Today is Our 7th Anniversary of Blogging

Today, we celebrate the 7th anniversary of our blogging venture, which began as something like weekly lists of what we were buying at the grocery store, to what is now, more or less the exact same thing.

For this special anniversary blog entry, we thought we'd use an entire entry with dialogue from the Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, comic book section of "The Roanoke Times," a daily newspaper in Roanoke, Va.  Let's begin:

 1) "I'm ugly, that's all"

2) "School is a microcosm of society ..... a puzzle of where everyone is a piece trying to see where they fit in."

3) "Some things just dare to be tried, dad."

4) "Who can answer how much is nine minus seven?"

5) "I've decided that I'm a people person."

6) "Did you poke me on Facebook?"

7) "Where is he? What's going on?"

8) "Has anyone seen a small brown purse:

9) "Why do I always leave it to Sunday night to start panicking about when I should do my homework?"

10) "Your nose piercings look ridicilous."

11) "I'll get right on it, boss."

12) "The weekend is almost over."

(From "For Better or Worse, Agnes, Zits, Mutts, Baby Blues, Pearls Before Swine, Get Fuzzy, Dilbert, Sally Forth and Speed Bump, Blondie and "Hi and Lois;" the image are of Linda Cardellini from the 1999 tv show "Freaks and Geeks, four cards with sevens, and a water cooler, since one was featured in the "Blondie" strip).

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.dilbert.com

Highlights From My Things to Improve My Life List

Relationships. Career Networking. Proper Diet and Exercise. How to get along with your Spacely Sprockets boss*. Let's face it, self-help books are very trendy even if more and more people are reading "War and Peace" via Kindle now.

And, since I've already wasted some precious time on this Saturday night by watching a Jewish satire of "Dexter," a 'Star Trek' opera sequence and a cello/orchestra take on the kitschy '80s hard rock anthem "The Final Countdown" as performed in Kipsala, Latvia, on Youtube, posting portions of a list seems like a simpler way to post today's blog entry.

There are actually 24 things on the whole list; I've decided to divide them up into 12 items for my two blogs.

Here is the first part of the list:

1. Get a girlfriend

2. Write second draft of novel you've been kinda/sorta working on since March.

3. Exercise/join a gym/anything but power yoga

4. Move out of current zip code of residence (yes, that's why the U-Haul truck is pictured above)

5. Take more photographs, especially of old things

6. Write some more poems; Nikki Giovanni had to start somewhere

7. Write second draft of memoir that was typed up last year, after all it might not get published for 24 years when mom will be 95.

8. Put photographs up on Facebook

9. Be more organised (we're using the British spelling to get more hits from the UK).

10. Listen to more vinyl; we should find a copy of "Some Girls" by The Rolling Stones.

11. Write a full-length play; anything has to be better than the failed soap opera satire I wrote three years ago.

12. Learn how to socially network via the Internet.

*-Demanding boss in the 1960s cartoon "The Jetsons"

Tweet of the Moment_ Singer Moby Talking Film

Last night, we caught this tweet from a guy calling himself (his words) The Little Idiot. I completely forgot that was the moniker for the techno instrumentalist Moby who happens to have over 1.25 million followers on Facebook!

Here is the tweet, and I am not using proper punctuation as Moby didn't in his tweet:

"i think my life will be perfectly ok without ever seeing human centipede."

This tweet was in reference to the 2009 cult shock horror film "Human Centipede" which involves a very extreme, over-the-top, sick and demented plot. Of course, a sequel came out earlier this year and a third one is on its way.

The film was shown at the Shadowbox Microcinema in Roanoke, Va., which is getting ready for the "Time Warp" as they will screen "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at 9:00 and 11:59 p.m. on Saturday night.

Republican Humor- A Big Decision

Since I've decided to refrain from making political humor on Facebook in order to not trade barbs with life-long friends and Republicans, at least in the modern era, are such targets, I thought I would sock it to 'em here. And, there is my joke:


"Was thinking to myself today if I were on a desert island and all I was a 1970s black and white tv set with rabbitt ears and the only two channels I got were one with the Republican debate and one with a Three Stooges marathon, which one I would choose."

