(10 for 10; 2nd Entry): Our Most Popular Blog Entries: Silly Dog Photo to Fill Space

Greetings to our blog readers in Guatemala, Slovakia, and Saudi Arabia.........whoops, sorry about the hot dog image!

In our ten years of blogging, we have often been surprised and some times stunned by which entries prove to be more popular than others. When I posted an entry about hot dogs, as in two dogs dressed like hot dogs (center image), on August 18, 2009, from a small town library in North Carolina, I never could have imagined that it would yield more hits than any entry we posted before or since.

Because our blog is, for some reason, popular in Russia and Ukraine, I suppose it's not shocking that our blog entry with a quote from the legendary gymnast Svetlana Boginskaya, (top image) who competed for the Soviet Union on her native Belarus, became popular, but it's still surprising that it got over 5,000 hits.

Another popular entry with a quote from a celebrity was one from Feb. 9, 2009, featuring reality tv show Heidi Montag ("The Hills") who endorsed John McCain for president, and that apparently wasn't enough for the Republican Arizona senator to get enough votes to win over Barack Obama.

Our second most popular entry featured Mr. Potato Head (pict. bottom), which still seems popular almost five years after its posting as it inches towards the 20,000-hit mark.

Here are our most six most popular blog entries, with links to those entries (alas some photos from the entries have been removed from the net):

1. Silly Photo to Fill Space-Hot Dogs. Aug. 18,2009. 21,464 hits.

2. Bonus Silly Photo to Fill Space-Mr. Potato Head. Dec. 10, 2010. 19,985 hits
http://nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com/2010/12/bonus-silly-photo-to-fill-space-mr.html

3. PSA-Don't Drink and Drive. May 27, 2010. 13,240 hits.

4. Quote of the Day: Heidi Montag. Feb. 9, 2009. 7,928 hits.

5. Quote of the Day: Svetlana Boginskaya. April 19, 2012. 5,250 hits
http://nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com/2012/04/quote-of-dayweek-svetlana-boginskaya.html

6. Political Confusion Test (21 of 21)_ The Oak Ridge Boys vs. The Village People. Aug. 14, 2009. 5,142 hits

http://nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com/2009/08/political-confusion-test-21-of-21.html

Presidential Quotes (15 of 16): Benjamin Harrison

Today, we quote Benjamin Harrison, a Republican from Indiana, who was president from 1889-1893, who, judging from this quote, sounds like the Ron Paul of his day, and he likely would have had issues with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.):

"We Americans have no commission from God to police the world."

Tweets of the Day: "What Would Rodman Do?" (about Syria)

Full disclosure: NPR commentator David Brooks, who is known for his center-right politics, said that there seemingly few liberal hawks supporting military intervention in Syria, but I happen to be one of those people. Nevertheless, I am posting tweets from right, left and center, as well as many tweets which contradict my view of what Washington DC needs to do stop Syria's madman dictator Hafez al-Assad.

The images here are of 1) former NBA star/transvestite/unofficial diplomat Dennis Rodman (he has made several questionable trips to North Korea) 2) A tank in Syria 3) Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the Senate's fiercest hawks who has always supported military action against the Damascus regime.

Let's go:

1) National Review @NRO (a conservative magazine): "Obama's #Syria strategy threaten, retract and wander about the stage."

2) Adnan Abdullah @adnanish1(a Muslim activist): "U.S. Military strike on #Syria will add fuel to fire in the Middle East. May God prevent it and bring peace to the whole nations of #Islam."

3) Chris Wallace @foxpokerfox (the poker player, not the Fox News journalist): "Where is Dennis Rodman when we need him? #Syria."

4) David Corn @DavidCornDC (a liberal journalist): "Fantastic debate (for the most part) w/n my Twitter feed re #Syria. I'll keep asking as we get closer to a vote. Le me know if you switch."

5) Washington Diplomat @diplomatnews: "US orders embassy workers out of Beirut ahead of possible Syria strike."

6) Today's Zaman @todayszamancom, a Turkish newspaper: "US envoy to UN says Syria's Assad barely dented chemical weapons stockpile."

7) The Hill @thehilltweets: "Fashion designer Kenneth Cole ripped over controversial Syria tweets."

