Actress in the film directed by Czech emigre Milos Forman. A quote fromher is on our sister blog Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time.

Forman, who later Oscared for "Amadeus," also won a Best Director Oscar for "Nest."

Before we get to Nicholson's quote, I wanted to mention that the stage version of "Nest" is currently in production at the Biloxi Little Theatre in Biloxi, Miss.

Rick Amos is playing Nicholson's part while Melissa Entrekin is playing Nurse Ratchet. For those in the Magnolia State, (I'm far from it actually), the theatre's web site is www.4blt.org and they can be reached at (228) 432-8543.

A statue of the late Ken Kesey, who wrote the book that became the play that became the movie, can be found in Eugene, Ore.

Here is Jack's quote. We're not sure if he's refering to himself or someone like Tom Cruise, who co-starred with Nicholson in "A Few Good Men:"

"A star on a movie set is like a time bomb that has to be defused so people can approach it without fear."

Quote of the Week- David Mamet

I had a chance to see the Triad Stage (Greensboro, NC) preview production of David Mamet's highly controversial play "Oleanna" last night, and I really enjoyed it!

The play was directed by Preston Lane, who is also the co-founder of the theatre.

"Oleanna" is a heated play because it deals with the ever-sensitive subject of sexual harrassment and how it can quickly turn into a he said/she said 'Rashomon' nightmare.

I had done a paper on the play while at Radford University, and I read it several times. I also saw the 1994 film (the play hit Broadway in 1992) which Mamet directed himself.

"Oleanna" is definitely a play which is better seen on-stage though two of his other plays, "Glen Gary, Glen Ross" and "American Buffalo" have been adapted well on screen.

Ginny Myers Lee was quite as Carol (the student) as was Lee Spencer (the teacher).

Mamet is an interesting figure himself as he wrote a column in "The Village Voice" about moving from left to right in terms of his politics.......the most shocking part of the piece was his support for George W. Bush! (who even many conservatives deemed to be an absolute idiot!).

I highly recommend the play for anyone living in Greensboro/Winston-Salem area.

It runs through Nov. 8. The box office number is (336) 272-0160 or 1-800-579-TIXX

Here is today's quip from Mamet, which I myself don't entirely agree with, but it does illustrate his creative perspectives:

"The avant-garde is to the left what jingoism is to the right. Both are a refuge in nonsense."

NOTE: The above picture with Julia Stiles as Carol is not from the Triad Stage production.

Quote of the Week- Mao Tse-Tung

I had a chance to read Tom Stoppard's hit play "Rock and Roll," which was being staged in Chicago and Washington, DC, earlier this summer.

Since it takes place (primarily) in the former Czechoslavakia in the summer of 1968, I'd thought I'd go with a quote from two figures from that era on my two respective blogs.

We were initially going to go with Jim Morrison here and Mao Tse-Tung on the other blog, but I like the former Chinese leader's quote better, and it is ironic considering that he was a dictator:

"I voted for you in the last election."