Potluck Quote of the Day (10 of 10): Natalie Portman

Tonight's Quote of the Day is from Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman ("V for Vendetta;" "Black Swan;" "Garden State") who was on the cover of the New York Times' T-Magazine (which covers fashion); one of our favorite films with the Israeli-born Portman is "Closer" with Julia Roberts and Jude Law:

"If you're an actress or a musician, everyone thinks you're hot."

http://www.natalieportman.com

http://www.nytimes.com

Potluck Quote of the Day (9 of 10): Dorothy Parker

It has been three full days since Dorothy Parker (1895-1967) would have celebrated her 123rd birthday, and we were planning to quote her before the anniversary. We gather Zeynep Akili of Istanbul, Turkey is a huge fan of her work (this is an in-joke, Zeynep Akili is not a real person)

One can probably find her books in places like The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC, which is hosting humorist/author Dave Barry on Sept. 7th, Malaprop's Bookstore (note to self: don't forget the apostrophe) in Asheville, NC, or The Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo.

Parker was also the focus of a recent article in "Mental Floss" magazine.

Here is her quote, on love:

"Now I know the things I know and I do; and if you do not like me so, to hell, my love, with you!"

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.malaprops.com/

http://www.regulatorbookshop.com/

http://www.boulderbookstore.net/

Potluck Quote of the Day (8 out of 10): Brigitte Bardot

Today we quote French bombshell actress Brigitte Bardot, who was tonight's Star of the Day on TCM which screened several of her films including "Contempt" by the amazing filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. Bardot has also gotten wide media attention for speaking out against Muslim emigre women wearing burkinis along resorts on the French coast. Amazingly enough, we got into a row on Twitter with BOTH Muslims and non-Muslims for expressing our nuanced views on that matter. It seems like social media is a great way for everyone to hate your guts!

Before we get to tonight's quote, we want to thank WXYC-FM, the student-run UNC college radio station in Chapel Hill, NC, for playing one of our high school favorites "New Girl Now" by the Canadian band Honeymoon suite and the new wave German-language classic "Das Komasor" from the late Austrian pop star Falco.

Additionally, we want to share this great line from the Sunday edition Paul Jon's comic strip "Fort Knox": "Absolutely, in a few years, it will take over our backyard.

Lastly, we want to congratulate Turkish free-style wrestler Taha Akgul for winning his nation's lone gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Here is our quote from Bardot: "If only every man who sees my films did not get the impression he can make love to me, I would be a lot happier."

http://www.tcm.com

http://www.wxyc.org/

http://www.gocomics.com/fortknox

https://www.rio2016.com/en/turkey

Potluck Quote of the Day (7 of 10): Bill Murray

Happy National Radio! We are recognizing the occasion by listening to "Snap Judgment" with Glynn Washington on our local NPR radio station.

Alas, we have to keep this short as we desperately need to get back to arguing about religion and politics on Twitter! While we are it, we can also see if Paula Poundstone or Sarah Silverman have something witty to say there.

But, we do want to congratulate Ekaterini Stefanidi for winning gold in the pole vault for Greece, one of three gold medals for the nation. Similarly, we salute Nur Tartar, another female athlete, for winning bronze for Turkey in taekwondo.

Here is our quote from Bill Murray; today we are quipping alums of "Saturday Night Live" (yes, we know when Murray was on the show John Travlota was in "Saturday Night Fever"):

"There aren't many down sides to being rich, other than paying taxes and having relatives ask for money. But being famous, that's a 24-hour job right there."

http://snapjudgment.org/

http://sarahsilvermanonline.com/

http://www.paulapoundstone.com/

Potluck Quote of the Day/Night (6 of 10): George Carlin on an Olympic Sport

Before we start with our blog entry for tonight, we would like to congratulate Turkish free-style wrestler Soner Demirtas for beating out an opponent from Kazakhstan with a long, difficult name to win bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics; British boxer Joe Joyce won his bout over Ivan Dychok, also from Kazakhstan, to win bronze for his country. We promise that we have nothing against Kazakhstan.

Earlier tonight, we read Chapter 8 of the Chuck Palahniuk novel "Invisible Monsters Remix" at a local Waffle House (so you figured out we don't live in New York). I thought of tweeting Mr. Palahniuk about the experience, but we somehow doubt he would care that much.

