Last Ten Songs We Heard on Steve-FM in Roanoke, Va.

Here are ten songs in a row that we heard while listening to 106.1 Steve-FM (Roanoke, Va.) http://www.1061stevefm.com/main.html on Monday afternoon between the hours of 3:00-4:00 p.m.; we did omit one song from Bon Jovi to make this list seem a tad bit niftier.

Steve-FM is part of the national I Heart Radio http://www.iheart.com/ chain, and apparently there is another Steve-FM in Spartanburg, SC http://www.visitspartanburg.com/

The image of Bill Clinton is used not for political reasons (even though we voted for him....twice!) but because "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac was his 1992 presidential campaign theme song. We are using Pink Panther because there is a song by the singer Pink (we need to get more familiar with her work), a Basil Ratbone's Sherlock Holmes refers to the smash hit "Private Eyes" by Hall and OAtes, our favorite musical act to perform karaoke to.

Here are the ten songs in order:

1) Don't Stop. Fleetwood Mac. 1977http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/splash

2) Wild Thing. Tone Loc. 1988

3) Cherry Bomb. John Cougar Mellencamp. 1987

4) So What. Pink. 2008. http://www.pinkspage.com/us/home

5) When Doves Cry. Prince. 1984 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/prince

6) Breakdown. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. 1976,

7) Private Eyes. Hall and Oates. 1981 http://www.hallandoates.com/

8) Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Eurythmics. 1983.

9) Long Train Running (Without Love). The Doobie Brothers. 1973.

10) Stray Cat Strut. Stray Cats. 1982.

Remembering Nelson Mandela with a Quote from Him

Nelson Mandela died two days ago in his native South Africa.

Former President Bill Clinton said Mandela would ask to speak to Chelsea when he called the White House to ask her if she had done her homework. Chelsea Clinton went on to graduate from Stanford.

Though former Vice President Dick Cheney made disparaging remarks about this remarkable man, he was lauded by politicians on both sides of the aisle in the United States. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va) and Cong. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) praised his contributions to ending Apartheid while Cong. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) praised Mandela for being a champion of human rights.

Here is a quote from Mandela:

"It always seems impossible until it's done."

SIDEBAR: Alas, it was a rough night for us as spectators as all four of the teams we were rooting for somehow fell in the NCAA tournament: Cal upset North Carolina, LSU came from two sets down to win over Michigan, Radford University posted a great second set but still fell in straight sets to host Minnesota, and in spite of winning the first set against Utah, the Yale Bulldogs lost to the Utes 3-1.

Oh well............

8 Things You Need to Know: DC Turkish Fetival, UNC Volleyball and Sen. Ted Cruz

1. The 11th Annual Washington D.C. Turkish Festival will be happening on Sunday. It will take place between 12th and 14th Street, two blocks from the White House. The event will feature folk dancing, musical performances, coffee fortune reading and (of course) very authentic ethnic cuisine (pictured top).

2. The University of North Carolina Tarheels' women's volleyball team will face ACC rival North Carolina on their home gym floor in Chapel Hill, NC, at Carmichael Arena, but the game, which starts at 8:00 p.m. tonight (eastern time) will also be televised on ESPN-U. Victoria McPherson (Number Seven, pictured center) was named ACC Player of the Week. The Tarheels are undefeated so far.

3) Though the game will not be nationally televised, the Yale Bulldogs will be facing their first Ivy League opponent when the Brown U Bears come to New Haven, Conn., on Sat. @ 5:00 p.m. Jesse Ebner of Yale was named co-Ivy League Player of the week.

4) In tragic news, Elif Yavuz, 33, a Dutch citizen of Turkish heritage was gunned down along with her Aussie boyfriend Ross Langdon, 33, at the Westgate Shopping Center in a violence rampage in Nairobi, Kenya, that has claimed at least 62 lives. The massacre/hostage situation started on Saturday. Yavuz was eight and a half months pregnant. She had performed work on behalf on the Clinton Foundation. Former president Bill Clinton praised Yavuz, who was also a Harvard alum.

