We Have Been Blogging for 11 Years.........Wowza..........

We have a slew of new or semi-new material to put forth in recognition of our 11th anniversary of blogging which occurred yesterday as we posted out very first blog entry on Sept. 21, 2005. To our recollection, we simply posted a grocery list for the Food Lion in Mount Jackson, Va., some two hours south of Washington, DC. Or, maybe, it wasn't.

At any rate to mark the occasion, we are featuring images of Megyn Kelly (pict. top), the gorgeous Fox News anchor born in November of 1970 who is the subjective right-wing news network's hopes of maintaining viewers who include 79-year-old men at nursing homes in Amherst, Ohio, in the hopes that viewers from liberal places like Seattle will actually watch for nine minutes or so....

The middle image is of Erin Andrews (center) the sportscaster who now hosts "Dancing with the Stars" which competes with Fox News for those same nursing home residents in not only Ohio, but the whole entire midwest and the state of Florida. 

Finally, we hope to maintain an international audience with Turkish-German actress Sibel Kekilli, who first became known for her acting in the critically-acclaimed German film "Head-On" by Fatih Akin. Kekilli became a yuge star when she appeared in "Game of Thrones." 

Other actresses we considered posting images of include Parker Posey, who has been in a film with Kekilli, and is now starring in Woody Allen's "Cafe Society," which also features Kristen Stewart. Posey is actually two years older than Kelly, and to our knowledge, those nursing home men residents in Amherst, Ohio, probably don't know much about the indie films that made Posey a distinct actress.

Katie Holmes was also on her radar but it seems she is getting enough attention both from Instagram and tabloids suggesting she is in a secret burning romance with Jamie Foxx, who is supposedly a pal of her ex-husband Tom Cruise. And, we thought about posting an image of Nina Totenberg, the legal affairs reporter for NPR for our intellectual readers. But, yea, they probably are in the minority.

Here's to the next 11 years......!!!

http://www.foxnews.com/

http://www.npr.org/

http://www.amherstohio.org/

http://www.mountjackson.com/

Potluck Quote of the Day (7 of 10): Bill Murray

Happy National Radio! We are recognizing the occasion by listening to "Snap Judgment" with Glynn Washington on our local NPR radio station.

Alas, we have to keep this short as we desperately need to get back to arguing about religion and politics on Twitter! While we are it, we can also see if Paula Poundstone or Sarah Silverman have something witty to say there.

But, we do want to congratulate Ekaterini Stefanidi for winning gold in the pole vault for Greece, one of three gold medals for the nation. Similarly, we salute Nur Tartar, another female athlete, for winning bronze for Turkey in taekwondo.

Here is our quote from Bill Murray; today we are quipping alums of "Saturday Night Live" (yes, we know when Murray was on the show John Travlota was in "Saturday Night Fever"):

"There aren't many down sides to being rich, other than paying taxes and having relatives ask for money. But being famous, that's a 24-hour job right there."

http://snapjudgment.org/

http://sarahsilvermanonline.com/

http://www.paulapoundstone.com/

Tax Day Tweets: Kudos to Oklahoma U on Winning Women's College Gym Title

Since we last posted on this blog in March, sooooo many things have happened around the world, including an awful earthquake in Ecuador, terrorist attacks in Belgium, Turkey and Pakistan, and the state of North Carolina, our former state of residence, passed an infamous piece of legislation called the 'bathroom bill,' which has lead to boycotts from Cirque du Soleil, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and now Pearl Jam.

But, Katrina and the Waves (pict. top) have not boycotted the Tar Heel State, but they are not currently on tour!

We also want to take a moment to congratulate Oklahoma University's women's gymnastics team, including stand-out gymnast Chayse Capps (pict. center) for winning the NCAA women's gymnastics championships by edging out LSU, Alabama and Florida in Fort Worth, Tex.

We also want to acknowledge that we are listening to the waning minutes of Ira Glass' long-running NPR show "This American Life," which is always a bit hard to follow when one is blogging, cooking or working on a car engine. Let's face it, listening to NPR works best in places like prisons and closed warehouse buildings where there are no distractions.

