(10 for 10; 6th Entry): Virtual Postcard from Maryland

Greetings to our blog readers in New Zealand, Jamaica, and Sweden......

Today, we feature an image of Keyote (pictured) the mascot of the Frederick Keys in Frederick, Maryland, a Carolina League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

We had a chance to visit Frederick and meet Keyote back in August on a surprisingly hot day in which Frederick was actually hotter than Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! (The Keys play the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the Carolina League; the Pelicans won the league title earlier this week).

While we were in Frederick, we also had a chance to dine at Ayse Meze Lounge, a Turkish restaurant downtown, where we feasted on lahmacun, also known as 'Turkish pizza.'

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday afternoon (or evening/night in other parts of the world). We are currently listening to "The Moth Radio Hour." This week's NPR show has a story performed by former American astronaut Michael Massimino who talks about what earth looks like from outer space. The radio shows airs at 8:00 p.m. on WNYC (New York).


http://www.visitfrederick.org/

http://www.downtownfrederick.org/

http://aysemeze.com/

 http://www.visitmaryland.org/

http://www.themoth.org

http://www.wnyc.org/

Top Ten Comics from The Sunday Washington Post: A Slinky, A Slinky.........

Slinkies, soccer games and sharks were some of the items brought forth by the Sunday comic strips section of "The Washington Post."

"Lio" gets our gold medal as artist Mark Tattulli imagines a ten-year-old boy (his title character) is chased down by a giant Slinkey (see top image) as the first day of spring arrives. Of course, if Lio lived in Washington, DC, or Baltimore, he might notice that it was snowing on the first day of spring.

"Knight Life" takes the silver medal as Keith Knight returns to his popular 'Life's Little Victories' segment, which includes turning on a soccer game just in time to catch a 0-0 tie-breaking score, which is why we have former Turkish soccer star Hakan Sukur (pictured center) here; he played for Istanbul powerhouse Galatasaray. Alas, since I've made fun of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, this blog may well be blocked in my late father's country.

"Speed Bump," which depicts what would happen in dogs drank too much caffeine, gets our bronze medal. "Sherman's Lagoon," comes in fourth, as it depicts a hilarious fishing trip between Sherman the Shark and his hermit crab buddy in which Sherman asks which bait is best for 'catching humans.' Hopefully, Sherman is not hanging out in Myrtle Beach, SC.

"WUMO," the Danish import which we ranked seventh, features an alien running into a woman and her young son at a neighborhood gas station.

Other comic strips which narrowly missed the top ten include "Prickly City," "Reply All" and "Judge Parker."

Here is our top ten:

1) Lio

2) Knight Life

3) Speed Bump

4) Sherman's Lagoon

5) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

6) Pearls Before Swine

7) WUMO

8) Foxtrot

9) Frazz

10) Rhymes with Orange

http://poof-slinky.com/ (Link to Slinky)

http://www.gocomics.com/lio

http://www.gocomics.com/theknightlife

http://www.gocomics.com/speedbump

http://shermanslagoon.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/comics/

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/

Quote from Che Guevara: Little Thinkers (2 of 16)

Greetings to our blog-readers in El Salvador, Estonia and Egypt.

Since the Myrtle Beach Tea Party in Myrtle Beach, SC, thinks all of us Democrats, even those of us on the center-left are Marxists, socialists, perhaps there is little harm in posting a comment from Che Guevara, the Latin American revolutionist who was assassinated/executed in Bolivia at the age of 40 in 1967.

Guevara was a leading figure in the Cuban Revolution which brought Fidel Castro to power, which makes us think it would be very ironic to see someone sporting a Che Guevara t-shirt at the Greensboro Gun Show, which is happening on the weekend of Feb. 1st and 2nd at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC.

We are also quoting Che as he is one of the many historical figures which have been made into Little Thinkers puppet/dolls (seen above).

Here is his quote:

"I don't care if I fall as long as someone else picks up my gun and keeps on shooting."