5) The Salem Red Sox, the single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, won its first Carolina League title since 2001, and the first since the team joined the Red Sox family. The defeated the Potomac Nationals to win the title. Mugsy (pictured bottom) is the team mascot.

6) One of the most fun bands in the word the Red Elvises are on tour. On Thursday night, the band performs at Moe's (yes that is the actual name of the venue, we were thinking about "The Simpsons" too) in Englewood, Colo., on Thursday night. The venue's phone number is 303.781.0414

7) Along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) stands out among the Tea Party crazies who are gradually hijacking the Republican Party. Just a few hours ago, Cruz wrapped on his 21-hour speech, which included a reading of the Dr. Seuss classic "Green Eggs and Ham" (?!). He now gives new meaning to the term Ted Talks (TED Talks is a series of talks given about technology and socially relevant issues, such as education).

8) Teasers: In the coming days, we hope to have tweets about tweets relating to all things Washington, DC, which includes not just Congress, but the National Zoo. In addition, we are hoping to post some entries related to both Book Week and Banned Week (we believe both are going on this week). Stay tuned..............

http://www.turkishfestival.org

https://www.facebook.com/washingtondcturkishfestival

http://www.clintonfoundation.org/

http://www.redelvises.com/

http://www.ted.com/talks

http://www.goheels.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&SPID=12977&SPSID=668175

http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-volley/index

Presidential Quotes: Bill Clinton

Special Greetings to our blog-readers in Paraguay, Poland and Portugal and a last minute Happy Fourth of July to our readers in Philadelphia, Boston and Denver, where we gather that the Colorado Rapids are winning at home over the New York Red Bulls by a 2-0 margin in Major League Soccer play.

We will momentarily be quoting former President Bill Clinton, but before we do, we thought we'd use some taglines from the conservative newspaper "The Washington Times" to show irony (sorry to our readers in Boise, Idaho, but this is a center-left blog....well, when we go into politics).

Those terms are: National Security Agency, Mohammed Morsi, Congress, 4th of July and Egypt:

"It appears as though Egypt is in a bit of a row, as the Brits would say, as the military ousted Prime Minister Mohammed Morsi. We gather both far-left progressives and far-right Tea Partiers are outraged by the National Security Agency and Congress, but frankly when one mentions Washington, DC, to us personally, we think of Rusty the Runaway Red Panda who is now safely back home at the National Zoo. Happy 4th of July, everyone."

Here is Clinton's quote, it is regarding the White Zoo (Freudian slip, we meant...) White House, and an astonish number of presidents, including Harry Truman truly hated living there:

"I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system."

UPDATE: Colorado won its soccer game over New York by a score of 2-0 in Denver.

http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org (Clinton's presidential library/museum in Little Rock, Arkansas)

http://www.washingtontimes.com

http://www.mlssoccer.com

Entry Using Trendy Topics- Clinton Names Every GOP President Except Ford

Today, we decided we would compose a post with trending terms from various sources, including Twitter and Bing. Of course, our prime focus is on the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, which competed with an NFL football game between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys; the terms we are using are: Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Elizabeth Warren, Eddie Murphy, Charlotte NC, Michelle Obama, Chris Christie, Al Gore, Boston kreme donuts and the Dallas Cowboys.

Here is our composition:

"Tonight in front of a packed house in Charlotte, NC, former president Bill Clinton named every Republican president since Dwight Eisenhower with the one exception of the late Gerald Ford: Assuredly, Bill O'Reilly will think of a way to spin this so the Romney/Ryan ticket gets more votes in Michigan, which is Ford's home state as well as Ford's (as in the car) home state. Elizabeth Warren who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) have a stirring speech about the need to fight over corporate loopholes and banking deregulation. Eddie Murphy was not in attendance in Charlotte, but another false rumor about his death circulated on the Internet. Michelle Obama was also in attendance, and even though the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard" was among the sources that leaked the surprise cameo at the end of Clinton's speech by President Barack Obama.

