(10 for 10; 7th Entry): Virtual Postcard from West Virginia

Greetings to our blog readers in Malaysia, Brazil, and Spain.....

Today, we continue our occasional tradition of virtual postcards with an image of the Hawks Nest State Park in West Virginia, located one hour east of the state capital Charleston. The park is a common destination during the autumn months.

For those of you who follow MLS soccer, we have just learned that Sebastian Giovinco scored two goals for Toronto FC in the team's 3-1 win over the Colorado Rapids.

http://www.hawksnestsp.com/

http://gotowv.com/

http://www.charlestonwv.com

http://www.torontofc.ca/

Quote of the Day: Famous Authors (1 of 5)

Alas, we did not get around to quoting authors of banned books during Banned Books Week last week. We know that Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C., and other book stores, such as Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, NC, and the Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., probably took part as well.

There is also little doubt in our mind that many libraries and book shops banned D.H. Lawrence's erotic literary masterpiece "Young Lady's Chatterly," which has the distinction of being made into a cheesy sexplotation film that aired on late night cable in the 1980s and a highly respected French art film made just a few years ago.

Here is a quote from D.H. Lawrence:

"Never trust the artist. Trust the tale."

http://www.politics-prose.com/

http://www.malaprops.com/

http://boulderbookstore.indiebound.com/

SIDEBAR: This week, we are also referencing new slang word we have learned from the web site for The Urban Dictionary; they will not teach you these words in an ESL class at Guilford Tech Community College in Greensboro, NC (nudge, nudge, wink, wink):

'Walks on both sides of the street,' this is how someone in a rural hamlet like Welch, WV, will refer to a person who is bisexual; conversely, we presume it's risky to be a bisexual in West Virginia!

http://www.gtcc.edu/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

http://visitwv.com/

The Last Ten Films I've Seen: Avoid the Bad Mafya Babasi Film

It has been a full two weeks since we last posted a blog entry. Of course, in the modern age, two weeks is like six and a half years, or is it like 14 minutes? We will let the Slovenian modern philosopher Slavoj Zizek, a fellow film connoisseur, answer that question. In the mean time, here are the last ten films I've seen (mafya babasi is the Turkish term for mafia father/boss):

1) The Serpent and the Rainbow 1988. Director: Wes Craven (Image #1: It's actually a snake-handling church in West Virginia).

2) Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. 1960. dir: Karel Reisz

3) Massacre Mafia Style. 1978. dir-Duke Mitchell (Image #2, which is of Al Capone; this is a terrible movie which aired during TCM Underground)

4) Begin Again. 2013. dir: John Carney. w/Keira Knightley

5) It's a Disaster. 2012. dir: Todd Berger. w/Julie Stiles (Image #3: A Mushroom Cloud)

6) Goodbye, First Love. France 2011. dir: Mia Hansen-Love

7) Airplane! 1980. dir: Jim Abrahams, et al.

8) Life Itself. doc. 2014. dir: Steve James (film about Roger Ebert's last days)
 
9) Bastards. France. 2013. dir: Claire Denis

10) Bill Cunnigham New York. doc. 2010. dir: Richard Press

Top Ten Comic Strips from the Sunday Washington Post: The Argyle Seater Takes Gold in the Luge

Greetings to our blog readers in Australia, Azerbaijan and Thailand.

Welcome to another edition of where we rank comic strips from the Sunday newspapers.

Many newspapers had winter themes this year, including brilliant, cutting edge strips like "The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee," and legacy strips, such as "Hi and Lois" (neither of these strips runs in the Sunday "Washington Post"). And, though we haven't seen today's "Tundra," we imagine that Chad Carpenter's strip, which always takes place in his native Alaska, has snow in it as well.

But, our top strip of the week "The Argyle Sweater" imagines a birthday party with folks from the Marvel Universe, including "The Silver Surfer" (pictured top). We imagine the strip's artist Scott Hillburn found a way to get around cumbersome copyright laws.

