DC Week (3 of 8): The Onion's Take on Congress

The images here are of: 1) Cong. Howard Coble (R-NC), who at 82 is one of the oldest members of the House though he is a few years younger than Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.; born in 1926); 2) A poster for "D.C. Cab" which starred cult acting sensation Mister T, who is now 61! and 3) Den. Mark Warner (D-Va), who at age 58 is three years younger than Mister T.

Warner, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is in a group of party centrists trying to resolve the government shut down. which is actually causing economic problems for DC-Metro area cabbies.

Here are the tweets, concerning not only the federal shut down, but also other things going on in Washington, DC:

1) Howard Coble: "14 Democrats agree U.S. has a spending and debt program."

2) Washington Diplomat: "Embassy warns Americans in Egypt that weekend protest could turn violent."

3) Jonathan Chait (a liberal journalist with "New York" magazine): "Once Republicans realized shutting down the government wouldn't stop Obamacare, they already printed up the t-shrts."

4) Roll Call: "Susan Collins Stands Behind Plan as Leaders Attempt Larger Deals."

5) Arizona Democratic Party: "It's time we let the tea party know the future of our country is not a game! #EndtheShutdown."

6) "The Onion" (a satirical news publication): "Psychiatrists Deeply Concerned for 5% of Americans Who Approve of Congress."



http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.theonion.com

 http://www.rollcall.com/

http://nymag.com/

http://azdem.org/

http://coble.house.gov/welcome/

http://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/

DC Week Teaser (2 of 2): No Pandas, No Problem

Yes, talking heads are bickering on CNN with Anderson Cooper acting as a pro-wrestling referee as we speak, and we imagine that over on Fox News Sean Hannity is blaming his jock itch on President Barack Obama (we don't go there that often, but we couldn't resist!).

On Thursday, we will start a week-long tribute to Washington, DC, the nation's capital, which many Tea Partiers who profess patriotism ironically seemingly hate with a great passion. For those of you in Uzbekistan, there is a federal government shutdown in the United States, which is affecting Washington, D.C., as well as national parks in such red states as Wyoming, Arizona and Utah.

The images pictured above are of: 1) Alex Ovechkin, the star player of the Washington Capitals (ironically, a Russian is the star player for the Caps!); 2) a panda..........currently the National Zoo which had been running a pandacam for a baby panda cub is closed due to the shut down; 3) Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC; he coined the term Freedom fries).

http://washington.org/

http://capitals.nhl.com/

http://jones.house.gov/ (Not an endorsement)

Blogging in Three and a Half Minutes (or less).........Games Children Play

Yes, today we are just going to use an image of a dodgeball in our effort to save time and energy, and besides our intern Javier the Intern is vacationing in Vermont (this is an in-joke as Javier is a fictitious person, and well, we'd like to be in Vermont actually).

Let us take a minute to greet those of you in Israel, South Africa and Malaysia, who might be checking us out today.And, to generate more hits, we will arbitrarily mention Jon Hamm, Nik Wallenda and the Rev. Joel Osteen.

Wallenda is that crazy guy who walked a tightrope across the Grand Canyon in Arizona last night. Since he is a Christian fundamentalist, he brought Osteen along for support.

Today, we are going to ask a simple question, which one of these sports was the favorite sport of Tilly Gokbudak, our managing editor (well, he is actually moi) while growing up in Roanoke, Va.

Was it?:

A) Dodgeball (pictured)

B) Kickball

C) Volleyball

D) Softball

E) Bowling

The winner gets a free ticket to see Dwight Yoakam perform at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, on June 21:)

http://www.930.com

Silly Photo of the Day- Day Without Shoes Day 2013

 

Even though we are politically liberal here at "The Daily Vampire" (apologies to Oak Ridge Boys fans), we are not inclined to take part in Day Without Shoes Day, although we are taking a yoga class at the Northern Arizona Yoga Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., later today (this is a joke: Though there is an actual place called the Northern Arizona Yoga Center, we don't live anywhere near Flagstaff_ not even in the same time zone).

