We're Back from Hibernation.....Roanoke Times Comic Strips Dialogue (2 of 4)

This is our first entry since September of last year, and the only reason we have come back is that there is a loyal blog reader in Riga, Latvia, who kept pestering me about when I would blog again. Ok, so actually Instagram is to blame....all those amazing photos of Lake Van in Turkey are hard to ignore!!! It's hard to believe that in that amount of time we have watched Vladimir Putin became the 45th president of our beloved America (Sorry, but we can't stand Donald Trump, if there was definitely a God, then Hillary Clinton would have won the election...excuse the editorial)

Here are eight lines of dialogue we are stealing from the "Roanoke Times" Sunday comics section which ran on March 5, 2016. The reason we are using an image of starting Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (pictured) is because a hockey goalie is referenced in "For Better or For Worse."

1) That stupid goalie! He just never looks! He misses everything! (For Better or For Worse)

2) "I think I need a hug anyway," (Zits)

3) What do you mean? (Hi and Lois)

4) I know red flowers make me sneeze. (Pickles)

5) At long last...............The Baby Aisle! (Jump Start)

6) I was just leaving for the day (Dilbert)

7) You're going to be late! (Baby Blues)

8) Chef Salad! Lasagna! Fried Chicken! (Blondie)

Now we can finally devote more time to those Mental Floss pop culture quizzes!

http://www.nhl.com

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.gocomics.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

20-Word Fiction (8 of 10): The Extroverted Novelist

Greetings to our blog readers in Latvia, Greece and New Zealand.........

Here is tonight's 20-Word Fiction Entry:

"If you were Mark Twain, you'd stay home and write a novel tonight. Wouldn't you? Maybe? Perhaps? Just stating the obvious."

You can visit the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut (not where we are) either in person or on the web at this link (we gather Ira Glass the host of "This American Life" was there recently):

 https://www.marktwainhouse.org/ 

His boyhood home of the "Tom Sawyer" author in Hannibal, Missouri http://www.marktwainmuseum.org/ is also a museum.

Teaser for DC Week (1 of 2): Meet the Dutch Ambassador

On Thursday, we will begin a one-week, eight entry series entitled "DC Week" (We chose not to name it "Washington Week" because we don't want Gwen Ifill, our favorite television political/government reporter, who host a PBS called "Washington Week" to sue us for $2.3 million).

We will feature all sorts of fun things, which we aren't quite ready to disclose yet, and we are also weary of the fact that Edward Snowden may have too much time on his hands, and in his spare, he may opt to surf the internet, where he could come across this blog.

The reason for this series is to support our nation's capital during a time of great economic turmoil for the city as the federal government, which oversees the Smithsonian Institute, is closed for business as is the city's historic Ford's Theatre.*

In case you are wondering about the images, they are of: 1) Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va., who represents the northern Virginia suburbs of DC); 2) The Lincoln Memorial (which is alas closed for business due to the shut down) ; and Ambassador Rudolf Bekink (pictured with President Barack Obama) who is the Dutch ambassador to the United States.

*- But, the current production of Ford's Theatre's play "The Laramie Project" may continue at another location in DC; we hope to have that info to you the blog-reader in Latvia by tomorrow.


http://connolly.house.gov/

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.fordstheatre.org/

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://washington.org/

Word of the Day: Zealot

Greetings to our blog readers in Latvia, where we are surprisingly very popular, Canada and Israel.

Since Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American who is a Muslim, has made headlines as his book about Jesus Christ entitled "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus Christ" is hitting bookstores, we thought we'd take a closer look at the definition.

A zealot is any person who is fervent and relentless in a religious or political ideal.

Thus, the term can apply not only to Jesus Christ, but also Mahatma Gandhi (pictured), Che Guevara and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

http://www.rezaaslan.com

Blogging in 3.5 Minutes (or less.........) Turkey's six largest cities

Hmmm..............trying to post a blog entry in 3.5 minutes, which is also the same length as the Elvis Costello anthem "Peace, Love and Understanding," is always a challenge.

First, let's say hello to our fans in Latvia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, three countries which didn't exist when I was born in 1970!

Also, in order to arbitrarily increase hits today, we will mention Selma Blair, Anna Paquin and Miss Utah (alas with this compressed amount of time we don't have time to ask Google for her name!).

