When It's 8:00 p.m. in New York, It's (now) 2:00 a.m. in Istanbul (until March 30th)

Yes, we know: "Always use people in photographs" is the conventional wisdom of journalism, but we are a bit rebellious and unconventional here at "The Daily Vampire."

On a serious note, we are saddened to hear about the death of Berkin Elvan, a Turkish youth who was hit in the head by a tear gas canister during street riots over the summer protesting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Putin act (and, we are a bit subjective here as well). Elvan's death has triggered new protests all over Turkey, but it seems that a change in power in Ankara seems unlikely even though it is assuredly what is needed now.

Here are our looks at the times in other parts of the globe as Daylight Savings Time is in effect for both the United States and Canada and perhaps elsewhere.

We are going to assume the time is 8:00 p.m./20:00 in New York, which is the reason for the Brooklyn hot dog (top image) that might get us blocked in Internet cafes in Karachi, Pakistan, or Tel Aviv, Israel, but c'est la vie say the French, and when it is 8:00 p.m. in New York, it is this time in the cities listed below:

1) Chicago/Dallas 7:00 p.m.

2) Amsterdam 1:00 a.m.

3) Dubai 4:00 a.m.

4) Buenos Aires 9:00 p.m.

5) London (pictured center) 12:00 a.m./midnight

6) Sydney 11:00 a.m.

7) Istanbul 2:00 a.m. (pictured bottom, a horse carriage driver in Burgaz Island, Istanbul)

8) Mexico City/Salt Lake City 6:00 p.m.

9) Seoul 9:00 a.m.

10) Los Angeles/Vancouver 5:00 p.m.

11) Cape Town, South Africa 2:00 a.m. (same time as Istanbul and Athens)

12) Baghdad 3:00 a.m.

http://www.visitbrooklyn.org/

http://www.visitlondon.com/

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/home/au/en

http://www.turkishairlines.com

The Best Films of 2012 (in my view)

Yes, it has been a long time since we last blogged, and we have broken many promises. But, Feb. 15th is the traditional date in which we list our 20 favorite films that were released in America from the previous year.

I should point out that this year I am going with films that were released in our market area as opposed to films that came to New York.

There are, as always, many films we have not seen, including the three Ls: "Lincoln," "Life of Pi" and "Les Misreables." 

This year, I am pleased to add that Bilge Ebiri, a fellow Turkish-American who is a New York-based film critic who voted in the "Film Comment" best films of the year survey, and I agree that the Turkish film "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" from director Nuri Bilge Ceylan was the best film of the year. The "Film Comment" survey chose the French film "Holy Motors" as the best film of the year; "The Master" came in second and it was the highest-ranking American film on the list.

Speaking of lists, here is ours:

*-Films that were released after Jan. 1, 2012, in our market.

#-Films which have been nominated for Best Picture Oscar

%-Films ranked in the top 20 of the "Film Comment" survey

1. "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia" (Turkey, see second image) %

2. "We Need to Talk About Kevin"*

3. "Jiro:Dreams of Sushi" (documentary; third image)

4. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (first image)

5. "Silver Linings Playbook"#%

6. "Zero Dark Thirty"#%

7. "Argo" #

8. "A Separation" (Iran)*

9. "Django Unchained" #

10. "The Kid with a Bike" (France) %

11. Pina (documentary) *

12. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" #%

13. "The Dark Knight Returns"

14. "Damsels in Distress"

15. "Robot and Frank"

16. "Skyfall"

17. "Arbitrage"

18. "Moonrise Kingdom"%

19. "The Master" %

20. "Haywire"


 http://www.filmlinc.org

Remembering Sept. 11th ...on Its' 11th Anniversary

Today, we remember the 2,977 people who died on Sept. 11th. We have decided to include an image of a Hassidic Jew and Arsalan Iftikhar aka 'The Muslim Guy,' 35, who is a leading progressive Muslim advocate in the United States, to show that as cliched as it may seem America's greatest strength is its diversity, and even the atrocities of 9-11 have not changed that.


http://www.jewishtimes.com

http://www.themuslimguy.com

http://www.911memorial.org

http://www.nyc.gov/nypd

http://www.flight93crash.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Thomas Jefferson

Today, we continue quoting the first eight American presidents in honor of the up-coming presidential election in the United States in November. Egypt just had elections over weekend, and Mexico is expected to hold them this week.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), one of eight presidents to come from Virginia and the first one from the Democratic Party, has approximately 16 high schools named after him, including ones in Alexandria, Va., Brooklyn, NY, and Dallas, Tex.

The late comic actor Danny Kaye (1913-1987) who our sixth grader teacher mistakenly told us was dead (this was 1982, he did indeed die five years later) graduated from the JHS in Brooklyn, while actress Brenda Vaccaro, who is alive and presumably well, graduated from the school of the same name in Dallas.

Jefferson's historic home Monticello is a major tourist destination in Charlottesville, Va. I was supposed to go there on an ninth-grade field trip, but I overslept (the bus left at circa 7:30 p.m.) ...oh well!

