This Weekend at the Cinema: "The Congress" is NOT About Washington, DC

Greetings to our blog readers in Iceland, Japan and planet Mars!

Girl Power! Today, we feature three films starring women, which are either opening or are still showing at various theatres, cinemas and drive-ins in our mid-Atlantic portion of the United States.

We start off with the lovely Star Lite Drive-In in Christiansburg, Va (near Blacksburg) where they are screening "Lucy" at 8:45 pm and 10:30 pm this weekend; Scarlett Johansson once again delivers.

In Washington, DC, an indy film called "The Congress" is opening at the West End Cinema, but the film about an aging actress who decides to maintain her beauty by capturing herself digitally has nothing to with the U.S. Congress. Robin Wright who is in the Netflix series "House of Cards," which is actually about the U.S. Congress, stars in the film.

At the same venue, "Life of Crime" based on the Elmore Leonard novel "Switch" begins its run; the film features Jennifer Anniston and Tim Robbins. Curiously enough, it is also showing at the Tower Theatre out west in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The historic Byrd Theatre in downtown Richmond, Va., which usually shows second-run features is showing "Maleficent" with Angelina Jolie (is she the one married to Brad Pitt? Just kidding!). The cinema is also showing "Tammy" and "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

The Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va., is showing "Life After Beth" which just one screening at 9:15 p.m. throughout the week; the same venue is opening "Calvary," an Irish film about a Catholic priest, this weekend, a film that is also showing at many arthouses, including the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC, and a/perture in Winston-Salem, Va., which is also screening "Alive Inside," a documentary explaining how music can dwelve into our souls and transmit healing powers. We suspect that the new age group of yesteryear Tangerine Dream is better able to perform this task than the speed metal band of yesteryear Anthrax???!!!!

http://www.starlitedrive.info

http://www.byrdtheatre.com

http://www.aperture.com

http://www.westendcinema.com

http://www.grandintheatre.com

Sunday Comics Grand Slam (1 of 4)

Greetings to those of you in Poland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, thanks for tuning in, and we regret your respective countries not being in the World Cup.

And, greetings to our readers in Belgium, Italy and Chile, and kudos for making it to the World Cup!

We are a week behind, so bear with us. We begin with a look at our favorite comic strips from the June 8th "Washington Post," be sure to go to our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com for a look at our favorite comic strips from the June 8 issue of "The Roanoke Times."

Also, since we have a slight center-left political bias here at "The Daily Vampire," we wanted to mention that we are amused (for the moment) that Cong. Eric Cantor (R-Va) lost his Congressional seat due to a Republican Party primary which was won by tea party extremist David Brat, who will face Democrat Jack Trammell in November.

Two weeks ago, while in Richmond, Va., we saw 18 signs for Cantor and one for Brat, whom we mistook for a Democrat!

Cantor was also given the dubious Worst Week in Washington title by political reporter Chris Cillizza of "The Washington Post."

We personally think if there was a Best Week in Washington title that it should go to the Dutch ambassador Rudolf Bekink as The Netherlands shocked Spain 5-1 in World Cup play in Brazil.

Last week, our favorite strip from the Post belonged to "Dustin," a King Features strip which had a great take on the agony of remembering all 42 passwords for our respective Internet/social media sites. We are using an image of Sean Connery playing James Bond because we presume JamesBond007 is one of the worst passwords to use.

"Foxtrot" also delighted with us as the kids took in lots of ice cream, so much so that one of them actually wore a winter coat! Thus, we give the strip second place.

The bronze medal goes to "Prickly City," a strip which some times shows a conservative tilt, but this week cartoonist Scott Stantis had a great take on how cyber deities whose name we won't mention (Google, Facebook, Twitter) are inclined to watch us these days!