As for Katrina and the Waves, they are the band that came to mind with our first of three Tax Day Tweets of the Day (they are best known for the 1985 pop hit "Walking on Sunshine") although our favorite song is actually the downer "Love Will Tear Us Apart Again" from Joy Division.

Here are the three Tax Day Tweets:

1) Facts and Psychology: Listening to your favorite song before bed can help you sleep better, wake up easier and enhance your mood for the upcoming day.

2) Urban Slangs: Scruff: Facial hair basically day three to five after a shave.

3) Linda Holmes (NPR, we believe she doesn't work with Ira Glass): Today, I saw a movie with a premise sort of similar to the novel I once tried to write. Fortunately, the movie was way better than I thought.

http://www.katrinaandthewaves.com

http://www.thisamericanlife.org

GOP Debate Minus Trump Tweets (2 of 3)

We continue the multiple blog entries about last night's debate (it is now past 9:00 a.m. in Dubai) with tweets from various folks across the political spectrum in America (ok, most of these folks seem to have a liberal bias as I do), and perhaps even Canada...

 (pictured are 1) Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly; 2) a windmill in Elkhorn, Iowa; and 3) Ben Carson):

1) Patton Oswalt: How ya gonna deal with Putin? With shootin-ass-batin' and root-a-man-hootin

2) Dean Obeidallah (standup comic and activist of Muslim heritage): Please turn off Ben Carson's microphone.

3) Edward Luce: Ben Carson was totally wise to boycott this debate.

4) Carlos Lozada (Washington Post): Finally, the Estonia question.

5) PBS Newshour: Jumping from religion back to foreign policy.

6) Kai Ryssdal (NPR's Marketplace): Hahahahahahahahahaha. President Ben Carson. Man that cracks me up.

7) Karen Tumulty (Washington Post): Rand Paul is having a debate with Rand Paul about abortion.

8) E.J. Dionne (Washington Post): Marco Rubio like John Kasich talks about faith and obligation to the poor. Interesting how Rubio mixes this with appeal to evangelicals.

9) Alexandra Petri (Washington Post): Ohhhhhh........nothing like the sight of a stage full o' men talking about abortion.

(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/

Our Top 10 Favorite NPR Series: Catch The Moth

Greetings to our blog readers in Germany, Greece and Ukraine........hopefully, those of you in Greece are recouping from the economic fiasco as well as one can.

Here are our ten favorite National Public Radio (NPR) shows, some of which we tune in on out of town public radio stations since they don't air here in Virginia.

The images are in reference 1) a moth is for The Moth Radio Hour, Rachel Dratch of "Saturday Night" fame is on this week's show; 2) the '80s Journey record is for "Sound Opinions,"  a show in which Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis decide which new records are worth listening to (they both happen to loath Journey; we don't); 3) Serbian food, which we are not using for "The Splendid Table," but rather "The Dinner Party Download," which ranks fourth in our top ten.

Here is the list:

1. The Moth Radio Hour

2. Sound Opinions

3. This American Life

4. The Dinner Party Download

5. Radiolab

6. Snap Judgment

7. Studio 360

8. The TED Radio Hour

9. On the Media

10. Only A Game

http://onlyagame.wbur.org/

http://themoth.org/radio

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/

http://www.soundopinions.org/

East Coast NPR stations:

http://www.wnyc.org (New York)

http://www.whyy.org (Philadeplphia)

http://www.wamu.org (Washington, DC)

http://www.ideastations.org  (Richmond, Va.)

http://www.wfae.org (Charlotte, NC)

 http://www.wfpl.org (Louisville, Ky.)

Things To Do List Satire: Calling the Baltimore Sun

It's a Sunday night here in Roanoke, Va., and that only means one thing: Listening to music from the '30s and '40s on our local NPR radio station (to the folks at WVTF, just kidding, we love what you do for us and I am actually listening to '30s and '40s music........even though Steely Dan and Supertramp are really my speed)......