8) Daily Kos (@dailykos): ""McCain,, John Kerry cite WSJ op-ed written by advocate for Syrian rebels."

9) Mother Jones @MotherJones, a liberal magazine: "Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): Want my Syria Position? Wait Till Next Week."

10) TheAtlanticPolitics @TheAtlanticPOL: "Attacking Syria is the least popular intervention idea since Kosovo."

11) Sabrina Siqqui @SabrinaSiddiqui: "Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va) tells Bloomberg TV that Obama should hold of all military strike in Syria if Congress doesn't approve."

12) HurriyetDailyNews @HDNER, a Turkish newspaper: "#StateDepartment approves drawdown of non-emergency personnel who wish to leave #Adana (a major American military base in Incirlik, Turkey, is near Adana, which is Turkey's fifth largest city and fairly close to the Syrian border).

http://www.nationalreview.com/

http://www.dennisrodman.com/

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.todayszaman.com/home

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.motherjones.com/

Happy 76th Birthday, Daffy Duck

We want to wish Daffy Duck a Happy 76th birthday. The beloved Looney Tunes cartoon character, who is arguably among the fussiest and most negative of cartoon characters, first appeared in the cartoon "Porky Goes Duck Huntin" on April 17, 1937.

Daffy Duck was the subject of a brilliant Jeff Greenberg column which said that political candidates who were more like Bugs Bunny, such as Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, were more likely to win elections than ones who were more like Daffy Duck, such as Walter Mondale and John McCain, who is coincidentally talking about guns in America in the U.S. Senate today.

One famous quote from Daffy Duck is from the cartoon "Duck Amuck" (1953): "Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin"

We are going to wish Daffy Duck a happy birthday in six different languages:

1. Grattis pa fodelsedagen (Swedish, ironically Donald Duck is very popular in Sweden)

2. Dogum gunun kutlu olsun (Turkish)

3. feliz compleanos (Spanish

4. joyeaux anniversaire (French)

5. Alles Gute zum Ceburtstag (German)

6. furaha ya kuzaliwa (Swahili: a language spoken in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda)

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (6 of 10)_ Michigan

Name: Oscar Lee Davidson

Age: 45

Race: African-American

Residency: Kalamazoo, Michigan

Occupation: Car mechanic

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama won 12 out of 15 of Michigan's congressional districts, including four held by Republicans. Kalamazoo, in southwestern Michigan, is not a part of the state where Obama fared as well John McCain. Kalamazoo's metro area is located within the fourth district represented by Cong. Dave Camp (R) where McCain won 50-48 percent. The Arizona senator fared even better in the sixth district which is held by Cong. Fred Upton (R).

But, in urban area, such as Detroit, Obama decimated McCain; this includes the 14th district represented by Dem. John Conyers Jr. (D) which he carried by a whopping 86-14 percent. African-American voters also voted for Obama by a 95-4 percent margin and that number is expected to be similar this year.

The non-partisan "Politico," a daily web site and journal dedicated to politics has Obama winning Michigan, a key swing state, 49-41 percent.

Michigan is the home state of the very liberal filmmaker, activist Michael Moore, but the rural sector is very Republican, as is the case for most American states outside of New England. Michigan is also the birth state of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, whose late father Sen. George Romney represented the state.

The state has actually lost a point in the Electoral College; it was worth 17 points in 2008. It will be worth 16 points this year.

The Kalazmazoo-metro area has 336,589 residents according to the latest census. The local newspaper "The Kalamazoo Gazette" is dedicating a series to important issues that ballot-voters are considering in this year's election.

http://www.kalamazoocity.org

http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo

http://www.michigandemocrats.com

http://www.migop.org

http://www.politico.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- Jeff Daniels

The always provocative center-left magazine "The New Republic" tweeted the following question tonight (paraphrase): "Will partisan presidential campaign rhetoric still continue during the Olympics?," which does keenly illustrate that right now The United States of America is perhaps as politically divided as our southern neighbors Mexico, where we gather they are still tallying the votes.

So, since this is an election year, and we have already quoted presidents, vice presidents and even candidates who lost the election and never became 'el presidente' (ie. John McCain and John Kerry), we thought we'd quote actors who have played American president on film and for television.