Here is our top ten list:

1) Dustin

2) Foxtrot

3) Prickly City

4) Doonesbury

5) Pearls Before Swine

6) Brewster Rockit

7) Lio

8) Sherman's Lagoon

9) Judge Parker

10) WUMO

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

http://www.dustincomics.com

http://www.foxtrot.com

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/worst-week-in-washington/

Quote of the Day: Abraham Lincoln

Yes, we have come to the 16th President Abraham Lincoln, who is one of the four Mount Rushmore presidents in South Dakota. Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, where Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth is both a museum and a working stage company. They are currently producing their annual staging of the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol."

Here is quote from Lincoln, whom actor Daniel Day Lewis won an Oscar for in the film "Lincoln," which was filmed partially in Petersburg, Va. (near Richmond):

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

http://www.fordstheatre.org

Record Store Day is Saturday

Albums from David Bowie, Herbie Hancock and the late Cem Karaca (1945-2004), a Turkish psychedelic music icon are among the selections one may find on any given day at an independent locally-owned record store, but Saturday is a day that has been marked as Record Store Day.

Some of the stores you may want to check out, depending on where you reside, may include Wuxtry Records in Athens, Ga. (with two other locations in the Atlanta-area), All Day Records in Carrboro (Chapel Hill), NC, Enterprise Records in Portland, Maine, and Plan 9 Records with locations in Charlottesville and Richmond, Va.

Folk/rock singer Billy Bragg who we mentioned a few entries back is also performing a regular concert at The Cat's Cradle, which is in close proximity to All Day Records, on Friday, but we imagine he will be too busy with soundchecks to stop in that store. Hopefully, if you live in Chapel Hill, that will not be the case with you.


http://www.wuxtry-records.com

http://www.alldayrecords.com

http://www.catscradle.com

http://www.billybragg.com

http://www.davidbowie.com

http://www.recordstoreday.com

http://www.enterpriserecords.net

http://www.plan9music.com

Virtual Postcard from Illinois_ Abraham Lincoln's Springfield

Wow! We had the hardest time getting this image of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, which is also the state capital, posted!

Let's just say that it is one of many Springfields in America (others include Virginia, Vermont and Kentucky), as for the setting of the animated sitcom "The Simpsons," that is said to take place in Springfield, Oregon.

"The Washington Post" recently profiled Lincoln sites in Springfield, Ill., for the Sunday travel section. Lincoln is hip again thanks to the new Steven Spielberg film of the same name, which was filmed in the Richmond, Va., area.

http://www.alpm.org

http://www.presidentlincoln.org

Quote of the Day/Week- Charlie Chaplin

Thanks to those of you in Afghanistan?!, Spain and Serbia for visiting us today. Hope the weather is nice in Kandahar province.

Today, we continue quoting famous people associated with each of the 16 nations competing in the Euro 2012 Cup in Poland and Ukraine. Yesterday in Warsaw, there were ugly clashes between fans for Russia and Poland on the eve of the two countries' soccer match. Thankfully, the game ended in a 1-1 tie and things were apparently less tense after the game....well, we hope!

England is one of those 16 countries, and since we are also quoting people who have been humorously merchandised by the American company The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, we thought we'd go with the great actor/director/composer Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). A Little Thinker plush doll toy from the company retails for $17.95. Another company has a line of Charlie Chaplin ties, which might not be the best choice for a job interview unless you are interviewing for a manager's position at an old cinema, such as the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, Va., which is now screening "The Artist," which pays homage to silent films, such as the ones which made Chaplin famous.

Chaplin is best known for several cinematic masterpieces, including "The Gold Rush" (1925), "City Lights" (1931) and "Modern Times" (1936). Since Chaplin held left-wing views, he was targeted by the controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover during the infamous McCarthy period. This caused Chaplin who was living in America at the time, to move to Switzerland where he lived out his last years.

Here is his quote:

"Actors search for rejection. If they don't get it they reject themselves."

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.byrdtheatre.com

http://www.charliechaplin.com

Kudos to VCU

Since I went to a relatively small school in Virginia, Radford University, I want to personally congratulate the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams from Richmond, Va., the unlikeliest team to make it to the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in Houston next week.