Oh, about our last entry, yeah, that was an April Fool's Joke, but we did watch the Final 4 games on tv. And, we didn't tape them, so there was no avoiding the annoying Southwest Airlines ads.

So, since there is not too much going on tonight until "Mad Men" comes on, we thought we would do a satirical things to do list for this coming week:

1. Get the current issue of "Writer's Digest"

2. Actually write something, even a haiku.

3. Drive to Winchester, Va., to find the late country singer Patsy Cline's grave (pict. center)

4. Call "The Baltimore Sun" and ask them to send today's Sunday edition of their newspaper to my address even though I live six hours away from them (the Baltimore Orioles start their season tomorrow....we think)....

5. Mapquest directions to Portland, Maine, so you can see a Portland Sea Dogs minor league baseball team, even though Maine is pretty freaking far from Virginia.

6. Play Ms. Pac-Mac for 6.5 hours

7. Watch the entire first two seasons of the '70s BBC comedy series "Are You Being Served?" (pictured bottom......I think my friend Chris Knight is the only person my age who actually watches this show regularly....)

8. Laundry

9. Carwash

10. Dishes

http://wvtf.org/

http://www.writersdigest.com/

http://www.visitwinchesterva.com/

http://www.baltimoresun.com/

https://www.facebook.com/portlandseadogs

http://www.aybscentral.com/

http://www.theknightshift.com/

"The Roanoke Times" Comic Strips Survey (....and, how you can win a free trip to Rome)

We are actually shoplifting the idea of a 'Free Trip to Rome' from WUNC-FM, an NPR station that is legitimately offering a free trip to Italy. Of course, we just used that in the header to grab your attention!

Here are our ten favorite comic strips from The Sunday, Feb. 2 edition of "The Roanoke Times," which included: 1) Two faculty members walking through a massive snowstorm in "Funky Winkerbean;" 2) A unique look at how to use email and social media in "Pearls Before Swine," which Dale Carnegie would perhaps not have recommended; 3) the staff deciding how to divide a pizza for the office in "Dilbert:"

1. Pearls Before Swine

2. Funky Winkerbean

3. Doonesbury

4. Get Fuzzy

5. Dilbert

6. Zits

7. Garfield

8. Speed Bump

9. Agnes

10. Jump Start

http://www.wunc.org

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.dilbert.com

A Top Ten Random List of English-Language Films I've Seen Multiple Times.........(except "The Godfather")

Here in America, National Public Radio (NPR) has had an interesting series of interviews with film directors, actors and other celebrities have talked about films they can watch over and over again.

Among the surprises is that David Fincher ("Zodiac," "Fight Club") loves "Mary Poppins"!

There aren't that many films I've watched more than five times. As someone with a wide interest in films, it is simply challenging to watch every film of social or historical merit over and over again.

There are also many world and European films like Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless," which I've seen multiple times, but for the sake of 'making it simple,' we are just going to focus on English-language films here.

I have also not decided to list films I watched often as a child, like "The Absent Minded Professor" or films I watched once too often as a teenager, such as "Bachelor Party."

And, this is not in order of preference:

1. "The Graduate" (1967)

2. "Planet of the Apes" (1968)

3. "Stagecoach" (1939)

4. "Psycho" (1960)

5. "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex........." (1972)

6. "Dr. Strangelove........." (1964)

7. "Pulp Fiction" (1994)

8. "Taxi Driver" (1975)

9. "Chinatown" (pictured, 1974)

10. "Life of Brian" (1979)

http://www.npr.org


SIDEBAR: I have an article in a national Washington-DC based blog regarding the politically charged events happening in Turkey:

http://www.dcmiccheck.org/2013/06/06/gezi-park/

Happy 200th Birthday, Richard Wagner

When we saw that 'Wagner' was trending on Twitter, we thought: "Hey, there is no way there are referring to the German classical composer Richard Wagner." But, as it turns out, today is his 200th birthday.