Al Gore, Clinton's vice president, was giving commentary about the DNC on Current-TV, a network he owns, which probably doesn't advertise in "The Weekly Standard" and vice versa. Though there were no reports about what Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) was doing tonight; one could easily assume that he was eating a dozen Boston kreme donuts as the New York Giants were playing the Dallas Cowboys during the same time of the convention on NBC.

SIDEBARS: Monday proved to be a luck y day for major league baseball teams which had Olympic athletes throwing out first pitches. In the nation's capital, gold-medal winning swimmer Katie Ledecky of Bethesda, Maryland, threw out the first pitch in the Washington Nationals' 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Similarly, three member of the U.S. Women's gymnastics team, also known as the Fierce Five, who team gold in London threw out the first pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers. McKayla Maroney, Gabbie Douglas and Kyla Ross hurled the first pitch in the Dodgers' 4-3 home win over the San Diego Padres.

http://www.fordmuseum.gov

http://www.clintonlibrary.gov

http://www.weeklystandard.com

http://www.current.com

The Last Tweets from Charlotte- Obama's Warren Buffett Problem

As the Democratic National Convention starts in about one hour, we have one last round-up of tweets before this evening's speeches get underway. Bill Clinton will be speaking in the key-note address on Wednesday night. Other key speakers will include Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, Tex., who delivers his speech tonight in Charlotte, NC, as will First Lady Michelle Obama.

We have a 1970s era NASCAR car at the bottom because the NASCAR Hall of Fame is in Charlotte.

Here are some tweets from the 4:00-5:00 p.m. hour (eastern U.S. time) today, both regarding the Democratic convention and other political soup du jours:

1) @cnnbrk (CNN Breaking News): "CNN Poll: Romney  gets convention bounce of 1 point."

2) @OpenSecretsDC (Opensecrets.org): "Mitt Romney raises $100 million for this straight month reports @politico."

3) @tnr  (The New Republic, a center-left magazine): "Bite the hand that feeds? Obama needs corporate America's money but can't stand the taint."

4) @BlairMiller9 (Blair Miller_ a reporter for WSOC-TV/Channel 9, which is Charlotte's ABC affiliate): "Cool moment in the arena. Amber Riley practicing the National Anthem_ nailed it several times. She plays Mercedes on 'Glee.'"

5) @WBTV_News (WBTV is the CBS affiliate in Charlotte): "RT (retweet) @PCameronWBTV: VP Biden, wife and son are on the ground in Charlotte. Lookout for rolling road blocks across town."

6) @DavidCornDC (David Corn, a reporter for the liberal publication "Mother Jones"): "Just saw Chris Matthews mobbed by MSNBC fans at the nifty MSNBC pavilion. Tremendous love for MSNBC on the streets of Charlotte."

7) @EzraKlein (Ezra Klein, a columnist with "The Washington Post"): "Like Romney, I also prefer muffin tops to muffins. But unlike Romney, I figure they tasted better because they were less healthy."


http://www.cnn.com

http://www.opensecrets.org

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.wsoctv.com

http://www.wbtv.com

http://www.motherjones.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.nascarhall.com

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (2 of 10)- Truck Driver in Indiana

First of all, thanks to those of you in Slovakia, Ecuador and Finland for visiting our blog today. Just last week, I got the best-selling book "Procrastination"  by Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen, and I have actually delayed this entry for three days now, so let's get to it. Note: Be sure to read the disclaimer at the end of the entry.

Here is a profile of today's fictional character_

Name: Danny Givens

Age: 37

Profession: Truck Driver

Residency: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Will Likely Vote for: Mitt Romney


In 2008, Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the presidential vote in Indiana since Lyndon B. Johnson, and this took even the most objective, non-partisan political experts by surprise. Obama edged out John McCain by a 50-49 percent margin. McCain won Allen County, where Fort Wayne is, by a 52-48 margin. Obama won the state's more liberal area, including Saint Joseph County, where South Bend and Notre Dame University is, by a 58-42 margin.