Here is Jefferson's quote:

 "A coward is much more exposed to quarrels than a man of spirit."

http://www.monticello.org

Quote of the Day/Week- Nelson Rockefeller

Today, on our two respective blogs ("Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" being the other blog) we are quoting two former American vice presidents who would both be celebrating their respective 104th birthdays if they were alive today within the next few months.

Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979) was actually just six weeks older than other subject Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) who unlike Rockefeller went on to become president due to the tragic assassination of John F. Kennedy. Rockefeller served as vice president under Gerald Ford from 1974-77. But, he decided not to join the ballot in Ford's failed re-election effort of 1976, and Bob Dole was chosen as Rockefeller's replacement.

Rockefeller was considered a moderate Republican, and the term "Rockefeller Republican" which refers to active politicians, such as Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who are known for having either more centrist positions than the likes of far-right Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) or more progressive views on social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage, is in reference to Rockefeller.

Ironically, Rockefeller's own great nephew Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa) is a high-ranking member of the Democratic delegation in the current U.S. Senate.

Rockefeller was known to prefer problem-solving as opposed to sticking to a political ideology, in a way that reminds one of current New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was elected mayor as a Republican, but has since become independent (some years prior to his election, Bloomberg was a Democrat).

Both Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan who were right-wing ideologues, though Goldwater might ironically be considered a Rockefeller Republican today since he was pro-choice, were strongly opposed to Rockefeller.

Aside form politics, Rockefeller was known for giving the middle finger to protestors at a rally in Binghamton, NY, which thus lead to the term 'the Rockefeller salute.' According to mentalfloss.com, Rockefeller is also alleged to have died of a heart attack at age 70 while in the company of his assistant Meghan Marshack.

Here is Rockefeller's quote, which actually sounds like something one might connect with liberal folk singer Joan Baez:

"Never forget the most powerful force on earth is love."

Status Update_ I'm Getting Hungry Here

First of all, our apologies to our friends in Karachi and Islamabad for forgetting to put Pakistan in our links section yesterday as we mentioned a uniquely named coffee place in that country yesterday, but we forgot to link them. Of course, all of the blame goes to Javier the intern.


As for my status update for 1/27: "I am as hungry as Gustave the man-eating crocodile."

"Mental Floss" has a great story in the current article about the central African country of Burundi where one can find Gustave, a 65-year-old croc who has reportedly eaten 300 people. Perhaps, he now qualifies for the senior citizens discount at Denny's!

While researching this piece, we found out that the T-Bone Steak House in Phoenix offers up a 24-ounce t-bone for $27, while our vegan friends in New York (actually, we don't have any vegan friends in New York that we know of, according to Javier) can go to Blossom on 187 9th Avenue. The establishment was voted the best vegetarian place to eat in 2008 and 2009 by "Time Out New York."

I'm not sure if it's going to be a t-bone or a tofu burger, but I need to get some food!

NOTE: The crocodile in the photo is NOT Gustave, but I'd advise against taking his close-up.

High School of the Week- Ithaca High School (New York state)

Today's High School of the Week is Ithaca High School in Ithaca, NY. The collegetown, which also features Cornell University, is home to the high school where Don Mills has been the principal since July 1, 2009.

Ithaca High School's mascot is the little brown bear (hence the image here), and the school has an enrollment of approximately 1, 675.

Among the school's famous alumnus is actress Mary McDonnell, who is known for being Kevin Costner's love interest in "Dances with Wolves" and one of the stars of the updated version of the cult tv classic "Battlestar Galactica."

50 Beers From Around the Globe- OB Beer (South Korea)

One may not expect a brew to have a rice flavor, but OB Beer from South Korea (OB stands for Oriental Brewery) is indeed made from rice as opposed to barley!

OB Beer, which started in 1952, has a Facebook page which promotes itself as "The True Korean Beer."

A guy from New York was asking how to find the brew on the Internet. One recommendation was a Korean grocer in the city. Another person said he should try Pioneer Supermarket on 74th Street. We have no idea if he found the beer or not, but it is apparently available in some markets in America.

While koamart.com does NOT offer OB Beer (at least it was not listed on their web site), they do have an Orange Bon Bon soda for 89 cents which looks like an Orange Crush.

Interestingly enough, there is a Korean grocery store in Salem, NH, called The Uhen Heh Grocery Store. We were not able to tell from their site if they offered OB Beer, but anyone here who is from New Hampshire can let us know!

SIDEBAR: My friend Jason Garnett is continuing an impressive list of screenings at The Shadowbox Cinema in downtown Roanoke, Va., this month. On Wednesday, the venue shows the vintage 1966 French New Wave classic "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." The 1931 Charlie Chaplin film "City Lights" will be screened on Friday. "Caddyshack," which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, will be shown on Saturday. And, lastly, on Monday, Aug. 30 the Japanese shock horror film "Audition" will fill the screen. In case you weren't aware of this, it is not 'exactly Mary Poppins.'