There are no Google Doodles to commemorate this; our assumption is that this might because Wagner's scandalous anti-Semitic views.

But, since "Rigoletto" is one of our favorite operas, we thought we'd quip Wagner for this occasion:

"One Supreme fact which I discovered is that it is not willpower, but fantasy-imagination that creates. Imagination is the creative force. Imagination creates reality."

We saw a tweet from the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh in regards to Wagner's birthday, and the Met Opera in New York has been performing Wagner operas in honor of this milestone.

One can also listen to the delightful American public radio series "Performance Today" which we assume will run a Wagner tribute today; the shows airs on WFDD-FM, a public radio/NPR station in Winston-Salem, NC.

And, of course, it is also our civic duty to remind young people that Richard Wagner (they would probably pronounce his name like Robert Wagner not Vagner as is the proper way) is not the one who sang the 1981 hit song "Jessie's Girl." That distinction belongs to Rick Springfield.

THE WHOOPS DEPARTMENT: We just realized that only is "Rigoletto," not a Wagner opera, it's not even German! It is a work by Verdi, so therefore it's Italian. But, as Kevin Spacey said in "Swimming with Sharks:" "Never apologize; it's a sign of weakness."

http://www.wfdd.org

http://www.performancetoday.publicradio.org

 http://www.ncsymphony.org

 http://www.metoperafamily.org

 http://www.rickspringfield.com 

20 Things To Do List for September- Get a Haircut

With an image of Bulgarian stamps, a Japanese barber (that's not me in the barber's chair, in fact, I've never been to Japan) and a poster for Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," which is apparently being revived on Broadway, we are posting our 20 Things To Do List for September:


1) Read the overcoming procrastination book (by Jane B. Burka, et al)

2) Use Craig's List more often

3) Wear the Batman tie more often

4) Get stamps

5) Visit the Unitarian Universalists  congregation in your area

6) See an ACC college volleyball game

7) Get a haircut

8) Watch Democratic Convention on PBS

9) Call Bob

10) recylcle

11) wash car

12) Write an essay

13) shoot hoops

14) Listen to "All Things Considered" on NPR on Mondays

15) Get more orange juice

16) Go to make-shift Facebook high school reunion in Bethesda, Maryland*

17) Have coffee some place besides Starbucks

18) See a local stage play

19) Go to a Turkish-American event

20) Laundry

*-Bethesda is not where I really reside; it's an in-joke for those of you who have read this blog day in and day out for the last seven years.


http://www.kramers.com (Bookstore in Washington, DC, where we originally saw the book mentioned in #1)

http://www.craigslist.com

http://www.neckties.com

http://www.uua.org

http://www.charlestonuu.org (We chose the Charleston, SC, UU congregation at random)

http://www.gopack.com (We chose North Carolina State's athletic page at random, nothing against Duke or UNC).

Quote of the Day/Week-Kevin Smith

Last week on NPR, film director Kevin Smith, who is also known for writing comic books, his eccentric tweets and blogs, writing memoirs, acting in his own films and having a row with Southwest Airlines (they apparently kicked him off a flight for being too overweight), announced that after his next film "Hit Somebody," he will retire from filmmaking.

Smith is among the people born in 1970, the year of my birth, that we are quoting this month. Smith turns 42 on Aug. 2. He will apparently not go the way of the legendary Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman who directed film right until his death at age 89 in 2007.

Of course, while Smith has directed some nifty films like "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy," no serious cinephile could ever compare him to Bergman, who directed such classics as "The Seventh Seal," "Wild Strawberries" and "Fanny and Alexander."

Smith, who made "Clerks," a comedy about lazy convenient store employees who discuss "Star Wars" while selling Camels and Marlboros (those brands were never named in the film for legal concerns) for a mere $27.575 in 1994, also runs a comic book store called Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Smith's native Red Bank, NJ.

Smith played Silent Bob in "Clerks" and its sequel "Clerks 2," as well as in the film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."