While putting this together, we briefly listened to WXDU, the college-run radio station for Duke University in Durham, NC, put as cool as "The Soul Kontrol Show with DJ Miz" is, it is ultimately challenging for a middle-aged white man to blog while listening to hip hop......to be fair, we were also listening to the BBC World Service; they were not gloating about Joe Joyce.

By the time you read his, Zeynep Tufekci will likely have already been interviewed on NPR's "Morning Edition," scheduled for broadcast on Saturday morning, about cultural trends resulting from America's presidential election. It should perhaps be noted that like Tufekci I am of Turkish heritage, but we admire her work on an objective level. Hopefully, one or two of you believe that.

Earlier tonight, 2012 American Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney had a cameo on the sitcom "Superstore," but we missed it as to be completely honest with you we are suffering from Olympics fatigue.

But, we will congratulate American swimmer Katie Ledecky for winning four gold medals and one silver medal in Rio, as she has now won more gold medals than Kazakhstan, which will likely leave Brazil with three gold medals. Ok, so we like making fun of Kazakhstan.

At long last, here is our quip from the late stand-up comic George Carlin:

"Swimming is not a sport. Swimming is a way to keep from drowning."

Ok, so now I guess we need to apologize to Katie Ledecky as well........good luck at Stanford, kid!

http://www.wxdu.org/

https://www.duke.edu/

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/

http://www.mckaylamaroney.com/

http://technosociology.org/ (Zeynep Tufekci's web site)

http://georgecarlin.com/

Today's Potluck Quote (5 out of 10): Nadia Comaneci

Today, a writing site asked on Twitter to write a five-word sentence in which an elite athlete takes a change in his or her life. My response was: "Simon Biles converts to Judoism." Yea, I'm not sure how well it might get received either, but with that in mind we quote another Olympic gymnast legend Nadia Comaneci of Romania; her husband Bart Conner runs a gymnastics school in Norman, Okla., a town that is also home to the Oklahoma Sooners, a team that won this year's NCAA college gymnastics championships this year.

Yes, of course, we are writing this in conjunction with the 2012 Rio Olympics! Kudos to current Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor for coming back to the sport and competing in the Olympics at age 28.

Today, Bob Costas will probably try to boost our enthusiasm for synchronized swimming.

Here is today's potluck quote of the day: "You should also appreciate the goodness around you and surround yourself with positive people."

http://www.bartandnadia.com

http://www.bartconnergymnastics.com

Today's Potluck Quotes (4 of 10): Richard Nixon

Greetings to those of you enjoying your lunch break at the New Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah, where it is almost noon now, or any of you who are a taking a break from the 2016 Rio Olympics where Team USA is now playing Team Japan in women's volleyball.

One of the fun aspects of these Olympics has been following former American Olympic gymnast and UCLA Bruins standout gymnast Samantha Peszek use social media to document her experiences in Brazil covering the games, which have included sharing a ride with former gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi whom our friend blogger Chris Knight from Reidsville, NC, ran into in an airport once.

Ok that's enough digression; here's today's quote of the day from the late Richard Nixon (1913-1994); yes. of course, we are doing this because it's also an election year here in les etats unis:

"If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But, if you take no risks, you win no victories."

Wow! Even though he is no longer alive, it seems like Nixon would have been a perfect spokesperson for match.com

According to the web site for the Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, Calif., CIA director John Brennan will speak there on Aug. 24th at 1:00 p.m. about how intelligence was gathered during the Cold War when Nixon was president.

http://www.slcnewdragon.com

http://www.uclabruins.com

https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/

Today's Potluck Quote (3 of 10): Thomas Nagel

Simone Biles. Simone Biles. Simone Biles.

Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps.

Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt. Usain Bolt.

For those of you suffering from Olympics fatigue, you might want to watch "Lassie Come Home" with Roddy McDowell tonight on TCM at 9:45 p.m.

Hmm.........yeah, I guess if you live in Australia or New Zealand, you will need other alt programming suggestions.

We actually love the Olympics, but we sense it would be better to visit Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when it is perhaps a bit less crowded.

Today's quote of the day is from Serbian-born living philosopher Thomas Nagel:

"Everyone is entitled to commit murder in the imagination once in a while, not to mention lesser infractions."

http://www.tcm.com

Today's Quote of the Day: Jacques Derrida

 Today's quote of the day comes from the late French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004):

"Why is the philosopher who is expected to be easier and not some scientist who is even more inaccessible?"