We start with Jeff Daniels, 57, who I saw in concert (yes, he sings too and he is quite good at it) at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC, last year. Daniels is known for films like "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (dir. Woody Allen, 1984) and "Squid and the Whale" (dir. Noah Bambach, 2005), but he played Gen. George Washington in the tv movie "The Crossing" (2000). The actor/singer is currently starring the hit HBO series "The Newsroom" and he is on the cover of this month's "Cigar Aficionado" magazine.

Interestingly, Oscar-winning, liberal-turned Tea Partier actor Jon Voight played Washington in the right-wing comedy "An American Carol" (2008) which spoofed Michael Moore, but the film did not perform well at the box office nor did it help get McCain elected. Voight also played Franklin D. Roosevelt" in the film "Pearl Harbor," so he will be quoted here at some point this week.

For the moment, here is the quote from Daniels:

"And the actors tend to want to watch themselves very often. I'm one of those guys."

http://www.tnr.com

http://www.cigaraficiando.com

http://www.gwu.edu

http://www.mountvernon.org

http://www.jeffdaniels.com

http://www.carolinatheatre.org

http://www.michaelmoore.com

Ten People Who Will Choose Our President (3 of 10)_ Taxi Driver in Charlotte

Name: John Baily

Job: Taxi Driver

Age: 34

Race: White

Residency: Charlotte, NC

Will Likely Vote for: Mitt Romney




 Yes, the Volkswagen taxi above is in Mexico City, and the row of taxis on the bottom are in Istanbul, but it is taxi drivers in cities in swing states, such as Charlotte, NC, who will decide if Barack Obama remains president of if Mitt Romney moves into the Oval Office.


In 2008, President Obama won Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) as well as other urban areas, including Guilford County (Greensboro) and Wake County (Raleigh) as well as college town communities, such as Orange County (Chapel Hill).

One of the surprised in the North Carolina vote in 2008 was that rural Caswell County, near the Virginia border and the city of Danville, Va., voted for Obama. But, mostly rural areas went for McCain, including Alamance County (Burlington) and Iredell County (Statesville).

The Democratic Convention will take place from Sept. 3-6th in Charlotte, and the city's mayor Anthony Foxx (D) says that he expects the Queen City to reap $160 million in benefits.

In the '08 election, Obama narrowly won the Tarheel State by a 0.3%, but the non-partisan private media company Rasmussen Reports shows Romney winning by a thin 47-44 margin. North Carolina overwhelmingly voted for the highly controversial gay marriage ban earlier this year. The Republicans also took over both houses in state government in 2012, and went to extreme measures to get right wing legislation passed on July 3rd.

http://www.charlotte2012.com

http://www.2012.democratic-convention.org

http://www.demconvention.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

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes Prez (1 of 10): Rock and Roller in Seatlle Suburb

Name: Steve Nichols

Age: 48

Reisdency: Bellevue, Washington.

Job: Rock and Roll Guitar Player

Will Likely Vote: Obama

***_Notice: please see disclaimers at the end of this entry


The suburban vote will be crucial for both President Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney. Center-right political pundit David Brooks said (if our recollection is accurate) that the shift in the politics of suburbs in places like Philadelphia, Seattle and Raleigh were ones which enable Obama to win over John McCain in 2008.

Washington state has voted for Democrats in every election since 1992 and even though there are Republican strong-holds in places like Spokane, Yakima and Everett, we expect that Obama will carry the state again this year.

Bellevue, Washington, right across the lake from Seattle, is actually considered one of the best places to live in America, according to Wikipedia. The 2010 Census indicated that the 98006 zip code had a population of 122, 363, and the town was on the boom until the economic recession of 2008.

Among its famous citizens are Ann and Nancy Wilson who formed the band Heart; they objected to the use of their song "Baricuda" at the 2008 Republican Convention.

Bellevue is sister cities with Yao, Japan, and three other cities around the globe.

DISCLAIMER: Steve Nichols is a fictional character, though there are at least two relatively famous people with that name including an American soap opera actor and an American car design engineer.

The image is actually of guitar player/producer Mark Hermann who has played for the likes of Foreigner and Joe Walsh. We have no idea what his age, residential area and politics are.

