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.

Quote of the Week- Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson (pictured here from the film) Oscared in the Best Actor category in 1975 for his depiction of mental asylum inmate Randle McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

His co-star Louise Fletcher, who played the antagonistic Nurse Ratchet also won for Best Actress in the film directed by Czech emigre Milos Forman. A quote fromher is on our sister blog Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time.

Forman, who later Oscared for "Amadeus," also won a Best Director Oscar for "Nest."

Before we get to Nicholson's quote, I wanted to mention that the stage version of "Nest" is currently in production at the Biloxi Little Theatre in Biloxi, Miss.

Rick Amos is playing Nicholson's part while Melissa Entrekin is playing Nurse Ratchet. For those in the Magnolia State, (I'm far from it actually), the theatre's web site is www.4blt.org and they can be reached at (228) 432-8543.

A statue of the late Ken Kesey, who wrote the book that became the play that became the movie, can be found in Eugene, Ore.

Here is Jack's quote. We're not sure if he's refering to himself or someone like Tom Cruise, who co-starred with Nicholson in "A Few Good Men:"

"A star on a movie set is like a time bomb that has to be defused so people can approach it without fear."

Top 10 Books to Read When You're Snowed In

Whew! I was trying to add a third image to this blog, but I've been having enough problems with this entry and it is almost two a.m. here in Burlington, Vermont*, but since a major storm affected the towns of Tulsa, Okl., Fayetville, Ark., Johnson City, Tenn., Rock Hill, SC, Princeton, WVa., Mount Airy, NC, Charlottesville, Va., Bethesda, Md. and Washington, DC (forgive us if we left anyone out), over the weekend, we thought we'd go with a Top Ten Books to read when you are snowed in.

*-Not where I actually reside

All of this is enough to make one wish they were in Key West, Fla., where not only do winter storms never occur but (I presume) Republicans are never elected to city council. This also happens to be the zip code where one can find The Ernest Hemingway House.

Among the books that have a special place in my heart is Kurt Vonnegut's anti-war classic "Slaughterhouse Five." I saw the book in the library for the Shenandoah County Jail in Woodstock, Va., when I was profiling the jail for the local paper. To this day, I wonder if any inmates have ever bothered to actually read it. They would presumably have the time!

And, a George Mason University professor told "The Washington Post" this week that he sent a letter marked J.D. Salinger Cornish, NH (plus the town's zip code) and not only did the reclusive author get the letter- he responded to it!

The images for this entry are fom Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" and the Ken Kesey statue in Eugene, Ore.

We chose the Dickens novel, in part, because it is a favorite of my good friend, children's author Sam Riddleberger, who resides in Belfast, Maine (not where he really lives....is this joke getting old?!)

Here is this godforsaken list!

Hope you enjoy it:

1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger**

3. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russian lit bias)

4. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

5. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

6. The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass (German lit bias)

7. Snow by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish lit bias)

8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (yes, a woman recommended this!)

9. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.


**-Of course, I am mentioning this title since the author just died!

Good, now we can move on to other things...............