But, our second-ranked strip of the week "Brewstir Rockit" a science fiction themed strip, took a huge leap out of its creative box resulting in a hilarious strip with the Frosty the Snowman's (pictured middle) wife.

And, our bronze medal goes to "Lio," a silent strip with no dialogue (Buster Keaton would be pleased) featuring Yeti, or the Bigfoot of Nepal.

Fourth place goes to "Sherman's Lagoon," where Sherman the shark, the strip's title character goes into a funk. As always, Jim Toomey's strip is a far cry from the sharks we grew up with on "Jaws."

While researching this entry, last week, we found out that "WUMO," a strip that features Pac Man today was actually an import from Denmark! "WUMO," last week's champion, comes in seventh this week as there were many great strips.

Here is the list from the Sunday "Washington Post:"

1) The Argyle Sweater

2) Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

3) Lio

4) Sherman's Lagoon

5) Dustin

6) Pearls Before Swine

7) WUMO

8) Reply All

9) Knight Life

10) Judge Parker (love that snake in the final panel, this strip is also in "The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, WVa, which has 'a slightly lower' circulation than "The Washington Post," but perhaps Amazon kingpin Jeff Bezos can buy them too!).


http://www.hearld-dispatch.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.theargylesweater.com

http://www.edisonlee.com

http://www.gocomics.com/lio

http://www.shermanslagoon.com

Sports Desk: Penn State Goes over the Hills and through the Woods to win at Iowa State in women's gymnastics

Gathering from the photos we saw from the Penn State women's gymnastics team, the Nittany Lions had quite a trek to Ames, Iowa, where they faced Iowa State in the first major NCAA meet of the season in women's college gymnastics.

Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, we could see the team's photos of snowy places, such as West Virginia, as they journeyed to middle of the Hawkeye State in what is normally and presumably a 15-hour drive.

Thanks to two LSU transfers, juniors Randi Lau of Hawaii and Sidney Sanabria-Robles (the image is of Penn State gymnast Sharaya Musser who graduated last year), Penn State edged out a 193.925-193.550 win over the home mat Cyclones.

Lau's outstanding 9.825 performance on the vault was crucial for the visitors. Lau also tied for second in the all-around with Sanabria-Robles.

For the Cyclones, Caitlin Brown, a stand-out junior, won the all-around with a career-best 38.900; Brown also won the balance beam for the home team.

SIDEBAR: Back on Dec. 22, Penn State's women's volleyball won their fifth NCAA title in seven years in Seattle. The Nittany Lions faced their surprising Big 10 Conference Rival Wisconsin Badgers in the title game. The Badgers shocked the college volleyball world by upsetting then-defending NCAA champs in Texas in the semi-finals.

Senior Deja McClendon, from Louisville, Ky., delivered the game-winning kill which propelled Penn State to win the match 3-1.

SIDEBAR TWO: Lastly on New Year's Day, it was a grand Rose Bowl for the Michigan State Spartans football team as they pulled a slight and narrow 24-20 upset over Stanford in Pasadena, Calif. Spartans quarterback Connor Crook, a sophomore, threw for a career high 332-yards win in the victory for the Big Ten champions.

Weather in the Mid-Atlantic: Snow, Ice and Rain

With this snowy image of the Humpback Covered Bridge in Covington, Va., a town that is one hour northwest of Roanoke, which is seeing inclement weather tonight, we present a look at the weather in this region. We are looking at areas from southern Pennsylvania to northern South Carolina.
The city of Frederick, Maryland, reportedly had three inches of snow today:

1. Covington, Va. 21 Light Snow

2. Frederick, Md. 25 Ice Pellets

3. Winston-Salem, NC 33 Overcast

4. Fort Mill, SC 31 Overcast

5. Shippenburg, Pa. 26. Light Rain

6. Martinsburg, W.Va 25 Overcast

7. Dover, Delaware, 32, Light Freezing Rain

8. Charlottesville, Va. 29 Overcast

9. High Point, NC 33 Light Drizzle

10. Marion, Va 30 Overcast

11. Arlington, Va. 29 Light Freezing Rain

12. Asheville, NC 35 Light Rain

http://www.weather.com

http://www.covington.va.us/

http://www.wdbj7.com/weather (Roanoke)

http://www.wxii12.com/weather (Winston-Salem)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/ (Washington, DC metro area)

An Ice Storm in Any Language

Greetings to our blog-readers in Kazakhstan, Italy and Guatemala. We hope the weather is better where you are. Here in the mid-atlantic part of the United States we are experiencing ice storms, especially in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.