 

The day is meant to recognize starving children in places like Ghana, Guatemala and Tahiti (well, we suppose rich people also go around barefoot there).

 

With this in mind, we are featuring an image of the British women's beach volleyball player Zara Dampney, who has one of the few professions where one can go to work barefoot every day!

 

SIDEBAR: On a more serious note, we want to take a moment to recognize the three people killed and scores more who were injured in yesterday's bomb blast at the Boston Marathon. For me personally, this brings to mind Amanda Rigg, a 22-year-old Australian tourist who was killed in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 10, 2001, the day before September 11th. I was in close proximity to that blast and I will never forget it. We wrote a story about Rigg in a 2011 entry here:

 

http://nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-years-later-remembering-australian.html

 

 

Other links:

 

http://www.northernarizonayogacenter.com

 

http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

 

10 People Who Will Decide Next President (5 of 10)

Name: Adam Youngman

Age: 26

Race: White

Residency: Glendale, Arizona

Will Likely Vote for: McCain....ooops, sorry we mean Mitt Romney

Baxter the Bobcat is the actual mascot of the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team, which one game below .500. Though Arizona was considered a possible swing state when we devised this blog series, it now appears that Romney will win the state unless his problems with foot and mouth disease further catch up with him.

Arizona's governor Jan Brewer is a highly controversial right-wing figure who has clashed with President Barack Obama over immigration. The state of Arizona borders Mexico.

Of course, if the person in the mascot's outfit is really named Adam Youngman that is puerly coincidental, and this is a fictional person indicative of a given demographic. We also don't know what the mascot's actual political leanings are?!

http://www.azdem.org

http://www.azgop.org

 

Quote of the Day/Week- Dominique Moceanu

We continue our quotes from American athletes who won gold or silver at Olympics past with a gymnast Dominique Moceanu, 30, a daughter of Romanian immigrants who now resides in Cleveland in honor of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics.

Moceanu was a member of the Magnificent Seven women's gymnastics team from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, which also included Amanda Borden, Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes. That team won gold over tough competition from Romania, Russia and China.

The gymnast, who is a mother of two, also coaches part-time in Cleveland. Moceanu's coach was Romanian emigre Bela Karolyi, who coached Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

Here is Moceanu's quote:

"I was always kinda fearless in everything I did."

We had also considered quoting Borden, 35, a mother of a four-year-old child, who is originally from Cincinnati and now coaches and resides in Tempe, Ariz. Her gym is called, appropriately enough Gold Medal Gym.

Miller, whom we quoted two weeks ago, made news last year as she publicly disclosed that she was battling cancer which at last report was in remission.

http://www.dominique-moceanu.com

http://www.goldmedalgym.com

Bonus Road Trip- Cincy to Boulder (5 of 10)

Today, we look at the distance between the settings of two iconic late '70s sitcoms as we survey the distance between Boulder, Colo., the setting of "Mork and Mindy," and "WKRP in Cincinnati," which was, of course, set in Cincinnati, Ohio.

For this, we chose the addresses of WKRQ (101.9-FM) in Cincinnati and The West End Tavern in Boulder, Colo. If anyone travels to Cincy, we highly recommend the American Sign Museum, which is ever the fascinating place.

Is the answer:

A) 18 hours

B) 19 hours

C) 20 hours

D) 21 hours

SIDEBAR: Back in January, we posted an entry on either this blog or my other one (we don't have archivists) about the heavy metal band GWAR. Alas, Cory Smoot aka "Flattus Maximus" of the band died on Nov. 3. But, the band went on with its scheduled performance in Tempe, Az., earlier in the week and paid tribute tribute to their fallen guitarist by dousing the crowd with blood. Hmmm.....

Status Update- I am Vowing to Give Up French Fries

Ironically, I have decided to give up french fries starting on August 1st, even though I have nothing against France, a day before Bastille Day. Some believe that french fries actually originated in Belgium, which is celebrating its Independence Day on July 15th (Friday). And, there was the 'freedom fries' during the outset of the war in Iraq, which was started in part by Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC) who ironically would later question the George W. Bush administration's results with the Mesopatamian Mess.