Obama's largest margin of victory, however, was in neighboring Lake County while McCain had his highest percentage of votes in rural northern Indiana in Kosciusko County, where the town of Warsaw is.

In the 1996 election, Bob Dole edged the eventual victor Bill Clinton by a slim 47-42 percent margin. But, George W. Bush was able to defeat both Al Gore and John Kerry with relative ease. However, in 2004, when Bush got 60-precent of the vote, then Sen. Evan Bayh (D) got 62 percent of the vote.

There are circa three million truck drivers in the United States. Though we could not find sources to verify this, it is widely believed that in the South, truck drivers tend to be partisan Republicans whereas in northern and mid-western states where labor unions are significantly stronger, they tend to be more independent-minded.

Some ten years ago, I read a "Washington Post Magazine" article about an African-American truck driver passing through the hamlet of Toms Brook, Va., in the Shenandoah Valley where there is a large truck station, who was surprisingly held extreme right-wing political views.

Since Indian's current governor Mitch Daniels (R) has a strong national presence, it seems like the Hoosier State will likely go back to the Republicans this year, but Obama did pull a major upset there just four years ago.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Danny Givens is a fictional character. There is a Danny Givens who is a pastor in Minnesota, but in no way, is our fictional character indicative of him or his political views. The person who is picture is not Danny Givens, and the person in the picture's political views are not known.

Though this blog is satirical in nature, with a center-left bias, this series is not meant to be partisan. It simply reflects the author's theory that indeed every vote counts.

www.journalgazette.net

www.fortwayne.com

http://www.indems.org

http://www.indgop.org

Quote of the Day/Week- Al Gore

Today, we continue our month-long series of quotes from American vice presidents. Today, we quip Al Gore, 64, who served under President Bill Clinton, who is for some strange trending on Twitter today. My fellow progressive Turkish-American Cenk Uygur hosts "The Young Turks," a progressive political talk show on Gore's Current-TV at 7:00 p.m.

Gore is also known for being an advocate for global warming, which seems to be quite accurate given that Minnesota is now as hot as Alabama on any given day in July.

We have a quote from Walter Mondale, who served under President Jimmy Carter, on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here is Gore's quote:

"The day I made that statement about inventing the Internet, I was tired because I'd been up all night inventing the camcorder."http://www.algore.com
http://www.current.com

Quote of the Day/Week_ Bill Clinton

Today, we continue to quote the last eight presidents of the United States (others are listed on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time") in honor of the upcoming November presidential election here in America, with a quip from President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and the first person from the state of Arkansas to become president. The Bill Clinton Presidential Library is located in that state's capital of Little Rock.

Here is the quote:

"Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it's the time when they most need to think."

Quote of the Day/Week_ Michael Dukakis

Hmmm....since there is the NCAA men's basketball tournament here in the United States (editorial comment: Go Harvard! They face Vanderbilt today) and the UEFA Champions League soccer games in Europe, assuredly Taiwan may be one of the few places where actual work is getting done today.

Today, we quote Michael Dukakis, the Democratic candidate who unsuccessfully ran against George H.W. Bush, in the 1988 presidential election. All this month, we are quoting men who fought the good fight, but didn't end up serving in the White House. Last week, we quoted Republican Robert Dole who lost to Bill Clinton in 1996.

There is a bit of a personal connection with me and the Dukakis campaign. Since I was 18 in 1988 and I was one of the few people from my high school in a conservative zip code who disdained the policies of Ronald Reagan, I was eager to vote Dukakis. And, I did.

The problem is that I'm a Turkish-American, and this didn't go over well with the relatives in Istanbul. In fact, my since deceased uncle by marriage Omer Bati pretty much threatened to throw me over the balcony for voting for Dukakis.

