Last Ten Movies We'Ve Seen: Catching Up with 2014

Greetings to our faithful blog readers in Afghanistan (well, maybe), The Bahamas and Poland.

Here are the last ten films we've seen (well, actually as of last week). We are still trying to catch up on the best films of 2014, some of which are listed in the IMDB as 2013 films.....yes, we are confused as well!

1) Night Moves (top image, film is about eco-terrorism.) 2013. Dir: Kelly Reichhardt

2) Palo Alto (center image, Palo Alto is where Stanford U is located). 2013. Gia Coppola.

3) Inherent Vice. 2014. Paul Thomas Anderson.

4) Post Mortem. Chile. 2010. Pablo Lorrain

5) Tabu. Portugal. 2012. Miguel Gomes

6) Drug War. Hong Kong. Johnnie To.

7) And, Now a Word from Our Sponsor. (bottom image, Ipana, originally an American toothpaste now only found in Turkey!)* 2013. Zack Bernbaum. (w/Parker Posey)

8) Museum Hours. 2012. Austria. Jem Cohen.

9) Lfe of Pi. 2012. Ang Lee.

10) Under the Skin. 2013. Jonathan Glazer (w/ Scarlett Johansson)

#- We learned that from Bill Griffith's comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead"


http://www.imdb.com

http://www.netflix.com

Presidential Quotes (1 of 16): William Henry Harrison

Greetings to our blog-readers in Moldova (?!), Slovenia and Portugal.

Yes, we have many unique and interesting ideas which are perhaps more exciting than quoting American presidents from waaaay back in the day, but if we quoted the late, great English playwright Harold Pinter, people might well still ignore us.

We are kicking off this series today because it is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, Tex., presumably by Lee Harvey Oswald (though Oliver Stone begs to differ) he was the last of eight American presidents to die in office. Four died of assassinations, including William McKinley, whom we will quote on our sister blog http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com and four died of natural causes.

We begin with William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, who was the first one to die in office and it was from natural causes. In fact, Harrison was only in office for one month before his death. 

Previously, we have quoted the first eight and last American presidents, so now we are filling in the gaps.

Here is the quote from Harrison, who hailed from Charles City, Virginia:

"I contend  that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free."

PS- Though we have discontinued the practice of using quotes from our favorite Sunday comic strips, this line from "Judge Parker" that we saw in "The Washington Post" got our attention: "Call your man in Niger and tell him we're going to pay the ransom."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/williamhenryharrison

Presidential Quotes: Bill Clinton

Special Greetings to our blog-readers in Paraguay, Poland and Portugal and a last minute Happy Fourth of July to our readers in Philadelphia, Boston and Denver, where we gather that the Colorado Rapids are winning at home over the New York Red Bulls by a 2-0 margin in Major League Soccer play.

We will momentarily be quoting former President Bill Clinton, but before we do, we thought we'd use some taglines from the conservative newspaper "The Washington Times" to show irony (sorry to our readers in Boise, Idaho, but this is a center-left blog....well, when we go into politics).

Those terms are: National Security Agency, Mohammed Morsi, Congress, 4th of July and Egypt:

"It appears as though Egypt is in a bit of a row, as the Brits would say, as the military ousted Prime Minister Mohammed Morsi. We gather both far-left progressives and far-right Tea Partiers are outraged by the National Security Agency and Congress, but frankly when one mentions Washington, DC, to us personally, we think of Rusty the Runaway Red Panda who is now safely back home at the National Zoo. Happy 4th of July, everyone."

Here is Clinton's quote, it is regarding the White Zoo (Freudian slip, we meant...) White House, and an astonish number of presidents, including Harry Truman truly hated living there:

"I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system."

UPDATE: Colorado won its soccer game over New York by a score of 2-0 in Denver.

http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org (Clinton's presidential library/museum in Little Rock, Arkansas)

http://www.washingtontimes.com

http://www.mlssoccer.com

Presidential Quotes: Barack Obama

This week, we are posting quotes from the eight last presidents of the United States on this blogs as well as quips from the first eight presidents on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com
Today, we start with President Barack Obama, who was visiting Tanzania this week:

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress."

SIDEBAR: Perhaps one can thank the respective French and Uzbeki soccer teams for preventing World War III, though we are a bit miffed that France beat Turkey 4-1 in the Under-20 World Game. To make things worse, France won on Turkish soil as the game was played in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, which is also known for its pistachio nuts.

Earlier in the day yesterday, in a game that was also played in Gaziantep, Uzbekistan beat Greece 3-1. Thus, there will be no Turkey-Greece match which could have started the third great international war (we are joking of course_ well, to an extent).

Today, American soccer player Maurice Edu, who has played pro soccer in Turkey and is of Ghanaian heritage tweeted that Ghana upset Portugal 3-2 in a U-20 game that was played today in Istanbul (we believe).

