Quote of the Day/Week- Yanni

There was a letter in today's "Roanoke Times," a daily newspaper in Roanoke, Va., complaining that the media outlet had not properly covered the new age instrumentalist Yanni who gave a concert in Roanoke (my hometown) on June 4th.

I must profess that today's quote was initially to be from the great Greek composer Mikis Theodakris, who turns 87 in July, and is known for the scores to "Z" and "Zorba the Greek."

But, we couldn't find quotes from Theodakris, who was born on the island of Chios, just across the Aegean Sea from the resort town Cesme, Turkey. Cesme is a sister city to Wise,Va., a small Appalachian town in far southwestern Virginia, which also known for being the birthplace of the late actor George C. Scott.

This month, we are quoting famous people associated with the 16 countries in the Euro 2012 Cup, which is being played in Poland and Ukraine. The Greek soccer team must defeat Poland on the country's home grass in order to advance in the tournament. Greece lost 2-1 to the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Russia is the other team in Group A.

As for Yanni, he came to international prominence following his 1992 concert at the Acropolis in Athens. Yanni was born in Kalmata, a city in the southern Greek mainland.

Here is his quote, which country singer Dolly Parton can probably identify with:

"I don't think we're put on this planet to experience it from nine to five."

SIDEBAR: We want to congratulate the race horse Union Rags on the horse's Belmont Stakes victory. The horse edged out Paynter in the final leg of the race in New York state. John Velasquez was the jockey for Union Rags, who was born on March 3, 2009.

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.yanni.com

http://www.famous-greeks.com

http://www.belmontstakes.com

Casualties of Modern Technology (9 of 12)_ Pinball Machines

The rock band The Who had a memorable song from their rock opera "Tommy," about a blind pinball wizard who a miracolous sensation. Today, teenagers may have a hard time understanding the song because there are fewer pinball machines in existence that there were in 1976 when that song was popular.

The pinball machine is a coin-operated arcade game that was formally developed in 1931. The flippers were introduced in 1947. And, solid state electronics were formalized with the pinball game "Hot Tip" in 1977.

There was an initial decline in pinball machine useage in the 1980s thanks to the likes of video games, such as "Ms. Pac-Man" and "Donkey Kong." But, the pinball machines industry fought back by developing innovative pop culture games, such as "The Addams Family" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

The machines have again declined in the advanced hom video games Angry Birds era, though according to Wikipedia, the Illinois pinball company PinBall Manufacturing produced 178 reproductions of the the popular pinball game "Bing Bang Bar" in 2006.

Many pinball players are known to cheat by tipping the machines and even attaching a piece of string to a coin and lowering the counter switch to get free games.

Popular brands include "Dolly Parton" (1979) that was the brainchild of George and Dave Christensen who developed the pinball game for Bally.

There is also "Dirty Harry" (1992), which is based on the succesful "Dirty Harry"
(1971) film with Clint Eastwood which spurred many less remarkable sequels. This particular game, which I also saw at a laundromat in the hamlet of New Castle, Va., (near Roanoke) has sold for between $1,800-$4,000 via Internet auctions.

One can find a Pinball Hall of Fame museum in Las Vegas, which has 400 games.

Additionally, there is Rose City Pinball in Portland, Ore., which hosts weekly tournaments.

Happy Birthday Mom, from Dolly Parton

Today, my mom Lila Sullivan turns 71. She was born on Dec. 22, 1939, in Florence, SC. Since my father Mehmet Gokbudak died in 1983, when I was 13, and my mom remarried our last names are different.

We thought we'd salute her with an image from one of her favorite singers, Dolly Parton, the pride of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Mom also likes Bob Dylan, Jimmy Buffett and Tina Turner.

Parton will release her 43rd studio album next year, and she has a birthday herself on Jan. 19 when she turns 65.

I was curious to learn about those famous Dolly Parton pinball machines. As it turns out, collector Nibby Priest of Henderson, Ky., posted a Youtube video which revealed that the machines first came out in November of 1979 and there were 7,350 made.

We also found out that Parton made the cover of "Rolling Stone" (yes, we were surprised too!) for the magazine's Dec. 11, 1980 issue which also featured a story on a then-emerging band from Athens, Ga., called The B-52s. Another band from Athens, REM would, of course, soon follow.

So, Happy Birthday mom.