So, we thought we'd google the various words for ice storm in other parts of the globe; our personal favorite terms are isstorm (Norwegian and Swedish), which we actually put into Google and buz firtinasi, which is the Turkish word for ice storm.

Here is the list:

1) eisstrum (German)

2) tempete de glace (French)

3) buz firtinasi (Turkish)

4) tormenta de nieve (Spanish)

5) isstorm (Norwegian and Swedish)

6) gradobice (Polish)

7) snezha burya (Bulgarian)

8) isslag  (Danish)

Antiques Roadshow in Salem, Virginia

This weekend, my mom Lila Sullivan and myself will be among the antiques dealers participating in a Fall Open House at the Salem Antique Market (the old Lawrence's Market building), located at 2700 West Main Street in Salem, Va. (near Roanoke). The phone number for the store is 540-389-6559.

The festival will be this Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Refreshments will be served, and there are door prizes.

Here are some of the items you can find in the antique store (an * denotes items not available in our booths, but can still be found in the shop):

1) Comic books (pictured top)

2. Grandfather clocks * (pictured middle)

3. Blenko glass from West Virginia (pictured bottom)

4. Hardcover books (both fiction and non-fiction)

5. Vintage postcard

6. Vintage "Life" magazines

7. Vintage "Mad" magazines

8. Quilts

9. Sheet music

10. Depression glass


https://www.facebook.com/SalemAntiqueMarket/info

http://www.visitroanokeva.com/visitors/region/cityofsalem/

Before We Take a Week Off: Top 10 Embarrasing Ways to Die

Greetings to our friends in the Netherlands, Turkey and Mexico.

We went back and forth on this, but we decided it would provide relief from a subject matter that makes sitting through episodes of "Six Feet Under" difficult to sit through. Speaking of which if actor Michael C. Hall has time on his hands and visits this blog, we just have to ask: "What the expletive are you gonna do after 'Dexter'"? Hopefully, those of you in Utrecht, Gaziantep and Puebla got the joke (those are cities in Holland, Turkey and Mexico).

Here we go with the Top 10 Most Embarrassing Ways to Die:

1. Drowning while fishing in the New River in West Virginia.

2. Choking on a Pay Day candy bar.

3. Trying to take a photo of Gustave the man-eating crocodile while vacationing in Burundi (We heard about him through "Mental Floss" magazine)

4. Tripping into an on-coming DC Metro subway train (a DC-Metro map is our middle image)

5. Getting hit in the head by a foul ball at a Detroit Tigers baseball game.

6. Getting hit by an on-coming car after shopping at K-Mart.

7. Smoke inhalation from smoking Camels in bed.

8. Getting struck by lightning while trying to fix satellite tv.

9. Getting run over by your very own car or truck (Alas, this did actually happen to a mail carrier in Charlotte, NC)

10. Slipping on a banana peel

http://www.wvtourism.com

http://www.vistwv.com

http://www.wmata.com (DC Metro web site)

http://www.goturkey.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

For a link on our sister blog about 10 more embarrassing ways to die:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

The Return of Friday Night Tweets: Drug Bust in Hurricane, West Virginia

 

There is a full moon out tonight, and sure enough lots of crazy effing stuff is going on. The tweet from "The Toronto Sun" is an eye-catcher as is one from "The Charleston Gazette" in Charleston, W.Va. We also have tweets from Baltimore and Chapel Hill  (NC) as well.

 

 

Let's get started:

 

 

1) The Baltimore Sun @baltimoresun (image top): A1: Edward Snowden charges with spying, Somber Police Academy graduation. Man gets his name off sex offender list. School divides community.

