Sunday Comics Survey from The Washington Post: We Love WUMO

Greetings to our blog readers in Algeria, Serbia and Lithuania.

Today, we reveal our ten favorite comic strips from the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post," which came out on Sept. 21, 2014. The newspaper has an eclectic mix of comics, some of which are aimed at young demographics ("Reply All," "Knight Life"), some of which are aimed at folks over 50 ("Doonesbury"and "Sally Forth" ) and some of which are aimed at people who are 92 or older and living in a retire home in Bethesda, Md. ("Dennis the Menace," "Pickles").

The images above are of 1) the planet Mars which was the subject of a gag in "WUMO," 2) Mae West for "Sherman's Lagoon" since the strip was focused on Sherman's wife who is quite sardonic and 3) dragons in Varna, Bulgaria, for "Rhymes with Orange" as Hilary B. Price which had dragon ordering 'hero sandwiches' from a fast food place..........yes, we presume the hilarious strip will be misunderstood in Uzbekistan as well!

Here is the top ten:

1) WUMO

2) Pearls Before Swine

3) Sherman's Lagoon

4) Rhymes with Orange

5) Judge Parker

6) Lio

7) Speed Bump

8) The Argyle Sweater

9) Dustin

10) Frazz

http://www.washingtonpost.com/comics

For our "Roanoke Times" comics survey, go to our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Image to Fill Space- Lauren Conrad for Tell a Woman She is Beatiful Day

Yes, we are pretty much just doing this to get a rise in blog hits, but today really is Tell a Woman She is Beautiful Day, or at least that is what they are saying on Twitter.

For those of you in Ghana or Uzbekistan who may not have seen "The Hills," a pseudo-reality show on MTV that one tv critic compared to the great films of Jean-Luc Godard (?!), this is Lauren Conrad. Her frenemy on the show was Heidi Montag, or at least, that is the best we recollect at the moment.

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

Olympics Stories- Judo Athlete Wins First Medal for Uzbekistan

Rishod Sobirov, 25, won a bronze medal for the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan on Saturday in the 60-kg judo competition. It was the first medal of the 2012 London Olympics for Uzbekistan.

Many felt that Sobirov, the two-time defending world champion, would win gold, but he was upset in the semi-finals by Arsen Galstya,23, of Russia who dedicated his medal to the 171 people who died recently in massive floods that affected southern Russia.

Galstya also defeated Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan, who had won silver at the last world championships for the sport, which were held in Paris.

Many psychologists have said that bronze medal winners are happier than those who go back to (in Sobirov's case) Tashkent because a bronze-winner feels he has gotten something out of the games while a silver-winner feels disappointed because he could have won gold.

This appears to be the case with the Japanese silver-medalist as he told journalists he was hoping to go back to his country with gold.

http://www.uzbekistan.org

http://www.uzairways.com

http://www.psychologytoday.com

Image to Feel Space- Burn Out Notice

Yes, in case you haven't noticed, we are a bit far behind. But, we are fully aware that folks from Anchorage, Alaska, to Sofia, Bulgaria, to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, rely solely on this blog as their manin source for everything that is going on in the world, so we fully intend to 'get back to work.'

Among the items, we are working on: 1) The last ten films we've seen which will likely now not include the film version of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" (1968) 2) A virtual postcard from Colorado 3) A now-dated update on the passage of the controversial Amendment One measure which will effectively stop gay marriage in the legal sense and 4) An even-more dated entry congratulating the University of Alabama for winning a national championship in women's collegiate gymnastics, late last month.

SIDEBAR: Though we have yet to see "The Avengers," which has apparently broken all box office records in Nigeria (that is a joke, though it might be true), we loved this tweet from "The New Yorker:"

'(Our film critic) Anthony Lane said watching 'The Avengers' felt like being mugged by a gang of rowdy sociopaths.'

Quote of the Day - Joe Biden

This month, we are quoting American vice presidents or veeps. We begin with this one from Joe Biden. For those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he is our current veep:

"Life is a matter of really tough choices."

Casulaties of Modern Technology (8 of 12)_ Etch A Sketch

Of course, we love Albert Einstein here at The Daily Vampire, but the reason for this entry, which was originally going to feature Hallmark greeting cards, is for a politically honest gaffe made by Eric Fehrnstorm, a spokesperson for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign.