According to "The Urban Dictionary," the French responded by calling American cheese, idiot cheese. Hopefully, this is all behind us now!

But, irregardless, for the sake of my own health, I am hoping that the fries I had today at a Burger King in Danville, Va., are the last ones I eat for quite a while!

I am reminded of how Morgan Spurlock, the documentary filmmaker who is my age and is from Beckely, West Virginia, about 80 miles from Roanoke, Va., where I grew up, when he went on his fast food odyseey for the film "Supersize Me." Spurlock's latest film "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" has just been released on dvd.

SIDEBAR: Dave Zirin, the sportswriter, for the liberal publication "The Nation" has written a column posted today which states that he will refuse to watch tonight's All-Star Baseball Game from Arizona because of the state's draconian SB-1070 bill, which takes radical, draconian measures to try to curb illegal immigration. As Zirin pointed out, many of today's top major league baseball players are from Latin America.

I am actually not big on boycotts for the simple reason that if you are a political conservative boycotting Citgo because it has petrol from Venezuela or if you are a liberal boycotting BP because of the notorious oil spill in Louisiana last year, you may well end up sitting on the side of the road.

But, I sympathize with Zirin's sentiments. As it is, due to time constraints, I have not watched a major or minor league baseball game all year. How are those Toledo Mudhens doing?

Road Trip (Entry 3 of 20)- Duke to Arizona

Hey, we are actually pressed for time today (yes, it does happen from time to time) so no time to give a quick tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (she was great in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf") or tell how you can give a donation to the tsunami earthquake victims in Japan (perhaps redcross.org can help), so we will get to the heart of the matter.....


Today, we are asking you the blog reader, all 19 of you, how far it is from Elmo's Diner on 9th Street in Durham, NC, (there is also an Elmo's Diner in nearby Carrboro which is part of the two-restaurant chain) and Little Anthony's Diner on E. Broadway in Tucson, Ariz.

Duke University, which is located in Durham, plays the University of Arizona, which is in Tucson, tonight at 9:45 p.m. New York Time in Anaheim, Calif, in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

It helps that one of the ten most annoying people in world is sitting in close proximity to me at a public library here in Skokie, Illinois*, (to help me get outta here quicker), so is the answer:

a) 32 hours
b) 34 hours
c) 35 hours
d) 36 hours

If you get the answer right, we might get you a cat toy or a yo-yo, but then again, maybe not!

*-We are not actually in Skokie, but my aunt and uncle lived there for many decades and it is where my cousins on my father's side grew up. Olympian Bart Conner supposedly was teammates with my cousin Brent on the high school gymnastics team!

Status Update_ Does Modern Technology Really Work....

Status Update 1/29: "Last night, I was watching the Stanford-Utah meet live from Salt Lake City when the feed gave out during the last five minutes. I didn't know who won the meet until almost an hour later!"

Hence, the reason why I am going with an image of iconic Soviet/Belarusian Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics. She is now a gymnastics teacher in Scotsdale, Ariz.

Stanford (ranked #2) won the narrow meet over Utah (ranked #4) by 196.825-196.500 margin in front of an impressive 13,835 fans at the Huntsman Center.

Ashley Morgan, daughter of baseball great Joe Morgan, Shelley Alexander and team captain Danielle Ikoma helped Stanford by nailing the beam in the final rotation. Morgan scored a very good 9.9 on that event.

The win by the Stanford Cardinal (remember no 's') marked the end of a 20-meet home winning streak by the Utes.

But, for Utah, freshman gymnast Nancy Damianova from Montreal, Canada, was quite a standout. And, I expect she could well be the next Daria Bijak (well, perhaps). One has to be impressed by the loyal following that Coach Greg Marsden has developed for the Utah gymnastics program.