More info is available at the web site theshadowboxcinema.com

Quote of the Day- Catherine Deneuve

Here is our Quote of the Day from beloved French actress Catherine Deneuve:

"All women who kill or have sexual obsessions or who are prostitutes have trouble with their fathers."

Denevue, who starred in films like "The Last Metro" also co-starred with Yves Montand (the subject of our sister entry on our other blog) in the 1975 French film "The Savage."

SIDEBAR- The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York is screening "Airplane!" on Aug. 9 with the film's three co-directors in attendance. The film which is celebrating its 30th anniversary reminds us of the line: "We need someone with flying experience who did not have fish for dinner."

SIDEBAR TWO: Believe or not, it took three tries to get this entry up!

Things We Learned on Twitter Very Early This A.M.

For those who have been keeping track of our entry over the years, you may recall that we have periodically blogged about the beloved late sixties children's tv show "H.R. Puff N Stuff" (pictured here) which through some research on our part has revealed to be a show that was allegedly about the wonder of smoking pot!

This leads to our story of the story which stems from the seaside village of Paphos, Cyprus, in the southwestern Greek portion of the island nation which has been politically divided since war broke out between Turkey and Greece over the conflicting ethnic groups' residential status in 1974.

(It should be pointed out perhaps for the 105th time that I am a Turkish-American, but if you read below, you'll see this entry has nothing to do with ethnic politics------we promise!)

According to an early morning tweet stating: 'Teenage boy arrested for cannibis in Cyprus' from "The Cyprus Mail," which I saw at 4:30 a.m., American east coast time as I was battling insomnia, an 18-year-old male from Paphos was arrested by Cypriot police and charged with possesion and use of drugs with intent to pass the proverbial bong (not the way they actually worded it!) to a third person.

If convicted, the youth, who was not identified by name, could face a LIFE sentence?! And, I thought my father's country wasn't exactly progressive when it came to marijuana!

On a more serious note, I was very saddened to hear about the Israeli commando raid of the Turkish ship The Marmara which was carrying relief supplies to Palestinians. I will keep my political perspective out of this matter on this blog, but all of us in the Turkish-American are thinking about the nine people on the vessel, including four Turkish nationals, who needlessly lost their lives on Monday.

And, on a less serious note, The Seven's Turkish Grill located on 72nd Street in New York has just posted lessons on Youtube on how to fix the fabled Iskender Kebab dish that is the pride of Bursa, Turkey. Oh, we should mention that you can follow them on Twitter---http://twitter.com/7Turkishgrill for more details.

Lastly, this morning was not a good one for the Louisville Bats, a minor league baseball team from Louisville, Ky.

According to their Twitter site http://twitter.com/LouisvilleBats, the team fell to the Columbus Clippers by a 10-7 margine in a road game. All of this proves that baseball games (this particular game started at 10:35 a.m.) should simply never be played before noon!

Special Quote of the Day- Carrie Fisher

My good friend Moviezzz has informed that one of my personal favorite bad movies "Under the Rainbow" (1981), which previously been profiled here, is being released on dvd today.

The movie features Carrie Fisher and Chevy Chase, and it revolves around the production of "The Wizard of Oz." I saw this film when it came out. I was 11 years old when I saw it at the Valley Cinema in Salem, Va., which still exists today.

It was an exceptionally bad movie with one flat gag after another, yet it is also a very interesting film with an eloborate set and unique characters.

I don't know if I can recommend that you view it, but it would make a perfect film for a bad movie house party.

My cousin Shannon Sturgis recently saw Fisher's one woman show "wishful Drinking" at the Roundabout Theatre in New York, and she said it was an absolutely amazing show.

Ben Brantley of "The New York Times" gave the production a positive review. The show revolves around Fisher's marriage to Paul Simon, "Star Wars" and her bout with mental illness.

For tickets one call (212)-719-3100. The show runs through Jan. 3, 2010.

We have quips from both Fisher and Chase on our two respective blogs. But we quip Princess Leia here:

"I really love the internet. They say chatrooms are the trailer park of the internet but I find it amazing."

Know Your Congress Reps and Senators (Entry 8 of 21)

Today we continue my nonpartisan blog series* on congressional reps and Senators.

I was struck by comments Cong. Peter King (R-NY) made about the need for the Republican Party to become more moderate. Today, King whose district includes Nassau County (Long Island) is one of three remaining members of Congress (of 29) from The Empire State.

King, 64, is the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee and he also serves on the Financial Services Committee. He is the co-author of the Border Protection, Anti-terrorim and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (whew, that is a mouthful!).

King, who is in his eighth term, has also written several published novels, including "Deliver Us from Evil" and "Vale of Tears."

Our last entry was the last one in this series that was presented in quiz form (ok, so it was a bad idea!). The answer was Cong. Bobby Scott (D-Va).

*-Though this series is non-partisan, I make no secret of the fact that I am a Democrat. Newly elected congressional rep Tom Perriello (D-Va) was named Person of the Year on my other blog Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time. He pulled off a major upset over Cong. Virgil Goode (R-Va). The difference in the election was a mere 727 votes!