This week, Fehrnstorm told CNN following Romney's win in Illinois in response to a question about the possibility of the Republican Mike Dukakis (forgive the editorial comment) shifting his stump speeches to win over independent voters as opposed to staunch right-wingers who have seemingly split the vote between Romney's two main Republican foes, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

And, in case you were in a village in Uzbekistan, and you missed what Fehrnstorum said, it was this: "You hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch-A-Sketch. You kind of shake it up and start all over again."

As for the product itself, its origins go back to th elate 1950s, according to the manufacturers, the Ohio Art Company (which relocated production to Shenzhen, China, in 2001), when Andre Cassagnes, a French electrician discovered that a drawing toy could be created with joysticks, aluminum powder and glass.

As a result, the first Etch-A-Sketch went into production in 1960, and it became very popular with baby boomers. The Etch-A-Sketch was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, NY, in 2008.

To be fair, the Etch-A-Sketch, which was not as popular as it was in its heyday until Fehrnstorm gave new attention to something that most of us played with the backseats of station wagons as kids, is not really a Casualty of Modern Technology. But, it has evolved since the toy was introduced to the market. The modern Etch-A-Sketch also allows for coloring.

Quote of the Day/Week- Charles Darwin

Today, Google used the image of Danish bishop and scientist Nicolas Steno (1638-1686) on his 374th birthday as their 'google doodle." Steno was instrumental for many things, including discovering human salivary ducts, and there is a Steno Museum in Arhus, Denmark, which is dedicated to displaying findings in the arenas of science and medicine. But, alas, for our purposes, Steno really didn't leave behind a meaningful quip.

The same can not be said for English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) whose findings on the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador are taught in classroom and disputed in places of worship around the globe; hence 'the Darwin fish' that is displayed here.

With that, here is our quote from Darwin, who made these comments long before the 'evolution of video games,' including Donkey Kong and Angry Birds:

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the whole of life."

SIDEBAR: We love this tweet from Onion Politics, a subdivision of the satirical faux news publication "The Onion:" "Fiercely independent New Hampshire voters pick guy everybody thought would win." For those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, that person is Mitt Romney.

Happy Holidays from Kermit the Frog

One of our favorite 'right wing media' moments this years was when Fox News host Eric Boiling actually proclaimed that the new children's musical/fantasy film "Muppets" was 'communist' liberal propaganda because it showed an oil tycoon in a negative light. His co-host Andrea Tantaras added that: "I just wish liberals would leave the kids alone."

So, we thought it would be nifty to wish everyone a Happy Holidays/Happy Hannukah/Merry Christmas from Kermit the Kommunist* Frog.

Aside from any Bolshevik leanings, Kermit is also known for being the only Muppet to appear on both "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show**." We learned while researching this that Kermit actually no longer appears on "Sesame Street" as of 2001, though he made an appearance in September 2009 to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary.

As everyone in the world, including Uzbekistan probably knows, Kermit was the central character in "The Muppet Show," which aired in the 1970s; his romantic interest was Miss Piggy.

Kermit, who is known as 'kurbagacik'/little frog in Turkey, was voiced by his creator Jim Henson up until Henson's untimely death in 1990.

I suppose since there are lots of bears in Russia, Fozzie the Bear would probably be the most subversive member of the Muppet family, if we were right-wing kooks that is. Interestingly enough, the Soviet Union formally ceased to exist on Dec. 25th, 1991, exactly 20 years ago.

*-kommunist is the Turkish word for communist; it seems to go better with Kermit

**- Alas, we spelled "The Muppet Show" incorrectly on our tags.

Quote of the Day/Week- Fidel Castro

Because of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and many older Cuban-Americans' desire to rid the world of him, many Cuban-Americans (yes, there are exceptions) lean right, but their vote will not matter in Sioux City, Iowa. And, perhaps, with the latest field of Republicans, which includes the ardent right-winger Newt Gingrinch, many Cuban-Americans might just go with President Barack Obama next year. Well, we can hope.

For our friends in Uzbekistan, it should be pointed out that most Cuban-Americans live around Miami, Florida.

In no way are we endorsing Fidel Castro or his view of the world, but he has been known to give great quotes:

"Men do not shape destiny; destiny produces the man for the hour."

IN THE WHOOPS DEPT- this was meant for the other blog; oh well.

Bonus Road Trip- New Mexico to Iowa

Hello. And, for those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, welcome to my blog.