 

2) Charleston Gazette @wvgazette: "Three arrested in Hurricane meth bust. Hurricane, WVa_ Three people were arrested Friday.....

 

3) Wall Street Journal @wsj (image center): "Average American slept 8 hours, 44 minutes per night in 2012"

 

4) Chapel Hill Magazine @chapelhillmag: "So proud of @DiamondHeels. What a season! It was so fun to witness their talent, resilience and heart."

 

5) The Daily Tar Hell @dailytarheel: UNC falls to UCLA 4-1 to end season.

 

6) The Toronto Sun @TheTorontoSun (image below; the late 1960s children's show "H.R. Pufnstuf" has been closely associated with weed): "Fired pot-smoking City of Ottawa worker fails to convince court his reefer madness is disability."

 

7) Samantha Peszek (a UCLA gymnast): "Proud of the @UCLABaseball team right now....Absolutely killin it!"

http://www.goheels.com

http://www.uclabruins.com

http://www.wvgazette.com

http://www.baltimorecity.gov

Virtual Postcard from West Virginia_ The State Capitol

We took a monumental Thanksgiving week drive from Roanoke, Va., to Denver, Colo., which took us through eight states. We will be posting various images of each state throughout 'the work week."

Today, we start off with West Virginia. On Sunday, the first day of the trip, we had the following unique expericences:

1) In Roanoke, Va., less than one mile into the trip we were pulled for going 38 MPH in a 25 MPH zone; the police officer was kind enough to let us off with a warning..

2) In Pembroke, Va., a hamlet in Giles County we ate a foot-long vegeterian sub at Subway, which marked the first meal of the trip.

3) Near Princeton, W.Va., we believe we saw the first road kill of the trip, which came in the form of a dead deer.

4) In Beckley, W.Va, we noticed several far right, pro-coal industry billboards which accused President Barack Obama of being a 'jobs killer;" this seems like a waste of fnds as West Virginia was not a swing state.

5) In Charleston, W.Va., we drove by the state capitol shown above.

Well, that is all for today; we're still a bit fatigued, but we can send you a link to today's "Blondie" comic srip: http://www.blondie.com

http://www.wvtourism.com
http://www.visitwv.com

And Now a Word from Our Sponsors, Ipana Toothpaste, etc.

Since we were hit over the head with the commercials during the 2012 London Olympics, including everyone running for political office except Chris Knight, my friend who ran for school board office in North Carolina in 2006, I thought I would do a satirical entry dedicated to ads. If you'll notice, we don't have any ads here at "The Daily Vampire" as we don't want ads for things that irk us to appear on here, but well, if the price is right that might change.

We also want to thank American Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, who appears on David Letterman tonight with the other members of the Fab Five, for finally letting us know what meme means. The photo of her disappointed look for not getting a gold medal on vault has now been attached to everything from art work to NBC's Olympic coverage.

Here are the products we are promoting tonight; we believe only one is relatively easy to find here in the United States unless you reside in War, West Virginia:

1) Carlsberg: This is a popular beer in Denmark which reportedly doesn't sell well in Qom, Iran, especially during Ramadan (which is now),  but it can be found in Turkey, a much moderate Muslim country (yes, I'm a Turkish-American, but I think even Greeks and Armenians have to admit Iran is a bit more conservative).

2) Ipana: Speaking of Turkey, we presumed this brand which started in the good ole USA was only available in Turkey, but further research indicates the product featuring ads with Bucky Beaver here in the States back in the day, is once again available on the American market though in limited quantities. Ipana has been featured in at least one "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip.

3) Orangina: Hopefully, none of you will mispronounce this French orange drink now readily available in most parts of America. One time, I pronounced it like the a certain word in a certain Eve Ensler play at The Green Bean Coffeehouse in Greensboro, NC. Yeah, it was embarrassing.

http://www.usagym.org

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

http://www.eczaonline.com

http://www.greensborobean.com

http://www.carlsberg.com

http://www.orangina.com

http://www.theknightshift.blogspot.com

Virtual Postcard from Virginia

We were initially going to go with an image I myself took of a dog next to a fire station in the Grandin village section of my hometown, Roanoke. Then, we thought about going with an image of Foamhenge, near Natrual Bridge and Lexington, the latest creative project from eccentric artist Mark Cline, who resides in that area in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Foamhenge has gotten worldwide attention through CNN.

