Quote of the Week- Frank Zappa

We conclude our month of quotes from left-wing radicals with this quip from the late rock and roll pioneer Frank Zappa (1940-1993) who probably never got around to performing in Provo, Utah:

"When God created Republicans, he gave up hope on everything else."

Happy Memorial Day!

We take this moment to salute all soldiers serving our armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Norway (well, we are getting ahead of our selves!).

I also want to take a moment to remember my late stepfather Donald Sullivan and my late grandfather Dudley C. "Doc" Sturgis, both of whom were World War Two veteran.

We thought we would go with an image of Godzilla, the Japanese monster who first surfaced on the big screen in 1954 under the direction of Ishiro Honda (1911-1993) to show irony (for those who flunked history in high school, we defeated the Japanese in World War Two) and to remind right-wing nuts that they are our friends now!

Honda did not direct my personal favorite Godzilla film (I would certainly agree it's not the best) "Godzilla Versus the Smog Monster" (1971). These films used to come on tv occasionally in the late afternoon on Channel 13 out of Lynchburg, Va., when I was a kid. And, my sister quickly got irritated with me for watching them. So much so, that she may have told my father (who died in 1983) that I was watching them instead of doing my homework. But, then again, this could all be revisionist history!

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.

Remembering Dennis Hopper (1936-2010)

Today, we remember our favorite Republican as actor/filmmaker/photographer/artist/art collector Dennis Hopper lost his battle to prostate cancer yesterday at the age of 74.

But, he leaves behind him a legacy of memorable films from "Easy Rider" to "Apocalypse Now!" to "Blue Velvet.

One film that many Americans are unaware that he starred is the brilliant Wim Wenders film "The American Friend" which was made in Germany in 1977. It was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel "Ripley's Game."

Here are some trivia bits we found about the film which is available on dvd through Netflix:

-In addition to Hopper, there are six other film directors in the film (alas most of them are deceased). Each of them play criminals. They include Nicholas Ray who actually directed Hopper, when he was 19, in "Rebel Without a Cause" (1955), maverick, independent director Sam Fuller ("The Big Red One," "White Dog") and famed French film director Jean Eustache who directed the 1973 classic "Mother and the Whore," which is also notable for being substantially more than three hours in length! Alas, Eustache committed suicide at a young age.

-John Cassavates was actually Wenders' initial choice to play Ripley (Hopper's part), but he declined. Though it was his recommendation that lead to Hopper's casting.

-Hopper improvised much of the dialogue including the line: "We have nothing to fear, but fear itself."

-The film marked the screen debut for Bruno Ganz who in recent years has played Hitler in the acclaimed German film "Downfall."

-Hopper and Ganz actually got into a fist-fight on the set!

Those who wish to see Hopper can see the western film "Hang 'Em High" (1968) with Clint Eastwood that was already scheduled to air on TCM tomorrow afternoon (Memorial Day) at 3:00 p.m.

There will be more on Hopper on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Others of Time."

Right-Wing Radicals Say the Darndest Things...

"Aren't You Glad Your Mom Chose Life?"*


*-Actual billboard I saw on Route 220 near Rocky Mount, Va., in Franklin County.

PSA- Don't Drink and Drive This Memorial Day Weekend

If you are going to drink and drive; however, you may want to go with either Arpanoosh or Behnoosh Beer. Both Iranian brews are non-alcoholic.

In a more serious matter, the Iranians in exile (oppose the government in Teheran) web site iran.org and the "Los Angeles Times" has reported that four Kurdish activists were executed in Iran circa May 10.

The executions including the murder of a young female Kurdish activist named Shirin Alam-Houli.

The above image, by the way, is of Iranian college-age girls partying. We presume they are doing so outside their native land!

Last 10 Films I've Seen- from Caine to Fuller

Here are the last ten films I've seen. I will post commentary about some of them at the end of the list:

1. "White Dog" (1982. dir-Sam Fuller)
2."The Panic in Needle Park" (1971. w/Al Pacino. dir-Jerry Schatzberg)
3. "The Last Frontier" (1955. dir-Anthony Mann)
4. "Young Torless" (Germany. 1966. dir-Volker Schlondorff)
5. "Giants and Toys" (Japan. 1958. dir-Yasuzo Masumura)
6. "The Wild One" (1953. w/ Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. dir-Laslo Benedek)
7. "The Red Shoes" (South Korea. 2005. dir- Yong-gyum Kim)
8."The President's Last Bang" (South Korea. 2005. dir- Sang-soo Im)
9. "Bandolero!" (1968 w/ Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin and Raquel Welch. dir-Andrew V. McLaglen)
10. "Get Carter" (UK. 1971. w/ Michael Caine. dir-Mike Hodges)


Of all these titles, I had only seen "White Dog," which was highly controversial at the time. It is a poignant film about the negative effects of racism on American society as illustrated through a trained 'white dog' which is meant to attack black people.

The NAACP, however, misinterpreted the film's message and urged Paramont to block its release. Hence, it never found an office though the new Criterion release has helped further the film's well-deserved cult following. Interestingly, a very young Kristy McNichol (who was about 20 when the film was made) is the lead. I am pretty sure it is her most serious role, but films of "The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia" may beg to differ:)

The German film "Young Torless" is an exceptional statement on Nazi Germany even though it takes place at a boarding school in rural Germany during the turn of the 20the century. The film illustrates what can happen when one chooses to overlook an injustice they witness in front of them.

The Korean horror film "The Red Shoes" should in no way way be confused with Michael Powell's classic film of the same name, though both are based on the same Hans Christien Andersen fairy tale!

"The President's Last Bang," another Korean film made in 2005 is an excellent political thriller with lots and lots of blood. It should be subtitled: "Z Meets Reservoir Dogs." The film is about the real-life 1979 political assasination of then president Park Chung-Hee by Kim Jaegyu, his own director of intelligence! According to wikipedia, Jaegyu was hanged for the crime in 1980. He was actually a good friend of the president's!

And, the original 1971 version of "Get Carter" (pictured here) is a very unique film as it shows Michael Caine basically being a son-of-a-biscuiteater. Amazingly enough (SPOILER ALERT), his character Carter never kills anyone with his gun. But, his victim meet their fate in other ways, including being casually dumped from the upper story of a large office building.

Caine's new film "Harry Brown" seems to have a similar plot line and it is currently showing at the following places on the east coast: The Bow-Tie Cinema in Hartford, Conn., The Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema in Bethesda, Md., and The Ritz East in Philadelphia.

The South Korean horror