We learned today that Dukakis, a Greek-American, actually has connections to modern-day Turkey as his parents came from the Turkish port town of Erdemit in the Balikesir province. There are still many Turkish citizens of Greek heritage in Turkey; most of them reside in Istanbul.

Ironically, Dukakis was the second Greek-American to become the governor of a state. Long before Dukakis became the governor of Massachusetts, a post later held by both Democrat John Kerry (who lost to George W. Bush in 2004) and Mitt Romney, who is likely going to be the Republican nominee this year, one Spiro Agnew was the governor of Maryland from 1967-69.

Agnew's life is however best remembered for scandal as the Republican who would become Richard Nixon's first vice president was forced to resign from that post due to a bribery scandal.

As for Dukakis, he is perhaps best-remembered for taking more firm stances on liberal issues, including his opposition to the death penalty and his belief in gun control.

As for me, there are no regrets about voting for Dukakis, though today, I may not share voting for a Greek-American with other Turkish people.

Here is the quote from Dukakis:

"The best America is a nation where the son of Greek immigrants, with your help, can seek and win the presidency of the United States."

Quote of the Day/Week- Bob Dole

Since today is Super Tuesday, which means that Republicans in Georgia, Tennessee and Ohio and seven other states will choose their candidate to represent the party in the general election against President Barack Obama, we thought we would quote a famous Republican.

This month, we will be quoting men who got their party nod, but failed to win the general election. Here, we will quote Bob Dole, 88, and on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," we will quip George McGovern, 89, who lost the 1972 election to Richard Nixon.

Dole represented Kansas in the U.S. Senate from 1969-1996. Though he is most known for losing to Bill Clinton in the general election of 1996, Dole was also Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976. He is thus the rare individual who was on the ticket with an incumbent president who was not that president's vice president (Ford's veep was Nelson Rockefeller) and also one of the few people who was on two losing tickets. This is made more ironic because Dole is a Republican, and they have a 5-3 advantage over Democrats in terms of the presidency since 1968.

Dole was born in Russell, Kan. He went to the same high school as his Republican U.S. Senate colleague Arlen Specter, who stunned The Hill by becoming a Democrat as the GOP was moving more to the right.

Dole's wife Elizabeth Dole was also a U.S. Senator, as she represented north Carolina for one term. Bob Dole has also said publicly that he hopes Newt Gingrich will not become president of the United States.

Here is the quote of the day/week from Bob Dole, which helps confirm my view that the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Congress may have more in common than one might think:

"If you're hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come over to the Senate, you'll get that same kind of feeling there and you won't have to pay."

The Rabbit Ear Test_ (6 out of 12) "Batman"

Greetings to all our blog-readers, irregardless if you are in Winnipeg, Canada, the hometown of cult filmmaker Guy Maddin, or Atlanta, Georgia, where the Winnipeg Jets were playing hockey last year (they were then called the Atlanta Thrashers).

Many people born when Bill Clinton was president may not be aware that there was a "Batman" tv series, based on the hit DC Comics series, in the 1960s, which us Gen X'ers saw in reruns circa 1976 as kids. The show ran for 120 half-hour episodes, most of which aired multiple times during the week, from 1966-1968.

Though many of the actors who played the bad guys, including the pianist Liberace (he played the evil pianist Chandell, no we are not making this up), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Cesar Romero (The Joker), Vincent Price (Egghead) and Burgess Meredith (The Penguin) have passed away, the two main actors of that original "Batman" series are still alive.

Adam West, who played the Caped Crusader, is alive and well at 83.

But, are not going to reveal the age of Burt Ward who played Robin (pictured) because that is today's question for our quiz. So, how old is Ward; is the answer?

A) 63 B) 64 C) 65 D) 66

While, we can not disclose Ward's age until a later time (yes, I know you kids will google it), we can say that according to the IMDB, Ward was paid $350/week during the show's first season.

