10 for 10: The Nine Countries Outside America Where Our Blog Is Most Popular

Our original blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," which is still up and existent http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com 

....will be turning ten years old on Sept. 21t. So to honor the occasion, we are posting 10 entries on both blogs commemorating the anniversary.

We start here with a round-up of the nine countries outside the United States where "The Daily Vampire" has had the highest number of hits from. We do want to take a moment to recognize people from smaller nations, such as El Salvador, Gabon, and Laos, where we have seen hits from over the years. But, as one would expect larger countries are in the top nine. We have been stunned by how popular both blogs are in Russia and Ukraine, and we are grateful that Turkey, the country of my late father, is in the top nine for this blog.

The images we have chosen to represent three of the countries on the list are of Misha the Bear (or Mishka) who was the mascot of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, Karagoz and Hacivat, two beloved Turkish shadow puppets which have been in existence since Ottoman times, and a still from Federico Fellini's 1969 film "Satyrican" for Italy (alas, the Italian director's name is one we have frequently spelled incorrectly!)

While we are at it, let's take a moment to salute Italian female tennis player Flavia Pennetta for winning today's U.S. Open finale.

Here are the countries and the number of hits from each one:

1. Russia 29,585

2. United Kingdom 27,223

3. Canada 17, 098

4. Germany 15,121

5. France 7,495

6. Australia 7,256

7. *Turkey 2,586

8. Ukraine 2,493

9. Italy 2,371

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

Soccer Week (7 of 8): Dutch Soccer Game Has Three Cards

During domestic weekend action in the Eredivise (Dutch Premier League), one game between Heerenveen and Gromgen featured six goals and three red cards, one of which went to Dutch nationl Tjaronn Chery (pictured).

The game's other two red cards went to Mitchell Dijks of Heerenveen  and Jim Letschert of Gronngen.

Other highlights from Holland/The Netherlands included a two-goal performance form Belgian Steve de Ridder of Utrecht and two goals from Chery's teammate from Iceland, Alfred Finnbogason, who should have made our soccer players with long names list, who kicked in two goals for Heerenveen.

One lowlight which was shown on soccer highlights shows around the globe was Dutch player Maikel van der Werff's unfortunate own goal which helped his team Zwolle lose to traditional Dutch power Ajax Amsterdam 2-1.

Here are the scores:

Utrecht 2 Waalwijk 1

AZ Alkmaar 3 Go Ahead Eagles 0

Heerevveen 4 Gromgen 2

Roda 1 Breda 5

Njmegen 3 Feyrenoord 3 (tie)

Twente 2 PSV Einhoven 2 (tie)

Cambour 2 Heracles 0

Ajax Amsterdam 2 Zwolle 1

http://www.dutchnews.nl

http://www.rnw.nl

http://www.holland.com


SIDENOTE: This marks our 1,500th entry on "The Daily Vampire"...........yes, we are surprised by how long we've stuck with this blog as well.

Tilly Gokbudak is Moving to Bulgaria in August

All of us here at "The Daily Vampire" are pleased to announce that our managing editor Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be me, is moving to Sofia, Bulgaria, to teach at the American College of Sofia.

He was accepted there for a full-time position teaching English, and Gokbudak will also travel to his late father Mehmet Gokbudak's native Turkey to assist elementary school teachers teach English in the provinces of Edirne, Tekirdag and Kiriklareli.

Turkey and Bulgaria share a common border, and there many ethnic Turks in Bulgaria.

But, we are happy to announce that this blog will not discontinue in any way.