SIDEBAR: We learned by chance yesterday that the heavy metal Judas Priest is starting their European tour in Katowice, Poland, on April 14th. Perhaps, someone from Chicago or St.Louis may actually get on an Air Poland flight and head out there just for the show!

http://www.marxists.org

http://www.cheguevara.com

http://www.visitbolivia.org

http://www.mbteaparty.org

http://www.greensborogunshow.com

http://www.judaspriest.com

Kudos to Radford University Highlanders for Winning Big South Volleyball Crown

Greetings to our blog-readers in Slovenia, Israel and Algeria.

Tonight, it is with great pleasure that I report that Radford University, my beloved alma mater, won the Big South Women's Volleyball tournament in Clinton, SC, yesterday, by defeating Coastal Carolina University in straight sets. However, the game was a very tight one as the Highlanders won the opening set 36-34! Typically, in order to win a set one team has to reach 25.

Radford U (25-9), located in Radford, Va., and the top seed in the tourney, won the game over CCU, a school from Conway, SC (near Myrtle Beach), and the second seed by a score of (36-34, 25-23, 25-22).

For the Highlanders, Cheyanne James had 16 kills, and Rachel Wiechecki and Emma Denninger had 11 kills each. Wiechecki was also named tournament MVP.

The Big South title is the fifth overall for the Highlanders, and the first for the school since 2000.

As an alumni, I must profess that I still miss Rowdy Red (pictured top) our old mascot.

SIDEBAR ONE: Our tweet of the night goes to "Writer's Digest," a magazine centered on helping both pro and amateur writers write: "#midnightprompt Your spouse is in bed asleep but you can't sleep. There's a knock at the door. The person changes your life forever."

SIDEBAR TWO: Cartoonist Terri Libenson's strip "The Pajama Diaries" is not in the Sunday comics pages of the two Sunday newspapers I read most weeks, but her work is quite remarkable. In a strip that will be published on Tuesday, there is a touching scene between an adult daughter and her mother.

Libenson also posted a blog entry with the strip which she candidly admits to suffering from writer's block at times. She said life distractions, such as her daughter's Bat Mitzvah, are one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome.


http://www.ruhighlanders.com

http://www.writersdigest.com

http://www.pajamadiaries.com

7 Words in Turkish (5 of 7): Shark

Though Shark Week on the Discovery Channel has passed us by, we have the Turkish word for shark for you today. An interesting note is that in Turkish, the word for dog 'kopek' and the word for fish 'balik' are combing together for this word. (Just last week, a 14-foot, 700-pound tiger was caught off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in America.)

So, the Turkish word for shark is kopekbaligi, or shark=kopekbaligi.

SIDEBAR ONE: We thought it was interesting when we found out that the embassy for Azerbaijan in Washington, DC, has a Facebook page, but the Canadian embassy does not! Gary Doer is the Canadian ambassador to the United States; Elin Suleymanov is Baku's man in DC.

SIDEBAR TWO: As someone who has read Dale Carnegie's classic self-help book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," in order to overcome my personal insecurities, it is refreshing to hear a different take from the American comic/actor/talk show host Marc Maron, who told "Rolling Stone magazine" the following: "Bitterness is a sure fire way to ruin your career. I've pissed off Adam Sandler. I've pissed off Jon Stewart. I've been ruse to people I've been jealous of."

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

http://www.azembassy.us

http://www.wtfpod.com (Marc Maron)

Teaser: Medieval Times is Still Around_ A Myrtle Beach Travel Diary

In a few short days, we will be posting blog entries about our recent Mother's Day weekend trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; it will be called "Medieval Times is Still Around" because we were not certain that the tourist destination, which has other locations in America, was still around until we saw a billboard for it.

Stay Tuned...........


http://www.medievaltimes.com


http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

Tour Dates_ The Oak Ridge Boys Are Coming to MB,SC

A few years ago, we had a tongue and cheek series called "The Political Confusion Test," and one of the most popular entries was one in which we suggested that if you like The Oak Ridge Boys, a '70s country band, over the Village People, a '70s disco group, you were probably a Republican.