For the record, the next Republican debate will be held at Darthmouth College in Hanover, NH, on Oct. 11th at 8:00 p.m. The event will be televised and sponsored by Bloomberg News. Though I'm a fairly partisan Democrat, if I would choose from one of the 'Big Three' (Mitt Romney, who is pictured here, Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann), I would go with Romney. Though I agree with an assesment which I believe originated in "The Boston Phoenix" that he is about as authentic as a three-dollar bill!

As for The Three Stooges, the Independent Film Channel (IFC) has been showing their vintage 1950s shorts fairly often.

Highlights from My 100 Things To Do List

My good friend Moviezzz who was himself a blogger (when I checked his blog a few weeks ago, I had not seen an entry since June) once told me that he loved my things to-do lists.

As it turns out, due to unexpected life circumstances---and, sorry, we don't get too personal here except that I will personally admit to despising the mid-80s Mister Mister (they were actually a three-hit wonder)#, I decided to actuallty write a 100 Things To Do List. And, I may time to tackle some of these things. But, as a close confidant told me: "You really should just focus on a few things first." I'm sure Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the 2010 self-help book phenom "Switch" would agree.

But, nevertheless, here are some highlights from the big list:

1. (# 12) Tweek Resume

2. (#15) Take pet bengal tiger to the vet (actually, I am refering to our beloved family cat, but taking a bengal tiger* may be easier)

3. (# 19) Eat at Bergama Cafe, the new Turkish restaurant in Durham, NC (that's the reason for the image of man making doner kebab)

4. (#27) Try to check out the book "The New Frugality" from a library (Even now, I'm not sure I have time to read all these self-help books!)

5. (#33) Possibly re-examine e-dating possibilities (so much for trying not to be too personal)

6. (#37) Actually use Facebook for something productive, like finding a great, cool job.

7. (#54) Read the four issues of "Rolling Stone" that are piling up on the kitchen table, especially the one with Larry David on the cover.

8. (#71) Do the laundry.

9. (#73) Research the brain and try to figure out how it works; of course, this might involve reading more self-help books.

10. (#97) Watch more PBS...."Antiques Roadshow" airs at 8:00 p.m., eastern time, tonight!

*-Image is of a bengal tiger at a zoo in India.

#- While looking for info about Mister Mister on Wikipedia, we discovered that the band has reunited! I actually saw them open up for Tina Turner at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, Va., in high school. At the time, I actually liked the band's signature song "Broken Wings."

Road Trip- Cambridge, Mass, to Eugene, Ore.

We have been meaning to post this entry for quite a long time as we ask you the blog-reader to guess how long it would take a bus driver to get from Cambridge, Mass., to Eugene, Oregon.

Both of these college towns boast hip, popular independent record stores. In Cambridge, where Harvard University is located, there is Cheapo Records, that was profiled on the NPR show "The World." And, in Eugene, Ore., which is known for both the University of Oregon and for being the residence of the late author Ken Kesey ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), there is Skip's Record and CD World.

Of course, the whole world knows that Harvard is the alma mater of President Barack Obama and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (ooops!, we forgot that Zuckerberg is actually a college drop-out).

We are also featuring the cover of the 1978 debut album of The Pretenders (which is called "The Pretenders") because we are huge fans of the band and their lead singer Chrissie Hynde.

So, here are the choices:

A)43 hours, 20 minutes

B) 44 hours, 50 minutes

C) 47 hours, 10 minutes

D) 48 hours, 40 minutes

SIDEBAR: There are lots of celebrity birhtdays today as one of our favorite actresses Natalie Portman turns 30, Johnny Depp turns 48, Michael J. Fox turns 50 and Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor turns 25.

SIDEBAR TWO: I had the chance to see Miss Lana Rebel, an experimental/folk singer perform recently at the Green Bean in Greensboro, NC. Now the band that was originally based in Portland, Ore., then Tucson, Ariz., then Athens, Ga., is now play in and around Austin, Tex. Amazingly enough, Miss Rebel and her bandmates live out of a school bus in Vancouver, Wash., they bought via Craig's List.

Status Update- The Flip Side of Being Single..