As most of my faithful followers know (and, I have no idea how high or how low my following really is), I like to make fun of Republicans. And, with candidates as extreme as Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Ron Paul, it is frankly very hard not to make fun of them!

I must profess that even though his politics and ideas are extreme and radical, it is hard to make fun of Herman Cain. For one, he is an African-American and secondly I liked his Godfather's Pizza for quite a while. And, Cain certainly looks as cool as the Richard Roundtree, the original Shaft, who is also an African-American republican.

But, it is easier to make fun of Ron Paul. To be honest, I actually endorsed him for the Republican nomination in 2008 simply because I admired any Republican willing to speak out against the Iraq War. But, since I am an uber-partisan Democrat, the endorsement probably didn't help him much. And, within the last four years, we've all heard the Texas congressional rep (yes, he actually holds a federal office) express some real far-out things, including some highly controversial remarks about
9-11. One may have attributed such sentiments to the far-left intellectual scholar Noam Chomsky, except that those remarks were made by Paul during a Republican debate!

I have also noticed that if there is an alien sent here from outer space to take over the world in the political forum, it would have to be Paul. I mean with Republicans making illegal immigration one of their main cause celebres, especially for Bachmann, it is highly ironic that one of their own might be from Mars!

So, we decided to see how far Roswell, New Mexico, is from Ames, Iowa, since Roswell is associated with UFOs and since Ames, also the home of Iowa State University, is where a key political straw poll takes place.

For, our two destinations, we went with the UFO Museum in Roswell (there is also one in Istanbul, Turkey_ of all places!) and The Cafe Ames in Iowa.

So, what is the answer; is it:

A) 16 hours even
B) 16 hours, 30 minutes
C) 16 hours, 45 minutes
D) 17 hours, 15 minutes

If you get this right, we will promptly send you a copy of "Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits" on 8-track tape (that is a joke!).

People with Long Names List, Part 2

It took an act of Congress to get this image above, and it is not because the Anglo-French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (b. 1971), who I have a huge crush though she is married with children, is smoking. There are various versions of this photograph on the web, and most of them were too big for our purposes.

On the first list of People with Long Names we featured men with difficult surnames, including Finnish ski-jumper Matti Hautmaki. This time we are posting women with long names here, and featuring a new men's with long names list on our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here is the list (apologies in advance to anyone whose name we don't spell correctly!!!)which features women from all over the world:

1. Charlotte Gainsbourg_ The actress who starred in everything from French romcoms like "My Wife is an Actress" to shocking art films like "Antichrist" is also quite a good singer. Her late father Sergei Gainsbourg was one of the most admired singers in France during the '60s and '70s.

2. Nil Karaibrahimgil_ This Turkish singer who is somewhere near 30 years old is heard quite often on radio stations in Istanbul, and she prefers to simply call herself 'Nil.' We understand why.

3. Johana Sigurdordottir- This Icelandic prime minister is among the few world leaders who has publicly acknowledged that they are gay or lesbian. Charlotte Gainsbourg may have problems if she chose to reside in Iceland since the country is reportedly in the process of passing a de facto ban on smoking!

4. Simona Peycheva- Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast; we always try to include at least one eastern European on these lists.

5. Dominika Cibulkova- Yes, there are other tennis players from the Czech Republic or Slovakia with long, difficult names who are more famous (such as the one named Martina), but since this young Slovak tennis star reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals a few weeks ago, we thought we'd put her on the list so we could look hip.

6. Kalliopi Sarasopoulou- She is a Greek pop singer; we also try to include a person with a Greek name on these lists as they can tend to even longer than Turkish names!

7. Lilia Podkopayeva- This Ukrainian Olympian was quite impressive during her years as an impressive international gymnast, especially on the floor exercise. At 32, she would be still young enough to compete for just about any sport besides gymnastics.

8. Severa Nazarkhan- She is a singer from Uzbekistan who wowed the world with her 2003 record "Yol Bolsin," which was released through the English record lable Real World.

9. Tricia Olszewski- This film critic for "City Paper" in Washington, DC, really hated the Rutger Hauer film "Hobo with a Shotgun," but I saw it any way. It was 'ineteresting.'

10. Deepa Ranganathan- She is a leading researcher in sleep/wake patterns...need I say more!

Happy Apocalypse Not Day

Earthquakes. Floods. Hurricanes. Tsunamis. Volcanic eruptions. Martians invading earth.