But, we are putting political jokes aside for the moment as we noticed that the Oak Ridge Boys had recently passed through Virginia, my home state, where they performed in the Washington, DC-area, and Virginia Beach.

So, we thought we'd pass along some of their upcoming tour dates, which includes a stop at the Alabama Theatre in Myrtle Beach, SC. Interestingly enough, this weekend, they perform in Nevada, which voted for President Barack Obama last year:

March 29 Sparks, Nev. John Ascuaga's Nugget

March 31 Las Vegas, Nev. The Eastside Cannery

April 12 Warren, Pa. The Struthers Library Theatre

April 14 Newberry, SC Newberry Opera House

April 23-25 Branson, Mo. The Oak Ridge Boys Theatre

May 4 Myrtle Beach, SC The Alabama Theatre

Other Dates:

Aug 18 Louisville, Ky. Kentucky State Fair

Aug. 26 Pueblo, Colo. Colorado State Fair

http://www.oakridgeboys.com

http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com

Weekend Road Trip (7 of 20)- Portland, Maine to Altoona, Pa.

You know you've been blogging way too long when you google a term like 'lobster van' on Google Images, and you get a link to your own blog! Such is the case with this image, which is from Myrtle Beach, SC. We have also previously used the Shell Gas Station in Winston-Salem, NC, first built in 1930 which no longer in operation, but has thankfully been preserved as a tourist attraction.

But, today we are actually asking you the devoted blog-reader who has assuredly been with me ever day since we start in September of 2005 how far apart the city of Portland, Maine, is from Altoona, Pa. Of course, since most of our fans are in Uzbekistan and Norway (well, we like to believe that though we were actually linked to an Uzbeki web site--not sure if it still exists!), they are probably confused!

Of course, everyone knows, well everyone outside of Tashkent and Oslo, knows that Maine is known for their lobsters and that is why we chose that image. But, even folks in les etats unis, may not know that Altoona, Pa., is the headquarters of Sheetz, which has like 3.4 million gas stations on the east coast. I have pumped gas at their stations in Ridgeway, Va., Greensboro, NC, Akron, Ohio, and well_Altoona, Pa., among many other places.

Both Portland, Maine, and Altoona, Pa., also have double-A minor league baseball teams in the Eastern League. Friday night, the Portland Sea Dogs lost 9-7 to the New Britain Rock Cats in Connecticut. They host the Binghamton Mets from New York state at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. We were curious to see what a sea dog looked like, and we saw this great image from jellyfishday.blogspot.com, but this blog's managing editor Dennis Alexander* thought the lobster was more suitable.

As for the Altoona Curve, they lost to the Richmond Flying Squirrels (I guess they got permission from the Jay Ward estate as well as the copyright holders of "Rocky and Bullwinkle") in Virginia 3-2 on Saturday.

For this project, we looked at the distance between Longfellow Books, an independent bookstore in Portland, Maine, and Robert's Service Station in Altoona, Pa., which may be one of the three not-Sheetz gas stations in town.

Uh huh, it looks like our Honduran intern Javier**, who is on Spring Break from George Mason University, actually forgot to Mapquest this. Sorry, dear readers. We will have a talk with Javier.

But, we have the answer now; is it:

A) 9 hours

B) 10 hours

C) 11 hours

D) 12 hours

Speaking of indy bookstores, we just saw Sarah Vowell promote her new book "Unfamiliar Fishes" about the American colonization of Hawai'i on C-Span 2 (Book TV). Vowell's talk was recorded at Book People, an indy bookstore in Austin, Tex.

Catherynne M. Valente will talk at Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine, about her new book "Deatless" on Apr. 28 at 7:00 p.m. The book is apparently about the conflict between magical history and actual history.

The answer to last week's Weekend Road Trip Quiz was C) 41 hours, 57 minutes_ that's how far apart Las Vegas and Pawtucket, RI, are. See you back here soon....I hope!