Of course, I am not going to suggest a boycott of Asterix and Lucky Luke (know as Red Kit in Turkey), the world's two most famous French comic book heroes. In fact, one can find these comic books at Chapel Hill Comics in Chapel Hill, NC.

http://www.chapelhillcomics.com

And, for more on the U-20 cup, one check our friend Ahmet Bob Turgut's soccer blog at: http://www.turkeyfootball.blogspot.com

Quote of the Day/Week- Salvador Dali

Today, we continue to quote famous people from the 16 countries represented in the 2012 Euro Cup championships in Poland and Ukraine, which got underway on Friday. Originally, we were going to quote just eight people from eight of the teams, but we figured those of you visiting us from Croatia and Portugal, two national teams in Euro 2012, might feel snubbed.

We thus turn our attention to the great Spanish surreal painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989) who is perhaps best-known for "The Persistence of Memory" (1931), which is the painting with melting clocks. Dali is also one of the people who has his very own plush toy from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild, which retails for circa $17.95. This month, we are also quoting individuals who have plush toys made in their image as was the case with Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter who was the subject of our last quote entry.

A museum dedicated to Dali's works is located in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Over the weekend, Spain tied Italy 1-1 in the team's first Euro 2012 game.

Here is Dali's quote:

"I don't do drugs. I am drugs."

http://www.thedali.com

http://www.virtualdali.com


http://www.philosophersguild.com

Things We Learned on Google Today- Lyon Has Won 7 French Titles

In our 13th profile of 15 world soccer teams, we turn our attention to the French soccer power Olympique Lyonnais, which is known simply as Lyon, the same name as the city they play for.

Lyon did not win its first domestic title until the 2001-02 season, but they made up for it by winning a staggering seven French premiere league titles in a row.

During the 2009-10 season, Lyon also reached the semi-finals of the coveted UEFA Cup, before bowing out to German power Bayern Munich.

Lyon is playing for the current UEFA Cup as well, but their hopes of advancing to the next round seem given their home loss Spanish power Real Madrid 2-0, both goals in the match were scored by Portuguese superstar Christiano Ronaldo, earlier this month.

Thus, Lyon is in third place behind the Dutch team Ajax Amsterdam (the last team we profiled), in Group D. Lyon visits Amsterdam on Nov. 22 when Real Madrid will face the Crotian team Dynamo Zagreb, which is in last place.

In domestic play, Lyon last played arch rival St. Etienne and the team prevailed
2-0. Lyon is reportedly in second place in the French league behind Paris St. Germain which tied Bordeaux 1-1.

The captain for Lyon is Brazilian player Cris (Cristiano Gomes), 34, and the team's goalie is French player Hugo Lloris, 24, (pictured), who is vying to become the French national goal keeper.

On Friday, the French national team beat the United States 1-0 in a friendly. Since I carry an American passport, I could gripe about this, but hey the French gave us Asterix the Gaul. Having said that, I hope we beat the living daylights out of them next time (that is a joke; I'm not a Republican).

SIDEBAR: Closer to home, Martinsburg High School (Martinsburg, West Virginia) decked Woodrow Wilson High School from Beckley, West Virginia, in a home game played on Friday by a score of 49-13.

PS-The answer to our Rabbitt Ears quiz was C) Boulder, Colorado, which is where "Mork and Mindy" took place.

50 Beers Around the World- Sagres (Portugal)

New reports are surfacing that actually drinking two beers a day may help prevent a person from getting a heart attack, but I would check with my fellow Turkish-American Dr. Oz (Mehmet Oz) before heading over to Corn Beef and Company, a famous downtown bar in my hometown of Roanoke, Va.

As for our latest entry in the 50 Beers Around the World, Sagres Beer is the most popular brew in Portugal. It has a clever ad campaign, which Gloria Steinem and Pat Robertson may not care for, that features a black bikini-clad girl in her twenties coming out of the ocean to hover over an illuminating golden glass of Sarges. Surely, this must give the local chapter of AA in Lisbon something else they don't need to deal with!

Sagres started in 1940, and it is named after the town of Sagres, Portugal. It was first exported to mostly Portuguese colonies, including Mozambique which is now independent.

Popular types of Sagres include Sagres Preta, a Munich-type beer, Sagres Limalight which has a natural lemon flavor and Sagres Bohemia which is an auburn brew with a fruity aroma.

SIDEBAR: Just across the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain and Portugal is Morocco, where according to Sara Tucker of "Conde Nest Traveler," it is polite to knock on the door with the tips of your fingers, and you may only knock three times!

Quote of the Week: Harry Truman

Hello and Welcome to our listeners in Hilo, Hawaii; War, West Virginia; Calgary, Canada; Anqtigua, Guatemala; Quito, Ecuador; Lisbon, Portugal; Accra, Ghana; Eskisehir, Turkey; Qom, Iran; Tora Bora, Afghanistan; and Pyongyang, North Korea.