Yeah, we don't think any of this nonsense will be happening on Saturday, May 21, which is now officially the date here for those of us on the east coast, and we also firmly think Harold Camping, the 89-year-old radioevangelist who started this insanity is definitely a kook who should be locked in the same asylum in Oregon where "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next" took place.

Tomorrow, we will start blogging on our latest hectic trip to Washignton, DC. Be sure to tell all your friends from Bergen, Norway, to Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

What We Are Working On...

Since a lot has happened in the world since I last posted a blog entry on Thursday, and I have really had my fair share of distractions, I thought I would fill you in on what we are working on. I am also going to post an entry within an hour about some unique things going on in North Carolina this week.

I decided after seeing a startling news story about a blogger in Boulder, Colo., who became a victim of savage stalking last year not to say which town I actually live in, but I am a resident of the Tarheel State. Though I don't smoke, watch NASCAR races or eat much ham!

But, here are the four things we are working on for this particular blog (be sure to visit us and tell all your friends about our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time) and as indicated in the images we borrowed for this entry, be sure to brush your teeth so you don't end up like Dustin Hoffman in "Marathon Man."

1) Since May 1, May Day, is known as the day to recognize laborers around the world and is generally associated with far left-wing figures, we are going to quip such radicals who might be alive or deceased starting on Tuesday. I am not a fringe left-winger myself but I loved Jane Fonda in "Barbarella" and I haven't voted for a Republican since Calvin Coolidge (actually, he was a bit before my time). If you are wondering who will be quoted, you will have to tune in tomorrow. I will say that it will not be the late Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers on PBS) whom Glenn Beck has probably cited for being subversive.

2) We are also going to be quoting famous novelists throughout the month, and we will quip a timely author who has been dead for quite some time on Wednesday.

3) On Thursday, I am hoping to find time to share my surreal story of how I found out about Osama bin Laden's killing at exactly midnight last night/this morning. Some interesting things about the incident include the fact that the city of Abbottabad, Pakistan, will probably be found in the next world map I get from Doctors Without Borders, an organization I firmly believe in (which means I should at some point donate money to them!). According to mentalfloss.com, Sohaib Athar, a regular 33-year-old Pakistani computer engineer who must have insomnia tweeted at 1:00 a.m. local time in Abbotabad the following: "Go away helicopter- before I take my giant swatter." At the time, Athar had no idea that a CIA operative to kill bin Laden was being carried out in his very own zip code.

4) On Friday, we are hoping to officially launch our "Things We Learned Today from Google" series, which we have experminted with. The idea stems from the book "The Googlization of Everything" by UVa professor Siva Vaidhyanathan who was number two on my people with difficult names list last week. For this blog, we are looking at exploring facts about a Latin American or European soccer team, which will hopefully help both Real Madrid and AC Milan fans, discover this blog that reportedly has a loyal following in Uzbekistan!

Status Update: I Am Alive and Well and Not in Rural Uzbekistan

Normally, we post Quotes of the Day on Mondays. And, hopefully, we will have a cool quip from a very hip person, either living or dead, at some juncture very, very soon.

But, for now, I leave with this image and the assurance that even though I was not able to communicate with the outside world for 72 hours simply because I went out of town without a cellphone or a laptop that I am doing well and I have not disappeared into a remote Uzbeki village where this gentleman presumably resides.

To think, he may very well go through life without ever having a Big Mac or a Starbucks vanilla latte.

Special Quote of the Week- Bono

We continue our series of quips from famous people from Ireland, in honor of Saint Patrick's Day on Thursday, with a quote from Bono who everyone knows as the lead singer of U2. Bono is also known for his civic activities, including helping third world countries like Ethiopia with their debt crisis problems.

My favorite U2 song is "A Sort of Homecoming" from the 1984 album "An Unforgettable Fire," which followed their classic album "War" (1983, pictured here). I did not know until researching this piece that another one of the songs on 'Fire' which is titled "Bad" (has the memorable lyrics: I'm wiiiiiiiddde awake") is about heroin addiction.

Apparently, Bono is also into reading as we gather from this quote:

"Books! I dunno if I ever told you this, but books are the greatest gifts one person can give another."