Here is a comment that I actually posted on Facebook a short time ago:

"If there is one good thing about being a single guy on Valentine's Day it is that I don't have to shell out lots of money for a big purple teddy bear."

Incidentally, we checked on vermontteddybear.com and for those of you in love who are financially willing and able, a Love Bandit teddy bear (he is alas not purple) with red roses retails for $76.98 (perhaps the box set of "The Love Boat" might be cheaper!).

I suppose if I were married to Katie Holmes, I might have to cough it up. But, at least, I wouldn't force her into practicing Scientology. But, hey Tom, we think you are a good actor, or at least you gave a great performance in "Magnolia."

Quote of the Week- Alfred Hitchcock

Yes, I am aware that something royally effed up with the image of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), but for right now let's move on with our Quote of the Week from the late, great Alfred Hitchcock.

Of course, we're doing this because Halloween is just around the corner:

"I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach."

SIDEBAR: What am I doing at the moment you ask? Well, we don't have time to post this on Facebook or Twitter, but I am in fact: "Having a halal beer with Juan Williams at the Paradise Hookah Bar in Paterson, NJ."*

*-Yes, there is such a place. Paterson, NJ, has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. The Fox News commentator was literally fired from his day job at NPR for saying Muslims in garb scare him on airplanes. I have a similar fear of Mormons, actually (that is just a joke, Marie Osmond fans!).Halal beer is actually a product that is served in Malaysia!

A Pirate Took Over My Facebook Page...

Well, folks, we have a big huge mess on our hands as someone posing as a cute girl from Istanbul, Turkey, managed to cyber-flirt with me and get me to reveal my favorite restaurant (which isn't Burger King) and hence he/she got into my Facebook account and I can not get back in.

Facebook hacking is increasing, and it is quite complicated to resolve.

A woman in Kansas whose son is or was serving in Iraq had to deal with a hacker getting into her Facebook account and finding out sensitive information like where her son was located.

Make sure this does not happen to you, and there are alas many, many ways it can happen.

I will be taking a break from blogging for a week to get this mess resolved, and take care of more pressing matters. Of course, if I do find the person or persons who did this, I will break their legs!

Things We Learned From the BBC Today- Islamic Facebook Comes to Egypt

Those who attend services at The Mohammed Ali Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, (pictured here) may now have a way to socially network in a way that is suitable to Islamic principles, according to a report from Jon Leyne of the BBC.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's main government opposition group which is at times known to be a bit strict and radical (not the BBC's word) though it consists of more moderate factions as well, has launched its very own Facebook-style social newtworking media called Ikhwanbook.

The aim of the group, which is headed by Fareed Abdelkhalek, who is now 95 years old, is to spread Islamic values. The look of the site is similar to Facebook, but it will show more respect to Muslim values.

The group has proclaimed that the government in Cairo has not allowed it many other avenues of free expression or media communication. They added that the group has no desire to compete with Facebook, which is surprisingly popular in Egypt (as well as Turkey and Greece).

The Muslim Brotherhood started in 1928 as a way to rid Egypt of British control.

The BBC airs in North Carolina from WUNC 91.5-FM at 10 p.m. every night.

SIDEBAR- We have decided to add a special "High School of the Week" segment on both Tuesdays and Fridays until we have gone through high schools from all 50 states. So far, we have collectively mentioned the names of high schools from 26 states on our two blogs. Tomorrow, we will start with an entry for Madison Central High School in Richmond, Ky.

Kudos to Duke University (Again?!)- This Time for Men's Lacross Title

First they did it men's basketball, now the Duke BlueDevils bring another NCAA championship back to Durham, NC, as they won the men's lacrosse championship by defeating Notre Dame in Baltimore by a score of 6-5.

The game-winning goal was scored by sophomore C.J. Catabile with :05 remaining in overtime. Freshman goalie Dan Wigrizer made five crucial saves to help Coach K's squad (ooops! Sorry, we got our sports mixed up!).

This was the first NCAA Championship in men's lacrosse for Duke University.

The team made national headlines off-the-field back in 2006 for an incident with a local stripper which proved to be based on false accusations and lead to the resignation of Durham Country Attorney General Mike Nifong.

