Quote of the Week- Dr. Seuss

Since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is coming to a close tomorrow, I have been reminded of many unusual culture clashes which occured in the living room as a child in the 1970s. Since my late father Mehmet Gokbudak was a Turkish immigrant, the decision to let me get a copy of the legendary Dr. Seuss book "Green Eggs and Ham"
(1960) could not have been an easy one. Alas, it has been misplaced over the years.

On a recent trip to the quaint town of Lewisburg, WVa, I had a chance to go to Open Book, an independent bookstore downtown, I noticed that all current editions of those classic Dr. Seuss books, which also include "Cat in the Hat" (1957) and "Hop on Pop" (1963) now retail for $9.95. And, there are Dr. Seuss neckties as well!

So, since "Green Eggs and Ham" is perhaps as likely to get translated into Turkish as Bill Griffith's "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strips, which are a novelty even here in America_ its country of origin, we have selected Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) as our subversive for this series of quotes from cultural radicals. And, this quip from Dr. Seuss, who has a memorial statue in his native Springfield, Mass., seems just like something that the likes of John Waters and R. Crumb would fully agree with:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

SIDEBAR: We loved this tweet from Roger Ebert, the legendary Chicago movie critic who got me interested in quirky films like "Q-The Winged Serpent" when I was between 12-15 years old: "Never marry someone who doesn't love the same movies you love. Sooner or later, that person will not love you."

SIDEBAR TWO: We also loved this bumper sticker that we saw in Roanoke, Va., today: "I would rather Phish than work." This is in reference to the musical improv band Phish, which formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1993. They broke up in 2004, but reunited in 2009. Phish will be performing from Sept. 2-4 in Commerce City, Colo.

High School of the Week- Springfield Southeast (Illinois)

Though he is actually an alumnus of The Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, we are featuring a photograph of President Barack Obama with our High School of the Week entry for Springfield Southest High School in Springfield, Ill., because the state capital of Illinois is effectively where Obama's political career began to flourish when he was a member of the state senate there some ten years ago.

We must profess that Illinois offered many potential choices for High School of the Week selection process: Actor Bruce Dern, who recently turned 76, is an alumnus of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Bill Murray graduated from the private Loyola Academy in Wilmette, the classic 1985 teen angst film "The Breakfast Club" was filmed at Maine North High School in Des Plaines and my cousin Brent Gokbudak went to Niles West High School in Skokie where his teammate on the gymnastics team was none other than future Olympian Bart Conner! (All of these schools are in suburbs of Chicago).

But we chose Springfield Southeast HS, a school with an enrollment of some 1,350 students according to Wikipedia, over all of them. The school nickname is The Spartans, and there are both boys and girls hockey teams at the school as well. Elbert Kern is the football coach for The Spartans. And Jason Wind is the school's principal.

Of course, even folks in Karachi, Pakistan, know that Seymour Skinner (his 'real name' is Armin Tamzarian according to Wikipedia) is the principal of the elementary school in the fictional Springfield on "The Simpsons." There is speculation that the Springfield in the cartoon series was based on Springfield, Mass., but that has never been verified.