Here is his quote which refers to his controversial film "Dogma," with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, which poked fun at the Catholic faith that Smith was raised in:

"I'm going to hell. But I knew that back on Dogma. It's not news to me. I'm just going to enjoy the ride there."

Highlights from My 40 Things To Do List

Yes, I did actually make a 40 Things To Do List. No, I don't think I will all these things accomplished in a week, but I will try. This is actually a throw-back to what I did in my early days of blogging, back in 2005.

I did post grocery lists, and much to my shock, those entries were more popular than my political entries regarding my opposition to capital punishment or how George W. Bush was going to gradually destroy the world, which did more or less actually happen. But, we must give the man credit, they did build a statue of him in Albania (no joke). Of course, I'm not sure how this will help them with tourism.


So, here are some highlights of the list. The images go with the first three items on the list, paying bills, class reunion and buying gorceries. The number in parantheses is actually where the item was on my list. Of course, the more personal stuff will not be listed! (well, except number 8):


1. Pay bills (#1)

2. Go to college class reunion at Radford University (#11)

3. Get some groceries: be sure to get some Jarritos Mexican sodas (#22)

4. Write a short play (#4)

5. Use the laptop more often; you paid enough for the stupid thing (#9)

6. Recycle (#23)

7. Use LinkedIn more often (#28)

8. Forget about Angie*, if you never hear from her again, you can always join a Turkish liberal human secularist singles group (well, anything beats e-harmony!).
(#29)

9. Donate money to local NPR station, or least five dollars (#34)

10. Take fall foliage photos when the opportunity permits itself (#36)

*-Not her real name

Program Reminder- Antiques Roadshow

Though I listen to NPR so much that Scott Simon should perhaps invite me over to breakfast at his neighborhood I-HOP or that I should win a free trip to St.Paul, Minn., to meet Garrison Keillor even though "A Prarie Home Companion" is one of the few shows I don't listen to, I neglect PBS.

I feel a bit guilty about that, so I that I would mention that "Antiques Roadshow" is on tonight at 8:00 p.m., eastern time. Perhaps, we can all find out how much a given Swiss cuckoo clock is worth.

According to what we gathered from the show's web site, tonight's episode will either be from Grand Rapids, Mich., or Louisville, Ky.

Special Quote of the Week- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Today's quote comes from former Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who is now 64:

"I can do something else besides stuff a ball through a hoop. My biggest resource is my mind."

SIDEBAR_ This past weekend, I was actually on the NPR show "Studio 360." The show asked listeners to submit what they would want to be the first line of their obituaries.

The reason for this was their guest novelist Timothy Schaffert's new work of fiction is told from the perspective of an old woman who types obituaries for a small-town Nebraska newspaper, perhaps like "The North Platte Telegraph" in North Platte, Neb.

The first line of what I would my obit to say, as submitted to "Studio 360," was: "His dad died on his thirteenth birthday on March 4, 1983, but Tilly Gokbudak somehow managed to live a happy and productive life."

But, my personal favorite submission came from a fellow listener in Connecticut who said: "Rodger has spent his whole life working toward this moment."

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Conan O'Brien

We were initially going to try to figure out the distance between Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., and Akron University in Akron, Ohio, but yesterday's entry took almost as long as it would get from Duke University's campus in Durham, NC, to Hampton University's campus in Hampton, Va. That trip would take three and a half hours! But, the Blue Devils are playing the Pirates in 'neutral' Charlotte, NC.

Nevertheless, since it is Saint Patrick's Day, we though we'd mention the Notre Dame-Akron game even though it is actually going to be played tomorrow in Chicago at 1:40 p.m., New York time.

We also imagine that they will still be partying hard at Fiddlers Hearth, an Irish pub in South Bend, where the band Driving Irish will perform at 9:00 p.m. local time tonight.

As for the city of Akron, their hometown baseball team the Akron Aeros has their season opener against the Binghamton (NY) Mets at 7:05 p.m. on April 7th.