You can apparently follow the team on Facebook and Twitter, but we can't verify that and since we are not a professional news organization we will skip the verification process as we need to buy a mouse from the pet store on Williamson Road in Roanoke, Va., before it closes to feed our pet boa Larry (that is a joke! In fact, I can't stand snakes.....)

Last Ten Films I've Seen.....Includes a Certain Warren Beatty Flick

I was going to add some commentary about Warren Beatty (pictured here from "Shampoo") in light of the fact that Peter Biskind's new book about allegedly suggests that he has made love to 12,775 women! And, in the '60s, he was actually close to marrying Joan Crawford who is the star of "The Story of Esther Costello," which also among the last ten films I've seen.
But, we are pressed for time. There are reviews of Biskind's book in back issues of "Film Comment" and "The New Republic" with more 'gory details.' It is supposedly more than 500 pages in length!
We should point out, so Gavin Smith (managing editor of "FC") doesn't start harassing me on Facebook ('course, we say this in jest) that I got this idea from his publication, which in my opinion is far and away the best American magazine on film. It could also be the best film magazine in the world, but it's been a very long time since I read the British film magazine "Sight and Sound."
Character actor Jack Weston (1920-2006) was in three of these films: "Shampoo," "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Donovan's Reef."

Here are the films:

1. "Bliss" (Turkey. 2007/Abdullah Oguz)
2. "Runaway Train" (w/Jon Voight. 1985/Andrei Konchalovsky)
3. "Shampoo" (1975. Hal Ashby)
4. "The Story of Esther Costello" (UK. 1957/David Miller)
5. "Lemon Tree" (Isr/Palestine. 2008/Eran Riklin)
6. "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" (w/Doris Day. 1960/Charles Walters).
7. "Hell's Angels" (w/Jean Harlow. 1930/Howard Hughes)
8. "Donovan's Reef" (w/John Wayne and Lee Marvin. 1963/John Ford).
9. "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" (UK. 1971/John Schlesinger)
10. "The Seven Year Itch" (w/Marilyn Monroe. 1955/Billy Wilder).

A Facebook Group I Won't Be Joining

One of the most fascinating things about being a devout Twitter person is that you find out things you might not be aware of. For instance, last night I saw that uber-obnoxious film director James Cameron would be on "The Tavis Smiley Show." I follow Smiley on Twitter, and I was eager to see his interview with a man whose ego seems to be as large as the budgets of his films, but amazingly enough I was on the phone with a friend when the show aired in North Carolina at 12:30 a.m.

But, I also saw this bit about Tiger Woods on Twitter yesterday.

According to everyone's favorite 'neocon in reverse' Arianna Huffington the Facebook group "I Have Also Slept With Tiger Woods" had 171,000 members yesterday up from 139,000 members on Wednesday.

I looked and there is indeed such a group on Facebook. Today the group has 200,211 members as of 5:00 p.m. (east coast time!).

I also saw that Matthew DeBard, a contributor to the liberal-leaning Huffington Post blog (which is certainly better than The Drudge Report on the other side), has a column entitled "Tiger Woods Is So, So, So Much Bigger Than Golf."

The fact that The Huffington Post also includes articles from my fellow Turkish-American progressive Cenk Uygur (who has a liberal talk radio program) might lead one to think I look at the site daily, but there are so many places to go on the web, including Facebook, Twitter and this freaking blog! All of which reminds me that it's been three long weeks since I looked at my E-Harmony account!

WINTER STORM WARNING: For those reading this in Virginia, Maryland or North Carolina, you may have already noticed a lot of snow outside your window. Flights out of Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC, have been canceled as has a Christmas party for the Augusta County Eagles in Staunton, Va.

Similarly, Studio Roanoke in Roanoke, Va., has scrapped No Shame Theatre tonight. And, lastly there will no college night at the Lucky City bookstore in Reidsville, NC.

I guess we'll all have to stay home and watch tv movies on Lifetime tonight.

Facebook Friend of the Week_ Dario Pticek

Dario Pticek of Croatia has the honor of being my 1,000th friend on Facebook.

Of course, I don't actually know him.