*- Dennis Alexander is my psedonymn and in-joke; it is rarely used

**-Yeah, as you expected, there is no Javier the intern!

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Bag Boy

Today, we feature grocery store bag boy as our Silly Photo to Fill Space which seems appropriate because the Myrtle Beach, SC, metro area has at least four Piggly Wiggly stores, including ones on Kings Hwy and Moser Drive as well as two just outside town in the villas of Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island.

For those who haven't been paying attention (and with the long hot summer days we can understand why!), we have been focusing specifically on Myrtle Beach, SC, for this segment for the last five weeks. But, next week it will be some other town.

Perhaps, it will be Asheville, NC, where the Asheville Tourists are hosting the Kannapolis Intimidators (a team named after the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt). The game is going to be sponsored by WUNC-TV, the state's PBS station. The Tourists won their last game when they beat the Savannah SandGnats in Savannah, Ga., by a 5-0 score on Saturday.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Pizza Delivery Guy

Today, we focus our Silly Photo to Fill Space blog entry on a pizza delivery guy as we continue our look at summer jobs.

We are also continuing to focus specifically on Myrtle Beach, SC, as it is a place where lots of people go to either find summer work, play lots and lots of golf, or relax in the sun while their awful kids make sandcastles.

One such place where one can become a pizza delivery guy (or gal) is East of Chicago, a national pizza chain with lots of stores in Ohio, which also has an establishment at 3901 North Kings Hwy. in Myrtle Beach, SC.

On their web site, East of Chicago spefically states: 'Lazy people need not apply.' That would rule out Sarah Palin.

The place also has lots of testimonials from local folks, including this quip featured on their web site:

"My daughter is still talking about her last birthday party and it's been almost a year since hr party," from Steve in Conway, SC.

Hopefully, their drivers enjoy their work more than I did with a certain 'big name' (it's either Domino's, Papa John's or Pizza Hut---not East of Chicago!) pizza place in Roanoke, Va., 20 years ago this summer!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Hey Bartender

Today, we continue our special look at summer jobs through our Silly Photo to Fill Space series by focusing on the world of bartending, which supposedly pays fairly well (we had no time to research verify this, but apparently one can make great tips at Roxy's, a night-club in L.A.).

Apparently, from an internet article by some guy who is an 'expert' at such things, the St. Clement Beach Bar and Grill is the very best bar in Myrtle Beach, SC, a place we have been featuring since we started this look at summer jobs.

The establishment is located at 202 70th Ave North.

As for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans baseball team that we have also talked about in earlier entries, we learned that they were clobbered in Kinston, NC, by the Kinston Indians 10-2 on Sunday. But, it was 104 degrees on the field.......yes, we think many fans probably left by the seventh inning stretch too!

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.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Summer Jobs (Lifeguards)

We heard a great piece on NPR's "All Things Considered" yesterday, which included a brief interview with Vice President Joe Biden (of all people!).

It got me to thinking about my own summer job experiences when I was essentially a human billboard for a Domino's Pizza store in Roanoke, Va. That was not fun!

But, one would probably enjoy being a lifeguard in North Myrtle Beach, SC, a lot. According to the web site nmblifeguards.com (the official site for the North Myrtle Beach Lifeguards), a lifeguard can possibly make between $10-12.50 per hour.

The city of North Myrtle Beach, SC, which is the hometown of "Wheel of Fortune" co-host Vanna White, is also hosting a salute to military veterans and a Music on the Main festival on June 3.

We understand the show's host Pat Sajak is a major financial contributor to the Ronald Reagan Library in California (guess he makes more loot than we realize), but that's another matter.

In nearby Myrtle Beach, SC, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans host the Winston-Salem Dash from Winston-Salem, NC, the home of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, from June 7-9.

As for the lifeguard pictured here, we don't think she is actually working in North Myrtle Beach. In fact, for all we know, she could be in Zagreb, Croatia. What's with her belly-button ring?!

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!