Tonight's Conan O'Brien Show is a rebroadcast from January that will feature retired talk show host Larry King and snowboarder Shaun White.

O'Brien posted this hilarious tweet on Twitter today:

"St.Patrick's Day is named for St. Patrick, the first guy to feed Guiness to a snake."

Before I head to Bethesda, Md.*, for a pet-sitting trip (I assume the locals are disappointed the Maryland Terps didn't get in, but two area teams the Georgetown Hoyas and the George Mason Patriots did!), I want to wish my dear sister Eva Svensson from Goteborg, Sweden**, a happy 37th birthday. Yes, she is a St.Patty's baby.

We also want to wish the NPR station 88.5 WFDD (Winston-Salem, NC) success with their on-going fund-drive which will hopefully off-seat any draconian measures that Tea Partiers might be able to push through Congress to cut federal funds for NPR.

Many people have projected that mostly small NPR stations in rural areas, like WETS-FM in Johnson City, Tenn., would be affected the most if such measures went into effect.

As I have told my friends to the right of me: "Mozart is not a Maoist." And, NPR should not be caught up in this culture war at all.


*- I am not actually going to Bethesda, but we love mentioning that DC-suburb.

**-My sister is not named Eva Svensson, nor does she reside in Sweden. But, today is her 37th birthday.

Quotes from the Composers- Antonin Leopold Dvorak

We conclude our Quotes from the Composers series with a quip from the Czech master Antonin Leopold Dvorak (1841-1904). The Romantic-era composer is perhaps best-known for his "New World Symphony" which will be performed by the Colorado Symphony in Denver on Friday (coloradosymphony.org).

Dvorak's famous operas include "The Devil and Kate" (1899) and "Rusalka" (1900) and "The Slavonic Dances" is another one of his famous symphonies.

Dvorak was friends with fellow Czech composer Leos Janacek (1854-1928) who is known for his famous opera "Jenufa" (1904).

And, we learned that "Classical 24" which gives classical music to affiliated NPR stations around the country will be broadcasting Dvorak's piece "Humoresque" at 4:36 pm (a mere half hour from now).

Fellow night owls may be able to catch Jean Sibelius' piece "Pelleas and Melisande" at 11:06 p.m. tonight. We featured the Finnish composer here yesterday. "Classical
24" airs overnight on WVTF, 89.1 FM (Roanoke, Va.) and WFDD, 88.5 FM (Winston-Salem, NC).

This quote from Dvorak is a rather simple one:

"Mozart is sweet sunshine."

SIDEBAR: The term Turkish opera may indeed seem like quite the oxy moron, but composer Okan Demiris did bring many great Turkish operas, including his most famous work "Murad IV" a reality. I was fortunate enough to see a performance of "Murad IV" at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul way back in 1991. Alas, "Today's Zaman" reported in a June 19, 2010 article that Demiris died at age 68 from a heart attack this summer, leaving many musical treasures for generations to come behind.

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!

Friday Geo Quiz (July2010 Only)

As a casual listener to the NPR series "The World" which had a great segment on Turkish immigrant families who have now spent several generations in Germany since a guest worker program was introduced in the late 1960s, I thought I would dedicate a series of "Geo Quiz" segments (which are featured on the news show broadcasts).

These particular entries are only going to focus on countries in the World Cup, and yes we know all six countries have officially been eliminated as of today (Editorial Comment: Go Holland!).

But, nevertheless, we thought this might help ninth grade geography students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md. (an actual place) particularly those who are taking the class over again in summer school. It should be pointed out that there was a heatwave in the region this week, and reportedly Richmond, Va., was (yikes!) reportedly 102 degrees at one point in mid-week.

So, here is the question kids:

Which one of these four World Cup countries (pictured above) is NOT landlocked:

A) Slovakia
B) Paraguay
C) Switzerland
D) Slovenia

If you get the answer right, I may have to send you a Partridge Family record I got at Happy's Flea Market in Roanoke, Va., a few years ago. Alas, you will have to pay for the postage!

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?!