Here are the six largest cities in Turkey, my late father's country, which is in many times my country as well. We also like to take a moment to dedicate his entry to Duran Adam/The Standing Man (yes, we don't have to ask Bing what his name is as well) :

1. Istanbul (pictured) 13 million

2. Ankara (the capital) 4.5 million

3. Izmir 3.3 million

4. Bursa 1.9 million

5. Adana 1.57 million

6. Gaziantep 1.5 million


http://www.turkey.org

http://www.tourismturkey.org

Things We Learned on Bing Today: KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) Founded in 1919

Since we are a bit pressed for time today and we want to find out new information on the latest round of police crackdowns against protestors in Istanbul, Turkey, stemming from the government's decision to graze historic, scenic Gezi Park in Taksim Square, we are going to return to an old stand-by.

For these segments, we ask a major search engine a general question. Today, it was: "When was KLM founded?"

As it turns out, the Dutch carrier happens to be the world's oldest airline operating under its own name. KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) was founded in 1919; the major hub of the airline is Shiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

KLM has 136 destinations around the globe. It merged with Air France in 2004, and the Dutch airline is also a member of the SkyTeam Alliance.

Perhaps, it's time to go back and visit Amsterdam, we we did in 1993 to revisit the Vincent Van Gogh Museum!

The Netherlands is also one of the countries in which the blog receives the most amount of hits, though per capita, we think either Latvia or El Salvador might be the two countries in which we are most popular...........perhaps?!

http://www.klm.com

http://www.rnw.nl/

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Stars of "Three Amigos"

Wow! We were actually experiencing Blogger's Block, something we seldom get stuck in here. In fact, if anything we have too many ideas, and we've worried that blogging was keeping us from doing the important things in life like grooming our pet Yorkie Terrier Mandy (this is a joke...btw).

But, we were listening to the Queen record "The Game," and the track "Another One Bites the Dust" made us realize that our faithful readers in Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria (yes, we do get regular hits from these places!) had to have a new entry for today.

So, we came up with a look at what is now a bit of a retro web site, since it became popular way, way back in the late 1990s: It is The Oracle of Bacon; the site refers to actor Kevin Bacon and it was devised by a former University of Virginia student.

For this entry, we initially thought we'd check out some very obscure actors, by American standards, including the late Turkish comic actor Kemal Sunal, who is three degrees removed from Kevin Bacon, but we thought that might just cause too much confusion.

Hence, we came up with the three stars of the kinda cult film "Three Amigos" (1986) which was a comedic homage of sorts to "The Wild Bunch."

Those three actors are Steve Martin (pictured top), Chevy Chase (pictured bottom) and Martin Short.

Steve Martin and Martin Short have both actually been in films with Bacon. Steve Martin was in "Novocaine" (2001) with the original "Footloose" star while Martin Short teamed together with him in "The Big Picture" (1989).

But, Chase is two degrees removed from Bacon. He starred in the film "Vegas Vacation" (1997) which also featured Jeffrey Donovan who was with Bacon in "Sleepers"(1996).

Steve Martin is also a highly regarded banjo player (in addition to being a writer), and he will perform with the Steep Canyon Rangers in Waterbury, Conn., on June 21.

So, there you go Blogger's Block is over, now we have to take care of insomnia!

http://www.oracleofbacon.com

http://www.stevemartin.com

NCAA Nicknames_ Birds and Cats

Thanks to those of you in Latvia who are checking us out. Today is the start of the NCAA division one men's basketball tournament, and it is traditionally the day in America when the least amount of work gets done, which means Dilbert may take a long break to check out the score of the Davidson-Marquette game.

Here is a look at various NCAA division one team nicknames; most of these schools did not actually make the 68-team field.

Smart Schools

1. Harvard Crimson (Mass.; Ivy League, pictured top-the team's mascot is John Harvard)#^
2. Bucknell Bison (Pa; Patriot League)#
3. Stanford Cardinal (Calif.; Pac-12)*
4.Wake Forest Demon Deacons (NC; ACC)
5. VCU Rams (Va.; A-10)# @

Felines

6. Kentucky Wildcats (Ky;SEC)*
7. Clemson Tigers (SC, ACC)
8. BYU Cougars (Utah, WCC) *

9. Cincinnati Bearcats (Ohio. Big East, pictured center)*@
10. High Point Panthers (NC; Big South)
11. South Alabama Jaguars (Fla.; Sunbelt)

Angry Birds

12. South Carolina Gamecocks (SC; SEC) @
13. Oregon Ducks (Ore.; Pac-12, pictured bottom)*
14. UNC-Wilmington Seahawks (NC; Colonial)

15.Virginia Tech Hokies (Va; ACC) @
16. Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (Texas, WAC)
17. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (Ohio, Mid-America)^


#-Schools which are in NCAA Tournament
*-Schools with Div. I women's gymnastics programs
^-Schools with Div. I men's hockey programs
@-Schools that were once in the now defunct Metro Conference

Double Bonus Picture to Fill Space-Scotish Fold Cat

Since Maru the Cat, the Scottish fold cat who resides in Japan, has become a Youtube sensation, we thought we'd thought an image of a cat from the same breed; this particular one presumably resides in Latvia.