The Rams pulled a huge 71-61 upset over top-seed Kansas yesterday, amazing everyone in the college basketball universe. The Rams are coached by Shaka Smart, who is only 33. They were helped by 26 points from Jamie Skeen, a senior Wake Forest transfer from Charlotte, NC.

VCU also has a player from my hometown of Roanoke, Va., in Troy Daniels who is an alumnus of William Fleming High School.

We were also hoping the University of North Carolina would join them, but the Tarheels fell to the University of Kentucky by a score of 76-69. The Wildcats won the game in large part because of 22 points from their star player Brandon Knight.

Ironically, the voice of the Tarheels is named Woody Durham (for those of you in Kazakhstan, Durham, NC, is where Duke University is located is UNC's main athletic rival). As it turns out, Woody Durham, 68, was also a childhood friend of Duke's announcer Bob Harris as both are from the Burlington, NC-area which is close to both campuses.

And, speaking of Kazakhstan, they lost a road Euro Cup qualifying game to Germany by a 4-0 score over the weekend. The Germans got two goals each from Miroslav Klose and Thomas Mueller. But, Zhambyl Kukeyev almost scored for the Kazaks in the 71st minute of play.

I must profess that soccer geography is a bit strange as Kazakhstan is not one of the 47 countries in Europe. Nor are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Israel, yet all are competing for slots in the 2012 Euro Cup which will be held in France this summer.

According to NPR, only one of the 47 European countries executed people last year, and that was Belarus, which is run by a ruthless dictator named Alexander Lukashenko. Belarus executed two people last year.

As a life-long death penalty opponent, I regret that the United States of America ranks fifth in the world in executions.

Ironically, Turkey, my late father's home country, which has often been criticized for human rights abuses by Amnesty International outlawed capital punishment well over a decade ago.

The other two teams to reach the men's final four are Butler University, another underdog which also made the semis last year, and the University of Connecticut.

For those who feel politics and sports don't mix, we fully understand. But, the other side (well, right-wingers) seem to have no problems mixing up the two as one can plainly see an NRA billboard at Memorial Stadium where the minor league Salem Red Sox play home games in Salem, Va., and a similar billboard can be found at the Lynchburg Hillcats' stadium as well. So, there ya' go!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Hoorary for Tacos

A short while ago, we learned on Twitter that the Border Grill Truck, a mobile vendor that provides gourmet tacos and Too Hot Tamales in the Los Angeles area now has 10,000 followers on Twitter as of today.

On Thursday, the Border Grill Truck will be set up at the Pointe in Burbank, a Planned Parenthood Food Fare in Santa Monica (I imagine many Mormons and Southern Baptists will be in attendance- nudge, nudge, wink, wink) and at the Downtown Artwalk at 541 South Spring Street from 5-11 p.m.

Today, I watched three episodes of the new show on Current TV called "Kill It, Cook It, Eat It," which probably won't change my eating habits as I will still probably eat hamburgers (cattle was the focus of one episode) but still refrain from eating rabbits and ducks. Somehow, it's hard for me to eat animals associated with Looney Tunes characters, though I think Foghorn Leghorn might be the notable exception (oh I forgot about Porky Pig, but my later father was Turkish and we don't want to lose readers in Bursa, Turkey or Karachi, Pakistan, as we might well get a lot of hits in those places).

But, for those of you can't eat any animal, irregardless if it resembles Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, and you live in Richmond, Va., you can head over to the Ipanema Cafe on West Grace Street.

The establishment is open from 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. for lunch from Monday to Friday. And, they serve dinner seven nights a week from 5:30-11:00 p.m.

Among their menu items are a vegan caesar salad with grilled tofu for $8.50.