But, ultimately we decided to go up Route 11 from Lexington to New Market, a distance of some 70 miles, where one can see the Doofy Johnny Appleseed statue beside a restaurant/hotel. There is another Johnny Appleseed statue in Fredericksburg.

New Market is most famous for a Civil War battle, and the Endless Caverns tourist attraction, which also produces great bottle water, is near that community as well.

SIDEBAR: Our deepest thoughts go out to the family of the Rev. Mack Wolford Randall, a snake-handling pastor from Matoaka, West Virginia, who died yesterday while using a rattlesnake during a sermon; as the old cliche goes; 'Don't try this at home.'

But, West Virginia should not be the only state one thinks when it comes to fringe ministers. We gather that the Rev. Johnny Robertson of Martinsville, Va., has pretty much done everything radical or unimaginable except snake-handling.

SIDEBAR TWO: We are intending to take a brief hiatus, well until Tuesday, which means we will not have to time to congratulate Northwestern University for winning an NCAA title in women's lacrosse. But, though several members of my family have gone to various Big Ten schools, none of them have gone to Northwestern.

http://www.sillyamerica.com

Bonus Picture to Fill Space- Big Trout

Wow! We have gotten a tad behind with blogging, so we will dedicate this entry to our outdoors equivalent, which is fishing (ok, so this could cause for debate).

This photo of man catching a big trout was taken somewhere in Michigan (we believe).

On Saturday, in Charleston, WVa., there will be a kids' fishing rodeo at Coonskin Park from 9:00 a.m.-noon; those who are interested can call (304) 341-8000 for more information. The participating children must be between 3-10 years old, from what we gather.

SIDEBAR ONE: Kudos to Boston College for winning the NCAA men's hockey title with a 4-1 win over Ferris State (Mich); the title game was played in Tampa, Fla.- of all places. For the winning Eagles, Steven Whitney scored two goals while goalie Parker Milner made 33 saves. The Eagles ended their season with a 19-game winning streak. The last team they lost to was Maine in a road game on Jan. 21.

SIDEBAR TWO: Additional congratulations are in order to the 12 NCAA Women's College Gymnastics teams which advanced to the NCAA finals in Duluth, Georgia, which get underway in one week. Here is a partial list of the qualifying teams, the other six will be listed on our sister blog: "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Times:"

Raleigh Regionals: 1) Florida 2) Ohio State; Fayetville, Ark., Regionals: 1. UCLA
2. Arkansas; Salt Lake City Regionals: 1. Utah 2. Nebraska

Silly Photo to Fill Space- VW Beetle

We were hoping to go to the Volkswagen Beetle Show at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC, over the weekend, but we were a bit stunned that the entry fee was $15! And, as it is, we had left the camera, in a hotel room in Welch, West Virginia (Yes, we are saying this in jest).

But, we can leave you with this image of a 1968 Beetle. For political buffs, this was the year that Republican Richard Nixon beat Democratic senator Hubert Humphrey to win the presidential election and well, the rest really is history.

Bonus Road Trip- (6 of 10) Charleston, WV, to Charleston, SC

As we are posting this the West Virginia University's women's basketball team is beating Boston University 63-46 late in the second half at home in Morgantown. We mention this, even though the school is a good two and half hours north of the West Virginia state capital, because the team was giving away free mustaches to the first 1,000 fans in attendance. And, our image is of one of the home team Mountaineer's stand-out players Natalie Burton, a senior from Australia.

We also wish to extend our greetings to those of you who are reading this blog in Armenia and Mongolia today (yes, we are not making this up!). Of course, this means people in my own backyard are likely ignoring us.

Since we went with an image of the Mountaineers, we thought it was only fair to go with the mascot of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, even though the school is in Columbia, which is about two hours from Charleston, SC.