SIDEBAR: Pigs swimming in the Bahamas?! Yes, there is a hysterical short piece in the current issue of "Mental Floss" about these creatures. They were apparently left by a fleet for a barbecue, which never occured.  Of course, this might hurt the magazine's circulation in Karachi, Pakistan!

There is also a wonderful photo on the search engine bing.com of multi-colored buckets in the African nation of Burkina Faso.

And, lastly, we noticed that we had a hit from Algeria today....we are quite impressed that you were able to discover us!


http://www.bellevuereporter.com/

http://www.mentalfloss.com/

http://www.bing.com/

Quote of the Day/Week- Colin Powell

This month, we are posting quotes from African-Americans who were subjects of "The Black List," a series of photographs from Timothy Greenfield-Sanders that were on display at the Smithsonian National Portraits Gallery in Washington, DC, until the end of last month.

Colin Powell, who was among those profiled, was a secretary of state during President George W. Bush's first term. He shocked the Republican establishment by endorsing current President Barack Obama in his bid for the White House as Obama was facing John McCain.

On a lighter note, Powell is also known for his unique rendition of the Marty Robbins country tune "El Paso."

Here is a quote from Powell:


"Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own bakyard."

Quote of the Day/Week-Gerald Ford

Today, we continue quoting the last eight American presidents with a quip from Gerald Ford (1913-2006) who was the 38th president and the one who lived in the longest. At the present time, the oldest living American president is George H.W. Bush with a Jimmy Carter (both born in 1924), who defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election, being a close second.

There has been quite a political shift in the South since Carter, who was from Plains, Georgia, won over Ford, who was from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his presidential library is located. In 1976, Carter won ever southern state except Virginia. All southern states had voted for George W. Bush in his two narrow elections, but in 2008, both Virginia and North Carolina voted for President Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain.

In pop culture, Ford was frequently parodied by "Saturday Night Live" actor Chevy Chase, who ironically became addicted to pain killers because of the prat falls he made while impersonating Ford.

Here is Ford's quote:

"I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio." http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.org

SIDEBAR: We forgot to mention last week that the answer to our April 17th edition of "The Rabbit Ear Quiz" was A) Robert Vaughn; he hosted the initial pilot episode of "In Search of...." which was hosted by Leonard Nimoy for the rest of the documentary tv show's run.

Quote of the Day/Week- John Kerry

Today's quote of the day comes from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as we continue to profile party nominees who did not win the presidency, though Kerry came agonizingly close to winning over then-President George W. Bush in 2004.

Kerry, 68, was also the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts under then-Gov. Michael Dukakis, whom we quipped two weeks ago. Today, Kerry serves as the head of several key committees in the U.S. Senate. During his tenure, Kerry has made friends with Republicans, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who we quoted last week.

Earlier in his life, Kerry was known for his active opposition to the Vietnam War, and he was ironically (given that he later became a senator), the first Vietnam vet to testify against the war in Congress in 1971.

Kerry supports gay marriage and gun control laws, and he is an opponent of capital punishment, which is reflected in this quote:

"The consequences of a crime should not be out of proportion with the crime itself."

Quote of the Day/Week- John McCain

It seems that politics both here in the United States in Turkey, my late father's country, is always filled with irony.

Since I was very apprehensive about the possibility of a George W. Bush presidency in 2000 and I had sincere admiration for Sen. John McCain (R-Az.), even though I am a Democrat, I crossed party lines and voted for McCain who did in fact lost to Bush and (forgive the partisan commentary) my worst fears were fully realized.

I did actually end up voting for Al Gore in the general election of 2000.

Eight years later, I voted for Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina Democratic Party and later Barack Obama in the general election. Thus, I am perhaps one of the very few people who have voted for McCain, Obama and Hillary Clinton (I voted for her husband twice as well).

Though he has become more conservative and less rebellious in recent years, I still admire McCain personally, especially since he had the courage to go after Rush Limbaugh in light of the far-right talk show host's sexist comments controversy.

Today, McCain was in the news for publicly slamming the media for going overboard in regards to the 'Etch-A-Sketch' gaffe made by Mitt Romney aide Eric Fehrstorm on CNN yesterday.