In other college gym news, top-ranked Florida won its home meet over Penn State and our beloved N.C. State Wolfpack by a score of 197.5-195.3-194.075 (yes, I know the sport's scoring system is confusing for those who don't follow the sport, hey, it's even that way for me!). The Wolfpack were missing gymnasts Brittany Vontz and Brooke Barr, but Jess Panza scored an overall 9.775 for the 'Pack. Alaina Johnson and Ashanee Dickerson lead the way for Florida.

SIDEBAR: I am starting to wonder if someone at Fox Searchlight Pictures is reading my blog. The film "127 Hours" did finally open in the Roanoke, Va., and Greensboro, NC, area yesterday (see earlier entry). For those in Winston-Salem, I highly recommend seeing the film at the A/Peture Cinema, a place I've heard lots of good things about.

Status Update_ I'm Getting Hungry Here

First of all, our apologies to our friends in Karachi and Islamabad for forgetting to put Pakistan in our links section yesterday as we mentioned a uniquely named coffee place in that country yesterday, but we forgot to link them. Of course, all of the blame goes to Javier the intern.


As for my status update for 1/27: "I am as hungry as Gustave the man-eating crocodile."

"Mental Floss" has a great story in the current article about the central African country of Burundi where one can find Gustave, a 65-year-old croc who has reportedly eaten 300 people. Perhaps, he now qualifies for the senior citizens discount at Denny's!

While researching this piece, we found out that the T-Bone Steak House in Phoenix offers up a 24-ounce t-bone for $27, while our vegan friends in New York (actually, we don't have any vegan friends in New York that we know of, according to Javier) can go to Blossom on 187 9th Avenue. The establishment was voted the best vegetarian place to eat in 2008 and 2009 by "Time Out New York."

I'm not sure if it's going to be a t-bone or a tofu burger, but I need to get some food!

NOTE: The crocodile in the photo is NOT Gustave, but I'd advise against taking his close-up.

Quote of the Week- Gustav Mahler

Wow, a lot has happened since we lost blogged on Wednesday of last week. Our thoughts go out to Cong. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and her family. I will have more on that later. The incident was made all the more disturbing to me because I heard an interview on NPR during a broadcast of "All Things Considered" just last week.

Today, we are focusing on quotes from composers (we will have another quip from another composter tomorrow since we were not able to post a quote last week) which will be our focus throughout January.

We start with the Austrian-Bohemian composer Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). According to Steve Holtier of 'Culturecatch.com,' Mahler was known for transforming the symphony into its more modern form. His famous works include "The Youth's Magic" and "Wunderhorn."

Here is today's quote from Mahler:

"A Symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

If you are in the DC area, be sure to check out WETA (90.9 FM), an NPR station which focuses on classical music. Oh, I forgot, it's not 1989. You can listen to them online too!

Happy Belated Halloween

Since all the public libraries in Roanoke Rapids, NC, (not really where I am at) are closed on Sunday so everyone can attend the radical, far-right fire and brimstone Baptist church of their choice, we were not able to post an entry yesterday.

But today we dedicate this entry to Hot Stuff, the beloved Harvey Comics character, who is also known officially as Hot Stuff the Little Devil. Hot Stuff debuted with Harvey Comics in October of 1957, which makes him almost old enough to get a senior citizens' discount at the Denny's in Lynchburg, Va.

Hot Stuff was created and drawn by the late Warren Kremer (1921-2003) who also drew Richie Rich for Harvey Comics. Howard Post (1926-2010) was also instrumental in developing Hot Stuff's look. Incidentally, I'm not sure how they worked out the licensing agreement, but (acording to Wikipedia) Hot Stuff is the mascot for Dysat High School in El Mirage, Ariz.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Koalas Coming to Arizona

We hope they won't have to show immigration papers to an Arizona state police officer (forgive the center-left political humor), but two cute and cuddly Koala bears, which are native to Australia, will be coming to The Phoenix Zoo via a loan from the San Diego Zoo, according to a tweet from The Phoenix Zoo. The bears will be arriving in Phoenix on Oct. 3.