Speaking of books, I just finished Elif Batuman's excellent memoir "The Possessed" about her love of Russian literature (assuredly, she loves Leo Tolstoy) and the summer she spent in Uzbekistan as a Stanford student in 2002(she was either getting her graduate or doctoral degree at the time; Batuman was born in 1977)

Batuman, a fellow Turkish-American whom I've never met, also has a story in the March 7 issue of "New Yorker" about young fans for the Istanbul soccer power Besiktash. She will be in Ireland for an international book festival on April 14.

Top 10 Countries to Visit in Next 10 Years...

I have a feeling some folks are going to scratch their heads over this list, which I initially made on New Year's Eve.

Egypt was actually on the original list at number ten, but do to riots, looting and political unrest, we have replaced Egypt with Burundi, even though that is where one can find the man-eating crocodile Gustave, who has had some 300 people for breakfast!

The images above are from Costa Rica, Honduras and Bolivia respectively. And, as it will seem quite obvious to most folks, I really, really want to go to a Scandanavian country.

Here is the list:

1. Bolivia

2. Honduras (yes, we know they had a coup in 2009)

3. Costa Rica

4. Finland

5. Sweden

6. Norway

7. Iceland

8. Denmark

9. Uzbekistan

10. Burundi

Special Quote of the Week- Muhammad Ali

For Black History Month, we are going to be quipping famous African-American athletes, both past and present, on Tuesdays.

We will start off with a quote from the great boxing legend Muhammad Ali. I recall as a child in 1978, during the years we were living in Turkey, that I got up at 5:30 a.m. to see Ali fight Leon Spinks on the TRT (Turkish Radio and Television).

Initially, we had contemplated a quote from another boxer Mike Tyson, who made a hilarious cameo in the film "The Hangover." But, Tyson's somewhat infamous image made us go with Ali instead.

Interestingly enough, I came across a 1981 Topps baseball card I have from a Mike Tyson, who was a white guy originally from Rocky Mount, NC, who played second base for the Chicago Cubs back in the day. That Tyson turns 61 on Jan. 13.

I must profess that there is a politically perverse side of me which would love to see the Chicago Cubs, the favorite team of conservative pundit George F. Will (my favorite team too though I am to the left of the columnist), play the Detroit Tigers in a World Series on the off-chance that it might lead to Will running into the very liberal filmmaker Michael Moore, who is from Flint, Mich.

On his web site, Moore is wearing a cheesehead so we can confirm that he is rooting for the Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl (for those in Uzbekistan, they are playing the Pittsburgh Steelers) as am I, even though I am not quite as to the left as Moore is. He is also promoting the fact that a Wikileaked document revealed George W. Bush's feelings about his films (apparently, there was no White House screening of "Bowling for Columbine").

We have no idea who Will is rooting for in the Super Bowl, but it would be ironic if it were the Packers.

Oh, before we forget (and we did this on a Salvador Dali quote), here is the quip from Ali:

"I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and I was in bed before the room was dark."

Quotes from The Composers- Sergei Prokofiev

Today, as promised, we are quoting two Russian composers on our two blogs. We start Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1936), the modern composer we've quipped so far. He is perhaps best known for his symphonic children's story "Peter and the Wolf," which was written in 1936. It was ironically made into a Disney short film just ten years later.

The Soviet-era composer died on the same day when dictator Joseph Stalin's death was announced.

Prokofiev is buried at the famed Novodevichy Cemetary in Moscow where one can also find the graves of Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet (1901-963) who left Turkey because of his communist views (today, he is ironically Turkey's national poet) and famed Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) who directed "Battleship Potemkin."

Here is his quote:

"I play rather well- in any case, jauntily. My success was rather great and I should say no doubt unexpected."

SIDEBAR: For those who love all things Russian, Turkish-American writer and scholar Elif Batuman has a relatively new book (released in early 2010) entitled: "The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them." The book, as one would expect, discusses the likes of Anton Chekov and Leo Tolstoy. I will probably never read the rather lenghty "War and Peace" by Tolstoy myself, but Batuman's book is only (compared to Russian novels) 296 pages.

Even though I am also a Turkish-American, I have never met Batuman, though I've been told that her book, which was reviewed in "The New York Times" last year, is really good.

We learned through Wikipedia that Batuman also studied the Uzbek language as a grad student while studying in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Mushroom Cloud

For those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, it looks as though the far-right Tea Party movement will result in a Republican takeover of Congress that will make Cong. John Boehner (R-Ohio) house speaker.

As the Athens, Georgia band REM once said: "It's the end of the world as we know it...."