This sneaker was apparently influenced by the Croatian flag. I believe the last time I was in Dario's country was when we passed through the Zagreb airport when I was a kid.

Pticek's birthday is July 1, 1976. He has (yikes!) 2,809 Facebook friends and we have 34 'friends' in common.

He is a vampire (!) and a member of Mob Wars and Mafia Wars.

Pticek also enjoys rafting and he is a fan of Chuck Norris and Bob Marley.

Hmmm..........now there's an interesting combination.

Facebook Friend of the Week- Neil Harvey

This is not actually his picture but Neil Harvey is indeed a newspaper reporter (as I was until 2006) with "The Roanoke Times."

He is the same age as me and a fellow movie fanatic with a pet cat. If he becomes a community college teacher one day (my present job), I might have to believe in parallel universes. Let's just hope his mom is slightly less domineering!

Harvey is currently reading "The Night in Question" by Tobias Wolff.

He is a fan of Stevie Wonder and Dinosaur Jr.

Harvey is alumnus of Radford High School who admits to having no sense of smell. He also remembers that the Ryan O'Neal road movie "Paper Moon" (1973) was the first film he ever saw, and it was part of a double-bill at a drive-in.

And, Harvey has a Facebook page for his 17-year-old cat Beowulf. We sincerely hope budget cuts in his industry* don't affect the amount of Fancy Feast he buys at Winn-Dixie.

*- Alas, education is getting whacked too! Though, at the moment, I somehow have four classes.

Facebook Friend of the Week- Shannon B. Sturgis

Since I am a partisan Democrat who favors separation of church and state and opposes capital punishment, there aren't many people in this world who can make me feel as conservative as Dick "Down Boy" Cheney. Amazingly enough, my own cousin Shannon Sturgis is one of them!

She goes by the name Shannon Babaganoush Sturgis on Facebook. The middle name is actually a Turkish eggplant dish, which is ironic because Shannon is not from the Turkish side of my family.

Apparently, a young lady also named Shannon Sturgis is some kind of local celebrity in Little Rock, Ark.

But, my cousin Shannon, who grew up in North Carolina, lives mostly in St. Louis and is involved with theatrical productions, such as "Frost/Nixon." And, she told me once that she actually met Woody Allen.

Shannon, who is a gay/lesbian rights activist, claims to be married to Marci Franklin, but that is apparently some kind of in-joke.

She is also the one who is closest to me in age as she will turn 38 on Jan. 19.

Shannon has 206 Facebook friends.

In addition to gay rights, she is interested in Jewish culture even though (to my knowledge) she is not Jewish herself. Shannon also considers herself a jazz diva and has watched "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" countless times.

She also voted for John McCain this past November......ok, that is a joke!

Facebook Friend of the Week- Leigh Anne Keatts

This is NOT Leigh-Anne in the Hokie bird suit, but she does attend school at Virginia Tech.

Unlike most of my Facebook friends, Leigh-Anne is actually someone I know.

We choose her this week because she just got finished with a lot of stressful exams. I suppose knowing her as well as I do, she will spend the holidays studying textbooks at Starbucks even though there are no tests to study for!

Leigh-Anne is hoping to go to grad school in the fall. Southern Cal, the University of Illinois and UNC are among her choices.

Let's just hope she doesn't end up a professional street juggler!

UPDATE: We somehow managed to overlook mentioning Leigh Anne's favorite rock group, which is Rush...........I believe she knows the lyrics to just about every song, which is cool because to this day I frankly have no idea what "Tom Sawyer" is all about!

Facebook Friend of the Week- CeCe Bell

This week's Facebook Friend of the Week is children's author CeCe Bell from Christiansburg, Va. CeCe is married to my good friend children's book author Tom Angleberger, who will be the subject of an upcoming interview here on this blog.

CeCe's new book is "Bee-Wigged." She is also the author of "Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie" (pictured here).

CeCe turns 38 on Dec. 26, and she has 105 friends on Facebook.

Tom is also a juggler and a newspaper columnist with "The Roanoke Times."

The couple reportedly have a pet iguana named Harvey who could eat my cat Gizmo in one swoop.......that is a joke!

Useful Links:

http://www.cecebell.com