Quote of the Week- Lou Reed

Today we continue to quote famous singers with a quip from New York artsy rocker legend Lou Reed, who is also well-known for his work in the '60s as the lead singer of Velvet Underground.

Since we are way behind in our High Schools of the Week, we will dedicate this entry to students at Provo High School in Provo, Utah, where Reed's landmark album "Transformer" with the suggestive hit song "Walk on the Wild Side" is probably banned (this is just a joke!).

But, we do know that Provo High School returns to class on Aug. 24 (yay! well, maybe not??!). The school's nickname is The Bulldogs. Sam Ray is the principal at Bulldog High, which is also where famed chemist Paul Boyer went to school.

Here is our quote from Reed:

"How can anybody learn anything from an artwork when the piece of art reflects the vanity of the artist and not reality."

SIDEBAR_ Fellow fans of the Russian-emigre rock band The Red Elvises who happen to live near Bethlehem, Pa., will be happy to know they are performing there tonight. The band will also be at The Gogol Club in Moscow, Russia (not Moscow, Idaho!) on Sept. 10. While many bands, like Los Lobos, are boycotting Arizona because of their highly-controversial immigration bill, which we here highly oppose (but I'm not a fan of boycotts unless there is a very valid reason for them), The Red Elvises are performing in Phoenix at The Rhythm Room, which we understand to be quite a jazzy place, on Sept. 23. The Red Elvises, which became popular in the late 1990s, are based in Santa Monica, Calif.

PSA- Love Thy Neighbor

Today, we choose a timely PSA as the highly controversial new anti-immigration measures take place in Arizona. Like many on the center-left, I am opposed to the new laws on the grounds that they are both unconstitutional and will lead to needless racial profiling of all Hispanics, even those who are legal citizens.

I do differ with those who are more progressive than me that everyone who supports the measure is racist. While there are certainly eggheads who hold out signs like "Go Back to Mexico," I know there are rational folks who are legitimately concerned about illegal immigration. But, in my view, this proposed 'resolution' will only cause more problems.

The issue has been the focus of journals from the right (The National Review) and the left (The Nation) as well as nonpartisan publications like The Hill as well as international media outlets, such as the BBC and perhaps even the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television). Turkey, which is my late father's country, has had immigration issues of their own mainly over spillover from political crisises in Iraq and Iran.


SIDEBAR: My friend Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, tweeted yesterday that Friday will be "Speak like Arnold Day" as in speak like the California governor/ "Terminator" franchise star. I guess on that note, we'll have to leave you today with: "I'll be baaack."

PSA- Have a Safe Fourth of July

We want to use this weekly Thursday 'PSA' (Public Service Announcement) entry to wish everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July even if they live in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

But, in all seriousness, The American Civils Liberty Union (ACLU) tweeted today that they are advising anyone traveling to see their aunt in Yuma, Ariz., what their rights are should they be stopped by a federal or state law enforcement officer in Arizona which recently passed a new highly controversial anti-immigration bill. Among the fears expressed by Hispanics who live in The United States legally is that they will be stopped and harrassed simply because of their ethnicity. The ACLU has full details about what perspective travelers passing through Arizona should know at their web site http://www.aclu.org

In more fun news, The Durham Bulls are having a Fourth of July homestand in Durham, NC. Tonight, the Bulls play the Louisville Bats, a team they beat 5-4 in 10 innings last night thanks to a bases loaded walk which scored Jose Lobaton. The Bulls will also have four straight nights of fireworks starting with tonight's game, which will be underway in about 20 minutes.

Another minor league team in North Carolina, the Asheville Tourists of Asheville won their game last night with one of their in-state rivals The Kannapolis Intimidators by a 2-1 count thanks to a ninth inning homerun from Orlando Sandoval. The game was played in Asheville.

In World Cup news, a Twitter site devouted to strange news reported that an Austrian man is selling his bejewelled vuvuzela on the Internet for $20,800. And, Austria was not even in the World Cup!

Things We Learned on Twitter This PM-Parker Posey is on Twitter!