SIDEBAR: Italy has just passed Russia for fifth place on our top ten lists for countries where we are getting hits from. So, thanks to all you Juventus fans out there....and, oh yes, thanks to all you AC Milan fans as well (forgive the soccer humor).

Quote of the Week- John F. Kennedy

Today, we continue with quips from famous New Englanders with a quote from the legendary Democratic President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). The 'forever young' president who was 46 when he was assasinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Tex., would be 94 today.

Here is his quote:

"A man may die, nations may rise, but an idea lives on."

Kennedy was born in Brookline, Mass., on May 29, 1917, and the JFK Library is located in Boston.

SIDEBAR ONE: Gazooks! It was 107 degrees today in Little Rock, Ark., today where the Bill Clinton Library is located.

SIDEBAR TWO: PBS will air the first episode of "Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided" tonight, local times may vary.

SIDEBAR THREE: Michelle Goldberg of "The Daily Beast" is reporting that far, far-right Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who is currently a congresswoman from Minnesota, is the first GOP candidate to sign a pledge to fight pornography and 'find a cure' for homosexuality!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today_ Rosa Parks Never Paid 'The Fine'

Of course, we know Rosa Parks was not fined for sitting on a school bus in High Point, NC, (we are rushed for time, so this is the only image we could find!), but according to a tweet from the ultra-hip magazine "Mental Floss," which I should ask my mom to get me a subscription for over the holidays, the Civil Rights activist never 'paid up' for her 'transgression' in Montgomery, Ala., 55 years ago today:

Here is the exact tweet:

"Rosa Parks was fine $14 for refusing to give up her seat on that bus ride of Dec.
1, 1955. She never paid it."

SIDEBAR: We have also learned that thankfully actor Morgan Freeman, 73, did not die today. Many were wondering why he was a hot trending topic today. It turns out he made a gaffe while on a tele-prompter in Zurich, Switzerland, while lobbying for the 2022 World Cup alongside former president Bill Clinton, who was in Greensboro last night. The jet lag must be tourturing our beloved former prez!

Quote of the Week- Jimmy Carter

He is undoubtedly Rush Limbaugh's 'favorite president' (which is reason to love the guy) and tomorrow night former president Jimmy Carter will sign copies of his latest book at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC.

An interview with Carter will also air this weekend on C-Span 2 (Book TV), and an exhibit called "The Working White House" is currently on display at the Carter Museum and Library in Atlanta where Rosalynn Carter will hold her own book-signing in December.

Here is our quote from the president, one of only four living ex-presidents, who came in between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan:

"America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense human rights invented America."

Another ex-president Bill Clinton speaks at the Greensboro Coliseum tomorrow night as part of Guilford College's Bryan Series. Clinton will reportedly head to Switzerland on Wednesday to start lobbying for an American bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

SIDEBAR: Speaking of Carter's home state of Georgia, we learned that there is a happening vegeteranian restaurant in the college town of Athens, Ga., called The Grit, which serves brunch from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Quote of the Week- Ronald Reagan

As I was reading a biography of Che Guevara at one of the Mill Mountain Coffee Shops in the Roanoke, Va., area, I was wondering if anyone might mistake for a socialist.

And, since I am posting an entry with a quip from Ronald Reagan, someone with my own center-left political views may mistake me for a Republican.

Of course, I'd rather be mistaken for a socialist!

But, in all seriousness, we honor the man who came to the presidency in 1981 when I was in the fourth grade and finished his two terms by the time I had just graduated high school in 1989 with one of our favorite quotes from him:

"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk."

The Ronald Reagan Library is located in Simi Valley, Calif. They are currently holding an American Christmas exhibit there until Jan. 2, 2011.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (I bet you thought we were going to say Bill Clinton!) will be hosting a book-signing at the library on Nov. 29. We have no idea if his 'sidekick' Chuck Norris, who was reportedly filming a beer commercial in the Czech Republic this week, will be with him or not.