On Sat. April 20th, the Safe Haven for Cats, a no-kill shelter in Raleigh, NC, will host its annual Tuxedo Cat Ball at the Marbles Kid Museum in downtown Raleigh. the contact number for the shelter is (919) 872-SAFE.

Bonus Road Trip (9 of 10)_ Should-Be Ivy League Schools

Today, we are looking at the destinations between two major conference schools which might just be better off in the Ivy League. Here in the United States, major conferences are expanding and dissolving to the point where West Virginia University, located in Morgantown, WVa, might be joining the Big-12 where they would meet teams from the likes of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. To put this in perspective, Istanbul, Turkey, where West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball Deniz Kilicli hails from, is probably closer to Paris, France.

The two schools were are choosing are Big Ten Conference team Northwestern University, located in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, and Southestern Conference member Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Both schools made it bowl games, but both teams lost. On New Year's Eve, Northwestern fell to Texas A & M 33-22 at a bowl game in Houston, Texas. Similarly, the Vandy Commodores lost to the Cincinnati Bearcats by a 31-24 score at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., on that same day.

For our two points of destination, we are choosing two coffeeshops: The Brothers K Coffee Shop in Evanston, Illinois, which might well elude to a certain famous Russian novel, and Ugly Mugs Cofeeshop in Nashville, which blogger Nate Baker is one of the best places to write in the city.

So, how far apart are these two zip codes?

Is the answer?:

A) 6 hours and 30 minutes

B) 7 hours and 30 mintes

C) 8 hours and 30 minutes

D) 9 hours and 30 minutes.

Of course, we are not including construction and accident delays.

SIDEBAR: The answer to yesterday's Bonus Road Quiz is C) six hours. Hans from Hamburg, Germany, is the winner of the Oak Ridge Greatest Hits on eight-track cassette!

And, for those of you in Riga, Latvia, who were not able to watch the Orange Bowl, which we mentioned in an earlier entry, West Virginia won that game handily over Clemson University by an amazing 70-34 score.

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"

Things We Learned on Google Today- Kaunas is the Second Largest City in Lithuania

NOTE: We sort of messed up as this entry was intended for our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" and an entry on the Swedish soccer team IFK Goetborg was meant for here. We jumped up and down a chimp at the San Diego Zoo upon discovering this, but we are all settled down now. This series is a look at the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union. So far, with this entry, we have covered all but four of these countries, the last one was Latvia.

Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania behind Vilnius, the capital. The city is also the leading center of Lithuania's economic, academic and cultural life according to Wikipedia, which is, of course, always right.

Kaunas has two rivers: the Nemunas and the Neris.

In 1701, Kaunas was occupied by the Swedish Army (Editorial note: I didn't know Scandanavians were imperialists) and the Black Death plague cane to town in 1657 and stayed around until 1708. We presume this was the darkest period in the city's history.

Winter Athlete Profile (8 of 25)- Martins Dukurs of Latvia

Martins Dukurs, 25, of the former Soviet republic of Latvia, a small country in the Baltic region, is winning the men's skeleton competition so far.

Latvia's capital city of Riga is perhaps the population size of Omaha, Neb. (ok that would need verification!), and he is among Latvia's top atheletes at the games. Both the men's and women's skeleton races were aired circa 2 a.m. last night on NBC, and I did actually watch the coverage!

According to the AP, Dukurs has a chance to add to an almost perfect season with a gold medal in Vancouver. The final runs are scheduled for today (Friday- perhaps, they have already happened, but we can't confirm or deny that).

Dukurs' sled was designed by his father. His older brother Tomass Dukurs, who finised 21st at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City is also competing for Latvia in Canada.

The younger Dukurs is .26 seconds ahead of second place finisher Jon Montgomery of Canada, while Russian Alexander Tretyakov is in third just .84 seconds behind the Latvian skeleton racer.

American Zach Lund, who is in 8th place in the skeleton competition, told the AP that Lukurs will be hard to top:

"It's like when I was No. 1 in the world," Lund said. "Once you know you can win, your confidence is through the roof."

But, Dukurs told the same media outlet that he is being cautios:

"It's only a three-tenths of a second lead," Dukurs said. "I'm on Montgomery's track. In skeleton, five-tenths is nothing. In skeleton, anything can happen."