I must profess that it was a bit of a slow news day on Twitter though I did officially find out that right-wing nut Tea Party candidate Rand Paul won the Kentucky Republican gubernatorial primary.

We also learned that a fifth-grader brought a gun to his school at Sumner Elementary in Greensboro, NC, near where I live. Fortunately, it wasn't loaded.

But, when I found out that the Grub Steak Restaurant in Park City, Utah, is offering complimentary Angus meat loaf sliders (yes, I have no idea what those are either!) with a soup and salad combo, I immediately thought of indie film queen Park Posey.

Posey, pictured here, who is literally just slightly older than me (she's 41; I'm 40), is known for coming to Park City quite frequently to promote her latest indie film at the Sundance Film Festival. So, out of curiosity, I checked and she is (well, sort of on Twitter).

There is apparently a web site called parkerposey.org which reports on her latest ventures. And, apparently Posey, who I have had a crush on since at least 1995, will be making a guest appearance on the new HBO series "Bored to Death." That's almost enough to make me call Time Warner and ask for HBO!

We also learned on Twitter than Sen. John McCain is having lunch with President Ivan Calderon of Mexico. No doubt, they will talk about Arizona's new highly controversial anti-immigration bill. But, somehow, we don't expect they will be traveling to Park City for lunch at Grub Steak. Maybe, they will just head out to an Ethiopian place in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC.

THE WHOOPS DEPARTMENT- We learned through NPR that the president of Mexico is Felipe Calderon, not Ivan Calderon--there are two guys with that name. One is a boxer. The other is a baseball player.

Things We Learned on Twitter This PM---Politics in Swedish School Elections

We were only going to post one entry today, so I don't go overboard and post 14 entries per blog as I did this last week. We also normally post "What I Learned on Twitter This P.M." on Wednesday, but this was too good to pass up.

Imagine if you're school election, in a place like Georgetown, SC, were to be held with each candidate being backed by a certain political party!

I remember the school election my senior year at our high school in the Roanoke, Va., area in 1987. Cheryl (psedonym) was running against Mark (psedonym) as it turns I would later find that as adults one was a Democrat and one was a Republican, but we didn't know this at the time.

Mark beat out Cheryl who was the incumbent junior class president in what I believe was a close race.

Can you imagine if this were done with local political parties got involved?

Well, apparently, that seems to be what they are proposing in Sweden! According to Radio Sweden's Twitter page, the youth wings of Sweden's political parties and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions have issued a joint call for local councils to take on such a measure.

Many schools have decided to ban political parties for fears that it would include the far-right Sweden Democrat Party (no that is NOT a typo- the radical right-wingers in Sweden are a part of the Democratic Party, which for those of you in Uzbekistan is not the way it is here in America).

Anders Krape who heads one of the governmental organizations in favor of political parties in the classroom told Radio Sweden that his support for the motion was based on the fact that high school students couldn't be sheltered from xenophobia. He added that it was best for students to learn how to argue against such archaic ideals politically.

PS_This is the first story we're reported about concerning Sweden since the parliament in Stockholm passed a bill regarding the Armenian matter which angered the Turkish government earlier this year. I am a Turkish-American, but I generally refrain from getting into the highly toxic political dispute between most people of Turkish and Armenian persuasion over very violent events which occured in eastern Turkey in 1915 since my views have actually been disputed by virtually everyone (Turk and Armenian alike) though I have referred to the issue as a 'Rashomon Nightmare.' And, I stand by that.

SIDEBAR_ Joe Eskenazi of "The San Francisco Weekly" is reporting in an article I also found out about through Twitter that the City of San Francisco, lead by supervisor David Campos, is actually going to introduce legislation calling for a boycott of Arizona since state has passed a highly-controversial new immigration law.

I personally oppose the Arizona law myself as it will only lead to more paranoia and xenophobia towards Hispanics, but this seems to be a bit extreme as well. Does this mean we should all quit drinking Arizona Iced Tea?--- (well, it is actually brewed in Canada!).