Here is the quote from McCain, 75, whose daughter Meghan McCain sent waves when admitted that she liked sex; we expect that would even make Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who is believed to be one of the most liberal U.S. Senate members, blush:

"I don't doubt the sincerity of my Democratic friends. And they shouldn't doubt ours."

SIDEBAR: While the nation is abuzz with the Sweet 16 games underway tonight in Division One men's college basketball, over the weekend, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-4) beat Cabrini College (31-2) from Radnor Township, Pa., 63-60 for the Division Three basketball title in my hometown of Salem,Va., last weekend. The other two teams in that Final Four were MIT and Illinois Wesleyan. Chris Davis lead the winning Warhawks with 12 points; John Boyd scored 18 points for the losing Cavaliers.

Quote of the Day/Week- Elia Kazan

Since the Oscars will be televised at the month, we have decided to quote Academy-Award film directors throughout February. Keep in mind that the number of acclaimed film directors who never won an Oscar is a bit shocking, as it includes the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles.

But, one film director who is a worth Oscar-winner is Elia "Gadge" Kazan (1909-2003) who won Best Director Oscars for "Gentleman's Agreement" (1948) and "On the Waterfront" (1955). His direction of the screen version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), written by Tennessee Williams, is frequently cited as one of best screen adaptations of a stage play.

Kazan also won three Tony Awards for Best Director, including two Arthur Miller plays "All My Sons" (1947) and "Death of a Salesman" (1949) as well as "J.B.," a 1958 play by Archibald Macleish based on the Biblical story of Job. Cult actor John Cazale, who died at age 42 in 1978, starred in a 1962 off-Broadway production of "J.B.," which was not directed by Kazan.

The son of Anatolian Greek immigrants also directed "Viva Zapata!" (1952) with his frequent collaborator Marlon Brando; a film which us Netflix users are eagerly awaiting for. Interestingly enough, in a editorial by William Kristol in the conservative magazine "The Weekly Standard," this film was cited by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as his personal favorite. The editorial was written when McCain was running as the Republic nominee for president in 2008.

Kazan also helmed a screen version of "America! America!" (1963) based on his own novel. The movie was partially filmed in Istanbul, Turkey, the city of Kazan's birth. Kazan recieved an Oscar nomination for directing that film as well.

Here is our quote from Gadge:

"A good director's not sure when he gets on the set what he's going to do."

SIDEBAR: Having just returned from The Bahamas, we wanted to recommend other potential tourists to be sure to visit the Ardasta Zoo in the capital of Nassau where one can watch a dancing pink flamingo show at 10:30, 2:10 and 4:10. It would be quite ironic if film director John Waters was at one of these shows (forgive the movie people humor).

In Baltimore, which is the hometown of the eccentric filmmaker, the Maryland Zoo is hosting an adults only Sex in the Zoo talk about the mating habits of animals. Our collective jaws recently dropped when we read about how porcupines mated in the last issue of "Mental Floss."

SIDEBAR 2: For some reason, Godzilla and Quick Draw McDraw are two of the hot links on our blog this week!

Things We Learned from Twitter Today- Alaska Senator May Get Teabagged

Since this blog is known to be as objective as Fox New, Radio Havannah, "The National Review" and "Mother Jones," we should openly state that we think the Tea Bag movement is pretty much a rabid right-wing exercise in banality, or it is essentially a hippie movement in reverse.

Nevertheless, these delusional maniacs have made a considerable political impact on the American landscape (but then again so did Che Guevarra in Latin America).

Yesterday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) got a taste of this as she is now losing to Tea Party right-wing radical Joe Miller by about 2,500 votes according to a tweet from WashDCNews, which lead to a CNN article about the Alaska Republican primary, which was held yesterday.

Miller, who was backed by the demonic diva Sarah Palin, is winning the race with about 84 percent of the votes in Alaska accounted for. Murkowski is like 'the old John McCain' of the Senate as she has voted against the GOP 30 percent of the time. Interestinly enough, McCain beat the right-wing pit bull he was facing yesterday.

The winner will face Democrat Scott McAdams, who is the mayor of Sitka. Alas, for him, Alaska is about as progressive as Qom, Iran.

Speaking of Iran, the prime minister of their main nemesis Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is an alumnus of Cheltenham High School in Philadelphia (actually in the 'burb of Wyncote, Pa.) as is former New York Yankees great Reggie Jackson.