50 Beers from Around the World- Castle Lager (South Africa)

Former president Bill Clinton (see last entry) was among those who attended the World Cup in South Africa over the summer. Clinton was there to watch the game between the United States and Ghana, in which the west African nation prevailed in an exciting overtime victory.

Today, we feature the South African brew Castle Lager in our 50 Beers Around the World series (we are about halfway through now). In South Africa, beer in its traditional sense was first introduced by British immigrants in the late 1800s.

According to Wikipedia though, the native Zulu and Xhosa tribes were both brewing forms of sorghum and maice beers prior to the British immigrants' arrival.

Soccer season is in full-swing around the world. Those of us who root for the Turkish team GalataSaray, out of Istanbul, (I am a Turkish-American) were irked to hear that the gold and red lost to TrabzonSpor 2-0 over the weekend.

We profiled the Turkish beer Efes Pilsen as well as the American brew Pabst Blue Ribbon earlier in the series. Perhaps, there is a bar in Paterson, NJ, which has the largest conticencies of Turkish-Americans, which serves them both!

Quote of the Week- Bill Clinton

Since November is the month of elections, we are posting quips from American presidents of the 20th century. Today, we include the pride of Hope, Ark., former president Bill Clinton.

On Thursday, The Bill Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, will be offering free admission in honor of Veteran's Day. There will also be free admission on Saturday as the library celebrates its sixth anniversary.

Currently, the library is hosting a special exhibit called "Headed to the White House," which continues until Nov. 21.

I highly recommend the book "The Pact" which details how surprisingly close Clinton was to arch conservative Republican Newt Gingrich, who was house speaker from 1994 until 1999. The political fallout from scandal ultimately tore their secret professional union apart.

Here is the quote from the first president from Arkansas:

"Big things are expected of us, and nothing big ever came of being small."

President Barack Obama Makes His Final 4 Picks

President Barack Obama has once again filled out his brackets and chosen his Final Four. Even though I voted for him, we only chose one team in common-the Villanova Wildcats.


Interestingly enough, three of the four teams Obama selected are nicknamed Wildcats, including Villanova, Kentucky and Kansas State.

The lone exception is the team he is picking to win it all: The Kansas Jayhawks (mascot pictured here) though even if they win, I would expect that since Kansas is a very red state (though they actually have a Democratic governor) they will go for Sarah Palin in 2012. (I will not!)

Obama picks the Jayhawks to beat Ashley Judd's beloved Kentucky Wildcats in the final. Former President Bill Clinton told ESPN that he also likes the Jayhawks' chances, but his pick to win it all is Syracuse- a top-seeded team which Obama did not put in his Final Four.

Last year, when Obama picked the University of North Carolina to win it all, he was criticized by right-wing talk show host Bill O'Reilly for going public with his picks. Of course, if Obama had not chosen to disclose his brackets, O'Reilly would have found another reason to bicker.

In order to preserve a remote sense of journalistic objectivity, I checked Newt Gingrich's Twitter page to see if he made any picks in the NCAA Tournament, but he is more concerned about federal dollars potentially going to women who want/need to have an abortion.

Silly Photo to Fill Space_ Zhu Zhu Pets

I could have alternatively titled this entry: "Why I'm Glad I Don't Have Kids!"

Though liberal-turned-conservative P.J. O'Rourke, now a contributor to the neo-conservative journal "The Weekly Standard" (which I actually read from time to time) maintains that somehow having a daughter made him go from being Michael Moore to Dick Cheney overnight....I suppose as I've gotten older I've gone from Michael Moore to Bill Clinton, and that seems conservative enough!

I don't know how it is in your part of the country, but here in Dixie, the conservative coalition seems to be made up of religious zealots, Yosemite Sam gun nuts and radical Ayn Rand anti-government types. I know moderate conservative columnist David Brooks was in North Carolina last year, but I wonder if he got a chance to talk to people at the Waffle House in Greensboro to see how far, far right they are........?!

Hmm.......this was NOT supposed to be a political entry.....oh well!