Somehow, I doubt that Virginia's attorney general Ken Cuccinelli will treat me to that or a hummus with overdried tomatoes, cucumbers and sprouts sandwich ($7.95) because we did after all 'rightfully' name him as our Worst Person of the Year for 2010.

Things We Learned on Twitter Today....Hot as You-Know-What in Richmond, Va.

On Twitter, this p.m., we learned that Richmond, Va., which is relatively close to the zip code I'm in right now, is literally hot as hell.

According to the Twitter site RVaWx (Richmond, Va., weather), the state capital of the Old Dominion is 95 degrees today. There are winds coming into town from the northwest at 14 MPH with mostly cloudy conditions.

The relative humidity in the city where Dave Matthews used to play for five dollars a night (semi-true story!) is at 44 percent.

In other parts of the world, it is about 82 degrees in Bursa, Turkey, 81 degrees in Puebla, Mexico, and 84 degrees in Billings, Montana (wow, it sure is hot out west too!).

SIDEBAR: We were joking the other day about the ambassador to Syria being on "The Charlie Rose Show" the other night. But, the joke was on us as we found out through Google that there is apparently no official American ambassador in Damascus at the moment, but Chuck Hunter is the Deputy Chief of Mission there. Imad Moustapha is the current Syrian ambassador in Washington, DC. Tonight, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be on Charlie Rose.

SIDEBAR TWO: Kudos to our good friend Moviezzz for taking a vacation. He will not be blogging for a while, but we highly suggest that any of you interested in developments in tv or film take a look at his back catalogue. By the time, you're done, you should know which seasons of "The Barbara Stanwyck Show" are available on dvd. *

*-Ok, it's seasons one and two.

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!

Paid Political Commentary (Regarding Detroit Tigers Pitcher)

For the very first time ever on this blog, someone has asked me to post an entry about a matter which concerns them!

This does not really pertain to be a political issue, but my friend Renaldo Hernandez (pse) of Richmond, Va. (not really where he is from) wanted me to complement Detroit Tigers' pitcher Armando Galarraga (pictured here).

The Tigers pitcher apparently came very close to throwing a perfect game last night, but a bothced call by the umpire in which a player for the opposing Cleveland Indians was called 'safe at first' blew the perfect game opportunity for Galarraga.

'Hernandez' said that Galarrage exemplified classiness as he merely said that while he thought the Indians play was out that umpires make mistakes.

Apparently, the umpire looked at a video replay of the incident and he realized that he did in fact make a mistake. He called Galarraga to apologize and the Tigers pitcher was gracious in his response.

Hernandez also feels that this is a postive story which shows that athletes can display good sportsmanship, and that not all of them are spoiled rich guys on ego trips.

Hmmm....I wonder if he was refering to Tiger Woods?!

On Twitter, the RedSoxFanClub also praised the pitcher's grace even though the Boston Red Sox are rivals with the Tigers.

Now for a weather reporter in the greater Richmond-Petersburg area we turn to our meteorologist Matt Denardo.*

*-This is an actual weather reporter for a TV station in Richmond. Apparently, there is a Youtube video of him cursing on camera!

Status Update- Getting Ready to Remake My Dinner with Andre!

My good friend Tony (pse) and I are apparently getting ready to remake "My Dinner with Andre," but we are going to have our own script and it will be a ten-minute film.

We are currently scouting locations in and around Roanoke, Va. Ironically, much to my surprise, I found out the actual 1981 film was shot at the old Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va., even though the film takes place in New York.

There are apparently "My Dinner with Andre" action figures for sale on the Internet, but I couldn't find any images. The screenplay by Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, who are also the only two actors in the film, is for sale through outlets like amazon.com as well.

"My Dinner with Andre" was directed by Louis Malle, and it has developed a cult following. Amazingly enough, The Criterion Collection has also introduced a full second dvd of 'extras' to go along with the film!

We will be conducting the shoot so that we can hopefully have it screened at the Shadowbox Cinema in Roanoke as part of their 'sweded film series.'