Forgive the BBC World Service satire as we focus on tonight's entry dedicated to our great American president Harry Truman. One can visit the Harry Truman Library in Independence, Mo, where there is a current timely exhibit on "Memories of Korea" until Dec. 31.

Here is our Truman quote, which is part of our focus on the last 12 presidents before Barack Obama (FDR-GWB):

"A president needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it."

SIDEBAR: Former president Jimmy Carter will be at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, but there are many other guests of interest this week, including author Noah Feldman who has a new book on FDR's battles with The Supreme Court on Monday. And, on Wednesday, one of favorite unapologetics liberal journalists Matt Taibbi of "Roling Stone" who coined the term: "Medicare-motor-scooter conservatives" in article about the big Tea Party convention in Louisville, Ky., a few months ago will be talking at Politics and Prose about his new book "Griftopia."

Today, the bookstore had this very amusing tweet: Overheard_ "This bookstore is like my outlet mall," we take that as a compliment.

SIDEBAR TWO: Today's trending topics on Twitter and AOL are Obama Busted Lip, Willie Nelson, Wal-Mart, Kim Kardashian, Hallee Berry, Signs of a Drinking Problem, File for unemployment.

We will add Noam the Gnom and Zinn the Mink which are gnomes in homage of Noam chomskey and the late Howard Zinn that the liberal "The Nation" magazine are trying to sell to help them compensate for a half-million deficit. We imagine this will work better than trying to get subscriptions from folks in places like Provo, Utah, Lynchburg, Va. and Paducah, Ky.

Quote of the Day- from Portuguese Writer Jose Saramago

Unfortunately, the famed Portuguese writer Jose Saramago, pictured here, died last week at his home in The Canary Islands at the age of 87.

Like many great writers, including the late Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet who lived in Russia and the late American writer William Burroughs who spent many years in Tangiers, Morocco, Saramago was an exiled man. This was mainly due to his political views for Saramago (like Hikmet) was a communist even though the Portuguese writer's exile (from what we gather) was a personal choice.

Saramago's novel "Blindness" had been made into a 2008 film with Mark Ruffalo and Julianne Moore, and the writer won the first Nobel Prize for Portugal in 1998.

We are featuring Saramgo as one of the 32 people from the 32 countries in the World Cup.

The Portuguese team made headlines on Monday with a 7-0 thumping of North Korea, which assuredly did not go over well at the Kim Jong Il residence in Pyongyang.

As many soccer fans know (and I consider myself a casual one though I did watch virtually every game of the 1978 World Cup which host Argentina won when I was a child while we were living in Turkey), Portugal has a bonafide superstar in Cristiano Ronaldo, whom David Fellerath of "The Independent Weekly" in Raleigh, NC, called 'a glowering metrosexual.' Ronaldo is also starring in a series of tennis shoe ads with Homer Simpson?!


Here is today's quote from Saramago. It is, as one would fully expect, a political one in nature:

"People used to say about me: 'He's good but he's a Communist. Now they say: 'He's a Communist, but he's good."

Quote of the Day- Kim Jong Il (North Korean Dictator)

Today, we continue our 32 quotes from 32 people from the 32 countries in the World Cup with a quip from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il (born 1942), who is apparently a bit of a film fanatic.

In a 2004 issue of "Film Comment," Brian L. Frye wrote that Kim's book "On the Art of the Cinema," which was initially written in 1973, was being republished in America. Frye said: "It's probably the only work of film criticism read exclusively by political scientists."

Kim took over in 1994, and he has made a name for himself on the global stage with his nuclear weapon synanagyns.

But, his country has not fared well at the World Cup though it gave Brazil a much harder game than anyone expected in a 2-1 loss. However, yesterday Portugal scored an astonishing six second half goals to pummel North Korea 7-0. This lead a guy named Bruno who may have been tweeting from Lisbon to say the following on Twitter:
"Kim Jong Il, please do not test your missiles on Portugal."

Here is the quote of the day from a dictator who has also been lampooned by those guys who make "South Park:"

"The revolution is carried out by means of one's thoughts, not through one's family background."

SIDEBAR: We are not sure if there are any Mexican restaurants in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital which has a population of about 2.5 million folks, but there several in Athens, Ga., including three with the local chain, The Taco Stand. One of their restaurants is located at 247 E. Broad Street across from the University of Georgia and it features not only tacos, burritos and queadillas but salsa burgers and chicken finger sandwiches as well.

We also forgot to link our friend Chris Knight's blog "The Knight Shift" yesterday. One can see a video replay of last week's game between The United States and England with Leggos (of all things!) there! BTW, Knight is a rabid Georgia Bulldogs fan, hence the reason we mention The Taco Stand here.