Cheltenham is our "High School of the Week" along with schools from Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The school nickname is The Panthers. Abington Senior High School are their rivals. And, Dr. Elliot Lewis is the principal.

Things We Learned from Twitter This PM- Russian Prez Joins the Cult!

I guess this image of Misha the Bear, the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics mascot, suggests that many of us Americans, including those of us with at least one foreign-born parent, don't take the Russians too seriously these days. I actually ate a place called Misha's Cafe in Baku, Azerbaijan, their brekfast is actually better than The Omelete Shop in Princeton, W.Va (don't tell them, I said that!).

But, perhaps given our past history, that should be change! And, perhaps there is no better way to achieve that than to have Russian President Dmitry Medvedev open up his own Twitter account.

Yesterday, while visiting Silicon Valley (near San Francisco), Medvedev did just that according to "The Hill Tweets," one of the Twitter pages for the Washington, Dc-based publication "The Hill" which discusses all things related to Capitol Hill.

According to "The Hill Tweets," the Russian prez released two accounts, one in English and other one in Russian.

His first tweet was: "Hello everyone! I'm on Twitter and this is my first tweet."

Boris and Natascha would be proud!

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger congratulated Medvedeve via (what else) Twitter!

"The Hill Tweets" also reported that three Democratic senators, including Mark Warner of Va. (whom I met during a campaign stop in Strasburg, Va., when he was running for governor--a race that would later win), Chris Dodd of Conn. and Mark Udall of Colo. all congratulated Team USA via Twitter for their 1-0 win over Algeria.

The win puts Team USA into the second round of The World Cup.

Meanwhile, another figure on The Hill, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had his own busy day on Twitter as he posted a photo of "The Three Amigos," a group which includes him as well as Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

Perhaps, all six of these senators can get together over the weekend and watch another Chevy Chase 'classic' "Caddyshack" with some college students from Georgetown!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Summer Jobs (Baseball Mascots)

So, you want to go down to Myrtle Beach, SC, for the summer and check out babes, take in a few rays and drink cheap beer at Mother Fletcher's (presuming the landmark night club is still around), well you got get a summer job right?

And, someone is going to dressing up in this attire here as they become Splash (pictured here) the mascot of the minor league baseball team The Myrtle Beach Pelicans who are getting ready to face the visiting Winston-Salem Dash from Winston-Salem, NC, in a little over an hour at 7:05 p.m.

According to the team's web site, Splash got an official 'makeover' in 2007 by supposedly 'pumping iron at the gym.'

The new version of Splash made his first appearance on April 5, 2007, in front of a crowd of 6,074 baseball fans which included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (aka Hizoner) who was hoping the visit to the dugout would help him win the Palmetto State Republican Primary, which ultimatley went to his political rival John McCain.

Splash has reportedly been ejected from two Pelicans games and the team web site advised fans to 'keep an eye on their hot dogs, so Splash doesn't try to eat them."

My own hometown team the Salem RedSox from Salem, Va., (I actually worked for them in the concession stand one summer when they were the Salem Avalanche) visit the Pelicans over the Fourth of July weekend.

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.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- "Banana Splits"

Wow! I'm now convinced this entry is cursed! This will be my fourth try at getting it up.

This image is in reference to the Sid and Marty Krofft tv series "The Banana Splits," which originally ran for 31 episodes from 1968-1970 and I believe (not verified) that reruns of the show air circa 3 a.m. eastern time on Boomerang.

The characters in the variety show were Fleegle (a dog), Bingo ( a gorilla), Drooper (a lion) and Snorky (an elephant). There was a serial cliffhanger within the show called "Danger Island."

And, there is also now a Banana Splitsville children's playground area at the Hard Rock Cafe in Myrtle Beach, SC.

SIDEBAR_ Check out my friend Moviezzz's blog (http://www.talkingmoviezzz.blogspot.com) for a touching tribute to French film director Eric Rohmer who died this week and an update on the Conan vs. Jay fiasco
at NBC. Personally, I think "The Jay Leno Show" idea was the worst decision (presumably) made by a stupid white man since the John McCain campaign chose Sarah Palin!