If you are confused, you are not the only one. We believe that the Southern Atlantic League, a single-A minor league in baseball, decided two teams couldn't be called Charleston; so there is now the Charleston River Dogs, the team in South Carolina, and the West Virginia Power, for the team in West Virginia (obviously), which is perhaps one of the oddest names in all of sports. Assuredly, someone probably thinks it's also the name of a utilities industry.

Charleston, SC, was recently (and reportedly) named the best city to visit in North America by "Travel and Leisure," beating out the likes of San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Montreal. Dinning is one of those main reasons, so we are chooing Magnolia's as our point of destination for the caostal town. Charleston, SC, is also the hometown of political comic/actor Stephen Colbert.

For the other Charleston, the one in West Virginia, we are simply going with Main Kwan Chinese Restaurant. Charleston, West Virginia, is also known for its music scene and the documentary film director Morgan Spurlock ("Supersize Me!") is from Beckley, W.Va., which is 45 miles south of West Virginia's capital.

So, is the distance between the two Charlestons?:

A) 8 hours even

B) 8 hours, 15 minutes

C) 8 hours, 30 minutes

D) 8 hours, 45 minutes

E) 9 hours even

SIDEBAR: We loved this tweet from Lorna Appleby, a resident of Vancouver, Canada, that was posted yesterday: "The main problem with hunting your own turkey is that the gun shots scare the other shoppers."

SIDEBAR TWO: We imagine that University of North Carolina men's basketball fans are bemoaning the Tarheels' 73-72 loss to the University of Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Ky. But, it was a much worse day for the men's basketball team from the New Jersey Institute of Technology; they lost to the Georgetown Hoyas 84-44 today.

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.

Virtual Postcard from Kentucky- Bennett's Mill Covered Bridge

This is one of the rare times when I post a blog entry with a laptop. Contrary to popular opinion, I am really not that tech savvy even though I run two blogs. Assuredly, the recently deceased Steve Jobs might have been very iritated with me!

While I did see the Mud River Covered Bridge in Milton, WVa, thanks to directions from a senior citizen who once served in the military and was celebrating Veterans Day today, this image is of the Bennett's Mill Covered Bridge near Arentum, Ky, which I have not visited. But, since I am in Kentucky for the weekend, I thought it would be more appropriate.

The bridge is located in Greenup County, home of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, in the far northeast part of the Bluegrass State, on Route 7. It was built in 1855, and restored in 2003. 171 cars pass the bridge each day.

And, since it's getting past midnight here, I better quip Porky Pig and say: "That's all Fffffolks!"

Quote of the Week-Woody Allen

For the first time in the six years that I've been blogging (it seems like some of my pals have given up, and I fully understand why!), I checked my stats. And, it seems like more people are reading this blog than ever.

Though, my most succesful entry, in terms of hits, came from my "Happy Mother's Day from Godzilla" entry back in May. It had 174 hits! Hmmm....perhaps, we need to mention Godzilla more often.

Today's quote of the week comes from Woody Allen. The focus for this month's quotes are from film directors, and it seems given that the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11th has just passed to go with a New Yorker, though many of his most recent films, including the latest "Midnight in Paris," have been filmed in Europe.

Here is Woody Allen's quip:

"His lack of education is more than comepnsated for by his keenly developed moral bankruptcy."

SIDEBAR: Is possum stew, skunk and potatoes or baked racoon with apples your idea of good cuisine? Well, it isn't mine either. But, if it is, then you may want to head up Marlinton, WV, where they are hosting the "West Virginia Roadkill and Autumn Harvest Festival," which learned about through "Mental Floss" magazine.

Marlinton is in Pocahontas County, which borders Highland County in Virginia, which is known for its annual maple festival.

If you happen to attend the road kill fest, let me know what the food is like. This reminds that it is perhaps possible to eat every kind of animal that can be asociated with a Looney Tunes character as Pepe Le Pew is a skunk. But, I surely hope Speedy Gonzales is the exception!

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.